Round 681

Merrin [C] leaned forward, her stomach dropping as she saw the chasm yawning beneath them. The wood groaned ominously, and then—crack! One of the planks snapped cleanly in two. She barely had time to process what was happening before Varikka lunged forward, grabbing her by the back of her shirt. The sudden jolt sent them both tumbling to the ground, but they managed to land on the solid stone edge of the chasm rather than plummeting into the darkness below.

Merrin lay there for a moment, breathing heavily, her heart pounding in her chest. She looked up at Varikka, who was sprawled beside her, and saw the dwarf woman's face pale with pain. "Are you okay?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Varrika shook her head, gritting her teeth against the agony shooting through her ankle. "Not exactly," she managed to say through clenched jaws. "But at least we're not at the bottom of that hole." She tried to sit up, but a fresh wave of pain washed over her, and she collapsed back onto the stone with a groan.

Merrin scrambled to her feet, ignoring the protest from her own injured ankle, and moved to Varikka's side. "Let me see," she said, gently examining the swollen joint. It was already turning an angry shade of purple, and when she probed it carefully, Varikka let out a sharp hiss of pain.

"Yeah," the dwarf woman ground out. "Not good." She looked up at Merrin, her expression grim. "We need to get off this ledge. Fast."

Merrin nodded, looking around at their precarious situation. The narrow stone shelf they stood on seemed solid enough, but the passageway behind them was filling with noxious gas, and the sound of running water echoed from somewhere nearby. She could feel a slight vibration beneath her feet—a sign that the ancient structure might not be as stable as it appeared.

"Alright," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "Let's figure out how to get down there without breaking anything else."