Awab had lived in the forest of Gorob all the years of his youth and he had no particular desire to go anywhere else. His family was there, the other men of the brotherhood were there, all the friendly spirits were there, and he was beginning to consider looking for a wife. If in the night he had dreams of great boats on a vast dark sea, or an island where it was death to set foot, they meant nothing to him. He sat laughing with his friends or joined in the hunt, and when they carried home the meat, Awab was respected despite his youth as a good judge of who should receive how much.
This was Awab’s life. Born in the forest, he would live and die in the forest. But that was before the giants came.