Erly knocked on the door to the room. She had gotten rid of her magic and now wore proudly the pure red robe that marked her of high rank among the witches. To at least eighty percent of witches, she’d be a role model for them. If at any point she ever diverged from what her position meant for her to accomplish, she wouldn’t just be failing the people above her, but also those below her. Everyone would watch her every step, waiting to see if she’ll fall off the thin line of wanting to do what she wants while also doing what was expected of her.  

Her feet bled from stumbling along that line, but the pain would surely be greeted with a novel end. It just had to. The distant doubts in her mind that nagged her with tiny little nibbles on her brain made her worry. What would she do if she ever fell off that line? 

The door still had yet to open. Erly raised her fist to knock again, but the door opened the moment she did. Her hand hit Harlam’s bare chest.  

Erly blinked and looked him up and down. He wore baggy brown pants that were stained from his travels. His hogskin belt and pouch were tied around his waist like always to keep the Everstone as close to him as possible. The top half of his body was completely bare, and she could feel the moistness of his skin from her fist which was still against his chest. He obviously just came back from taking a bath. Every room had one free to use as long as the room’s paid for.  

They stood looking at each other for a time. Erly looked down at her hand and reeled it back, blushing from how long she kept it there. The air tightened around them, stifling Erly’s throat, making her unable to speak.  

“You gonna come in,” Harlam asked.  

“Sure. Why not.” Erly pushed past him and into the room. She tried to keep up the air that she was in control, but it was hard on her.  

She used to have a childhood crush on Harlam, and behind the haggard eyes and expression, she could see a man. Or maybe the haggard face drew her closer to him. Either way, his body made her cheeks and ears blush in embarrassment that she even thought of him in such an inappropriate manner.  

Harlam shut the door behind him, leaving the two in the room. Alone. No one around. Miraca’s words from earlier popped in her mind, serving only to make Erly even more nervous. 

“What are you doing here?” Harlam put on a shirt while asking the question. “As you can see, I was sort of busy with something.” 

The perfect out. Repressing her embarrassment, Erly coughed into her fist and corrected her posture. She wasn’t going to let feelings get in the way of her assignment.  

“We decided that someone needed to be in here to make sure you didn’t run. Miraca said you wouldn’t mind me being here, so here I am.” 

“Oh, that’s why. What exactly did she tell you though?”  

“I would rather not go into detail. Let's just leave it as you didn’t mind being watched ‘cause you’re so confident that I won’t be able to take the Everstone.” 

Harlam chuckled to himself. The anger that overcame him during their conversation had long passed. His smile returned, but so did his tired eyes and jittery face. The bath didn’t take those away. He could barely turn his head without his neck jerking every which way. Erly rubbed her neck, thinking how painful it would be to have such an annoying tick.  

“I am confident you won’t be able to. If you could just take it while I was asleep, you all would’ve grabbed it by now.” He smacked the pouch and laughed even harder. “Why not make this into a game.” 

“I’m not here to play games.” 

“Come on. Why not? It’ll be just like the sleepovers we had when we were little.” Harlam raised a finger and his face slightly brightened. “I got it. Why don’t we increase the stakes with a wager.” 

Erly raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What kind of wager?” 

“If you can take the Everstone from me while I’m asleep, you get to keep it. If you can’t, then I get a five-hour head start for the Evergrave. How’s that sound?” 

“Yeah, yeah, that sounds great, NOT!” Erly poked furiously at his chest. “It only takes an hour to reach the Evergrave and we get nothing from winning except the obvious reward.” 

“Alright then. You think up a wager then if you’re so offended by mine.” 

Erly smiled and crossed her arms. This was a perfect opportunity. If she could just beat him in the game, then they wouldn’t need to chase him throughout the forest when he eventually runs off to the Evergrave.  

“If I take the Everstone, you’ll come with me, and together, we’ll find a way to cure your disease. If I don’t, then you get a five-minute head start. How ‘bout that.” 

Harlam looked at her, blinked a few times, then laughed while jumping onto the bed. His back sunk into the bed, disappearing into the mattress shortly after. The springs slingshot him back up and he bounced for a bit before settling down.  

“Sure, why not? Make it a ten-minute head start, though. You guys can use magic, so it’d be really unfair with only a five-minute one.” 

“Fine. Ten minutes.” Not like that would change much since they had no need to follow through on the wager. She was to fulfill her mission at any cost, so why would she hold up her end of the bargain? 

“Alright, I’ll get to sleep. The game doesn’t begin until I start snoring.”  

Harlam laid down on the bed. He brought out the Everstone, making Erly's heart leap. It was right there, so close that she could reach out and touch it. She managed to hold herself back from attempting to snatch it from him. The likely hood of success was low anyways. Trying anything too early would only result in her losing the chance of bringing Harlam out alive.  

The temperature of the room seemed to drop by ten whole degrees. Any and all pretense of a joking atmosphere had left with a slam and curse. Harlam covered the Everstone between his hands and raised it to his chest, right above his heart. He took a deep breath, then another. After the fourth long and drawn-out breath, he closed his eyes. 

Erly doubted he was asleep, but he was nearing it. All of Harlam’s limbs relaxed and fell into a natural state. Or as natural as it could be. He continued to clutch the Everstone over his heart instead of letting his hands fall to the sides.  

The third ability activated. Erly could see it with her mystical third eye. A wave of magic radiated off of him, distorting the area around his sleeping figure like fire would after burning for a while. Just to test if what she was seeing was the third ability, Erly moved closer to the bed and reached a hand toward him.  

The moment her hand came into contact with the magical zone around him, she began to slow down. No matter how much force she exerted in her arm to push forward, her hand would continually slow more and more. She couldn’t feel anything push at her, so it just looked like she was touching an invisible and unfeelable wall.  

The third ability was the power to slow down time around the Everstone and its user. Whenever the Everstone synced with the user’s steady heartbeat, it would unleash the magical zone around the user. Anything approaching the user will slow down the closer it got to them. If the person in contact with the zone retreated, the action of retreating wouldn’t slow them down. Erly withdrew her hand in the fraction of the time it took for her to push herself forward. The zone would only affect things coming close, not running away. 

Erly sighed and walked right beside the door. She faced Harlam and sat down, one leg up while the other lay flat on the floor. And she waited.  

There was one massive weakness the third ability had to offset its near-infinite power. If, at any point, the user moved, the magical zone would disappear. In order for it to work, it needed to sync up with a steady, consistent heartbeat. By moving around, the pulse would become irregular, and therefore disrupt the ability’s effectiveness. Even moving a single finger would disrupt the zone. It was strong, but such a major weakness meant that using it was nigh impossible. Even when sleeping, the seemingly best time to use it, the ability would fall short. People tossed and turned in their sleep unconsciously in response to whatever they were dreaming about.  

That’s why the best strategy to beat the ability was to wait. Wait for Harlam to move unconsciously, preferably move so drastically that the entire zone turned off, then grab the Everstone. Then she’d retreat, hide it somewhere, and wait for Harlam to wake up so they could leave together.  

Thirty minutes passed. Harlam hadn’t moved once. His stomach rose and fell, sure, but since it fell in rhythm with his pulse, it barely affected the time zone. Erly continued to wait, her eyes never wavering. Always watching. 

An hour passed. Still hadn’t moved. 

Two hours. Still hadn’t moved. Erly’s eyes began to grow heavy. She shook her head and slapped herself across the cheek to keep awake. The obvious solution to this problem was to go get either Miraca or Fenlin to replace her while she slept. However, she wasn’t going to take the coward's way out. She had already taken on the bet as a mission, and her very oaths bound her to wait by herself for an opening. Besides, he should make a move any minute.  

Three hours.  

Four. 

Erly’s eyes drooped closed by the four-and-a-half-hour mark. She couldn’t control it. If she could have used magic then she’d easily keep herself awake. Her oaths kept her from doing so. One of the rare moments she cursed the oaths. 

Nearly five hours and Harlam hadn’t moved once. She should have seen this coming. As Harlam said, he had been using the Everstone for a year, and not once had he lost the Everstone while asleep. Somehow, he trained his body to resist moving while asleep, therefore gaining the maximum potency of the ability. In turn, Erly had fallen before he did. 

Erly’s eyes shut and she couldn’t help but think back to those days when Harlam and her would sleep over while little. She couldn’t resist letting loose a childish chuckle. This was the most fun she’s had since becoming a witch. Just waiting and watching for Harlam to wake up almost made her feel like a child again, waiting to pull off a prank as he awoke.  

*** 

Erly opened her eyes. A yawn left her lips and she stretched her back while extending her arms. She counted the time she was asleep for. Nearly three hours. As a witch, she was used to sleeping very little, so a three-hour nap was nothing for her.  

What she was concerned about was Harlam. She looked at his bed and gasped. 

Some time while she was asleep, Harlam had turned over on his side. The Everstone had fallen out of his grasp and it lay on the bed. The magical time slow zone around him had disappeared since the Everstone was no longer in sync with his heartbeat. This was the perfect time to grab the Everstone. 

She crawled slowly over to the bed, careful not to wake him. If he woke up at any point, this perfect opportunity would fall flat on its face and she’d have to pay for it.  

When she was near the bed, she carefully moved her hand toward the Everstone. Her fingers extended toward the stone, now only inches away. She could only hope Harlam didn’t hear her heart frantically beating against her chest.  

Her fingers came closer and closer to the Everstone and then touched it. But then it went through the stone. Erly’s eyes widened as she saw her fingers disappear into it. That shouldn’t happen, she thought.  

Erly drew her hand back and then did something that she would regret if wrong. She stuck her hand out and touched Harlam’s chest. Except her hand and his chest didn’t make contact. Her hand went straight through and touched the mattress.  

That could only mean one thing. While Erly was asleep, Harlam had used the fourth ability and created a clone of himself.  

The moment she realized what had happened, the clone vanished into a misty cloud and evaporated. There was a speck of blood on the bedsheet that could only have gotten there when Harlam activated the ability. 

He had gotten away, and she had no idea when he left or how far along he was until reaching the Evergrave.