Round 189

The water was already waist-deep when Merrin finally managed to yank the sputtering torch free from its wall sconce. The flame flickered weakly in her trembling hands, barely cutting through the oppressive darkness that pressed in on all sides. Her fingers were numb with cold by now, and she could feel the first warning tingles of hypothermia creeping up her arms.

"Fuck," she hissed through chattering teeth, "we need to get out of this water fast." The current was growing stronger by the second, tugging insistently at her legs as if trying to pull her deeper into the lake's depths. She could hear distant splashing sounds echoing through the cavernous space - something large moving in the water nearby.

"Varikka! Seraphine!" Merrin called out, her voice barely carrying over the roar of rushing water and the ominous creaking of the tower's ancient stonework overhead. The structure groaned and shifted around them, raining dust and small stones down into the churning waters. A loud crack somewhere above made Merrin flinch - another support beam giving way.

She waded back towards where she'd last seen Varikka, fighting against the current. The water was up to her chest now, making it nearly impossible to move without swimming. Her heavy iron bar felt like it weighed a ton in her frozen fingers.

"Where are you?" Merrin shouted, panic creeping into her voice as she strained to see through the swirling darkness and rising water levels. The cold was making it hard to think straight, but one thought burned clear: they needed to find higher ground before this entire cursed tower came crashing down on top of them.

The splashing sounds grew louder, closer. Merrin whirled around, torch held out defensively, trying to pierce the inky blackness that surrounded her. Something was definitely out there in the water with her - something big enough to make waves. She took a stumbling step backwards, the heavy iron bar clutched tightly in both hands.

"Who's there?" she demanded, voice cracking with fear despite her best efforts to sound brave. The answer came as a sudden surge of movement breaking the surface mere feet away - a mass of writhing tentacles rising from the depths, water cascading off them like liquid silver in the torchlight. Merrin barely had time to scream before they lunged for her.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the collapsing tower...