Round 69

Jeane turns to face Seraphine, her expression tight with barely contained tension. The ground beneath them shakes again, harder this time, and Seraphine's light cantrip flickers and dies as the stone groans around them. The water in the pool churns violently, spraying droplets that hiss against the hot runes lining its edge. Merrin's reflection moves closer to Jeane, its dark form rippling like water as it approaches from behind. The air seems to thicken around it, making every breath feel heavier and more labored.

Jeane's voice is tight but firm as she speaks, her hand still gripping the hilt of her mace. "We should go. This place is unstable." Seraphine nods, her eyes darting between Jeane and the growing darkness in the chamber. "But where? The passage behind us could collapse at any moment, and that... thing... in the water..." Her voice trails off as another tremor runs through the stone around them.

Suddenly, a section of the wall slides open with a grinding screech, revealing a jagged opening in the tunnel's ceiling. Water cascades down from above, flooding the passage with icy coldness. Jeane staggers back as a wave of freezing liquid crashes into her injured leg—pain flares white-hot, stealing her breath for a moment. The cold is immediate and brutal, sending shock through her system even as the water begins to swirl around their ankles with increasing force.

Her eyes dart between Seraphine's precarious position by the collapsing wall and the looming threat of the new passage. "Shit!" she gasps out, fighting to maintain her balance in the suddenly treacherous footing.