Yumo’s personality temporarily came to the fore of the goddess-enjarta combination as she commented on this revelation.
“Fuck me sideways, Vance, you’re saying that the holiest city in all of Prand is where the Blood Pyramid is? I’ve never been there, but I find it a little strange that, like, nobody noticed that there was this big ol’ evil pyramid in the middle of the city…”
“That’s because it’s not in the city,” I answered with a wry grin. “It’s under it. Luminescent Spires is only a few hundred years old; it’s one of the newest cities in Prand. And it’s built on a weirdly symmetrical hill—a hill so geometric in its dimensions that it almost seemed man-made. I remember noticing it the first time I went to Luminescent Spires, back when I was a dumb kid hoping to become a Consecrated Knight. The huge hill looked totally unnatural; no hill in nature looks that perfect, that even. There’s nowhere else in Prand quite like it; it’s gotta be the site of the Blood Pyramid. By the time the Church of Light started construction on Luminescent Spires, the pyramid would have been covered in dirt and vegetation after hundreds of years of being abandoned. Maybe they didn’t know the pyramid was there, and the latent evil that lingered there slowly corrupted them, or maybe they did know, and took a chance and built their city there anyway. Either way, I’m one hundred percent certain that the ‘holiest’ city in Prand is built directly on top of the evilest site in the world. And I’m equally certain that the mortal head of the Church is now the Blood God’s High Priest.”
“Everything you’ve said makes sense, but there’s one thing I don’t quite understand,” Yumo-Rezu said. “A thousand years ago, everyone in Prand knew about the Blood God. His power was the greatest threat to mankind the world had ever known. It took my dragons and the heroes Kemji and Uger to defeat him, along with a huge and bloody war. People said they’d never forget, and never allow the Blood God to rise again … yet a few hundred years later they not only forgot, they built a city on top of the site of his former power.”
I chuckled bitterly and shook my head. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short time here, it’s that people have short, selective memories. You don’t need to be a god to understand that. Mortals are doomed to allow history to repeat itself over and over again, with their short-sightedness and greed.”
“Then you know that there’s only one way to truly stop the Blood God now, and from ever rising again,” Yumo-Rezu said.
“Yeah, I do,” I said grimly. “It’s a responsibility I never asked for, but one that sits squarely on my shoulders now. I have to do whatever it takes to destroy the Blood God and everything linked to him forever.”
We sat in silence for a while on the mountainside, staring out at the sharp, snowcapped peaks beyond, extending all the way to the edge of the bright, starry sky, looking like the ridged spine of some titanic primeval creature.
“I can feel it,” Yumo-Rezu eventually murmured into the icy night breeze.
“Feel what?” I asked.
“The dragon skeleton.” Her long, silky black hair rippled in the wind and whipped across her beautiful face as she stood up. “Your Jotunn have brought it up from its ice prison. I must feel the bones of one of my dragons with these hands of flesh I now possess. I long to trace my fingertips across those rough, spiky scales again, to see the fire in those near-immortal eyes, to feel the dragon’s heartbeat booming like a thousand deep drums … for a thousand years I’ve been separated from my dragons, and I’ve felt like a warrior who’s lost his sword arm. But now, God of Death, you will be able to resurrect what was lost, and reunite me with my dragons.”
“Just one dragon, I’m afraid,” I said, “but that’s better than zero, right? And I sure as hell can’t wait to see a living, breathing dragon either, and see what one of them can do when I’m wearing my Dragon Gauntlets.”
“Be careful, Vance,” Yumo-Rezu said, a mischievous glint sparkling in her almond-colored eyes. “The power you can wield when you’re master of a dragon is beyond addictive.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, Yumo-Rezu.” I grinned. “I’ve learned a thing or two about how to handle immense power over the last few months. I think I’m good. And speaking of that, I have a feeling there’s a new skill waiting for me on the Gray Sentinel. Before I go there, let’s take a look at these dragon bones. We still have to get them out of the mountains and back to my ships.”
A look of worry came across Yumo-Rezu’s face when I mentioned the ships, and she narrowed her eyes, staring intently off into the distance.
“What are you looking at?” I asked.
“I’m just remembering something I saw last night. Well, something I couldn’t quite see clearly last night, but can see now, since we’re closer to Gongxiong Harbor. Oh no, this doesn’t look good at all.”
“What?”
She peered off into the distance with her dragon eyes, shook her head and let out a slow sigh of worry.
“There was indeed a fire in the harbor, as I suspected,” she said. “And it looks like almost every ship was burned to ashes, and sunk … including your ships, Vance. I hate to break this to you, but you and your army might be stuck in Yeng.”
Chapter Four
“A fire in the harbor?” I asked. “Burned ships? Why didn’t you say anything yesterday?”
“I couldn’t get a clear enough view of what was happening,” Yumo-Rezu replied. “From the Warlock’s tower, all I could see was a blurry orange glow. I didn’t want to cause an unnecessary panic. I’m also guessing that what I saw was
