Author's Note: Sharing this incredible fanart from @octoblurrr on IG of the chicken scene. Literally everything about this art is absolutely perfect from the expressions to the chicken to Vandel's V neck. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!!

Ridley

My mind felt fuzzy as my vision slowly came back into focus, like I was only half awake. I glanced around, my whole body feeling oddly heavy. It appeared I was in some sort of observatory, a window made of pale blue glass overlooking an empty white chamber.

"Hello, Ridley, it's been a while," a familiar voice said behind me.

I turned to face the speaker. Even amidst the fog in my head, I felt a jolt of shock shoot through me.

Standing there, a serene expression on his face, was Crystal.

I stared back at him agape, unable to formulate the tumble of words I wanted to say with my thoughts so murky.

"It's nice to finally address you as I really am," he said with a smile, lacing his fingers together. "I think Bone King has a nicer ring to it than Crystalbreaker." I opened my mouth to speak but the Bone King held up a hand, silencing me. "Let me guess...you're about to ask if I really was your sword. That wasn't a trick, Ridley. I'm not one for lies. It's surprisingly easy to manifest one's consciousness in and out of a weapon. In fact, I can manifest my powers in many ways. How else do you think your father became so powerful?"

My eyes went wide, finally managing to stammer out a few meager words. "What do you mean...?"

"Your father and I had an arrangement. He wanted a weapon powerful enough to slaughter every demon in his wake, and I needed a soul powerful enough for my own plans...a soul his first born son was lucky enough to possess." The Bone King smirked, watching me through lidded eyes. "A weapon for a weapon you could say."

"My...my father traded me...for a weapon?" I whispered hoarsely, doing everything in my power to keep my voice from trembling.

"A truly awful man, wasn't he?" The Bone King replied, smiling thinly. "You really surprised me, Ridley. I was convinced you were going to turn out just like him. To be honest, if you really were a killer it would've made things far easier. In order for me to use you properly, you need to have taken a significant number of lives. The more you kill, the deeper our connection becomes." He gently shook his head. "Even now, you still haven't killed nearly enough. Which is why...I'm going to have to improvise."

Vandel

I needed to think of some sort of plan and fast. As futile as I knew it would probably be, my gaze scanned across the crowd of soldiers, looking desperately for my mother. A jolt of horror shot through me as I realized she'd vanished as well. Gods, knowing her she probably slipped off to put her own twisted agenda into play.

Fuck...what the hell were we supposed to do?

That's when one of the humans suddenly cried out, "Everyone, look! Look!"

A swarm of soldiers instantly surrounded the spot the human had been pointing to, all growing wide-eyed at whatever they were looking at. I had to practically push my way to the front, barking out a series of 'let me through, I'm the fucking prince,' before I finally managed to get a glimpse of what everyone was staring at.

"Holy fucking mother of shit-dicks," I whispered when I finally saw it.

The skeleton of a large wolf had risen from the floor. The moment my gaze locked with it, the dead animal began to move. The soldiers jumped back, creating a path between them for the beast to cross.

The wolf moved slowly, like it was walking through water. Despite the fact that its skeletal paws were moving across heaps of bone littering the floor, it made absolutely no sound. Finally, it made its way to one of the corridors. It paused a moment, turning its skull almost all the way around with a sickening creak to look back at us.

It was waiting.

It wanted us to follow.

Both human and demon alike shared uneasy glances before slowly beginning to trail after it. As we moved, I couldn't help but experience a horrible sinking feeling in my chest. It was as if this were a death march, our doom awaiting us at the other end of this corridor.

But what other options did we have?

We'd come to find the Bone King and I had the awful feeling that we were finally about to meet him.

Ridley

I stumbled backwards, wildly shaking my head is if doing so could help me banish this horrible haze from my thoughts.

"I don't know what you're planning to do with me," I stammered, "but you can't make me kill anyone."

The Bone King grinned, his smile so cruel that it twisted my stomach to knots. "Oh but, Ridley," he cooed, the sound patronizingly sweet, as if he were correcting a child. "I've made you kill already. I had to sacrifice a few of my monsters so our bond could grow stronger, but once it did..." " He laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the cold white room as he took a step forward. "Well...poor Percival knows the end of that story."

A wave of anger flared up in my chest, cutting through the fog as my hand flew to my hilt. "If I'm going to kill anyone tonight," I growled, "it's going to be you. You must know that's why I came here."

"Exactly as I expected you to," the Bone King chuckled. "It obviously threw a wrench in my plans when you gave up my sword so I needed to think up another method to bring you here."

My face paled. "All those innocent villagers...you killed them just to lure me to you?"

The Bone King's smile never faltered. "And it worked perfectly, didn't it?"

I was shaking, a hot seething anger coursing through my entire body. "Although you may hold some power over me, you clearly don't have complete control over my actions. If you did, you'd have already made me slaughter the proper amount you needed." I glared at him, sticking out my chin defiantly. "There's no way you could ever get me to kill on your command."

The Bone King shook one thin, white finger. "You're right...our connection isn't strong enough just yet for me to have you under my complete control. But don't worry, we'll change that soon enough. Don't forget that I've been your sword for several years, Ridley. I don't need to use magic to make you do what I want...I only need to find the proper motivator." He laughed coldly. "And you make it so fucking easy."

He snapped his fingers and my body was abruptly hurled across the room, slamming violently against the glass. My hand instantly wrapped around my hilt, ready to actually fight, when I suddenly realized that there was movement in the room below.

As I glanced down, horror seized my gut.

In the chamber beneath us, humans and demons were entering. Vandel was among them, a worried expression plastered to his ashen face.

"See, it's just as I said," the Bone King murmured. "All too easy."

With those words, he snapped again and a massive gate of bone came crashing downwards, blocking the room's occupants from escape.

And that's when the horrific realization of what he was planning to do finally hit me.

I stared at him wide-eyed, shoulders trembling. "No..." I whispered hoarsely. "You wouldn't."

"I've often wondered how many lives someone would be willing to sacrifice to save just one," The Bone King mused. "I hope tonight I may finally have the answer." He moved to the glass now, his gaze traveling down to Vandel. "So, what's it going to be, Ridley? Would you cut down your fellow knights in order to save the love of your life? Or..." he smiled thinly, "are you prepared to just stand here and watch him die?"

Despite his horrible words, the Bone King's smile never fell.

"My goodness," he said with a laugh as he saw my expression. "This is going to be more fun than I ever could have imagined."