Round 198

The ground bucked like a living thing waking from a nightmare, and Merrin felt her stomach lurch as the stone floor heaved violently beneath their feet. Cracks snapped out across the ceiling above them in a deadly web, dust billowing down thick and choking. It smelled of decay and something else—something ancient that made the back of her neck prickle with warning. Varrika's hand clamped onto Merrin's shoulder like a vise, iron-fingered and steady even as she spat out a stream of curses sharp enough to cut through the rumbling stone. "Move!" The dwarf's voice was sharp enough to make a sailor blush. "Now!"

Merrin didn't need telling twice. She was already pivoting, every instinct screaming at her to run, but there was nowhere to go except forward into the waiting darkness or back into the collapsing rubble behind them. The choice made her feel sick, but Varrika's grip on her shoulder steadied her just enough to force her legs to move. Together they lunged ahead, stumbling over loose stones and dodging falling debris as the passage tried its damnedest to shake them off.

Then, miraculously, a section of wall gave way with a loud crack, revealing a narrow crevice that stretched out into darkness. Merrin didn't hesitate. "Varrika, this way!" She lunged for the opening, her hands scrabbling for purchase on the jagged edges. "It's our only chance!"

With a grunt of effort, Merrin hauled herself into the cramped space, not daring to look back as the tunnel collapsed behind them. The air was thick with dust and the smell of damp earth, but at least the ground wasn't trying to buck her off anymore. She pressed herself flat against one wall, reaching back down through the crevice to offer Varrika her hand.

The dwarf was right behind her, her face set in grim determination as she reached up for Merrin's grip. "Pull!" she grunted, throwing her whole body weight into the effort of hauling herself up after Merrin. Her muscles strained visibly, tendons standing out on her neck and shoulders as she heaved herself forward, inch by painful inch.

Merrin dug her heels against the opposite wall, leaning back with all her strength to haul Varrika up. The dwarf's fingers scrabbled for purchase on the rough stone, finding handholds where Merrin's eyes had seen only smooth surface. With a final desperate heave from below and a powerful surge from above, Varrika's torso cleared the crevice, and Merrin released her grip just in time to avoid having her arms crushed as the dwarf fell forward into the narrow space with a grunt of exertion.

They lay there for a moment, pressed close together in the cramped darkness, panting heavily as the sound of collapsing stone faded behind them. Merrin's heart was still hammering against her ribs, but they were alive. They'd made it. For now.