Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by321Please respect copyright.PENANAvR7dH5JugF
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting321Please respect copyright.PENANAlfIaDrTW8i
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.321Please respect copyright.PENANA5L0HlOPb1E
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so321Please respect copyright.PENANAt3wb9kkceH
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it321Please respect copyright.PENANAWIpKZRDFQ6
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.321Please respect copyright.PENANAF9LLxHAFi4
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly321Please respect copyright.PENANA236IxYFODU
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose321Please respect copyright.PENANAIivEkInFKK
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one321Please respect copyright.PENANAPcM3WKRzww
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.321Please respect copyright.PENANAsnaiVOSfyM
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me321Please respect copyright.PENANAxkfxVWEycM
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no321Please respect copyright.PENANAZDTEmmxAV4
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he321Please respect copyright.PENANA1AiHH9O2Jq
will say:321Please respect copyright.PENANAEaSkhqMKw0
“And who might you be?”321Please respect copyright.PENANAbQTo4nBtxf
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so321Please respect copyright.PENANAf6UPwh0005
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly321Please respect copyright.PENANAzyfcwmRxt8
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his321Please respect copyright.PENANARvbAHPgILr
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,321Please respect copyright.PENANAePKcX46K6j
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.321Please respect copyright.PENANAWrDEMHfdtg
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,321Please respect copyright.PENANAa8sQyDqYM6
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,321Please respect copyright.PENANAVKW5WmZhBa
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.321Please respect copyright.PENANAeyHgZ31beT
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite321Please respect copyright.PENANAnAYgurjz1E
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its321Please respect copyright.PENANAHPGP1pfM5W
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did321Please respect copyright.PENANARqzW8grtFh
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested321Please respect copyright.PENANAATEXZ0V9kl
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.321Please respect copyright.PENANAC1onB9ANEL
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.321Please respect copyright.PENANAg0fm9owjIj
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,321Please respect copyright.PENANA7lnWTnu478
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out321Please respect copyright.PENANA9BpxXO5eKO
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the321Please respect copyright.PENANAcqoU3DDYCY
nearest tree.321Please respect copyright.PENANARlIKjqqjIs
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,321Please respect copyright.PENANAVNIEGdcZnk
“that I came here to wait for you.”321Please respect copyright.PENANAoIQUBDMqJj
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he321Please respect copyright.PENANAihAu4gibiV
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,321Please respect copyright.PENANATZPtXPZuIt
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips321Please respect copyright.PENANAHZDGZ6c3RZ
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a321Please respect copyright.PENANAjRMJjxALkJ
lot recently.321Please respect copyright.PENANAqVsAiyjO5G
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.321Please respect copyright.PENANAZNXknPmuXm
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a321Please respect copyright.PENANA9AldjYtbDR
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of321Please respect copyright.PENANAkRqmW7VMsT
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw321Please respect copyright.PENANAvvAbAeU95x
all of them as well?”321Please respect copyright.PENANAYjgxvBtaKO
“I did.”321Please respect copyright.PENANAXUACq6fQq7
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as321Please respect copyright.PENANANK7vyiApHA
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,321Please respect copyright.PENANAFeveOKLRLO
and then held them close to each other ...321Please respect copyright.PENANAdjvZxODcn4
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...