‘Are you indeed an Imp?’
The creature glanced at him in surprise. ‘You have not seen before?’
Mraan shook his head. ‘Never, in all my life. What’s your name? I am Mraan.’
To Haloch’s complete surprise, the Imp answered. ‘My name is Iniiq.’ To satisfy the question in Haloch’s mien, she added, ‘Iniiq has known Elves before. Some showed her mercy where she had expected none. After others had murdered many Faerie kindred, and drove the Earth Mother into exile.’
‘What is the Earth Mother?’ Mraan asked in all innocence.
It was the Imp’s turn to stare in surprise. ‘She is what gives all of us life,’ Iniiq replied brusquely.
‘You mean like . . . like Nature . . . like the Seasons . . . ?’
‘No! Is it much more than that. This, what you see around you? This is not the Earth Mother returning, bringing Winter to the land, as many Faerie folk mistakenly thought at first. This is the beginning of something very evil.’ She turned to scrutinize Mraan and Haloch, narrowly. ‘This be done by bad Elves, and by your mighty Elf Lore.’
Mraan looked a question at his father, who clutched the book, appearing at once both grieved and guilty, unable to meet his son’s eyes.