Round 120

Merrin’s heavy mace clanged against stone as she wriggled through the crumbling gap, water already lapping at her back and shoulders. The entire cavern groaned around her, a sound like the earth itself was screaming. She emerged into a new chamber just in time to see Seraphine tumble through an invisible passage overhead, landing hard on the stone below. Merrin scrambled to her feet, boots splashing in ankle-deep water that covered the floor here too.

“Seraphine!” she hissed, moving toward her friend. “Are you hurt? What’s down there?” But Seraphine was already stumbling away from the entrance, eyes wide with terror. Something had her—Merrin saw it then, a flash of movement in the water around her ankles. Tentacles, thin and dark, wrapping around Seraphine’s legs and pulling her deeper into the liquid.

“NO!” Merrin screamed, diving forward. Her hands closed on empty water as Seraphine vanished beneath the surface with barely a splash. The water churned where she’d disappeared, then stilled again, leaving only ripples. Merrin dropped to her knees beside the invisible entrance, peering into the darkness below. “Seraphine!” she shouted again, voice echoing off stone walls. “Can you hear me? Answer me!”

There was no response except the steady drip of water and the distant sound of groaning stone from above. Merrin’s heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the surface of the water. She knew what she had to do, but the thought of diving into that dark liquid made her stomach twist with fear. Whatever had taken Seraphine was still down there, waiting.

She glanced around the chamber quickly, noting the tall stone archways leading deeper into the tower and the flickering green light emanating from somewhere unseen. The water here wasn’t deep—maybe waist-high at its deepest points—but it covered every inch of the floor in a shifting carpet that hid whatever lay beneath. She could see no obvious exits except the way she’d come or the dark passages ahead.

Merrin’s hand tightened around her mace as she stood slowly, scanning the water’s surface for any sign of movement. “Seraphine,” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. “Where are you?”