“I want to ask you something,” I said.
“. . . yes?” She raised an eyebrow, and her eyes narrowed. A small smile flittered across her face. “Are you sure this is the right place? Or even the right time?”
She thought I was going to ask her to fuck me. Unfortunately, she was right. Now was neither the time nor the place.
I laughed. “Are you jealous at all that your twin sister got to become a living goddess?”
Yumo sighed. “Jealous doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she said sadly. “Rami left home a year ago and came back a fucking goddess. Me, I stayed, and look where it got me! Hell, I’m not even Fated, I’m just a regular enjarta. I’d give anything to have what Rami has.”
“How’d you like to become a living goddess? And not just any goddess, the Dragon Goddess, one of the most powerful deities who’s ever existed.”
“Seriously? You’d do that for me? I’ll do anything you want me to, pay whatever price you ask. I’d give anything, Vance.”
“Are you willing to give your heart, body, and soul for it?” I asked.
Before she could answer, Isu walked in holding two things: one was a small sparrow note, and the other was a leather pouch.
“Before you do anything, you need to see what I found,” Isu said to me.
“What’s in the pouch?” I asked.
“Whatever you do, don’t touch it,” Isu said.
She turned the pouch upside down, and a large red jewel dropped out. I could sense a deep, powerful evil radiating from it.
“A Blood Jewel,” Isu said softly. “This is what the Warlock must have found when he was just a cheap street magician. It gives the wielder immense power in whatever form of magic they choose, but as it gives them power it corrupts their mind and soul and turns them into a slave to the Blood God.”
“That explains a lot,” I said.
Isu reached down with the leather pouch, taking care not to let the Blood Jewel touch her skin, then she scooped the evil thing back into the pouch and pulled the drawstring tight. After that, she handed me the sparrow note:
We gave you your powers, and you owe us everything, you worm. The fool Vance Chauzec has proven to be more dangerous than I thought. He has left me dismembered and destroyed all of my portals. I am now trapped in Prand and cannot leave here until the portals are restored. Regardless, I achieved most of what I wanted in Yeng. It is up to you to defeat Vance now. Do whatever it takes to destroy him and his army. Do not let him leave Yeng alive.
Yours in the Crimson Depths
-Illustrious Servant of the Blood God
“This must be from the Hooded Man.” I crumpled the note into a ball and tossed it aside. “I’ll find this asshole and finish what I started with him.”
“Vance,” Yumo said. “I’ve thought about it, and I’m ready. I’m ready to sacrifice my mind, body, and soul to become a living goddess. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than this. Please, give it to me.”
“Come a little closer,” I said, turning slightly to the side and quietly drawing Grave Oath from its sheath. “This might sting a little, but the pain will only be temporary.”
Before Yumo could say anything else, I slammed Grave Oath into her heart. She gasped, thrashed against the inevitability of her own demise, and flopped into my arms, dead. It was only for a fleeting moment, though. Resurrecting long-dead goddesses had become almost as simple now as raising a regular zombie or a skeleton.
Within seconds I’d shot up into the Sea of Souls, plucked the Dragon Goddess’s lost soul from the cosmos, and shoved it into Yumo’s beautiful young body, merging it with her heart, mind, and soul.
“Yumo, open your eyes,” I said. “You’re alive … again. But you’re not just Yumo anymore. You’re Yumo—wait, what is the Dragon Goddess’s name?”
“I am Rezu,” she said. “But I am also Yumo—Yumo-Rezu.”
“Welcome back, Yumo-Rezu,” I said, giving her a bow and a charming smile.
“She lives!” Ji-Ko exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down like a child who’d gobbled too many candies. “The Dragon Goddess lives! No one would speak it, for fear of dishonoring it. Then, after so long, it was forgotten. But now my ears, a Blind Monk’s ears, have heard it! Praise be Yumo-Rezu, the Dragon Goddess!”
“I’ve been gone for a thousand years,” Yumo-Rezu said slowly, looking around her in both awe and sadness. “It’s good to be back, but what has become of my temple? Why is it in ruins? What’s that awful smell?”
“It’ll take a while for your memories and consciousness to merge with Yumo’s,” I said. “But when it does, you’ll know everything you need to know about this time period and what’s happened. I can tell you this, though: the defiling of your temple has been done by servants of the Blood God.”
“The Blood God.”An expression of pure rage crossed her face. “That foul creature did this?”
“This, and a lot worse,” I said. “Countless innocents have been slaughtered because of him.”
“I will have my vengeance on that putrid demon for what he’s done,” Yumo-Rezu said. “Whatever the cost, I will make him pay.”
This was exactly what I’d been hoping to hear. I took her hands and gripped them tightly.
“And I promise you,” I said, “if you work with me, you’ll have it.”
“It will take a resurrected dragon to truly destroy the Blood God once and for all,” Yumo-Rezu said. “Find me what I need, and I will give you one.”
“I think I almost have,” I said. “Just one more ingredient: an embalmed dragon heart.”
Her wrathful expression became one of determination. “Then there is no time to waste … we have a dragon to resurrect and an ancient god to kill.”
End of Book 4Want the next Bone Lord novel?
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