As I wandered further through this strange maze, I noticed that the voices grew more frequent, the lucky escapes happening again and again so often it almost seemed like all of time was bent on my slow, nerve-wracking death. I knew I was going to come face to face with whatever lived here, and soon. It was just bound to happen. 

I kept trying to prepare myself for this, but how do you prepare yourself for a face-to-face encounter with creatures you don't even know anything about?

But just as time seemed bent on my slow death, so did luck seem to be with me. I mean, I hadn't been seen or anything at all--yet. It would be just my luck and an ironic part of life if I had an encounter just as soon as that thought popped into my head.

Sure enough, I had taken but a few steps forward after this thought, when the wall to my right burst open. A hidden door to a secret passage had opened! I froze yet again. 

I waited for a face to appear, but saw none. I had just begun to relax (maybe this secret passage had a motion sensor, though I had no idea why it would), when the face finally appeared. I almost cried for relief, as it was a human face! My shock echoed in the other's face, as it was surprised as I was to see another human being. But then I took another look-was it really a human? 

Now that I was looking a little closer, I noticed details that made up a difference. The creature's face was very close to a human's, but with unusually bright green eyes, and rough, dirt-colored skin. And the clothes were very peculiar too, as they were heavily muddied, baggy white pants, a maroon hat with no brim, and a long, short-sleeved high-necked shirt with a color of green I had never seen before. She-yes, it was a she-wore absolutely nothing on her feet or face. 

For several silent minutes we stared at each other. It seemed as though she was undecided between running and screaming or just staring silently at me, frozen. She chose the latter, and stared at my light, clean skin with shocked and yet wondering eyes.

After a while, she seemed to decide to try to make friends, for she pointed at herself and said in a gravelly, seemingly unused voice, "Corzin." Then she looked at me questioningly.

"Emily. Emily Cooper," I replied. She jumped back at the sound of my voice in shock, for mine was such an abrupt difference from hers, it scared her. She paused a few minutes longer before stepping slowly forward, further away from the shadow of the tunnel. I noticed then that she seemed to be almost a shy kind of person, and that her clothes were slightly ragged--which I'd find out later was because she was of the caste of these creatures who were poor, and basically ignored.

Finally, she pointed at herself and said 'Corzin' again, then pointed at me, and with seeming difficulty said, "Emi-cky Kawp-air." She looked at me, as if proud of being able to say it. I nodded, smiling, hoping to show her I was friendly--though I was still undecided about being friends with her. 

She cocked her head, then attempted a smile. It appeared that she hadn't smiled in such a long time, that her muscles were unused to making such a movement. But it was close enough. Then an invisible wall between us seemed to break, and she started talking. Slow, at first, then faster, and faster, till she was talking so rapidly I couldn't understand her. Her speech was maybe even harder to understand than the first group I had heard. This is what I caught:

"Nefckew seen one 'iken yaw behfoah. Yaw heh befauh?" She didn't give me a chance to answer. "I bin hee foo 'ooooooong time. Howyou 'ikenitsofaw? I'ikeitahwight but nomayfriends..." here her face scrunched up with slight sadness. But she hurried on, talking even faster. "Ahbutyouwou'dn'tbeinteeewested, yaw popap'y confoosed and scawedwikeihadbeen... But me can't weemembeew anihfin fom behfoah... Ahitdoesn'tmattehhowahyouidoin okbutfowwantofcompany yawknow itwondeefo' yawcamewin yawdeed I isso'uckynow!!" Here her face beamed at me, and she looked so happy she could dance. She just waved her hands in an odd fashion, then talked so much faster I couldn't catch a word.

Presently she seemed to guess that I couldn't understand a word she was saying (probably by my confused expression), and stopped talking suddenly. Then she said slowly, "I has pace taw tee'k... show yaw?" And reached for my hand. Then she suddenly seemed to think again, and took her hand away.

"Yaw kem wif me?" Corzin said, with such pleading, yet probing eyes I could not say no. I nodded uncertainly. So she walked back to the entrance of the secret tunnel, and looked back at me, with an expression that clearly said, "you coming or not? Come on then!" and she beckoned. I stepped forward, still uncertain. Where was she leading me? 

She smiled, still beckoning to me with one hand, her other hand on the entrance to the tunnel. 

I decided that I may as well follow her. She seemed friendly, and might be the only friendly creature I'd meet here. Also, I really had nowhere else to go or any particular destination. It seemed the best or at least safest way to learn more, to understand. 

And so I followed. Corzin, leading me into the grey, rather dark tunnel, beckoned again and smiled joyfully.