Disclaimer: Yes I own...a copy of the game. Not the rights.
AN1: Part of this was inspired by an old Commando comic called Devils and Demons.
AN2: This kind of started off as an AU that my friends and I discussed on the Kameo discord and it kind of...grew into something else.
AN3: A fair bit of this is based off of my headcanon for canon material. It's set around twenty-six years after the events of the game.
Twelve year old Itham Fayre sighed as he sat down on a nearby rock and watched over his herd of goats. Or rather, his Uncle Vendi's goats. (His uncle was very insistent about that. Not his. He was just an orphan that they had taken in from the kindness of their hearts who had to earn his keep.) In the distance, he could see other goat herders as they guided their charges to less generous feeding grounds.
Technically they could have come to his spot. (He wished that they would. The company of other elves would actually be welcome out here.) He had no special claim to the land. Nobody technically owned it. The grass was greener and healthier than the surrounding area, less trampled on and it had a magnificent view of The River. (It was technically called the Iris, but everyone just called it The River.) He was short (most of his peers were taller than him.) and he was hardly well armed. He wasn't even exceptional in appearance. His face was tanned from long hours spent in the sun. (But not his neck. Nobody was stupid enough to not go around without a ghutrah on their head. That was asking for trouble in this sun.) and he wore muddy brown robes. (It seemed like everything was brown or turned brown out here in the Buffer Zone.)
They just considered it too dangerous. (Itham considered it too dangerous really, but his uncle's wrath was terrifying.) More than one elf had died out here, but Uncle Vendi had insisted. And it wasn't like he was ignorant of the dangers out here. As long as he kept his eyes and ears open, he should, in theory, be safe.
Itham sighed once more. He really should be in school right now. His parents had wanted him educated before...well before his life changed. It might have been boring, but it would at least be less boring than this. He would at least have his friends. Less dangerous too.
A sudden movement in the corner of his eye made him whip round, staff at the ready and his heart began to thump.
Nothing. There was nothing there. But he was so sure that he had seen something. He stood in place for almost a full five minutes, heart in his mouth and eyes wide. Something flickered in the corner of his eye once more and he spun around to face the movement.
There was definitely something here. What, he couldn't say. But there was definitely something. The only question was how dangerous it was. His Uncle would go beserk if he brought the goats elsewhere over sand snakes. (Actually he'd probably go beserk anyway. But Itham was going to be beaten, he would at least make sure that it was over something and not nothing.)
After what seemed like an eternity, he slowly lowered his staff and shook his head. It must have been sand snakes. The goats didn't seem to be worried after all. They just took it in their stride.
In short, nothing to worry about. He hoped.
He took a gulp of water from his bottle as the sun continued to beat down on him. Although there was no immediate danger (at least, he hoped that there wasn't. After all, he hadn't seen the sand snakes...and there were a LOT of dangerous and deadly animals out here in the Buffer Zone.) he felt uneasy. Like something was wrong, but he had no idea what.
The ground shuddered slightly. It was almost as though the Earth beneath his feet was afraid. Ithram raised his staff once more and looked around. He nervously licked his lips as he looked around. There was something out there. Something to be worried about maybe? There were plenty of things living in the Buffer Zone. Even small tremors were not necessarily something to be concerned about.
There was a slight rumbling noise and suddenly the ground gave way beneath his feet. With barely a moment to even cry out, he slid into the ground below. The goats simply ignored his plight and continued eating.
Itham hit the ground hard, rolling head first across the ground. As he came to a rest, he sat up and abruptly wished that he hadn't.
The world was spinning and shaky. He turned and abruptly threw up. He looked at the hole he had fallen through, the light piercing the darkness.
Suddenly the cavern lit up. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of small green dots of light suddenly filled the cavern and Itham tried desperately to scramble to his feet. A small glowing green eye opened and Itham let out a scream of terror. He recognised what he was looking at. Indeed, every child in the Buffer Zone would have recognised what he was seeing. Glow demons were feared by anyone in the Buffer Zone. (At least, by anyone who survived out here long enough to recognise them.)
He scrambled around, desperately trying to find his staff. It was a futile effort. He knew that he would never be able to fight off this glow demon with a mere staff. Still, he tried. He didn't want to just die without a fight. (He doubted that his Uncle and Cousin would care beyond having to look after the goats. His aunt might have been actually pleased. Maybe that's why he was told to take the goats there.)
A massive green, glowing eye opened, followed by another and Ithram let out another scream of terror. This was no ordinary creature. This was a giant, even amidst giants. This one was at least three times the size of a normal glow demon. (Or at least it seemed that way. It was hard to say in the light of the cavern.)
The first glow demon swept across the hole he had fallen through, leaving only the glowing light from the glow demon's dots. His hand finally found his staff. Or rather, half his staff. The fall had clearly broken it in two, leaving little more than a broken edge.
Still, he held the broken remains in front of him like a sword.
The larger glow demon suddenly opened it's mouth, ready to swallow Itham whole.
Suddenly the wall exploded, clumps of rubble flying across the cavern and the glow demon moved back.
Standing in the newly created hole, there stood an elf. Or at least, he assumed that it was an elf. The hooded robes made it hard to actually see anything about them.
"Stand back child!" the figure said in a high Enchanted Kingdom accent. Definitely a woman. Itham scrambled backwards, moving away from the glow demons. The larger glow demon hissed and bared it's fangs. The smaller one did the same shortly afterwards and the two lunged.
There was a flash of electric blue and the larger glow demon yelped in pain. There was another burst of blue and the two glow demons hissed once more, before slithering away from the interlopers on their domain. The woman hauled Itham to his feet.
"What do you think you're doing?" the woman demanded and Itham saw a flicker of red hair peek out from under the hood. "Foolish boy, you know this place is riddled with glow demons and oni and packs of cù-sìth! What possessed you to bring your goats here? There is a reason this place is ignored!"
Itham felt his leg give way beneath him and he fell to the ground. The woman helped him to his feet once more, cursing under her breath. Her hand glowed green and suddenly felt his legs stablise beneath him.
"This isn't a complete healing," the woman said briskly. "Just enough to get you out of here." She looked at the tunnel the Glow Demons had retreated down. "We don't want to be here if they return."
"Return…?"
"Most elves don't survive a first encounter," the woman said grimly. "Very little is known about them beyond their deadly nature. I think that it would be better if we didn't test their behaviour further."
As the two of them began to walk out, Itham looked at his rescuer curiously.
"How did you know where to find me?" he asked after several moments and the woman sighed.
"I saw you fall and came as fast as I could," the woman said. "A quick searching pulse found you and I came through the fastest way possible."
"But.."
"There was a cave already here. I simply removed what was left."
"Oh…."
As they emerged blinking into the sunlight, several elves ran towards them. The woman turned and unsheathed her wings.
"You should be safe now," she said to Itham. "Go home and don't return to those pastures. You may not be so fortunate in future."
"Wait...what's your name?" he asked and the woman gave a bitter laugh.
"It's better that you don't know," she said before walking away. Itham stared as he watched her walk away, even as the other goatherders began to check him over.