There is forever in this world. It is a forest shrouded in deep fog; a forest that has trees taller than any mortal eye can look; a forest full of the strange, the deadly, and the mysterious. It is so dark that only a man noble, just, and brave can pierce its midnight. It is called the Everland Forest, and it is where this story begins. Or rather where it takes place, for forever has no beginning.

Yed Jotunhiem was lost. As an elf, this should not have been a problem for him. But the Everland Forest does not give up its captives easily. Yed had begun to realize this after two days of aimlessly wandering around it. He was a long, lanky young elf. His gray, peach-fuzz skin was pale, and his white hair was in thin braids that bobbed on his black traveler’s clothes with every step. He carried no weapons, as elves are able to blend into their surroundings like ink. He walked along a forsaken animal trail, stumbling over rocks and twigs. The only things visible were the huge, wide trees that reached for an escape to the bright heavens. Yed was growing dizzy with the impact of sleepiness and was almost ready to give up hope and let the wild beasts have him when suddenly there came a runic tune, a whistle, going in and out of earshot. Yed hastened his footsteps with hope in his heart and food on his mind and, by some heavenly grace, Yed Jotunhiem came upon a roaring and popping campfire with a wild beast on a spit revolving above it. Yed thanked the Maker and removed the spit from the fire.

“I suppose you won’t thank me for that, will you?” a slow, drawling voice asked.

Yed spun around, looking to see who or what was addressing him. What he saw was quite extraordinary. A long, skinny figure (presumably the source of the strange whistle) in a dapper waistcoat was leaning against a nearby tree. It could not have been any being Yed knew of, for he had an elegantly carved pumpkin levitating above his collar. There was a single flame in the ghoulish head, and his snazzy clothes were not filled with a body.

“What? Who are you?” Yed stuttered.

“The name’s Jack. Jack Lantern. Think of me as the guardian of the forest. And this is my friend, Empet Sunderson.” Jack gestured at another figure, a small one, sitting on a log close by, almost out of sight in all the foliage around. This Empet character was made of wood, as if some immortal hand or eye had framed him to be an amusing carving, which one day jumped off the workbench and hopped away. His perfectly circular head floated above his slouched shoulders, and he had two large holes for eyes. He also sported a short tube where his mouth should have been. As Yed scrutinized this comical figure, Jack simply explained, “I don’t know what he is.” Empet raised his hand in a welcoming way and made a sound not unlike a sad kazoo. Yed chuckled awkwardly and sat down on a log.

“So, how’d a whippersnapper like you end up in the Forest?” Jack wondered.

Yed thought through his long and exciting journey, thinking of how to possibly create a descriptive summary.

“Truth be told, I’m a bandit. Not one of those blood ‘n guts highwayman, mind you, but merely a simple in and out sort of guy. I was, I am on a sort of a quest to find my fortune, whatever that means. I may have taken a wrong turn somewhere, and thus ended up here.” A silence followed the commentary. “So,” Yed prompted, “do you know the way out of here?”

It was Jack’s turn to laugh. “Kid,” he chuckled, “I live here. Of course I know. All you need to do is wait until the forest decides that you can leave.”

“But… that could take forever!” moaned Yed.

Empet honked solemnly and edged away from the roaring fire.

“Yes. It could. So we’d best rest for the long day ahead,” sighed the odd and dapper figure.

And so they all found comfortable places on the soft forest floor and fell into dreamless sleep.

***

“Yed. Wake up. We need to leave NOW.”

Yed jolted awake, sleepy and confused. He rubbed his grey eyes and peered out at the dark, eerie world.

“What’s wrong, Jack?” Yed sleepily queried.

“Empet has been killed. The Kala murdered him while we were sleeping. We gotta run.”

The fire was out, and everything they had used the night before was either packed or scattered. A pile of splintered wood limbs and other features lay twitching in the doused fire. Yed realized that he was looking at the charred remains of Empet Sunderson.

In seconds, Yed and Jack were sprinting faster than fear, faster than most things. But not faster than the Kala Clan.

“What is a Kala?” Yed asked as he leaped over a large stone.

“The Kala Clan are predators. Double-mouthed, four-armed hunters whose stomachs are never satisfied. If they could’ve eaten Empet, they would’ve,” Jack answered, his feet a shapeless blur of speed.

“How do we escape?” Yed asked.

“We don’t. We find a good place to stop and fight the darned murderers.”

They raced through the night-time, knowing the ghastly hunters were slowly but surely gaining on them.

They then came upon a clearing, no less dark, and stopped, panting for breath.

“Now what?” Yed warily wondered.

“Now, we wait,” Jack replied.

The suspense was horrid. They had no idea when the gruesome enemy would strike, hitting them from behind, and making a meal out of a precious life.

They waited in the black, making no sound, until Jack spoke, “Here they come. Now’s the time, kid. Fight for life. Fight for survival. Avenge old Empet.” He hung his head momentarily, then regained his composure. “Also, you may need a weapon. Here.” Jack then reached into his carved smile and pulled out the flame that had lit the way so far. Then, by some ancient wizardry, stretched it into the likeness of a great blade. “Take this. It will light the battlefield and kill the enemy,” Jack stated.

“What will you fight with?” Yed asked.

“Oh, I have some friends that like to help me out of tough situations.” He lifted up two shining blunderbusses, cocked and ready to slay.

Yed smirked despite the imminent chance of death.

“And now,” Jack started.

“We kill.” Yed finished.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a hundred or more detestable beings came rushing at them brandishing four daggers each, one in each of their spindly, slimy hands. The Kala ran forward with insurmountable speed, letting out a shrill war cry from their toothy mouths, of which they had two. The sound of Jack’s guns began thundering across the clearing, killing multiple maleficent monsters within seconds. Yed charged at the impressive Clan with the impeccable grace of a true elf bandit, dicing up the first of many enemies.

The battle raged on, the fiery sword felling all who dared face it, and Jack’s guns toppling the luminescent predators one by one. After what seemed like forever, (which it may well have been in that curious wood), a great number of the Kala hunters lay slain, and the rest of them had retreated to the dank places where they belonged.

Yed and Jack were too exhausted to stand. They both fell down on the blood-soaked earth with many wounds, panting but alive.

“Well, we did it,” Yed panted.

“Yeah, I guess we did, kid. Now, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Yes?” Yed queried.

Jack stood and revealed, “There’s no hope of you leaving the Forest now. We’ve killed its people and soaked its sacred earth in blood. The Order will soon come to bring justice.”

“The Order? As in the ancient band of titans that eats any intruder in their domain?” Yed exclaimed, standing abruptly.

“Yep. They’re also right behind you,” Jack mused. He looked above Yed’s head and laughed, “Hello Morgan. I’ve caught you another meal.”

Yed raised his head and saw an immense Minotaur standing behind and towering over him with a raised axe in his hand. Yed panicked, and tried to use his elven gift to vanish into a mist just as an axe sliced through the very place Yed was standing.

***

The Order was perplexed. They had sent their Kala troops to kill this scrawny elf and had deployed the best bounty hunter in the Realm, Jack Lantern, to trick him. They had even sacrificed their very own servant, Empet, to further fool the child. Even when the Kala had failed to maul the fledgling elf, a very member of the Order, a Minotaur even, could not quash the little imp. Eventually, the Order came to the verge of their patience and began to create a sinister plot to destroy the slippery elf no matter how long it took.

When Yed reappeared he was not standing in the Forest’s eternal gloom. He was right outside it. He looked around, perplexed for a moment, and then realized that he was free. Yed laughed in delight and spun around, unable to believe that the forest had liberated him. He calmed down, thinking through the unbelievable events that had just occurred and all the times the enemy could have killed him. Then he regained himself and continued the long walk to seek his fortune, not afraid of what might come with it.