“Kill the other Lords,” he replied.

“I can assist,” he waved the betur over, “to an extent,” he clarified.

The betur stepped close and then reached down to grab its own leg, slowly it pulled the appendage free with a sickening wet squelch before putting it on one of the tables in the dining room.

Clara winced at the sight. The Bone Lord seemed unphased. His other minions took to the leg with knives quickly and pulled out a single heavy set bone. They handed it to the Bone Lord, who looked it over momentarily before waving a hand over it. Red runes appeared over its surface, and a hissing could be heard as they were seared into the surface.

“This, my dear Clara,” he said, holding it out to her, “can now kill any undead in a single blow. Now, of course, Lords are not truly undead, so you will need to figure out another way to deal with them. But if you encountered any zombies of any type, one blow will disrupt the magic that maintains them and locks that corpse from any necromantic magic except my own.”

She took the bone from the Lord and hefted it a few times. “As competition for undead decreases, my ability to control them will increase. You will convert undead to my cause.”

“But it won’t kill your undead?” Clara asked.

He shook his head, “It will still disrupt the magic, but I will be able to reassert control not long later. Try it.”

He stepped aside from the grievously wounded betur, but Clara raised an eyebrow. “Umm, this could still all be a con. I could hit this betur, and you could just command it to be dead instantly, making me think I killed it when in fact, I didn’t.”

The Bone Lord turned back to her, “Well, that is astute of you. I guess you will just have to take me at my word.”

“And at your word that it won’t kill a Bone Lord,” she added.

“And there is that. I have also inscribed it with something I think you will enjoy. If ever you need to talk to me, you just need to take the bone within yourself,” Clara felt, more than saw him smile.

Clara blinked, “You expect me to fuck myself with this thing to talk to you?”

He shrugged, “You appetites have grown, I am sure you will crave undead soon, and this will assist satiating you. Or you could strike an undead beast, wait for it to wake and know that it is mine.” He held up one bony finger, “but remember. You only get tastes until you have done this task for me, then I will satiate your every desire.”

“Everyone?” Clara asked.

The Corpse Grubs tightened again, and Clara moaned as her flesh started to give way. “Everyone.” He said before waving his hand to heal her.

“I don’t think you know the depths of my cravings right now,” she told him.

One of the corpse grubs released her nipple as he leant forward and took the bud into his fanged mouth. Clara moaned at the sharp touch of his teeth. “God, yes, please,” she begged him to bite her.

He closed his jaw partially, and Clara shuddered again, her legs weakening in arousal as two undead stepped up to support her. Then he released his grip and stood. “Every one of your desires, after you have helped me.”

Clara groaned in frustration, “You, Bone Lord, are a terrible tease.”

“Or am I just a good negotiator?” he asked cheekily.

“Both, so where are these other Lords?” she asked.

“One is at the nexus. I trust you know the way? One is atop the school. I believe you call it the gathering place. And one had headed to the library. I am sure they are looking for ancient texts to tear down the walls between my dimension and yours,” he counted them off on his fingers.

“And wouldn’t that be something you would like?” she asked.

The Bone Lord laughed. “There are more than two thousand undead Lords. I don’t want the competition. I want to be the only Lord in this realm. Then I can spend as long as I like seeking pleasure, with you by my side. Every corpse, every beast, every monster you can summon and kill will be at your personal disposal.”