High in the mountains, where only dragons roam and the hardy edelweiss blooms, there lies a mysterious place known as the Valley of Shadows. This remote, high-altitude region is surrounded on all sides by impenetrable cliffs and deep, wide chasms. Long ago, a Salixian explorer and scholar named Vasorio stumbled upon it while leading an expedition through the mountains in search of mineral deposits. In his writings, he described the Valley as a strange, otherworldly place, filled with bizarre plants and terrifying creatures. He also discovered a large settlement—almost a city—where beings he called Shadows dwelled. Whether they were human or something else entirely, he couldn’t say. Vasorio noted the Valley’s incredible wealth, with vast deposits of gold and maronium, the only metal known to absorb magic, soaking it up like a sponge.
At first, Salixia established trade relations with the Shadows, who were ruled by a king they called the Shadow of All Shadows. Later, Salixia proposed a partnership to mine the metals, but ultimately decided to seize the Shadows’ immense riches by force. Centuries ago, an ancestor of the current king, Rugeor the Wise, led a war against the Valley of Shadows. That ancestor was the infamous Brandis the Cruel.
The war lasted a mere five days. It took two days for the king’s army to ascend the mountains, one day for the Shadows to annihilate them, and another two days for the few surviving remnants to stagger back to the capital with news of their defeat. Brandis the Cruel’s forces were attacked by otherworldly entities summoned by the Shadows—spirits, ghosts, demons, and even more horrifying beings—that devoured the soldiers’ souls and, in some cases, their bodies as well.
The Shadows didn’t pursue the fleeing enemy. They remained in their Valley and didn’t even seek revenge for the attack on their capital. Instead, they forced Salixia to sign a treaty known as the "Oath of Service to the Shadows."
The treaty was brief, containing just a few sentences:
"Salixia vows never to attack the Valley of Shadows. Should this vow be broken, Salixia will be utterly destroyed. The riches of the Valley of Shadows can only be obtained in exchange for a person with magical abilities, a mage. This person, a mage, must willingly and without coercion agree to such a trade. Each year, Salixia must complete at least one such trade agreement." That was all.
No one knew what the Shadows did with the mages who entered their domain. Almost none returned. Yet, there were a few who did come back. On the outside, they appeared unchanged from before their journey to the Valley. But they were different—calm, detached, melancholic, their eyes filled with an incomprehensible longing and despair. Perhaps it was because they had forgotten everything from their lives before. Scholars believe the Shadows erased their memories.
Since those ancient times, Salixia has held an annual call for volunteer mages unafraid to venture into the Valley of Shadows. The uncertainty of what awaited them there somehow made the difficult decision easier for some. After all, pledging oneself to the Shadows didn’t necessarily mean death—some did return, after all. It was simply the unknown. There were always people who, out of curiosity, wanted to see what lay in the Valley (their intrigue outweighing their instinct for self-preservation), or who found themselves in desperate situations where going to the Shadows seemed the best way out, or who chose the Shadows over death if they were, for instance, condemned to execution. Trade with the Shadows wasn’t frequent, but it existed, as gold and maronium were always in high demand.
Only a single path now leads to the Valley, and it is fiercely guarded by otherworldly spirits summoned from beyond, promised human sacrifices as payment for their service. Anyone who dares to sneak along this trail falls into their clutches and perishes.
At the base of Illusion Peak, where the path begins, stands a small outpost. It’s there that the trade agreements take place: the Shadows take the volunteers, and in return, they deliver the corresponding treasures.
It was along this path, into the Valley of Shadows, that my heart yearned to go, to find my beloved Orest. I was determined to slip into the Valley secretly, to locate him and do whatever it took to be together again. I wanted to bring him home, to prevent him from forgetting me and our love. And if—God forbid—that had already happened, I would do everything in my power to make him remember, to feel, to understand just how much I love him.