The first thing Rexerd felt was confusion.
At least mentally.
Physically? It was the burn.
Yes. His chest burned. A lot.
Then he started struggling to breathe.
He clawed at his throat as he choked, but the air refused to slip into his lungs.
He tried to summon a Card, though even he didn't know which one, but his legs gave out from under him before he could do that.
And suddenly, he collapsed into the cold stone floor.
His limbs convulsed as the numbing poison worked its way through his veins.
The burning agony stopped, but it was soon replaced by a dull ache spread across his chest, followed by a creeping sensation of paralysis.
He tried to move, to get back up, but his fingers twitched uselessly against the ground. And besides them, he couldn't move a single part of his body.
Above him, Juliana continued to smile.
It wasn't the polite smile she had practiced and perfected in front of the mirror every morning since she was a child.
