[ and so she does not flinch from this, or turn back. sometimes a blade is reforged stronger for having been broken, and sometimes scars are marked with gold.

she continues the climb—for it is a climb, despite the fact that the stairs continue spiraling downward.

at last there is a sound like a drop of water—drip, drop, falling into a pool, and sending ripples tinged with light out from a center point somewhere ahead of her, roughly illuminating the shape of a circular body of water. ]