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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by345Please respect copyright.PENANATvgkbcKynj
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting345Please respect copyright.PENANATmwDQKGOQW
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.345Please respect copyright.PENANAzj8jsV5h0Z
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so345Please respect copyright.PENANAOJcQStagqx
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it345Please respect copyright.PENANAB5ybnGkYba
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.345Please respect copyright.PENANAI19QdkcqsU
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly345Please respect copyright.PENANAuP0hhvbGGP
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose345Please respect copyright.PENANAEKTCc8wvWu
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one345Please respect copyright.PENANAHLVLnig1e1
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.345Please respect copyright.PENANAbFZwL7s30Q
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me345Please respect copyright.PENANAanHjXqGwdI
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no345Please respect copyright.PENANAdrMgnleoSc
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he345Please respect copyright.PENANADTmfNfYtxA
will say:345Please respect copyright.PENANALOtUzGHNzX
“And who might you be?”345Please respect copyright.PENANAlGAydf5qf9
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so345Please respect copyright.PENANAyASjv4dGvE
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly345Please respect copyright.PENANAs9LxZeko1J
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his345Please respect copyright.PENANAgSh9nRjX1H
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,345Please respect copyright.PENANAAK6AAchYfz
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.345Please respect copyright.PENANAZBvj1exgIP
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,345Please respect copyright.PENANALuprNGNBzX
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,345Please respect copyright.PENANA5Hw5cYUOH6
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.345Please respect copyright.PENANA7pEGaL1tD7
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite345Please respect copyright.PENANAO75EWxxR1n
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its345Please respect copyright.PENANAftC14RyVmN
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did345Please respect copyright.PENANAvAfCkhoDf2
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested345Please respect copyright.PENANAPFHKBa9Y7F
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.345Please respect copyright.PENANAkYVVHEJ1Ny
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.345Please respect copyright.PENANABTFmkGtHgW
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,345Please respect copyright.PENANAYShQ0G8Dtp
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out345Please respect copyright.PENANAZFj5vyPWE5
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the345Please respect copyright.PENANAd7KhZhBkwj
nearest tree.345Please respect copyright.PENANAwIqxD9A5nb
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,345Please respect copyright.PENANAw4wblH5scw
“that I came here to wait for you.”345Please respect copyright.PENANAzyp3rnXgE9
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he345Please respect copyright.PENANA0Guxo7djTO
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,345Please respect copyright.PENANAUMVve3Wp3W
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips345Please respect copyright.PENANAhDD1CdtMG3
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a345Please respect copyright.PENANADaXTJLNYkY
lot recently.345Please respect copyright.PENANANdL8JJvydv
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.345Please respect copyright.PENANAUuJ3Qu5H3p
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a345Please respect copyright.PENANAxdglNfuZ1L
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of345Please respect copyright.PENANAzlv6Kb4WVC
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw345Please respect copyright.PENANAvWv1XqzgaU
all of them as well?”345Please respect copyright.PENANANBI16N6Iac
“I did.”345Please respect copyright.PENANAnXBhsjsPG2
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as345Please respect copyright.PENANAfXqumKirxb
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,345Please respect copyright.PENANAxa5UHAxkkR
and then held them close to each other ...345Please respect copyright.PENANAxOT6nqdpS8
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...