Insurrection

«Jeggred,» Pharaun yelled, «grab Valas!»

Even as the words left his mouth, Valas, who seemed considerably dazed, tumbled the rest of the way over and dropped over the edge, disappearing from sight.

The draegloth, who had been caught beneath a large section of collapsing rubble, let out a snarl of fury so unearthly that it chilled Pharauns blood. Shoving his way out of the debris, the enraged fiend leaped across the distance and dived over the edge after the scout.

The golem swung its sword toward the demon, but it was too slow. With Jeggred out of sight, the golem focused its attention on its next victim. Q'arlynd Melarn lay facedown, unmoving, close to it. Nearby, Danifae was sprawled across the shattered remains of a bookcase, the wound on her forehead bleeding freely. The golem took another step, and Pharaun nearly fell as the stone floor popped and protested.

We're not going to make it, the mage thought, trying to figure out a way to distract the golem from killing the unconscious pair.

Out of the corner of his eye, Pharaun saw Ryld regain his feet.

«Help them!» the wizard shouted to his friend, pointing to Danifae and Q'arlynd.

The weapons master had a deep gash across his forehead, but his red eyes seemed clear, and when he spotted the forms of the battle captive and the Melarn mage, and the golem moving toward them, he nodded.

The room tilted over some more, and Pharaun slid across the floor a few feet. The blackness of the vast cavern of the city yawned before him. He ignored it and looked to Ryld.

The weapons master measured his distance from the golem, who had gotten close enough to Danifae that it raised its sword high, preparing to deliver a killing blow. Ryld sprang forward, charging as fast as he could, aided by the downhill slope of the floor. When he was within a few feet of the construct, he leaped into the air, extended both feet, and hit the golem with a pile-driving kick to its midsection. The force of the blow drove Ryld back up the slope of the floor, and the golem barely seemed to move.

But then Pharaun saw that it was teetering. The construct took a step back to steady itself, and had the floor been level, it probably would have worked, but the weight of the golem, coupled with the slope of the floor, caused it to overbalance. Another step backward brought the toppling construct near the edge of the floor, and the room shifted more, sinking and increasing the slope. Then, with one final off-balance step, the golem shifted forward again, falling up the slope rather than down. It dropped to one knee and reached out for Q'arlynd, who was shaking his head as he returned to consciousness.

The fractured stone could no longer hold the constructs weight, and it gave out beneath the golem. Even then, the construct latched on to the wizard, gripping him tightly. Q'arlynd screamed in agony. Ryld took two steps forward to save the wizard, but both Q'arlynd and the golem slowly, ponderously went over, slipping from sight.

Halisstra cried out, «No! from the other side of the room.

She ran to the edge, but the weapons master grabbed her and held her back, shaking his head.

Disheartened, Pharaun turned back to the portal. He thought he'd it figured out and reached forward, ready to activate the magic of the portal, and stopped. Something felt. . wrong. The room shifted over some more, and the wizard was forced to begin levitating to maintain his position. Behind him, he heard one of the females give a startled scream, but he ignored it. Peering at the magical emanations, he realized that he was seeing something illusory. He hadn't noticed it before, but understanding what to look for, it was much clearer.

«Pharaun,» Quenthel yelled as everyone gathered around him, «if you can make that thing work, do it! The whole city is going down!»

Shaking his head at what he'd been about to do, the mage began to cast a spell, one that he'd not expected to need that day but was thankful for. He fished an ointment from one of his many pockets and dabbed a bit on each eyelid. Suddenly, everything about the archway became plain to his vision. He could see the runes that had been hidden from his view before, scribed into the stone around it. He cast a second spell, one to decipher the script, and found what he was looking for. The writing contained the trigger word.

«I've got it!» he shouted. «Get ready!»

Pharaun stepped back, uttered the triggering word aloud, and the portal shimmered to life, glowing with a deep purple hue. The whole thing took on a sense of depth, of distance. The stone in the center of the arch faded and was replaced by a shimmering curtain of light.

Pharaun turned back to his companions and shouted, «It's ready! Step through!»

Quenthel was the closest, but she hesitated.

«Where does it go?» she asked.

«I don't know,» Pharaun admitted. «The script inscribed on the perimeter mentions something about a city, but I don't recognize the name. We'll find out on the other side.»

Quenthel shook her head.

«No. Someone else must go through first.»

Ryld, Halisstra, and Danifae were gathered around, with the weapons master helping to keep Danifae from sliding down the floor to her death. The rest of them were levitating.

Ryld pushed Danifae toward the opening and said, «I'm right behind you!»

The master of Melee-Magthere nudged the battle captive into the arch. Danifae cast one last, aggravated look over her shoulder, nodded, and leaned forward into the archway. In a flash, she was gone. Ryld lunged forward a heartbeat later, followed by Halisstra.

Pharaun looked at Quenthel.

«Well?» he said.

«You first,» she replied, still gazing at the gate in trepidation.

«I can't,» the Master of Sorcere explained. «I must go last. Because I opened it, the portal will shut behind me.»

«What about Jeggred?»

«I will wait for them as long as I can,» Pharaun said as another groan emanated from the stonework around them.

The remains of the building tilted some more, and Quenthels eyes widened.

«There is no more time. Go through!» Pharaun said, and he pushed Quenthel toward the opening.

In a fury, the high priestess spun around, her hand reaching for the whip at her side. The five snakes were writhing madly, lashing at the mage even from where they hung, but the building lurched and tipped and Quenthel couldn't hold on. She stumbled against the wizard, and the snakes snapped ineffectually against his piwafwi.

Pharaun caught her and set her on her feet again.

«Please,» he said to her. «We don't have time for this.»

Quenthel's scowl faded slightly, and she looked at the wizard with a slight smirk.

«If I didn't know better, I would think you're getting soft, wizard.

With that, she backed into the archway and was gone.

Pharaun shook his head in wonder and turned to see if there was any sign of Jeggred and Valas. The floor was slanted at a fairly steep pitch, and the mage slid down its surface toward the edge to peer over the side. Below, he could see the two of them, rising as rapidly as Jeggred's levitation would allow. Chunks of stone and other debris was falling into the void beyond them, and Pharaun knocked a fragment loose from the edge of the crumbling floor. He cringed as he watched it tumble toward them, but it shot past, barely missing them.

Finally, almost excruciatingly slowly, the draegloth and his charge reached what was left of the structure. Together, the three of them worked their way toward the archway, which still glowed with an intense light.

«The others are waiting on the other side,» Pharaun explained, motioning to the doorway. «I have to go last. Hurry!»

Without hesitating, Jeggred leaped through the archway and vanished. Valas scrambled to go after him just as there was one final, bone-rattling tremor, and the remains of the room began to free fall. Pharaun gave the scout a good shove and dived in after him.

The portal sealed up and its light faded. A heartbeat later, what was left of the Dangling Tower, including the wall where the portal had been anchored, shattered into a million fragments as it struck a web street below.

Aliisza cringed when she saw the fury in Kaanyr Vhok's eyes. He was displeased that she had neglected to keep him apprised of the situation in the drow city, and even her explanation of her troubles, the difficulties she had encountered with the drow, did little to soften his mood.

«So you say the entire city is ruined?» the cambion growled, pacing. «Brought down by a horde of miserable gray dwarves?»

«Not just gray dwarves, darling, but the drow themselves. They squabbled among themselves so much that they lost control. It destroyed them.»

«How could this have happened? Not that I bear any regret at the fall of the overly proud dark elves, but they do not seem to be the type who would allow such a travesty to occur to their great city. The forces of the Underdark are clearly out of balance.»

«I know,» the alu-fiend said, moving close to her mate, «but there is a reason.»

«You know what it is?»

«Yes, love, but your pacing is putting me on edge. Sit down, and I will tell you.»

Kaanyr Vhok sighed, but turned and plopped himself down in his throne.

«All right,» he said, patting his lap. «Tell me.»

Aliisza sashayed over to Vhok and settled herself into his lap. She had missed him, she realized, more than she'd thought she would. She leaned around and began to nuzzle his ear.

«Mmm,» he said, «I missed you,» echoing her own thoughts. «But before we get to the 'welcome homes, tell me what you found out.»

Aliisza giggled as his fingers stroked her arm.

«They've lost contact with their goddess,» she whispered, blowing the words softly into his ear.

«What?» the cambion rumbled, sitting up straight and nearly dumping the demon on the floor. «Are you serious?»

The alu-fiend folded her arms beneath her breasts in a huff.

«Of course I'm serious,» she sniped. «Lolth has vanished from their sight, and they're trying to figure out why, but of course, them being—what did you call them? Oh, yes—'overly proud dark elves. Them being overly proud and set in their ways, they warred with one another to the point of bringing about their own extinction.»

«I see. Well, with Lolth out of the picture, I suppose if you wanted to gain a little retribution for some wrongs inflicted upon you in the past, now would be the time to do it,» the cambion said, staring absently into the distance.

«So, are you thinking of exacting a little revenge?» Aliisza said, nuzzling against her lover's neck again.