~o0o~

Quaraun made it back to his village without further incident, but when he arrived, his father was less than happy to see his son dressed in a dress and looking like a daughter instead of a son and immediately began arguing with him, and thus Quaraun never got a chance to mention his encounter with the Phookas or inform the village that the Elf Eater’s army was travelling only two days outside from the village.

Quaraun had forgotten how much contempt his father and the villagers had for him and quickly regretted coming back.

Quaraun had intended to tell them that the Elf Eater’s army was only hours outside the village, but Quaraun was a scattered brained Elf and forgot things easily when distracted or nervous. And he was more scared of his father than he had been the beast that had raped him.

Outside the village, a pair of dark eyes watched as the others scolded, yelled at, and mercilessly teased to poor little Elf.

Quaraun fled from the Moon Elves and ran crying to his old room at the top of the tower, locking himself in for several days.

“Poor Little Elf, so innocent, so pure, so easily corruptible,” the Phookan King said to himself. Gwallmaiic then turned to his followers. “I will’na be needing ya for a while. Go South, raid de other Elven villages, but do’na touch dese Moon Elves, not yet, not till I says so.”

“What is your plan, sire?” asked the Dark Elf who stayed close to the King.

“I want him in me army.”

“The pink sissy?”

“Aye.”

“That Elf’s no fighter.”

“I did no say he was."

"Than why do you want him?

"Dat dere, not be Elf.”

“He looks like an Elf.”

“I can looks like an Elf too.”

Upon saying this the Phooka shifted and changed into the form of a Moon Elf.

"You don't intend to be an Elf?"

"Aye. I most certainly do. If one is to get close to one's prey, one must become de prey. T'inks like dem. Acts like dem. Blend in wid dem."

"That pink robed Elf is clearly insane. Look at him."

“Judge not what lifes inside, by what de outside looks like, Have ya learned not’ing from me Gibedon?”

“If that is not an Elf, then what is it?”

“Look at de clothes.”

“I am, he looks ridiculous. No self respecting Elf would parade around dressed like that.”

“Exactly me point. That not an Elf.”

“Then what is he?”

“Ya seen creatures dress like dat before.”

“Those squid headed monsters dress like that.”

“Mmmmm. And dat does no strike ya as odd?”

“The crown prince is eccentric.”

“The crown prince is eccentric,” the Phooka mocked the Dark Elf, than slapped him in the head. “Unlike him, ya has brain Gibedon. Brains is useful t'ings. Be glad ya gots one."

"Can one live without a brain?"

"Dat one can. Thullids."

"That is an Elf."

"Dat be Thullid. An Elf who is no Elf, un has no brain. Ya gots a brain Gibedon. T'inks for yarself. How come for don’t’cha use it, before ya lose it de same way him gone un lost his? Why ya t'inks we stay in Di'Jinn desert for so long, eh?”

“You’re not being clear, Sire.”

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“Not being clear,” the Phooka muttered under his breath. “It a good t’ing yar good in bed un good at fighting for me, or I’d’ve eaten ya by now. Ya so damned stupid.”

“Forgive my ignorance, Sire, but I am only an Elf.”

“All Elves is stupid. Were dey smarter I’d no be able to eat so many of dem. Him has’na got any brains in him head un him smarter den ya bes. Where dids we just follow him from?”

“The forest.”

The Phooka punched the Elf in the head.

“We just followed him half way around de world from de Desert of de Di’Jinn ya dolt.”

“So?”

“So? Him were living wid Thullids. Ya ever seen a Thullid not kill an Elf?”

“Not unless it was a Spawnling waiting to hatch... aaah. I see. That’s why he wears Thullid clothes. He’s not an Elf.”

“Aye. That dere be a Thullid Spawnling, masquerading as an Elf. There ain’t no brain in him head. Was eet up long time ago by dat pink Jellyfish dat living in dat hollowed out skull of his.”

“Thullids are dangerous. They can’t be trusted.”

“They be more chaotic evil dan a Chaos Demon, aye. And dis one be unstable, but dere be rumours among de Thullid dat de Grand High Emperor of de Triple Planets has been implanted in a host body and walks among us. And wid de way de Di’Jinn practically worshipped Quaraun, I does be guessing deir leader be living in de head of dat yon Elf.”

“You need more than a hunch.”

“I got more den a hunch. I saw what he did to de Di’Jinn un I got a taste of his blood.”

“That’s why you bit him?”

“Aye. That why I bit him. Dat Thullid blood him taste of. Not Elf. That is no Elf. The Elf him was, died lang time past. That dair be a Thullid wearing an Elf skin.”

“So? What do you want with a Thullid?”

“That be a Thullid and dere be a strong magic in dis one. As a Wizard, he be more powerful den Yis, Gibedon. I does no t’inks he knows it. Him be raging volcano of destruction waiting to explode. And I want him on my side when he goes off.”

~o0o~

Quaraun's days with the Moon Elves became very grim.

Days turned into weeks and the bitterness between Quaraun and his father only grew with each passing day.

“Quaraun,” his father said one day. “Do you not understand? We are the most noble of all races. Other races, look to us Elves for guidance and we, the Moon Elves, we are whom it is that other Elves seek guidance from. We are the protectors of all that is good in the world. It is our job to ensure that all the races of the world are on the path of righteousness. We protect the lesser beings from evil and guide them, by our example to the path of right. Is that so hard to understand?”

“No Father, your arrogance is never hard to understand. You are the greatest thing to walk the face of the earth and all life should worship you. It’s all you ever talk about.”

The old Elf slapped his son.

“How dare you talk back to me!”

“No one else does. I can’t do anything right around here, I might as well do one more thing wrong.”

“Why do you persist in following the path of evil?”

“I am not evil, Father. Stop calling me evil!”

“No. Not yet. But you will be. You must repent. Stop this foolishness and repent. You are acting as loony as a common Wood Elf. Lower even. You are acting like a Human. No. Not even that high. You’re acting as low and disgraceful as a Faerie. One would think you had Faerie blood the way you act.”

“I have done nothing wrong.”

“You have done EVERYTHING wrong. You have done nothing right. You are a perversion and a corruption of everything we Moon Elves stand for.”

“What have I done?”

“Look at you. Look at the way you are dressed. No self-respecting male Moon Elf would dress like this.”

“My clothes do not make me evil.”

“You are wearing Thullid robes. In Thullid colours.”

“I am a Wizard of the Di’Jinn order. This is the way we dress.”

“The Di’Jinn are evil. They practice dark magic.”

“Then why did you send me to live with them?”

“It was a mistake made by our King. They had healers among them. He thought they would heal you. I had high hopes they would eat you. Instead they corrupted you and turned you into this...this...THIS! Look at you. You disgrace us. You disgust me. You live like a Di’Jinn. You dress like a Di’Jinn. You act like a Di’Jinn.”

“Raise a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not fall from it.”

The old Elf slapped his son across face again.

“How dare you quote evil, vile, perverted Human philosophy?”

“The Humans are neither vile nor evil, Father.”

“How is it that you have fallen so far from the path of good?”

“It is you who has fallen, Father. You with your arrogance and haughty disdain for other beings. No one race is lesser or greater than any other.”

“How dare you speak such blasphemy?”

“It is not blasphemy to speak the truth.”

In a fit of rage the old Elf fell upon his son, beating him with his fists. Quaraun lost his balance and fell to the ground, as his father in a fury began to kick the young Elf.

The Moon Elf King sat on his throne and watched as his younger brother beat Quaraun. There were a dozen other Elves in the room as well. Members of the royal family, servants, and guards alike all stood and watched and did nothing to stop the hot tempered Elf from beating his son. They all knew of Quaraun’s fail and failing health and how easy it would have been to kill the sick young Elf, but not one of them made any attempt to come to his aid, nor did any of them care to.

The Moon Elves were the most self-righteous of all the Elven races. They knew they were the most important race on the Earth. There wasn’t an Elf in the room that did not feel Quaraun words were blasphemy and that he fully deserved the treatment he was getting.

Were the Moon Elves prone to show emotion, they would have been cheering the old Elf on as he pummelled his youngest offspring mercilessly.

The old Elf beat Quaraun until he passed out.

Even after Quaraun was unconscious, his father continued to beat him; and still the others did nothing but watch.

This became a daily habit of the old Elf.

Quaraun could have left the village.

No one would have stopped him.

No one wanted him there.

No one but the King.

But Quaraun was scared.

Scared of his father.

Scared of the villagers.

But most scared of all, of being alone.

The world was a big lonely place.

~o0o~