Round 750

The corridor felt wrong before they even entered it—something about the angle of the walls, the texture of the stone underfoot that set Merrin's teeth on edge. She'd learned to trust those instincts in her time as a thief and scout, and now they were screaming at her to turn back. But Varikka was already moving forward, her injured ankle barely slowing her stride despite the obvious pain etched into every line of her face.

The dwarf woman stopped suddenly, holding up a hand for silence. Merrin froze mid-step, ears straining. There it was again—that sound she'd been hearing intermittently since they'd stumbled through the magical portal: heavy footsteps echoing from somewhere ahead. The Guardian. She hadn't heard them lose the damn thing in the collapse, clearly.

Varrika's voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke. "She's still following us." Her grip tightened on her mace, knuckles whitening. "I thought we lost her in that fall."

Merrin shook her head, equally quiet. "Not this time. She's getting closer." The halfling woman drew her crossbow with practiced ease, the familiar weight a comfort as she scanned the corridor ahead. "We need to find a place to ambush her—somewhere we can control the terrain better than this."

The dwarf nodded grimly. "Agreed. But first..." She glanced back at the collapsed section they'd just navigated through. "We need to make sure that won't bring the whole damn ceiling down on us if we try to retreat that way." She moved carefully back toward the rubble pile, testing each stone with her boot before committing her full weight. Merrin followed, crossbow still raised and eyes never leaving the darkness ahead.

Varrika reached the barrier and began to probe it methodically, checking stability. After a moment, she shook her head. "It's unstable," she reported. "Try to move through here again and we'd likely bring half this section down with us." She turned back to face Merrin, her expression serious. "That means our only way forward is past whatever—or whoever—is making that noise ahead."

The halfling woman felt her stomach drop, but she kept her expression neutral. "Then let's go see what we're dealing with," she said, forcing confidence into her voice that she didn't entirely feel. She moved forward, Varikka close behind, both women tense and ready for whatever lay waiting in the darkness ahead.