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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADEDLvlm58
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEzJOyY6mo
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLORNOapLZM
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtDDSQjeeS
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCt70wz1cOH
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBTXitFEbc
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLc9tMcj9Wc
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NJfRdhFRb
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56ONXuQOXx
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4x6zT8wfVx
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JHOJLpqnX
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WrkxyoYST
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFg3FAdxRG
will say:677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DpkA6IFIT
“And who might you be?”677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gTGX3vFxX
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4L9h7XA1kg
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IOWzhS6wO
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcreIscWRwY
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaa5wqTPv7
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL54TNlivZQ
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7PPykZ3wh
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBE3fSDk5hj
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsK6GsvLb9
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo86mIIwfvr
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZe3pKcvwH
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XEcoPes56
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKoi0mT918
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiHrqVUxPp
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XkU70YpDZ
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTr8lk8fVq
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9FwBR0Vym
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoIX1PlvmC
nearest tree.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpyi7WrNpz
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJaUesWrbD
“that I came here to wait for you.”677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOO40Rff66
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOjQtdy4Tx
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsW6f1HiiTr
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31fFgwRQbd
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjaKxY2lqaF
lot recently.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOtcZrEP05
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCU3LVjErp
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ij46C25YU
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNlMEVGTDW
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetpnJbcUoO
all of them as well?”677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCodQIzMRH
“I did.”677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPhcC7OxcS
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3LCX90bdw
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhcLtUNmig
and then held them close to each other ...677Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVT4FRQJDx
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
