“Have you ever dreamed of becoming a Grimoire?” she asked.
Roun froze. Hadn’t he answered this already? No. No one has asked me that yet. He frowned, then slowly nodded.
“Why?”
He licked his lips and shrugged. “It was the best way I could think of to escape from being clanless. I understood it would still be a hard life, but at least as a Grimoire I’d never have to worry about having a full belly or safe place to sleep. Folk are also a lot nicer to me.”
Lilisette smiled and leaned back in her chair. “That’s very honest of you, Roun, but what about now that you have a full belly and a safe place to sleep?”
“It doesn’t change anything, because I’ve also always wanted to follow my father and help others, and that’s what Grimoires are meant to do,” Roun said. He paused for a moment, suddenly abashed. “When I first came to Rozaria City, things weren’t easy for me. Noban helped more than he’ll ever know, but always told me he was only doing his duty. Maybe that was the truth for him, but not for me. What I remember is someone who was willing to listen on harder days. Someone who offered his lunch without hesitation after having guessed I’d gone hungry for a while. Sure, Noban can’t save the world, much less really change it, but he both saved and changed mine. My father, Yorin, was the same way for many others. He took contracts for less than they were worth or asked for something as simple as a place to rest our heads, and I couldn’t help but admire how easily he laughed it all off.” Roun glanced up at the master librarian. “Not everyone knows what it’s like to have personal heroes watching over them, but I do, and that’s what Grimoires are. I’m sure of it more than ever now, after helping Adan and his mother.
“I know my words sound naïve and I realize things will get harder, but, despite that, Exarch Kuro still looked us in the eyes and said he wanted to bring us all the way to Sothis so that we can become her champions—the greatest among heroes. He even said it to me knowing the troubling parts of my arte, things which I’m just now learning to accept myself.”
When the other exarchs glanced at Kuro, he waggled his eyebrows so excessively that Roun had to swallow a laugh.
Lilisette ignored them, her gaze intently focused on Roun, and nodded. A thoughtful look came across her face.
“No good?” Roun asked. “You can tell me. I’m aware of what happens to failed Grimoires now, and I’d rather live, obviously, but I won’t give you any trouble if you…” He frowned. “If you really believe returning me to Sothis is for the best.”
The master librarian, however, surprised him by laughing. “Your arte has many concerning and even dark aspects to it, but so have other artes in the past. It is the duty of we librarians to help you figure out a path ahead despite that, so being forced to return a Grimoire to Sothis is as much a failure on our part as anything else.”
Roun looked at her in confusion.
“I’m not sure where your path will end, Roun,” she continued in a gentle voice. “I don’t know how we’ll feed your need for spirits if it grows worse or what limits we might ask of you regarding the powers you gain from chimeras. What I do know—and what I care about above all else—is that you strive loyally towards Sothis, for here you stand before me, fearful of death as any sane person should be, and humbly bow your head to a cruel necessity we must sometimes employ. You also speak highly of your companions, listen to guidance, and dare to worry over your arte rather than arrogantly consider it a flawless gift beyond reproach.
“What the Imperial Libraries fear most are those who stray and become lost; both to themselves and to others. Today, however, you have struck us as someone worthy of Rozaria’s trust and our personal hopes.”
Roun’s eyebrows raised. “Then…?”
She nodded. “Roun, Grimoire of Twilight, by the will of the librarian exarchs and I, master librarian of Avyleir, you have been found worthy of answering Sothis’s call. We promise to do all in our power to aid you as you ascend to her side, and all we ask is that you never allow your light to fail your Empress or yourself.”
Exarch Kuro stood and walked over to Roun. The exarch closed his parasol with a flourish, propped it against himself, then reached into the pocket of his robes. He withdrew a tiny copper piece engraved with the Blue Moon Tower’s simple double-lined circle.
Exarch Kuro worked the wooden piece out from Roun’s medallion, tossed it aside, then inserted the copper one and fitted it into place with a slap. Roun reached up and held the medallion in his hands. It wasn’t quite his yet—later, they would have their names and titles engraved onto the back—but the moment certainly was.
The exarch then leaned close and brought his lips to Roun’s ears.
“You all impressed us deeply,” Kuro shouted more than whispered conspiratorially into Roun’s ear. “I can’t help but shiver when I think of all the things your coterie might eventually accomplish!”
Roun struggled to keep his face expressionless. “Orihalcon, for starters?”
Exarch Kuro’s eyebrows raised for a moment—and then he laughed.
33
Kuro paced across the stage set at the heart of Rozaria City. It was a ring down from where Avyleir Library perched, at a circular clearing normally reserved for festivals and similar things. Today it was being used for the unveiling ceremony of the demesne’s newest Grimoires. While not all the Imperial Libraries made their roster of active Grimoires public knowledge, most of them did.
The effect it had on morale was too great to ignore; folks loved their living legends, and the knowledge that more had awakened was always a balm to those weathering Fate’s darker strokes. In this case, it was also of particular importance to Kuro’s ambitions.
Rozaria’s people always made a festival out of the ceremony, however, and today was no different. Many places were serving discounted—and likely watered down—wines and ales, and the wealthier clans had organized a feast for all. Areas sectioned off by bodyguards allowed representatives from those same clans to mingle, forming an exclusive world of intrigue that would see some clans emerge from the gossiping, strengthened or diminished. In between, alliances and mercantile partnerships would be broken, forged, or reforged.
Kuro glanced over at the Eldest Throne. It wasn’t quite midday, but he decided it didn’t matter. His Grimoires had been ready long ago and they would probably die from anxiety if he didn’t get this over with. He signaled with a hand and waited while aides sounded the chimes, prompting everyone to gather before the stage.
He waited for them to fall silent, then bowed.
“Greetings. I am Kuro, Librarian Exarch of Avyleir and faithful servant to the Eternal Empress. Today, I have the immense honor of presenting Empress Sothis’s future champions to you.” This drew a few confused murmurs; Kuro ignored them. “But first, a word. Know that Rozaria’s exarchs are neither deaf nor blind. We do not sit in council, laughing and waving our arms, while telling each other that our people should have known better when they came to a young demesne. We do not mock the loss of your loved ones or the fruits of your endless labor. We acknowledge there is a lack in our efforts against brigands, chimeras, apostates, and the night.” Kuro shrugged. “It’s true that these are things every demesne endures, but that’s hardly a worthy excuse.”
The murmuring increased, and he saw more than a few representatives of the greater clans eying him now. Good, Kuro thought. Pay attention. I will lead alongside my coterie for a while, but I fear you must eventually follow them instead. Whether or not you like it.
“We’re all aware that no Grimoire has ever fully ascended.” Kuro paused for a moment and lowered his head. “This is despite the fact that I believe many of them are beyond worthy, and I rarely find myself alone in that opinion. I stand before you now with the intent to sit my Grimoires at Sothis’s feet and have her tell me to my face that they aren’t worthy of becoming her champions.”
A shocked silence followed, then the crowd broke into an uproar. Most of it mockery, much of it screaming abo
ut his arrogance or the shame he should feel for speaking so inappropriately about the Empress. Kuro sighed and waved a hand as the uproar faded, but didn’t raise his voice, thus forcing them back to complete silence in order to catch his next words.
“I have founded a slayer coterie like no other. They will be my last creation as an exarch, for I plan to give to them everything I have and all that I am. My Grimoires, however, will not bear a guardian’s smile, but a predator’s. They will haunt the dreams of humanity’s enemies as surely as our enemies haunt ours, and they will carry Sothis’s banner into even the most enshadowed depths.”
Kuro let the words linger and the suspense build as he stopped twirling his parasol. He thought of his clan’s oath, script etched into his mind as carefully as they had carved it above the grand archway of his childhood home’s audience chamber. We shall not fail you, the words had proclaimed.
He swallowed, took a breath, and stretched out his arms. The Grimoires of his tower emerged, three to either side, all of them wearing their darker raiments, the newly forged plates on their sashes made of blackened silver. Rozaria’s broken targe emblem had been embossed into the silver then enameled in blue. Masks that were nearly identical to the one given to him for Roun crowned them.
The crowd held their breaths and the sea of faces became a storm of emotions. Some of the city’s denizens looked uncertain, maybe even confused, while others looked impressed and cautiously hopeful. Many grinned back at the masks in delight. A few—mostly representatives from the greater clans and the few agents of the Cantons that believed they had escaped his notice—frowned in contemplation.
“Here stands my proud coterie,” Kuro said. “Let them be known as the Nightmarians.”
Before you go…
Sign up for the Wayfarer’s Path Newsletter to receive updates on the next book in the series, as well as giveaways and other news!
Please also consider leaving a review! Short or long, reviews are incredibly helpful for independent authors like myself—sometimes even more so than buying the book. Yes, really! Again, thank you so much.
Acknowledgments
Heya! I hope you enjoyed the first novel in the Eldest Throne series! It’s nearly as close to my heart as my (still incomplete) Islandborn trilogy, but in a different way. It’s an adaptation of a story and world I wrote ages ago that I eventually discarded because I figured it would be too weird for anyone to enjoy. The rising popularity of the progression fantasy subgenre, however, not only changed my mind but also offered an audience that might specifically enjoy this kind of story.
I don’t hide the fact that I’m a heavy (J)RPG gamer, and it was actually my love of fantasy novels that first got me into RPGs, manga, and visual novels, because mainstream TV and movies didn’t and still don’t take fantasy seriously. As a result, I grew up with a lot of the tropes from both western and eastern fiction, so it was fun watching the growth of the PF subgenre. The genre has also gifted us with wonderful works like Sufficiently Advanced Magic, The Brightest Shadow, and the Cradle series, among others. These works left me feeling at home and played a huge role in inspiring me to try my hand at progression fantasy—and here we are!
It took longer than I would have liked to get to this point (2020 really hit me hard), but I’m proud of Awakening Arte and hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. Big thanks to all of you who have made it this far, and don’t be afraid to poke me on Reddit (where I’m most active) or either my website or Twitter; I’d love to hear what you thought of the book!
Awakening Arte
© 2021 Bernie Anés Paz
All rights reserved.
www.StoryShrine.com
Edited by: Celestian Rince
Cover Illustration by: Daniel Kamarudin
Awakening Arte (The Eldest Throne Book 1) Page 28