Round 46 Transcript

The spell collapses with a sound like teeth grinding stone. The ward-stones shudder, their desperate gulping stuttering into something worse—a vibration that climbs the tower's height. At the window, something too large shifts mass, and a shape resolves against the far wall: upright but wrong, jointed in places no human should bend. It turns toward the window, and Merrin and Varrika dive back as one heavy claw scrapes outward, catching daylight for a moment before withdrawing. The Time Limit is down to 3 minutes. The Entity is awake and approaching.

I approach Merrin at the window, my silver holy symbol in hand, and kneel beside her. "If we're going up, I need five minutes of quiet focus to cast the ward spell—while everyone stands still." I look at Varrika and Seraphine. "That means no heroics for three minutes, not even heroic whispers. And whatever happens upstairs, you don't fly in there alone, Jeane. We stick together or we back off now before things get worse."

I try to steady my breathing, the weight of my mace heavy against my thigh. The ward-stones' hunger feels like a physical presence now, crawling across my skin. I don't know if my spell will work, but I have to try something concrete instead of just waiting for that thing upstairs to decide what it wants from us. The silence stretches thin as the tower groans around us. Whatever's coming down those stairs is not human-shaped anymore, and we're out of time to debate options we don't actually like.

I don't like it. The way those wards gulped—that wasn't passive defense magic. That was hunger. Whatever's upstairs isn't just sleeping—it's using this place like a parasite uses a body, feeding through the walls. If Seraphine's spell fails, we're not dealing with some lazy undead king anymore. We move now or back off completely before it gets stronger. Merrin, I'm coming to you. We need to see inside that window before whatever's coming down those stairs sees us first. The longer we wait here, the more it feeds. Everyone else: get ready for combat—whatever comes out won't be human-sized. If Halie needs quiet focus, fine, but I'm not leaving her exposed while she prays at a wall. We're staying together or retreating together before things get worse than they already are.

I feel the tower's hunger shift from a dull thrum to an insistent, desperate gulp, like a starving beast devouring its last meal. My hands tremble as I try to trace the flow of dark energy through the ward-stones, but it's already too late. The connection convulses, sending a feedback loop screeching back up the tower's throat. "Everyone, get ready," I call out, my voice tight with strain and fear. I turn to Varrika and Merrin, who are crouched by the wall window. "Whatever you were going to do in there... forget it. We need to move now before whatever's upstairs decides we're its next course."
I gather my robes around me, the heavy fabric suddenly feeling flimsy against the tower's predatory presence. The shadow at the window thickens, resolving into a shape too large and wrong for any mortal silhouette. It turns towards us, and I see two glowing points of crimson light within the darkness.
"It's awake," I whisper, my heart hammering against my ribs. "And it knows we're here."