§:~,...... ......,~:§
%§:~,..... .....,~:§%
&%§:~,.... ....,~:§%&
£&%§:~,... ...,~:§%&£
#£&%§:~,.. ..,~:§%&£#
##£&%§:~,. # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # .,~:§%&£##
#£&%§:~,.. : THE WOLF POOL EXISTS : ..,~:§%&£#
£&%§:~,... : IN A STALE TIMELINE, : ...,~:§%&£
&%§:~,.... : BRANCHED WAY BACK : ....,~:§%&
%§:~,..... : WHEN KIRUGU VARGIR : .....,~:§%
§:~,...... : WAS ALMOST BARREN, : ......,~:§
:~,....... COMPRISED MOSTLY OF ROCK AND ARID SOIL, .......,~:
~,........ AND PLANTS WERE ONLY STARTING TO GROW, ........,~
,......... : AT ALL... : .........,
.......... # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ..........
.,,.,,¨,.. ..,¨,,.,,.
.¨,¨¨,.¨., MISPLACED EXPLORERS TRAVERSE THE ,.¨.,¨¨,¨.
^,¨,.,¨,¨. LANDSCAPE, SEARCHING FOR A WAY BACK, .¨,¨,.,¨,^
~^¨,¨,¨¨., FINDING INSTEAD ONLY STONE AND DIRT AND ,.¨¨,¨,¨^~
;=-,¨,.¨,¨ ROOTS THAT ARE AS HARD AS THE GROUND. ¨,¨.,¨,-=;
*^«~,¨.¨.. IT'S GETTING DARK, THEY ARE THIRSTY, ..¨.¨,~«^*
$%/»,¨¨¨,¨ AND ABOUT TO FIND THE WOLF POOL. ¨,¨¨¨,»/%$
&%*;=-,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,-=;*%&
£§*†=~:¨., ,#¨ ,.¨:~=†*§£
#£§%§/~-,, ,,-~/§%§£#
##@@£§;~^, THE POOL LIES IN A SMALL METEORITE ,^~;§£@@##
#@£¤§†»^.¨ IMPACT CRATER, SIXTY METERS ACROSS. ¨.^»†§¤£@#
£¤$*^«^.,. IT'S SURFACE IS PITCH BLACK AND EVEN .,.^«^*$¤£
¤%$=~,.,,. THOUGH IT'S NOT WELL PROTECTED, IT IS .,,.,~=$%¤
@^†=.,,¨,. UNDISTURBED BY WIND. .,¨,,.=†^@
^†«-,...¨, ,¨...,-«†^
:«,.,,..,¨ ¨#. ¨,..,,.,«:
»,,,¨,.,¨, ,¨,.,¨,,,»
.¨,¨,.,.., AS THEY STUMBLE ON THE POOL, THE ,..,.,¨,¨.
¨..¨.,¨¨.. EXPLORERS FIRST BELIEVE IT TO BE WATER, ..¨¨,.¨..¨
¨.,¨.,¨¨¨¨ WHICH IS SOMETHING THEY ALL DESIRE ¨¨¨¨,.¨,.¨
.,¨¨.¨¨..¨ GREATLY AT THIS POINT. THEY FAIL TO ¨..¨¨.¨¨,.
,¨,¨.¨¨¨¨. NOTICE THAT THE STARS DO NOT REFLECT ON .¨¨¨¨.¨,¨,
-,¨,..,,.. ITS SURFACE. ONE OF THEM CROUCHES TO ..,,..,¨,-
/-,,¨¨,,¨, DRINK, FORMS A CUP WITH HIS HANDS, ,¨,,¨¨,,-/
%*=.,,¨.., LOWERS THE CUP INTO THE POOL. ,..¨,,.=*%
§=*»,.,.,. .,.,.,»*=§
#$%/«-¨... HE TRIES TO RESIST AT FIRST, BUT IS TOO ...¨-«/%$#
@£&§^«,,¨, CLOSE, AND HE QUICKLY GIVES UP AS THE ,¨,,«^§&£@
#@§¤%*~-., LIQUID FLOWS INTO HIS MIND. THE OTHERS, ,.-~*%¤§@#
##¶@%^/=:¨ - NOT UNDERSTANDING THE-DANGER, MOVE ¨:=/^%@¶##
#@££%;=~.. CLOSER TO HELP THEIR,FRIEND. ..~=;%££@#
£&$^\=-,.¨ ¨ « - . , ¨.,-=\^$&£
¤@=†«^,.,¨ AND,THEN.THE,POOL,ANNOUNCES,ITSELF ¨,.,^«†=@¤
¤%*~-¨.¨.. TO.THEM.-,SUDDEN¨~.THOUGHTS¨OF. ..¨.¨-~*%¤
†=-^¨,.¨,, .~~DARK«WOLVES«,CLIMBING.OUT-OF-,:= ,,¨.,¨^-=†
;~,¨..¨.,. ~~«THE=POOL,«SURROUNDING;THEM=-/*\ .,.¨..¨,~;
«,..¨.¨,,¨ †SUDDEN;THOUGHTS=OF=~/CLIMBING\== ¨,,¨.¨..,«
:.,.,,,,.. INTO%THE=POOL,^THEIR%THIRST=FLARING^ ..,,,,.,.:
,,,.,¨.,,¨ ^%*BRIGHT%-$&A¤SUDDEN$$AWARENESS# ¨,,.¨,.,,,
¨..,,,¨¨,¨ #@OF&&EXACTLY@#HOW£THEY#HAD#TRAVELED,*# ¨,¨¨,,,..¨
..¨¨.,¨,¨, #&OF¤THE@WAY@HOME#£TO@THE¶TIME¶FROM## ,¨,¨,.¨¨..
,¨,¨,,..,¨ #¶WHERE@THEY@CAME,@##@###AND#THEN#@#@ ¨,..,,¨,¨,
«~,,,¨¨,., #####THE#FEELING#OF#THIS*KNOWLEDGE^~ ,.,¨¨,,,~«
\=,...¨.¨. -«BEING = STOLEN ~= FROM ~=~ THEM. , .¨.¨...,=\
^/«...¨¨.. -- , »~~ . =¨ ^- = ..¨¨...«/^
$%/»~,¨¨.¨ , ^. ^ ¨ ¨.¨¨,~»/%$
£%%†=:.,,. . ¨ ¨ = .,,.:=†%%£
#¤&§;-.¨,, ,,¨.-;§&¤#
##&$§;~^¨. ,#¨ .¨^~;§$&##
###¤£*^»:¨ ¨:»^*£¤###
#¶#%§*»-¨¨ AND, ¨¨-»*§%#¶#
£§£%:~^,¨, ,¨,^~:%£§£
£§*/-.¨,¨, NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. ,¨,¨.-/*§£
@†:--¨,¨¨¨ NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. ¨¨¨,¨--:†@
^:=^¨¨¨.¨, ,¨.¨¨¨^=:^
;~,,,,.,,¨ ¨,,.,,,,~;
»~.¨..¨,.¨ ¨.,¨..¨.~»
.¨,.,¨¨,,, ,,,¨¨,.,¨.
¨.¨¨,¨.,,, ,,,.¨,¨¨.¨