54. Cherish

Walking helped clear both our minds. Ivan didn’t elaborate further on why he grabbed me so tightly but he told me lots of tales of growing up. How kind his parents were, how his own first shift had happened at fourteen and how he had bolted off up into the mountains, by the time he shifted back he was completely lost.

He laughed at describing how he ended up building a raft from logs, trying to float back towards Silver City then just as he’d finished it he remembered there was no river, only the huge lakes and jetties. He had made it though, his father had been following from a distance to make sure he was safe. His stories were so jolly, all these adventures and excursions. Even warrior training sounded fun, then from the age of eighteen living in the Silver City castle.

“My life has been so boring until now, I could sum up my existence as just plant, harvest, sell, fight, and that would cover it.”

“No silly adventures with friends, surely you must have been romanced by someone,”