Illuminated Manuscript

Mari satin her corner reading intensively. Her son brought her new books to read, and they seem to offer much more content than the fairytales he found earlier. It was the dead of night, but the holes of the barn allowed the moonlight to shine on the pages. Occasionally, clouds would cover the light, so Mari had to rely on her glowing healing spell to illuminate the pages.

The book she was reading was the Banal, the holy book of Titania that Sky Tower City circulated throughout the world. The book can be found anywhere, and its the very reason why even serfs were taught how to read. Mari never finished the twelve thousand eight-page book, but now she can finish it here. However, it was difficult for Mari to concentrate because she was constantly thinking about Sun and his brothers.

Before Sun left, he told her that he and his brothers would be exploring the outskirts of the tribe the next day. They were going to make a map of the surrounding area, so they know where to go once they free her and the other women from their chains. Mari doubts the brothers' ability to draw a map. It takes years of apprenticeship to accurately survey the land properly and more years to draw an accurate map. Mari imagined the best map Sun could draw was that of a child drawing.

The brothers getting injured once again was also a possible outcome, but she understands that her survival and freedom rest in their hands. She leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. After calming her mind for a few seconds, she continued to read the Banal.

The book was at least a hundred years old. The illustrations and decorations around the texts looked outdated compared to the ones the Sky Tower City distributes. Another indicator of its age was the text itself. There was an entire passage written on Dragon's Call that they removed in the current version and edits in the text that doesn't exist in the newer ones. This confirms Mari's initial thoughts about the cities found in the forest. The civilization residing here was not alien because they speak the same language and of the same religion.

Mari wanted to learn more. She knows freedom was far from her reach, but the knowledge found here was priceless. And she still has many questions left unanswered. She now knows the country was not foreign, but what about the goblins. They must be the Drons written in the diary, so in that case, where did they come from?

Over to her right was Natasha, who was looking at her reading. After some time, she decided to crawl to her. Her legs could move, but they could barely carry her heavy body to walk, so she crawled on all four.

Mari noticed Natasha crawl towards her. Mari walked to her and helped her up. They walked back to Mari's corner and sat there together. "Thank you," Natasha said.

Natasha's thank you caught Mari by surprise. She didn't know Natasha can talk now, and from the clarity of her voice, Mari could tell that side effects have worn off days earlier for her. "Your voice. You must have been able to speak a long time ago." Mari said.

"Yeah, I just didn't want to catch unwanted attention." Natasha looked at the book Mari was reading earlier. The front cover had a crown with thorns. That's the symbol used in the front cover of Banal. "Is that Banal. That brings back memories."

"Yes, it is. Sun found it in some goblin's attic. Would you like to read it?"

"Oh no, I don't know how to read."

Mari's eyes widened, "What do you mean you can't read!" The women sleeping around shifted their bodies from Mari's yelling. Mari lowered her voice, "Didn't your local wizards taught you how to read."

"Yeah, they did, but you see. I didn't like reading. The words sometimes jumble together and whatnot. It feels like I'm regularly reading something affected by an illusionary spell. I got through those reading classes by memorizing what the wizards would read out loud. So when it came time for the reading test. I just said what I memorized."

"Wow," Mari opened the book, "I can't believe you managed to do that. I had to stay an extra week during the winter because I couldn't roll my r." The two laughed, "But it was fascinating. I couldn't help but stay after class, asking the witch that was teaching about, well, everything."

"I just needed to get out of the classroom and get back to work."

The two quietly sat down under the moonlight. A gentle cold breeze blew through the holes and cracks from the walls. Natasha hugged herself under her thicket blanket. Mari glanced at her; she did not see a single scratch on Natasha's face. But she looked exhausted; she had sunken eyes, pale lips, and dry drool and snot traveling down her face. "Did your son not clean your face?"

Natasha's eyes glistened from the light, "Son?" She asked.

"I-I meant the spawnling you feed," Mari corrected herself. "Did it not clean your face?"

"I didn't want it to touch me."

"I see."

Natasha took a deep breathe, "That spawnling told me they would free us. You think they will do it."

Mari opened the book and skimmed through the pages until she found the verse she needed. She read the first passage of the Letter of Emancipation to Natasha. "The alms can not be given if they are slaves, nor can the poor that whips them can receive them, but through the sword and the shield, a slave can be free, and the poor be enriched, and the cause for freedom and abundance is prostration to the Queen, and the Queen's duty will be achieved." Mari closed the book. "Do you know what that meant?"

"No, not really."

"For us to be free, our spawnlings have two options. Fight or submit. Fighting the leader of these goblins will be risky, but submitting to their leader doesn't guarantee our freedom. But of course, that's just my thought."

They remained silent for a while as they think about the passage through. Then there was a sudden howling coming from the outside that broke the silence. It sounded distant and yet so close. Natasha asked, "That goblin, you spawned. It seems like the leader of the caretakers caring for us favors him. So much so that she was willing to kill the other goblins to protect you. Maybe the spawnling doesn't need to submit to the one that raped us. That other goblin seems to have a strong standing."

"Yeah, that's true."

"We are going to need that female goblin too. Maybe those spawnlings could persuade them not to let the male goblins rape us next week."

"What?" Mari was confused.

"I overheard some of the goblin caretakers. They said that 'the salves open for men next week.' Their words, not mine."

"Are you sure? Maybe you heard it wrong." Mari began to panic.

"Didn't I tell you I memorized the entire book just from listening. My memory never lied to me."

Mari clutched on her book and pressed it on her chest. Awful memories began to resurface from the deepest corner of her mind. She closed her eyes as tears flow down her cheek. Natasha noticed the despair she caused to Mari and began to comfort her in return. "Its ok Mari. Everything is going to be ok." She reassured. "We'll get out of here. Those spawnlings will get us out."

Natasha rubbed Mari's shoulder. She was like a big sister to everyone during their time at the camp. Her voice was calm and soothing, but this did not stop Mari's body from shaking with fear.