Round 254

Hera's heart hammered as she stepped through the doorway into the ancient stone passageway. The air changed texture immediately—became something thick and resistant, pushing back against her skin like underwater breathing. The walls' symbols pulsed in time with her heartbeat, bleeding pale light into the shadows. She could feel the corruption pressing in from all sides now, colder than cold and sweeter than decay.

The stone beneath her feet began to shift, tendrils reaching up from the ground with wet sounds. Hera stood perfectly still as they wrapped around her ankles and calves, the material searing against her skin but not burning—cold fire that stole her breath. She refused to give it the satisfaction of a cry. Deep in the walls, something massive stirred awake, its power pulsing through the stone in waves that made her teeth ache.

The rock itself began to flow and reshape, groaning as it opened a narrow tunnel forward. Deeper into the dark heart of this place.