Thus, the hours passed on the road to their destination, a village to the north of that territory, Lucian no longer had his green cloak because Ebony was now using it to cover the lower part of her body.
Cristofer felt an itch on the back of his neck that he tried to ignore as he flirted with the wild Veronica, who over time began to speak more confidently with the group, but still tried to ignore Ebony.
"(That blonde can't be more than twenty years old… How did she even think of marrying Lucian… It makes no sense, he's way too serious for someone so young…)" Veronica thought as her cat ears twitched at every sound.
"Hey Vero, I can call you Vero, right? You said we'd arrive in three days, but can't we take some shortcut or something?" Cristofer asked while following the catwoman's steps, glancing aside every so often to look at her tail.
"No, of course not, this hexagon doesn't have peaks or mountains so it might look easy to cross, but the problem is the traps scattered everywhere," Veronica replied, rolling her eyes.
"Traps? Who even sets traps in a forest where there isn't even a deer left, I'm sure those undead didn't leave a single prey around here," Cristofer said in a relaxed tone, trying to get a laugh out of the catgirl.
"That's true, but not entirely, the traps are actually for undead, since we're two hexagons away from Nighteremin, there's a market for those bones even if it doesn't seem like it," Veronica replied with a distracted look.
As time went by, the thought that she had made a mistake in her relationship with Lucian weighed heavily on her, back then they had been so alike in their behavior that she believed they would end up married sooner or later.
Silence returned to the group, hours passed without stopping, trying to force conversation, even awkward ones, about trivial things.
Until, with only a few hours left before nightfall, they reached the end of that forest, in front of them there was a river dividing the woods from a plain filled with green grass.
"Ah yeah, finally, we're getting out of this undead forest, finally," Cristofer said with relief in his voice.
"Don't get excited, kid, see that on the other side of the plain? Well, if you don't, I don't care, on the other side there's another forest, once we cross that we'll reach our destination," the catgirl said before jumping over the small river.
The group began to follow her without arguing, except for Cristofer who looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes. Inside the fifteen-year-old boy felt that something was wrong and he was very sleepy.
"There's a midnight inn near here, we'll enter that forest tomorrow," the catgirl mentioned as she quickened her pace, in her thoughts the fear of darkness weighed heavily.
"That? Nahhh, don't worry, let's cross the forest, I got us an ally, we'll be able to pass safely even at night, besides we don't even have money," Ebony said casually, shrugging her shoulders.
"An ally?" Veronica asked, looking at Ebony.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, last night we were attacked by some undead, we managed to kill most of them, but then their leader appeared, a phantom rider," the blonde mentioned it so casually that Veronica could only freeze for a second in shock.
"What the hell? There was one in that forest? And how are you still alive?" Veronica asked as she stepped closer to Ebony.
"Well, one thing led to another and I ended up challenging that bastard to a duel, luckily I managed to win!" Ebony said proudly, lifting her head with a smile.
"You alone? How? But… And these two didn't help you?" the catgirl scratched her head, trying to understand what she was being told.
"Lucian was scared so he didn't help much against the rider, and Cristofer was unconscious because of the banshee," at that moment Ebony looked at the boy to mock his performance in the battle.
But when she turned around, young Cristofer was standing still with a vacant stare, his skin was pale and his dark circles had deepened.
"Huh? Hey kid, are you okay? What the hell is wrong with you?" Ebony asked as she approached her companion.
But her companion's life suddenly began to fade, that presence the blonde could sense thanks to her passive Healer ability began to change, to grow smaller, it began to die.
"What the hell?!" Lucian saw Cristofer's body collapse to the ground and reacted by catching him inches before he hit the floor.
"Kid, what's happening? Can you hear us?" Veronica worriedly began to sniff Cristofer's body, until she sensed a faint rotten smell.
When they turned him over, they saw in horror that the back of his neck was blackened around a small cut, this affliction seemed to spread rapidly, causing the boy's veins to become visible with a dark coloration.
"Damn it!..." Lucian shouted in worry as he pulled out one of his daggers and lightly cut the boy's wound, from it oozed a greenish liquid that smelled so foul Veronica stepped back, covering her mouth to avoid vomiting.
"Ebony! Hurry!" Lucian said with a worried look, "That damn necrophage cut him when it took him away, now he's infected… Potions won't do anything, but a purification spell could extend his life long enough to reach the village!"
"That… That… I…" the blonde's blue eyes were lost in her fears and thoughts, she hadn't seen anyone in such a bad state in years, not since she had studied medicine in her previous life.
"You're a Healer? Then what are you waiting for? Use your magic! The kid will die!" Veronica began to shout, both out of fear that the boy's life would end there, and fear of what he would soon become.
The sun was sinking lower and lower, while Ebony's hair was dyed a reddish amber tone as she swallowed hard, afraid of failing once again.
"Okay… Move aside…" the young blonde brought her hands together and began to focus her magic between her palms as the other two laid the boy's body on the ground before stepping away.
"Heal!"
{{Life Magic: Purification}}
A greenish glow enveloped Cristofer's body as he seemed to regain consciousness, but after a few moments the boy's body began to convulse and spit white foam from his mouth.
Suddenly, a scream burst from his lips, echoing across the entire plain as the sun stopped shining.
After the last ray of sunlight, the boy's body stopped moving, stopped screaming, stopped suffering, only to close his eyes and stop breathing.
"What the hell did you do?! Weren't you supposed to save him?" Veronica shouted as she glared at Ebony in rage.
"A-and I, I don't… I don't know… I don't have experience with this! Besides, don't blame me, it's your fault for not letting us stay at that stupid inn!" the blonde's voice trembled, on the verge of tears.
But then Cristofer's eyes opened once more, this time a greenish glow poured from his sockets and dark magical vapor leaked from them, at that moment Cristofer became an undead.