Round 746

Merrin grits her teeth as the ground beneath them trembles again, sending cracks snapping through the already unstable floor. The sudden darkness is disorienting, but she can still feel Varikka's hand in hers, warm and solid. "Varrika!" she calls out, her voice echoing in the confined space. "Are you alright? The ground—" A particularly violent shake cuts her off mid-sentence, and she stumbles forward, yanking Varikka with her. The dwarf woman lets out a grunt of pain but doesn't cry out, even as Merrin's momentum sends them both crashing to the floor.

Merrin finds herself sprawled on top of Varrika, their faces inches apart in the oppressive darkness. "Sorry," she mutters, scrambling to get up. "I didn't mean to—" Another rumble cuts her off, louder this time, and she feels the floor shift beneath them. A shower of dust and small stones rains down from above.

Varrika's voice comes out strained as she tries to push herself up. "We need to keep moving," she says, her words barely audible over the groaning of the collapsing ruins. "The whole place could come down any second."