Round 116

Jeane ascends the ancient stairs with predatory grace despite obvious magical exhaustion, her dark wings half-spread in defensive posture. The sorceress doesn't flinch at the suddenRed activation—she steps forward with authority instead. "Everyone back!" she snaps, voice carrying command despite labored breathing and residual fluids still glistening on her skin from Silra's earlier binding. Halie hesitates for a single heartbeat before complying, moving to stand beside the wall rather than retreating further into the chamber. She isn't about to let herself be cornered again—not after what just happened with Silra.

The magical binding between them still thrums under Halie's skin—discordant, unsettling, but undeniably real and active despite her attempts to ignore it. The cleric presses herself against the far wall instinctively, eyes locked on Jeane across the chamber. The sorceress doesn't flinch at the sudden activation; instead she steps forward with predatory grace despite obvious magical exhaustion. Her wings remain half-spread in a defensive posture that speaks of long-practiced instinct rather than conscious thought—each membrane catching theRed light and throwing it back amplified.

Jeane's crimson eyes gleam with barely contained urgency as she begins issuing rapid orders. "Abby! Get behind me—Zha'thik will be here within minutes if we don't move faster." Halie nods sharply, moving to comply while maintaining the containment field around Silra's magic. The binding pulses erratically between them with each hurried step upward; Halie's reinforcement is holding but barely, her face pale with exertion visible even in this limitedRed illumination.

The ancient stone staircase groans ominously under their combined weight, protesting centuries of disuse. Jeane glances back once to ensure Halie is following before focusing ahead again. "Stay in the middle—if this structure fails, you'll have more warning time than those of us on the edges." The sorceress' wings twitch instinctively as she calculates angles and escape routes through the darkness above.

The magical binding pulses erratically with each step upward; Halie's reinforcement is holding but barely. I force myself upright despite every fiber screaming protest, my hand pressing against the stone wall for support as we ascend into darkness ahead—the binding between us pulses erratically with each step upward. The staircase could collapse under our combined weight at any moment, and Zha'thik's footsteps are gaining on us from below. "Halie," I call back sharply while maintaining concentration on the containment field. "What did you see?"