The maze

Chapter Ten

Dovyel didn't know how long he slept. Due to the uncomfortable ground, his intense hunger and the fear of where he was and simply how he felt, he suspected it hadn't been more than a couple hours. Though he felt more alert than he had in awhile though. So, it wasn't a total lost.

He sat there for a couple minutes. For the moment, all he could think about was his intense hunger. He would give anything for something to eat right now. He'd probably even try a raw rat at this point. Naturally he hoped no rat came by so he wouldn't have to find out. Oddly enough. He couldn't recall there even being any indication of rats. Not the slightest sound. This was odd, but the pain in his stomach made it difficult to think clearly. Though the only thing he really cared to think about was, I got to get out of here.

Instinctively, he looked around for Ruthel or any sign of light. But there was nothing. Just solid darkness. Eyes open or closed, there was no difference. He was become to suspect that there really was no way in or out. There was no light, the tunnels were stuffy without the faintest breeze.

A thought seemed to pierce through the fog in his mind. The tunnel was not just stuffy, there was a distinctive smell now. An unpleasant odor hung in the air. The closest comparison Dovyel could think of was that of a stable. Of course this was much different. It was older and more subtle. Something could have once, probably recently been down there. He tried to remember, surely he would have noticed this right away.

"We're alone in here, right?" he asked.

"If by alone you mean just the two of us, then yes," answered Ruthel. "Why the sudden interest?"

"It's nothing, just a bad feeling. I don't want to find that there's some kind of monster stalking me down here."

"If there were a monster, I can assure you, if it were stalking you, it would have struck long ago. You would be dead already."

"Swell, that's comforting. I think."

He continued on for a few minutes in silence. Though Ruthel was kind enough to give him warnings of splitting passages, he still kept his one hand along the wall. He had almost come to think Ruthel didn't really exist, that he was just a figment of his own imagination. There was just one problem with that. Ruthel knew things he could not have know. Specifically the layout of the place. There was no way his subconscious could know where the tunnels joined and separated. At least, he didn't think it could.

He was losing himself in his own thoughts, when he felt his hand slip away from the wall. He had come to another branching tunnel. Oddly, Ruthel had not warned him about it. He moved himself down the new way then stopped. With his eyes so used to the pitch black, he noticed right away that down there was not completely black. There was the ever so slight hint of texture. There was light, very faint, but light. A pinpoint of a glow against the start blackness.

His heart sank when he realized that he was right back to where he first started.

"All this time, I've come back right to where I started!" he exclaimed frustrated.

"Began?" asked Ruthel. "Is this where you came in from?"

'Uh, yeah. I told you I fell in through a hole in the ground."

"I did not believe you," answered Ruthel.

"I probably would not have believed me either," agreed Dovyel.

"This entrance was unknown to me. This pocket in the earth must have recently become open."

"Very fascinating, but I've just been going around in one big circle. How do I possibly get out of here?"
Ruthel chuckled. At least that's what Dovyel assumed the sound to be. For it was sort of a throaty rumble. "You seem to forget, that is the danger to entering the maze. It is so easy to become lost. When lost, no one ever gets out."