Books of Judgment.
They are survival manuals that are given to anyone who leaves their home for an extended period.
They are called this because the contents of the book can save your life if you know how to use what's written in it.
The books are considered a big deal by most people as they are the combined knowledge that people have gained over the years and can be split into two categories.
The village\city; is the kind that most people have as it holds all of the information that's given to the public.
The second is the family book, this is the one that is handed down from father to son and mother to daughter. If a family has both sons and daughters, their books won't be any different as the parents will want their children to have all of the help that they can get.
However the family book varies from one family to another, and it's not out of the ordinary for one house's book to have completely different information from the book that the family next door has.
It is considered to be an honor to help someone make a family book and it's unheard of for a man and woman to make a book and not be married as the information written in the book, is only meant for the eyes of their children.
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"Here," the man said to me as he handed me one of the mantis blades.
I hesitantly received the blade and followed his example as I began to widen the path in front of me, I don't know where we are going but I can tell that someone else has already come through here.
Neither of us said anything but maybe it was because we couldn't understand each other.
Papa always said that our people were given the gift of words and that all that we had to do to understand someone else was hear them talk more than once and after a while we could understand their language.
I turn to look at the man who is looking at the sky for some reason.
The man doesn't look as large or as strong as Papa or any of the men from my town, but he has to be strong because no one weak would be allowed to travel on their own.
Maybe he was weak and he was left behind by his companions.
The man can't be any older than thirty or maybe he is in his late twenties, while his black hair is long it's nowhere near as long as any of the barbarians.
His top half is covered by a brown undecorated jacket, which means that he doesn't come from a notable family.
It is widely known that the more decorated the coat that a person wears the more important they are and more importantly what their family's position is.
The man's blue pants told me that he was used to moving from one place to another and judging by how filthy they were, he had already run into some problems before she met him.
His heavy brown books are just as undecorated as his coat, so he isn't an experienced warrior either.
Papa always said that a warrior always kept his boots decorated because the only thing people could use to find out who they were was their boots.
Even when no one knew their names, the stories of their battles would live on to inspire the inheritors of his boots, as the person who became the new owner of the boots would have the warrior's stories to guide them.
The danger must have passed because he stopped looking at the sky, but I can't help but wonder if I'll be able to get some clean clothes soon, or at the very least have a chance to take a bath and wash my dirty clothes.
...Elsewhere...
the sound of the bomb exploding was nearly deafening and I nearly lost all of my hearing after the damm thing exploded, I don't know who these people are but they just keep on coming.
How did things get this way?
My job was simple, jump from one tree branch to another until you get to the tree that has the red paint on it and come back.
Sure I had to cut as many tree branches that made it difficult to jump from one branch to the other and write down everything that I saw, but that was it.
No one said anything about having to fight a bunch of people that were riding on horses.
I hid behind a tree as I reloaded my machine gun, it's a good thing that I didn't go trigger-happy when I was first attacked.
I can feel my heart beating inside my chest and I'm forced to control my breathing as the horses run past my location.
This is bad, if they find the bridge that we're building it will lead them straight to the city, but I can't risk getting off the trees and I already used one of my bombs.
the sounds of something moving above me catch my attention and I can't help but feel the cold sensation of fear swell inside my chest when I see not one but three halks flying above me.
"No.' was the only thing that I could say before the birds screamed one after another and almost immediately the sounds of horses running reached my ears.
I was barely able to dodge the arrows that were fired at me, but I wasn't able to escape the explosions that followed.
Luckily I know how to fall, so I'm able to roll myself into the high grass so that I can hide.
I briefly look up and see the birds flying in the sky looking for me, it seems that they can't see me inhere.
I wish that I could say that I was relieved to see the birds fly away but I can't, because the bird's masters and their companions began to enter the grass as they looked for me.
I hold my breath and cling to my gun as I roll out of the way when one of the horses passes by me.
It's only because of how unnaturally large the grass is that I'm able to use it to hide, and the fact that the grass is cutting the horses as they walk is helping me because they can't stay in it for long.
"Hold your breath" I mentally say to myself as the horses begin to scream in fear.
I can't help but smile, because the smell of horses' blood has caught the attention of the creatures that live in the grass.
I can hear the horses scream alongside their riders while they try to run away, and I feel something hot splash on my face.
I don't have to touch my head to know that either a horse has just lost its rider or one of the horses has just died.
I instinctively aim my gun as an Asian woman rides past me, we briefly lock eyes before one of the giant lizards runs towards me and I'm forced to shoot at it.
I can hear the creatures as they run toward me, so I'm forced to stand up and run out of the grass before I can jump onto a nearby tree branch and pull myself into the bridge that I'm supposed to be making.
I can't help but gasp for air as I watch the remaining horses and their riders runway, it's a good thing that they didn't go towards the city, but I don't know if they'll come back again.
Still, I have a job to do and I have to do it.
So I wrote down what happened and what I saw inside the grass before I jumped onto the next branch and I cut the branches that made it difficult to see what was in front of me.
...Change...
The smell of blood and death lingered in the camp as the survivors told the elders everything that happened.
"And you are certain that it was just one of their warriors?' her father asked them.
"Yes Father." she answered the elder.
"So why didn't he kill you if what you claim is true?" her father asked her.
She briefly looked down, she honestly didn't know the answer, perhaps everything that was happening was so chaotic that the man hadn't been able to react.
Yet that didn't explain how he was able to kill the lizard when he heard it or how he was able to run away when he realized that the rest of the pack would find him if he stayed in the same place.
"It's possible that he was struck by your daughter elder." one of the men said to her father before the rest of the elders began to laugh.
She tried to ignore them but she couldn't help but feel her anger grow when she heard the women in the room giggle among themselves.
"Everyone leave." her father ordered, but the cold look in his eyes told her to stay where she was.
"Father." she said but her father's cold brown eyes told her to keep quiet.
"So the stories are true someone lives in that accursed place." her father said to her.
"There's a pattern forming, twice they had prisoners or prisoners and on both occasions, they could have killed all of you while you walked away like they should have to keep your hoer intact." one of the elders says to her.
She doesn't say anything as the elders begin to speak amongst themselves.
"It's highly possible that from their point of view, they were being merciful. That place is one of the most dangerous places in the world and their customs must be completely different from ours." the same elder says to her.
"We are going to have to negotiate with this city, it's the only way that the tribs can keep their honor, even if that means that whoever we leave behind never sees us again.' her father says to her, but his eyes are kind as he speaks to her.
"Go, tell the others that we will help them negotiate with the city, but we will not help them attack the city.' her father ordered and she bowed to the elders before she left the tent.