Book 4, epilogue

Tarnival AL Tenereau, hadn't left his little library in few eons. And today that would change. His hidden chamber warped as he unleashed his presence on the universe. The dense rippled made the air tremble, as the world river bowed down to his power.

The library shuddered and the maze warped, as it was sucked back into his inner world. Millions of books rattled of their shelves and simply vanished into thin air as the roofs peeled away.

One moment he was deep underground, and the next he was high up in the smoky sky.

The world core already gone, and Tartana was dying. 

The city that had been his home was on fire, burning to ground by the invading armies. He stared upon the cratered wasteland of Verdant detachment, noting that most of the native population were dead by now. The city was covered in a haze of miasma, falling towards the depths of death.

There was no point in staying around now. Tar had no desire to meddle in the affairs of the undead, nor the purgatory church. Turning his eyes towards the sky, he let his aura trickle out.

Ahh, time to get out and stretch his legs a bit. The sky darkened, and mass earthquakes spread across Tartana as a ritual spread across the sky.

Uncaring of the damage he was causing, Tar simple stepped through the gate as it opened. He still had no desire to involve himself with the inhabitants of this place but he felt obligated. 

His little disciple was rather fond of some of the people on a little rock known as Iztara, and he had sort of promised to help them. 

It sounded like such a pain in the ass to actually reveal himself to save the planet. Doing this was going to cause him all sorts of problems, but then again, it might be about time for his return. It might be time for him to return and claim his seat of power.

With all that in mind, he appeared above the planet known as Iztara with a simple gate ritual.

It was pretty easy to find the place, especially since he left a small ritual on that white haired swords woman had come here once after she threaten to burn his library.

He was half tempted to explode the star and wipe out the planet in retaliation for that threat, but held himself back. That would be in violation of his agreement, and Tarnival never broke his word.

He glanced down at the green and brown marble like sphere. What a shithole. The planets core was only early E grade, with a energy source so weak spiritual herbs could barely grow. Was this even worth the energy expenditure? No, no it was not. 

He glanced around spotting another celestial object relatively close. Ahh, one of the moons, that should do. 

Tar cracked his neck, and began. With a flick of his wrist the moon shattered into Trillion's of pieces. Such an explosion would have normally wiped out all life on the planet below, but not today. 

A ritual formed around the ball of expanding debris, trapping it, robbing its energy. This was the law of balance. To transport one thing, he needed power, and since it was a planet, he needed a lot of power.

A ritual spread out from him, wrapping the planet below in a protective mesh, blanketing the sky in thick strands of power. To those below, the transport might be a bit rough, but he didn't particularly care.

Both himself, and the planet vanished, leaving behind a violent spatial storm. Relocating a planet wasn't as simple as just moving it somewhere else.

Finding a compatible star system, with the right balance of celestial objects was the biggest chore. It needed a relatively stable star first of all. Next, it probably needed at least one gas giant in the outer system to shield the planet from asteroids, comets and other debris.

With his parameter's set, he did some searching, where he used a ritual to scans over ten thousand star systems in the desolate Caldren straights.

After a while, he found one that was suitable. Nobody lived anywhere within at least a thousand lightyears, so the people would be safe from invasion. Might be hard for them to find trading partners, but that wasn't his problem. 

Neither was the undead, or the aintar that were already on planet. There were only about thirty thousand of them in total, and none were above E grade. If they worked together, it should be pretty easy for the millions of locals to deal with.

 Sure they might complain about having two stars instead of one, but they would just have to deal with it. Having full filled his part of the agreement, Tarnival wiped his hands of the whole thing.

Now, that he was done with his chores, it was time. He turned his gaze to the stary sky, towards the vast emptiness of space. 

It was time to return and reclaim his throne. It was time for him to reclaim his title as the Heaven Fall Patriarch, and get revenge on all the factions who stabbed him in the back all those years ago. 

******

Zee awoke with a start. She blinked furiously, but the gloom around her refused to disperse.

Groaning, she sat up, raising her hand in front of her eyes. 

The fog in the air was so thick she could hardly see the dirt on her palms. There was a disturbance to her side as someone moved. 

"Whose there," Zee asked, reaching for her sword which was thankfully sheathed at her belt.

A chilling aura of death washed over her, before quickly retreating. 

"It's me," the bone lord replied.

Zee couldn't believe she was still alive. She pushed that mystery aside as she tried, and failed to pierce the gloomy darkness with her eyes.

"Where are we," Zee asked, clenching the hilt of her sword tightly.

The bone lord laughed, and she could hear his smile.

"We are in the death chasms. This is where the Terlashar sends our criminals to die. There is only one way out, which we have placed in the depths. If the criminal makes it, they are pardoned of all crimes, and accepted back into the Terlashar," the bone lord said conversationally. 

"That doesn't sound so bad, grandpa will come and get me," Zee replied.

He laughed again. 

"Julian will not come to save you. We have struck a bargain. I am allowed to do whatever I want with you for the next two years. Julian is a realist, he will understand if you are too weak, and die during the training," The bone lord replied.

"You are lying," Zee replied uncertainly. 

He snorted. "Believe whatever you want. Just keep in mind that no one is coming to save you. There is only one exit, and that's in the depths of the chasms. Whether you make it out alive or not is up to you," the bone lord said. 

"How do I find the exit? I can barely see my hands in front of my face," Zee said. 

"That's what makes this place so fun. If the monsters don't get you, then getting lost in the labyrinth will," 

"Monsters?" She asked. 

His raspy laugh echoed off the tunnel walls. "Oh yes, this place is infested with them. They range from E-grade beasts to a late-stage beast king in the depths. I would advise you to stay away from that one, it's far beyond you," he replied. 

Zee swore. There was a monster at the peak of D grade in here? This bone lord was insane. The sharp clack of claws on stone echoed up the tunnel.

Zee's heart skipped a beat as two bug-like monsters entered the range of her spatial ripple skill, moving fast. They had long curved claws and rows of teeth that dripped with venom, with each of them releasing a fierce aura. 

The bone lord let out a chilling laugh. "Well, looks like you are busy. I best get going, I have some worlds to conquer, and people to convert. I will be back to pick you up in two years, if you haven't made it to the exit by then I will assume you have died," the bone lord said. With that his presence vanished, leaving behind the cold chill of death. 

Zee didn't have time to complain about the unfairness of her situation. The monsters were upon her in seconds, throwing themselves at her with brutal ferocity. All she could do was fight back and unleash her pent-up anger on the wildlife.