“The cruel dawn comes on apace, when we’ll
be powerless and thou pursued. Make
haste!”
Oberon nodded; the plumes swayed and shimmered on his crown. “Indeed.
But first I’d best explain to thee, Prince Rupert, why we lend our aid
in this thy mortal quarrel. It is
ours. We elves are spirits of the living
world, the haunters of its virgin loneliness, the guardians, helpers, healers
of all things in nature, whence we draw our nourishment.”
“You’re sometimes tricksy, sometimes terrible,” the man said.
(from A Midsummer
Tempest, by Poul Anderson)
.
