Round 22

The river roared past, its current relentless, carrying them helplessly toward the cavern's depths. Jeane fought to maintain her grip on a slimy outcropping, muscles burning. The magical interference here was total—her spells fizzled like rain on hot stone. She glanced at Seraphine clinging to a ledge nearby, the elf woman's face pale in the gloom.

"Seraphine!" she shouted over the din. "Do you see any way up? Or is that map just for show?" Her fingers slipped a fraction on the rock. The ground beneath them groaned ominously. This whole section was about to give way—she could feel it.

"Wait!" Seraphine called back, her voice barely audible over the rushing water. "I think I see a passage above us! But it looks unstable." She pointed upward, where a narrow opening vanished into darkness. Jeane craned her neck, trying to spot it.

"Unstable how?" she demanded. "Like 'might fall on our heads' or 'probably collapses under weight'?" Her fingers were going numb from the cold water.

Seraphine hesitated. "Both? Maybe worse? The stonework looks ancient and... stressed." Great. Just great. Jeane took a deep breath, trying to ignore the way her lungs burned for air that wasn't damp cave water.

"Fine," she called back. "I'll check it out." With a surge of effort, she pulled herself upward, hand over hand, until she could reach the opening. The stone felt precarious under her fingers—one push and it might all come down. She wriggled into the passage anyway, grateful for its narrow confines that limited the water flow.

Inside, the passage widened slightly, offering room to stand upright—more or less. Jeane extended a hand back toward Seraphine. "Come on! Before this whole thing collapses!" The elf woman hesitated, then released her grip and launched herself upward in a graceful arc. She caught Jeane's wrist, and together they pulled themselves into the relative safety of the passage.

Jeane slumped against the wall, gasping for air that wasn't waterlogged. "That was close," she muttered. "Too close." Seraphine nodded, pressing her back to the opposite wall. The passage ahead continued upward, disappearing into darkness.

"What now?" Jeane asked, already dreading the answer. "Do we "