Round 315

The entire chamber seemed to take a shuddering breath before collapsing in on itself. Stone ground against stone with a sound like teeth gnashing together, timbers screaming as they bent and snapped under impossible pressure. The noise was absolute, swallowing all other sound, vibrating through Merrin's bones until she felt like her teeth might shake loose. She had only seconds to act.

Varrika's bonds were already halfway undone when the full weight of the structure began to shift. The water responded instantly, surging up with renewed force as the chamber's floor tilted. Merrin hissed as a wave caught her off guard, nearly sweeping her feet out from under her. She scrambled for purchase on the suddenly slick stone, one hand still working the lockpick while the other clawed at the rock face.

Varrika was above her, clinging to an outcropping like a child to its mother's skirts. "Merrin!" Her voice barely carried over the roar of collapsing stone and rushing water. "Move! Toward me!" The tentacled horror still writhed in the depths below, its eyes fixed on the priestess with unnerving intensity. Merrin felt a hot twist of something that wasn't quite fear as she pulled out the rope, looping it around her waist with practiced efficiency.