Round 138

The chamber air roiled with heat and malevolent intent as the hellfire spread across the stone floor in hungry tendrils. Jeane's body convulsed violently, her skin cracking and blackening from within as the stolen divine flames consumed what remained of her magical reserves. She collapsed onto her side, vision dimming to a pinprick as every nerve ending shrieked in agony—even the simple act of breathing felt like pouring liquid fire into her lungs.

Halie dropped to her knees beside the fallen sorcerer despite every instinct screaming at her to run, her blue-grey eyes wide with horrified fascination. Jeane's arms were blackened beyond recognition from wrist to shoulder, charred flesh peeling away in grotesque strips that somehow still allowed her to feel each separate point of agony. Behind them the fire spread another foot across the floor, its hungry crackle growing louder as ceiling shadow tendril descended closer—maybe six feet now, its tip swaying like a predator deciding which prey to strike first.

Zha'thik's grinding sound below them shifted frequency again, something structural giving way with an ominous groan of stressed stone. The hooded woman stood maybe eight feet away, her smile unwavering as she watched the proceedings with casual interest. Her shadow tendril coiled around her wrist like a living whip, dark energy pulsing through its length in time with the hellfire's hungry crackling.

"Fuck," Jeane gasped, her voice barely audible over the roar of flames. "The barrier... will hold... for now." But even as she spoke, the ward between them and Zha'thik flickered visibly, magical symbols bleeding out from within like ink spilled across parchment.