The woman stood silent and stare at him for a few moments then turned, her expression shifted grimly, then she said in a flat tone as she pointed towards the sea of darkness ahead.
"There."
Mathew followed her gaze and direction and looked into the sea of darkness, then back to her with a brow raised.
"What were you doing there?"
She shrugged.
"Well, it's the only place those damned beasts wouldn't dare approach."
"And you didn't think there was a good reason for that?"
She turned away in frustration.
"Stop questioning me already. Just ask me what you need to and let's be done with this conversation."
Mathew placed his head in his hand, closed his eyes, and rubbed his chin as he thought of what it was he needed to know.
"...Alright. What else do you know about the runes? Apart from their meaning of course."
"The organization that studied these inscriptions is widely known as the Order of the Forgotten. They dedicated years to uncovering the secrets of this ancient civilization, but their findings never fully scratched the surface of the millennia of history."
"What are they officially known as?"
"As no one has ever had an encounter with them physically, their origins and official name are a mystery. The only reason we know they exist is because every few decades, they publish their findings for all to see, the reason and how they discover whatever they do is unknown"
"Well... that's a dam shame."
"Yes, it is. But although they never ventured into the depths of its history, they were able to discover one thing."
"What's that?"
"The name of the language. The runes engraved on that lantern of yours, are the characters of an old forgotten language. The runic language of..."
Before she could finish, a sudden, inexplicable hum filled the air, drowning out her voice, almost as fast as it appeared its volume increased and assaulted Mathew's ears. He quickly covered them with his hands as winced and gritted his teeth, but that was proven to be a futile endeavour as the sound only surged in volume. It sounded to him like a dissonant wave of irregular sounds, almost like the sound of static as it began reverberating through his every bones. The sound grew louder and louder at it penetrated deeper and deeper into his very being, vibrating in his skull, making his clenched teeth rattle, and grind against each other.
"Stop," Mathew said, his voice barely above a whisper. But the woman didn't hear and continued to speak. The sound only grew ever louder with every syllable spoken till eventually it reached a crescendo and his eyes felt like they were on the verge of popping out of his skull which threatened to burst. Soon it felt like his ear drums were on the verge of bursting open and he grew desperate for whatever this was to stop, but there was no respite. The hum only got louder, and louder, and louder and the whites in his eyes were soon replaced by crimson.
Mathew felt like he was going mad from the pain. His body and mind were both on the verge of breaking and just as the sound reached a deafening peak, so did his resilience. He slumped to the ground motionless and stared at the roof above. Now only moments away from death, and with all the strength he could muster, he yelled at the top of his voice.
"I said, MAKE! IT! STOP!"
And finally, she stopped. Once she did, a wave of silence washed over him and he fell to his knees with saliva dripping from his mouth and he struggled for a breath. That one word she had spoken made him writhe in excruciating pain. The silence that instantly filled the room was loud and welcome, the cacophony of noise that echoed in his mind halted, and as if the universe itself paused to acknowledge his plea, silence dominated.
Still gasping for air, Mathew strained to catch his breath. Minutes passed and although his ears still rang, he could finally muster the strength to at least think straight again.
'Where did that noise come from?'
Was it the codex? Or was it that strange presence that he had felt since the beginning of his trial? He could finally think straight right, but he was stull struggling to regain his composure, so for a while, he decided to push the investigation to the side. Whatever it was, he knew without a doubt that he didn't want to experience that sensation ever again. As he lay there, the remaining pressure in his ears finally eased, and the crimson haze that clouded his vision dissipated.
The woman who was shocked by his sudden outburst at a single word stared at him utterly confused by how he reacted. As an outside observer she was blissfully unaware of the pain that one word had forced him to face. And if he was being honest with himself, Mathew thought it was better that way. He didn't have the strength or will to start a conversation with this woman.
Turning to the relic that lay at his side, Mathew scrutinized the markings on the lantern of avarice almost hoping they would willingly explain their meaning to him. But he achieved nothing, and only made himself feel like a fool for thinking the words would talk before dismissing the relic.
The woman who was still dumbstruck by his outburst stared at Mathew with an astounded expression.
"...What's wrong with you?"
The young cynic's gaze darted to the woman, and after finally regaining his full composure, he contemplated the next steps to take He sat there for a while, perplexed by what was the correct direction to take. Should he go and find the wall the woman spoke of? Or does he ignore the distraction, and find a way out of this maze? No, Who said the exit wasn't the same place she was talking about? Whatever he was going to do, he now only had two options. But like when he was drawn to the wall earlier, for some reason he felt a strange pull towards the former.
He re-summoned his beautiful relic and carefully inspected it again before glancing at the woman and then back to the relic. He thought hard about what to do as he contemplated his task during this trial. His task was to survive and that was likely related to the voidborn roaming the halls, but this problem with the runes and that strange pull felt like something different.
A lantern tied to god knows what? Sure, why not? That makes about as much sense as everything else here. But he came from a world where humans have obtained the ability to fly and lift boulders the size of cars so he wasn't one to talk about sense. A few moments later, he looked at the beautiful woman and said
"We won't figure out what this is while sitting here so we might as well see where this rabbit hole goes."
***
A while later, Mathew and the woman continued to stroll through the passage. As they ventured deeper the air grew heavier and the light from the lantern of avarice danced along the stone walls.
The cobblestone halls were as dead silent as ever, only broken by the sound of their footsteps. At his side, the woman walked beside him, her brow furrowed in thought as her eyes darted from wall to wall, watching for the slightest sign of movement. She glanced at Matthew, who strode forward, almost indifferent to the eerie tension in the air. The tension in the air grew and grew, until finally, the woman finally broke the quiet, her voice low and cautious.
"What am I doing here?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What else would I be talking about?" she turned to him, scowled, then said. "You know, if it weren't for the death of that idiot, I wouldn't even be in this mess."
"You're welcome to go join him then."
The woman's scowl deepened and her brows practically knitted together as she continued.
"Why do you want to get to that wall so badly anyway?"
"Would you rather stay behind in this monster-infested maze alone then?"
She paused for a while, then scoffed and asked.
"You've got some nerve you know. Assuming I'd really need your help to survive. I've made it just fine coming this far alone, haven't I?"
The young cynic sighed.
"Suit yourself then."
Picking up his pace, he briskly walked past her. As she watched the light of the lantern grow dimmer as he went further, her arrogant demeanour stiffened ever so slightly as her fingers grazed the edge of her sleeve. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and for a fraction of a moment. Reaching out, she grabbed his arm, called out, and said.
"Do you have to be so difficult?"
Without turning to answer, Mathew responded.
"Just show me the way."
The woman glared at him. If her stare was enhanced, with the intensity she was glaring, she would have burnt a hole in his skull. Sadly, she couldn't do anything to him. She was already too far into the darkness to leave the safety of his lantern's light behind.
"Fine."