Stone Circle "Swing for the fences, son." he must have told you once.

The man looked as if he were carved of stone. The look on his face (from the glances that the boy managed) was somehow more welcoming than the scowls he was used to, but not exactly warm. There wasn't any fear in that face. Glaucos wondered what that was like, living without fear.

Their description of this Easthollow place was more like a fantasy; he could not fathom such a place, could not piece together the facets that were shared with him. Ursus was a family too, he thought. There were mothers and fathers, aunts, uncles. The sameness ended there. The stranger spoke of love and Glaucos' face crunched with confusion.

My mother is in Ursus. He says, unaware of the lie. My father— left me here, he might have said, except that the slither of movement at his flank came next to distract him. Something tall moved ahead of him and with a shove Glaucos hit the dirt, tumbling roughly. When he looked up at the figure he recognized Merrick immediately and shrank back.