Chapter 4

The next morning, the party was roused by sounds of activity outside. Those that had been wearing armor redonned them, and they headed outside their room. As Othokent had mentioned the previous night, two guards were stationed in the corridor just outside the room.

The guards nodded when they saw the party arrive, and directed them down the corridor. One of the guards led the way, while the other stayed at the rear of the party, to ensure that no one got lost. Or more likely, to make sure that no one wandered off on their own.

The guards brought the party through a number of corridors in the lair, in a slightly different path than the one they had taken to get to the room. There was more activity in the lair, with visibly more lizardfolk patrols, as well as other lizardfolk bustling around the corridors, usually carrying some item or other. Vennoa wondered if that was the norm for the lair in the morning, or if there was something special about to happen in the lair.

Soon, they arrived back at the cave entrance that they had first entered from. As before, there were a number of guards on duty, although the party couldn’t tell if the guards were the same ones as before. The two guards that had led them there pointed North, in a different direction that the party had originally come from. It appeared that the guards had been briefed about the party’s quest, or at least they had been told enough to give the general direction.

The party headed off in the direction that guard pointed. Traveling through the marsh was difficult, as before, and Vennoa admired the lizardfolk for keeping their lair surprisingly clean even though it was right in the middle of the marsh.

Nothing untoward happened to the party as they slowly made their way through the marsh. They kept a lookout for quicksand, so no one fell in again. Around midday, they spotted a large pool in the distance. The pool was filled with brackish water, and there was a small stream of water leading into the pool from further in the North. Around the pool, there were various tall trees and hanging vines, and Vennoa spotted some large bones scattered around the pool.

“We are close,” Oceanus declared to the party.

They drew their weapons and began spreading out slightly as they approached the pool. They weren’t exactly sure if Thousand Teeth lived here, and if so, how they were going to lure it out. Just then, as they were considering their next move, there was some loud rustling sounds above them!

They raised their heads, and saw two giant constrictor snakes slithering down the vines towards them! The snakes hissed loudly, as if they weren’t trying to be stealthy at all. One snake was above Oceanus, who had been leading the party, and the other was just behind Ehs.

Oceanus took a step back and jabbed his trident at the snake, but it deftly dodged the attack. Aldalome readied his longbow and quickly fired some arrows at Oceanus’ snake. Since the snake was so large, it was a relatively easy target for Aldalome, and the arrows hit the snake at various points along its body. The snake hissed, but otherwise appeared unhurt.

Vennoa raised her arm, and pointed at the same snake. With calm in her mind, she shot three rays of fire out of her hand. The three rays flew straight, and hit the snake at approximately the same spot. This time, besides hissing, the snake make a loud raspy cry of pain. When the rays cleared, Vennoa saw that a large chunk of the snake’s body had been burned, leaving a large gaping hole surrounded by charred skin and meat. She grinned to herself.

The second constrictor snake caught Ehs unaware, and began to wrap itself around his body. However, once Ehs felt the snake around him, he shapeshifted again into a large bear. The snake was unprepared for the sudden change in shape and size, and momentarily let go of Ehs. That was sufficient for Ehs to slip out of the snake’s hold, and regain his own footing. Ehs swiped his claws at the snake, but its scales were hardy and resistant to his swipes. They left some gashes, but it looked like the gashes didn’t penetrate the scales since no blood was seen.

Ehs looked like he was able to fend off his snake for now, so An’gari and Nat drew their weapons and engaged Oceanus’ snake. With everyone in the party save Ehs focused on the first snake, it was unable to dodge most of the attacks, and soon there were multiple large slashes on its body, dripping blood onto the muddy marsh and creating small bloody pools on the ground.

Sensing that its ambush wasn’t going according to plan, the constrictor snake recoiled upwards, and tried to slither back up through the vines. However, Aldalome was not about to let it get away. He took special aim, and fired two arrows straight into the snake’s head. With the two arrows sticking out of each of its eyes, the first constrictor snake died and fell downwards. However, since most of its body was still in the long vines, only the top third of the snake drooped down towards the ground.

Now that the first snake had been dispatched, the party turned their attention to the second. Ehs had been doing a fair job at dodging the snake’s bites and attempts to wrap itself around him, but he hadn’t made much progress actually penetrating the snake’s defenses. Vennoa cast a firebolt at that snake, and it hit it right in the middle of its long body. The snake hissed, and turned its head towards Vennoa.

Before Vennoa could cast another firebolt, loud splashes could be heard coming from the pool. Vennoa turned, and saw a muddy mound emerge from the water. As the mound grew bigger and higher above the water line, its shape became clearer, and Vennoa could see ridges and scales.

“It’s Thousand Teeth!” she yelled at the party.

At that moment, the constrictor snake made a lunge for Vennoa, its mouth open and its teeth bared.

Being distracted by Thousand Teeth’s arrival out of the large pool, Vennoa didn’t notice the constrictor snake lunging at her. Instead of biting her directly, at the last moment it adjusted its approach and went around Vennoa. The snake then coiled itself around Vennoa, and tightened. Vennoa felt her breath squeezed out of her. Her hands were stuck by her sides, and she dropped her dagger due to the snake’s hold. In fact, the snake’s hold on her was so tight that she had trouble breathing, and she couldn’t call for help from the party.

Thankfully, Aldalome had not been distracted by Thousand Teeth. He fired a few arrows towards the snake. One flew past Vennoa’s leg, and two struck the snake. It hissed, but didn’t release its hold on Vennoa. It pulled Vennoa higher up towards the vines. Aldalome called out to the party about Vennoa’s situation.

Nat rushed forward to the snake, and swung her sword at the frontal part of the snake, where Vennoa was being held. Her sword swung true and made a large gash on the snake. Ehs swiped a paw at the snake, and drew blood this time. The snake hissed loudly in pain.

After seeing its fellow snake get killed, this constrictor snake was aware that its life was in danger. It let go of its hold on Vennoa, who promptly fell to the ground. The snake then coiled upwards towards the thicker vines where it had come from.

“Leave it,” Nat said towards Aldalome. “We have bigger problems to handle.”

Aldalome nodded, and turned towards Thousand Teeth. By this time, it had fully emerged from the water, and was making its way towards the party. Aldalome took quick aim, and fired his arrows at Thousand Teeth. Even though it was large, it was relatively far away, and the arrows failed to find their mark.

Ehs, who was still shapeshifted as a bear, rushed forward to the front of the party, and looked ready to hold off Thousand Teeth if it got that far. Oceanus and Nat also joined Ehs, standing on both sides of him. An’gari followed behind, but slightly off to the side.

Thousand Teeth lumbered towards them, and slowly gained speed as its feet found purchase on the marshy ground. It opened his mouth wide and snapped loudly, in an aggressive display of strength. Ehs raised himself up on his rear feet and roared in return.

Aldalome took careful aim, and fired an arrow at Thousand Teeth. The arrow struck Thousand Teeth on its face, missing its eye by a few inches. Thousand Teeth howled in pain, as the arrow shaft remained firmly lodged in its hide.

Thousand Teeth charged at the party, and Ehs, Nat, and Oceanus stood ready to defend against its assault. Ehs had returned to his four feet, and charged Thousand Teeth in return. The two beasts met halfway, and Ehs swiped at Thousand Teeth’s long snout, while Thousand Teeth tried to get Ehs in between its jaws.

Ehs hit Thousand Teeth’s snouth, but his claws did minimal damage. It appeared that Thousand Teeth had thicker hide than regular crocodiles. In his shock, Ehs didn’t notice Thousand Teeth quickly turning around, and snapping down its jaw on Ehs. Ehs struggled, but was unable to free himself from Thousand Teeth’s grasp.

Blood dripped from Ehs’ body as Thousand Teeth’s thousand teeth pierced Ehs’ much-thinner hide. Nat and Oceanus rushed forward to try and rescue Ehs. In the meantime, Thousand Teeth took steps backwards towards the pool, probably intending to drown Ehs. From his many injuries, Ehs shapeshifted out of his bear form back into his humanoid form. He tried to slip out of Thousand Teeth’s hold now that he was smaller in size, but Thousand Teeth immediately clamped down harder, preventing escape. Without his hide, the thousand teeth bit deeper into Ehs, and fresh blood dripped out of his new wounds.