The way and the pillars

His fur was wet, his back ached and darkness all around. He felt cold and rough stone beneath his back. He sought deep in his mind why he was there, but nothing came up. The air was damp and as cold as the rock was, he had to get up.

All around him was stone. He could move though. The blackness was all natural. He remembered the long time he had been trapped in the molasses like reality of the warp, and felt a lot more at ease with the far less alien damp night. He placed his feet against the roof and learned the slab was not as thick as he had feared. A short struggle later and rain seeped in through an opening. Sosir laid panting, welcoming the cool drops after the exertion.

Soon he stood outside the blackened box. His confusion was not lessened by his whereabouts. He found himself on the top of a pillar of sorts. Around him as far as the damp hazy air and the rain would let him see he could see the same pillars. Some came from below, others hung out of the clouds and mist above. A sigh left his lips, and he clenched his jaws with pain as he tried to turn his neck from one side to the other. Sleeping in the cold never did muscles any good.

The gray diffuse light had no real origin, but he was at least glad he could once more see. Odd dappled white stripes had been chalked on his body, marking the boundaries of his limbs. Scars peeked through his fur plain to see, and reminded him of his travels a little more. He had somehow come here through the weald of thorns, though the boundary between that place and this one was still vague. Wherever he was, he had never heard of a place like it. He kept his feet busy like his mind, and a small climb down had his feet on a bridge spanning to the next pillar. The monolith was real and solid enough yet its connection to the pillars seemed vague, for lack of better words.

The air felt cold, moist and stale. To his surprise no wind howled through the pillars. The smells were strange and unexpected too. Rather than the cool and pleasant earthy smells associated with fog and mist, his nose picked up those bitter odors of wet dust. Now he was moving his body heat was very slowly drying the inner layer of his fur. He heard and felt the grinding of those columns In a vast distance.

The bridge made way for another pillar. Towering steps and tunnels marred the smoothness of the monolith. Tunnels led to other bridges and all of them were as good as the other. He found no set pattern, no route among the towers that made sense. One tower made way for the next, all bridges seemingly equal, spanning into the unseen distance and leading only to the next tower. Only once did he find something he recognised, something not as bizarre and monotonous. 

On a sharply cut pedestal in the center of a tunnel through a column he found a gadget. A small machine the ettins must have used for something or other. It had been taken apart, and the parts methodically placed. Puzzled, he searched the entire tower and the pedestal for more. Something he knew, or a clue where it had come from. He found nothing but bitter, wet dust. 

Often he heard the shifting and grinding of stone in the distance, and once the bridge he stood upon moved at both sides, assuring he now completely had lost the way back. Tired and frustrated he sat down in the next tunnel. The gloom seemed to darken even slightly more, heralding the odd pseudo-night. During the disorienting day some memories had come again: He had journeyed through the sharp mazes of the thorned forest, ever more having to climb over black stones and travel around them at times. Willowisp grendels had eyed him threateningly from a distance, and he had made haste where possible. 

While reliving his memories huddled in the cold he sometimes saw bridges swerve past him. One moved out of the cold, dark mist and sat there in his sight. Out there on the bridge in the distance strolled a creature. Though it was not too big it was still another living being in this weirdness. He stood up to shout at it, having no appetite for an eternity alone, when he noticed its look. The eyes stood widely on stalks, tentacles tipped its limbs rather than paws and a wet green sheen clothed the thing. Its mad flapping gait made him more so hesitant to call out. 

He had slept somewhat. Curled up inside the monolithic tower, uncomfortable but out of the rain. Dew clung to his fur and whiskers, but unaccompanied by fresh morning scents. The bridge the flabby thing had froliced over was still there. Another bridge, connected loosely to his tower, sat only a little above the still bridge. With some difficulty he clambered up one, and jumped down to the other. The creature was the only lead he had despite its unfamiliarity. He had no choice but to follow it.

The flapping thing had left no tracks on the stone. The bridge never branched though, and he was certain he was still following it. The tower the bridge eventually connected to somehow differed from the earlier ones. Rather than the smoothly cut irregular hexagonal pillars he had found before this thing was made of a multitude of pillars and spires. Its bulk rose grand and grimly out of the mist, never quite seeming separate from it until he stood right up to it. 

Wide tunnels gaped into the heart of the dark mount. His gut was wrenched with unease, but no other way existed. The darkness within was not absolute and the tunnel not fully roofed. Still he saw very little. Gibbering noises echoed before and around him making his fur stand on end. Beyond the walls of jutting stone the sounds were stronger, voiced like the cluttered chatter in a crowded room. Nowhere in the walls did he see holes larger than a fist. 

His unvoiced question was answered when he saw two tentacles slip out of a hole, two stalked eyes follow and the rest squeeze bonelessly out. With a nauseating squelch the creature slid through. 

“Hey you! I need help!” Sosir said with urgence.

The flapping thing froze and stared at him. It was not a very big creature, its stature reminiscent of the petite form of the ettins. This one had a more purple hue over its meek flesh.

With a sudden jolt the thing bounced at the opposing wall and again formlessly kneaded itself through a hole too small to follow it through.

Frustration mounted in Sosir, but he was helpless here. With a sigh he walked on. Another day passed during which he had found more bridges and other of the strange black cities. Once he had followed his nose to a storage room and though he could not fit through the miniscule entrance he had fished some gum-like cheese out of it.

He had laughed at this. The origin of the cheese was unknown to him and he had no desire to guess at it, but the cities themselves were like cheeses. Tunnels throughout, filled with holes and mystery. They even had their own version of mice.

His ironic mirth did not last long though.

Every hive had seemed connected directly to the others by a thin and branching bridge. On this he had seen a sort of puzzle of floating stones. Cubes, small beams, crude and ragged shapes. It had taken quite a few passes before he recognised them. It was the pillars, bridges, columns and cities he stood upon. Unguarded and plain as day before him was a three dimensional map of the strange place.

The shifting of bridges on the map coincided with the echoes of grinding movement in the vast distance and he started to wonder… with an unsteady hand he pushed one of the columns down into the pedestal, and a great scraping and a collision answered from the gloom. With agitated and anxious haste he shoved, turned and pushed the intricate puzzle together. He kept the nests in motion to prevent the things inside them from intervening. 

One last pedestal he pushed into the board. A shock went through him as he swiftly moved down, and all was in place. A chunk of the gooey, gummy cheese glued everything into place. He relaxed. A glimpse around showed he stood in an ettin tunnel, like he had wandered through dozens of times before. A little damper than usual, but nothing alien anymore.

Sosir started walking, no idea where he was going. The puzzle fell apart behind him, little stones rattling on the ground.

*the creatures mentioned here are the aliens from creatures adventures. They have been converted for c3/ds by tarnedangel. They can be found here: https://creaturescaves.com/downloads.php?section=Breeds&view=527