"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.
"Maybe," Vhok replied. "We'll have to see. I guess it won't be against Ched Nasad, hmm?"
"Mmm," Aliisza purred, squirming, as Kaanyr Vhok's fingers began to roam over her body again. "I guess not."
All thoughts of the ruined City of Shimmering Webs left her then, for a good, long while.
* * *
High above the ruined City of Shimmering Webs, a single dark elf sat upon a perch of stone near the roof of the great cavern and watched. The smoke was heavy there, thick and acrid, but it didn't bother him. He stared down at the destruction and smiled.
He was not attractive, not by drow standards, certainly, and few of any other species would look on him and think him handsome in the least, but he didn't mind that either. What he sought was much more substantial than beauty.
They will be pleased, Zammzt thought, watching as fires slowly burned away, as whole sections of the city crumbled and collapsed, dropping into the murky depths of the cavern below. It is a good first step. There is still much to be done, but it is a good first step.
Shaking himself out of his reverie, the drow stood and stretched.
I must go, he thought, somewhat regretfully.
He was proud of what he'd wrought, and he wished to stay and observe it a bit longer, but the others would be waiting.
Sighing, he turned his sweeping gaze over the ruins of Ched Nasad one last time, then stepped into the darkest recesses of the shadows and vanished.