Fantastical Mistake

Chapter 3 - Not A Prisoner, But A Guest

We were now in a long decrepitly illuminated corridor of stone walls, with no windows. The creature kept on walking ahead and I tried to keep up as closely as possible. Not that it ever took its eyes away from me.

It was very quiet, which unsettled me. My mind kept expecting to see shadows suddenly jump out from the walls, to hear faint whispers in the distance. Instead, there was just the noise from my footsteps, as the creature didn't seem to make any sound walking. It lead me from corridor to corridor, always gloomy and with no natural source of light.

Until we arrived to a wider corridor with a big dark wooden door to my right, and high glass windows to my left, finally letting the sunshine in. Looking out, all I saw was woods and the sky. It seemed to be morning, which made me realize that it had been a full day since I arrived here. Time really slipped my mind completely when I was down in that dungeon.

The creature proceeded to open the door while I was looking out the window, making me jump with the sudden chaotic noise that filled the hallway that had been unnervingly silenced until then.

- Stay close – the fluffy being said, ushering me in with a wiggling arm.

The scene presented inside left me perplexed. If either by fear or just surprise, I wasn't sure.

I was led to what I could only assume to be a kitchen. There were a couple of stairs down into the lowered panel white floor, high brick white walls covered in blue cabinets on the right and left, bronze utensils covering them. The wall in front, with two high windows on either side, had some kitchen counters on both side, with some kind of wood furnace in the middle, which was ignited at the moment. The spacious floor was mostly occupied with two lengthy light colored timber tables, with a lot of high benches underneath.

The surprising sight, however, was of the commotion that was happening in said kitchen. Dozens upon dozens of the same creatures as the fluffy one I was following now occupied the space, behaving in a complete disarray.

They were all surprisingly similar – black hair covering from head to toe, all short beings that would only go up to my waist or even smaller, with barely visible eyes through the fur. There were different types though. A few had curly hair instead of straight, some had slightly wavy hair. A few were just a frizzy ball of fur. The eyes were distinguishable too, as they seemed to have different colors and shapes.

Eyes which fell immediately upon me when the door opened. Instinctively, I recoiled behind the creature, wishing it were big enough to shelter me from all the strange looks. The commotion they were in suddenly stopped as they all turned to us.

- What the hell is that doing here? – one asked.

- You were supposed to keep it in the dungeon – another interjected.

- You are just a useless one, aren't you? When you finally had something to do!

- Can't even do that! Master will not be pleased...

- Shut up – the creature I knew demanded, sounding angry. – My job is to keep it alive, so I'm here to feed it. Make room!

The others were still annoyed as they made way for us to walk, as the creature lead me through the kitchen in the direction of the furnace, pointing to a stool at the top of the table for me to sit on. Nervously, aware of the feeling of distrust and hatred that surrounding me, I sat uncomfortably avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Suddenly, a bowl with a strange liquid was thrown my way, startling me.

- Here. Can you eat this? – the creature asked, standing beside me.

- What's this? – I asked, not enticed at all by what was in front of me.

- Boiled soup – it simply said, as if it explained everything.