Raja was shocked by that news. Cold sweat was running down her spine, and her pale white face appeared now snow white. The horror stood written in her eyes, and her pointy ears were hanging down. With sadness, Rasa looked back to Terminus, trying to grasp any hope left.:

"My apologies, but what the hell are you meaning with: this is outside of your decision. I speak with Terminus, one of four literal gods of Prius, am I not? If the cure is available you of all should be able to get it.", a thought crossed her mind and her faint hope instantly reached out for that straw, "Dross did all this to get raised into the rank of an enlightened watcher and if I remember correctly comes this honour with a new body similar to those of the eternal counsel. I heard stories about the process. Literally, nothing of the original body gets reused when combining one's soul with the eternal construct. If nothing else helps then this for sure. And master, you said you were pretty satisfied with Dross' accomplishments and he brought you the message of this ominous Chóros. Is that not enough?", tears in her eyes she upped the stakes even more, "Hell, if it can save my paragon . . .my friend, I am ready to pay the toll. Use me as you please, Terminus, I don't care about me, please save him!"

Terminus visibly backed down upon hearing this absolute desperation evaporating out of Raja's actions. He focussed her with his left eye talking slowly and clearly:

"Dross is suffering from a rare illness, called 'Shimmering', that gets caused by the misuse of spatial magic. After getting teleported by Chóros, his molecules were unstable down to the soul, every cell starts to vibrate, turning one for a short time transparent. Under normal circumstances only a temporary and harmless issue, but in this unfortunate case, the amulet this fool used to communicate with Dross uses the exact same constellation of arcana. Means that combined with his overwhelming presence, him communicating with Dross, multiplied the shimmering in power to a permanently lasting state.", Terminus harrumphed, a deep humming screeched through Raja's ears, "You are right, I planned to offer Dross this honour, but there is sadly a slight issue with that. The soul needs to be devoid of any harm for a successful transition; his shimmering and vanishing soul would dissipate in the brief moment of transfer, leaving behind nothing. So that is no option. However -"

"However? So there is a possibility after all?"

Raja's eyes lighted up grasping that unknown opportunity instantly. But Terminus just placed a line of floating phalanxes in front of his and her vocal outputs:

"Not here. I can't tell you about that in places where not even my tone-deaf barrier can't satisfy the need for privacy. Meet up with me in two hours at the southern sinkhole, the entrance to the zabrit-mines of scamall. Don't tell anybody about that. I - I'll have to make preparations for that."

He was about to lift the phalanx cage and leave the cathedral, just to look over his shoulder one last time:

"And Raja. About the summoning of yours I mentioned. Taking your recent accomplishments, or better the lack of it into account, the highpriests have decided that they are unable to handle you properly. They asked me to reschedule your mentorship to my person, so you will from now on learn directly from me. No ill-thoughts however, the highpriests blame themselves for the fact that they have failed you and your shelve in this cathedral still empty is. They say your potential is definitely there, but they see themselves unable to properly harness it. Your new benefactor greets you with that and is looking forward to our future work together. But more on that on a later date, there are more important things to attend now."

Raja was only standing there looking after the giant silver golem leaving the complex, was that now good or bad? She was unsure about that. But that was unimportant now; she had now to assure Dross' safety. Looking over to him, she realized that that might be more difficult than anticipated. Still standing motionless in the exact same place as before, he likely didn't even hear Terminus voice anymore. The glimmer in his eyes had disappeared, and his pitch-black fur seemed nearly grey. Raja let out a deep sigh of relief. As bad as his current condition was, at least Dross hadn't heard that way about Terminus mentioning her empty shelf of shame. But now she needed him in the present again. Raja tried to reason with him, touching him, dragging him, but all that escaped Dross' maw was constant faint stuttering:

"Twenty years - have reached goal - now a relic kills me - Irony? - Fate? - Deserved for sure -So many died for me. - for nothing."

Losing her patience in a panic, she tried to punch him across the jaw to wake him out of his stasis. But just as her fist connected the shimmering happened once again caused her to phase through Dross' face. The unusual disturbance brought Dross back into reality, but Raja was terrified by that strange feeling. She backed off a few steps and called out to Dross with fear vibing in her voice:

"I -I am sorry Dross, but we have to hurry. Fast."

"What's even the point in hurrying somewhere? All is lost."

Not necessary! We will meet up with Terminus in two hours at the southern sinkhole. He said, there might be a possibility out."

Dross looked up with sad, still bloodred eyes. A delusional mist was clouding his mind, Raja could feel that:

"And why would you care? Why are you so eager to save my life? Why no dread, no hopelessness?"

"Maybe because I do care more about your fuzzy ass than I am willing to admit! I want you to live!"

Realizing what she just said, she quickly covered up her lips with both hands expecting the worst. But all she earned from Dross was a weak, yet extremely warm smile and his eyes softened up:

"If that's the case, then we should hurry. Please lead the way Raja, I will follow."

Raja's heart suddenly felt strangely light, but she restricted herself to just nod in agreement offering Dross her shoulder to get to the sinkhole as quickly as possible. Then she realized something, that could make their short journey quite a bit more difficult. If someone would notice Dross' condition, somebody who was not of a levelled self, they could get a false idea, that Dross was suffering from the influence of the Zabrit radiating everywhere accusing him of being an illegal sorcerer. So the streets were no option, but what options they else had? Wait . . .of course! Raja looked down to the floor and Dross followed her view:

"The catacombs! Of course, they are connecting the religious buildings with the various entrances to old scamall, the sinkholes reaching into the reverse mountain Scamall was built upon. Let's hurry, Dross! We have the keys necessary so this should be a piece of cake getting to the meeting point in time."

Raja dragged Dross over to one of the nearby tower entrances and unlocked the door with her watcher pendant. Reaching down into the dim, moist underground Raja remembered, why she was only rarely used that way. Used up air, a faint smell of decay mixed with the lack of tempered light. These tunnels were oddly old fashioned and haven't seen modernization in ages. Wrinkling her small nose in revulsion, she gulped down her repugnance continue limping with Dross through the darkness towards their goal.