Round 87

The waters lapped at Merrin's boots, cold and insistent, as she clung to the ledge above the rapidly flooding chamber. Every groan of the collapsing tower sent fresh tremors through the stone beneath her fingers. The sound of Seraphine's staff light fading into the distance was a physical blow—another friend lost to the maze's depths.

Varikka's muffled cries had stopped, replaced now by the horrifying sound of something large scraping against stone in the newly revealed passage. Merrin's rogue instincts screamed at her to run, but there was nowhere to go. The waters were already waist-deep in the main chamber, and rising fast.

She scanned the darkness below, her sharp eyes searching for any sign of movement or threat. The surface of the water occasionally broke, disturbed by something unseen moving beneath—something big. Her grip tightened on the heavy mace as she shifted her weight, trying to find a more stable position on the precarious ledge. The stone felt slick under her boots, water already seeping between cracks in the rock face.

She couldn't stay here much longer—the rising waters would eventually claim this perch too. *Find the...

The sudden silence after Varikka's screams stopped was far more terrifying than the sounds themselves. Merrin found herself holding her breath, straining to hear any hint of what might be happening in that new passage. The water around her ankles swirled unnaturally, as if something below the surface was stirring.

The entire structure groaned ominously around them, a sound like a beast preparing to roar before collapsing entirely. Merrin's eyes darted upward instinctively—rubble already lay scattered across the floor of the chamber, and cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling above.

She had maybe minutes before this whole place came down. Maybe less.