Alice

“...What I am saying, Marshal, is that you have known her but a short time; I have known her for years. You have seen her in one trouble; I have seen her in many. I know her as someone trustworthy in battle, in long campaigns, day after day. You see some flaw – some little speck on a shining ring – and condemn the whole. But I see the whole – the years of service, the duties faithfully performed– and that is good, Marshal. Is there one of us with no flaws? Are you perfect, that you indict her?”
― Elizabeth Moon, Divided Allegiance

“Suddenly there was a great heave, and he cracked his chin against Sebell’s shoulderblade. Inadvertently looking down, he saw the ground moving away from him as Lioth sprang skyward. He could feel the great muscles along Lioth’s neck as the fragile-seeming wings took their first all-important downsweep. Then the Gather meadow and the Harper Hall seemed to tush away, and they were on a level with the Hold fire-heights.

Sebell gave Piemur’s hands, clutching his belt, a warning squeeze. The next heartbeat and there was nothing but a cold so intense that it was painful. Except that Piemur couldn’t feel pain with his body, only sense that his lack of tactile contact with reality included everything except the wild beating of his heart against ribcage. Ruthlessly he clamped down on the instinct to scream. Then they were back in the world again, Lioth gliding effortlessly down to the right, a tremendous expanse of golden ground beneath his wings.”
― Anne McCaffrey, Dragondrums

“Her series features relaxed into a wide smile. She possessed the teeth of a tiny horse--white and square except for two pairs of pathetic canines.”
― Grace Draven, Radiance

“Perhaps it was all an elaborate charade of the sort envisioned by Miles, where the dragons were large iguanas and the knights and wizards were all supplied by Central Casting. Perhaps the dream was a sham, an imitation of what the imagination would have it truly be. Even if it were all real – if it were all as described, all as the artist had rendered it to be – still it might be less than the dream. It might be as ordinary in truth as his present life.”
― Terry Brooks, Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold