The mages exchanged glances, understanding in silence that no amount of planning, no amount of effort, could prepare them for such a force. For now, all they could do was endure, and hope that their existence, fragile as it was, could somehow leave a trace long after they were gone.
Meanwhile, back at the abyss, Ikenga and Keles knew nothing of what was unfolding elsewhere. Their minds were fixed only on the nearing end of their long, harrowing journey.
Once they plunged through the gaping maw and into the abyss, the entire layer shuddered violently as though the world itself convulsed. The moment of passage was disorienting like being pulled through the breath of a living thing. In the chaos, Zarvok, who had flown beside them like a steady shadow, was gone before either of them could register his absence.
