~o0o~

Quaraun had been walking for many hours, and grew weary.

"I need to find a place to rest," the elderly Moon Elf wizard said to himself. "I don't think I can make it to the village down there before sunset. It looks to be a farming community. Not likely to have a tavern. Or an inn. Or even a brothel. And no common Human is likely to rent a room to either an Elf or a mage for the night. Oh dear. I do believe, tent it is. Let's see? Where can I set it up? I do so hate being alone. I miss BoomFuzzy. I wish he was here. I wish I had companion again."

Quaraun set out to setting up his tent, oblivious to the his words carelessly spoken. Quaraun knew well, the dangers of starting any sentence with the words: "I wish". Quaraun knew the danger better than anyone, for he was a Wizard of the Di'Jinn order, and any wish spoken near him, was automatically granted, whether he realized he had granted it or not. For thus was the nature of wishes, when one was a Di'Jinn.

After setting up the tent, Quaraun sat and watched the sunset.

"Love is the only weapon that truly holds power," Quaraun said, quietly. "It can be taken from you, or given away to another. Love and pain, both."

Quaraun looked up at the sky, his face unreadable as he stared at the stars.

A warm weight settled on Quaraun's lap, prompting him to look down at the black cat that had decided it wanted a sit on his knee. It looked back at him with one eye closed, looking as innocent as could be, while a contented purr rumbled in its chest.

Quaraun smiled a bit, scratching the feline behind the ear before turning his attention back out over the valley. The sun was setting. He let his thoughts wander to where he currently found himself.

"I like this place," Quaraun whispered.

He didn't know why he'd come. There were many reasons why this might have happened.

~o0o~

Nearby, down in the valley, others were also thinking about the farming community and heading there for the night. But these men were not looking for rooms to rent. They were looking for rooms to raid.

A crew of bandits roamed the valley, seeking unsuspecting victims to loot.

The day before, they had been sent on an assignment, from the bandit chief, to destroy the village.

The mission was simple enough, but as soon as they arrived it quickly became clear that this would be a harder task than they thought. For at that very moment, on the other side of the valley, a lonely Elf had said the words: "I wish" and an evil, dark Faerie king heard his plea and quickly came running to the world of Men.

The Elf Eater of Pepper Valley, the bloodthirsty Faerie King Gwallmaiic. The vicious Phooka, the bloodthirsty black Unicorn, responsible for the extinction of the Elves. Where King Gwallmaiic went, his enchanted Forest of No Return followed. He took his whole valley, it's forest, it's volcano, and it's palace with him.

The Forest of No Return encircled Fire Mountain, and magic, not water, flowed from the rivers. It's trees walked like men, and it's mushrooms grew big as trees. Fire Mountain and The Forest of No Return, did not exist on Earth. They were places in the Realm of Fae. Places that appeared on rare foggy nights.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Pepper Valley and its accursed mountain, its Fae filled forest, and its haunted gingerbread house, appeared at sunset and disappeared with the sunrise, taking with it, any mortal foolish enough to enter into the Elf Eater's enchanted Pepper Valley.

Pepper Valley could appear any place, any time, any where, and when it left, it took with it entire cities, lone travellers, or roaming bandit, whom had the misfortune of wandering into the valley of The Elf Eater.

The Valley was the constantly moving home of the Faerie King, King Gwallmaiic, a Phooka, many thousands of years old, born in the days when the Woolly Mammoth still roamed the Earth, old enough to have witnessed the crucifixion of Christ. A Phooka whom two centuries ago, had commit suicide and was now cursed to walk the land of the living as an incorporeal Lich.

And so it happened, one fateful night, that Pepper Valley and it's Fire Mountain, home of the Lich King, appeared to grant the wish of a lonely old Elf, in the very location, that these unfortunate, unsuspecting bandits had set out to raid.

They entered the village from the side of the hill, coming out at a small cliff, and as they neared their destination, they began to see signs of life, that had disappeared.

The road was deserted, the buildings were silent, and there was no sign of any people or animals. They kept walking down the path through the empty streets until they came across another path, which ran parallel to it, but not so close that it became part of it. It ended in another cliff, with more ruins in the distance. There were no people there either.

“What the hell is this place?” asked Hoseok. He looked around, noticing a few houses further up the hill, but no people or animals anywhere else. His eyes scanned the village.

“It looks like... nothing,” said Jihoon. “There’s nothing here, except those houses up there. It looks like everyone just vanished. I was certain I saw lights in the windows and people on the streets when we were coming down into the valley. Where did they all go? What are we supposed to do now?”

“We need to leave,” Yoongi replied, “or we might never get off this mountain alive. It's haunted I tell you. I can feel it. The air feels wrong.” He looked to Seungcheol. “How did you find this place? We haven't seen a living soul since we got here.”

“There is,” answered Seungcheol. “Just, not right now. I was just looking around. This place isn't abandoned, there's food fresh land out on the tables. I'll bet they heard us coming somehow and are hiding in some secret dugout. We're gonna find someone, you'll see. Let's stay together and keep an eye out.

The aim of this mission was to infiltrate the villages of the valley and kill off most of its inhabitants in order for them to steal away all their crops and livestock. They’d gone through three towns during the first two days.

Their first week passed without incident as they scoured the villages for food and loot. But here, today, they found nothing but empty houses and abandoned farms. They also found no sign of any other people. It was as if this village were only inhabited by ghosts.

It was a farming community, with a few buildings scattered around. But there were no guards.

No other citizens.

No horses.

No chickens.

No dogs.

Nothing.

It seemed to be deserted.

It had been a week since they'd entered the kingdom. All they'd done was explore, scout, and search for anything useful.

As the week dragged on, the team grew more confident about the task at hand. As long as the target was unaware they were out there, everything would be okay. There would be no survivors here anyway. ut in order for no one to survive, there first had to be someone to kill, and here there was no one.

This town, this village. Something was wrong with it. They found no sign of any people. It was as if the people had instantly vanished one day.

Meals still on the tables.

Horse carts stopped dead in the middle of the road, their contents still packed. Their riders and horses gone.

Farm tools laying in the fields as if the people vanished while still using the.

This was completely out of place.

The bandit crew made their way through the deserted village, going from house to house, puzzling about where the people could have gone?

Had they fled, just dropped everything and run?

From a dragon perhaps?