Round 466

The water had already reached Varikka's knees when Merrin finally managed to squeeze through the narrow gap in the wall. The dwarf woman grit her teeth against the pain in her ankle as she struggled to follow, her powerful build making the tight space a genuine challenge. "Merrin!" Varrika called out, her voice strained with effort and fear as she watched the rising waters lap at her thighs. "What do you see? Is there another way out?"

Merrin pressed herself flat against the stone wall of the new passage, peering into the darkness ahead. She could feel the cold water swirling around her own ankles now—already halfway up her calf in this section. The air here smelled different somehow, older and dustier than the main corridor they'd fled. "I think I see a staircase," she called back over her shoulder, trying to keep the desperation from her voice. "But it's completely flooded—water's already waist-deep down there." She turned back to Varikka, who was now standing in water that reached her own waist despite being a full head shorter than Merrin. The dwarf woman's face was pale and set with pain.

"Great," Varrika growled, wading forward with laborious movements. "So we either drown here or try swimming through god-knows-what in the dark." She paused, pressing her good foot against the wall for support as another tremor ran through the stone around them. "Unless you've got some brilliant rogue insight I'm missing?"