Round 9

As Seraphine's Detect Magic flared, the air seemed to vibrate with an otherworldly energy, the green-black glow from the gateway arch deepening into a single, humming monolith embedded in the stone wall. Its surface was etched with runes that pulsed in sync with the unseen necromancer's breath. Halie stepped forward, her silver holy symbol raised between them with both hands, and divine light spilled from its surface like liquid gold, pooling at their feet and spreading outward in a shimmering circle to encompass Merrin, Varrika, and herself. "Stay inside the barrier," she said firmly, not commandingly. "We don't know what those runes do or where the necromancer hides, but my goddess's protection will keep us shielded from most dark magic." The air hummed with anticipation as Jeane tracked every movement with cold tactical precision, her wings shifting restlessly beneath her cloak as she calculated angles of attack and defensive positions.