White Plume Mountain

the Justicar waded forward, his motion making far too much noise. The way things were going, the whole dungeon would be able to hear him coming.

A short corridor extended away into the dark. Jus looked back to see Polk holding a scroll upon a clipboard and scribbling notes as fast as he could write. Though he half-wished the man would be swallowed up by a carrion crawler, Jus seemed to be cursed with a streak of responsibility.

“Polk! Stop that, and stay close.”

“I’m chronicling, son!” The teamster held up a page coveredwith awful, childish letters written with a waterproof wax marker. “Don’t pay meno mind. I’m just an observer. Hey, how do you spell ‘thews’?”

Jus muttered, exchanged a look of annoyance with Escalla, then jerked his chin toward the tunnel ahead. The faerie gave her partner a confident nod, then popped instantly out of view. On invisible wings, she whirred slightly ahead of the Justicar as he felt his way forward through the water.

They moved slowly onward, senses testing at the darkness beyond. Moments later, Escalla came back to hover at Jus’ side.

“What is a thew anyway?” she asked.

“Who knows.”

The tunnel took a sudden ninety-degree turn. Jus flattened himself against a corner, knelt down in the muck on all fours, and peeked around the bend with his head down low.

“Let’s go.”

The faerie whirred invisibly ahead, and Jus followed. With a clang and a rattle, Polk brought up the rear, diligently watching for the slightest slip in his companions’ professional codes.

Cinders gave a warning growl. Cat smell.

“Cat?”

Wet cat. The hell hound didn’t seem particularly worried.Big wet cat, sitting in water.

Far down the tunnel, a lamp cast a little yellow pool of light. The Justicar moved carefully forward, and a figure slowly materialized out of the gloom.

The passage up ahead forked three ways. Just in front of the junction, a large female sphinx sat unhappily in the mire. Bigger than a cart horse, with her fur matted and her hair hanging limp, she looked rather like a huge, bedraggled lion. The creature sat up as she noticed her visitors and tried to make herself look haughty and prim.

She wore a natty headdress made out of gold and gems. Straight brown hair had been cut into a rather attractive little bob, but the effect was spoiled by the horrible humidity of the tunnels. Brown eyes and a smattering of freckles made the sphinx’s face look rather more like the girlnext door rather than a carnivorous monster.

A shimmering, transparent wall of force screened the sphinx and her intersection from the adventurers’ end of the corridor. Smoothing backher hair, the creature drew herself up and tried to make herself presentable as Jus, Polk, and the faerie drew near.

With one paw laid importantly upon her breast, the sphinx cleared her throat, then spoke a rhyme.

“Round she is, yet flat as a board

Altar of the Lupine Lords

Jewel on black velvet, pearl in the sea

Unchanged but e’erchanging eternally.”

The sphinx intoned her riddle in a beautifully culturedvoice. Before anyone else could move, Escalla popped into view and waved to the two men to keep away from the action.

“Guys, back off.” The faerie cracked her knuckles. “It’s timefor auntie to do her stuff.”

The faerie fluttered joyously toward the force wall and waved quite happily at the sphinx. “Hey, that’s a really great riddle! No one seems tomake them with that sort of quality anymore.”

The sphinx recoiled a little in surprise, then shrugged her furry shoulders and nodded. “Thank you. Answer the riddle, and I shall let youpass.”

“Again, classic technique used to best possibleeffect!” Escalla shook her head in admiration. “Riddle-solve, magic door. Imean, you just take tradition, and you make it work!”

“Oh.” Combing at her muddy hair, the sphinx sat up a littlestraighten “Well… well, thank you.”

“Oh, you’re welcome! I’m Escalla, by the way.” The faeriehovered happily in midair. “Boys, come up and meet…?” Escalla tilted herhead at the sphinx. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name?”

The sphinx gave a shy little smile and said, “It’s Enid.”

“Enid! Really?” Escalla raised one brow and introducedher companions. “Well, here’s Polk, the world’s most pedantic wagon driver, andthis is Ev-” The Justicar’s warning growl cut the faerie off. “Um, ev-everyone’sfriend, Jus the Justicar.” The girl leaned a little closer to the sphinx.“Overdeveloped sense of justice but has pecs to die for!”

“Really?”

“Oooh, yeah!” Escalla decided to sit upon Jus’ shoulders totalk with the sphinx. “So anyway! You’re magically held here in place, or areyou working freelance?”

“Hmmm? Oh, magically held.” Enid the sphinx minced about in acircle, trying to find a place out of the slime. “That little two-tonedreprobate put an enchantment on me. I’m stuck here for a whole month!”

“A month!” Escalla clapped her face to her hands. “Sittinghere in the mud? You could get swamp itch! You could get fur fungus! Isn’t thereeven a dry place to sit?”

“No. Not at all.” The woman-headed cat shook out her ruinedfur. “They give me eight hours to sleep over in a pokey little room-no brush, nocomb, and raw meat for supper. There’s not a book to read, not a thing to do butmake spell symbols and cook up new riddles!”

The faerie joined the sphinx in a shared bond of feminine indignation.

“Oooh, I hate that! Some damned sorceress up north hadme doing almost the exact same thing-had me delivering portents! Had to fly tosome ‘chosen child’s’ village and be his mentor for a whole year.” Escalla hadnever had to do anything of the kind, but she instantly threw herself into her role. “Damned little brat tried to pull my wings off!”

“No consideration. None at all.” The sphinx grumbled. Shetried to sit down and fold her paws, but the filthy water deterred her.

“But still, you get time to make up good riddles.” Escallalooked about the floor. “Hey, did some other guys come through here justbefore?”

“Sods snuck past me!” The sphinx grumbled, flexing her claws.“Both sets of them guessed my riddle in seconds!”

“That quickly?”

“Straight off the cuff. Said ‘moon’ in less time than ittakes to draw a breath!”

“Really?” Escalla looked suitably distraught, even whilefiling the information away. “Well it’s going to keep me guessing for a while, Ican tell you!”

The sphinx would hear none of it.

“Oh, I can’t imagine that! A girl like you? You’ll have it ina trice!” Enid scratched her ear with one hind leg. “Go on, give it a try-do!”

“Well, since you insist.” Escalla thoughtfully cupped herchin. “So, let’s see… I mean, it’s a classic. You’ve got reallygood, pure simplicity working for you here.” The faerie bit her lip, flew in acircle, and then came to a stop. “I’m gonna go right out on a limb here. I’mthinking… moon?”

Enid opened her front paws in joy and shouted. “See, you gotit! I knew you could!”

“Well, it took a lot of doing. But hey-moon-somethingeveryone sees, right in front of your face, so you never think about it! Classic misdirection, Enid! You really have the touch.”

Enid reached up to remove a slip of papyrus from the ceiling above the portal. She simpered as the force wall came down.