Round 159

The corridor groaned like a dying beast as the wardstone answered our presence with violence. Jeane staggered against the wall, her barrier spell flickering so violently that the air itself rippled with distortion. "FUCK!" she snarled, hands flying out to catch herself—an instinctive motion that pressed her breasts hard against her arms, trapped milk leaking through her shirt in fresh streams between her tits and armpit. The spell was shredding her concentration cell by cell, each pulse demanding more energy than she could safely channel without... consequences.

"Everyone DOWN!" Silra shouted, already moving to tackle Hera around the waist. The elf hit the floor hard, momentum carrying them both into a slide across the lubricant-slick tiles toward the far wall. Silra wrapped herself around Hera protectively as they skid—her body shielding the civilian from the worst of it. Halie scrambled backward, burned hands screaming...

The wardstone pulsed again, louder this time, and Jeane dropped to one knee in the corridor darkness, her breath coming hard against the weight of the energy pressing through the door. The spell she maintained trembled at the edges of her control, magic bleeding outwards like sweat across her skin. "Silra!" Her voice cut through the tense air. "Barricade that door with everything you have. NOW." She didn't look back to see if the elf obeyed—there was no time for confirmation or hesitation.

I found Jeane's back in the dark corridor, my hands gripping her shoulders through soaked fabric. The wardstone pulsed behind the door like a second heartbeat—stronger now, insistent. "Jeane," I said, voice sharp against her ear. "Your spell isn't working. That door is going to explode before this building does." She was shaking under my hands, barely holding the barrier together. The demonic milk stains on her shirt had spread like accusations in the dark.

"We need another way out—now."

Halie gripped the mirror with her burned hands, feeling the slickness of the floor beneath them. She shifted her weight, trying to keep Hera behind her as they watched Silra struggle against the door. 'The wardstone...it's getting stronger.' Halie said, her voice barely above a whisper. 'We can't stay here much longer.' She turned to look at Jeane, seeing the sorcerer on her knees, barely maintaining the spell that was keeping them alive. The strain was visible in every line of her body.

'Jeane...how...'