Round 20 Transcript

As Halie and Seraphine prepare to descend the hidden stairway, the air grows thick with dust and the sound of falling stone intensifies. Suddenly, a loud crack echoes through the chamber, followed by the ominous creaking of wooden beams. The walls begin to shudder, and the ground beneath their feet trembles. Seraphine's eyes widen as she frantically searches for a safe path, her mind racing with the implications of their situation. "This could be our chance to get past the collapsing structure," she says, her voice laced with urgency. "We need to move quickly, before the entire floor gives way."

Halie nods resolutely, her eyes fixed on the stairway. "I'll go first," she says, her hand reaching for the hidden door handle. As she opens the door, a blast of cold air wafts out, carrying with it the faint scent of decay and corruption.

I feel the entire structure groan around us—this isn't just 'caving in', this is dying. The inverse rune flickers dangerously again, my control slipping like sand through fingers. Too much strain, too many variables—if I lose focus now, we're all buried under ancient stone.

I catch Halie's words about coordinating before someone stumbles into whatever 'heart' chamber is below and immediately my mind races with the implications. Merrin and Varrika scouting down there means they could find that chamber any moment. If they go in without us—without me managing this rune properly—their combined power won't be enough to handle inverse magic of that scale. I need to get up there, join them directly. This kind of delicate work requires proximity and constant attention. The rune pulses again, feeding corruption back through my wings—I can feel it eating at the edges of my magic, each heartbeat making control more difficult. Varrika is still methodically crushing skeletons with her hammer, not a moment wasted on anything but survival. Efficient as always, but also... isolated somehow. She hasn't said much since we entered this place, and that's worrying. Merrin's silence through the hidden door is equally concerning—those two together means trouble if they're both being quiet. The dust is thick enough to choke on down here, settling on my wings like ash. I beat them instinctively, trying to clear them—bad habit—and it does nothing but stir up more dead air. The inverse rune flares again, punishing the movement with a spike of corrupt energy that makes me gasp. I push more power into holding it back, feeling my reserves start to dip. This kind of sustained spellwork is draining even for me—if I don't find a solution soon, I won't have enough magic left to handle whatever comes next. But letting go means the tower resets its purpose and who knows what that does with us trapped inside. "Varrika," I call over my shoulder without turning around, keeping both hands raised in intricate holding patterns for the rune. "You've got this here?" It's not really a question—I know she has it, but I need to hear her voice. Need to check if she's still present or if whatever this place does to people is working its way into her mind too.

Silence answers me for a beat longer than comfortable. "Varrika." Louder this time. The sound of her hammer crushing bone stops mid-swing, and when she finally speaks, there's an edge to her voice I haven't heard before."Always have," she says simply, and something about the way she says it makes me shiver despite the ambient heat from the inverse rune.*

Another section of ceiling collapses with a groan that sounds almost alive—like this whole place is watching us struggle and enjoying every moment. The inverse rune flickers dangerously again as stone dust floods my senses. Too much—I need to get up there now before I lose control completely or the entire chamber comes down on top of everyone.

I turn to face Varrika fully, breaking concentration for just a moment while I re-establish the holding pattern with one hand. "Good," I say, trying to keep my tone casual despite the pressure building in my chest. "I need to go up there—Halie and Seraphine found something we need to check out. If Merrin and you find that 'heart' chamber first... well, I don't want to think about what might happen if this rune fails while they're in it."

She nods once, sharp and efficient. "Go." Just one word but it carries more weight than a hundred explanations. I trust her with my life down here—she'll hold this line even if the entire world falls apart around her. But that same unshakeable focus is what worries me most right now: when she gets quiet like this, something's building beneath the surface.

"Don't—" I start to say something about not doing anything stupid, but stop myself mid-sentence. She doesn't need warnings or lectures; we both know exactly how dangerous this situation is. Instead:* "If you find that chamber before we get down there, wait for my signal. Don't engage until I can join you—we need coordinated power to handle inverse magic of that scale."

Another nod. "Understood." Her hand tightens on the hammer handle, knuckles whitening. "Stay safe," she adds quietly, and it sounds almost like a prayer. I beat my wings once, hard, pushing off from the collapsing floor toward where I last saw Halie's silhouette above. The inverse rune pulses erratically as I move away, corrupt energy spilling out in visible tendrils that snap at my heels like angry snakes. Too far—too much strain on the holding pattern.*

I pour more power into it, feeling my reserves dip dangerously low already. This kind of magic is supposed to be elegant and precise, not brute force, but this rune doesn't care about 'supposed to'—it's actively fighting back every moment. If I lose focus for even a second...

I freeze at the top of the stairs, the cold air hitting my face like a slap. The temperature drops further as I descend, each step echoing unnaturally loud in the absolute darkness. This is worse than being trapped above—at least up there you could see what was collapsing on you. Down here it's just... waiting.

I fumble for my tinderbox with shaking hands, trying to light a torch before something grabs me from the shadows. The striker sparks uselessly twice before finally catching flame. The weak light reveals stone walls that seem to breathe in and out around me, the air thick with the smell of decay and something else—something ancient and wrong.

I press my back against the wall, trying to make myself smaller as I descend further. This is exactly what we were warned about: the deeper chambers holding the real power. But there's no going back now—the ceiling is probably buried in rubble by this point, and Jeane and the others could be walking into a trap without us.

My hand finds my pocket again—still empty. Without my symbol, every prayer feels like pushing against mud. If we encounter something that requires actual magic down here... No. I can't think about that. One problem at a time.*

I continue down the stairs, torch held out in front of me like a shield against whatever lies ahead.

I take a deep breath as we reach the bottom of the hidden stairway, the air here even colder and heavier than above. The flickering torchlight catches something moving in the shadows—just a trick of the light, surely, but it makes my heart hammer against my ribs.
"I don't like this," I whisper to Halie, my voice so low I can barely hear myself over the sound of crumbling stone and settling dust from above. "This feels... wrong. Like we're being watched."
My gaze darts around the small landing where the stairs end, taking in the two dark corridors branching off into unknown depths. One path leads further down, winding into what looks like an even deeper level of the tower. The other seems to lead towards a massive set of ornate doors, covered in the same inverse runes that Jeane is struggling with upstairs.
"The 'heart' chamber might be through there," I point at the door, my finger trembling slightly. "But I don't know if we should risk it without knowing what's waiting for us. And this air... it feels different. More charged."
I pull my robes tighter around myself, suddenly feeling vulnerable in this ancient, oppressive space. The runes on the door seem to pulse in the torchlight, almost alive, and I find myself leaning away from them instinctively.
"Halie, do you feel that? It's like... like a heartbeat. But slower than it should be."
I turn back to look up the stairs, half-expecting to see Jeane or Merrin or Varrika coming down behind us. But there's only darkness and the distant sound of falling stone.
"We need to find out what's going on up there. Whatever happened with the collapse, it could affect the whole tower's stability. And if Jeane can't hold that rune much longer..."
My voice trails off as I imagine the consequences: the tower's purpose resetting, potentially trapping us all deeper underground, or worse. A wave of claustrophobia washes over me, cold and suffocating.
"I'm going back up," I declare suddenly, my decision made in the moment. "I need to see if Jeane needs help with that rune. You're right—we can't let them handle whatever's down here alone."
But even as I say it, I hesitate. The pull of the unknown chamber is strong, and the 'heart' could be key to solving this entire mystery. And yet, the thought of leaving Halie here by herself in this creepy, crumbling place feels equally wrong.
"Or... you could come with me? We can send Merrin or Varrika down here if we need them."
I look at her, trying to gauge her reaction. Her face is shadowed in the flickering torchlight, but I see the tension around her eyes. She's scared too, but she’s also determined. Just like me.
"Whatever we choose, we need to decide quickly. This whole place feels like it's about to come apart at the seams."