Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by333Please respect copyright.PENANANFtF0Ii8in
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting333Please respect copyright.PENANA9YPynQ1Asc
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.333Please respect copyright.PENANAVQTIFP8rcC
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so333Please respect copyright.PENANAzotQWpXw47
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it333Please respect copyright.PENANAM0NwuEc89k
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.333Please respect copyright.PENANAWrcDeDiv4x
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly333Please respect copyright.PENANAiER4Yllu8d
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose333Please respect copyright.PENANAyC8WJnQjrR
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one333Please respect copyright.PENANA78HnYJR94q
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.333Please respect copyright.PENANA9kiHf14QLJ
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me333Please respect copyright.PENANASpAtfQM1dT
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no333Please respect copyright.PENANAq3CLzxJMgM
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he333Please respect copyright.PENANASnoNCV86FR
will say:333Please respect copyright.PENANAOhh7kQNtmj
“And who might you be?”333Please respect copyright.PENANAJnwZa6XTZK
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so333Please respect copyright.PENANAweyRFewq8s
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly333Please respect copyright.PENANA3YOzLD7YTa
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his333Please respect copyright.PENANAW42E2JnB5e
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,333Please respect copyright.PENANAZRhQGavNZK
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.333Please respect copyright.PENANA8DAxTI4iaF
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,333Please respect copyright.PENANApDYacFMgKW
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,333Please respect copyright.PENANAWhmZrdVt4X
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.333Please respect copyright.PENANAQnBl4BAMgN
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite333Please respect copyright.PENANAkeEekvnKoa
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its333Please respect copyright.PENANAON1Nw1uX7R
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did333Please respect copyright.PENANAwaJ0RACRzC
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested333Please respect copyright.PENANAU9GzaskTmi
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.333Please respect copyright.PENANAg4CPtf2y3s
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.333Please respect copyright.PENANAVZD9XLM34T
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,333Please respect copyright.PENANAoxKOCvOlgT
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out333Please respect copyright.PENANAUxhf0BzdaN
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the333Please respect copyright.PENANAJVdSCMGrXE
nearest tree.333Please respect copyright.PENANAMPSYbIGOcV
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,333Please respect copyright.PENANA3wv2XVSCgj
“that I came here to wait for you.”333Please respect copyright.PENANAuM2vSNjfhk
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he333Please respect copyright.PENANA4upGzIamKW
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,333Please respect copyright.PENANA7xpG7DyKJ0
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips333Please respect copyright.PENANAftWe2Cou6X
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a333Please respect copyright.PENANAY6JSztIb51
lot recently.333Please respect copyright.PENANA7nPXkO16qt
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.333Please respect copyright.PENANAwWjLuoALqI
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a333Please respect copyright.PENANAgBnTnyz6S6
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of333Please respect copyright.PENANA3qva7IAAsy
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw333Please respect copyright.PENANAb75O9z15jp
all of them as well?”333Please respect copyright.PENANADaHZCfIoO5
“I did.”333Please respect copyright.PENANAEkuyrMd3Yh
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as333Please respect copyright.PENANAZyhkzB6OiI
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,333Please respect copyright.PENANA23oiYYs04Q
and then held them close to each other ...333Please respect copyright.PENANAW5b8rHvcRl
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...