Walking along the ledge, keeping one hand to the side to make sure that he didn't lose his balance and start falling down the mountainside again, but this time with no control. Walking forward, Norbert stopped as he was hit with two paths. One leading into a fissure in the mountainside, its darkness encroaching, hiding what awaited.
The other pathway leads down towards the valley below. Looking between the two paths, Norbert pulled out a coin, whispering to it as he kept it close to his lips, "Heads to go down the path, tails to go into the fissure." Norbert flicked the coin into the air, flicking it too far forward, leaning over into the drop below.
With his fingers, Norbert caught the coin before flicking it onto the palm of his left hand, with a satisfying smack, the coin being nestled between the two hands. Breathing out a sigh of relief that he didn't fall, Norbert opened his hands to see what his fate had in store.
Seeing the tails looking back, Norbert looked into the fissure's dark confines. Hearing the rumbling from above him, Norbert placed the coin back in his pouch, removed his mask, put the back end on, and completed the helmet.
Changing his vision to see better in the dark, Norbert stepped slightly into the fissure. Not wanting to light anything so close to the entrance, not giving an even higher chance of being spotted by the black glob still descending towards him.
Turning to the side, taking his backpack off, Norbert squeezed through the fissure. He had his left hand in front of him, tapping on both sides of the wall as he shuffled forward, his body blocking most of the visible light from coming in.
Deeper into the mountain, Norbert went, the path leading straight as his feet crunched through the dusty ground, dust clouds slowly filling the cave. He held his breath, trying to stop himself from coughing and breathing more dust in, feeling like a spider was crawling down his throat.
Darkness consumes him; Norbert needs to change his vision to see entirely in the dark to get a hint of visibility.
His hand started to slowly go further and further apart as the ceiling started to descend on him. Ducking down, Norbert put the backpack on his back again, taking as many steps as possible while crouched down and getting forced lower and lower into the ground. Occasionally, he heard his helmet scrape against the rock ceiling above him when stepping, the sound causing him to freeze as he heard it echo around the tunnel he found himself in.
Taking his backpack off again, the tunnel having gone so small, he pushed his backpack in front of him, crawling on his stomach as he continued forward. After several meters, Norbert stopped feeling the presence of the rock above himself.
Continuing to crawl forward, Norbert started to stand up, hand above his head slowly. Norbert stood up, able to stand more as he extended his hand, unable to reach the top. Putting his hands on his waist, Norbert leaned backwards, feeling his lower back pop as the tightness of the muscle was released with an audible POP.
Leaning back down, Norbert ruffled through his bag, taking out a torch he had from so long ago. Going even deeper to pull out his flint, Norbert struck it against his dagger, creating a spark and letting the torch roar to life.
Holding it up, Norbert looked around the cave where he found himself. Holding in his breath, Norbert slowly let it out, with any aspirations that could be interesting. I only see a usual cave with stalagmites hanging from the ceiling.
Disappointed, Norbert looked around the cave, wondering if there was an exit somewhere to go deeper down. Not wanting to get trapped in the black ball of mass Norbert knew was slowly rolling towards him, Norbert went deeper into the cave, looking down half the time, making sure he wouldn't slip or trip on the uneven surface.
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Jumping down to the bottom, looking up and seeing the entrance that he came from—a tiny pinprick of darkness, only slightly darker from the darkness surrounding it. Walking back, Norbert kept his eyes on it, seeing something move up there.
Hearing a splash at his feet, Norbert looked down, taking his eyes off the tunnel and looking down to see what he had stepped in. Lowering the torch, Norbert saw liquid reflecting up. Leaning down, Norbert touched a bit with his gloved finger, rubbing it against his thumb and watching as it dried up, crusting before flaking off.
Going for it again, Norbert lowered his finger into it before bringing it to his mouth. When it touched his lips, Norbert instantly spat it out, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth. Taking out his water skin, Norbert quickly washed his mouth, leaving it clean and completely removing the taste.
Following the stream forward, Norbert saw another fissure in the rock that was slowly trickling from. Turning his eyes back to the entrance he came from, he saw the darkness slowly move towards him, not even bothering with the coin. Norbert headed up the river of blood.
A thought filled his head as he squeezed through the rock opening, torch in front of him, that Count von Count would like this place.
Sticking his head out of another fissure, Norbert looked around; the splashing of his feet slowly quieted around him. Slowly crouching down, Norbert looked in at the small room he found himself in.
In front of him was a tower of stone bricks, each rectangular object seemingly carved out of the room he found himself in. On top of it, Norbert could see the blood bubbling up, flowing over and down the tower into the floor.
With the torch, the entire room seemed to be bathed in crimson. Moving the torch around, the shadows on the wall moved in the opposite direction, wanting to reach towards the flames rather than run away from it like normal.
An unsettling feeling crept over Norbert, shaking himself at the thought of the unnaturalness of the room. His skin felt itchy under his clothes as he stood there, trying to look for something else.
Walking towards the small tower, having a closer look as Norbert leaned over the top, looking down at what was inside. Seeing something glowing at the bottom, Norbert reached out his hand before grabbing his hand with his other.
Dropping the torch, Norbert looked at the dancing shadows, trying to grasp at him from all around. Bending down, Norbert scooped up the torch, leaving the glowing tower by itself; the more he looked at it and remembered the artefact, the more it reminded him of himself being trapped in the hallway. The same creeping feeling consumed him as it tried to root him in place.
He looked around, knowing he couldn't go back out and down the river of blood the way he came. The passageway started to fill with the black mass following him that the Librarian sent his way.
Looking around, Norbert sees no more exits from the room. Crossing his fingers, Norbert looked up, relieved at what he saw.
Far above him, there was a hole in the ceiling, a skylight leading somewhere else in the underground maze he found himself in. Carefully, Norbert threw the torch into the hole in the ceiling, confirming as it became illuminated. Norbert, watching, confirming nothing, followed the torch down as he caught it.
Taking a dagger out of his belt, Norbert looked at the wall, imagining himself running up it, sticking it into the hole as he climbed up. Norbert followed his plan, nodding his head, not seeing any other way of doing this.
In the square walled room, Norbert ran at the wall opposite from the fissure that he had come from. Bounding up, Norbert ran up the wall, his first step propelling him into the air, the second pushing off as he felt his body become weightless.
Spinning around, Norbert faced the hole in the ceiling as he reached his arm up, the blade catching into the stone as it yanked his entire body into the air.
Scrambling slightly, Norbert swung back around, his weight going forward again as he swung around, finally stopping. He looked at his hand holding the torch, grunting as he placed it between his legs, holding it with his knee.
Taking the other dagger out of his belt, Norbert smashed it into the rock hole he found himself in, pulling himself up as he climbed outside.
He pulled himself up with only his arms; the torch banging against the wall sent a shower of embers below him. He looked down, confirming that nothing down there would alight, turning him into bacon.
Smashing the daggers into the rock wall, slithers of stone fell on his face and tickled his nose; Norbert carefully climbed up, ensuring each handhold was secure before continuing.