Round 881

Merrin grits her teeth, the wiry halfling scout woman fighting for purchase on the slick stone ledge even as the ground bucks beneath them again. She feels Varikka's weight shift dangerously in her arms and instinctively tightens her grip, muscles corded with tension. "Easy," she mutters, more to herself than the dwarf, though her voice carries a tremor of barely contained panic. The fast-moving underground river surges below them, its surface churning with ominous energy that seems almost alive. Elric's torch flickers wildly as another violent shudder runs through the stone around them—this time accompanied by a sickening crack from somewhere above their heads.*

Merrin tears her eyes away from the hungry water and focuses on Varikka's face, pale in the dancing torchlight. The dwarf woman's jaw is clenched against the agony of her sprained ankle, but her eyes are sharp and focused. "We need to move," Merrin says firmly, though her stomach drops at the thought of navigating this treacherous terrain with the weight of an injured companion. She shifts her stance, trying to distribute Varikka's bulk more evenly across her own body without putting too much strain on her back or shoulders.*

Elric steps closer, his expression grave as he eyes the crumbling edges of their precarious foothold. "The tunnel's giving way faster now," he warns, his voice barely audible over the roar of the water. Merrin nods grimly, already knowing they can't afford to linger here much longer. "We need a path along the wall," she says, her eyes scanning the stone surface desperately for any sign of a viable route. The sheer rock face rises above them, offering some protection from the hungry current below but providing precious little in terms of stable footing.

Varikka's breath hisses through clenched teeth as another tremor runs through the ground. "Find something," she snarls, her fingers digging into Merrin's arm with bruising force. The rogue meets her gaze and sees the unspoken plea there—the dwarf is terrified but determined not to show weakness. "I'm on it," Merrin replies, her voice tight with resolve. She begins to inch along the wall, one hand pressed flat against the stone surface as she searches for any purchase that might allow them to climb or at least move laterally away from this death trap.

Behind them, the sound of shifting rock and a low groan echoes through the tunnel—the unmistakable warning of impending collapse. Merrin's heart hammers in her chest, but she forces herself to focus on the task at hand. Find a way out. Don't think about the water below or the ceiling above or the monster trying to break through that door. Just find a way out.

Her fingers trace along a faint seam in the rock, and suddenly—there it is. A narrow shelf, barely wide enough for a halfling's foot, but it angles upward and away from the current. "Here!" she calls back over her shoulder, already beginning to maneuver Varikka into position. The dwarf woman grits her teeth against the pain as Merrin helps her shift her weight onto the new foothold, both of them acutely aware that one wrong move could send them plummeting into the waiting water below.*

Elric moves to support Varrika's other side, his face set in concentration. "We've got you," he says, his voice steady despite the precariousness of their situation. Together, they inch along the narrow shelf, Merrin in the lead guiding them with painstaking care. The rock groans ominously beneath their combined weight, but it holds—barely.*

As they gain a few precious feet of elevation, Merrin spots something that sends a jolt of hope through her chest: a dark opening in the wall above, just out of reach. "There!" she hisses, pointing with one trembling hand.* "A passage! We can get off this damn ledge if we can just—"

Her words are cut off by an earth-shattering roar that seems to come from everywhere at once. The ground bucks violently, and a section of the ceiling directly above them begins to crumble. Merrin throws herself forward instinctively, dragging Varrika with her as a massive cascade of stone comes crashing down where they stood mere moments before.