Round 708

The air inside the tower grew heavy and thick, each breath tasting of dust and decay as Merrin pressed herself against the cold stone wall. Her head still pounded from the noxious gas they'd inhaled moments before, a dull ache that seemed to pulse in time with her racing heart. The chamber groaned around them like a living thing in pain, stone grinding against stone as the ancient structure protested their presence.

Varrika stood between them and the only visible exit—the heavy iron door now barred by the massive frame of The Guardian. The halfing woman's dark eyes darted around the room, searching for any alternative, any escape route that didn't involve facing down a monster with no healing potions to spare. The chamber remained stubbornly featureless save for the ominous symbols carved into the walls and floor.

The air grew thicker still, harder to breathe, as if the very atmosphere was conspiring against them. "Think!" Merrin muttered to herself, her quick fingers already working at the straps of her pack. "There has to be a way out of here that doesn't involve facing down a monster with no healing potions!"

The Guardian's next move broke her concentration. It...