Amie was beginning to scare me now. She hadn't moved, but was leaning in the direction of one of the tunnels we had dug, perfectly still and silent. I hadn't heard anything. Nothing unusual or out of place anyway. We were deep underground so it was likely she had just heard something that you'd expect to hear.
"No no... It wasn't... It was like... The sound of... Footsteps..."
A cold chill ran down my spine! Footsteps? I suddenly felt uneasy, and began to look around me in all directions. I hadn't heard anything at all aside from the usual echoing winds blowing through the caverns, and dripping water. We were talking at the time though, so it was possible I talked over the sound. Amie seemed to be looking down a particular tunnel now, not looking elsewhere, just down this single tunnel. I tried to ask her what she thought she heard again, just to make sure I had heard her right, and she shushed me with he hand. A few more moments silence, and then she stood upright, still maintaining her gaze down the tunnel.
"It came from down there..."
Pointing in the direction she was still looking, she began to walk down into the tunnel, completely free of any fear or apprehension. Feeling that it would be safer together, I quickly followed after her. We continued for a few moments, stopping every now and again allowing Amie to listen to the variety of sounds around us, before proceeding once more. This continued on for some time; she would just continue forwards, stop and listen, and then proceed. We passed many torches we had placed intermittently to light our way when digging out the tunnel initially, but they were rapidly running out, and only the darkness loomed ahead awaited us. Amie stopped at the last torch, and peered into the inky blackness of the stunted chamber beyond.
"Did any of you venture this far into the tunnel?"
I didn't, and none of the others had, to the best of my knowledge anyway... I was apprehensive to get back; the others would likely think it wouldn't take this long to retrieve some books, and we couldn't be sure what lurked beyond the safety of the tunnel. I was burdened with a bag full of books, and in no way ready to fight off anything that might attempt to leer out of the darkness and attack! Amie seemed to pick up on this, and turned to face me, seemingly satisfied with her investigation into the unknown sound...
"Maybe it was just my imagination... We should get back. The others will be wondering where we've got to."
I waited for Amie to head back up and out of the tunnel, before looking back into the dark void of a chamber, and shudder slightly. I really hoped she had only imagined that..."
On the way back up, we've decided to keep the whole footstep sounds issue a secret. It is possible that Amie heard footsteps, but it's more likely she was imagining things. A lot of different events were going on at the time, and it wouldn't be at all too much to assume that her imagination was working overtime. Hauling the large collection of books down the last few steps, we went in single file through the tunnel that snaked through the thin stone wall that joined the cliff mine to the entrance of the base.
"Do you reckon it's worth linking that minecart track to the wooden shelter down there? It would certainly make retrieving the books a lot easier!"
Judging from her face, Amie was joking about it, but I was in a world of my own, and didn't laugh at this comment. Heading towards the lab, I was still thinking about what had happened down there. Was it really possible for Amie to have heard footsteps...? I know I have a relatively loud voice, but I wouldn't think footsteps would be audible in a place like that. then again... It was cavernous! The sounds could and probably do travel for miles; bouncing off dense surfaces, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was sound proofed from the surface entirely! Heading into the lab, I snapped myself from my mental musings, and dropped the bag of books heavily onto the already-sagging table.
"There you go AMPHIS. Plenty to be getting on with. The guys have enough iron for the tunnel, you have your books to translate, and I can help COLUS with whatever he needs me to do."
AMPHIS began to fish random books out of the book, placing them into neat piles on the floor around the table legs. There didn't seem to be any order to the books that we could work out, but AMPHIS already seemed to be sorting them out into his own logical order to work on.
"Take your time with those AMPHIS. Take breaks whenever you need to, and try to translate them as accurately as you can. Hopefully we can learn a little more about this person from what you find out..."
Taking the last of the books from the bag, he gave a single nod to COLUS, before brushing the current papers and books to one side and grabbing a fresh piece and opening the book in his hand. I nodded to COLUS and headed back down to the tunnel where the other three were still working, presumably. It was odd that we operated so well with single actions as simple as nods, and random gestures with our heads and hands. But it worked, it was efficient, and as the old saying goes "don't fix what ain't broke"... Never really cared for that style of grammar... Anyway, on with the tunnel!
Syeonyx signing off
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