text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy]
  
  You look at all the various books. Many are burned or in languages you don't understand, although you pick out a few books that look interesting.
  
  The first is a small white book called A Question to the Gods by Ulthan the Perverse. It's a simple, plain, unassuming book.
  
  The second book you pick up is called A Simple Request with no author mentioned. It's a large red book with golden trim that's hot to the touch.
  
  The third book is a large black book covered with moss and dried in puss, bile, blood, feces and urine. You manage to make out the title, A Cookbook of Plagues and Pestilence by Percivall Pott.
  
  The fourth book is a small light blue book titled simply A Story of People with no named authors. It's quite heavy to pick up for its side, and you feel quite eager to see its contents.
  
  The fifth book is a book called The Brutal Torture Sessions of Warlord Ghakin the Soulless with no named author. It's a large, heavy black book.
  
  The sixth book you pick up is a book called Fun and Interesting Games to Play, which by everything on the cover seems to be a children's book.
  
  The seventh book is a leather-bound journal, with "Annabelle's Journal" written across the front.
  
  The final book you take out is called The Knowledge of the Ancients, by Jacob Sinclair. It has a cross between a bear, a human and an octopus face on the leather cover.
  
  > finish reading and leave the Forbidden Section
  You finish reading, and step away from the Forbidden Section.
  
  "This is creepy."
  
  "Yeah, definitely. I read about demons, and this weird ritual that creates living toys, and there was one book that just screamed. Let's get out of here," Blaise nods.
  
  You close the gate to the Forbidden Section, locking it behind you.
  
  "What now?" you ask.
  
  "Let's go to the tree," Blaise says.
  
  You follow Blaise along the hallways, eventually finding your way to the Garden. You open the door, and briefly marvel at flowers. Blaise leaps onto one of the branches, quickly climbing to the top of the tree. You follow, arriving at the top. The sun is just setting, and the stars are amount to appear.
  
  "That was fun. Scary, though. It is scary, thinking of all the things that could get me."
  
  "Don't worry, I'll protect you."
  
  "Shut up. I'll protect myself. You can protect... Stitches."
  
  You chuckle, staring as stars appear in the sky. A cold wind begins to blow, rustling the leaves. You feel your body's temperature drop so much you start to shiver.
  
  "It's really cold," Blaise says. "The wind really picked up."
  
  > suggest going inside
  "Maybe we should go inside."
  
  "Yeah. You're right," Blaise says.
  
  Blaise rolls off the branch, dropping down from the tree. She lands on the soil with a soft thud, and you quickly follow afterwards. You open the door and walk inside, away from the cold wind. You walk inside, before walking along the hallway. All of a sudden, you spot a small brown rat in front of you.
  
  > Panic at the sight of the Rat
  "Ah! Blaise! Look out, it's a rat! Kill it! Kill it with fire! Shoo, you little brown monster! Shoo you demon of hell, you shall not take my soul! Get away!"
  
  Blaise giggles.
  
  "Calm down, Dagden! It's just a rat!"
  
  You draw your knife, pointing it at the rat.
  
  "I want it dead," you say.
  
  > kill the Rat
  You quickly run forward, catching the rat by it's tail. You lift it up into the air, and impale the rat with your knife. You breathe a sigh of relief as you toss the dead rat to the floor.
  
  "Why'd you do that?" Blaise asks angrily.
  
  "It was a rat," you say, surprised at her outburst.
  
  Blaise drops to her knees, and picks up the rat. She whispers something softly to the rat as a light black energy flows from her fingertips, and all of a sudden, the rat jumped up.
  
  "I did it!" Blaise exclaims proudly.
  
  "Ah! Blaise! Kill it! Kill it! It's eating you."
  
  "Stop it," Blaise says, holding up the rat. "I just made my first Wight. A rat Wight, but still. Do you like it?"
  
  "No. I hate it. Kill it now," you say, backing away from the rat.
  
  "Come on. Face you fears. When I was little, I used to be so afraid of the dark I brought a torch everywhere. Then one night, I spent the entire night in the pitch black tunnels. Then I wasn't afraid of the dark anymore. I faced my fears."
  
  "I did face my fears. I faced it, and killed it. Do you want me to show you and kill it again?"
  
  "Take the rat," Blaise says.
  
  "No."
  
  "Take the rat or we're not friends anymore."
  
  "Fine."
  
  Blaise sighs.
  
  "Come on. If you've ever trusted me on anything, trust me on this."
  
  You sigh, roll your eyes and extend a hand. The Rat hops across, and runs up your arm, before sitting on your shoulder.
  
  "He's yours now. You need a pet."
  
  You stare at the rat, unnerved.
  
  "OK," you say say slowly.
  
  "Well, go on. Give him a name."
  
  "No."
  
  "Come on."
  
  "I'm not naming him."
  
  "Fine. I will. Mort."
  
  "Mort?"
  
  "It means Dead, or Death, or something like it. It's fitting, don't you think?"
  
  You shrug, before feeling a cold hand grab your shoulder. You turn, to see Thorin standing over you.
  
  "Lady Blaise, Mr Dagden. You've stolen something from me."
  
  You wince, and hand him the key.
  
  "Do you know what would've happened to me if I let the Grand Necromancer's daughter be possessed by a ghost, or driven insane, or turned into a goose? The books in the Forbidden Section are incredibly dangerous."
  
  "Sorry, Thorin," you both say in unison.
  
  "Both of you: To your rooms."
  
  You nod, and quickly begin walking off towards your room. Blaise mouths "Tunnel" to you before she turns away, and you nod. Thorin escorts you back to your room, locking the door behind you. Almost immediately, you head towards the bookshelf, pushing it out of the way to give you access to the tunnels inside. You do so, and walk into the darkness. You feel something run up your leg and you struggle not to scream, before realizing it's your new "pet" Mort. Mort sits on your shoulder, and you use all your inner strength to keep yourself from pushing him off. You bump into a figure in the dark, and raise your blade.
  
  "Who do you think it could be besides me?" Blaise asks in the darkness.
  
  "Oh yeah. Hey."
  
  "So, what do you want to do?"
  
  "Let's go exploring."
  
  > One Year Later...
  It's been a year since the Grand Necromancer departed for war. You can tell from letters and gossip from traders that the war is going well, but you've yet to see his return. Sadly, both Necromancer Trant and Balok the Honorless have yet to be killed in battle. Then again, this means they'll be alive for when you kill them. Although your initial anger and rage towards them has faded, you know as an Orc it's your duty and responsibility to get revenge for Bagig. This has clearly been hurting Blaise emotionally, as she's been acting sadder and spending more time in her room lately. Finally, you decide to talk to Thorin.
  
  "Is she usually this sad when her dad goes?" Thorin asks.
  
  "Sometimes, especially around holidays. Her eleventh birthday is in a week's time, and her father said he wouldn't be able to arrive in time for it."
  
  "Oh," you say, turning to leave. "Thanks."
  
  You remember briefly your birthday two months ago, a small affair where you were given extra portions of food. You did receive some presents, though, which lie across your room.
  
  > go back to your room and look over your presents
  You look over your presents, and feel a pang of gratitude towards the gift-givers.
  
  From Thorin, you received the key to your room as a symbol of trust, a small iron key that now permanently hangs at your belt. You also received a large bronze cage for Mort.
  
  From Mr Nilvos, you received several lessons in Blood Magic. You have a small stone carved with intricate patterns on you desk, a magical object that runs on blood, as well as a book on Blood Magic. If you cut yourself, usually in the thumb or shoulder, and let your blood flow onto the stone, the stone will grant you increased speed, stamina, strength, endurance and agility, which will continue to grow if you fight and draw the blood of your enemies.
  
  You received your favorite present from Blaise. Your new long sword, nicknamed Blood Spiller, quite clearly must have taken some effort on Blaise's part to be found, given that the blade is of Orcish origin and was even used by a Blood Mage. She probably spent loads of time commanding undead soldiers to scavenge for the weapon. Your rub the blade lovingly, and feel a pang of guilt in that you haven't gotten Blaise a gift yet, and her birthday's next week. You resolve to find something as soon as possible.
  
  > go talk to Blaise to get an idea of what she wants
  You search the castle for Blaise, finding her sitting on the top of the castle wall, looking off into the distance. You climb quickly to the top of the wall, walking over to Blaise.
  
  "Hey."
  
  "Hi," Blaise replies.
  
  "Are you alright?"
  
  Blaise shrugs.
  
  "I guess," she says. "I miss my dad a lot."
  
  "I know you do. I'm sorry."
  
  "He's always been here for my birthdays. He always got me some stupid piece of jewelry with a massive gem and a golden chain that looks stupid and far too rich for me but I'd love anyway because they were from him."
  
  "I'm sorry. You don't need to just stay up here and be sad. We can..."
  
  "I'm watching the dragon," Blaise says, pointing off into the distance.
  
  You follow her finger, and spot the massive winged creature, flying off in the distance.
  
  "What is it doing so far out here?" you ask, surprised.
  
  "I don't know. It's quite beautiful."
  
  "You like dragons?"
  
  "Yes. They're fantastic."
  
  "It seems to be cheering you up."
  
  "Yeah," Blaise smiles. "I was close to tears when I came up here at first."
  
  The Dragon swoops down, landing off in a very small mountainous or hilly area.
  
  "Oh. I'll miss it," Blaise says. "I'm going to go inside. You coming?"
  
  "No. I'll stay out here for a while," you say.
  
  "OK," Blaise nods, walking off down the stairs.
  
  An idea strikes you. You could quite easily steal a horse, head up to the very small mountain or very large hill, and collect one of the many teeth that's falling out of its mouth. You hope, at least. If the dragon is nesting up there, there will definitely be a load of teeth that dragons go through weekly. You'll steal a horse, sneak past the guards and head up to the dragon nest. You look off towards the setting sun. You'll need to go soon.
  
  > Two Hours Later...
  You sneak into the stables, staying low to avoid the sight of the zombified guards. Your long sword is strapped to your back, your dagger in your boots, your bloodstone in your pocket as well as an extra large health potion stolen from Mr Nilvos' room. You slip into the stables, where dozens of horses tied up in there. Some are living flesh and blood horses, some are rotting, semi-skeletal beasts that have been brought back from death by the Grand Necromancer. You could probably manage to ride either one.
  
  > steal a living horse
  You decide to steal a normal horse, and quickly find one that's saddled, a chestnut brown mare. You gingerly slide your feet into it's stirrups, and hop onto the horse's back. You give the horse a light kick, and it begins to move forward. You pull on the reigns to get it to slow down, but it speeds up. Perhaps there's more to riding horses than you thought. You wrap your arms and legs around the horse, which continues speeding up. You manage to guide the horse through the gates, where undead sentries watch you leave. They raise their bow and arrows and crossbows, but none of them fire, perhaps recognizing you. You try to reign control of the horse, pointing it towards the mountain range.
  
  > One Hour Later...
  After about an hour, you reach the mountain range. To your relief, it's much less of a mountain range than a particularly hilly area. It'll take only about a twenty minute walk to reach the top of the largest hills. You manage to get your mount to stop, and manage to free your feet from the stirrups, letting you hop off. You wrap the horse's reigns around a small tree so you're not left here without a ride home. Then, you begin the long trek up towards where you saw the dragon land. You keep your gaze at the top of the mountain, watching for any distant flying shapes. You manage to make it up the inclines quickly enough despite the heavy weight of the long sword that you probably shouldn't have brought, although you see no sight of any dragon nest. Perhaps the dragon did even land in the area to nest, maybe it only stopped to feast on prey. Still, you assume the dragon would've needed it's rest, and would have roosted somewhere. You can only hope.
  
  You freeze as you see a small brown hare, feasting on grass. You could barely spot it in the darkness, but your years wandering through the tunnels have heightened your sense in the darkness. The hare doesn't seem to notice you, and the thought of some meat after such a long journey is appealing. You resolve to catch the rabbit, but the only question is how.
  
  > sneak up on it
  You edge forward slowly, hoping your prey doesn't notice.
  
  Crack
  
  You feel the ground breaking under you wait, and let out a piercing scream as you go through the ground. You fall flailing, before you hit the hard stone ground with a painful thud. You rub your legs, and thankfully they're only bruised and not fractured or broken. You look up, seeing that the entire ground has fallen away into some cave system. You're surprised the rabbit didn't bring it down, let alone you. You stand painfully, looking around the empty cavern. You can hear deep breathing echoing off the cave walls. You draw your long sword, a weapon you're barely able to carry on your back, let alone in your hands. You decide to sheath it, and draw your knife. You move forward slowly, before spotting it. The dragon's scales shimmer black like a canvas of nothingness, its teeth look sharp enough to tear through an armored knight in a second and its wings wrap around itself in an effort to keep warm. Its eyes are closed, and you assume it's sleeping. You spot one of its teeth, a long, beautiful white curved fang, lying next to it's body, lodged in the rotting body of a sheep. You slowly begin to edge towards the tooth and carcass. Then, it's eyes burst open.
  
  "Why, little Orc, have you disturbed my rest?" it asks in a booming voice.
  
  You struggle not to scream as its head raises, staring at you. It's eyes are red and slitted like a snake's, and they appear to peer into your soul.
  
  > attack the Dragon
  You charge at it, jabbing your knife. You slash at its face, but your knife only scratches its scales. It opens its mouth in a roar, before a cascade of flames spills out, engulfing you. You scream as your body is turned to ash.
  
  > Death
  Eternal Sleep
  
  Your life force is taken from you as you enter the endless sleep of death.