Author's note: Thanks to Cairistiona for beta-reading. *hugs*

-x-x-x-

Three creatures were tied to the pillars in the centre of the village. A six-year-old boy stood in a group of children and observed them. The enemies! Those against whom the adults had been fighting all the time. Those evil, hated enemies about whom, so far, he had only heard about. But today their fighters returned with three living captives. Today, he is seeing them for the first time.

How weird they look! Tall. Skinny. Long-haired. Pale. Unnatural hair colour – yellow! They had bruises and cuts on their faces. And blood pouring from them was even stranger than the hair! Red!!!

Thump!

He staggered, being hit from behind. Pain flashed in his head. These captives had consumed his attention so much that he forgot he had to watch over his shoulder. One of the bigger boys grinned, menacingly showing his teeth.

"This is how we'll tie you when we get bored! And then we'll have fun!"

He believed every word.

One had to watch over shoulder constantly – one of the first things every child learned. Although, sometimes not even caution was enough. Not when one was outnumbered. And not when the older boys were around. Older equals stronger.

He moved a few steps away from the boy who hit him, but despite knowing he should look backwards, he paid no attention to what was happening behind him. His looked forward, and only forward. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the captives. So, those were the enemies that he had heard of, every day. Those who wanted to destroy his people. Those who wanted to evict them from their forest.

Let them die, all of them!!!

He reached the first row and looked at them closely. Oh, those eyes! He shivered and started to tremble. Every single hair on his body bristled. Radiating from their eyes was the light! And it burned like fire. Stung like the sword. Bit like the spider.

He had to look away.

Light is evil. Night – night is a friend. Cursed be the day!

Fortunately, the trees in their forest were huge, their crowns thick and wide and full of leaves, and they protected them well from the hated, piercing, glittering orb in the sky. Beneath that thick cover it was bearable even during the day. But being directly exposed to that light... He shuddered, remembering. He wandered away from the village, once. He was incautious and found himself in a clearing, in the wrong moment. If he had survived that terrible pain ravaging his whole body, if he hadn't turned into ashes under that fire... oh, he would surely survive everything else in the rest of his life, no matter what befell him.

"Children! Look! These are the enemies, created with a sole purpose to destroy our people!" roared the chief's voice, and the boy paid attention to him. The chief stood in front of the three tied to the pillars, sword in his hand held high and observing the crowd in front of him. Then he looked at the youngest again. "Do you know how our people were made? Do you know of our Maker?"

Of course he knew! Who didn't? He had heard the stories of the old, about the magnificent Maker who had created the whole world. But the details about the origins of their people? Nope, those were not familiar to him. That story he hadn't heard yet.

There were children even younger around him. Little heads were shaking from left to right.

The chief grinned – although at the same time it also sounded as snarling. "You will hear it now."

He stopped, sheathed his sword, and crossed arms at his chest. His gaze passed over all of them, and the boy looked towards him, his eyes and mouth wide open. Come on! Talk! Let us hear!

"Long ago, there were gods. Our Maker was the greatest, the strongest, the most powerful among them. He is the one who created the whole world. And other gods were jealous! He could create and they couldn't! And that's why they turned against him!"

"Cursed!!!"

The chief growled and clenched his fists. "Yes! You should hate them fiercely! They've been trying to destroy him ever since the beginning! But he is stronger than them! And then he created us! We are his children! Yes, we were the first people that had ever existed! You didn't know that? Now you do! The first in the world, created only for us. And back then the night reigned all the time! Imagine that! Eternal darkness!"

"Yeeeesssss!" he shouted together with other children. Oh how wonderful it would be to live in such a world, where there is no obnoxious light!

"We lived everywhere! In all the lands, all the forests and plains! But the other gods joined their forces together and created our enemies! Elves and men! And ordered them to hate us and to banish us and to kill us! And then they made the cursed lights in the sky, to hurt us. But will we surrender?"

"Nooooo!!!" The noise of hundreds of voices filled the air.

"That's right! We'll fight to conquer the world again. For ourselves, and for the glory of our Maker!"

"Yeeeessss!!!"

So that's how it happened! Their folk were the first! And then they were wronged! Those creatures – those elves – were created only to destroy his people. They were the ones who had come later. Who took from his people everything that had belonged them from the beginning.

He looked at the three enemies again. Accursed. Evil. Murderers. They deserve to die! They and all of their kind! Oh, why was he so small?! If only he could be the one to deal the final blow!

Oh how he'd enjoy every moment of this afternoon.

And one day he will not be small anymore, and he will be the warrior who will kill hundreds of enemies. For the glory of the Maker, and for the liberation of his folk.