Round 355

The water roared past them in a torrent, the sheer force of it making both women stumble backward. Merrin caught Varrika before she could fall, hauling the dwarf woman up onto the basin’s edge with a grunt of effort. The halfing barely had time to catch her own breath, however, before something moved in the shadows beyond—the unmistakable gleam of eyes watching them from the darkness.

Varikka’s hand went reflexively to her mace, but she knew they were in no position to fight whatever lurked there. The water was already waist-deep on Merrin, and the current was growing stronger by the second. “Merrin!” Varrika shouted over the roar of the flood. “Can you see anything down there?” The halfing strained her eyes through the gloom, trying to make out shapes in the churning water below them. She could feel the cold seeping into her bones already, and the wound on her leg was starting to throb with each pulse of the rushing water.

“I can’t tell,” Merrin called back, her voice barely carrying over the din. “But whatever it is, it’s big.” A massive stone slab suddenly shifted in the passage behind them, nearly crushing them both as it slid into the water with a thunderous splash. Merrin yanked Varrika backward just in time to avoid being pinned against the wall.

“Move!” she screamed, dragging the dwarf woman toward the far side of the chamber. “The whole damn thing’s coming down!”

The entire ceiling above them began to groan and crack as the water pressure increased exponentially. Chunks of stone rained down around them, and a massive boulder came hurtling through the collapsing passage, missing Merrin by inches before smashing into the far wall with enough force to shake the entire chamber.

They scrambled to the edge of the basin just as the floor beneath their feet gave way completely, the water rushing past them in a deafening torrent. For a moment, they hung suspended over the abyss, then Merrin’s hands found purchase on a narrow ledge above. She hauled herself up with desperate strength, reaching down to pull Varrika up beside her.

The dwarf woman gasped for breath, her body trembling from exertion and adrenaline. “That was too close,” she panted, wiping water from her eyes. “Too damn close.”

Merrin nodded grimly, surveying their surroundings. They’d ended up in a small, dry chamber beyond the collapsing passage—at least temporarily safe from the flood. But the air here was thick with the smell of decay and something else...something foul.

And those glowing eyes were still watching them from the shadows ahead.