The sounds had ended at some point during the process of the doorway opening and there was a stillness about him with the exception of his own breath. He could see better now. The door really did seem like just an old iron bound oak door. From beyond the portal, Hale could barely make out what seemed to be a stone floor and he could tell now that the light was cast from unseen torches that must be on either side of the entrance. Though he had no real idea of where this door led, he knew some how that it wasn't going to take him deeper into the cave system. There seemed nothing to do, but to see what was on the other side.
Hale stood up carefully and, for a moment contemplated the opening. There didn't seem to be any sound nor was there any perceivable threat. If it wasn't for the shear impossibility of what he just witnessed, he would have had no trouble in stepping through. He approached slowly, one careful step at a time, ready to retreat. He quickly darted just his head through and looked rapidly both ways before jerking back. He was sweating, though there didn't seem to be anything that was threatening nor was the cave all that warm.
There was a long corridor that ran in both directions from the doorway and only the area immediately near the door was lit. He had seen that there was indeed a torch on either side of the door set into twisted black iron sconces. Hale felt vaguely uneasy. He didn't feel like going through the door, but he certainly couldn't hide out in this cave forever. Looking around, his eyes settled on the mound of rubble with its sad bits of bone debris. Hale collected some of the larger rocks and positioned them up against the door attempting to wedge it open. He was skeptical about how will it would really work, but there wasn't anything else he could use. Once he had created a sizable heap, Hale retrieved his duffel and once again approached the door.
He sucked in a deep breath and stepped through. Immediately, he looked in both directions as if expecting someone to approach him. But there was not movement that he could perceive. Both directions were swallowed up in darkness outside of the torchlight and there was a deep silence that spoke of long distances. In front of the door and running parallel to the wall, were a line of basalt columns that stretched up and out of view. They seemed to be spaced evenly some twenty or so feet apart. Hale could also see that there were other doors along the wall. The two seemed to be evenly spaced, but unlike the columns, there seemed to be differences in them.
Turning back to the door he had just come through, Hale could see that there was some sort of marking or glyph on the door's lintel. He couldn't even begin to guess what language it might be in, let alone what it could mean, if anything at all. He walked cautiously to his right towards the next door. As he approached, the torches around that door leapt to life. Alarmed, Hale halted and snapped his head around quickly. Again, nothing seemed to stir in the passageway. He still felt a slight sense of dread, like entering an ancient crypt. Yet, he was oddly curious as well. He glanced back towards the door he had come through, but it remained open and the torches were still lit.
There was something about this bizarre place that reminded Hale of the pictures of old gothic cathedrals in England. The heavy flagstones making up the floor, the dark round pillars rising up to an unseen ceiling and the rough looking stones of the walls. Hale stepped up to the door he had been approaching and saw that it had different runes on the lintel and that there was a bit of decorative variation on the door itself. There was a large key hole below the wrought iron handle of this door just as on the one that he had come through. He suspected that if he were to open this door, he would not be looking into the hillside that he came from.
Hale walked quietly out towards the columns, his head still tracking from side to side. The light from the torches stretched only just beyond the columns, but Hale could see that there was a central hall. He clicked on his flashlight and with its feeble illumination he could now see that there was a matching line of pillars and he moved towards. He stopped when he reached them and turned back to look at his door. For an instant, he was shaken as the torches there had gone out. However, the door remained open. He let out his breath. Apparently there was some sort of time limit on them, which really didn't make any sense. They were torches, not light bulbs! It was weird enough that they had come on when he was walking to the next door. His mind hesitated to really use the word, "magic" in describing them, but there didn't seem to be any rational explanation either.
He shrugged, there really wasn't any point in dwelling on it. Hale continued across the hall and soon saw that there was indeed another wall lined with the doors. He quickly approached one allowing the torches beside it snap on. Turning off his flashlight, Hale briefly looked up and down the corridor. Both directions appeared to be identical and one way seemed as good as the other. He hefted his duffel and moved up the right hand wall wondering to himself how long it would take to reach some door that would lead him somewhere outside. He picked up his pace a little at the thought. He had no idea of how many doors there were, but it struck him that he was in a place where there might be thousands upon thousands. The word "magic" drifted in his head, but he didn't want to think about that right now, there were bigger fish to fry.
He stopped short suddenly, he could hear some sort of echo behind him. He peered out into the gloom behind him, but there wasn't anything to see, the torches that were behind him did not reveal the source. Listening quietly, he felt sweat again trickling down his face and back. He hoped that the people that owned this place weren't the type to shoot first and ask questions later. He waited uncertainly, there was a part of him that was voting for hauling ass and the more rational part that felt he should meet who ever was approaching him. He felt himself stepping slightly backwards.
From down the hall where the furthest torch was lit, Hale saw a massive shadow. Then those torches abruptly went out. The sound that he could hear now was that of something metal being dragged across the floor towards him. His mouth was suddenly very dry. The next set of torches briefly revealed the monstrous shape and again the torches were snuffed out. Hale was backing away quickly now, but whatever it was that was moving towards him was swiftly descending on him. Hale turned and fled.
For several endless moments he sprinted up the hall hearing the noise behind him grow. Then he cursed under his breath, he was going the wrong way to get back to his door. There wasn't anything that he could do about it, though. He was getting tired, it seemed that he had been doing a lot of running today. It hit him then. There was no reason that he couldn't use the key that he had found on one of the doors. He struggled at his shirt collar for a moment and then had it free. He turned and dove at one of the doors, dropping the key to the floor in his haste. As he snatched it back up, he could see the set of torches behind him go out and heard the scream of the tortured metal.
With a shaking hand, Hale rammed the key into the door. To his grateful relief, it swung outwards, opening onto a lightly forested landscape. Hale barely saw it, he dove through without another thought, sensing the monstrous entity looming up behind him. He got up and slammed the door shut just as the shadow was falling across the doorway. Hale wearily sank down with his pack pressed up against the door. Hell, what had he gotten himself into now?
