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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nNfgWNrNZ
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CVirpIA5T
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2E162QuAv5
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhUaEtOu4M
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmKKoHyAL0
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfWupBQv8L
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSKpcXbxsj
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPkLzKen3P
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKk8tjhAxST
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuB4ya1HfU
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3gb0Ncpsv
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrVwAcpQTp
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWERe51ogYA
will say:657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cHB97Ff4Z
“And who might you be?”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQYasDxrOM
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9DYbczh58
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPl8rTzAHa
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYJAYaZuJU
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6IRiOBItLM
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9j3fFFs6lB
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIF1ZjWSAM
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4J6jXYWZPe
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja5j1Q7Y18
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoiD2VEnrs
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDq1Y0JcbY
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6gYFuCDp2
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IqTyiaxJX
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5vkhgycuW
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRYgpqJ9fq
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjPddhAb5C
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINF40osgcq
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprcCNC2yoy
nearest tree.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEwjm3a1jd
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZtaazoY3F
“that I came here to wait for you.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtKXxOUz8K
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwKZCreLwU
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdY2cIinMFG
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIAt6ZeFOZ
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpyuu9g61N
lot recently.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1UKn4oGec
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTX5PdaplFv
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbdWgwcDzD
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zEnGrscRa
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa26oPwdLzY
all of them as well?”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIggFDx0462
“I did.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbwjSbMWOW
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDhYgxhDZg
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTcRHHiDRu
and then held them close to each other ...657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdjit4k9nB
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
