Round 8 Transcript

As Jeane targets the small inverse rune with a spell, its glow intensifies, and the air around it begins to distort. The runes on the main gate seem to recoil from the sudden energy, their eerie glow flickering ominously. The skeletons, now mere yards away, hesitate in their advance, their undead eyes fixed warily on Jeane as she maintains her concentration. A faint hum fills the air as the inverse rune's power begins to interact with the central sigil, causing the dark magic to waver and destabilize. The ground beneath them shudders once more, and a low rumble echoes through the chamber, making it harder for the group to maintain their balance. Merrin takes a cautious step forward, her mace at the ready, as Jeane's spell continues to build in intensity. "Is it working?" she asks, her voice laced with urgency, as the tower's structural integrity teeters on the brink of collapse.

I drop to my knees, yanking my holy symbol from beneath my shirt. The silver is blackening before my eyes, the goddess's light flickering like a dying candle flame. "No! Not here—this place is eating everything!" I scream, but there's no stopping the corruption now. The metal groans and warps under the dark magic assault, its surface bubbling like molten wax. My hands shake as I try to maintain my grip, the sacred artifact slipping through my fingers as it distorts into something unrecognizable. The tower moans around us, walls cracking open, and suddenly all I care about is not dying buried alive with a bunch of undead monsters while my holy symbol disintegrates completely. CARRY FORWARD:

• holy symbol is 50% functionality, actively corroding
• skeletons still advancing but slowed by Jeane's spell
• structural collapse imminent
• need to either disable the gate or run before the tower comes down

I let out a roar of frustration as the tower shudders around us, the structural integrity crumbling away like sand in an hourglass. "We don't have time for this!" I snarl, my eyes darting between Jeane's focused concentration and the skeletons' wary advance. With a growl of effort, I wrench myself free from Merrin's grip and lunge forward, my heavy mace swinging in a wide arc. The weapon crashes into the central sigil with a sound like shattering glass, sending cracks spiderwebbing out from the point of impact. The runes flare once, twice, then wink out completely as the gate groans and shifts. "Move!" I shout, already turning to sprint back towards the group. "Everyone back to the entrance—now!"

I don't know if my blow has weakened the ward or just doomed us all to a faster collapse, but at this point, I'm willing to try anything. The skeletons surge forward as one, their undead eyes fixed on the breach in the gate, and I redouble my efforts to reach the others. "Halie!" I roar, my voice barely audible over the tower's ominous creaking. "Get that holy symbol working again—we might need it if we make it out of this alive!"

My heart pounds in my ears as I force my way through the press of bodies, Merrin and Jeane already moving to flank me on either side. Seraphine brings up the rear, her staff held at the ready as she stumbles over the debris littering the ground. We're a long way from the entrance now, but it's our only chance. Run or die—those are the only options left. I push forward with grim determination, my muscles burning and lungs aching as I strain to outpace the skeletons' relentless advance. This is what it means to be a soldier—to fight in the face of impossible odds, to risk everything for the chance at survival. And right now, I'll be damned if I let this tower claim any more lives.

The inverse rune ignites under my spell's focus, its power seething against the central sigil like oil and water forced together. The ambient dark magic pulses erratically around us—this is working, but barely contained. I can feel the tower groaning overhead, its structural integrity hanging by threads as thin as my patience with these idiots. "Everyone back from the walls! Now!" I snap at the group, my voice cutting through the growing chaos. Varrika's reckless mace swing against the gate might have bought us seconds instead of minutes—I'll need to work faster than planned. "Merrin, Seraphine—stay focused on those runes! Tell me if anything changes!"

I shift my stance, one hoof digging into the crumbling stone as I maintain concentration on the inverse rune. The spell requires precise channeling to redirect the flow of magic without triggering a cascade failure—the tower's already delicate balance hanging by threads is all that keeps us from becoming skeletons ourselves. The holy symbol of light in Halie's hands flickers ominously, its silver surface bubbling and warping under the corruption. Useless thing—faith has no power here. She should know better than to rely on something so easily broken by mundane dark magic. But I don't have time to lecture her now. I glance at the skeletons advancing through the gap in the gate, their movements slow but deliberate. The ward disruption is working—they're confused, disoriented—but only barely. Without a permanent solution soon, they'll regroup and overwhelm us with sheer numbers while we're trapped under collapsing stone. The inverse rune pulses brighter as I feed more power into it, the spell straining against the ambient corruption. This tower was designed to protect its secrets through dark magic—everything here resists our intrusion. But I'm not some novice mage who crumbles at the first sign of resistance. I've faced worse than this and emerged victorious. My wings beat once in controlled frustration, sending a gust of wind across the chamber. "Talk to me!" I call out to Merrin and Seraphine. "What do you see? Anything changing?" Time is running out—literally—as dust rains down from above with each creak of collapsing stone.