Round 82

The chasm's depths offered no easy answers, only the promise of more peril. Jeane descended with careful precision, her crimson eyes scanning every shadowy crevice below. The air grew heavier as she neared the bottom, thick with ancient magic that made her skin prickle uncomfortably.

"I see a bridge," she called back to her companions above, her voice barely carrying over the distant chanting that seemed to echo from everywhere and nowhere at once. "It's narrow and looks ready to collapse, but it might be our only way down." The structure in question spanned the chasm with dubious structural integrity, its stone surface covered in strange symbols that pulsed faintly with trapped energy.

Seraphine gripped the metal bar tighter as she watched Jeane descend slowly, her powerful wings beating steadily. The distant chanting or whispering intensified, sending shivers down their spines. They moved forward cautiously, pressing themselves against the cold stone walls. The passage ahead seemed to pulse with trapped energy, the air growing heavier still.

Seraphine signaled for a halt when she sensed something ahead—another magical signature, different from the entity they'd passed. Jeane hovered lower, trying to get a better view around the next bend. "I sense... something," she whispered, her eyes narrowing in concentration. "Magic, but contained—different from the entity."

Seraphine moved up beside her, peering around the corner with bated breath. At first, all she could see was darkness...