Labyrinth

He left the room in which the young woman was held at the next opportunity. The strangers in red came to take her away again. She still carried the mantle the leader had given to her in her arms. They escorted her back down the hallway which she had come. He eluded them and went in the opposite direction, deeper into the confusing structure in which the strangers in red lurked.

He continued for a while. At a point, the walls grew different. They were not stone stacked and held together any longer, but solid, smooth sheets of gray. They resembled the outsides of some of the crumbled structures in the dust-swept expanse far above. Bars of metal reinforced them, though this metal was still strong. Its remote location protected it to some degree from wear over time. He found little trace of passage by the strangers in red. They avoided this place, though they could easily find their way to and from it.

Symbols decorated the walls, ones that were similar to one of those which the strangers in red used to adorn their own structures. These were not carved upon the surface. They were drawn. He was struck by their familiarity. He tried to recall their meaning. Nothing.

The way was dark and for the most part quiet. He occasionally heard, or felt, something reverberate through the stone on all sides. Deep, thrumming noises, like a great monstrous beast that breathed. Perhaps it was a gargantuan version of the beast the young woman had slain above. He could not pinpoint the source of the noise. At times it grew louder and closer. Other times it appeared to recede.

Air sometimes moved as well. It was cool and dry and not as strong as the winds above.

Nothing lived here. Even the small creatures that lived in the walls were absent.

He came to a chamber. In some ways it resembled the large room connected to the tunnels. It others it was like the very first room with the boxes. Boxes were here, too, lining the walls. He tried to break them. They were resilient. Other objects were here, containers of different shapes. Some were curved, others straight. Some of them had the symbol upon the walls placed on their surfaces, and smaller symbols as well. He found no meaning in them.

Liquid lay in a pool upon the floor. He found this odd. More containers were at the bottom of the pool. He retrieved one. It was made of metal, but a different metal from the others. It was much heavier. He opened it. Inside were poles. Most were dark. A few glowed a very dull red. He was reminded of the mantles the strangers wore. He recalled the young woman. It seemed long ago.

The room led to another passage beyond. He followed it.

It led, in time, to another place. The walls changed once more. Others were here, similar to the young woman and the strangers in red. There were not a great many. They did not live in a single large room, but in a warren of connected passages. Groups of three or four claimed a section of these tunnels as their own. As was the case in the place claimed by the strangers in red, these residents made a mash of gently glowing material and smeared it on objects to provide light.

Pools of liquid existed around the place they chose as a residence. Some had a method to retrieve objects from the pools. He looked into the pools when an opportunity arose. He saw creatures, pale and wriggling, instead of inert poles of metal. Others shepherded puffy growths in areas where they placed their refuse, while still more set out to retrieve other creatures from farther along the tunnels. Only a few tools of metal were here. Most used objects made of rock and bone.

This place was peaceful. He wondered how long they had existed here and how they had first found this place. He would receive no answers. He watched then, and continued journeying when the residents had nothing more to reveal.