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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by341Please respect copyright.PENANAtB9u0ILEIb
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting341Please respect copyright.PENANAfv88BJdIL1
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.341Please respect copyright.PENANA1MsAGb4BJC
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so341Please respect copyright.PENANAZa8oCERPfL
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it341Please respect copyright.PENANAmCux4zfmwP
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.341Please respect copyright.PENANAOo5eot8pxc
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly341Please respect copyright.PENANA1qpNA9ef2J
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose341Please respect copyright.PENANAVu9WzuaV7i
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one341Please respect copyright.PENANACH7lxi8Aqk
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.341Please respect copyright.PENANApnxKnaCLVt
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me341Please respect copyright.PENANA00BolgggKV
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no341Please respect copyright.PENANAMGCsiP2azk
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he341Please respect copyright.PENANAZ86obWTdY9
will say:341Please respect copyright.PENANAR3nL6RXk5R
“And who might you be?”341Please respect copyright.PENANA9DoHzHQQkL
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so341Please respect copyright.PENANAcwsknykZLE
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly341Please respect copyright.PENANAoSTsIYDv93
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his341Please respect copyright.PENANAycjGc3Itxd
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,341Please respect copyright.PENANAPJ9CZnY5Ib
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.341Please respect copyright.PENANAGPOwaVx66G
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,341Please respect copyright.PENANAky3N0DvIPX
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,341Please respect copyright.PENANApcmSFWto8z
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.341Please respect copyright.PENANAuSfRlIpeDB
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite341Please respect copyright.PENANAybw69aOEEq
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its341Please respect copyright.PENANAF2mZtq7cgF
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did341Please respect copyright.PENANAFBcEpHTfRO
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested341Please respect copyright.PENANAP8Cb9gaD2s
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.341Please respect copyright.PENANABznxc6FZt5
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.341Please respect copyright.PENANAanOmYufHs1
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,341Please respect copyright.PENANAQYwRdaKEXG
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out341Please respect copyright.PENANAJElqpVcgOs
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the341Please respect copyright.PENANASNDOUljuCb
nearest tree.341Please respect copyright.PENANAjSvp71zYfi
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,341Please respect copyright.PENANAZk5EZcZzAM
“that I came here to wait for you.”341Please respect copyright.PENANA6zaDHiDc6F
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he341Please respect copyright.PENANAkfkzedizGE
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,341Please respect copyright.PENANAxG9aDgbaQr
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips341Please respect copyright.PENANA2z56asO0vf
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a341Please respect copyright.PENANAROKFuHrfIM
lot recently.341Please respect copyright.PENANAlKByuO24OQ
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.341Please respect copyright.PENANAbSElZPhTOc
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a341Please respect copyright.PENANAx1Ra0EaY5w
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of341Please respect copyright.PENANARyRTP5icHx
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw341Please respect copyright.PENANAV1eAilnE6H
all of them as well?”341Please respect copyright.PENANAXYlv5DLu1e
“I did.”341Please respect copyright.PENANAbsxQPEo5xB
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as341Please respect copyright.PENANAqCJBxSyZzm
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,341Please respect copyright.PENANAg0XXm1V6td
and then held them close to each other ...341Please respect copyright.PENANAcbZVfXC9Iz
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...