Round 147

The wardstone thrummed harder this time, a physical pulse that made the floor vibrate beneath their feet. Hera grabbed for the doorframe to steady herself, her heart hammering as the building groaned around them like a dying beast. The sound was wrong—organic and mechanical at once, the kind of noise that scraped against your nerves and made your stomach twist.

"Silra! No!" Jeane's voice snapped out sharp and commanding, but the slim elf had already pushed past Halie's barricade into that dark corridor beyond. The building shuddered again, harder this time, and something deep within its structure shifted with a sound like cracking ice. "Get back here!"

Jeane couldn't let her go alone into whatever waited there while holding this spell against the wardstone surge. But she was the only thing keeping the energy contained, and maintaining the barrier required every ounce of concentration. She could feel the corruption trying to seep through her defenses, cold and wrong against her skin.

The makeshift barricade creaked under Halie's weight as the human woman strained against the door. "Jeane?" Halie called out, voice tight with fear. The sorceress didn't answer immediately—she couldn't afford to break concentration even for a moment—but her eyes flickered towards Hera and Silra before returning to the wardstone buried somewhere beneath them.

The pressure was building now—not just from the structural strain but from the magical energy fighting against her control. Every pulse made it harder, demanded more concentration and power. She wasn't sure how much longer she could maintain this spell while keeping everyone safe.