– Who else would it be? The bearded face broke into a huge grin. Tanis grabbed the dwarf in a bear hug, lifting him off the ground. His interlocutor returned the hug, but then remembered his dignity and pulled away from the half-elf's grasp. Tanis scratched his chin.

– I’ve wandered into places where elves are looked upon with suspicion… It was then that my beard, a legacy of my human father, helped to conceal my origins.

Bitter irony tinged his voice. The rays of the setting sun, slanting through the grove, glinted off something metallic. Tanis caught a glimpse of it, lost it, and then saw it again. But then the sun finally sank below the horizon. The purple sky began to fade slowly, and the impenetrable night shadows spread across the forest.