Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by334Please respect copyright.PENANAyZqOiCTJxU
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting334Please respect copyright.PENANAyuRchZX4E1
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.334Please respect copyright.PENANANcCR8oZqwH
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so334Please respect copyright.PENANAPmyvB7Qc4Q
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it334Please respect copyright.PENANAMwRg8nBa5t
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.334Please respect copyright.PENANA2j3gPr7TeO
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly334Please respect copyright.PENANAHKLld7O3WH
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose334Please respect copyright.PENANAZyjnL4TEoX
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one334Please respect copyright.PENANAV68HlyMj4r
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.334Please respect copyright.PENANAbE8IUPk6oL
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me334Please respect copyright.PENANATMAOSDk9QB
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no334Please respect copyright.PENANAgim5KvIvjE
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he334Please respect copyright.PENANAfbptsUPw2W
will say:334Please respect copyright.PENANAMXcedNWORS
“And who might you be?”334Please respect copyright.PENANA3tXHkONI11
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so334Please respect copyright.PENANAbsLAr0XKG4
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly334Please respect copyright.PENANA9qVsKmPahj
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his334Please respect copyright.PENANAiYud46mKA5
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,334Please respect copyright.PENANAjtDKl2HzZw
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.334Please respect copyright.PENANAi37YOySTzP
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,334Please respect copyright.PENANAbYzgcQvmZd
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,334Please respect copyright.PENANAWJp1ggSiMI
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.334Please respect copyright.PENANA2Z31TA09O5
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite334Please respect copyright.PENANAFjrQdbGuZ9
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its334Please respect copyright.PENANAepJJtlMl6I
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did334Please respect copyright.PENANAtDD9m5JEIE
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested334Please respect copyright.PENANAyF1tlG6Q2R
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.334Please respect copyright.PENANAMjEX5Dz1Uo
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.334Please respect copyright.PENANAbyQ5cEATRq
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,334Please respect copyright.PENANARIY1Dsrl12
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out334Please respect copyright.PENANAEQOdnv7Vsk
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the334Please respect copyright.PENANAJgy2mHch5v
nearest tree.334Please respect copyright.PENANA36urHLGhN2
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,334Please respect copyright.PENANA1YFmQ4IIa6
“that I came here to wait for you.”334Please respect copyright.PENANAJhiP3ZKQR3
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he334Please respect copyright.PENANAUFIbioNfBg
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,334Please respect copyright.PENANA1TbKXnk9W8
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips334Please respect copyright.PENANAcR4Wo0UejW
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a334Please respect copyright.PENANAZzc32YLoFv
lot recently.334Please respect copyright.PENANARB7BBQQfg7
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.334Please respect copyright.PENANAgv4eUU7dbI
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a334Please respect copyright.PENANABUhaRRNGBz
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of334Please respect copyright.PENANAL9S97UxYeZ
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw334Please respect copyright.PENANA7HAu5KRFqX
all of them as well?”334Please respect copyright.PENANATaU60ZLBwv
“I did.”334Please respect copyright.PENANAqY4Vj4XmOZ
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as334Please respect copyright.PENANAVGfmsBPgvS
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,334Please respect copyright.PENANAA880mFMvdC
and then held them close to each other ...334Please respect copyright.PENANA6StQHwBnGh
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...