Round 937

The narrow stone passageways stretched ahead in identical mazes of darkness, each turn leading deeper into the tower's ancient heart. Merrin's breath came in short gasps, the cold water still clinging to her skin like a second layer despite being out of the direct flow. Every creak of the stone around them made her flinch, muscles coiled and ready for the next collapse.

Varikka's weight pressed heavily on her shoulders, the dwarf's injured ankle held carefully above the slick floor. "You alright?" Merrin asked, though she knew the answer already. Varrika's face was pale, her breathing ragged. The dwarf blinked sweat out of her eyes and tried to focus on Merrin's face. "Bitch hurt like a motherfucker," she admitted through gritted teeth. "Can't put weight on it." She attempted to demonstrate this fact by trying to shift again, only for another howl of pain to escape her lips as the ankle screamed protest. Her good leg gave out completely and Merrin ended up taking even more of her weight, pinned beneath the dwarf's solid frame.

"Shit," Merrin hissed, muscles straining as she tried to hold them both up without letting Varrika fall onto her injured ankle again. The water was still lapping at their feet from the last chamber, a constant reminder of how close they'd come to drowning already. "We need to move before this whole place comes down," she panted, trying to ignore the way the cold made her teeth chatter. "But you can't walk on that leg."

Varrika's face set in determined lines, though pain flickered in her eyes. "Then I'll crawl if I have to. Not leaving you behind." She started to shift her weight, then froze as another section of the ceiling above them crumbled with a loud crack. Dust rained down, mixing with the oily substance on the floor to create a slick, dangerous mess. Merrin's heart raced as she realized how precarious their position truly was.