Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by430Please respect copyright.PENANAwI3uOYsdz6
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting430Please respect copyright.PENANANN6yvRUGfz
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.430Please respect copyright.PENANAkpWipJ5uZn
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so430Please respect copyright.PENANAZNuZrWvGRs
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it430Please respect copyright.PENANApKSfBopGFC
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.430Please respect copyright.PENANAsIeTAu9YQN
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly430Please respect copyright.PENANAIJGlC8hnLR
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose430Please respect copyright.PENANA4WwZy3np46
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one430Please respect copyright.PENANAlciVNmU3jQ
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.430Please respect copyright.PENANAbFncAInv3h
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me430Please respect copyright.PENANA1SZ0txXVuW
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no430Please respect copyright.PENANAySJngKtK3C
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he430Please respect copyright.PENANAwfXIlX48sB
will say:430Please respect copyright.PENANAkUugO7Er1A
“And who might you be?”430Please respect copyright.PENANASLdaCfKE5K
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so430Please respect copyright.PENANARXzsyqsIvR
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly430Please respect copyright.PENANAi5E81eNEli
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his430Please respect copyright.PENANAJDzQMewjo0
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,430Please respect copyright.PENANAUqzQiyHaiq
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.430Please respect copyright.PENANAiqGjaHQxgr
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,430Please respect copyright.PENANAKrN5LPMe5W
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,430Please respect copyright.PENANAKuKpry1Ws7
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.430Please respect copyright.PENANA8mATwWUGko
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite430Please respect copyright.PENANAVuOuwxYJ5M
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its430Please respect copyright.PENANATSE3uNBPPZ
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did430Please respect copyright.PENANATch0i3XycM
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested430Please respect copyright.PENANAxPFi5wejj6
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.430Please respect copyright.PENANAdXk05hiru9
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.430Please respect copyright.PENANA2tk3bhjrVv
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,430Please respect copyright.PENANAEzC6g5Z3ay
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out430Please respect copyright.PENANAIoI0TMxbLl
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the430Please respect copyright.PENANAdL1xq6ViAZ
nearest tree.430Please respect copyright.PENANAYoKU4p5IfI
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,430Please respect copyright.PENANAs1XaNU8rgK
“that I came here to wait for you.”430Please respect copyright.PENANArVlkQyjsOF
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he430Please respect copyright.PENANArnzYjGuMEM
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,430Please respect copyright.PENANAOaKmoZ3jNP
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips430Please respect copyright.PENANAe47yTAWlGT
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a430Please respect copyright.PENANAfSOramdfNK
lot recently.430Please respect copyright.PENANAjLFGvNojBf
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.430Please respect copyright.PENANAwC4J7DQB9i
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a430Please respect copyright.PENANAu8JOQ8g1RE
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of430Please respect copyright.PENANAWik9HXlOW4
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw430Please respect copyright.PENANAXVKf0dxqu6
all of them as well?”430Please respect copyright.PENANAljdKLbiKlA
“I did.”430Please respect copyright.PENANAPfDSjkYrhP
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as430Please respect copyright.PENANAKKuZdgOvsL
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,430Please respect copyright.PENANAkNLJexUrcy
and then held them close to each other ...430Please respect copyright.PENANAICvVLjhWpw
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...