The town was so much smaller than the city Malak had gotten used to. It lay at the base of the rolling hills which curved up over the western edge of the town centre. The east of the town lay flatter, eventually descending to the river which lay a mere few miles away. The hills were littered with fir trees, older than the buildings and people that they watched over.

If Malak was the type to consider trees to watch anything. The massive amount of needled leaves had their interest. More interesting than the world that currently surrounded them and Bri. The people of this town that was so small, yet large enough for the citizens to not all know each other.

Some of the trees were younger, covering up the land that had been clearcut perhaps ten years before. A blink of an eye, to Malak. To Malak, all of these trees were young. They had lived longer than anything within this vicinity and the youth of the world held no fascination.

Except for Bri. “Are you paying attention?”