¨¨¨~~;^%&# #&%^;~~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~~;^%& &%^;~~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~~;^% %^;~~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨~~;^ ^;~~¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~~; ;~~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~~ # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ~~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~ ; 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. ¨,,,..¨.¨,
..,¨¨,.,,: :,,.,¨¨,..
,....¨,,~« «~,,¨....,
.¨.¨,..,»† †»,..,¨.¨.
.¨,¨¨.,»/% %/»,.¨¨,¨.
,¨.¨¨^-=%¤ ¤%=-^¨¨.¨,