He dropped back through the circle, but this time it sent him skidding out on the cavern floor, which fortunately was relatively smooth. The landing was still rough, but he hadn’t dropped far enough for it to be dangerous, and he managed to not bruise himself too badly. After he came to a stop on the ground, he lay there in place, trying to catch his breath while his heart threatened to explode out of his chest.

The light from the portal was just barely enough to see by, illuminating his strangely shiny surroundings. The rock nearby looked so shiny, in fact, that he would have thought it was wet, even though the ground felt dry. Whatever the rock was, it was oddly dark, almost black, even, just like the ground beneath him. Was this some kind of obsidian, or…

The ground beneath him rumbled, and Fort’s eyes widened.

This wasn’t stone he was standing on.

A giant eyelid opened beneath his feet, sending him flying. A blazing red eye watched him go, and a roar shook the cavern.

He’d landed on one of the monsters.

His flight crashed him into more of the shiny rock, which he now recognized as the creatures’ scales. Which meant he’d just been thrown into another of the monsters.

Fort frantically tried to catch a grip as this next creature also began to rise, but the scales were too smooth, and he fell out into open air. Looking down, he now saw that the actual ground was still hundreds of feet below. He quickly opened another circle directly below him and spat himself back out into the air in the middle of the cavern, hoping to get a better look.

But when he emerged from the teleportation circle this time, all he could see were shiny black scales moving everywhere. From wall to wall, the entire cavern was full of the monsters, all curled up with each other.

“Oh, this is bad,” he said as he dropped again, only to quickly open another circle directly below him which led to the actual ground this time.

He emerged right beside the massive feet of the monster he’d initially landed on, who had now stood. Unfortunately, it wasn’t done making noise, and its roars shook the room, rousing the others. The enormous foot in front of Fort rose into the air, then reversed, coming straight down on the spot Fort was standing.

As it hit, Fort opened another circle, barely escaping before the creature’s foot slammed into the ground. His spell sent him back into the air, falling into the now writhing mass of creatures, all of which were struggling to stand as well.

This ping-ponging up and down wasn’t working—he had to get out of here! He quickly sent himself teleporting across the cavern, over toward one of the walls, but things didn’t look a whole lot better from that side.