Grimoires & Masters - Chapter 10. (Patreon)

“Now you know why I could never refuse your Grandmother…” Klaus commented as he saw Aoun totally helpless in front of Elena.

Elena blushed at the comment, and even more so when she heard Aoun take a deep sigh. 

She had heard everything that Klaus was talking about with Aoun. She knew the graveness of the subject, but she couldn’t bear having her brother be so tensed. His heart was restless, and she was the only one who could calm it down. 

“Grandfather…” She looked at Klaus and smiled. “I promise you. My brothers will never fight over the throne. You have my word. And I would not allow them to stain their hands with each other’s blood.” 

She said the words so lightly as if they were not a big deal. She had made a promise on behalf of Aoun, and Klaus knew that she would keep her words. Aoun would keep her words too. 

Klaus didn’t need a promise. He wasn’t scared of Aoun vying for the throne, and he knew that even if the worst happened, the brothers would never stain their hands with each other’s blood. He was confident in his upbringing, and the values of the Blood of Zaryven he had ingrained in the hearts of his legacy could never betray him. 

“Thank you, Princess…” He lightly laughed at her words and smiled brightly. 

She was the only person he the Palace that he truly doted on. And people were envious about it, even his children that were now centuries-old envied how much he doted this grandchild of his. He was not old-fashioned; he had learned in his life that a girl and a boy needed to be raised with different approaches. One had to be cherished and doted on, and the other asked to be strict and steadfast on rules and values. It didn’t mean that he had never doted on the boys, but he had been strict to them more than he had been to the girls. 

He was quite satisfied and felt immense pride in his heart at the two youngsters that sat in front of him. And deep down inside, all his fears about Aoun were at ease because it was Elena who was going to be by his side forever. He knew that the dark nature of this young Zaryven would never be able to rule over his Love for his beloved little sister. Yes, it was not just the Auras that he could sense of people. He could sense their natures as well. And the two before him were like Light and Darkness. The Light could not exist without Darkness, and Darkness had no meaning without Light. 

“So tell me… What gift do you want from me?” He smiled generously at them. “Ask me anything that you desire. Powerful Weapons, Beasts, Riches, or Knowledge? I could give you some powerful Magic Arts too. Choose wisely, for I shall give you only one of those things. And you must choose now.”

Elena and Aoun looked at each other. They could feel that all the talk that Klaus had with Aoun and his offer now was an effort to help them find their way of life to start with. It was all an effort to help them understand what awaited them, and what road they needed to take.

The two of them smiled at each other, and Aoun could already sense what Elena desired. They didn’t need Powerful weapons for now. Mellissa had already given them what they required. Knowledge was something that could be helpful to them. But the knowledge Klaus was talking about was not going to be something good to them. Magic Arts were a lucrative option, but they both knew that they were not ready yet to practice them, and at the Academy, they could earn the best of Magic Arts by their abilities. They didn’t require any riches from the family. They had enough for themselves, and Aoun knew that he could not bear taking away the wealth of the Family. The Empire needed it more than they did. 

“The Beasts!” They answered in unison. “And please, they better be pretty ones!” Elena added.

“I see…” Klaus chuckled at their choice but said nothing more. He summoned his Grimoire and it floated near his bosom before its pages ruffled open. 

Grimoires were mystical, and they were the sources of power of their Masters. Every Beast that a Master subjugated was contracted by the Grimoire. The Beast would have its own abode inside the World of Grimoire where it would live from then on. Of course, there were exceptions, such as the Elemental Beasts. They loved staying inside of their Master's heart rather than inside the Grimoires, and there were Mystic Beasts who would do that as well even if they were not Soul Beasts. All Soul Beasts didn’t need to be in the Grimoire. They couldn’t be in the Grimoires. The Hearts of their Masters were their homes.

Another interesting feature of the Grimoire was how it could house species of Beasts if it had one of them under contract. The others didn’t need to be contracted. And Higher the Rank of the Master was, the bigger the World inside the Grimoires was. But for some reason, any person in the world of any race could be kept inside your Grimoire for a lifetime, but not a Master. A Master himself couldn’t enter his Grimoire as well. 

They watched Klaus take his time to pick perfect Beasts for them, and it took him a few minutes. 

“Found them…” He nodded to himself. “They will be the best for you.”

The Grimoire shinnied brightly, shrouding them in its light. Two specks of Light escaped the page as they flew around Klaus before moving a little away from the group and transforming. 

They were two magnificent creatures with a shine on their coat that announced their regality. But both Aoun and Elena failed to understand what class of beasts they were. They looked at the eyes first. The absence of Stars in their eyes meant that they were not Spirit Beasts. The second look was on their forehead where there was some kind of a spiral mark that made them appear exotic, but the Mark could not be counted as a symbol of them being King Beasts. 

The two were certain that the two Horses were not of the Rare Class, and taking them as the Legendary Class would have been absurd. 

The Beasts were of the Common Class, and either Mortal or Desolate Beasts. Knowing Klaus, they were certain that he would not give them normal Horses, and so only one option was left. 

“Desolate Beasts?” Aoun inquired, to which Klaus nodded. 

Elena was already by the side of the two horses and inspecting them closely. She ran her fingers through their hair and then brushed their coats with her hands. She loved beasts and she had always been fond of Horses. 

“They are pretty!” She commented and planted a kiss on the Spiral Mark of the Black horse. “She’s mine!” She announced. 

Aoun was surprised at her choice. He knew that she loved the White Color more than the Black, and the other Horse that she had left for him was perhaps the most beautiful White Horse he had seen in his life. Even the King Horses, he had seen with the Tyrants and Generals in the Empire, didn’t have such lustrous coats. He understood her intention when he saw her lightly pull her tongue at him. 

She had left her favorite Horse for him and had taken his favorite for herself. It was her way to conveying to him that they were one now. Silly as it was, he was happy about it. 

Aoun got up from his seat and walked over to the Beasts. He looked in their eyes and the Green Irises. They were Green-Ranked Desolate Beasts. In the back of his mind, the strength wasn’t much when he compared them to the two Soul Beasts that he and now. But a Green-Ranked Desolate Beast was several times more powerful than the normal Beasts and the low ranked Desolate Beasts. 

The two creatures before him would sell for enormous wealth, and lots of powers in the world would be willing to pay a ridiculously high price for them. And these two are magnificently Beautiful. 

“What’s their Bloodline, Grandfather?” He asked as he lovingly patted the head of his White Horse, and as Elena had done earlier, he planted a kiss on the Spiral of his forehead. 

“I would rather not tell you. It will take away the fun.” Klaus refused to answer his question directly. “But I can tell you that they come from the Supreme Bloodline of King Beasts.”

“Supreme…” He whispered as he recalled what he knew about Supreme Beasts. 

These Supreme Beasts were a Class of King and Spirit Beasts, who in their full might could even compete with a Legendary Class Beast. They were immensely strong and were desired all over the world by Powerful Masters. And it made him cautious. 

“They will take a lot of time to evolve into King Beasts. Hopefully, by the time they turn into them, you two will have enough strength to protect them and yourself from the greedy eyes.” Klaus answered and then looked at Elena. “All beautiful creatures are dangerous.”

Elena nodded back with a smile before putting her attention back on the Horses. She thought for a while to come up with names for them, but soon she found the names that seemed perfect to them. 

“You are Maya…” She planted another kiss to the forehead of her Black Horse. And then she turned her attention to her brother’s Horse. She planted a kiss on his forehead and gently stroked his head. “You are Ray.”

“You didn’t even ask me.” Aoun playfully complained. 

“Do I need to?” She looked at him with serious eyes. 

“No, you don’t…” He resigned helplessly without any hesitation. 

Aoun knew that he could never win an argument with her, and it wasn’t something he was concerned about. The names she had chosen for them were on his mind too. He really liked them. 

“Alright… Call out your Grimoires and I will teach you how to form a contract. They are not contracted to me so it won’t be that hard, and they both seem to like you.” Klaus smiled and said as he got up from his seat. He didn’t tell them that the reason why these two horses were being so docile was the Elemental Beast that was sitting comfortably on Elena’s Shoulder. Otherwise, these horses were moody creatures with immense pride. 

No contract with a Beast could be formed without its consent, and that was the key part. If the Beast did not want to be contracted to you even if it was on the verge of death, there was nothing you can do about it.

The Two of them summoned their Grimoires, and for Aoun, it was the first time he had summoned it. It was a Gray Grimoire, the Grimoire of a Novice Ranked Master. There was nothing extravagant about it other than the glossy look and a faint light that was emitting from it. The Grimoire of Elena was just the same as his. They both looked at Klaus’ Grimoire shining in myriad lights with pride, and they realized how weak they were. 

“Still a long way to go…” Klaus chuckled as he saw their envious gazes and started telling them how to proceed with a Contract. 

The first stage was sending the will to their Grimoire that they wanted to Contract the Beast before them. The Grimoire answered their call and thread-like light beams sprouted out of the open page, and then the light started wrapping around the Horses. The second step required them to offer a drop of their Blood to their Beast as a sign of their promise and sincerity to them. 

The two Horses didn’t struggle at all as Klaus would have expected. They went along with the procedure obediently, and after they had accepted the drops of Blood in their Hearts, the Beasts neighed proudly in the Silent Night and allowed themselves to be accepted inside the Grimoire. As soon as they went inside the Grimoire of their respected Masters, their images appeared on the Blank Page of the Grimoire with a few details about them. 

“The Blessed Beast: Zoron” It was the name of the Beast. And right after it, the names that they had both chosen for them appeared. After that, there was more information about their Class, Rank, and Bloodline. The information about the Bloodline stated “King’s Blood: Supreme.”

“The real Bloodline will be revealed once they have activated it and evolved. That is when they will turn into King Beasts. The Desolate Beasts who fail to awaken their Bloodline forever remain as Desolate Beasts.” Klaus told them and patted Elena’s head affectionately. 

“Thank you, Grandfather!” She smiled and said.

“There’s something I must remind you, little girl” Klaus’ smile paled and he sighed. “The World out there won’t be the same as you expect it to be. It will be much worse and harsh.” Seeing that they both nodded to him, he continued, “And you Princess, you are no longer a little girl, but an Empyrean, and a wife of Empyrean. You two will have enemies that will be far more powerful than you, as Powerful as you, and also those that will be weaker than you. You must stay wary of all of them.” He advised, and his hand that was patting her head wavered a little. “You must become strong, girl. If not more than him, make sure that you are as powerful as him. For your enemies won’t need to deal with the two of you to Eliminate you. They will only have to kill the weak one of you, and the strong one will perish too. The Seal of Life and Death is a Blessing, but it is your greatest weakness.”

His words landed heavily on their hearts, and Elena resolutely grabbed Aoun’s hand and smiled. 

“We will live together… and die together when Death comes for us. I am not scared. I will not allow Death to take us with it so easily.” 

“I wish I could hide you before the audience and those Royals had seen your Seal of Life and Death, but I couldn’t interrupt it. It would have made them curious anyway, and that would have been worse.” He told them.

“Rest assured, Grandfather,” Aoun said with a pale smile. “I know how I need to deal with my enemies, and things that I don’t know of, I will learn. And even if I don’t wish to learn them, it seems that Fate would teach them to us anyway.” He said lightly and caressed Elena’s hand.

The prophecy that they had seen about themselves reappeared in their minds and their hearts pounded in fear, resolution, and a promise. 

Elena hadn’t lied when she had said that she was not scared of death. She was fearful of that prophecy, but she knew that she could deal with anything as long as he was by her side. There was nothing in the world that could scare her now expect for her Brother.

“Dinner is planned to be late tonight. There is still half n hour in it.” Klaus said as he walked over to the edge of the Plateau, and he gazed at the city before him. “Aoun…” He called out to him.

“Yes, Grandfather?” He replied as he sensed the tension in Klaus’ call. 

“I need a promise from you…” Klaus asked him without looking at him.

“What is it, Grandfather?” He walked up to him to stand by his side and asked. 

“There may come a time when you will be surrounded by people that love you, cherish you, respect you, believe in you, and look up to you,” Klaus said and smiled. “There is another prophecy about the Empyreans. After the Second Great War of the Empyreans, the number of Empires in the World would nearly double.” Klaus chuckled. “You can guess that the unclaimed territories in the world might not remain unclaimed for long, and the present Empires could break too.”

Aoun listened, but he couldn’t figure out what Klaus wanted to ask of him. The prophecy meant that there will be an unbalance of Power in the World, and that meant the age of endless wars.

“I would never interfere with your decisions, but there is a promise that I want you to give me.” He said and looked at Aoun right in his eyes. “You are a Zaryven. Your Blood is Zaryven. And if the time ever comes that you stand like this, gazing at a city that belongs to you,” Klaus said as he gazed as the city with pride of an Emperor. “I expect you to stand there without having abandoned your identity.”

The words of Klaus ached his heart as he felt a little hurt by them. He wanted to retort that how could he expect him to abandon the name of Zaryven, but he stayed silent, and thought over the matter. It was how the World had been since the beginning. New Kingdoms and Empires would appear on the map, and with them, new Royal Houses would be born. Cruel and disrespectful as it was, the people would make that decision for several reasons, and for their pride. 

“I promise you, Grandfather.” Aoun smiled and said. “I am a Zaryven, and I will always be a Zaryven. And my Legacy will have Zaryven in their name.”

Klaus nodded to his words with a smile. He was satisfied. He was as worried as a Grandfather should be for his Grandchildren, but he had faith in their capabilities. He believed that they would overcome any challenges that Fate would force them in.