“But hope is a good thing,” I say. “It helps you get through the tough times. It pushes you toward something better.”

The elf queen looks me in the eyes and says, “it is a placebo. Hope is the false promise that people tell themselves is there because they do not want to face the possibility that they are doomed to a future without promise.” She stands up and walks across the room. “There is no chance that my people will regain stewardship of the earth. When man was given the world, we were cast aside like the forgotten toys of a child who had grown older.”