Bones

Reaching a mountain cliff near the shore Scorge changed back to his scarecrow form and looked out into the horizon. The strong sea currents created dozens of whirlpools, making the red sea even more intimidating than it already is. And to top it off, a 30-meter half-rotten shark sprang out of the water with, what could only be described with, a 10-meter large human jellyfish, between its mouth.

"We finally arrived. This is our next stop. We will cross the sea of flesh and damnations." said Scorge with a nostalgic look on his face.

"..." Raas blanked and pointed his tail at the sea. "And how should we do that."

"With a boat of course," said Scorge as if Raas just asked him the most obvious question.

Wendy was silently watching them bicker back and forth, "How is a boat going to survive that!"

"Are you dumb, I know you reincarnated not even two months ago, but come on. We have magic!"

"NO U! And you are just going to pull out a magical boat or what?"

"In fact yes, I am just going to pull a magic boat out!"

"..."

"..."

"Then do it."

...

"I was lying. I don´t have a magical boat, but imagine, that would have been pretty awesome."

"... yes, it would be pretty awesome..."

"Ok all jokes aside, we are really going to cross it by boat. There is a city not too far from here. We are going in, buy a triple armored mana-powered air sailor. We can´t stay long in the city, the people here are more vicious and shrewd than those sewerage dwellers. They will take any chance to eat, kidnap, or just plain murder you. I am always amazed that "civilization", if we can even call it that, exists in this realm."

"How far is this city?"

"About an hour away, if we hurry."

With a nod, they started their journey towards the city.

Raas sat as usually on Wendy´s head, and Scorge was flying high above them scouting ahead and killing all the monsters that are in the way. "How is the citylike, or how can even something like that exists here?" asked Raas not wanting to sit in silence for an hour.

"I don´t know. Never have been to one. Scorge never allowed me, said it would be too dangerous., even more dangerous than the plains. It is also my first time seeing a down in this dimension. I am not very excited about it, just thinking about all the twisted and half corrupted beings living in one place makes me ill."

Raas' excitement deflated quickly. "I hope it wouldn´t be too bad..."

"You can pray, but there is no god in this dimension."

"..."

The rest of the ride was in silence, only the sound of Scorge killing deformed monsters held Raas awake. He was pretty tired and haven´t got any proper sleep since being ported here. He was only awake thanks to the energy that the feather gave him, but his body was exhausted and needed sleep.

Fighting against the tiredness was more strenuous than fighting on the 42nd floor of the woodland dungeon.

Noticing Raas slowly slipping into the dreamland, Wendy stopped and looked up to see Scorge slowly descending.

"Huh, not bad. He held on quite a while before his body finally gave up." Praised Wendy seeing Raas passed out on her head.

Scorge landed next to Raas and nodded, "We can only hope that the hardships he will face wouldn´t turn him into a spiteful person, but a little bit wickedness wouldn´t harm."

Wendy only stared at Scorge, she knows him pretty well, having spent over half a century with him in the dungeon. She sighed and laid down, she wasn´t tired but it felt good to rest one's legs after a good run.

...

As Raas woke up the sound of cracking branches reached his ear. It was almost rhythmic. With a cloudy mind, he yawned and looked around only to see a sea of white all around him.

Before he could further fully realize where he was Scorge spoke, "You are finally awake. We are almost near the border of Ossis."

"How long have I been asleep for?"

"Only 5 hours" responded Wendy who was slowly strolling at a gentle pace.

"What is that sound?" asked Raas being intrigued by all that cracking sound, it reminded him of when he was little and stepping on crunchy leaves in fall.

"The sound of breaking bones..." responded Wendy emotionlessly.

Raas was confused, but looking closer he saw all the pure white bones all around them. The sea of bones stretched on and on. He was shocked to see such an enormous amount of bones.

While looking around with shock he asked absentmindedly, "Where are we?"

Scorge sighed, "We are near the city, this is where all the useless and undigestible things are being thrown. Almost Every settlement has one bone plain surrounding it. The larger it is, the more gruesome and populated the place is. It may look like there is nothing but bones around us, but don´t let your guard down. Even undigestible bones are useful for someone, something. It is a paradise for necromancers, bone collectors, all kinds of skeletons, and others. Some demons even come here to search for bones of rare beasts that only live here. But it isn´t only a garbage dump, it also serves as a protective layer for the city."

Just as he finishes telling Raas the sound of rattling bones clacked all around them. Hundreds, no thousands of bones began to shack and rattle as they slowly rearranged themselves. 10-meter tall buff sceletons of all kinds of monsters and beings were raised from the ground surrounding them in mere seconds. Raas and Wendy got agitated and were on high alert, ready to fight, but Scorge only raised his wings and stopped them. "No need to fight, just wait and watch."

Raas and Wendy listened but were still on edge. It didn´t take long for a deep growl to sound as the sky slowly turned dark. Raas and Wendy looked up, just to see the skeleton of a centipede. Its large spiked body was so long that Raas couldn´t even see where it started and its head was so large that it shadowed the sky. It was definitely the largest monster he has ever seen. The hollow eyes of the behemoth gazed at them.

Raas was scared and wondered just how it managed to appear above them without him seeing or hearing it. Not even his movement-sensing eyes had picked it up.

The endless rows of bony legs raised and set in a rhythmic fashion, like a wave, almost hypnotizing Raas.

The behemoth slowly dipped his head down till it was at the same level as the group. The mandibles and antennae flared and clacked like explosions. A hissing voice sounded, "Why are you back Scorge!? Tssssss~. You know the rules! Tssssssssss~."

The hissing voice of the enormously large centipede was hushed. "Planes have changed, something came up. I will give you 30% more than usual."

The antennas flared furiously and the legs waved excitedly, but not for long, "Tssssss~ No this is not enough. 70% more or I will just crush you and your little friends right here."

"Do you really want to fight here, Garadon?"

"Tssssss~ If you don´t pay up, yes. I may lose my current body, but I will at least be able to kill your companions and take one of your arms with me. Tssssssssss~. You are in my territory DEMON! Last warning 70% or die! Tssssss~"

Scorge flared in anger and green eerie flames surrounded Scorge´s body. There was no heat to it, but Raas sensed the danger.

Changing into his scarecrow form his body began to grow taller and taller, till he was the size of a skyscraper but he was still far smaller than the behemoth before him.

They stared at each other silently till Scorge spoke with clear hatred in his voice "Fine, have it."

"Tssssss~ hah you demons are all the same! Tssss~"

Raas didn´t understand what that monster meant by that. Scorge ignored his commend and opened a large portal in the sky. Soon after piles of bones flooded out of it creating a large mountain.

"Tssssss~ Good good! Now get out of here!" said the monster. The army of skeletons all broke down into piles again, making the way free, as if they were never there.

Scorge changed back into a raven and landed next to Raas, clearly seething with anger. Holding it back they quickly left the place. The centipede watched them till they left his field of vision. When they were far enough it circled the pile of bones with its massively long body and absorbed them into itself, before vanishing into thin air.

"What was that..." whispered Raas in a hushed tone, not being able to stay silent anymore.

"That was Garadon the city's "protector", or gatekeeper. If the concentration of corrupted bone mass reaches a certain level, it will begin to fuse and create this anomaly that will do everything to increase its size by absorbing more bones. It is also the reason why the bone piles exist and why settlements exist here."

Taking a deep breath he continued, "enough with that for now, look. We can already see the walls of the city."

Raas looked into the horizon and spotted the tall black wall like a sheet covering the horizon. He was astonished by the sheer size of everything in this dimension.