He hoped he never saw the girl again, but in a city with a population as low as it was here it was impossible for him to avoid her for very long, especially if she didn’t want to be avoided. He looked up at the cavern ceiling then and said a silent prayer to his Lunar Mother whom he couldn’t see.
After he replaced his toiletries on his dresser he sat in his room for a time. He hadn’t spent much time in here, when he had been conscious. The black polished walls glistened from the ceiling crystals lights. He could see the deep reflections in the smooth surface. After three weeks of running, training, sparring, and everything else that he had gone through he wondered what exactly it was all for. He stood up then and walked around the perfect black of his room.
The wooden dresser stood out as something solid. He didn’t see a reflection in its finished surface. He was struck with the idea that the dresser was the only thing real in the room, that and his bed of course. The walls were empty, black reflections of the world. It wasn’t a disturbing thought just one that brought more comfort from having the two wooden fixtures in the room made from something other than black obsidian. He was reminded once again of the quote that he never could remember exactly where it came from, “If you look at the darkness long enough, the darkness starts to look back.” Gently rubbing the top of his dresser, he was faced once again with the thought of the very real possibility that he could have been killed any number of times over the past month or two for no better reason that he had turned away from his humanity and had become an unthinking beast that threatened the City under the Mountain and all of its inhabitants. The thought no longer disturbed him it simply was, like his skewed reflection in the polished obsidian of his room, it was there and nothing that he could say or do would change what would have needed to be done.
He walked out of his room. He thought that maybe he could find some posters somewhere or put up some more decorations. His room really was drab and a little depressing. He made his way down the ramp and realized that he didn’t have the slightest idea of what to do or where to go. He had all morning to himself and nothing to spend his time on. So, he decided to walk.
He didn’t know where he was going. He let his feet carry him wherever they wanted to go. He deliberately avoided the bathroom he had used that morning. His legs carried him out away from the center of the city. The city’s streets here were a jumble of alleys and narrow walkways. He had learned to navigate the complex inner streets with a familiarity that rivaled those that had lived here much longer than he had. The honeycomb, labyrinthine streets cut back on themselves and twisted in strange ways. Efraim had explained some time ago that it was for the defense of the city. Why make nice straight streets that any idiot could navigate when the only people that were supposed to be here were shape shifters. Efraim taught them to use their sense of smell to navigate as well as their eyes. William had learned quickly and even with his diminished senses in human form he trusted his legs and his memory to carry him. As he walked the ceiling crystals brightened slowly with the passage of the morning. He was unconcerned. He knew he had plenty of time before lunch and was content to just enjoy the leisurely stroll through his new home.
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After some time, his feet brought him to a familiar part of the city on the edges of the underground cavern. The yawning break in the cavern wall, framed by the naked woman and the proud werewolf, surprised him somewhat. He walked along the twisted tunnel of the temple. The gods and Goddesses arrayed along the niches and harsh cutbacks of the tunnel. He stopped in front of the familiar fat man with an elephant’s head. He looked down to see that the little mouse hadn’t moved. He still had no idea who this was supposed to be or even what religion he belonged to but for some reason he was calmed looking at the deity. The white of the stone used to carve the statue was old but it looked just like it had when he had first seen it all those weeks ago. Not that he expected stone to age in less than a month, but it gave the feeling of timelessness, and he was comforted by this.
He continued to follow the curving cave as it twisted back and forth in on itself. He walked into the open cul-de-sac at the end of the cave. The place was quiet and solemn. He saw the large stone table that had been cleared of all that he and Eustace had left there. The light shining down from the ceiling was subdued but bright all at the same time. Not at all like it had been the last time he was here. He sat down off to one side of the rounded hollow and crossed his legs in front of him.
He remained motionless and focused on his breathing. Questions kept surfacing in his mind only to dissolve under the pressure of new ones. He hadn’t told anyone about his encounter with the Shadows. Should he? Was he being trained for nothing except to fight those things that, if it hadn’t been for Aceso, he would be one of right now? He gave up trying to think about the things that he couldn’t answer. Instead, he took a deep breath in and tried to clear his mind of everything. He had come here for a reason, and he was pretty sure that it wasn’t to argue with himself about things that he knew very little about.