Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by317Please respect copyright.PENANAU6VFRXauOC
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting317Please respect copyright.PENANAMY4G8c9XxU
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.317Please respect copyright.PENANA1F4EsXuZkA
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so317Please respect copyright.PENANAlNNETJ7Umz
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it317Please respect copyright.PENANAT8v7x8fAsA
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.317Please respect copyright.PENANAVIVZuycarn
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly317Please respect copyright.PENANAdkQujTNTYA
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose317Please respect copyright.PENANAzlWdmtFexW
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one317Please respect copyright.PENANAAG6UZ7Q3Mt
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.317Please respect copyright.PENANAxY5GiUYa1L
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me317Please respect copyright.PENANAe2801yVE0H
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no317Please respect copyright.PENANAKop2pOmGKg
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he317Please respect copyright.PENANATJ7Bl0PpSE
will say:317Please respect copyright.PENANAAYOSHozq1r
“And who might you be?”317Please respect copyright.PENANAdQj1BJYjdM
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so317Please respect copyright.PENANAbm2Ica7esi
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly317Please respect copyright.PENANANKfdPOGPzA
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his317Please respect copyright.PENANAdX9RvoB2bq
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,317Please respect copyright.PENANAzXsD6FJBPT
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.317Please respect copyright.PENANANqdZoM1mD3
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,317Please respect copyright.PENANAgXCouOTHLn
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,317Please respect copyright.PENANA8674qlHrqp
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.317Please respect copyright.PENANAlFxyVPGvSc
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite317Please respect copyright.PENANAQQS6oZde04
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its317Please respect copyright.PENANANYZLIniZLS
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did317Please respect copyright.PENANAnDHHoV3HNd
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested317Please respect copyright.PENANAPZioT8MD0m
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.317Please respect copyright.PENANANoIpBLrhaw
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.317Please respect copyright.PENANAYYiPNYGZtT
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,317Please respect copyright.PENANADqKnOmYxQ8
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out317Please respect copyright.PENANA0USRkg0hUh
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the317Please respect copyright.PENANAidSJa6jB9o
nearest tree.317Please respect copyright.PENANAfrs5SoQmy5
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,317Please respect copyright.PENANAegwgmcSVrO
“that I came here to wait for you.”317Please respect copyright.PENANAdSMqR3NzS0
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he317Please respect copyright.PENANAlQtDjJBtp7
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,317Please respect copyright.PENANAOH6Z4NDY9g
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips317Please respect copyright.PENANAG0CBGzxwX3
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a317Please respect copyright.PENANAMnERjJCCPp
lot recently.317Please respect copyright.PENANAwQiryxWM6J
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.317Please respect copyright.PENANAg1Vtp8qkPL
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a317Please respect copyright.PENANAmL2qzWhPSA
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of317Please respect copyright.PENANA1Eb8YcpspU
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw317Please respect copyright.PENANAUFzL2TCIXj
all of them as well?”317Please respect copyright.PENANAgdnKGqxOh0
“I did.”317Please respect copyright.PENANAmMSD2zkidw
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as317Please respect copyright.PENANAvoYloB2HFh
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,317Please respect copyright.PENANAkieoSYdLke
and then held them close to each other ...317Please respect copyright.PENANA0LFtJ9MMKc
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...