Round 489

The chamber shuddered around them like a living thing in its death throes. Merrin clung to the precarious ledge with both hands, boots scrabbling for purchase on slick rock as the rising waters lapped hungrily at her calves. The current tugged insistently, trying to pull her off balance and into the depths below. Varrika moved behind her, solid and heavy despite the obvious agony written across her face in every line of her body. Her injured ankle made each step a visible struggle, but she pressed on with grim determination.

They'd barely managed to squeeze through the rapidly flooding passage and onto this narrow ledge—no more than two feet wide in places—and Merrin knew it wouldn't last long. The Guardian loomed above them still, its metal claws scraping against the ceiling in a relentless search for purchase. She could hear the sound even over the rush of water filling the chamber: that grating scrape of sharp edges against stone. It had found something—a crack, a weakness—and she saw the massive shape beginning to shift downward.

"Move!" Varrika snarled, her voice barely audible over the roar of flooding waters. "It's coming down!"

Merrin didn't need to be told twice. She launched herself forward, grabbing Varrika's good arm and half-dragging her across the slick stone surface. Behind them, the ceiling gave way with a sound like thunder, and a massive slab of stone came crashing down into the rising waters mere feet away. The impact sent a plume of water and debris into the air, momentarily blinding them both.

When their vision cleared, Merrin saw the Guardian standing on what remained of the ledge—now even closer than before—and advancing toward them with unnatural purpose. Its unblinking gaze was fixed on Varrika, and something in that stare made Merrin's blood run cold.

Varikka! she cried, lunging forward to grab her friend's arm just as the creature's metal claws flashed in the dim light. With a grunt of effort, she managed to yank them both sideways, barely avoiding the deadly swipe. The claws sliced through empty air where Varrika's head had been moments before, embedding themselves deep into the stone wall with a shower of sparks.

They stumbled, off-balance and teetering on the edge of the rapidly flooding ledge. Merrin could feel the water rising beneath her boots, lapping ever higher as the chamber filled around them. They were trapped—trapped between drowning and being torn apart by that monstrous thing—and she had no idea how to escape.