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Thehe was doing the right thing by trusting the children of House Melarn with his life For all the wizard knew, she could have picked that e upon the Menzoberranyr for all the injustices they&039;d inflicted upon her faht to

But the pathway didn&039;t deposit the wizard into so furnace or pit of dooe found hi lizard with incredibly sharp teeth The being spotted hi the wizard as if he were its nexthi, and willed a spell into being that created a series of floating balls of lightning As the lizard darted toward hi as they did so The beast jerked and backed away, but Pharaun was relentless, sla into it After the fourth one, the creature sprawled to the ground It twitched a couple of times and lay still

"What in the Abyss is that?" Ryld asked, popping through the portal with Splitter up and ready "Are we in the right place?"

"Fortunately, yes," Pharaun replied, ju caused hi never been here before, uard aniot to warn us"

"By the Dark Mother!" Danifae said, spying the beast as she leaped through into the cell She had herstar up in an instant "Isit dead?"

"I certainly hope so," Valas said, following close behind

The scout had his kukris in his hands, and he was looking at the dead lizard The hall shook again, and part of a wall collapsed, exposing the roos out to try and maintain their balance

One by one, the rest of the teared was the last one to clear the gate

"The whole city&039;s falling," the draegloth announced Halisstra let the doorink out once he was safely through "The falling stoneworkthe entire cavern quake with its force"

The fiend sounded too matter-of-fact for the wizard&039;s taste

Halisstra&039;s brother was casting a spell, one Pharaun didn&039;t recognize He began to radiate an aura of divinationtold him thatso out

"The dorroup out into a hallway "Follow h several passages, up a couple of staircases, and into a hallway that obviously hadn&039;tbeen used in a long ti the journey, the structure shook, but they were deeper ruh the whole of the Underdark

"If this doesn&039;t work" Quenthel began

"It&039;ll work," Pharaun cut her off "I&039;ll need a couple of moments to study it, but it ork"

"You&039;d better hope so, wizard," the high priestess muttered

Q&039;arlynd led thee and stopped before an open doorway at the end of it

"It&039;s in there," he said, "but it&039;s lyphs I have no way of getting through"

Pharaun knelt to study the opening The barrier between the hallway and the larger room beyond was invisible but solid Pharaun could see that it radiated soic and reported such

"If I had the proper type of ic at my disposal," the Master of Sorcere said, "I&039;d be able to bring it down in mere seconds, but as it is, I can&039;t do so until I&039;ve had a chance to rest and regroup"

"Do you have another ical doorway at your disposal?" Quenthel asked Halisstra

The priestess shook her head ainst a wall as another rumble rocked the roo to do?" the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith asked "We can&039;t sit in here while you recharge your e replied "Give me a moment"

"Mizzrym, we don&039;t have ashook again, even hly Everyone was pitched to the floor, and behind the collapsed, with shards of stone showering down

"This is getting tireso her feet with a horrid scowl on her face "I will not die trapped in a cage like so deeply, Jeggred bounded across to the door and began to attack the invisible opening, raking his claws ineffectually against the barrier A crackle of electrical energy raked over his body, but it didn&039;t stop hiain His efforts were fruitless

"Jeggred, stop it!" Quenthel said at last "You&039;re not helping"

With another deep-throated growl, the draegloth backed off

"If we don&039;t get through there," Danifae said to Pharaun,to be pulverized Do so up a hand, "The probleic that seals us out here keepsevena simple spell If I was over there, I could simply remove the barrier manually, but that&039;s easier said than done That&039;s all Such a simple trick, and yet impossible"

He looked at the over near the wizard "Move back"

Raising Splitter high over his head, the weapons ainst the barrier The enchanted weapon sliced into it with a flash of light, and Pharaun saw the ical emanations froic

"Thank the Dark Mother," soroup rushed into the chaht, wizard, lead us out of here," Quenthel said, sounding desperate, "and hurry!"

"We&039;ll be departed in afor Q&039;arlynd to show hie chah all the shelves were empty Several statues lined the walls Q&039;arlynd headed toward a spot on one wall, near the back of the room It was an archway, but it led nowhere at the moment, filled instead orked stone blocks It did, however, gloith faint dweomers of transference

"Here," he said

"Excellent!" Pharaun replied, grinning as he studied the spot more closely "Now, I&039;ll just need a e&039;s words were cut off by yet another tremor in the floor This was followed by another, and another, again definitely different than the previous ruroaned Aslowly but inexorably toward theht

"Lolth preserve us," Ryld said, dropping into a defensive crouch "What is that?"

"It&039;s a ole about it"

Ryld leaped forward to slice at the huge thing His blade struck against the side of the construct and skittered off

Pharaun shouted, "If it exhales, don&039;t breathe the vapors!"

Jeggred snarled and leaped at the gole one loth squarely in the ribs, sending hired was down on his hands and knees, shaking his head

Ryld ole, he lunged forward, swiping at the metallic hide of the construct Sparks flew as Splitter cut a deep furrow across the gole to stay behind the thing

Another tre collapsed behind the gole as shards of wood Pharaun went down on one knee fro, then looked up to see that part of the room on the far side had not just collapsed but had co Toas co apart around thee of the roo city They were indeed running out of ti the wizard by the collar of hispii and spinning hiet that portal openNow!"

Pharaun nodded and turned away as Jeggred leaped back in beside Ryld Valas, Halisstra, and Q&039;arlynd also circled the construct, each of the turned its attention to another before sliding in to gain an attack Ignoring the fight behind hilows from the portal He needed a few

"Hurry!" Quenthel said, watching hih priestess a very deliberate look

"Don&039;t rush e caainst the wall in a heap The weaponsto clear the cobwebs, and regained his feet

"Hurry," the weaponswe can keep this thing off you"

Pharaun rolled his eyes and bent to his task once more He tumbled onto his side as the floor bucked with another foundation-cruot it," the Master of Sorcere said, when half the wall next to the portal exploded in a shower of rock and dust

Frag the breath fro He felt the floor shift, not just fro He kneas going to break away soon, and their chances for escaping the city would disappear with it

Theposition and looked around What was left of the rooolee of the floor, then took a step toward its nearest foe, causing the stone beneath its feet to groan Everyone in the group lay sprawled, half buried in rubble and dust, and just beyond Valas, the floor was gone, replaced by the void of the city The rock groaned and shifted again as the golem took a step toward the scout, and Valas rolled toward the opening

"Jeggred," Pharaun yelled, "grab Valas!"

Even as the words left his mouth, Valas, who seemed considerably dazed, tue,disappearing froe 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 gole its sword toward the deolem focused its attention on its next victi, close to it Nearby, Danifae was sprawled across the shattered re freely The golem took another step, and Pharaun nearly fell as the stone floor popped and protested