Of dancing feathers, and melting wax.

I had been warned not to stray off course.

I had been warned that it would only lead to trouble.

But the warmth had been so tantalizing, calling to me.

The scents I'd been deprived of in my time on Crete. They were scents that I could now arouse with just the slightest touch by dipping low so my fingers grazed the surface of the water.

The cold scent of salt and stone hit my nose and I smiled to myself.

I was free.

But the warmth had been the real temptation. The feeling of heat that I had longed for so long while I had stayed hidden in the shadows of the labyrinth, waiting for the Minotaur to find me.

I'd risen higher and higher, using the wings of wax and feathers my father had created to lift me up towards the sun until each individual tongue of heat had wrapped itself around my aching body.

For a while I flew in silence, excitement overtaking me as I finally experienced the sensation man longed for.

Flight.

I was flying!

But as I flew, I began to feel myself grow heavier, and before I knew it, feathers were floating through the air like leaves, twirling and dancing in a dance only they could accomplish.

I felt a warm trickle of wax run down my spine, and the joy I had felt only moments earlier was washed away by a feeling of desperate terror.

The air around me rushed past as I plummeted towards the glittering sea.

As I tumbled, I noticed in the corner of my eye a reflection.

My reflection.

It was mocking me, reflecting back my terrified expression and my feeble movements as I tried to save myself, desperately clawing through the air for something to grasp.

I prayed to the gods, begging them to save me, to take pity on my soul.

But the gods were unforgiving as they watched me fall silently into the water.

There had been an old saying my father once told me.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

The answer is no.

I was silent throughout the entire fall, the only sound being my blood roaring in my ears.

The dark waters were my grave, and the only thought I'd had as I sunk towards the depths were of the island.

The Island never lets anyone leave alive.

Ever.