Round 19 Transcript

As Halie holds up her holy symbol, a surge of sacred energy erupts from the symbol, illuminating the dark runes on the gate. The runes react to Jeane's presence, their pulsing energy intensifying as they attempt to draw Merrin closer. The barrier field closes in, its dark magic swirling around Merrin like a living shroud. Merrin's leg is now oozing a dark, viscous liquid that seems to be pulling her towards the gate. She cries out in pain and desperation, her voice barely audible over the thundering of her own heart. The skeletal guardian, sensing its chance, takes a step closer, its bony fingers grasping for Elric. "We need to act fast!" Halie exclaims, her eyes locked on Merrin. "Jeane, can you find a way to counter this field's magic? Seraphine, what do you think we should do?"

The group falls silent, their gazes fixed on Merrin as the barrier field continues to draw her closer with every passing moment.

Jeane felt the ancient stone vibrate with wrongness beneath her boots. The runes pulsed like infected veins, and Merrin's cries tore at her focus—her little halfling was being dragged toward that hungry darkness by the very wound Jeane couldn't heal fast enough. I can feel it, she said to no one in particular, her eyes tracing the dark lines spreading from Merrin's leg. This isn't just a barrier. It's a mouth. The air itself seemed to thicken with intent, and Jeane's own power felt… reluctant. Like trying to breathe underwater. Elric was scanning for threats that moved, but this danger pulsed below their feet and bled from the walls themselves. Seraphine had insight into field mechanics—that was her value—but right now, Merrin needed a solution, not an analysis paper. The barrier closed another inch around her friend's ankle like a tightening noose. Jeane pulled her heaviest tome from the pack—a grimoire of ward spells and counter-magic that weighed more than a brick—and slammed it down on the nearest rune with a crack that echoed through the courtyard. Shadows don't take what's mine, she snarled at the stone, even as her gut twisted with fear. Her hand hovered over the sigil, ready to trace a banishment circle if the stone dared respond. But instead of attacking it back, Jeane forced herself to read the symbols properly—they glowed faintly in response to her magic, hungry but not immediate. Whatever this was, it wasn't just waiting for prey. It was… testing them. The rune says 'Shadow's grasp, darkness' key.' She looked up at Elric, who'd gone pale beneath his beard—You knew what this place really was when you led us here.

The ancient runes pulsed like infected veins, their hunger obvious even to my untrained eyes. Merrin’s cries tore at my focus—her little halfling was being dragged toward that hungry darkness by the very wound she’d suffered trying to save us all. I grabbed her shoulder, yanking her back, but the dark liquid oozing from her leg didn’t stop flowing toward the gate. “Elric!” I snarled, turning on him. “Explain this field NOW! What the hell is it and why hasn’t it killed us yet?”

I watch in horror as the dark energy from Merrin's wound seems to writhe in the air, pulling her towards the ancient gate. The runes on its surface pulse with a malevolent life of their own, echoing the rhythm of some unseen heart.
"By the gods, what is this thing?" I mutter under my breath, my fingers twitching as they hover over the grimoire tucked into my belt. Jeane's frantic attempts to counter its magic with her own have only seemed to agitate it further.
My gaze darts between the struggling Merrin and the wall of dark energy coalescing around her. It feels like watching a spider trap a fly, each second stretching tighter than the last. Halie’s desperate yank on Merrin does little more than slow the inevitable. Elric is right; this isn't just a barrier. It's alive in some twisted way that makes my skin crawl.
I take a step forward, my mind racing through every theory I've ever studied about magical wards and containment fields. This one seems different, older somehow. Hungrier.
"We need to find its weakness," I say, my voice steady despite the fear coiling in my gut. I point at the runes on the gate. "Those symbols... they're not just decoration. They must be the key to its function."
I move closer, my eyes narrowing as I try to decipher the ancient script. It's like trying to read water, the letters shifting and blurring under my gaze.
"Shadow's grasp, darkness' key," *I read aloud, the words sending a chill down my spine. "What does that even mean?"