Round 166 Transcript

At dark corridor in New York high rise penthouse suite, the pressure shifts from waiting to immediate risk. The ward answers the party's presence with a fresh pulse through the stone and no one can mistake it for safety. The nearest sign of danger is now structural collapse imminent. Someone has to answer that change now.

The door frame groans under Hera's weight like the building is already deciding which of us to crush first. I eye it—solid construction, better than nothing, but not a miracle either. "Frame will hold for now," I call back over the creaking wood and Jeane's muttered incantations from deeper in the corridor where she fights something I can't see or understand. "But only if we stop this place from deciding to pancake us all." I find an old mirror, heavy enough to matter, drag it across the slick floor—lubricant and water making the whole situation even more absurd than it needed to be—and wedge it into the gap where Hera's pushing against the door. "We need options," I say to no one in particular. "Not heroics." The wardstone pulses again, faster now, and Jeane curses something that makes my skin crawl. Time's running out.

I shift my weight forward, pressing harder against the door with my shoulder while I try to check the frame for stability through the crack. Hera's eyes are on me across this precarious barricade we've built—our last line of defense between us and whatever ancient horror lurks beyond that dark corridor. The wardstone's energy is pulsing faster now, each beat sending a fresh wave of corruption seeping through every crack in our makeshift wall. "Silra!" I call out, voice strained. "How solid is that door frame? Is it going to hold?" My hands are still burning from touching the stone earlier—they're not gripping properly anymore, and sweat makes them slippery on the mirror we've wedged into place. The building groans around us like a dying beast, every creak and shift making my heart pound harder. We need options here, not just heroics or prayers that won't work against this thing. But there's no time to think of anything better than keeping pressure on this door while the others find something—anything—that can actually solve this situation before we're buried alive or corrupted beyond saving.