"Well, er..." Alpin motions vaguely to the exit outside the cave. "Have you, erm, seen what has happened to the brownies? They, err... aren't acting right."

"I believe our young friend here has been lucky not to run into any infected creatures during his stay here," Echo chimes in. "But the brownies have become quite feral, and have taken to attacking people as if they are no better than beasts or monsters." She then turned her attention to Kyte. "Kyte, if you would please...?"

The pale orange drake raises their head before nodding and unfurling their wings, revealing the black veins on one of the wings' membrane. 

"Kyte was bitten by one of the brownies while leading them away from their clutch," Echo says. "They were in a pretty bad state when I found them. I've used some of my magic to fight off the infection, but I couldn't stop it completely." She frowns. "It's part of the Darkness, yes, but not quite like any version of it I've seen before."