The Bone Lord

When Oliver came too, he lay in the earthen den, disoriented and stiff. The scent that had overwhelmed him was still there but much less thick. He felt the gentle weight on his chest as he lay on his back. Forcing his eyes open, he found the female creature from earlier sleeping, her head nestled in the nape of his neck. Oliver tried to shift gently but the vines that seemed to have sprouted from her body tightened around him.

“You’re sooo warm,” she murmured. “Do you have to go? I want to sleep more.”

“Who are you?” he finally managed, his voice barely a whisper.

“Kallen,” she replied softly, her voice lilting like a breeze through the trees. “The least you can do to repay me for saving you is let me have more of your body heat.”

Her luminescent eyes slipped closed after a yawn and her rhythmic breathing told Oliver she had gone back to sleep. He glanced at her, her slender figure glowing faintly in the dim light of the den, her ivy-like skin and vine-like hair shimmering like the forest itself.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice stronger now. “But I need to get back to my friend.” Is Lilith my friend?

Kallen’s eyes blinked slowly open again. “But I’m still sleepy.”

“I’m supposed to see the Bone Lord?” With that name, Kallen seemed to be wide awake and her vines loosened.

“I do not wish to anger the Dread Skull of Breach Between, no matter how cozy you are.”

The girl released him, the warmth of her embrace fading. He scrambled to his feet, shaking off the remnants of drowsiness as he made his way back up the muddy incline. She followed behind him slowly. The rain had let up, leaving the air fresh and cool, and he could hear the distant sound of rushing water, a comforting murmur amidst the eerie quiet of the forest. The moon was silver yet again.

Oliver spotted Lilith frantically looking around, her violet eyes wide with worry. The moment she saw him, a mixture of relief and exasperation washed over her face.

“There you are! I was sure the trees got you,” she exclaimed throwing herself into his arms.

The tree getting him? They were going to talk about that later.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks to her.”

Lilith looked to where Oliver was pointing and in the deep darkness of the den, the green luminous eyes of Kallen stared back, the rest of her form shrouded in darkness.

“Uh…that’s a Wicker Maiden,” Lilith said gently tugging him away.

“Thank you again, Kallen,” Oliver said politely giving the creature a wave. “I hope to meet you again.”

“No, you don’t want that,” Lilith said as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Why?”

Lilith did not answer. They got back to the path and found Misty floating right where they had left her, tits and ass on display for the world to see.

“You just…floated here?” Oliver asked.

“I am a ghost. The forest cannot feed on me.”

Good point.

***

Eventually, they arrived at a sprawling estate, its facade a mix of grandeur and decay. Towering stone gargoyles perched on the roof, their grotesque faces seeming to leer down at Oliver as he approached. The estate was both beautiful and terrifying, like a forgotten relic of a darker time. It was the only place he had seen where the trees appeared to be trying to get away from the stone wall that surrounded this house, the limbs and trunks bending away.

“Wow.”

“Right? Let’s get inside before those gargoyles decide to take a bite out of us,” Lilith urged, her eyes darting nervously at the statues.

They crossed the threshold, entering a grand hall with high ceilings and chandeliers that seemed to flicker like distant stars. The air was thick with the scent of old wood and a hint of something metallic. Oliver felt a shiver of anticipation, the kind he’d always craved while exploring abandoned places. That was fighting his urge to go home.

At the far end of the hall stood what Oliver could only guess as the Bone Lord. He was an imposing figure, a twelve-foot skeleton clad in ornate robes, his skull glimmering with gold plating. He towered over them, his empty eye sockets seeming to glow with an eerie light.

“Ah, Lilith,” he rumbled in annoyance. “Are you here to tell me you have pissed off yet another denizen of the Breach Between.”

“No,” Lilith said coloring up.

“Good. I will only do so many favors for your mother. My patience grows thin with your antics. You are close to be saddled with the expense you have caused me. You’ll have to spend years in the brothels to earn enough Grave Dust to pay back my coffers.”

Lilith’s eyes went wide as her hands instinctively covered her bottom.

“This is Oliver Fairchild,” Lilith began, but the Bone Lord waved her off.

“I have no time for trivialities,” he said, his voice like gravel. “I am in consultation with my iron generals about the northern issue. If you haven’t screwed up my kingdom, then it can wait.”

Oliver swallowed hard, anxiety knotting his stomach. He was already feeling like an intruder in this world, and the dismissive tone of the Bone Lord only intensified that sensation.

“Wait? No, please,” he blurted out, desperation creeping into his voice. “I need your help. I’m being hunted by a Pale Wraith.”

The Bone Lord’s empty eye sockets narrowed, and he turned his attention to Oliver, the air thickening with tension. “The Pale Wraith? It only seeks those who do not belong.”

The giant skeleton’s eyes turned to look at Lilith. “What did you do?”

“He’s a mortal who came over with me,” she said meekly. “And he wants to go home.”

The Skeleton gave a wave of irritation with his hand. “The simpler solution is to just feed him to the Pale Wraith. Take him.”

The sharp talons of Gargoyles that appeared at his side grabbed him and yanked him viciously off his feet and began to drag him back the way he came.

“No!” Lilith shrieked trying to pull a gargoyle off of him. “You can’t do that! He’s… he’s my trophy!”

“You are the fool who did not go through the proper channels. This is on you.”

The Bone Lord turned away back to the floating energy portals that Oliver had fail to notice earlier. Voices came from it as hey talked.

“We must send someone to pacify her,” the Bone Lord had said. “If not, she will begin to terrorize our norther flanks again and we cannot deal with enough incursion.”

“I’ll go!” Oliver yelled out. The giant skeleton turned to him startled, which caused the gargoyles to stop dragging him.

“What was that?”

“I’ll go. I mean, it’s better than where I’m going now. Maybe I can help?”

“How?”

“This person doesn’t sound like a friend. Maybe they’ll respond differently if they’re approached by someone like me. It caught you off guard.”

“Hmmm,” The Bone Lord thought, its skeleton fingers stroking it’s non existent chin. “That could buy some time. What do you want in return?”

“Send me home.”

The air was silent for a moment and then it nodded.

“Deal.”