¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ . . . . . . . . ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ = = = = = = = = = = = ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.= JUST OFF THE COAST TO THE BALTIC SEA =.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.=† THERE'S A FRESHWATER POND, SECLUDED †=.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.=†† AMONG ASHEN AND JUNIPER. A CLEFT IN THE ††=.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.=††& LIMESTONE BEDROCK, SHARP-CUT FROM THE &††=.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.=††&& SURROUNDING PLAINS, A NINETY DEGREE &&††=.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨.=††& DROP DOWN, DOWN, TO THE MIDNIGHT-BLACK #&&††=.¨¨¨
¨¨.=††&# WATER. ##&&††=.¨¨
¨.=††&## ###&&††=.¨
¨¨.=††&# ====††††††††==== ##&&††=.¨¨
¨¨¨.=††& ==†† ††== #&&††=.¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.=††&& =====†† FAIRIES LIVE HERE. ††===== &&††=.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.=††& ==†† ††== &††=.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.=†† ====††††††††==== ††=.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.=† †=.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.= THEY SPEAK TO THE SLOANE, CARESS IT, =.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. URGE IT TO GROW THICKER, TANGLED, WITH .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ LONGER AND SHARPER THORNS. THEY TELL IT ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ TO STAY JUST BELOW THE GRASS, SO THAT ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ THE ANIMALS WHAT COME TO DRINK THE ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ WATER CANNOT SEE IT BEFORE IT DRAWS ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ THEIR BLOOD. CLOSER TO THE POND, THE ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ SLOANE CAN GROW TALLER, BEING ABLE TO ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ HIDE ALSO IN THE JUNIPER. ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ THE FAIRIES WILL BECKON THE ANIMALS TO ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. PUSH FORWARD, TELL THEM THAT THEY'RE .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.= ALMOST AT THE WATER, THAT THEY MAY =.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.=† DRINK SOON. AND THEY WILL TUG ON THE †=.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.=†† SLOANE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE THORNS CUT ††=.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.=††& DEEP. WHEN THEY FINALLY FIND THE PATH &††=.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.=††&& DOWN BETWEEN THE ROCKS, AWAY FROM THE &&††=.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨.=††& BUSHWORK AND INTO THE CLEFT, THEY ARE #&&††=.¨¨¨
¨¨.=††&# BLEEDING FROM A THOUSAND WOUNDS. AS ##&&††=.¨¨
¨.=††&## THEY DRINK FROM THE DARK WATER, IT IS ###&&††=.¨
¨¨.=††&# IN TURN DRINKING THE ANIMALS BLOOD. ##&&††=.¨¨
¨¨¨.=††& #&&††=.¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.=††&& THE CIRCLE IS COMPLETE, THE CONTRACT &&††=.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.=††& CARRIED OUT; THE ANIMAL IS ABANDONED TO &††=.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.=†† FIND ITS OWN WAY BACK. THE BUSHES ROOTS ††=.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.=† DRINK THE NUTRUTIOUS WATER. THE FAIRIES †=.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.= DANCE IN THE SUNBEAMS. =.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ = = = = = = = = = = = ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ . . . . . . . . ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨