Lura Syllana
We have to take classes to learn about other cultures, mostly humans and dwarves. We’re also taught their languages. How to read and write their written word. It’s a lot of long, tedious work. Especially for those who haven’t quite mastered our own language. Thankfully, I’ve got a good grasp on it.
Human history is wrought with war ever since they just appeared here, chopping trees down to ignite a war between our primitive Wood-Elven cousins. Fortunately for them, the dwarves were already in conflict with the elves and allied with the humans.
Of course, these humans later settled in High Water, the capital of the Southern Kingdom, which is now ruled by King Vandil. However, there are two other groups of humans to the north. Saxons, and those called Norsemen, or Northerners. The two groups don’t get along and often fight each other. That is until the Southern Human Kingdom rose up to claim the other two kingdoms. The last great battle was fought between them, where King Vandil defeated King Teowulf of the north.
We learned a bit more about our primitive ancestors, the Wood Elves, as well and their beliefs. They practice an ancient druidic magic that allows them to communicate with life. As fast as one can cut them down, they can grow trees with their magic. They believe the forest is a living thing. And the druids can grow what they need, harvesting bows, arrow shafts, staves, and anything else made of wood from the trees they can grow. Their magic allows them to twist the trees into what they need. Of course, that is why it is such a huge offense to cut down their trees. They can also cleanse water, heal the sick, and provide food from plants
—
I spent most of the night reading until I fell asleep. I read over two-thirds of the book, including the notes in the margin. The book itself is about Terel’s own journey to discovering the Light’s grace, including the time before Angel Akrasiel arrived when things were dark after King Volodar renounced the throne and left. The city of Isyelnaes and the Volodar Elven Nation itself fell into despair. Idols were worshiped. Those that the apostles of Akrasiel denounced as false gods were worshiped by others. However, the lands became ruled by corruption by the Elder Gods and demons sought to conquer. They weren’t the only threats they faced. Creatures of the void hungered to devour everything. Fiends of darkness tried to block out the sun and envelop the land in darkness.
These were hard times. Even the old gods that the High Elves used to worship did not come to save the people. But even at the darkest hour, Light shone down from above as angels came to our salvation. Akrasiel was in the lead. He brought hope with him. His love and compassion restored the elves and gave them strength.
But the false gods wouldn’t give up and sought to destroy the angels. War arose between the angels and the false deities. The angels did all they could to protect the mortal elves and defeat the false gods. Terel himself became one of Akrasiel’s disciples along with Riluaneth Waeszeiros, Colvardonn, Anfather, Vedana Oddheart, Amaranthae, Nostra Longswitch, and Mathienne Naesalor. Together, they fought alongside the angels while learning from them.
But even they weren’t enough to turn the tide. In the darkest hour, Akrasiel shone brightly and made the ultimate sacrifice. He pulled the false gods within his Light and erupted, destroying them and himself in the process. There is still a good chunk left I haven’t read yet. So, there is more to the story after the Angel Akrasiel died.
However, in the notes, it questions things. Circling false gods, leaving the question, are they false? What is that supposed to mean? He wrote, if the angels are real, can there be other gods? I don’t know, nor do I understand.
There are also notes that provide specific details about the events and draw attention to certain things, such as Akrasiel’s death and the words used to describe the false gods like demons, elder gods, creatures of the void, and fiends of the darkness, ending with a question mark asking if there are more. The notes themselves bring up more questions than they answer. If this is Terel, why is he questioning his own work?
It really makes me believe that this isn’t Terel and is instead someone else who asks the questions. Some kind of heretic or something.
As Chalia wakes up, I ask if she wants to wash dishes for a couple of hours and she shrugs but relents. We head down to the kitchens after Chalia helps me get an hourglass from the Sister of Novices, a rather tall skinny woman named Arnarra, who has a face that seems to be perpetually tired. She was a pleasant woman, though. Dark brown hair with somewhat creamy beige skin.
We grab breakfast with some of the other strays real fast before getting to work in the kitchens. A short, pudgy woman in a red dress with a white apron gives me an earful about how things are done in the kitchens before I can get to work on the mountain of dishes. The dishes are never-ending. Every time I wash a plate, two more take its place. The mountain of plates grows taller and I furiously scrub and rinse as the dishes are taken from the rack and put into use. After a few hours, the mountain stops growing and I can finally get it under control. When I finally finish the remaining dishes, my time conveniently comes to an end.
My hands have shrunk into prunes as Chalia and I head back up to our dorm. Chalia and I both immediately grab books and start reading. After a while of silence, I turn to her. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” she says, not looking up from her book.
“When you were at my level and you received one of the books by Terel Glarespell, did your book have any writing in it?”
She stops reading, closes her book, and looks at me. “Let me guess, your book has writing in it that appears to be written by the author, and it seems like you’re the only one who sees it. Am I right?”
“Yes, so you did have one,” I say.
She nods. “It seems like all of the strays do, or did.”
“Really? That’s odd, but I can definitely confirm that Ralodan and Biremeril can also see the writing. What does it mean? Who all can see it? Have you found the books mentioned?”
“Slow down. I have no idea what it means. I do not know who can see them and who can’t or why, and I still haven’t gotten the books myself, but I know who has them.”
My eyes go wide. “Really? That’s a relief. Ralodan, Biremeril, and I went looking for them after we got out of class yesterday and couldn’t find them.”
“Let me guess, you went to the booths where confessions are made in the Cathedral, didn’t you?”
I nod. “And before we could really dig, we got caught by Mother Chaetris.”
“Really?” she asks as her eyes go wide. I nod. “What happened? Did she punish you for putting your low-born hands all over the sacred marble?”
“Something like that. She gave us extra hours of labor. She’s a real cunt,” I say.
Chalia bursts out laughing. “Yeah, that’s why I told you to steer clear of her. She hates low-borns. If it were up to her, none of us would be allowed in the church. She’s exactly what notes warned you about.”
“That’s what I said! But Biremeril got mad that I would even speak against her or say the things I said about her.”
“Well, Biremeril had a rough life and has reason to think that way,” she says, looking away from me.
“Yeah, Ralodan explained it to me. It’s terrible, no one should ever have to endure slavery. It is truly atrocious.”
“It truly is. I can’t understand why slavery is legal. It’s the most hideous thing ever,” she says, her hand clenching into a fist. She takes a deep breath in and lets it out. “By the way, don’t go back to the booths to look for the books. They are not there and they were never there. That’s the new place of confession. There’s an older place of confession in the basement where they used to hold meetings in secret to tell truths. I believe that’s what he meant by the heart of the cathedral. But there’s a secret lever that opens up a little hidden storage chest where the books were stored.”
“So, who has the books now?” I ask.
“Charinva,” she says.
“Oh, that makes sense. Is that why she always has her nose in a book?” I ask.
“Nah, that’s just who she is, but she won’t give them up, saying she needs them to look into something. She won’t talk to any of us about it,” Chalia says. “It is really starting to piss me off.”
“How many people know about it?” I sit up in my bed.
“No idea. I talked to Damaris about it and she told me to come talk to her once I have read the books, so it’s clear she knows about it but won’t tell me anything. It’s frustrating. Charinva won’t even hand over one of them.”
“Who all within the strays have read them?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I believe only the Accepted so far, aside from Charinva, but I don’t know. Everyone is reluctant to talk about it, fearing it’s heresy.”
“Do things always have to be this complicated here? I feel like now that I know there’s this huge secret, I need to know what it is,” I say, flipping through my book.
“Tell me about it. I’ve been dying to get my hands on those books forever,” she says.
“What could Charinva be doing with them? It’s hard to believe she hasn’t finished them yet. I swear she seems to read nearly every waking hour.” I let out a sigh and lay back down on my bed, finding where I left off in the book.
“No kidding. That’s why we call her page-turner… Well, I need to finish this. I’d like to test for the next level soon,” she says as she returns to her own book.
I sigh and start again where I left off, reading about the hardships the disciples had to face after the death of Akrasiel. He talks about a prophecy that mentions Akrasiel being reborn from a virgin. Why is it always about virgins? And how does that happen?
There’s a note here that asks a simple question. Do all beings experience reincarnation? That would certainly make heaven rather pointless if we are just reborn again and again. Wouldn’t it?
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