Evandriel Inn - Valdar - Kingdom of Thrandel - Year 985
(Half an hour earlier)
The door of Yulias room opened without warning; Zarius slipped in, ghostlike. He paused on the threshold, rigid, then stepped in and shut the door softly.
Yulia didn't lift her eyes from the book. She reclined against the pillow, guiding a small magnifying lens along the lines.
Her voice stayed even.
"Wow, polite of you—just breaking into a girl's room at midnight. What if I was naked?"
He dragged a wooden chair from the corner; the scrape thundered in the silence. He set it beside the bed and dropped into it.
"The door would've been locked," he said, voice rough, a faint smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"If you really were naked, I would've run just to save my eyes."
Yulia slid the lens to the next line, ignoring his jibe.
"Give me a break, half-breed. No way you came here this late just to chill."
Zarius sighed and dragged his hands down his face.
"Damn it… there's no one else I can talk to."
Yulia shook the back of her hand at him without lifting her gaze from the page.
"Go apologize to Hyran — I'm not covering for you tonight."
Zarius fell silent. The candle's dancing flame warped his features. Then a chill broke the quiet as he spoke.
"I'm going… to kill Moriana."
Yulia's hand froze above the page. Nothing moved but the candle flame. Then, very slowly, she set the lens and the book aside on the table.
She turned toward him, her green eyes glinting in the dim light. She stared straight at him, her voice ice-cold.
"Go ahead… and tell me when you're done."
Zarius's eyes widened, and the tense smile on his face trembled.
"Won't… won't you stop me?!"
Yulia tilted her head toward the dark ceiling. Her voice sounded far away.
"I've never met a genius as dumb as you. For God's sake, if you really meant it, you would've done it two weeks ago."
A long silence settled. Only Zarius's uneven breaths remained. Yulia looked back at him, her gaze sharp as a blade.
"I really don't get it. How can you be so sure Moriana's a threat to everyone?"
She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a low whisper.
"There's nothing left to hide about what you found in Arcadia, is there?"
The stillness stretched between them. Slowly, as if his neck couldn't bear the weight, Zarius bent forward and lowered his head into his hands.
When he finally spoke, his voice came out in ragged fragments, aimed at the floor.
"The Exim… the Handlers' power… can touch anything.
But the price it demands can never be reclaimed."
He raised his head, eyes unfocused, staring at the opposite wall without seeing it.
"I dug through the Arcadia manuscripts — all Hyran and I found was that something like this happened once before, with one of the old Handlers."
Yulia leaned forward and wrapped her thin arms around her knees, her small body like a coiled spring.
"But why doesn't this happen to anyone else? That's what I really can't get."
'Because the Exim doesn't affect more than one thing at a time on its own," Zarius said, his words suddenly edged.
"The Fourth Prohibition: Do not use Exim on multiple targets, Nirmaya Manuscript," Yulia said, her voice even and steady, as if she were reading from her memory.
Zarius straightened sharply, his chair creaking beneath him. His eyes widened.
"Wha–? How do you know about it? That's the very manuscript we've been trying to reach in Arcadia!"
"Mori didn't know about that a year ago," Yulia continued, speaking as if he hadn't interrupted.
"However, that wasn't the first time she used Exim on more than one target."
"Have you noticed any change in her power level?" Zarius asked, his words coming faster.
"Even after crossing the forbidden line, I can say her Exim's strength has at least quadrupled." Yulia said.
"That's why, Zarius," Yulia continued, her voice still calm and even.
"I'm not convinced by what the manuscripts claim. Things just don't add up."
"I can't blame you, but—" Zarius lifted his eyes to her, his gaze narrowing to a sharp point.
"Don't you think her sudden surge in power is because her Exim's been feeding on your lifespan this past year?"
Yulia's eyes widened a little, then she nodded very slowly.
"Alright… alright. "I hadn't thought of that."
"And you misquoted the manuscript," Zarius added. He fell silent, then pronounced each word slowly and clearly.
"The Fourth Prohibition: Do not try to use Exim on multiple targets."
Yulia's breath caught. The single word—"try"—echoed in her head. The difference was small, but the implication enormous.
Yulia whispered,
"…So the risk isn't in doing it—it's the intent to do so."
Yulia leaned forward, shrinking the space between them, her hands gripping the bed's edge. She looked him straight in the eyes and said,
"What's that got to do with Moriana draining my lifetime?"
Zarius hunched forward, his face angled toward the floor.
"The moment a Handler even tries to push it to do so—crossing the line—it changes completely…"
Zarius leaned back, rubbing his temple.
"Exim isn't just some power that obeys its user, Yulia—it's more like an animal. It's a scared, stubborn thing that never really understands what's happening around it."
She crossed her legs.
"An animal?"
He nodded slowly.
"Yeah. It doesn't think — it reacts. The moment it feels its power split between more than one target, it panics. It changes itself, instantly, trying to adapt before it's even in danger."
Yulia rested her chin on her hand, staring at Zarius in a daze.
"Hmm"
Zarius's voice dropped.
"Because it's begging for existence. Exim lives and dies with its Handler. So the second it senses the intent of over usage, it starts feeding on whatever it can reach… time, life, anything nearby that keeps it alive a little longer."
Yulia's eyes widened.
"So that's why Moriana's Exim keeps growing?"
He exhaled sharply, nodding.
"Exactly. It's still adapting — still feeding on your lifespan to make sure it doesn't fade the next time she pushes it too far."
Zarius met her dazed eyes widened, his own wild with desperation. His words cut sharp as a blade.
"And once your lifespan is completely devoured… It may look for another."
Zarius whispered, his tone almost bitter.
"The more I think about it… the more it makes me sick."
Yulia fell silent for a moment releasing her legs, then said.
"That's why you said…" She cut herself off, then muttered,
"Damn it… but Zarius, your conclusion's hard to prove... Don't get me wrong it makes a complete sense bu--"
"I'm not willing to bet on it." Zarius's voice was level now, all hesitation stripped away as he pushed up from his chair.
"I might be the next target. So… I'll do it."
Zarius looked at his hands, visibly trembling in the dim candlelight.
"With these hands… I'll save you all—and let Moriana rest in peace."
He turned to leave, his steps heavy and rigid. As his hand reached for the door handle, Yulia's steady voice came from behind him, her eyes fixed on his back.
"Wow, How heroic. I'll be waiting then..."
He paused, back to her, then opened the door and left without a word.
The door clicked shut softly. Yulia stared at it, her face empty of any joy. She finished the sentence she'd left hanging, whispering,
"…for you to come back empty-handed."
(Back to the main timeline)
Zarius's hands hovered in the room's cold air, only millimeters from Moriana's neck. His fingers trembled in the silvery moonlight slipping through the window.
Moriana's deep, steady breathing was the only sound in the room. He retreated a single step; his knees nearly buckled. A bead of sweat slid from his temple and struck the wooden floor with a soft tick.
Come on… do it!
She's fast asleep—exhausted.
My hands are failing me!
The muscles in his arms tightened. His eyes shifted on the extra pillow beside Moriana.
A pillow!... silent and easy.
No… I can't choke her to death.
I don't want to feel her struggle. And anything sharp would make a mess.
His hands drew back; his tense fingers loosened.
I'll try again tomorrow.
Yes… tomorrow.
Even if this is my eleventh attempt…
It's fine…
I have all the time…
His blood surged hot in his face, his heartbeat pounding like war drums.
Enough bullshit!
A burning tear glinted at the corner of his eye. A mask of madness slid over his features, his lips stretching. Madness, fear, and sadness all at once.
His eyes were wide, fixed on her with predatory focus.
I'm sorry!
He lunged—hesitation gone, doubts burned away. Before his fingers touched her skin, a thin filament of Exim uncoiled from beneath her collarbone and brushed the back of his hand.
The sting made him gasp and jerk back—then freeze in horror. His left hand, once unmarked, was erupting with his vitiligo.
White blotches spread in seconds, racing over his knuckles like fire. His breath quickened—it felt like something inside her had struck back.
What… the hell.
He stumbled backward, his eyes locked on his left hand. His fingers shook with fear; the skin over his knuckles aged in a second.
He muttered, his voice hoarse.
"This is no joke!"
But when he lifted his head, his features went rigid. The wall behind Moriana was crumbling like stale bread.
The rings of the wood peeled apart layer by layer; the window frame turned a chalky brown; the glass powdered into glittering dust, and the night air whistled in—cold, carrying the smell of wet rust.
The stinging bite of the frosty air from outside woke Moriana, and she let out a soft groan. She rubbed her right eye, then swiped a bit of drool from her mouth with her left.
She blinked twice and caught Zarius's face in the doorway—frozen in terror, eyes wide, lower lip drawn tight.
"Zarius… why are you here?"
She studied him for a second, noticing the tremor in his fingers.
"Is everything all right?"