Round 885

Merrin surfaces with a gasp, water streaming from her face as she frantically searches for Varikka. Her voice echoes off the stone walls, the sound swallowed by the rushing water and the Guardian's ominous roar. She spots Elric's torch beam cutting through the darkness and swims towards it with desperate strokes.

As she reaches the ledge, Merrin hauls herself up with trembling arms, her body shaking from the cold and exertion. "Did you see where she went?" She asks Elric, her voice tight with fear as she scans the churning water for any sign of her friend.

Elric shakes his head, his face pale in the torchlight. "I lost sight of her when that section collapsed. The current's too strong—we need to get out of this river before it takes us all down."

The Guardian's roar shakes the very stone around them, and a shower of dust rains down from the ceiling.