From the hole between the pillars, emerged a flickering tongue that was immediately followed by a head with a wide, scaly hood and two large fangs with a set of smaller teeth around the rest of its mouth. The snake’s long sand-coloured body slithered out afterwards, slinking behind one of the pillars as Teleri unleashed arrow after arrow at it.

Marina stood paralysed with fear as the thirty-foot snake slithered into the sandy mounds lining the room. “What…what do we do?”

“We fight it!” called Friedrich, clutching his sword and shield.

“Do not let it bite you,” warn Teleri, slowly turning around with her bow raised. She waiting for the movement of the sand. “If a king cobra’s venom can kill you in minutes, this may kill you in seconds.”

Marina rushed over to one of the pillars, holding out her staff and keeping Shockwave close by. The elemental crackled as it followed its mistress.

“There!” called Friedrich, running towards the emerging snake as Teleri fired an arrow at it.

The arrow pieced its head, but the snake was unphased. Even the twin lightning strikes from Marina and Shockwave were only enough to make it flinch as it rushed towards Friedrich.

It unhinged its jaw as it came towards him, large enough to swallow him whole, but he dove aside and swept his sword along its body, cutting between the scales and unleashing a wave of blood. As the blood hit the ground, it bubbled and steamed before vanishing, leaving a small pit behind.

“It has acidic blood!” yelled Friedrich as the snake aimed for Teleri while whipping its tail around at Friedrich.

Teleri sidestepped a lung and threw herself onto the snake’s back while Friedrich was knocked across the ground by the sweeping tail, narrowly avoiding blocking it with his shield. Marina aimed her staff carefully and conjured another bolt, striking its tail as it rose, ready to strike Friedrich. Her attack gave him enough time to roll aside as the tail slammed into the ground.

The Alaurian drew her dagger and plunged it into the snake’s neck. She pulled it free and leapt from the beast as more blood poured. The snake was immune to its own acidity, but Teleri’s armour was not. A splatter of the blood landed on her glove and glove and she hurriedly took it off and threw it away, but she did not notice the snake creeping up behind her.

“No!” roared Friedrich, donning the minotaur mask and sprinting forward.

He grabbed the snake’s tail and dug his hooves into the stone, pulling back with all his might. Teleri hurried away and quickly drew her bow once again, shooting at the snake. One of her arrows pierced its left eye and it left out a wailing hiss. It flailed wildly, knocking Friedrich into the sand before charging for Teleri once more.

She turned and ran, stepping onto the pillar and rebounding out of the way, leaving the snake to collide with the stone column. Marina placed her hands upon the snake and channelled her magic, casting her Shock Touch upon the reptilian monster. It spasmed and twitched, unable to slither away from the young Mercian as she sent a surge of stronger electricity through the beast.

While it was distracted, Shockwave fired a barrage of small lightning bolts at it, scorching its scales. Friedrich drew back his hand and threw a thundering punch into the giant cobra’s tail. He pummelled it over and over while it spasmed until he punched a hole straight through it with his right hand. He roared in pain as he pulled his fist out and saw that his fur on his hand and forearm had burned away and the flesh underneath was raw and red.

“I…can’t…hold…on…” grunted Marina as she spent the last of her remaining energy, stalling the snake.

Teleri leapt upon the snake once more and held her dagger high, ready to plunge it into the snake’s other eye, but Marina had let go and the snake jolted as it slithered away, throwing Teleri to the ground.

Holding his breath to ignore the pain in his hand, Friedrich ran for the snake as it turned around, ready to devour Marina. He threw her aside and stood within the snake’s jaw, holding it open as it tried to forcefully clamp down. His arms were shaking vigorously as he struggled against the beast and the pain in his hand was only growing.

He saw a drip fall past him and looked towards the cobra’s fang. It moved its jaw from side to side as Friedrich continued to hold strong. It didn’t need to bite him to kill him, it just needed to get the venom in the right spot, and there was a forearm of raw flesh ready to absorb the venom on contact.

Teleri fired another arrow, piercing the cobra’s remaining eye and blinding it. It let out a hiss of agony, but refused to release Friedrich, who was ready to collapse.

He couldn’t even look around to give a farewell to his companions, believing his final moments were here. He had failed them and he had failed his father. It was a valiant attempt, but the cobra was too strong to defeat. This was the end of the line.

“Agh!” cried Marina, holding her staff in both hands, pointing it past Friedrich and inside the cobra’s throat.

She summoned up every last ounce of magical energy she had, so much so that Shockwave withered away into nothing. Her staff glowed a bright blue as a powerful lightning bolt erupted from the amethyst at the tip. The bolt burst through the snake, burning it from the inside and exploding through its back before dissipating.

Friedrich felt the snake weaken and he fell backwards as the snake died, its head rolling to the side limply. He let out a pained roar as he clutched his right forearm, the intensity of his agony growing by the second.

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Teleri rushed over to him and reached into a pouch on her belt, pulling out a blue vial. She uncorked it and poured the liquid into Friedrich’s mouth. He swallowed it and immediately felt a rush of warmth run through him. Seconds later, the pain had lessened and the raw flesh on his arm was already beginning to heal.

“Better?” the elf asked him as Marina staggered over, leaning on her staff for support.

“Urgh,” grunted Friedrich, giving her a thankful nod.

“Are you alright?” Teleri asked Marina, grabbing her friend’s arm and putting it around her neck to help keep her upright.

“Peachy,” said Marina, weakly. “There had better not be the baby cobra with the mother waiting elsewhere.”

“That would be the time to turn and run,” said Teleri, helping Marina over to the stone tablet and lowering her so she could sit against it.

The three took a couple of minutes to catch their breaths, and Friedrich reverted back into his human form with his arm now as good as new. He held it up and examined it, bending and flexing his wrist then wriggling his fingers to make sure everything was as it should be.

“I never thought I would punch a hole through a snake,” he muttered, letting out a small laugh.

“I didn’t think I would shoot lightning into a snake’s mouth,” said Marina, feeling much better already. “What a day this turned out to be.”

“I am simply glad that we are all still alive,” said Teleri. “You were very lucky to not get a drop of that venom on you, Friedrich.”

“Yes,” he said, “but I knew that if it got to Marina, it would have killed her quicker than it would have killed me.”

“You saved both of us,” said Marina gratefully. “I saw you holding the snake back when it tried to eat Teleri too.”

“I was not aware of that,” muttered the high elf, looking down. “Thank you.”

“No need for thanks,” said Friedrich, waving a hand dismissively. “We all worked together to stay alive and we did just that.”

“All the more reason to stick together, right?” asked Marina with a wink.

Teleri rolled her eyes before letting out a sigh. “I will not be dragged into a sappy conversation where we tell each other how much we mean to each other. I would rather fight the cobra again.”

“Go on,” urged Marina with a sneaky grin. “Tell us how we’re family and that you couldn’t bear to lose us.”

“No,” said Teleri, standing up. “Now, we must find that orb before we come across any further beasts.”

“Agreed,” said Friedrich, climbing to his feet while Teleri helped Marina to hers. “There’s no door, so that leaves one place we can go, doesn’t it?”

The three looked towards the hole in the ground from which the snake had emerged. Crawling inside that was the last thing that any of them wanted to do, but it looked as though they had no other options short of turning back.

“Hold my legs,” said Friedrich as he walked over to it, turning into a fox upon reaching the edge.

Marina grabbed onto his furry golden legs and he stuck his head into the hole, looking around to see what he could see. Immediately afterwards, he withdrew his head and hurried back, turning into a human once again.

“Snake!” he called out, drawing his sword.

The three stood ready with their weapons raised, expecting another monster to come slithering out from its den, but nothing did. They waited an entire minute and still there was not as much as a hiss.

“Are you sure there’s a snake down there?” asked Marina.

“I know what a snake looks like!” Friedrich snapped.

Teleri walked forward tepidly and slid onto her stomach. She cautiously put her head into the hole and let escape a large cackle. She righted herself and put her legs into the hole, dropping down inside.

“She’s gone insane,” said Friedrich, shaking his head.

“Marina, come and see,” the high elf called. “It is perfectly safe.”

Cocking her head to the side, Marina did as she was asked and dropped into the hole. There was a flash of light and fizzling crackle, no doubt a bolt she used to illuminate the chamber beneath. She began giggling shortly after.

“What’s so funny?” asked Friedrich, worried that they had been taken by an evil enchantment that had twisted their minds.

The two girls were giggling like children as he walked over and dropped into the hole. He turned back into a fox and saw the large snake from before, scurrying backwards, but it did not follow. It remained perfectly still and lifeless. In fact, it looked hollow. Could it be…

“It’s a shed skin, you goof,” said Marina, as Friedrich returned to normal.

“We do not mention this again,” he said, glad that it was too dark to see him clearly.

“I will not take a vow of silence for this,” said Teleri, letting out another cackle.

“You sound like a witch when you laugh like that,” said Friedrich with a frown.

“Lighten up,” said Marina, giving him a playful shove.

Teleri wiped away her tears of mirth and walked over to a barely visible stone door. She gave it a push and this one opened without any resistance, letting light enter the room. The shed skin became much clearer and Friedrich stared at it resentfully while Teleri and Marina walked on ahead.

He followed them and his embarrassment was replaced with wonderment upon stepping through the doorway. In this next room, the final room, was what he sought. Sitting upon a pedestal was the Orb of Valskythe and, swirling from within, was a cloud of purple and black smoke. The orb was perfectly smooth and illuminated by glowing blue crystals attached to wall brackets. It was captivating; the swirls moving in and out like the tide and twisting like a cyclone as they shifted within the orb.

“We’re here,” said Marina, sounding very relieved. “No more snakes.”

As Friedrich approached the orb, his hand was drawn to the minotaur mask around his neck and he felt a spark of anger growing within him. He suppressed the feeling and forced his hand back down to his side.

“I wonder how it works,” he said.

“We do not even know what it does,” said Teleri.

Marina walked towards it and sniffed. “It smells funny…”

“Sulphur,” said Teleri, pulling Marina away. “Do not touch it. There is something demonic about it.”

“Are you saying we should leave it?” barked Friedrich, unable to hold back his building rage.

“Are you alright?” Teleri asked him.

“No, I’m not alright!” he roared, unable to control himself as he clung to the minotaur mask. “You want to leave when I have a task to fulfil! We’ve only just gotten here.”

Marina put her hand on Friedrich’s shoulder. “Calm down. What’s gotten into you?”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” he yelled before eliciting a roar like that of the minotaur.

“He’s not himself,” said Teleri, stepping back and drawing her bow. “Friedrich, do not let it take you. Give me the mask.”

“You would shoot me, would you?” he asked, looking to the high elf. “All over a piece of wood with a little tiny gem in the forehead? Is that friendship to you?”

“This is not you speaking,” said Teleri.

“Friedrich, we aren’t going to leave,” said Marina. “We will find out what the Orb of Valksythe does, we promise. Whatever we can do to help you, we’ll do it.”

“A wasted journey and still I have no answers,” he said furiously, drawing his sword and holding it high.

“Friedrich, what are you doing?” asked Teleri sharply, ready to shoot him the second he moved towards them, but he did not move towards them.

Friedrich struck the orb with the edge of his blade and, in a sudden flash, he vanished before Marina and Teleri’s eyes. The orb dropped to the floor with a clink and rolled slowly aside. The Mercian and the Alaurian looked at each aghast.

“Friedrich?” muttered Teleri, her heart in her throat and her stomach twisting in knots.

“Y-you can come out now,” said Marina shakily, looking around, but she knew that it was no good.