text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, zombie]
  
  You climb onto the horse, and gently kick it. The horse whinnies.
  
  "Go!" you command.
  
  The horse stays still.
  
  "Come on! Gallop!"
  
  The horse stays still.
  
  "Do you know how to ride a horse?" Blaise asks, staring at you.
  
  "No."
  
  "Ah. This could be a problem in our plan."
  
  You kick the horse again, before slipping. You fall off the horse and hit the ground with a thud and a groan.
  
  "Ow. What were the other options?" you ask.
  
  > ask to go back
  "We should go back. It's too risky," you say.
  
  "Are you sure?" Blaise asks.
  
  "Yeah," you grunt.
  
  "OK, too bad," Blaise says, though she seems quite pleased.
  
  Blaise turns, and quickly opens the hidden door, pulling it open. You walk inside, and she closes it, leaving you in darkness.
  
  "It's too dark," you mumble.
  
  "You get used to it. Or maybe you won't, it might not be an Orc thing."
  
  You walk in silence for a few minutes.
  
  "You know what we could do to cheer you up?"
  
  "What?"
  
  "You said you had a dagger. I bet we could go find it."
  
  You perk up at the thought of that. You don't feel like as much of an Orc without something to stab with.
  
  "Who took it off you?"
  
  "The Orc. Balok."
  
  "I bet he's still got it in the Orc Barracks. I have a tunnel that leads down there."
  
  You follow Blaise through the darkness, until you find another hallway leading off through the Castle. Eventually, you stop at a trapdoor in the floor.
  
  "Here it is. We're right above it," she says. "You drop down, and I'll stay here to pull you back up."
  
  > drop down through the trap door
  You pull up the trapdoor, and look down. You see several beds, with Orcs splayed out on top of them. You grab the trapdoor, and drop down, your boots landing on the stone floor with a soft thud. You look around, and breath a sigh of relief as you hear a chorus of snoring, unbroken by any of the the mercenaries awakening. You look up, to see Blaise peering down at you.
  
  "Well... go on. Go find it," she whispers.
  
  You nod, and begin searching the room. You spitefully decide to take any spare coins lying about, to deprive them from the mercenaries even though you'll find no place to spend it while imprisoned here. You stumble around the darkness, before your hand closes around something.
  
  "AH!" you groan, as the bone dagger cuts open your hand.
  
  "What's wrong?" Blaise whispers loudly enough to negate the whisper.
  
  You growl, and wipe your blood off on your pants and slide the weapon into your boot. You turn, and quickly hurry back to the trapdoor. You see Orcs shift in their sleep and you fell terror as they seem like they might wake, but they don't. Blaise lowers an arm. You jump up and catch her arm, and she gasps as she struggles to pull you up. You manage to grab onto the trapdoor, and you manage to pull yourself up with help from Blaise.
  
  "Thanks."
  
  "No problem. Why'd you scream? You were loud enough to wake the dead."
  
  You smile at the joke, before showing her your cut open hand. She winces.
  
  "Ouch. I bet I can patch that up. Did you get the knife?"
  
  "Yeah," you reply, drawing your knife.
  
  Blaise marvels at the weapon for a second.
  
  "Cool," she replies. "Cut off a piece of your clothes."
  
  You cut a small strip of your shirt and hand it to Blaise, before sheathing your knife. She takes your hand and gently wraps the fabric around your wound, before tying it off in a knot.
  
  "There. Perfect."
  
  "Thanks. And thanks for helping me get my dagger back."
  
  "No problem. What are friends for?"
  
  "Yeah... sure."
  
  "We should get back to bed. We've had enough adventures tonight."
  
  Blaise shows you the way through the darkness of the hidden tunnels and back to your room.
  
  "Goodnight," she says, as she closes the hidden door.
  
  "Goodnight," you reply, pushing the bookcase back in place.
  
  With that, you're left alone again. You walk over to your bed and collapse on it. You fall asleep within seconds.
  
  > Dream
  Your dreams are muddled and confused. You see a Black Dragon fighting a White Dragon, a loaf of bread that's too big for you to eat even though you're really hungry, and a bird that just screams curse words at you in the voice of Gagrak, the local baker from the village. You awaken, and climb out of bed. You attempt to make sense of your muddled dreams, before realizing that they are, almost certainly, nonsense. You splash water over your face, before hearing a sharp knock on the door.
  
  "Are you awake?" Thorin rasps from outside.
  
  "Yeah, I am," you say.
  
  Thorin opens the door, placing a small bundle of clothes on the floor. A pair of polished black boots, some pants and a fresh shirt. Thorin disappears behind the door, and you quickly get dressed, putting your dagger in your new pair of boots.
  
  "Alright. I'm ready."
  
  Thorin opens the door, and beckons you out.
  
  "The Grand Necromancer has asked for your presence on the battlements with Lady Blaise."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "I was not given any more details than what I've told you."
  
  You nod, and begin following Thorin. You walk along the halls in silence.
  
  > attempt to converse
  "So... how did you join the Grand Necromancer?"
  
  "I worked with him back in our mercenary unit. I helped him become the man he is today. Then, I took a crossbow bolt to the neck on a mission for him. He helped bring me back... or keep me around... or whatever the hell he did. Anyhow, I'm still around, he's still around, so I'm still fighting for him."
  
  You reach a staircase, and begin ascending it.
  
  "Do you eat, or drink, or...?"
  
  "I don't need to, though I can."
  
  You reach the top of the staircase and find yourself at the top of the castle walls. You look out at the surrounding land, seeing only fields, a small portion of which has been turned to farmland. You spot the robed Grand Necromancer standing next to Blaise, and Thorin leads you to him.
  
  "Ah, Dag. It's a pleasure to see you. How'd you sleep?"
  
  "Good. Why am I here?" you grunt in response, glaring at the Grand Necromancer.
  
  The Grand Necromancer smiles, either not noticing or not caring, or perhaps pretending not to notice or care.
  
  "My daughter seems quite infatuated with you after last night, though I only left you only for about ten minutes. She asked me to let you come."
  
  Blaise blushes shyly, and the Grand Necromancer laughs.
  
  "Thorin, you're dismissed. Dagden, as I was just telling my daughter, I think you should both know what my undead army is made of."
  
  The Grand Necromancer sweeps his hand across the courtyard, where an undead army is assembling.
  
  "How much do you know of the Undead, Dagden?"
  
  "I'm a kid who grew up in an Orc village. What do you think?"
  
  The Grand Necromancer chuckles.
  
  "Fair point. The average member of the undead is the Zombie, a simple corpse raised with Necromantic power with little sentience and little independence. Some are full rotting corpses while some are skeletons, with the powers of death being the only thing keeping the bones from falling apart."
  
  The Grand Necromancer points down to a rotting soldier armored in chain mail holding a sword and shield.
  
  "Then there's the Spirits. Spirits are the souls of beings that remained on this plane long after their time on this plane has ended. With my help, they can materialize and are able to fight."
  
  The Grand Necromancer points down to a vaguely see-through, spectral figure. The figure is tinted a bluish-green, and you stare through it for a few seconds.
  
  "Then there's the Wights. Almost indistinguishable from Zombies, though far more powerful. Dying men can be turned into them, their souls trappe... kept within their body at the time of death, keeping their intelligence and soul in their body, although it will still rot as others. Thorin, for instance. They're usually made from trusted allies to command groups of zombies. Then there are the animals. Animals are hard to keep control of, and some such as wolves and bears would be incredibly rebellious. Still, dogs such as Stitches and undead or even skeletal horses ridden by my calvary. There's also Liches?"
  
  "Like you?" Blaise asks.
  
  "No, no, I'm just a Necromancer. A Lich is a Necromancer who turns himself into an undead being. They're immensely powerful and immortal. Someday, I hope to become one to look over my new world for centuries. I digress. I don't think I've shown you my Revenants or my Flesh Monstrosities. Revenants are powerful undead beings made through summoning the Spirit of a powerful being and binding it back to their bodies, although with extra work souls can be bound to other bodies. These beings are some of the most powerful undead. I only have a handful. Finally, there's the Flesh Monstrosities. You'll love it."
  
  A massive, lumbering beast the size of three men in both height and width steps forward. It looks like a doll stuffed with meat. It looks like a child's pathetic attempt at drawing a human, and has a giant gaping mouth, massive bulging muscles that allow it to hold the massive sword it's holding.
  
  "That is a Flesh Monstrosity. It's made by doctors under my personal supervision, stitched together from other corpses. It's an entirely new creature with a newly created soul. They're slow and dumb, but their strength, size and endurance makes them fantastic on the battlefield. That's pretty much everything under my command. Did you enjoy the tour?"
  
  "Fuck you," you grunt.
  
  The Grand Necromancer sighs.
  
  "You're not being very polite, you know that?"
  
  "Necromancer Trant ordered my brother's death, and Balok the Honorless tried to kill me. Give me both their heads and I'll be polite."
  
  "What did you think, Blaise?" he asks.
  
  > stay silent
  "I thought you'd love it, my dear. Alright, it's time for class."
  
  "Aw, do I have to?" Blaise moans. "I did twice as much work yesterday as I could've. Can't I take the day off and go play with Da..."
  
  "No. What do I say is important in any profession?"
  
  "Ambition?" Blaise asks.
  
  "Education. You're going to school. If I give Mr Nilvos any time to himself, he'll end up summoning demons or turning me into a mouse."
  
  "Fine," Blaise sighs.
  
  "Thorin!" The Grand Necromancer yells. "Come take Blaise to Mr Nilvos."
  
  "Yes, sir," Thorin says, rushing up the stairs. "What about Mr Dagden?"
  
  "Ah, yes," the Grand Necromancer frowns.
  
  "Oh, can he please come to class with me?" Blaise asks eagerly.
  
  "He's a guest in our home. Where would you like to go, Dagden?"
  
  > say "Back to my village."
  The Grand Necromancer frowns.
  
  "You know I can't do that. Thorin, take him to his room."
  
  You're quickly escorted back to your room, and the door is locked behind you. You sigh, sitting in the empty room. You need something to do.
  
  > Read
  You pull a book from the bookshelf and begin reading. It's a short story, a poem, about the Grim Reaper and Magna Gene Draco, or the Mother of Dragons, meeting on a road. Although you struggle to read it, its enjoyable. You finish the poem, and start reading another book, this time an essay about an Elf adn a Dwarf who married and became infamous raiders, before Thorin knocks at your door.
  
  "Mr Dagden, I've been asked to take you to dinner with the Grand Necromancer and Lady Blaise."
  
  > follow Thorin
  You quickly follow Thorin throughout the halls, until you eventually find your way to the feast hall. You see the Grand Necromancer at the head of the table, with Blaise sitting at his right hand side. The gaggle of Necromancers and Mercenaries sit around the table further down, although there is a place for you at the Grand necromancer's left side like last night. Thorin leads you to the place, before taking his place at the table.
  
  "So? How was class today, Blaise?"
  
  "It was good. I learned about Vampires."
  
  "Ah? That's surprising Mr Nilvos would happen to teach you that today. I wonder how that Dark Elf bastard knew... Never mind. Dagden? How about you?"
  
  "I spent it in my room."
  
  "Ah. Alright. Blaise, you should know, tomorrow is a very important day."
  
  "Why?" Blaise asks.
  
  "I am having several guests brought to the castle."
  
  "You never guests brought to the castle," Blaise says. "Except Dag, but he's only kinda a guest."
  
  "These guests are to be impressed. I'm making a deal with them."
  
  "Who are they?"
  
  "The Vampire Lords," the Grand Necromancer announces.
  
  "You hate vampires. They're the one kind of undead you hate the most," Blaise retorts.
  
  "Yeah. I do. But don't say that tomorrow. With their support, I plan to lead another conquest, expand my empire."
  
  "Will you be gone long?"
  
  "A few months at most."
  
  "I always hate it when you're gone."
  
  "Well, you'll have Dagden to keep you company. I'm sure he wouldn't mind doing so."
  
  "Fine," you grunt in response
  
  You begin chowing into your meal, small cooked birds that you make your way through six of, as well as several potatoes, carrots and pieces of bread. When you finish eating, you sit and wait patiently as Blaise eats her meager amount of food. When she's finished, the Grand Necromancer smiles at her.
  
  "Blaise, it's early. The sun's still up. Why don't you take Dagden to the gardens? Show him around, perhaps?"
  
  "OK, Dad. Come on, Dag."
  
  Blaise stands and motions for you to follow her down one of the halls.
  
  > follow Blaise
  You follow Blaise along the hallways, as she eagerly runs ahead.
  
  "You'll love the garden. There's loads of flowers from all over the world."
  
  "I'm an Orc. Any Orcs who would've liked to see flowers wouldn't have survived life in my village."
  
  "Oh. OK, sorry," Blaise says, embarrassed.
  
  "No, it's fine. Sorry," you reply, equally embarrassed. "I've never been friends with a human before. It's very different to Orcs."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "Orcs insult each other a lot more. And fight more."
  
  "Weird. Anyway, here it is," Blaise says, opening a large wooden door to reveal a large, walled garden.
  
  Inside are dozens of flowers. Every color of the rainbow is displayed, as well as a large white tree in the middle.
  
  "Do you like it?"
  
  "Yeah. It's... pretty."
  
  "I look after it all by myself. Go one, smell on," Blaise says proudly.
  
  You walk over to the flowers, and bend over to sniff one. It smells of nothing.
  
  "How does it smell?"
  
  "Err... Nice."
  
  "You can pick one thing if you want. Not more, though, these were really hard to find and I don't want my Dad to get mad."
  
  You look at the flowers, a beautiful canvas of art, before spotting what looks like delicious orange fruit hanging off a tiny tree in the corner.
  
  > pick a flower for Blaise
  You look at the flowers, trying to find the prettiest one. You grab a red one, and cut its stem, plucking it from the ground. You hand it to Blaise.
  
  "Oh! Thanks," she smiles shyly. "It's really pretty."
  
  "It reminds me of you."
  
  Blaise blushes, embarrassed. She walks over to the huge tree.
  
  "Come here. I want to give you something pretty. Or at least, show you something pretty. How good are you at climbing trees?"
  
  "Alright," you reply, grabbing a branch and pulling yourself up.
  
  You pull Blaise up afterwards, and climb another branch. Blaise quickly climbs ahead of you, and quickly reaches the top. You manage to pull yourself to the top. On the top of the tree much of the leaves and branches have been cut away, leaving an open view of the sky. You lie across two branches, looking up towards the sky. The sky is studded with shining stars, making various shapes.
  
  "It's beautiful isn't it? Sometimes I spend entire nights up on the top of this tree, just staring at the stars."
  
  You lean back, and watch the stars.
  
  > Two Hours Later...
  You spend the next hour talking, until eventually you both fall asleep. You have several muddled dreams, before you reach a dream in which you're falling, which lasts for about two seconds. You hit the ground with a thud.
  
  "Ow!" you groan, looking up to see you've fallen from the tree.
  
  Blaise's head perks out from leaves.
  
  "Are you OK? It's too dark for me to see you."
  
  "Yeah, I'm fine."
  
  "We should get out of here. My Dad's probably looking for us."
  
  You nod, as Blaise quickly drops down from the branches, landing next to you. She pulls you to your feet.
  
  "Come on," she says, opening the Garden's door.
  
  You walk inside, before you see two Skeletons wearing silver armor rush past you.
  
  "Where are they going?" you ask.
  
  "I don't know. Wanna follow them?"
  
  "Sure," you smile.
  
  The pair of you quickly begin following the Skeletons, who rush towards the main gate. When you arrive there, you see a massive force of undead standing at attention at either side of the open gate. A group of a dozen Necromancers led by Blaise's father stand, as a convoy of black carriages approach the gates.
  
  "What's going on?" you ask Blaise.
  
  "The Vampire Lords must be here."
  
  The first Carriage stops just as it passes through the gates. A pale figure with brown hair and a scar going down her left eye in a black cloak climbs out of the carriage.
  
  "Lord Harrington! It's a pleasure to see you!" the Grand Necromancer says.
  
  Lord Harrington walks up to the Grand Necromancer and shakes his hand. The pair stare each other down. The Vampire Lord is followed by several other pale-skinned figures each coming out of a carriage wearing black coats. To your surprise, you see an Orc among them.
  
  "Ah! It's good to see you, my good friend." Lord Harrington says.
  
  "It smells of decay and rot," one of the Vampires announces, disgusted.
  
  "Ha! I love it! It smells like a feast of carrion, a graveyard made of a castle," the Orc Vampire says.
  
  "Who are the children?" an Elf Vampire with a scar going along her mouth making her appear to be grinning.
  
  The Grand Necromancer turns, and easily picks you and Blaise out from among the undead.
  
  "Ah! This is my daughter Blaise?"
  
  "Is the Orc, or maybe ugly Half-Orc, yours? I wouldn't have picked you for an Orc-fucker, Dante, though given your first wife..." one of the Vampires laughs.
  
  The Grand Necromancer pulls a long, thin blade from his belt and slashes. The Vampire's throat is slit open, blood pouring down his chest. The other Vampires immediately bare their fangs in snarls.
  
  "You invited us into your home and murder you guests, Necromancer!"
  
  "Yes, I did. I invited you to my home. I introduced you to my child. You repay with with insults to me and my wife. I will very happily wipe your entire Clan to the last treacherous leach if I hear you say another word about my wife or child."
  
  There's a tense stand off as other, presumably lesser Vampires pile out from the coaches with blades drawn, and the Undead raise their weapons. Eventually, Lord Harrington laughs.
  
  "Alright, let's calm down. Lord Farquaad insulted your wife in a completely uncalled for attack. We need to stay on good terms, Necromancer. You need our support to expand, we need your support to prevent our executions. I'm sure we have many more polite vampires to take up the mantle of Vampire Lord in Farquaad's place."
  
  "Alright, then," the Grand Necromancer says. "Blaise, Dagden, head to bed. Lords, please follow me."
  
  Thorin appears from the crowd of undead, and quickly ushers the pair of you back to your rooms wordlessly. You're gently pushed into your room, with the door locked behind you.
  
  "Goodnight," Blaise says, just as the door is shut.
  
  "Goodnight," you reply, hearing the click of the locking mechanism.
  
  You look around the empty room, illuminated by a single candle. You walk over to your bed, and collapse on it. You lie in bed, staring at the ceiling. Eventually sleep takes you.
  
  > Dream
  You lie in bed, dreaming muddled thoughts about flowers and fruit. You're awoken by a hushed voice.
  
  "Hello, Orc."
  
  You sit up in bed quickly, spotting the vampire with the two scars along her mouth giving her a permanent smile. A small black dog sits at her feet.
  
  "Who are you?"
  
  "The creepy vampire hiding in your room. Boo," she smiles. "I'm Lady Lane. This if Checkers IX. His family line has been with me since I was a little girl. Checkers I had kids, who had kids, which repeated until the eighth generation."
  
  "I'm Dagden."
  
  "So tell me, what's an Orc child doing in Reaper Castle? I'm intrigued."
  
  > say "I'm a prisoner here."
  "A Prisoner? Of course you are, what else would you be? So tell me, how'd you end up here?"
  
  "I was kidnapped by zombies."
  
  "Ah, the old corpse-fucker was on a quest to gather soldiers, was he? Classic."
  
  "Why are you here?"
  
  "Oh, I was bored. An agreement was reached early on. Now Harrington is bitching about trade agreements, and I got bored. I found a tunnel system, and found my way here."
  
  Lady Lane begins walking around the room, flicking through the books in your bookshelf.
  
  > ask her to stop
  "Stop searching my room."
  
  "Oh, you're boring. I thought you'd be more fun."
  
  The Vampire draws a long, thin blade, and begins to twirl it.
  
  "After quite a few years, you get so bored of pretty much everything. Everyone's just an archetype, nothing unique or special about them; The simple farmer, the angry warrior, the drunken fool, the pretty prude, the ugly whore, the necromancing megalomaniac... There's only a few who stand out. You and your little girlfriend are two who stand out. I think you'll do great things. So I have an offer to you. You obviously don't have any reason to want to be here. So join me. I have a carriage waiting. Follow me, and I can hide you in the carriage. In the morning, the Vampire Lords depart, and I'll take you with me."
  
  "Why me?"
  
  "I... taste something about you. A deep power, a great destiny, someone that could help me. So... join me."
  
  > Agree
  "OK, I'll join you."
  
  "Oh, goody. There's so much boring stuff going on. I've been waiting for some excitement. Follow me."
  
  You stand, and begin following her through the tunnels. Finally, she opens a door, and steps through. You follow, finding yourself having stepped through a door hidden in the stable walls. A black carriage with two black horses sits there.
  
  "Come. Climb in," she says, opening the back. A Coffin lies there, empty. "Go on... Climb inside."
  
  > Agree
  Apprentice of Appetizer?
  
  You lie down in the coffin, and Lady Lane smiles.
  
  "Good. I'll... let you out in a couple hours, once we've left. Then, you can... join me as my apprentice. We'll build an empire together, you and I."
  
  She smells the air.
  
  "Ah... you smell delicious. I'll see you in a couple of hours."
  
  Lady Lane closes the coffin, sealing you in darkness. You're left in complete darkness, unable to see or move. You lie there, waiting patiently to be released. You begin to wonder whether you've made the right choice, and if Lady Lane really intends to train you, rather than use you as a quick snack. I guess only time will tell...