Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by339Please respect copyright.PENANAa7N9O2bASi
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting339Please respect copyright.PENANAsnZnyfeFjE
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.339Please respect copyright.PENANAtwhqdgSlrT
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so339Please respect copyright.PENANAoD4VJmmMdu
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it339Please respect copyright.PENANAPyYDwWUsOK
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.339Please respect copyright.PENANAJ6NZ4y0fq1
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly339Please respect copyright.PENANANNo6v9c1kv
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose339Please respect copyright.PENANAEotYuY0jfS
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one339Please respect copyright.PENANAXPMnr2VOyK
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.339Please respect copyright.PENANAycaS4z1xQu
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me339Please respect copyright.PENANAnLFLutxovB
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no339Please respect copyright.PENANAAoEytgE8Ic
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he339Please respect copyright.PENANAKZytOfpyex
will say:339Please respect copyright.PENANAyCHdnbgXGb
“And who might you be?”339Please respect copyright.PENANAkDnTCnQ8lx
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so339Please respect copyright.PENANAFdSf6CPa9b
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly339Please respect copyright.PENANA4gvwpBxIZX
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his339Please respect copyright.PENANAKm0DgOk7XH
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,339Please respect copyright.PENANA4Vy3f22lUk
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.339Please respect copyright.PENANAljFWaAW4Z4
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,339Please respect copyright.PENANA5lpEGMsKpM
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,339Please respect copyright.PENANAwjkPI0T01s
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.339Please respect copyright.PENANAriQcvcTgB7
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite339Please respect copyright.PENANA42nAMpRD9t
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its339Please respect copyright.PENANAsFpOWLVHDO
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did339Please respect copyright.PENANAM9e6DQ8V81
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested339Please respect copyright.PENANAJniGFItISk
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.339Please respect copyright.PENANAAaPN6gEdQU
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.339Please respect copyright.PENANAgxsOFMLGgh
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,339Please respect copyright.PENANAWwOeipwWnQ
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out339Please respect copyright.PENANABwi60nDnK2
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the339Please respect copyright.PENANAkLkCWxf5ko
nearest tree.339Please respect copyright.PENANAGaBg1uEQoB
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,339Please respect copyright.PENANAGA6HNZRPfo
“that I came here to wait for you.”339Please respect copyright.PENANAeZE12hC9AC
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he339Please respect copyright.PENANAZ3NLJWi9M3
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,339Please respect copyright.PENANAsEvWS3Ndt6
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips339Please respect copyright.PENANAcpO9BCoMyX
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a339Please respect copyright.PENANAcGMnT5bzbE
lot recently.339Please respect copyright.PENANAEUboqknZXi
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.339Please respect copyright.PENANAp4PGluCu4b
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a339Please respect copyright.PENANARiPz9bITaM
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of339Please respect copyright.PENANAg1jfkHtIHC
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw339Please respect copyright.PENANAdHvKgycssJ
all of them as well?”339Please respect copyright.PENANAgwM0AGE3SB
“I did.”339Please respect copyright.PENANAn12IjgE2EJ
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as339Please respect copyright.PENANAFmtKVBISkN
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,339Please respect copyright.PENANAmeuMA3Uw2p
and then held them close to each other ...339Please respect copyright.PENANAX837OEzfNP
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...