Stay on the Path
One should never run too deep into the forest; not without iron and salt and a fake name in mind. The dangers there are more than you can understand.
The fey are crafty, they say, and will take you if you're not clever or quick enough, dragging you into their world of silver and gold and crystal, until you forget who you are or no one remembers you ever existed. That's if you're lucky.
The fey can be warded off, if you know how to use words like swords, if you stay on the paths and don't stray and keep your mouth shut except to be polite. They can be confused and bartered with, if you know what you're doing and don't offer too much and don't take foolishly.
The fey follow the rules. They don't lie, however much they twist the truth. They don't come out of the forest.
Except one.
They say it's heralded by the sound of gunshots as it moves through the forest, freezing the sap in the trees to warn of its approach. Frost covers the ground it walks over, though its feet don't quite touch the ground. Those who have glimpsed it amongst the trees say it moves like something that doesn't quite know what a human is; like something that had the idea poorly described to it and is trying to play the part. It has teeth like a wolf, hungry and sharp, and sprawling golden antlers with black webs of shadow trailing from them.
It is not claimed by the fey. It might well be one of them, or something worse.
It creeps through the forest on too-light feet, always near to the path, waiting, watching for children who forget the rules and stray away from safety.
It does not ask questions. It does not play games, it merely waits. And watches. And takes, leaving nothing behind but the thundering sound of freezing sap and the occasional abandoned toy.
The children it takes are never returned, not even as changelings. Not even in ten, twenty, a hundred years. Never.
So, stay on the path. Don't stray. Listen for the sound of gunshots and watch for frost on the ground. Look for hungry teeth and flashes of gold through the trees.
Be smart and quick and polite if you can.
But if you can't: You had better pray it doesn't find you.
Spread
While this myth is most prevalent in the more rural areas of Lumin, everyone in the country has at least heard the tale. Whether or not it has spread very far beyond the country's borders is up for debate, though this is unlikely.
In Literature
Aside from a few historical documents recorded for posterity's sake, this myth is passed down strictly via oral tradition, as with all Luminese myths.
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