“See you on the other side, Anna,” I said, smiling, and then I stabbed Grave Oath into her heart.
Her eyes bulged in their sockets, and she let out a sharp gasp of both shock and pain, before her eyes closed, her head lolled on her neck, and her body became limp as she died in my arms. I was ready, though; before Grave Oath could suck out her soul, I had already plucked Lucielle’s soul from the Sea of Souls and grabbed some life essence from my heart. Like a master alchemist I combined these elements, forcing them all into Anna’s dead heart, which surged back to life, pumping fresh energy through her body.
Her eyes flickered open, and I saw right away that she was no longer just Anna. There was someone else there too, in those gorgeous eyes, someone far, far older than Anna.
“Welcome back, Lucielle,” I said.
“You chose a perfect body for me, Vance,” she said. “For us, I mean. I’m still Anna, but I’m also…this is confusing, this is really weird. But I like it!”
“I like it too, Anna-Lucielle. Anna, you’re a goddess now. And Lucielle, well, you’re Anna.”
“I may be a deity now,” Anna-Lucielle purred, a seductive look glowing in her eyes, “but I still desire to worship you in any way you want me to, Vance.”
“There’ll be plenty of time for that,” I said, “but first, there’s something I need to do. Who here knows how to use this Tear of Light to permanently demolish this shithole?”
Rami-Xayon walked up to me. Before speaking to me, she gave Lucielle a nod, and an intense look passed between them. She then turned to me.
“I do, Vance,” she said. “You must cast the Tear of Light into the heart of this evil place: the center of the pool of blood. The tear will be destroyed, but so will the Temple of Blood—forever.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I said. “I’m tired of lugging this thing around anyway. Everyone, stand back! This place is about to blow!”
My party took the freed captives to safety outside the temple, until only I remained, gripping the Tear of Light.
“I win, Blood God,” I growled, staring at the foul pool of blood. “And this won’t be my first victory either. First I’m going to destroy every last one of your temples…and then I’m going to rip you apart, and crush you under my heel like the bug you are. Screw the technicalities for now. Even if it’s never been done before, even if it’s supposedly impossible—I vow I will transfer your soul into a bug’s body and crush you under my heel, nice and slow. Maybe I’ll play around with you a little first, too. Suck on this!”
I tossed the Tear of Light into the center of the pool. It disappeared into the blood with a plop, and for a moment nothing happened. And then the ground started to shake. First there were tremors, but then the shaking turned into something like a full-blown earthquake, which became increasingly violent. The walls and pillars that had remained started to crumble and collapse, and a bright white light blazed out from the center of the pool. The blood began to bubble and boil, seething furiously, and red mist rose from the pool as the liquid hissed.
There was a tremendous boom and everything was bathed in blinding white light. For a few seconds I was blinded, but when my vision returned, I saw something extraordinary: nothing; everything was gone. There was no pool, no pillars, no walls, just a crater where it had all stood, and rubble everywhere. And what was more, I could sense that no power, evil or otherwise, remained in this place. It was all gone—and good riddance.
I walked away from the ruins and joined my party and my new worshipers.
“My work here is done,” I said, dusting my hands off, “but there’s still a long road ahead. The Blood God doesn’t rest, and he doesn’t sleep—so I won’t either.”
I glanced down at my uncle’s severed head, still tied by his beard to my belt. It was over between me and him now. I’d had my vengeance, and I needed to move on.
I untied the head and dropped it to the ground. It could rot here, along with the rest of these vile ruins. Before I turned to leave, though, an idea for a final goodbye materialized.
“Drok,” I said, “you don’t happen to have an urgent need to take a dump right now, do you?”
Drok grinned and nodded. “Drok can shit!” he exclaimed with glee.
I pointed at my uncle’s head. “Cover this ugly thing up, will you? Let us enjoy our victory with only beautiful things in sight.”
As me, my party, and my new followers walked off into the rising sun, Drok the barbarian lifted his kilt, squatted over Rodrick’s severed head, and unleashed hell.
End of Book 3Want more Bone Lord novels?
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About the Author
Dante King is an author of Men’s Adventure fiction in various flavors. His books involve strong male protagonists who know what they want and do what’s required to get it.
You can connect with him at DanteKingAuthor.com
