
Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by666Please respect copyright.PENANA3Z8Bn5atZU
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting666Please respect copyright.PENANAeHIvG453bs
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.666Please respect copyright.PENANA4Gqb8JhhHK
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so666Please respect copyright.PENANAqcfMEQgB6g
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it666Please respect copyright.PENANAEXaCmVdGLS
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.666Please respect copyright.PENANARMF7SbWGeW
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly666Please respect copyright.PENANAQ1zDHJ0a6r
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose666Please respect copyright.PENANAA9cA4s2OWr
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one666Please respect copyright.PENANAXMoZENDh28
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.666Please respect copyright.PENANAIiZytpJdzn
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me666Please respect copyright.PENANAiw9y4lOkU8
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no666Please respect copyright.PENANAq9jTVLWH52
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he666Please respect copyright.PENANAY30E0X1ZFO
will say:666Please respect copyright.PENANACxmesdPQpz
“And who might you be?”666Please respect copyright.PENANA7Ms0xE5OxC
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so666Please respect copyright.PENANAXVE3OhJYEd
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly666Please respect copyright.PENANAt7yCjycpZO
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his666Please respect copyright.PENANAtP8zLDF0MX
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,666Please respect copyright.PENANAqm1GvUIvFo
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.666Please respect copyright.PENANAGZX7P2TIZY
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,666Please respect copyright.PENANAnX6A3szsxR
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,666Please respect copyright.PENANAEq5PHG5mQY
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.666Please respect copyright.PENANAou95nmmPXB
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite666Please respect copyright.PENANAucMVrTpAWv
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its666Please respect copyright.PENANAdf48jQOZux
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did666Please respect copyright.PENANAvzwQctUOrj
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested666Please respect copyright.PENANA4AnRz1wtAn
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.666Please respect copyright.PENANAItEIXOwuTv
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.666Please respect copyright.PENANAjTWql1set9
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,666Please respect copyright.PENANASs9OjHviHg
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out666Please respect copyright.PENANA5KEZBW8a5s
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the666Please respect copyright.PENANAgJR74xTuJT
nearest tree.666Please respect copyright.PENANAZeuoCWw1VK
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,666Please respect copyright.PENANAwOq3VikQAi
“that I came here to wait for you.”666Please respect copyright.PENANAUXcUEYiMWm
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he666Please respect copyright.PENANA1uxBH8HRP1
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,666Please respect copyright.PENANAWHBjc3W2KC
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips666Please respect copyright.PENANAWWFpNZKKxr
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a666Please respect copyright.PENANALiqW2J0SZm
lot recently.666Please respect copyright.PENANAWD7d1XJeRW
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.666Please respect copyright.PENANAPw9inwlMqv
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a666Please respect copyright.PENANAUQ5WAdKCDI
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of666Please respect copyright.PENANAlXQlv8HmHc
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw666Please respect copyright.PENANAg3R4wHD7wl
all of them as well?”666Please respect copyright.PENANAFsnX1U2N8a
“I did.”666Please respect copyright.PENANAaou1t9kr0L
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as666Please respect copyright.PENANAHzfxs3uI9n
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,666Please respect copyright.PENANAI1xVqX10HC
and then held them close to each other ...666Please respect copyright.PENANA6K1pqPtNc5
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...