Chapter 10 – “The Empire of Bones”

Chapter 10 – “The Empire of Bones”
Arc II: Universe D-099X – The Dinoverse
The capital shimmered in the distance—a monolithic skeleton of civilization, built atop fossilized ruins. Towers shaped like spines, banners flapping like stretched skin. Fires burned without smoke. No sun here, only a red sky and the metallic scent of blood.
From a jagged cliff above, three shadows watched.
“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” Red muttered.
Darkeran growled. “We’re not in anywhere anymore.”
Blackstorm raised his binoculars. What he saw chilled even him—rows of reptilian soldiers, clad in bone-forged armor, training with brutal discipline. Each strike cracked stone. Each war cry shook the wind.
“They train like berserkers,” he whispered. “But that’s not all. Look over there—”
He pointed toward a shimmering dome—a biotech lab, pulsing with green energy.
Inside: spliced organs, mutated eggs, cyber-enhanced hatchlings suspended in fluid tanks.
Red whistled. “They’re not just soldiers. They’re experimenting on their own biology... this empire’s evolving like a virus.”
Darkeran clenched his fist. “They’re breeding monsters. But they weren’t always like this...”
Blackstorm turned to him. “Then what changed?”
Darkeran didn’t answer. He only stared toward the central tower, carved from a dinosaur skull the size of a fortress.
“Something darker rules them now.”

---

Back at the Village – Secrets Unearthed
The women gathered wood silently.
The air was heavy. Drier. Unsafe.
Then the ground rumbled.
The two dinosaur scouts approached again—leering, cruel, armored in crimson fangs.
“We want more,” one hissed. “Two girls. Or we share your location with the Emperor.”
The villagers fell silent.
But the old woman beside the well trembled—and then snapped.
“No more lies! No more sacrifices!”
Everyone turned.
She tore off her head covering—revealing deep scars on her back.
“I survived. I heard the others scream! My daughter died in those claws!”
Darkeran’s mother fell to her knees. Tears. Shame.
“I—I just wanted to protect him…”
---
Back to the Capital – Data Recovered
Inside the research wing, Blackstorm uploaded blueprints to a crystal-drive. Cyber-venom, plasma-forged talons, neurological implants—they were planning to turn their soldiers into weapons of mass conquest.
“I don’t like this,” Red whispered. “This is more advanced than half the cyber-planets I’ve seen.”
“They’re planning something,” Blackstorm said. “And I think we’re late.”
Just then—
Darkeran went still.
A sharp breath. Eyes wide.
He heard something.
No… he felt it.
A dream—echoing. A scream. His mother. A girl.
And a whisper from across time:
> “They hid it from you... they feared what you’d become.”

---
End Scene: Return & Rage
They returned to the village just before dusk.
Darkeran walked ahead.
He looked around—at the silence. At the women not meeting his eyes. At the way his parents stood, too still, too pale.
Then he looked at the old woman.
And finally, his father stepped forward.
“I’m sorry, son... we failed you.”
Darkeran’s jaw tightened.
Then a single word:
> “Who?”

© 2025 Darklord Yuvraj. All Rights Reserved.