Round 135

The two women plummeted through the air, their bodies pressed close together for mutual support. Merrin clutched the ancient tome against her chest, its power still thrumming through her veins with unsettling energy. Varrika's grip on her was like iron, the dwarf woman's scarred face set in a grim mask of concentration as they fell toward the unseen depths below.

"I have an idea," Merrin shouted over the rush of wind past their ears.

"Not now, you half-pint fool!" Varrika snarled. "We're falling into god knows what and you want to mess with magic?!"

Merrin ignored the insult, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of their situation. The stone walls of the crumbling tower blurred past them in a dizzying spiral. She could feel the energy from the book building inside her, a strange and terrifying sensation that made her skin prickle with both fear and exhilaration.

"We have to do something!" she cried out, struggling to maintain her grip on Varrika as they fell. "I can't hold this much power forever!"

The dwarf woman's expression darkened even further. "And what exactly did you have in mind? Some kind of magical safety net that'll just...what? Catch us gently at the bottom?"

Merrin shook her head frantically. "No, no! I was thinking more along the lines of...using it to slow our fall somehow. Or maybe even fly!"

Varrika's grip tightened painfully around Merrin's ribs. "Fly? You want to try flying? With a book you barely understand and powers you can't control? That sounds like an excellent way to turn ourselves into two very dead, very messy stains on the ground below!"

"But we're going to hit the bottom eventually anyway!" Merrin argued desperately. "At least this way, we might have some control over how it happens!"

The dwarf woman was silent for a long moment, her scarred face twisted with indecision. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine," she growled. "But if we both die because of your half-cocked scheme, I'm coming back to haunt you personally."

Merrin managed a shaky laugh despite their precarious situation. "Deal. Now...how do we actually do this?"

As the ground rushed up to meet them, Merrin closed her eyes and focused on the power coursing through her. She could feel it responding to her will, swirling and building inside her chest like a storm about to break.

"Now!" she shouted, pushing outward with every ounce of concentration she possessed.

The energy exploded from her in a burst of pure magical force. For a brief, exhilarating moment, they seemed to slow their descent slightly - but then the power faltered, and they were falling again, faster than before.

"Oh shit," Varrika muttered as the ground loomed ever closer.

Merrin could only scream as they hurtled toward the earth below. The last thing she saw before impact was the ancient tome slipping from her grasp, its pages flipping wildly in the wind as it plummeted after them...