Hymn smiled pleasantly at no one in particular. He hoped that if he smiled enough people wouldn’t be so alarmed by his unusual appearance. He was shorter than most elves and as pale as the crystals that he gathered for his work. The other elves joked that the moon was his father; that his mother had gone swimming in a clear pool where the full moon was reflected. Some of the elves shushed the others when they began to say it, glancing fearfully at Hymn, like they really believed it.
He dusted his hands off after he put the last crystal he could fit into his bulging pockets. At the entrance to the cave he turned in the requis...