The portal was a perfect sheet of energy, and it was huge. Thirty feet tall and the same wide, the pond of light swirled clockwise in a slow and steady pattern.
I craned my neck up at the ominous portal, making a silent promise, and I just knew I’d regret my decision just as soon as I stepped through.
The queen sat nearby and said, “The creature that lives on the other side of this portal is called an Ichneumon. It is an ancestor to the small animal that is now called a mongoose. Over the centuries it has evolved many differences, though. The beasts used to be numerous, but our kind, with the aid of the Fafniri wyverns and a few dragon elders, hunted them to the brink of extinction. This is the only one left that we know of.
“They were not always evil, but their hearts were turned after the pact was broken and we warred against them. Many of our kind fell to their warriors, but we prevailed. Yet this one final Ichneumon entered our caves almost two hundred years ago, and stole the Ruby of Souls from our palace, killing the Queen Matriarch and many of the royal guards. It escaped down this tunnel and used an artifact to make this portal. Only the gnomes have the power to create portals, and I am no longer sure if they still can.
“Worse yet, this is a very specific type of portal. It is called an instance. It magically transports beings from here to another location: the creature’s own swampy lair. Each instance teleports individuals into a random location within the lair and controls the number of those allowed to enter at any given time. This instance only allows a single warrior to step into the Ichneumon’s lair.
“Because of these restrictions, we were unable to overwhelm the beast with numbers alone.”
I thought for a moment and asked the only thing left for me to understand before taking on the challenge: “Is there anything you can tell me about the Ichneumon? Does it have a weakness? Why is it so deadly?”
Harnoth asked the queen for a chance to answer. She tipped her head in assent and the guard explained, “The beast is not vast in size, but our records claim that they have a poison that kills any dragon kin swiftly. Some say that the poison must be injected, other tells stories of the Ichneumon spitting poison. We do not know. It is a fast and fierce creature, though, and fashions an armor for itself using its own saliva and the mud from the swamp. That is why the wyverns have trouble hurting the beast with claw or fang.”
I made a few mental notes, hoping that the hints would be enough to help me, but I would need to find out for myself.
Harnoth finished, “I am sorry, young warrior. All else is speculation and highly debated.”
I said that I was ready to depart and had only to reassure Pachi once more. Crossing to her, I pushed my forehead against hers, and breathed in the summer winds and spring grass smell of her fur. All is well, friend. I will be back soon.
She didn’t answer, but pushed against me, making me step back and toward the portal. Then she sat down on her haunches and faced the instance, prepared to wait for my return.
My hands shook slightly, but I steeled my nerves. I removed my bow and nocked an arrow, then walked forward and stepped into the moonlight surface of the portal.
A chilling tingle passed through me, and I marveled how I could feel my rear foot pushing off the stone behind me while the one in front squelched into sinking mud.
I found myself in a fetid swamp. Insects buzzed incessantly, filling the place with noise. The swamp seemed to be another underground chamber, and roots grew down from above like vipers. The swamp was large, but the ceiling hung as low as ten or fifteen feet in some places. In others, it rose up to thirty or more feet.
The smell of rot and mouldering death made my eyes water. I pressed my mouth into the sleeve of one arm and squished forward. All around me, puddles of rank water ran around and between tall, fern-like plants. It was the glowing leaves of the ferns that illuminated the vast chamber. Though it cast a sickly green shade to everything, I was nonetheless thankful to have some light.
I walked forward a few more feet and struck my foot on something hard. When I looked down, I saw a white stone, a trace of moss growing on its edges. Then I realized it was not a stone at all, but a single segment of a wyvern’s spine.
Taking in the chamber again, I realized that hundreds of bones protruded from the mud at all angles. This entire dungeon was little more than a graveyard.
Ahead of me, I saw a small mound of mud jutting up from the swamp. It wasn’t very tall, but it seemed the best place to get a better look at my surroundings.
More bones stuck up out of the earthen mound, and I reached out to grab one and pull myself up. The bone I touched was a long, thin rib, and when I pulled at it, the rib held as though it were firmly in place. Yet when I stepped up, trying to use the rib to climb, it twisted free, spinning slightly, and I fell down against the mound, my lip breaking on the stonelike mud.
And then the mound moved—slow at first, so slow I thought I was imagining it.
I heard the sharp hiss of something breathing, and the mound spun around to meet me. It unfurled, showing its length, and I stared up into the hateful eyes of the Ichneumon.
I drew and released the arrow faster than I ever had before, fear and the elixir speeding me along. The shaft sank into the creature’s neck.
The Ichneumon tittered then
