Round 134

Seraphine surfaced with a gasp, water streaming from her face and hair. She'd managed to find air again after what felt like an eternity underwater, her lungs burning for oxygen even as she coughed and sputtered. The cold was already setting in, her teeth chattering uncontrollably as she tread water, trying to figure out where—as if by some miracle—Merrin had gone.

The elf woman's eyes darted around the massive underground lake, searching for any sign of her friend. The water here was deeper than she'd initially thought, and far more treacherous. Something large moved beneath the surface—she could feel it, the displacement of water around something big and slow-moving that circled the perimeter like a predator on patrol.

"Merrin!" Seraphine called out, her voice echoing off the cavern walls. "Where are you? Answer me!"

Silence answered her, broken only by the distant drip of water somewhere unseen and the pulsing glow of fungi along the walls. Panic clawed at her chest as she tread water more frantically now, her gaze sweeping across every shadow and dark corner.

"Please," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "Please let her be okay."

The water around her seemed to shift suddenly, something brushing against her leg from below. Seraphine screamed, thrashing instinctively as she tried to pull away from whatever had touched her. Her feet found no purchase on the slick stone floor beneath the surface, and she began to sink even as she struggled.

"No!" she cried out, her hands scrabbling at nothing but water as she descended into the depths. The cold embraced her completely now, stealing her breath and strength as panic overwhelmed rational thought.

And then—mercifully—the world went dark.