Round 175

The water was cold enough to steal her breath away, Merrin realized as she pulled herself into the narrow passage. It felt like ice had been poured directly into her veins, and her teeth were already chattering violently despite her best efforts to control them. The heavy iron bar she'd grabbed clanged against stone as she scrambled forward on hands and knees, the weight of it dragging at her exhausted limbs.

Behind her, the sound of rushing water grew louder with each passing second—a sound that sent a fresh jolt of terror through her already overtaxed system. She didn't dare look back to see how close the tentacled horror was now, knowing full well that sight alone might shatter what little composure she had left. Instead, she focused on moving forward as quickly as possible, her small frame allowing her to squeeze into spaces that would have been impossible for anyone larger.

The passage seemed to descend slightly as she crawled deeper inside, which offered a glimmer of hope—lower ground meant the rising water might not follow quite so aggressively. But even as that thought crossed her mind, she felt the first cold splash against her backside, confirming her worst fears. The water was coming.

"Fuck," she hissed through clenched teeth, redoubling her efforts despite the burning in her muscles and lungs. She needed to find higher ground—needed to get warm before the cold sapped what little strength she had left. But more importantly, she needed to find a way back to Varikka or Seraphine, needed to know they were safe.

The thought of what might have happened to them both since she'd been forced to abandon them in pursuit of this escape route gnawed at her insides like acid. She should have stayed—should have fought alongside them instead of running off on her own. Now, the idea that she might be the only one to survive this collapsing deathtrap twisted the knife of guilt even deeper.

No. She wouldn't think like that. Not yet. There had to be a way back—they were all too damn stubborn to die in a place like this without putting up one hell of a fight first. And Merrin intended to put up more than her fair share before she went down.

The passage opened up into a slightly larger chamber ahead, and for a moment, her heart leapt with hope. Maybe this was it—maybe she'd found the higher ground she so desperately needed. But as she crawled into the center of the room, her hopes were quickly dashed by the sight that greeted her.

Glowing eyes stared back at her from the dark waters that already filled the floor—dozens of them, maybe hundreds. And they were moving, shifting in the depths like a writhing mass of something living and utterly alien. The water itself seemed to pulse with an eerie blue light, casting grotesque shadows across the walls as the unseen entities below stirred restlessly.

Merrin's stomach dropped like a stone. This was new—something they hadn't encountered before. And given how little she enjoyed surprises in general, let alone ones that involved unknown horrors lurking in the depths of a cursed tower, this particular development ranked very high on her list of things she'd rather avoid.

"Great," she muttered, scrambling back towards the entrance to the passage as quickly as her trembling limbs would allow. "Just fucking great."