Old Tongue

A while later, a beautiful woman with blonde hair and green eyes wearing a ripped white dress covered in dirt was walking down a dark hallway. At her side was a young boy looking no older than seventeen. In his hand was a beautiful lantern. They moved carefully down the dark path.

Glancing nervously at their shadows that seemed to stretch and twist unnaturally around them, the boy asked.

"Are we any closer?" 

The woman was silent for a few moments, then said.

"How many times have you asked me that question already?"

"Well, we've been going down this path for nearly an hour."

The woman sighed.

"Have some dam patience. When were there I'll tell you."

Mathew glared at her for a bit, then said.

"You'd better."

As they continued down the dark path, Mathew's grip tightened around the handle of the lantern. The light softly illuminated their surroundings, revealing the crumbling state of the cobblestone walls.

Mathew looked around as he walked by.

'I thought this place was reasonably well preserved, but I guess not seeing the state of this path. At least not ever part of it was.'

His gaze drifted and he glanced back, then mind began to wander back to how he had ended up walking these dreary paths.

***

"Where... Where did that come from?"

The woman was shocked and inquisitive about where the stunningly beautiful lantern had come from, but Mathew was too focused on analyzing the relic to find the will to answer her. Earlier he dismissed the appearance of the door, but if he was intentionally directed there by Finally, after a few moments of intense examination, he turned to the beautiful woman and said in a flat tone.

"Do you know what this is?"

He gestured to the body of the lantern where a line of runes had been carved into it. 

The woman growled at him, shifted her gaze to the runes, and then raised a brow. At least that was what it looked like she was doing. Her expression wasn't one he had ever seen anyone make. It was almost, comical. After a few seconds, she turned to Mathew, and said with a mischievous grin.

"I have no obligation to answer your questions, so why should I?"

Mathew stared at her, then sighed.

"Sorry for disturbing you then. You probably don't know the answer anyway."

Then he turned away and walked in the opposite direction.

The woman's face flushed.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Well, you said you had no idea what this is, and I have nothing to do with you. So what's the point of staying together?"

The woman stood there utterly dumbfounded by Mathew's train of thought. 

"Are you serious?" she said with a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth. Despite her feigning apathy, like anyone who found themselves in such an unreasonably dangerous situation, Mathew could see the signs that she was not as calm as she made herself to be.

"You think you can just... walk away?"

"Well... no I don't."

"So where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

Mathew then proceeded to turn around and walk away.

'I don't have time for this crazy woman's crap. I need to find a way out of this damn maze.'

Interrupting his train of thought, the woman yelled.

"Wait!"

Swiveling on his heel, he turned back.

"What is it now?"

"I'm sorry, okay. I'll tell you what I know."

Mathew grinned and folded his arms in anticipation of what she was about to say.

"Alright, I'm listening."

The woman inhaled deeply, then exhaled sharply. Looked at him with a stern expression, then said in the most serious tone she could muster.

"It's just an inscription! And an old one at that!".

Letting her words sink in, Mathew stared at her for a few seconds. Then finally allowed his thoughts to flow. As disbelief washed over him, he thought to himself, but the words slipped out before he could stop them.

"Is this woman actually crazy?"

His words echoed in the empty path. But still, the woman just stared at him. 

"Look, I'm going to need more than some stupid observation like, it's old. What does the damn thing mean"

The woman sighed.

"Well, I didn't expect a peasant like you to understand the old tongue."

The veins on Mathew's forehead bulged.

"Just tell me what the damn thing means.

"Well... I, don't know."

A tense silence fell over them as they stared at each other. Mathew's expression was one of disbelief, while the woman had a proud grin plastered across her face. Breaking the silence, Mathew said.

"What, the actual, fuck!"

The woman raised a brow.

"What? I answered your question didn't I?"

A pool of rage bubbled beneath the calm exterior Mathew presented. He wasn't sure if the woman was toying with him, which was already something to be angry about. Or if she actually didn't know what it meant and was just wasting his time.

"So you don't know what it means?"

"Exactly. Haven't I said that already?"

Mathew stood silent for a few more moments, then slowly let a chuckle slip through. soon he erupted into a fit of hysterical laughter. He clutched ah his stomach and smacked his thigh violently. The woman grew increasingly more uncomfortable due to his sudden shift.

Inching closer, she asked.

"Hey, are you okay?"

But Mathew just kept laughing. Eventually swallowing his saliva and going from a laughing fir to a coughing fit. Eventually, he calmed himself and turned to the woman.

"You're asking me if I'm okay, after saying that bullshit?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What else would I be talking about?! I asked if you knew what these damn inscriptions meant!"

"Well of course I don't! Nobody does you peasant. It's a lost language from an ancient civilization. No one's been able to decipher it for centuries."

"So why the hell have you been wasting my... you know what? Forget it. I'm done dealing with your shit."

Without giving the woman a chance to respond, he swiveled and stormed off. She tried multiple times to call him back, but he refused to give her any more attention But before he could get too far, she yelled.

"I don't know what it means, but I've seen depictions of it somewhere in this godawful maze."