Despite his fear, Astor crawled forward in some unknown direction. After a day without food or water, he was considerably weakened to the extent that he might struggle to walk upright. However, his main reason for crawling was that it made him feel more comfortable in the present moment. Hours passed, or it may have been minutes. There was really no way for Astor to tell without daylight and with his sense of reality slowly slipping away. In any case, enough time had passed for Astor to feel confident enough to stagger and stumble forward on his feet through the shadows. He had also found that, by pure luck, he had exited the main hall and was wandering down a cavern which he could be certain was walled on one side as he could feel a smooth wall to his left. There was no sound inside the cave, only the sound of his footsteps and heavy breathing, no sound, that is, until he heard a voice echo out of the depths. The voice got closer until he could make it out. It was a squeaky voice which sounded like it was coming from a small animal. However, as it got closer, it sounded as if it was saying "master" though the thing sounded out of breath, so Astor couldn't be sure. When it was just a few feet away and panting heavily, Astor was certain it was a humanoid of some kind, though he still couldn't see anything. He stood in fear and curiosity, listening to the sound of the heavy, belaboured breather until it spoke to him and a clearer voice.