Round 109

The water crashes around Merrin, cold and relentless. Her mace hits the stone floor with a clatter that echoes through the chamber, a sound of desperation more than combat. She scrambles up, soaked and gasping, her eyes fixed on the thrashing tentacle that's pulling Varikka down. The tower groans like a dying beast above them, every bone in Merrin's body vibrating with the sound.

She pushes forward through the rising water, muscles burning. The current tugs at her legs, trying to sweep her off balance. She sees Seraphine across the chamber, the wizardette looking terrified and shouting something lost beneath the roar of collapsing stone. Then Merrin's foot hits something solid under the surface - a hidden step? A trap release? - and she stumbles hard, water splashing up around her thighs.

The water level is already past her knees now, rising fast enough to be visible. She can hear the distant shrieking again, louder this time, and imagines more than one set of claws scraping against stone walls. The tentacle thrashes closer, its suckers leaving trails of muck on the stone floor. Merrin's heart pounds. She needs to help Varikka, but she also needs to assess this new threat before anyone else stumbles into it.

She pulls her mace up, ready to swing at anything that breaks the surface. "Varikka!" she shouts, straining to see through the murky depths. "Hold on! I'm coming!" But the water is already waist-deep and still rising. She has minutes, maybe less, before this entire chamber floods completely. And now there's something new in the water with them.