Round 25

The barrier field around the tower's sealed entrance pulses with malevolent hunger, its animate runes writhing like a thousand tiny serents carved from shadow. The dark energy seeping from Merrin's wound answers their call, feeding the ancient construct's endless appetite for life force. Jeane traces the predatory carvings with growing horror, her mind racing to find a solution that doesn't exist within her current knowledge. Halie presses cloth against the wound—useless against this type of corruption—but her eyes burn with barely contained fury at Elric, who stands silent and guilty under their combined glares. Merrin grits her teeth against the agony, feeling the dark energy twist and writhe inside her veins like living shadows, each pulse drawing more of her essence toward the gate's hungry maw. The runes on the barrier respond with sickening syncopation, their hunger obvious in every carven line and curve.