"Beatrice Where are you taking us?" Alex asked, clinging tightly to the dragon's back as the wind screamed past them.
"To my house," the dragon replied bluntly. Her large, leathery wings sliced through the mountain air with ease. "Your friend's been poisoned. And out here, there's no antidote strong enough. But I have a lazy friend someone who toys with this kind of corruption. Maybe he can help."
Ashley was lying across Alex's lap, breathing shallowly. Her skin had paled, and thin trails of black liquid dripped from the corners of her mouth. Her body trembled slightly every few seconds. She wasn't glowing anymore—just dying.
"Who's this friend of yours?" Alex asked.
Beatrice sighed. "A lazy, eccentric hermit. He hates being disturbed. If I go there, he might just hide. But I'll take you close. You'll have to convince him yourself to help."
Alex nodded. "Anything for her."
They flew silently for a while. Beatrice glanced downward. Her expression hardened. "Shadow knights," she muttered. "They're climbing the cliffs with unnatural movements."
Alex tensed. "Those were the ones chasing us."
Beatrice narrowed her glowing eyes. "Human did you cross paths with the Evil God?"
"The what?" Alex looked confused. "We don't even know who that is."
Beatrice didn't answer immediately. Her silence was telling.
"I'll explain once we land. For now, focus on your friend," she said at last. Her tone was sharper now. Not afraid—but unsettled.
Below them, the terrain began to change. Dark cliffs gave way to a barren wasteland. Grey grass. Pale trees. A fog that clung to the world like ash. The Ashen Veil. This was no ordinary place. The twisted remnants of magical experiments, cursed beasts, and forsaken lands gathered here. It was also said to be the territory of the current Demon King.
No monsters attacked them. No curses triggered. Beatrice's presence alone was likely enough to ward off everything that breathed.
Ashley coughed violently. Black sludge now bubbled at her lips, sizzling as it touched her skin. She was burning from within.
"We're close," Beatrice growled.
Ahead, a strange castle rose from the dead earth. It wasn't made of stone—it looked like bone, or coral, or something half-alive. Lights flickered in the windows, and strange shapes moved behind them.
Beatrice lowered herself toward a ledge outside the castle. As they landed, she called out to a creature with dozens of eyes.
"Tell him I'm here. It's urgent."
The creature shivered and scurried into the tunnels below.
Deep inside the cave, a young man—barely more than a boy—sat half-asleep in a pile of moss. He had dark rings under his eyes and a bottle of glowing liquid in one hand.
"The dragon's back," the eye-monster said.
The boy bolted upright. "She's here to fight me again?! I told her last time I don't want a rematch!"
"No," the creature said. "She brought two humans. One's poisoned. She wants help. And she promised if you help her, she won't challenge you for the next two years."
The boy paused. "Two years of peace?" He blinked. "That sounds like a good deal."
He grabbed his coat and rushed outside.
As soon as the boy saw Ashley, his demeanor changed.
He stepped back. "No. That's not poison That's Corruption."
"You know it?" Alex asked.
"I play with it," the boy replied grimly. "But this is advanced. This type of curse it eats the soul from the inside out. She shouldn't even be alive right now."
"She's strong," Alex said, holding her tighter. "Please—help her."
The boy knelt down and examined her eyes, her skin, her breath. Then he stood.
"There's no potion. No herb. The only cure is pure light."
"What?!" Alex shouted. "There's no sunlight! It's night!"
The boy snapped his fingers. "Then we make light."
He turned to the eye-creature. "Summon the assistant."
Moments later, she arrived—a tall, elegant figure with a terrifying face and a perfect body. She bowed low.
"My lord," she said. "It's not Christmas yet are you sure?"
"Release the fireflies," the boy ordered.
"But—"
"I said now!"
She nodded and walked into the cave.
A moment later, the entire mountain began to pulse with light. From the depths of the strange castle, thousands of glowing fireflies emerged—each one carrying fragments of stored sunlight.
They swirled around Ashley's body like a gentle storm. Her skin began to glow again, not divine—but warm.
The corruption on her mouth sizzled. Her eyes fluttered open.
She gasped. Then screamed.
Her body arched as the blackness poured out of her mouth, her chest, her fingertips—boiling and twisting in the air before vanishing into smoke.
She collapsed in Alex's arms. Breathing. Alive.
Alex looked at the boy. "Thank you."
The healer just shrugged. "She's not safe yet. But the worst is over."