Round 72

The water was rising again, and fast. Jeane could feel it lapping at her boots even as she pressed herself against the stone wall of their precarious perch. The makeshift rope hung limp beside them now, its purpose served but its presence a grim reminder of how close they'd come to being swept away entirely.

She glanced sideways at Seraphine, noting the elf woman's pale face illuminated by her flickering staff. "How is your ankle?" Jeane asked, trying to keep her tone neutral despite the way her own leg throbbed with every beat of her heart. The stone shard wound had reopened during their desperate climb, fresh blood mingling with the freezing water already soaking through her clothing.

Seraphine's jaw tightened, but she managed a curt nod. "It will hold," she said, though the obvious pain in her voice betrayed the lie. She shifted her weight, leaning more heavily against the wall as another surge of water hit the ledge below them with enough force to send spray upward.

"We need to move," Seraphine insisted, her sharp eyes scanning the narrow crevice above their heads. "There's a way up—if we can reach it." She met Jeane's gaze directly then, and there was no mistaking the urgency in those dark eyes. "Can you boost me? I'll pull myself up and help you after."

Jeane knew what that meant—that she'd be alone on this ledge while Seraphine searched for a safer spot above. The thought sent a fresh wave of dread through her, but she pushed it down. There was no other choice. "Tell me where," she said simply, already crouching slightly to prepare herself.

Seraphine nodded once, sharply. "Right there," she pointed to a small outcropping of stone about shoulder-height above them. "I'll need you to lift me high enough that I can grab it and pull myself up." She paused, her gaze softening almost imperceptibly. "And Jeane? Be ready to move fast when I call down."

Jeane felt a muscle in her jaw twitch but said nothing. She simply braced herself against the wall, preparing to take Seraphine's weight and hurl her upward with what remained of her own dwindling strength. The water continued to rise around them, cold and relentless, as if the very earth was determined to swallow them whole.