Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by324Please respect copyright.PENANAKqjRUbDs0S
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting324Please respect copyright.PENANAjkfPqYugD2
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.324Please respect copyright.PENANAuvHLKT02HA
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so324Please respect copyright.PENANAfyoHVL7x4c
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it324Please respect copyright.PENANAfiFwqBG5iZ
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.324Please respect copyright.PENANAxI9zxhf2Gg
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly324Please respect copyright.PENANAj1SsniFedX
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose324Please respect copyright.PENANAO0oW27b3fy
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one324Please respect copyright.PENANAqqgs4lZqja
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.324Please respect copyright.PENANAa7Y08EavX5
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me324Please respect copyright.PENANA9Z0QuPDAwA
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no324Please respect copyright.PENANA8xsU5WtQug
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he324Please respect copyright.PENANAKX1AOMFhVQ
will say:324Please respect copyright.PENANAGHCvmOrzDD
“And who might you be?”324Please respect copyright.PENANAOUTfGMUze8
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so324Please respect copyright.PENANAbFV9TR3j1A
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly324Please respect copyright.PENANAPJUWONImQp
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his324Please respect copyright.PENANAH077bBzyDe
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,324Please respect copyright.PENANASHsc2ygVTH
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.324Please respect copyright.PENANA9qDgG4568z
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,324Please respect copyright.PENANAzSdwNao7ki
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,324Please respect copyright.PENANAa4fwGhnDjw
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.324Please respect copyright.PENANACgfG4zSGmH
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite324Please respect copyright.PENANAkAT04U6tCb
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its324Please respect copyright.PENANAGbeg5Leujn
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did324Please respect copyright.PENANAyhfGk48vCx
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested324Please respect copyright.PENANA5Zsyw0e7s2
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.324Please respect copyright.PENANAVfkygrQNMt
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.324Please respect copyright.PENANAoPMcnD2rBH
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,324Please respect copyright.PENANABFoRmkZoLG
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out324Please respect copyright.PENANAuLt4XjWM2t
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the324Please respect copyright.PENANA5l9f2fheZH
nearest tree.324Please respect copyright.PENANAvFLdpwpFfY
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,324Please respect copyright.PENANAokKhCMrMnn
“that I came here to wait for you.”324Please respect copyright.PENANA0ixmZLbee1
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he324Please respect copyright.PENANAZXUF9tpxzQ
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,324Please respect copyright.PENANAF4wKDmmGgy
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips324Please respect copyright.PENANAWFbUzvBSfm
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a324Please respect copyright.PENANAEZUcC6GeRf
lot recently.324Please respect copyright.PENANAvjmTB6UuUW
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.324Please respect copyright.PENANAAwDD2mNbvn
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a324Please respect copyright.PENANAxk3Zhnwcq8
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of324Please respect copyright.PENANATuwLU8UWHK
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw324Please respect copyright.PENANA66uAS0qGcC
all of them as well?”324Please respect copyright.PENANAeQaKZUp2by
“I did.”324Please respect copyright.PENANAlJT8NfIVLm
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as324Please respect copyright.PENANAYhFCoO4adu
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,324Please respect copyright.PENANAneJ0tQbwVU
and then held them close to each other ...324Please respect copyright.PENANAHpniZMy9zO
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...