Silence settled over the place, broken only by the groans of the Leader, who had lost his sight entirely, and the sound of Leo's heavy footsteps as he stepped away from the pool of blood. His long hair brushed the ground behind him like a shroud of night, and his crimson eyes pierced the remaining shadows. But with the first thread of dawn, the dark magic began to fade.
His hair gradually shortened, his features returned to those of a frail human, and the aura of power fell away from him as if it had never existed. Fru watched him, hovering calmly, and said in a grave voice: — "Finally... morning has come."
Fru turned toward Leo, seeing that he had returned to his exhausted human nature, his face marked by pallor and fatigue. Fru spoke with a hint of pity: — "Will you not take some rest? Your mortal body will not hold out much longer."
Leo shot him a piercing look. Though his body was weak, his pride remained unbroken. He replied coldly: — "A King does not sleep."
Leo resumed his path, dragging his feet with difficulty, but his mind was boiling with thoughts. He glanced at Fru, who walked beside him, and thought bitterly to himself: (I must find a solution for this dragon... I cannot remain a mere toy in his hands, letting him control my transformation and my decisions. I am no one's servant.)
In another direction, the carriage was making its way with difficulty through rugged terrain and sharp bends that looked like jagged stone fangs erupting from the earth. Inside, Alex was submerged in a heavy silence, watching Niloufer while his mind raced with questions. He wrestled with a persistent thought: "Should I leave Niloufer here and go back for the vial of blood? Or what should I do now?"
The thread of his thoughts was suddenly snapped by Niloufer's voice, shouting in a panic that shook the carriage: — "Impossible! The road is blocked!"
The carriage came to a complete halt at the end of the path, where a massive, dark cave loomed before them. Strange, eerie sounds echoed from its depths—the resonance of hidden breaths and tremors that sent chills down the spine. Alex stepped down from the carriage and pulled out an old, tattered map. He studied it for a long time under the pale light of dawn, then said in a mocking tone as he looked at Niloufer: — "Do you see? This man called 'Alfred' seems to have been drawing solely from his imagination!"
At that moment, Niloufer's eyes widened in sheer shock, her features freezing as the realization struck her dumb. Alex noticed her confusion and the intensity of her gaze; assuming she was angry in defense of her father, he said, trying to soften the mood: — "If you're going to start defending your father just because I said that... then fine. I apologize."
Alex began to move the carriage closer to the entrance of the dark cave, then hopped down lightly to scout the treacherous path. Meanwhile, Niloufer remained paralyzed in her spot, her mind screaming a single question she could not explain: "How did he know my father's name was Alfred?! I never told him his name!"