Round 22

As the dust settled, Silra swiftly rappelled down the rope, vanishing into the darkness of the tunnel with a silent whoosh. Jeane stood firm, her arcane energy steady despite trembling hands, the exhaustion making every breath an effort. She watched as the grating creaked and groaned, the chitinous claws scraping rhythmically against its metal frame. The rasping voice echoed once more, its warning a haunting refrain: "Turn back...while you still can..." Jeane's crimson eyes flickered toward the grating, her gaze lingering on the unmistakable pattern of claw strikes. Those weren't random movements; they were a test, a probing of the structure's limits. Silra reappeared beside her, her teal eyes narrowing fractionally as she studied the same rhythmic scraping pattern. "They're testing structure," Silra murmured, tracing the stress fractures Jeane had mentioned earlier with one gloved finger. "Someone down there is trying to determine exactly how much force this section can take before collapse."