Round 290

The ground groaned again as Merrin clung to the pipe above the rising waters, her heart pounding in her chest. The current surged around her, threatening to pull her under, but she refused to let go. Not until she knew Varikka was safe.

"Varikka!" she shouted, her voice barely carrying over the roar of rushing water. "Answer me! Are you okay?"

The elf woman's head broke the surface for a moment, her face pale with terror. "Merrin! I'm here—I'm trying to stay afloat!"

Merrin felt a surge of relief, but it was short-lived as another section of wall crumbled nearby. The structure above them groaned ominously, shifting under the strain of the rising floodwaters.

"Hold on!" Merrin cried out. "I'm coming down!"

She began to work her way along the ledge, her fingers finding precarious holds in the crumbling stone. Every step was a battle against fear and exhaustion as the waters rose higher and higher.

The ground gave another ominous groan, louder this time—a section of wall near the pit's edge began to crumble, sending a cascade of stone and debris into the churning waters below. Merrin stumbled back instinctively, barely avoiding being swept off the ledge by the sudden surge of water.

She clung to what remained of the pipe with desperate strength as the entire chamber seemed to shift around them. The structure was coming down—they had seconds left before this whole nightmare collapsed in on itself and buried them both alive.

"Varikka!" she screamed, her voice lost in the roar of destruction. "Where are you? Answer me!"

But there was no response. Only the sickening certainty that something terrible had happened—that her friend was gone, swallowed by the darkness and the floodwaters.

No. She wouldn't accept that. Not until she saw it with her own eyes.

Merrin took a deep breath, steeling herself against the rising panic. She could feel the ledge beneath her feet growing more precarious by the moment, the entire chamber seeming to lurch and settle as the waters rose ever higher. But she refused to move, refused to give up hope.

Because down there, somewhere in that swirling darkness, was Varikka. Her friend. The only reason Merrin had made it this far at all.

She wouldn't abandon her now. Not when they were so close.