High above, the ceiling is dark. By the entrance in the north, reaching upward toward the ceiling, several columns of stone stand like stretched hourglasses, in shape at least, for they are neither formed of glass nor keep the hour with falling sand within. These columns do not carry the same color and striation as the rest of the rock down here. They seem a little more rough, and the lichen which has attached to them are of wildly bright colors, oranges, golds and bright greens. There is space enough between them for the thickest giant to pass through without bumping into one or another of them. Within this almost enclosed place is a similarly bright slab of stone, seemingly formed of the same material as the shapely columns. Lichen of fuscia, gold, and purple have made this slab their home. Interestingly enough, they seem to have formed a pattern which is, from a short distance, recognizable as a rough picture of a coiled asp. Mounted on the slab of stone is a small plaque.