
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...