Round 81

The tower's ancient stones groaned around them, the sound like a living thing in pain. The runes on the walls pulsed faster now, their light growing painfully bright and hot—an impossible heat that seared the air itself. Varrika staggered back instinctively, her boots scraping against the flagstones as the floor vibrated beneath her feet. She clutched Serrine tighter, trying to keep the priestess upright despite the way her own arms trembled with exhaustion. "Serrine!" she hissed, panic rising in her chest like bile.

Merrin stumbled back too, crossbow raised and eyes wide as she scanned the flickering shadows for any sign of movement. This was beyond anything her training had prepared her for—magic this raw felt wrong on a fundamental level, twisting her gut with unease. The rumble grew louder, stones shifting somewhere nearby. Dust began to filter down from the ceiling, catching in the light of the pulsing runes. Varrika shifted Serrine's weight, trying to keep them both steady as the floor vibrated more insistently.

"Merrin!" she barked, voice strained. "We need to move! Now!" But where? The passage ahead was shrouded in darkness, and behind them... a wall of rubble blocked the way back. The fighter's mind raced, calculating their options and discarding them almost as quickly. They were trapped—trapped with a priestess who seemed to be losing her mind and a tower that was coming apart around them.

The crystal at the bottom of the pit continued to pulse with an otherworldly light, its power growing stronger by the second. Varrika felt a chill run down her spine at Serrine's words, her voice strained with agony. The fighter knew they needed to get Serrine out of here, away from whatever that crystal was doing to her. But she also knew that they couldn't afford to let their guard down, not even for a second. This place... it was wrong. Something ancient and terrible slept here, something that shouldn't exist in the world of the living.

Merrin's face was etched with determination as she leveled her crossbow into the darkness ahead. "Stay close!" Varrika shouted over the rising din, her heart hammering in her chest. "We can't lose each other in this madness!" The air crackled with magical energy, making it hard to think straight. As the ground trembled again, more dust falling from the ceiling, Varrika knew they had seconds—seconds to decide which way to go before this entire section of the tower came crashing down around them.

The ancient stones groaned louder, a sound like a dying beast's final breath. The runes pulsed once more, their light blindingly bright—and then, with a sound like the earth splitting open, the ceiling above them began to collapse.