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Phil wasn't sure how he'd encountered it. Pure chance he supposed. After all, it was just a myth, a story told to children to make sure that they wouldn't try to get past any bedrock they might encounter.
After all, one wasn't supposed to be able to get past bedrock.
Yet, here he was. Bedrock surrounding most of him but every now and then there was ordinary stone. Stone that he'd mined away at mindlessly.
With the stone gone, something that only could be the void was staring back at him. Phil had heard a lot of stories, told them even to his own child, about the thing that was all there was but yet nothing at all. It was said it would devour anything that got too close.
Somehow he was expecting it to make a sound. The sound of wind being pressed through the tunnels of the mine mostly. Or perhaps wind blowing through a mountain passage.
But nothing greeted him and it sent a shiver down his spine, adrenaline making his heart beat just a little faster.
It's been a long time since he felt the rush of adventure rush through him.
With a deep, steadying breath Phil pushed himself off the stone he was sitting on and dropped into the nothingness.
There was no air here, and yet when he pushed with his wings he was propelled forward. Laughter bubbled up inside of him as he twirled in the darkness and he let out a shout. With a grin he listened to it echo for a second before getting swallowed.
He kept close to the 'ceiling', afraid of losing track of the bedrock and his way out. Glancing behind him, he noticed that he still could see the light from the torch he left by the opening.
Good, he could take a flight without too much worry.
So he pulled his wings closer to his body, dropping faster towards the blackness beneath him. With a quick flick he expands them again and the speed he gains makes him finally laugh.
He dives, spins, twirls and spreads his wings to his full heart content.
He feels free.
Eventually he knows he has to return. He's not sure for how long he's been soaring through the darkness but as fun as it has been, he needs to go back.
It doesn't take long for him to locate the distance light and it's not hard to set his mind to go there. But as he flies, a thought enters his mind.
It's said that the void devours everything. And yet here he is.
He glances beneath him and the curiosity grows and he knows he should just return. But the thought stays and grows louder the closer he gets to the light.
And he gives in.
Slowly he descends and the darkness seems to deepen even more, almost solidifying. There's a tug at the back of his mind and he leveled out, not going any further down.
Careful , says the thoughts and he listens to them.
But he's still curious, so he stretches a hand down and he would've stumbled in shock if he'd been walking. He wasn't sure what the sensation was, but it was there.
Then he registered pain from his hand and he snatched his hand back, hissing.
He supposed he was lucky, if he'd gone any further down he would've mostly died because if anything bigger than his hand had entered the void beneath him, his body would've freezed in shock.
Instead he pushed himself upwards with his wings, the very tip of each wing touching the blackness. He let out another hiss, although that pain wasn't any stronger than the one in his hand. Instead he focused on getting back up to the entrance.
When he was back at the light and safely on stone, the gaping hole closed up, he let out a sigh and rolled his shoulders. It's been a while since he flew like that.
Now in safety, Phil finally looked down at his hand. It looked like it had been burnt and yet it looked like it was covered in black mud. It was strange. Shaking his head, he starts to make the trek back to the surface. He didn't have any healing potions on him after all.
As he leaves his adventure behind him, he feels satisfaction of being one of the first to ever have touched the void.