Faye had imagined the fairy shelter would be like a dream.
In a way, it was—yet not in the way he expected.
The shelter, hidden deep within the heart of the Old Forest, was a sanctuary of ancient beauty. The ceiling was woven from glowing vines, their soft light cascading like stars caught in a net. Flowers bloomed in perfect spirals around a grand throne of emerald branches and silver blossoms, where Queen Fasya seated herself.
Faye's mouth hung open.
If this were any other day, he would've run around excitedly, asking every fairy a hundred questions about their shimmering lights, their glowing pools, and their strange floating books that wrote themselves in the air.
But not today.
Because even though the shelter was beautiful, the fairies' faces were pale, their wings trembling like fragile candle flames. They weren't singing. They weren't laughing.
Something was wrong.
"Um…" Faye's voice was small, his crimson eyes darting from one trembling fairy to another. "Did I… did I do something bad?"
Nari sighed and elbowed him. "No, you idiot. Look around. Even they look scared."
He did. And for the first time since entering the forest, his excitement dimmed.
Before he could ask another question, one of the fairies suddenly darted in from the entrance, her glow flickering erratically.
"Queen! Queen! Queen!" she cried in a voice like cracking glass.
Fasya rose gracefully from her throne, her green hair trailing like a river of light. "Speak."
The fairy stopped mid-air, trembling, and squeaked out the words:
"The outcasts… are dragons!"
The room froze.
Even Nari's sharp tongue failed her.
Faye blinked once, twice, his small hands tightening around the hem of his shirt. "…D-dragons?"
The fairies gasped in panic, their tiny wings flitting so fast they blurred.
Dragons weren't supposed to be here. Not in human lands.
---
A Few Minutes Earlier…
Barbara stood at the edge of the Old Forest, her usual emotionless expression fixed on the faint glowing trail left behind by Faye and Nari.
But suddenly, it vanished.
"Tch," she muttered under her breath.
Her sharp blue eyes scanned the darkness. No footprints. No trace of their presence. It was as if the two had been swallowed by the forest itself.
Then… she felt it.
A crushing wave of ominous pressure pressed down on her chest.
"…What is this?"
Barbara's hand hovered near the hilt of her dagger, her instincts screaming. She had fought in battles before, seen what monsters could do. But this… this was something different.
Before she could decide whether to advance or retreat, a low, guttural roar ripped through the forest.
Barbara's eyes snapped toward the sound.
The air in front of her rippled—like water disturbed by a stone—and then tore apart.
From the rift of warped space, it emerged.
A snow-white dragon.
Its colossal body was covered in scars, patches of frost clinging desperately to its bleeding wounds. Its icy-blue eyes burned with pain and fury, but there was no strength left in its movements.
Barbara's heart tightened.
A Snow Dragon. Here. In human lands.
Impossible.
Even a wounded dragon was more than a match for an army of sorcerers. Yet this one… it looked like it had been hunted down.
"Help…"
The voice wasn't spoken—it resonated in her mind.
The dragon's roar shook the ground, not of rage, but desperation.
And then… she saw it.
From the rift, a silhouette emerged.
Tall. Graceful. Terrifying.
His eyes glowed crimson like fresh blood under moonlight. His hair, pure white, cascaded neatly to his shoulders, untouched by battle. His long, formal coat shifted with an elegance that didn't belong in this broken, twisted scene.
A smile curved his lips, sharp as a blade.
Barbara's breath caught in her throat.
"…No."
He was no dragon hunter.
He was far worse.
"A vampire…"
---
The vampire's crimson gaze slid lazily over the dragon, as if regarding a pitiful insect.
"What an ugly state you've fallen into, Argomaus," he said, his voice smooth and cruelly amused.
Barbara stiffened. He… he knew the dragon's name?
Argomaus—the Frost Sentinel of the North. One of the elder dragons.
"You…" Barbara whispered, though no one could hear her.
The dragon growled, blood dripping from its maw. "Your arrogance, Lord of the Night… it blinds you. He will end you. When the blue moon rises, your kind will fall."
The vampire chuckled, the sound devoid of warmth.
"Ironic," he said with mock pity. "You can barely stand, and yet you speak as if you hold the world in your claws."
He raised his hand lazily. "Very well. Allow me to end this miserable display."
A circle of glowing crimson runes flared into existence above his palm, expanding outward, humming with raw, dreadful power. The very air trembled under its force.
Barbara's jaw clenched.
If that spell hit, the dragon wouldn't just die—it would be erased.
She couldn't fight him. Not alone.
Her fists tightened.
"…Faye."
Without another word, Barbara vanished into the shadows, retreating swiftly. She had to get help—now.
Because if that creature decided to come for the boy next…
No. She wouldn't allow it.
---
Back in the shelter, Faye stared up at Queen Fasya, fear creeping into his heart.
"What… what's happening?" he asked softly.
Fasya's gaze darkened.
"Something that should not be here," she replied. "And it is closer than it should be."
The fairies whispered nervously, their lights flickering.
Nari frowned, folding her arms tightly. "You mean that pressure? Even I can feel it."
Faye hugged himself, trembling. "…Is it… bad?"
"Very," Fasya said without hesitation.
For the first time since entering the Old Forest, Faye's excitement was gone. Replaced only by an unease he couldn't shake.
The queen turned to the fairies. "Seal the gates. Summon the Guardians of the Glade. If the outcast crosses into this realm…"
She did not finish. She didn't have to.
And somewhere, deep within his chest, Faye's cursed mark burned—like it knew something none of them did.
---
"STOPPPPPP!!!"
Faye's voice tore through the air, raw and trembling.
The vampire's head snapped toward the sound, his crimson eyes narrowing. His cruel grin faltered for the briefest moment.
"…A Cursed One," he whispered, his tone shifting to something darker, more intrigued.
"FAYE!!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!!!" Nari screamed, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him so hard he nearly toppled over.
The vampire's smirk returned—wider, sharper. His gaze slid between them, and then he laughed lowly, a terrible sound that slithered through the forest like smoke.
"Well, well, well… I see now." His fangs gleamed in the moonlight. "So the rumors are true. A dragon can detect an elf—and where an elf walks, the Blessed and Cursed meet."
His words chilled Nari to her bones. A cold shiver ran through her spine so violently that she instinctively covered Faye's mouth, holding him tight against her chest as if her small arms could shield him from that gaze.
But it was too late.
The vampire had noticed.
---
A Few Minutes Earlier…
The Fairy Queen's shelter had descended into chaos.
"Dragons… here?!" Nari had shouted, her sharp voice cutting through the panicked whispers of the fairies.
Faye, however, stood utterly still. His cursed mark burned faintly. It wasn't painful… but it called to him.
Then, he heard it.
"Help… me…"
A voice. Ancient. Agonized. Echoing in his head like a cry from the depths of the earth.
Before Barbara, before the queen, before anyone could stop him, Faye bolted for the exit.
"Where do you think you're going, idiot?!" Nari yelled, sprinting after him.
---
The night split apart.
"Malicious Blood: Death Tear!"
The vampire's voice was like steel scraping against glass.
A crimson circle bloomed in the air, runes spinning like a thousand jagged blades. From it erupted a torrent of blood-forged energy that tore through the trees and ripped open the earth.
Faye froze—until Nari shoved him down and threw up her hands.
Light exploded from her palms.
A shimmering barrier of pure radiance engulfed them, the vampire's blast slamming into it with a deafening crash.
Faye's eyes widened. He had never seen anything like it.
Nari… glowing like the sun.
The fairies had spoken of it before—the Light Course, a power held only by the Walkers, the chosen few among the elves. It was a prophecy, one that even the Fairy Queen herself had once whispered of.
And Nari…
"Don't just sit there gawking, run!" Nari shrieked, teeth gritted as the barrier cracked under the vampire's assault.
Before Faye could move, the snow dragon roared.
"GO!"
"Mr. Dragon!" Faye cried out instinctively.
"SHUT UP, FAYE! RUN!"
---
The dragon's breath exploded outward in a storm of azure fire, slamming into the vampire with enough force to level a mountain.
For a single, fleeting moment, it seemed to work.
But the vampire only laughed.
"What a pathetic attempt, Argomaus," he mocked, swiping the dragon's flames aside with a single clawed hand, dispersing the blaze like smoke in the wind.
And in the blink of an eye, he was in front of them.
"Ah—!"
"Where do you think you're going?" His voice was soft, almost playful, but his hand closed around Nari's arm with bone-crushing strength. "A Blessed One… and a Cursed One… reunited. My lord will be very, very pleased."
Faye's breath caught in his throat, his body locking in terror.
And then—
WHOOSH!
A wall of flame ripped through the forest, splitting the air like the wrath of a vengeful god. The barrier around the Old Forest shattered in an instant.
The vampire's smirk faltered.
"…No," he hissed.
From the inferno stepped a woman.
Her crimson cloak flowed like molten lava. Her hair, streaked with silver, whipped around her in the heat, and her eyes—sharp, unyielding, and burning like twin suns—locked on the vampire.
Neah Pyearan. The Grand Pyromancer.
Beside her, two figures moved in perfect synchronization, flames curling around their hands. They weren't identical in age, but their movements mirrored each other flawlessly, like a single flame split into two bodies.
The Fiery Twins.
Faye's cousins.
The vampire chuckled, low and mocking.
"Ah… Neah Pyearan. Beautiful as ever."
"Hands off the girl," Neah said coldly, her voice carrying the weight of absolute command.
The vampire tilted his head. "And if I don't?"
Neah didn't answer with words.
Her hand snapped forward, and the world ignited.
A pillar of flame roared upward, engulfing the vampire in a torrent so intense it warped the air itself.
In an instant, Nari and Faye were yanked out of the vampire's grasp, whisked away by the twins' blinding speed.
The vampire emerged from the fire, his pale skin blistered and peeling—yet he laughed, even as his flesh knitted back together.
"It's been a while since I've bled," he said with a wicked grin.
Neah's eyes narrowed. "I'll make sure it's the last time you do."
---
The battle that followed was pure destruction.
The vampire blurred forward with terrifying speed, his claws aimed for Neah's throat—
BOOM!
She met him head-on, her fist wreathed in fire, slamming into his face with such force that it shattered his jaw and sent his body crashing through a dozen trees.
Before he even hit the ground, Neah was there, grabbing his head with one hand and incinerating him in a torrent of white-hot flame.
The vampire screeched, his body melting to ash—
And then his severed hand twitched, regrowing an entire body from the bloody stump.
"Oh, I missed this," he rasped, lunging again.
Neah barely blinked. She sidestepped, caught his arm, and slammed him into the dirt hard enough to crater it.
"Pathetic," she spat.
Faye could barely breathe.
He had never… never seen anyone so strong.
---
"Grandma," Zachary—the elder of the twins—landed beside her, holding Nari under one arm. "Don't underestimate him. His aura hasn't diminished yet."
"I know," Neah replied calmly.
The vampire, bleeding but grinning, raised his head. His fangs glinted.
And then… the full moon broke through the clouds.
The vampire's laughter echoed like a death knell.
"Behold," he snarled, his body twisting and tearing. "The moonlight—my gift—my ascension!"
Wings burst from his back, his claws elongating into obsidian scythes. His eyes flared red, brighter than ever before.
"BEHOLD MY TRUE FORM!" His scream split the night, rattling the trees.
Then he vanished.
Reappeared behind them.
Claws swung down—
But Neah didn't flinch.
Her gaze met his, sharp as a blade. And for one brief moment, the vampire hesitated.
That was all she needed.
BOOM!
An inferno of unimaginable scale erupted from her outstretched hands, engulfing him entirely.
"ARGH—!!!"
The vampire's howl was drowned in the roar of fire. His form burned and blackened, his regeneration straining against the relentless heat.
But he didn't die.
He couldn't.
Not while the moonlight fed him.
"O… Lord V… lend me… your strength…"
A sudden wave of blood-red energy burst forth, shielding him. A portal tore open beneath his feet, its pull violent enough to drag even the wounded dragon toward it.
"Grandma!" Zachary shouted. "He's escaping!"
Neah's expression didn't change.
"Fear not."
She raised her hand, conjuring a bow of pure flame. An arrow, blazing like a newborn sun, formed at its string.
"Burn."
She loosed it.
The arrow screamed through the air, striking the portal just as the vampire and dragon slipped through. The explosion tore through the night, shredding the rift into ash.
But it was too late.
He was gone.
"Damn it," Zachary muttered.
"Not gone," Neah said calmly. "Just postponed."
---
Faye trembled as Zachary set him down. His knees buckled, his eyes wide, and for the first time… he felt safe.
"Grandma…" he whispered.
Neah turned her gaze to him and softened, if only slightly. "You're not hurt. Good."
"Just a few scratches," Zachary said. "Pyrorevitalize should be enough."
"Good." Neah's attention shifted to Nari. "And you, little elf… your magic was interesting."
Nari flinched. "I… I didn't… I wasn't…"
But before anyone could speak further, the Fairy Queen descended.
Her wings glimmered like emerald glass, her expression calm yet resolute.
"Neah Pyearan," Fasya spoke, her voice carrying through the forest. "Before you leave… there is something we must discuss. About the boy."
Neah turned to face her.
And for the first time in years… her eyes narrowed.