Bone Lord 5

by Dante King

  He roared in fury and hatred and shot out multiple veins of red lighting at us. I controlled the dragon as if it were me flying through the air. I tumbled and dived and ducked and rolled with the kind of fluid grace that would put even the most majestic eagle to shame. We dodged every one of the lightning bolts, then I pulled the dragon up into a soaring loop in the air.

  “All right, fuckstick,” I said. “Now it’s my turn.”

  “Destroy him, Vance!” Yumo-Rezu cried out behind me, her arms wrapped around my waist.

  I commanded the dragon to dive at full speed at the Blood God. We dodged another series of lightning blasts as we hurtled toward him faster than an arrow loosed from a war bow. The dragon breathed out a river of black fire, and the flames shot through the air at an impossible speed, taking the Blood God in his chest. Then, as we raced closer, they seared up his body and took one, then two of his heads off. Where the flames hit, they blasted straight through his body, incinerating a passage clean through it. When we swooped upward just in front of him, his gigantic torso had been ripped in two.

  He still had a few heads left, though, and many arms. While he was badly injured, he fought on. Red lighting came at us, and we ducked and dived and swooped around it at a blur. Some bolts came so close that they singed my armor and scorched the dragon’s scales.

  I climbed higher and higher into the sky, racing upward, feeling exhilarated and alive with the potency of riding the last living dragon. We came so high above the earth that the clouds below us were barely visible. It felt almost as if I’d physically reached the Sea of Stars.

  The red sky darkened, then we were above it, and we truly were floating among the stars. I could see below us that Prand and Yeng were two green blobs on a huge blue ball. It was magnificent, and I could have stayed up here forever, except for the fact that there was no longer any air and we could not breathe.

  It was time for the final blow, the strike that would end this battle and smash the Blood God into oblivion.

  “Hang on tight,” I said to Yumo-Rezu.

  And then, we dived.

  We hurtled earthward with such speed that flames started spontaneously burning around the dragon’s head, limbs, and wings. I had to call up a Death shield around us to avoid being burned to a crisp by our speed. We were like a falling star, plummeting from the heavens. We blasted through the clouds, and I saw the ground rushing toward us. Below us, my party were making their last stand, their backs pressed against the incoming ocean waves on the beach as Blood Demons surrounded them. When they spotted me and Yumo-Rezu atop the dragon, they all cheered.

  We sped toward the Blood God with single-minded intent, rushing across the battlefield in a blur of speed and power. Black flame poured from the dragon’s mouth, and I charged my entire body with every ounce of Death magic I could muster as collision loomed.

  Then, with fire blasting from the dragon’s mouth, we smashed into the town-sized monstrosity.

  There was an immense explosion, an eruption of unimaginable force, like hundreds of volcanoes all blowing their tops at once. A shockwave rocketed across the battlefield, hurling everyone to the ground—even the huge Jotunn—with its force.

  For a moment, the entire world was plunged into complete blackness, but when I angled the dragon up into the sky after smashing directly into the Blood God, light returned. I glanced over my shoulder, with the wind howling against me, and saw a huge cloud of blood drizzling down over the battlefield.

  The sky was no longer red. Every Blood Demon had fallen to the ground and was writhing in agony, red steam rising from their bodies. In the ocean, my kraken hurled the Demogorgon’s severed head out of the waves, and it landed in the midst of the writhing Blood Demons with a heavy thud, crushing a few dozen of them.

  There was only one thing left to do now.

  I turned the dragon around and swooped down low over my party.

  “Your crystalline tear!” I yelled to the Lord of Light as we approached.

  He flung it up, and I caught it as we swooped over them. I looped the dragon gracefully in the air, then flew over the remains of the Blood Pyramid. In its core, a single tiny goblet of blood, forged of some magical scarlet metal, still glowed with power—the last remaining essence of the Blood God.

  “Suck on this!” I yelled. As we flew over it, I dropped the tear into the goblet of blood.

  Another shockwave blasted across the land, and then the goblet crumpled up. A vortex formed in the center of the ruins of the Blood Pyramid, sucking everything into it. I heard a thousand screams of horrific agony echoing from the swirling vortex, and Elandriel’s was loudest of all. All of the Blood Demons’ bodies were sucked off the battlefield, and they too disappeared screaming into the void.

  Finally, the portal to whatever hell the Blood Demon and his followers had been sucked into closed.

  Nothing remained of the Blood God, his pyramid, or his demons but empty, harmless ruins.

  I had defeated Elandriel and the Blood God and destroyed their legacy forever.

  It was all finally over.

  And now I had a reward to claim. So, before I landed the dragon and celebrated our victory with my party and the surviving civilians of Luminescent Spires, I sent my spirit to the Black Plane. My body pulsed with anticipation as I stared up at the Gray Sentinel.

  “My crown,” I whispered as I gazed at the object I would now claim.

  My heart pounding in my chest, I climbed the Gray Sentinel and plucked the glowing bone crown from the very top of the tree.

  I placed it on my head, Immediately, I was filled with unlimited power, knowledge, and wisdom.

  This was it.

  I, Vance Chauzec, was now ruler of all the gods.

  Epilogue

  A year had passed since the day I’d destroyed the Blood God, and Yumo-Rezu had come to visit me in my palace at Brakith, which was now the capital city of all of Prand, since nothing remained of Luminescent Spires but rubble. After the Battle of the Blood Pyramid, Yumo-Rezu had departed on a year-long solo trip, wishing to see the rest of the world, and now her travels were over.

  “It’s wonderful to see you again, God of Gods,” she said, addressing me by my official title and bowing before me in my great hall.

  I sat on my Bone Throne, which was constructed from the skull of one of the Demogorgons,and inlaid with intricate gold artwork.

  “Stand, Yumo-Rezu,” I said. “I may be ruler of the gods now, but you don’t need to bow down before me.”

  A lustful glint sparkled in her beautiful almond eyes. “There are other ways in which I’d like to worship you, Vance, ways I’m sure you won’t have any objection to.”

  I chuckled. “You can do all the worshiping you want when we’re alone,” I said with a wink.

  “I can’t wait. But first, why don’t you take me around your city? This is the only place in Prand I have not yet visited, and what better way to end my worldwide travels than here?”

  “I’d love to show you around. Come on, let’s take a stroll.”

  As I stood up from the throne, the huge wooden doors at the end of the hall swung open and Rollar walked in. He was dressed in his majestic battle armor. He strode down the long gray carpet that led to the throne and bowed before me and Yumo-Rezu.

  “Dragon Goddess, and God of Gods, I salute you both,” he said.

  “How did the army fare against the cultists in the south?” I asked him.

  “We wiped them out with ease,” said Rollar, who was now commander of my army. “I came to report that our campaign against them was a complete success.”

  “Excellent,” I said.

  “Where’s the other Northern barbarian, the smelly one?” Yumo-Rezu asked.

  “Drok,” I said, smiling. “He rules the barbarian tribes as my vassal in the North. He’s back with his wife and built a longhouse of bones as his seat of power there. I went to visit in the summer; it’s really great up there in summertime when there’s endless daylight and no night. But
man, even a god’s liver can take a beating with the amount those barbarians drink. When I came back, I had to take a vacation to recover from my vacation!”

  We all laughed.

  “So, where did you go for your recovery holiday?” Yumo-Rezu asked.

  “I traveled across the ocean to Yeng to see Ji-Ko and his monks at the Monastery of Necrosis. Ji-Ko established it there with the permission of the Emperor, who’s still very grateful for everything we did for him.”

  “And how are the Blind Monks?” she asked.

  “They’re doing well, although the term ‘blind’ isn’t perhaps the most technically correct way to describe them. Each of them has an undead skeleton permanently by his side, whose eyes he uses to ‘see’. Ji-Ko and Rhuz teamed up, and they train warrior monks at the Monastery of Necrosis.”

  “Did you see my sister when you were in Yeng?” Yumo-Rezu asked, and a flash of jealousy flickered across her eyes. Although all of my women knew they had to share me, Yumo-Rezu, with her fiery temperament, was the one most often afflicted with jealousy. To her credit, though, she did her best to suppress it.

  “Of course,” I answered. “Wind worship has made a huge return in your native land, and she’s gained a great deal of power as a goddess, all of which she uses wisely, of course. Her increased powers means she frequently comes to visit.”

  “I bet she does,” Yumo-Rezu said, with the smallest hint of snark.

  I chose to ignore it. “And the new Wind temple Rami-Xayon built is one of the most impressive pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen. I heard that even the Emperor is jealous. I think the only thing that outshines it is the Cathedral of Necrosis here in Brakith.”

  “Ooh, yes, yes, I’ve heard all about it! Can we go see it now?” she asked.

  “Rollar, please excuse us,” I said. “You can give me the details of your campaign later.”

  We walked out of the hall and headed for the exit of the palace. When we turned a corner, we almost bumped into Elyse, who was hurrying along the marble-floored hallways with a pile of dusty tomes in her arms. She was with child, so she had some trouble balancing all the books.

  “Sorry, Vance!” Elyse said, and the smile of delight that lit up her face whenever she saw me sparkled in her gorgeous eyes and on her luscious lips. “I was so excited about cracking these books open that I wasn’t even looking where I was going! Ah, Yumo-Rezu, it’s lovely to see you! You’ll have to tell me all about your travels later, but right now I need to get these books to the Great Library.”

  “A child?” Yumo-Rezu’s mouth dropped. I thought she was about to ask why I had chosen Elyse to bear my first offspring, but then she suddenly broke into a grin. “Congratulations!” She kissed both Elyse and I, and I could have sworn she slipped in a little tongue. I guessed an evening romp with the two women wouldn’t be out of the question, then.

  “Thank you,” Elyse said after Yumo-Rezu had finished embracing her. “I can’t really believe it. But the child should come in only a month. I think it’ll be quite strong, with such a powerful father.”

  “You bet it will,” I said.

  “I wish I could stay,” Elyse said, “but I really must be off to the library.”

  “We’ll all have dinner together later,” I said to her. “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up.”

  Elyse smile before she hurried off.

  “What’s this Great Library Elyse was talking about?” Yumo-Rezu asked. “And does she live here with you in Brakith?”

  “She does, yes.”

  “I thought you would have made her Seraphim of the New Church of Light,” Yumo-Rezu said.

  I shrugged. “I offered, and she had no interest in it. She worships an old goddess now, a dead one that she hopes I’ll eventually be able to resurrect: the Goddess of Knowledge. Elyse has never forgiven the Church of Light for what they did to her. Instead, she’s dedicated herself to the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. She established the Great Library here in Brakith, and her quest is to gather all the greatest books and scrolls in the world into one place: here. And can you blame her for not having any interest in the New Church of Light? Most people in Prand want nothing to do with it after everything that happened. The Lord of Light is lucky if he has a hundred worshipers across the entire world now, and the New Church of Light consists of a single little chapel near the ruins of what used to be Luminescent Spires. That bald-headed buffoon doesn’t seem to care though. Even after suffering the humiliation of having to publicly apologize and prostrate himself before every single person in Prand, he still wears a smile on his yellow face. His indefatigable optimism is annoying as all hell, and I avoid him as much as I can.”

  “He does acknowledge you as God of Gods, though, yes?” she asked.

  “He does, and he knows I’ll kick his sunny ass if he steps out of line. I don’t care what he does, really, as long as he doesn’t bother anyone.”

  We continued walking, exiting the palace and entering the market square.

  “What happened to Percy and his pirates?” Yumo-Rezu asked.

  “They’re still sailing the high seas, in brand new warships,” I answered. “And they’re not pirates anymore; they’re the Navy of Necrosis. Together with my kraken, they keep the peace out on the ocean.”

  “Ah, that’s good to hear. I’m sure they’re … oh, wow,” she gasped as we turned the corner and saw the Cathedral of Necrosis before us.

  The Cathedral was one of the biggest buildings not only in Brakith, but in all of Prand. It was bright white, for it was constructed entirely of the bones of my enemies. Everything in the cathedral was made of bone, and the biggest pillars and support beams, as well as the magnificent central altar, were made of the massive bones of the Demogorgons we’d killed. Everything leather in the cathedral was made of the Demogorgons’ red demon hide. Fang was sitting outside the entrance to the cathedral; it was one of his favorite places in Brakith. Whenever I wasn’t riding him to this place or that one, he enjoyed sitting here and relaxing. He liked chewing on the bones of which the cathedral was constructed, which the architects complained about all the time. I let him keep doing it, though, for he was my loyal steed.

  “It’s amazing,” Yumo-Rezu murmured. “And Isu is the High Priestess, is she not?”

  “She is. After the Battle of the Blood Pyramid, I offered her the chance to become a deity again, but she didn’t want it; her days as a goddess were done, she told me, and she didn’t want them back. No, she’s very happy as High Priestess of the Temple of Necrosis. She especially enjoys the executions.”

  “Executions?”

  “Convicted criminals from all over Prand are sent here,” I explained. “The worst of them: murderers, rapists, those sorts. Isu dispatches them on the altar with Grave Oath, so that I get their souls. Then their bodies are sent to Layna, so that the Arachne can continue their tradition of, well, eating human beings, without killing anyone innocent.”

  “I see. And how does the Webmaven fare?”

  “She comes and visits quite often,” I said. “She and the Arachne are building a spiderweb thread that’s going to reach all the way from Aith to here, so that she can communicate with me instantly. She’s been teaching me how to read the vibrations on spiderwebs. It’s interesting stuff. I reckon if we constructed those webs all across the continent, and taught people how to use them, we could have a pretty advanced system of communication…”

  “It’s an interesting idea indeed.”

  We walked around the Cathedral for a while before we headed for the exit. On the way out, however, a scrawny, round-shouldered man with his head buried in a book veered around one of the corners and crashed into Yumo-Rezu. She remained standing, barely having taken much of a knock with her sharp enjarta reflexes and superb balance, but he fell flat on his back, sprawling on the gleaming black marble floor.

  “One of your priests?” Yumo-Rezu said sourly, staring with distaste at the man, who was dressed in the gray robes of a priest of the Temple of Necr
osis.

  “Whoa, uh, sorry!” he said, rubbing his head and staring up at Yumo-Rezu with a look of awe on his face. He beamed a goofy, gap-toothed grin at her. “Hey, you totally look like the Wind Goddess!”

  “That’s because she’s my sister, you ignorant buffoon!” Yumo-Rezu snapped.

  I helped him to his feet. “Cranton, this is Yumo-Rezu, the Dragon Goddess,” I said. “Yumo-Rezu, this is Cranton, the First Priest of the Church of Necrosis … and who’s supposed to be fifty miles away from here right now, on his way to consecrate the newest Temple of Necrosis in the town of Krebu. Cranton, what are you still doing in Brakith?”

  “Dragon Goddess, whoa, that’s incredible.” Cranton grinned before hastily and awkwardly bowing before her. Then he turned to me with a guilty look on his face. “Vance, man, I’m real sorry that I’m late, but, uh, Grast has one hell of a hangover from all the Yorish brandy he had last night, and he’s only getting his wagon ready now. I told him last night in the tavern, man, I said, ‘Grast, man, stop drinking now, Vance is gonna be pissed if you don’t drive that wagon outta here on time tomorrow morning.’ But you know Grast. You know what he’s like with the grog, man. He carried on anyway even though he promised he’d be okay to drive in the morning. I told him, and he just—”

  “All right, all right,” I said to him. “I’ll have another word with Grast about his drinking, especially on nights before he’s supposed to be taking my priests across Prand. You just … go get ready to leave.”

  “All right, man, I’m on it!” He bowed to us again, a huge grin pasted across his face, before he scurried off.

  “That foolish little weasel was the first priest you chose for the Temple of Necrosis?” Yumo-Rezu asked, one eyebrow raised with disbelief.

  “He’s a scatterbrain, and was a herb fiend for a while, but his heart is in the right place. Besides, he’s always served me faithfully. It’s a long story; I’ll tell it to you sometime.”

  After we left the cathedral, I showed the Dragon Goddess around the rest of Brakith.

  “Is that a Charm temple I see over there?” Yumo-Rezu pointed at an elegant pink temple.