The lower tunnels existed in a perpetual state of darkness. This was especially true down in the abandoned sections of the mines, in the lower recesses where seldom a living soul dared set foot. This had been so since the dawn of time, and the sprawling network of spacious tunnels would remain in such desolation until the end of days. This was an irrefutable fact to Alistar, because he had heard it from the most reliable of sources, his father. Thinking of the man he looked up to the most, a budding sense of pride was quickly replaced by a nagging, conscientious guilt. If his father knew where he was…

Alistar would have thought that by now he’d be used to the empty blackness that stained his vision whenever he ventured down into the distant depths of the mines, into the isolated recesses that his parents had forbade him from entering on more than just one occasion. Indeed, after years of disobeying their words, he should have found some normalcy in the blackness, though today he felt uneasy. He’d discovered a thin split in the tunnel wall, a rocky window that housed a breed of darkness that he had never encountered in all the years that he’d lived in this dim and dismal place.

Even somebody like him, who had never seen the sun, was always unsettled in the presence of pure darkness. And the particular darkness that dwelt within the tiny cave that he’d just happened upon was so thick and overwhelming that it left Alistar with a feeling of suffocation.

A chill crept down his back as he contemplated what to do next. Go into the hole? Keep walking? His bare feet shuffled anxiously on the earthen floor. Would it be better to just call it a day and head back to the upper levels? He only pondered for a minute. As it usually did, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided that he would go into the hole. His mother was always worrying about him because of this. He was too nosy, she often said, too reckless for a boy of her making. His unrelenting interest in the unknown was one of the main reasons he had left the bustling mines above and chanced heading down into the much broader tunnels below, the ones that had been carved out by ancient Danger Beasts long forgotten. A forbidden adventure was the perfect way to soothe his sour mood.

“Alie…” a timid voice squeaked. “Let’s go back.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the young girl behind him. She clung to the far wall of the tunnel with obvious uncertainty in her round, long-lashed eyes. Like his own, they were coloured a gentle gold. The only difference was that his eyes held soft traces of silver, thin strands hiding within a gilded sea. She held a heavyset lantern in both hands, and was struggling to maintain her hold on it.

“What are you, chicken?” Alistar goaded. He’d never seen one, but supposedly a chicken was an animal that was easily frightened.

“No,” she lied. Kaila was a terrible liar. She gulped unconvincingly, eyeing the small opening they had chanced upon with a trembling frown. “We’re gunna get in trouble again! We always get in trouble!”

After some convincing, Alistar had led Kaila away from the others to explore the abandoned sections of the mines. Eventually, after much hesitation, they’d found themselves in the restricted lower levels. They had gone pretty far this time; the light of the nearest lantern had disappeared long ago, before they had even made their descent into the lowest regions of the natural corridors.

“Well, I’m not scared,” Alistar declared proudly.

In truth, he was very frightened. He didn’t think he had ever been this far from the Resident Cavern. Usually it was fun when there were no adults around, but he was beginning to grow uneasy now that they had come so far. These were the lowest levels, after all. Still, he had to be brave. Kaila was his friend and he wanted to show her how grownup he could be, that he was more than just the reckless child that reflected off of the eyes of the adults around them. He’d intended on walking until she chose to turn back, to show her that he could keep on going even after she gave in and that he could do so without worry. That’s how things usually went on the upper floors. But before she had caved—and how close she was to caving!—they’d stumbled upon a small opening in the wall face, one so contorted and confined that only a young child would be able to enter. They had not been stopped there for more than a minute when Kaila voiced her desire to leave, caving at last, as he’d known she would.

They were both quiet for a moment, Kaila placing the lantern on the ground and hugging herself with a look of unease. It was cold. The deeper into the mines one went, the colder it became, and they had gone quite far this time around. The rags they wore didn’t do much to rein in their warmth, but that wouldn’t be a problem if they kept moving.

Just as Kaila was reluctant to remain, Alistar was reluctant to withdraw. “I’m going to explore,” he said quietly. Even he could tell that his voice lacked enthusiasm.

“Alie,” Kaila whimpered. “Don’t leave me!”

But the small space ahead of him had already stolen his interest. He hauled the lantern up off the ground and held it out in front of him with both hands as he ducked into the crevice. Kaila had no choice but to follow, or else risk being left alone in the darkness.

The rock on either side of them was misshapen, rough protrusions making it difficult to press on. In addition, the ground was twisted in vile mutation, forcing them to be extra mindful of their footing. Occasionally, the shape of the little cave would bend and warp so that they would have to slide horizontally through a small opening, or half-squeeze half-climb through an awkwardly formed crack in the rock. Aside from the walls, even the height of the ceiling would fluctuate. One minute, it would be twice Alistar’s height, and the next, barely higher than his waist. This made it so that maneuvering around while balancing the lantern was quite difficult. He had never seen such peculiar rock formations, even though his lifetime had been spent surrounded by rock. It was truly a fascinating place.

Alistar soon realized that the cave ran a lot deeper than he’d initially thought. His knees began to shake after he noticed that the entrance had been swallowed by blackness, and a few sniffling sounds told him that Kaila was crying. Hearing this, he began to feel bad.

It wasn’t long before he noticed a faint light up ahead, and his guilt was quickly forgotten, replaced by a renewed sense of insatiable intrigue. What would be giving off light at the heart of an isolated little cave? Why hadn’t the light been visible from farther back?

“Look! Kaila—look there!” Alistar pointed up ahead of them. She sniffled and peaked over his shoulder. “See it?” he asked. “See the light?”

She nodded, her messy hair dancing.

They proceeded onward and finally arrived at the unlikely source of pale, pink light. A single flower sprouted up out of a rounded rock, its clear petals drooping sleepily toward the ground. At the centre of the flower’s head sat what appeared to be a transparent stone, within which the strange light resided.

Alistar had never seen a flower before, but his mother loved them and had spent many hours speaking of her passion for such things. Anything his mother loved was something special, so he decided that he would bring it back with him and surprise her with it. Still, she had never mentioned anything like this. The petals looked similar to the glass of the lantern, but they were much clearer and much prettier, with a rosy tint that complimented its glow.

The flower’s stem reminded him of the scales of the cave lizards that dwelt within the restricted levels of the mines—the area that he and Kaila were exploring. He’d never seen any, but just last week his uncle had returned with a sheet of lizard hide after having encountered a stray one with his father. With the help of a guard that often spoke with his parents, he had been gifted a fine pair of leggings made from the scaly material, but the other guards were quick to strip him of his birthday present. With this, his seventh year had gotten off to a bad start. In his foul mood, he’d sought out Kaila and convinced her to sneak off with him. His father had noticed and shouted out after them, but the guards hadn’t allowed him to follow. The guards never seemed to mind when they left to explore the tunnels, but their parents always made a big deal about it. That was one of the only things Alistar liked about the guards.

“What is it?” Kaila inched closer, gripping his elbow with a dirty hand.

“It’s a flower,” he told her. “You know, like my mama told us about. On the surface, they’re everywhere, and there’re tons of different kinds. Those flowers!”

Her eyes widened in captivation as they crouched down together to stare at the red stone. When she responded, her voice was free of fear and even held a hint of awe. “So this is a flower.”

Without thinking, Alistar reached out with his left hand to touch the stem, the heavy bracelet on his wrist catching the light. In the mines, every one of the workers wore such a bracelet. There were several kinds. Few people had the type that his family wore, which made him proud to have something that set him apart from the others.

He paused, staring at the markings on his bracelet. Although his father had congratulated him for learning all of his letters, he still didn’t know what the inscribed characters meant. Whenever he asked after the reason, his father would tell him not to worry over it. The peculiar thing was, the moment he extended his hand to grab hold of the flower’s scaly stem, the characters began emitting a faint red light. He had seen this happen a few times with the adults, but his bracelet had never done so before, so he hesitated for a moment. After a second of uncertainty, he reached out and yanked at the stem. It didn’t budge, no matter how he positioned himself or how much strength he put into his arms.

“What are you doing?” Kaila sounded confused.

“I’m gonna give it to Mama.” He turned to her. “You mustn’t tell anyone, okay? If you do, then the guards will take it from me like they did my leggings.”

“Okay,” she said, understanding in her eyes. “I promise.” Kaila would never go back on a promise.

Alistar returned his attention back to the flower and tried removing it from the rounded rock once again. After a few minutes of tugging in futility, he thought for a second and then grasped the red stone. If he couldn’t take the whole thing, then he would at least take the top, or so he was thinking. But the moment his hand touched the cool surface of the stone, a jolt shot up his arm and caused him to jump in surprise. Kaila also jumped upon seeing his reaction. He took a step back and tripped over a rock, brushing his shoulder against a jagged part of the wall as he fell. His arm stung mercilessly, and when he looked over to see the damage, his eyes were met with a thin trail of blood that was steadily leaking down his arm.