Round 247

The chamber's collapse came in waves—groans and shrieks of stressed stone threatening to bury them alive. Merrin scrambled through the narrowing gap, her halfling size offering a desperate advantage as dust and debris rained down. She emerged into the new passage just as the old one gave way completely behind them, a roar of finality that sent fresh terror through her gut. Jeane followed moments later, the tall succubus woman coughing from the cloud of choking stone, vision still swimming from the failed binding attempt.

• "We're both still breathing," Jeane gasped, wiping dust from her eyes. "For now." She leaned against the crumbling wall for support, head throbbing with each heartbeat. The shared knowledge pulsed in her mind like an open wound—too much information bleeding into her thoughts at once. "But we can't stay here long. The whole tower is coming down around our ears."