Round 11

The air around them thickened with unspoken questions and barely restrained violence as the ancient rune-covered gate pulsed ominously before them. Merrin's leg had gone from injured to actively cursed in mere moments—dark tendrils now visible beneath her skin, feeding on something within her or the surrounding corruption. Jeane pulled back from the barrier field, her arcane senses screaming warnings that had nothing to do with simple magic. She fixed Elric with a look that promised extreme discomfort if his answers didn't satisfy this time.

"Explain," she said quietly, each syllable sharp enough to cut stone. "Explain why you failed to mention the living barrier field, the parasitic entity now nesting in Merrin's bloodstream, or whatever else might be waiting beyond that gate that would make our situation significantly worse than 'a few skeletons and some minor traps.' Speak quickly and speak true, because my patience for half-truths and omissions has evaporated."

Halie shifted her grip on the heavy mace, muscles burning but resolve firm. She knew they couldn't turn back now—not with Merrin injured and whatever had latched onto her still potentially active nearby. Whatever lay beyond that gate, they'd face it together—because that was what they did. But first, answers were required.

The ancient stone barrier loomed before them, its surface slick with dark residue where the tendrils had been moments before. The field pulsed again, its light dimming to a sickly green glow as it settled back into dormancy. Merrin tested her weight on her injured leg, teeth gritted against the pain but eyes alert as she scanned their surroundings for further threats. The air crackled with residual corruption—whatever had attached itself to her was still feeding on this place's dark energies.

"You said nothing about this!" Merrin hissed, voice tight with fear and anger. "What the fuck is this thing doing inside me? How do we get it out?" She kept her crossbow aimed at the gate despite the pain shooting up her leg with each pulse of the dark energy inside her. The last thing they needed was whatever lay beyond deciding to make an early entrance while they were distracted and vulnerable.

The barrier field around the gate shimmered more insistently, as if feeding on their growing tension. Something ancient and hungry waited beyond that threshold—something that had been waiting for centuries, perhaps millennia. And now it knew they were here.