Chapter 27

Zahar gazed out at the never-ending body of water as the boat he was travelling on rocked side to side. A full moon hung in the sky as its light reflected off the water's surface. The starry sky with the bright moon and the reflective water painted a picture unlike Zahar had ever seen before. It was beautiful.

It had been two weeks since he had entered the surface world with his brother and five hundred elite soldiers of the Uvrohan kingdom. Everything was novel to Zahar as it was his first real journey onto the surface world.

Zahar took a deep breath of the pungent, salty air to calm his mind. The coming days were important.

Their mission in the surface world was to clear the island of Kohul and retrieve the Dark Grimoire, a book of magic used by the Great Kohul himself.

Kohul had left his inheritance on the island after he had failed in what he sought to do. And now it was Zahar and his father's turn to give their life for the same cause that Kohul had given his life for, Ridding their kingdom of the Dark beasts which had plagued the Uvrohan kingdom for thousands of years. Nobody knew where the beasts came from. The records from the ancestors say that the beasts appeared out of nowhere and wrought destruction unlike seen before.

And the grimoire was the solution to all of this. It was a weapon created by Kohul which could control the beasts within the borders of the Uvrohan kingdom and force them to the surface world. Kohul had nearly succeeded in doing so but he had to remain at the surface world if he wanted the beasts to not come back to the Uvrohan kingdom.

But the humans from the surface world killed Kohul after finding out he was the one controlling beasts which caused the beasts to be free from the Grimoire's control and run back to the Urvrohan kingdom.

Thankfully, The grimoire did not fall into the hands of the humans as one of the soldiers from the Uvrohan kingdom had managed to hide on an uninhabitable island in the ocean.

And after two centuries of torment by the beasts, they had found the island. And now the responsibility to free their kingdom from the dark beast's terror fell on Zahar and Mosak's shoulders.

A cough interrupted Zahar's musings. He turned towards the sound and saw his brother, Vreghol standing beside him with his black hair blowing in the wind. He was as he remembered him to be years ago, the last time they had met. A soft and innocent-looking face with black hair. He had a feminine look that hadn't changed a bit in all these years he had been living in the surface world.

Vreghol cleared his throat and said, "We'll reach the island in about an hour. What do you reckon we'll find? "

Zahar turned away from his brother and replied, "Undead. Skeletal undead and zombies. Nothing dangerous. "

"Oh. Then, what's the point of all these soldiers? I could have just brought a couple of my men to clean up the island. "Vreghol said dismissively. Zahar dragged back his gaze to Vreghol's face. Vreghol was annoying as Zahar remembered him to be. Zahar sighed and said, "The soldiers are not here to fight against the zombies. They are here to make sure that the Grimoire reaches our kingdom."

Vreghol nodded and went silent as he too enjoyed the beautiful view.

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"Anchor the boats. " Zahar shouted at the soldiers and got off the boat. Zahar didn't want to stay in the surface realm for long. He didn't like the sun and especially the humans who posed a threat to their mission.

He urged the soldiers as they killed the occasional undead roaming around. The island was nearly empty of any life or vegetation and only had a small house in the middle. Zahar knew that was their target as he had read the description left by the soldier who had hidden the Dark Grimoire.

The entourage quickly approached the house and brought out everything from inside. And finally, as Zahar and Vreghol impatiently waited outside the rundown house, a soldier carried a book in his arms and ran outside with a joy-filled face.

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Zahar kneeled in front of a throne. Kneeling beside him was his brother. Their father sat on the throne surrounded by many people wearing luxurious outfits. But they all had one thing in common. All the people present wore the colour black. The hall was silent as everyone's eyes were on the kneeling brothers.

"We accomplished the mission, Father. "Zahar said as he lifted his head to look at his father whose face bloomed into a smile. The people that were standing on the two sides of the throne also smiled. But no one cheered. All the people were of high standing in the Uvrohan kingdom. So, it would have been unbecoming of them to cheer like children but their wide smiles showed the happiness that everyone was experiencing.

Zahar turned to his brother who rummaged through a bag he had been carrying. He took out the grimoire from the bag and handed it to Zahar. Zahar then stood up and walked up the steps which led to the throne. He arrived in front of his father and presented the book to him.

Mosak almost snatched the book and stared at his son. "Well done. " He praised Zahar as he grasped the grimoire in his hand.

It was something they had been dreaming of. The whole kingdom of Uvrohan had been dreaming of and now it had finally arrived.

Mosak lifted the grimoire in the air as he turned to the people below. "Now, the time has come for us to push these vile bests back to where they came from. Humans have prospered for too long. Now it's time for us to prosper."

A loud cheer finally came, breaking the solemn silence of the hall as clenched fists were raised in the air. Mosak then turned towards Zahar and said, " Ready the army. We'll make sure that there is not a single living being left in the surface realm after we're done."