Round 167

The water closed over Merrin’s head with terrifying speed, pulling her under before she could even cry out. Her teeth chattered violently as she surfaced again, gasping for air and choking on a mouthful of icy water. The cold was already biting into her flesh, her soaked leathers weighing her down like a second skin.

She could feel the thing’s presence still lingering in the water around her, its strength ebbing and flowing like a perverse heartbeat. The weight of her heavy iron bar felt suddenly unwieldy as she tried to keep her grip on it one-handed while maintaining a death-grip on some unseen ledge deep beneath the earth.

Varikka fired her crossbow with deadly accuracy, the bolt punching through the water mere inches from Merrin’s face. The blast sent water flying in all directions, momentarily stalling the rising tide. The tentacled horror recoiled, its grip on the rock loosening as it hissed in pain.

The sudden reprieve gave Varikka an opening to grab a nearby torch and use it to create a makeshift barrier between herself and the creature. She knew Merrin was still out there somewhere, trapped beneath the surface, and she wasn’t about to let that monstrosity claim another member of their party.

Meanwhile, Seraphine found herself in her own private hell, submerged and disoriented. Her bruised body ached with every movement as she tried to process what had just happened - one moment standing on solid ground, the next plunging into icy water. She could feel the current pulling her deeper, her vision blurred by cold and disorientation.

She owed Merrin for diving in after her, but right now, survival was her only goal. She needed air, and she needed it fast. The thought of drowning down here, trapped beneath the earth with only darkness and cold for company, was enough to fuel her desperation.