So yeah, the protagonist (who doesn't have a name yet) narrowly escapes the king's castle and goes somewhere...Like in a forest or something. And I guess he talks to the trees, maybe? Because trees are old. And they tell him about the book, the Epitome. It's the source of the king's power (the king doesn't have a name yet either.) And it contains the entire history of the world, even as far back as the creation of the world. It was written magically, the eldest trees sacrificed themselves so that they could be made into a book on which their memories were written.