Round 49

Silra moved with predatory grace around the wardstone, her teal eyes locked on its surface as if she could read the ancient stone's intentions through sheer force of will. The device in her hand hummed softly, circuits glowing faintly as she began a slow scan, searching for weaknesses in the magical construct that might offer leverage against its demands.

Hera flinched as Jeane's fingers traced her cheek, her body tensing involuntarily at the touch. She couldn't meet the sorceress's gaze—fear and something else, something hotter, made her eyes slide away. "Finish what?" she asked, voice barely more than a breath, confusion warring with a traitorous curiosity about just what Jeane had been planning before Halie intervened.

The building groaned around them, a sound like the earth itself complaining, and dust sifted from the ceiling in an ominous rain. The wardstone pulsed again, its rhythm matching the frantic beat of Hera's heart.