Round 35

The tower screamed around them, ancient stone groaning like a living thing in torment as the magic within it twisted and fought back against their intrusion. The sound of tearing flesh and splintering bone echoed up from the pit—Varikka was still alive down there, but something had her, and it wasn't letting go easily.

Halie descended into the abyss, her hands slick with sweat on the rope as she lowered herself into the darkness. Each beat of her heart seemed to echo in the oppressive silence below. "Varikka!" she called out, her voice bouncing off unseen walls. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?" The air down here was thick with decay and something else—magic, old and wrong. She could feel it prickling at her skin, making the holy symbol around her neck feel heavy and cold.

Seraphine stood beside Jeane, her staff crackling with arcane energy as she maintained a shield spell around them all. The wizard's sharp eyes scanned the darkness beyond the pit, tension evident in every line of her body. "We need to get moving," she said, her voice tight with tension. "Whatever that thing is, it’s getting closer."