†«-....... .......-«†
††«-...... ......-«††
@††«-..... .....-«††@
&@††«-.... ....-«††@&
#&@††«-... ...-«††@&#
##&@††«-.. # «««««««««««««««««««« # ..-«††@&##
###&@††«-. † 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. ..,,,,~:†£
#$†=»-.,¨¨ NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. ¨¨,.-»=†$#
#@¤*;~,¨¨. .¨¨,~;*¤@#
##££*=~.¨, ,¨.~=*££##
###&@=:=,, ,,=:=@&###
##&£%=«,,. .,,«=%£&##
@£$%:~.,,¨ ¨,,.~:%$£@