Ralph and the Pixie

‘This Wizard, Bellandor by name, was much revered in his time. And much loved, for he was kindly by nature. Yet his kind nature proved unfortunate, in a way, rendering him blind him to the evil in the world.

‘Fell creatures began to prowl our northern borders; Goblins who hated the light of day, who hated all living things that walked free upon the Earth, and who hated Elves most of all.

‘In the beginning they presented more of a dangerous nuisance than a real threat, being few and disorganized, and lacking any apparent leadership.

‘Then, one day, utterly without warning or provocation, they swept down from the North, wielding an evil Lore which was easily a match for Bellandor and his Elven Loremasters.

‘To the dismay of all, our people were driven before them like chaff before a storm. When news of this reached Bellandor’s ears, he summoned the First Council, instructed and organised the Elves, and with an army, went to meet this threat.

‘War ensued; the first our people had ever experienced. Were it not for the leadership of Bellandor, we might soon have been utterly overwhelmed,’ Haloch said this with such a comically pedantic flair that Mraan had to laugh, ‘for such barbarity was not in our nature. The other Faerie folk fled in terror, appalled by the unspeakable violence which desecrated the innocence of the peaceful countryside.