Once upon a time, in a land far away filled with magic of all sorts, there was a type of creature called a Farlen. 

Now, the Farlens looked like exceptionally short, skinny humans in shape, mostly. But that was where the resemblance ended. You see, they had shining scales of deep turquoise all over their bodies. And they had soft, downy feathers going down their backs, all of a similar colour. Their small hands and feet ended in long, curved claws of dark blue, but the claws were blunted and could do no harm. They also had a long, skinny tail that extended from their bodies and could curve and bend. On their heads they had a bowl. And in that bowl was a magical orb. This orb looked like a semi-translucent pearl. It was iridescent and shone soft swirling rainbows when the light hit it at just the right angle. 

This orb was the source of all their power. You see, the Farlen had incredible strength and vigour. They also had the power to heal anyone or harm anyone to whatever extent they wanted to. And for this power, they were much feared. But this was not the only thing magical about them. The blood that they bled, when it hit the sunlight, would turn into a grand host of rubies, one ruby for each drop.

This land also had many humans in it, humans who built their towns and houses and lived their lives in relative peace and tranquility. These humans rarely saw any Farlen, for the Farlen secreted themselves in the forest and were rare to behold. 

And so it was that a human man named Mark was walking along the forest path. He had left his wife and his baby child at home, and was going to the market in order to buy flour, and milk, sugar, and meat, and vegetables, and many other things. 

The way to get to the shops in town cut through the woods. Now, usually this would not be a problem, but it is easy to get lost in the woods and on this day that is precisely what Mark did. He wandered through the trees, trying to find his way, but he could not. And he thought that he would die here, out in the wilderness, with no way to get home. 

It was at that moment that a Farlen named Gray came upon him and asked him what he was doing. Mark saw the Farlen and knew that he had come upon a rare and treasured sight. He made a plan in his head about how to make the most of this encounter. 

He told the Farlen that he was lost, and Gray pointed him out in the right direction in order to get to the town. Mark thanked the Farlen, and invited him over to dinner at the humble house Mark shared with his family. Gray graciously accepted and so the two beings went their separate ways. 

Mark bought flour, and milk, sugar, and meat, and vegetables, and many other things from the shops. He also went to the herbalist and bought some very special herbs in order to make a potion that would send any being into a deep sleep after being ingested. 

He then went back home to his wife, Shay, and told her of the strange encounter that he had. He told her of the Farlen and, most importantly, he told her of his plan. And together they prepared dinner for when the Farlen was to arrive. 

Gray came to dinner and they all had a jovial time together, talking and laughing and joking about their lives. Gray suspected nothing, and ate the food that he was given with much savouring and appreciation. 

But Gray began to feel more and more tired, and before long he was asleep on the dinner table, his orb exposed and vulnerable. Mark and Shay smiled, for this was exactly their plan. You see, they had put the sleeping herbs in the Farlen's food, disguising it amongst many other flavours so that the Farlen could not tell. 

They took the beautiful orb from his head and locked it inside a metal chest. This metal chest they buried out behind their house, under layers and layers of dirt. They were sure that nobody would be able to find the chest there. And once they were satisfied with their work, they went back in and waited for the Farlen to wake up. 

When Gray finally did wake up he saw that his orb was gone. Terrified and betrayed, he tried to attack the couple. But without his orb, he was pathetic and weak. Mark caught him and pushed him down to the ground. While he was there, down on the ground, Shay tied him up with thick ropes so that he couldn't escape. 

They carried him to their cellar and they locked him there in the darkness. Alone, without his orb, tied in the cellar of strange and cruel people, Gray felt very afraid indeed. Very afraid and very hopeless. 

The couple went into the cellar each day and they drew a bowl of the Farlen's blood. Gray was too weak to stop them. He was too weak to do anything except bleed out into the bowl while Shay held a knife to his skin and flesh and Mark held him down. 

The couple then spread the bowl of blood out into three large trays and they put them out in the sun. Each day they did this, and each day the scattered blood on the trays turned into many many red and shining rubies. They then gathered these rubies up and sold them, and grew richer and richer. 

Their child, Charlie, had grown into a toddler by the time the couple had amassed enough money to buy a rich new mansion with its own fields and orchard. They took the Farlen and chained him up with real chains in the new cellar of their mansion. And they bought many pieces of furniture and many beautiful items to decorate their new house with. They also bought enchanted brooms and dusters and mops and rags, and ovens and stoves and pans and boards and knives, and washing buckets and washboards. These expensive enchanted items would do all their housework for them, so that they did not have to lift a finger. 

Every day, they unlocked the door to the cellar and harvested from poor Gray a bowl full of blood. 

Gray was hopeless by this point. He thought that there was no way that he would ever become free. He thought that this was his life now, and this was all that he would have for all of his days and for the whole of his future. He sank deeper and deeper into a great, all-consuming depression as his will to live faded from his heart. 

He tried to avoid eating the food that Shay and Mark gave him, so that he could die. But whenever he refused the food, they would beat him until he couldn't move anymore. And so he had to eat their food. For he wasn't strong enough not to.