The king tilted its head.
Just slightly.
As if curious.
As if amused.
CRRRRRKKK…
Its arms began to rise.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Outward.
Wide.
Not to attack.
To welcome.
To command.
To claim.
It stood in that cruciform posture;
The bone crown towering.
The mask staring.
The yellow eyes burning.
And its voice returned.
Low.
Ancient.
Unnatural.
"Vel'karith… thren sol'vayen…"
The mist trembled.
The ground answered.
"Mor'eth kaldrin… vel… thaaaaa..."
CRRRRRRRRRKKKKK!
Bones moved.
Right in front of him.
A pile.
Broken ribs.
Cracked skull.
Detached fingers.
They began to pull together.
SCRRRRRAPE…
A spine dragged itself across the dirt.
Fingers snapped into place.
CLICK.
CLICK.
CLICK.
The skull rolled;
and stopped.
Facing them.
Its jaw trembled.
KRRRRRRR…
Then;
It rose.
Not standing.
Assembling.
Its ribs wrapped inward.
Its spine straightened.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
Behind it;
More piles answered.
More bones.
More movement.
More rising.
An army being remembered.
"NO!" Thalia yelled.
FWIPPP!
Her arrow tore through the air;
It struck one of the forming skeletons before it could stand.
THHRRRKKK!
For one frozen instant;
It existed.
Then;
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Light erupted.
The half-formed skeleton exploded apart.
Bone fragments blasted backward into the mist.
The king did not move.
Did not flinch.
Did not care.
Its arms remained raised.
And the spell continued.
"Vel'karith…"
CRRRRRKKKK!
More skeletons rose.
Too many.
Too fast.
Mauris moved.
"MOVE!" he roared.
He charged.
Forward.
Straight at them.
Straight at death.
His spear lowered.
A skeleton lunged into his path;
He didn't slow.
He spun the spear in a brutal arc.
SSSHHHHHHHRRAAAKKK!
The blade smashed through its ribs.
The glowing core split;
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion burst against his armor;
He ran through it.
Through the light.
Through the fragments.
Another skeleton rose in front of him;
Mauris stepped forward and thrust.
THHRRRRRKKKK!
The spear punched through its chest.
He ripped it free;
Spun
And swung the shaft like a hammer.
CRAAAAAAAAACK!
The next skeleton's skull shattered.
It staggered;
Too slow.
Mauris reversed his grip;
And drove the spear forward again.
THHRRRKKK!
BOOOOOOOM!
Bone fragments blasted across his face.
He didn't blink.
Didn't stop.
Didn't retreat.
He became momentum.
He became force.
He became war.
Behind him;
More skeletons rose.
Ahead of him;
The king stood waiting.
Still chanting.
Still summoning.
Still watching.
And Mauris charged straight toward him anyway.
Frauner moved.
His left foot slammed into the earth.
THUD!
The ground cracked beneath the force;
and he exploded forward.
A sprint.
A blur.
A promise of violence.
A skeleton lunged into his path;
Frauner's sword came alive.
SSSSSHHHHHHHLAAAAAANG!
He swung in a wide semicircle.
Steel sang.
Bone screamed.
Three skeletons froze;
Then;
BOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOM!
They exploded apart behind him as he ran through their deaths.
He didn't look back.
He sprinted toward the king.
Toward the crown.
Toward the end.
Ahead;
Mauris was already carving a path.
Frauner reached him within seconds.
Side by side.
Warriors aligned.
A skeleton leaped between them;
Mauris thrust.
THHRRRKKK!
Frauner slashed.
SSSHHHHLANG!
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
They moved as one.
Step.
Kill.
Step.
Kill.
Closing the distance.
Behind them;
Leah looked at Thalia.
Her voice steady.
"Shall we go?"
Thalia smiled.
Not fear.
Not doubt.
Something sharper.
Her lips moved.
Silent.
Ancient.
Her arrow turned crimson.
Not glowing.
Bleeding light.
She pulled the string.
Released.
FWAAAAAAAAANG!
The arrow tore into the sky;
And multiplied.
One became two.
Two became five.
Five became ten.
Ten crimson streaks screamed toward the Bone King.
The king saw.
And smiled.
His voice answered instantly.
Faster.
Sharper.
More violent.
"Kar'veth ossaryn…
Vel mor'theum…
OS VARAKK NETHRA!"
The ground obeyed.
CRRRRRRRRRKKKKKK!
The piles of bones in front of him rose;
Stacking..
Locking..
Binding...
A wall formed.
A shield of the dead.
The arrows struck.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Explosions shattered the bone wall;
Fragments blasted outward;
but not all stopped.
Three arrows pierced through.
They screamed toward him
The king moved.
His left foot pushed off the air itself;
THOOM!
He jumped backward.
Floating.
Falling.
Bones scattering around him like orbiting moons.
The three arrows followed.
Closer.
Closer;
He stretched both hands forward.
Horizontal.
Palms open.
The arrows stopped.
Frozen.
Mid-air.
Vibrating violently.
SCREEEEEEEEEE!
The king drifted backward slowly.
Suspended.
Untouchable.
His yellow eyes burned brighter.
His palms moved closer together.
Not touching the arrows.
Touching the force.
Controlling it.
CRRRRRRKKKK!
The invisible pressure increased.
The arrows trembled harder.
Cracks formed.
Light leaked out.
He rotated his palms inward.
Closed the space.
Crushed the air itself.
KRRRRRRRRRKKKKK!
The arrows shattered.
CHHHHHTTTTTTT!
Fragments of crimson light exploded into dust.
Gone.
The king lowered his hands.
Still floating.
Still watching.
Still smiling behind the bone mask.
Ahead of him;
Frauner and Mauris were coming.
Fast.
Relentless.
Unstoppable.
And the distance between kings and mortals;
Was almost gone.
Bones exploded outward.
Fragments spun through the mist.
White shrapnel.
Dust of the dead.
And through that storm;
Frauner and Mauris emerged.
Walking through the scattering remains like warriors stepping out of a collapsing world.
Ahead;
The king descended.
He landed on one foot.
THOK.
Balanced.
Perfect.
Then his second foot touched the ground behind him.
Slow.
Controlled.
His yellow eyes never left them.
Frauner didn't hesitate.
He stepped in;
And swung.
A killing strike.
SSSSSHHHHHHLAAAAAANG!
The king's right hand dropped lazily to his side.
His fingers curled.
As if gripping an invisible throat.
His voice whispered:
"Vel'oss karven… morrath sevek…"
The ground answered.
CRRRRRRRRKKKK!
Bones at his feet snapped upward;
Spines bending;
Ribs locking;
They assembled mid-air.
Forming;
A sickle.
Curved.
Jagged.
Alive.
The king turned;
Dropped to one knee
And raised it.
CLAAAAANG!
Frauner's sword struck the bone sickle;
Stopped.
Held.
Frozen inches from the king's mask.
The impact screamed through the forest.
At the same moment;
His left hand dropped.
His fingers curled again.
Another whisper:
"Threx ossivar… kel mor'kai…"
CRRRRRRKKKKK!
More bones rose.
Fused
Formed.
A second sickle.
Mauris was already airborne.
He leaped;
Body twisting;
Spear slashing sideways toward the king's skull;
The king didn't look.
He lifted the second sickle.
CLAAAAAAAAANG!
The spear stopped.
Steel and bone locked.
Face to face.
King.
Warriors.
Silence;
Then;
The king moved.
A slight shift of his knee.
A small push.
But the force;
Was absolute!
THOOM!
He spun backward.
Both sickles twisting with him;
Frauner and Mauris lost balance;
Their weapons ripped from guard;
SLAM!
Both sword and spear smashed into the ground.
The king flipped.
Landed on both feet.
Silent.
Untouched.
He lifted both sickles.
And rubbed them together.
CLIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGG…
The sound was wrong.
Not metal.
Not bone.
Something deeper.
A scream of friction.
Sparks of pale yellow energy bled from the contact.
FWIPP!
An arrow screamed toward him.
The king spun.
Effortless.
One sickle flashed;
SSSHHHHT!
The arrow split in half.
Both pieces fell harmlessly.
He spread his arms.
Both sickles outward.
Low.
Predatory.
Attacking stance.
Behind him;
Frauner and Mauris recovered.
They planted their left feet.
Pushed.
THUD!
And charged again.
Behind them;
Thalia loaded another arrow;
Her lips moved.
Silent.
Focused.
Ancient
A skeleton lunged at her from the mist;
Leah moved first.
SSSSSHHHHHHLAAAAAANG!
Her blade cut through its glowing heart;
BOOOOOOOOM!
She spun with the explosion;
Bone fragments spiraling around her;
Hair whipping;
Eyes locked on the king.
Henry stayed close to Thalia.
Dagger ready.
Breathing hard.
Protecting her.
Guarding hope.
Ahead;
The king slowly brought the sickles together again.
CLIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG…
The sound echoed.
Across mist.
Across bone.
Across fear.
And the Bone King waited.
Ready to reap.