text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, fantasy, zombie]
  
  "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."
  
  > Refuse
  "No."
  
  Lady Lane grins.
  
  "Alright then. I'll leave you be. Goodnight, Dagden."
  
  She grins at you, her grin elongated by her scars, and leaves through the tunnel, followed by her little dog. You sit in total darkness, not wanting to go back to sleep. Eventually, though, you're unable to stay awake, and fall backwards onto bed.
  
  > The Next Day...
  You sit in the Main Hall, at the left hand side of the Grand Necromancer.
  
  "Blaise, sweet heart, I have to leave. The Vampire Lords will only agree to support my campaign if I depart immediately."
  
  "OK," Blaise sighs.
  
  "I'm sure Dagden will keep you company. I'll have Thorin look after you, and I'll make sure to bring you home a surprise."
  
  "OK," Blaise sighs once again.
  
  The Grand Necromancer turns to you.
  
  "Dagden, I'm entrusting you with my daughter while I'm gone. Obviously Thorin will be in charge of both of you, but I'm still placing an enormous amount of trust in you after such a short time. I'm trusting you to safeguard everything important in life."
  
  "Yes, Grand Nec..." you begin.
  
  "Oh, can the politeness. I think I can trust you enough with my name if I can trust you with this. Dante. Call me Dante."
  
  "I know you care for Blaise, and I know you'll protect her."
  
  "I will."
  
  "Thank you. Now come on, children. I'm departing."
  
  You follow the Grand Necromancer, or "Dante", along the hallways to the main gates. A massive force of undead are waiting. A completely skeletal horse stands waiting for the Grand Necromancer. You see rows of Zombies standing with swords, shields, bows and spears, followed by a few rows of corporal spirits who look angry and ready for battle. Wights stand in front of the rows, acting as leaders. Revenants stand among the zombies, most on horseback, looking fearsome and deadly. Undead Hounds roam around, picking scraps. Massive monstrous versions of humanoids stand high above others. Mercenary Bands stand on the outskirts of the undead army, clearly uncomfortable with the dead. Necromancers crowd around the Necromancer's Steed, helping to keep control of the undead.
  
  "Right... I have to go," Dante says, dropping to one knee to kiss his daughter. "I love you."
  
  "I love you too, Dad."
  
  Dante smiles at Blaise, before standing and climbing onto the horse's back.
  
  "Forward! We march towards victory!" he cries.
  
  With that, the massive undead army begins moving forward towards their war. You notice tears begin to stream down Blaise's face, and pull her in for a hug.
  
  "It's OK. He'll be back in no time."
  
  "OK," Blaise sniffles.
  
  You watch as the undead army departs, leaving only a small force of undead to defend the castle.
  
  > One Month Later...
  You sit in the almost empty Main Hall, with only Thorin, a few Necromancers and Blaise in there. Necromancer Trant has departed with the Grand Necromancer, as has Balok the Honorless, so you won't get your vengeance yet, but soon. You have a large ham on your plate, which you eagerly carve into. The past month has been... interesting for you. Without the massive amount of undead guards and the Grand Necromancer's watch, you've been awarded endless opportunities to escape. At such a young age, you've already had massive amounts of choices forced on you. You're only ten years old, the same age as Blaise, and you're far too young to have done as much as you did. You've learned a lot about yourself. You had so many chances to escape, but you didn't. Perhaps you're too scared. Not likely, though. More likely, you don't want to. If you really wanted to try to escape, you would've have done so earlier. No, you've made friends with Blaise, closer friends than anyone ever before.
  
  "Stitches, come here!" Blaise says, and the undead dog quickly runs up to her, jumping onto the table and beginning to chew on a piece of ham.
  
  "I'm so glad he's able to eat at the table now. My dad never let him," Blaise says.
  
  You nod your head, feeding a piece of ham to the dog.
  
  "Hey, Dag?"
  
  "Yeah?"
  
  "Do you want to go visit the library after dinner?"
  
  You stare at her, wondering whether to fake laugh, before you realize she's not joking.
  
  "Why would we do that?" you ask.
  
  She leans forward, whispering in your ear.
  
  "We could steal the key to the forbidden section from Thorin."
  
  You consider it briefly, before nodding. You have always wondered what's in the forbidden section, especially since books about Necromancy and horrible events like the Massacre of the Firstborns are easily available in the main area.
  
  Blaise looks at Thorin, who's eating, and knocks her platter to the floor. Thorin bends over to grab the platter, and you see his keys hanging from his belt. You go to take all the keys off, before thinking and deciding to only slide the library key off, which you recognize by the ominous black book on it. You briefly wonder if this is a trap because it seems too easy, but slide the key off with ease. Thorin picks up the platter, and puts it on the table.
  
  "Sorry, Thorin," Blaise says.
  
  "Oh, no problem at all, Lady Blaise. Shall I get you another meal?"
  
  "No thanks. I'm full. May I be excused?"
  
  "Of course."
  
  "Dagden, are you coming?"
  
  You stare at the massive chunk of ham on your plate. You consider abandoning it, but simply pick it up and begin chewing it as you follow Blaise. You quickly follow her through the hallway and up the stairwell, walking into the library. Rows of books fill the library, including any category from tragedy to comedy to history to pastoral to pastoral-comical to historical-pastoral to tragical-historical to tragical-comical-historical to one-act plays to long poems. At the end of the library, enclosed behind an iron gate, is the forbidden section. You walk over, and unlock the door. It creaks open, and Blaise nervously looks around to see if anyone heard.
  
  "Relax," you smile. "We're fine."
  
  You step inside the forbidden section meant to keep you, Blaise and the apprentice Necromancers area from valuable knowledge.
  
  > start looking through the books
  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.
  
  > A Simple Request
  You open the book, which is as hot as warmed coals. You quickly put it on the floor so you don't have to hold it and begin reading.
  
  "Hello, kind Sir. Thank you for picking up this book. If I may take a few moments of your time, my name is Bablex. I am, in all honesty, a demon. I was trapped in this book near three decades ago. My internal prison is unbreakable, and I have many, many enemies I wish to gain my vengeance in hunting down, all denizens of the Infernal Realms of which I was created. I only request you release me. I swear no harm shall come to you or anyone from your plane of existence, ever. At least, none caused by me. Simply sign your name at the bottom of this page and I shall be freed. I have nothing to offer you but my thanks, which I will offer eagerly.
  
  At the bottom of the page is a signature line. Quite helpfully, a quill is wedged in between two of the pages.
  
  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.
  
  > A Story of People
  You pick up the book, flicking it open to start reading. The first page details a small amount of back story as a young man named Benjamin who loved horse-riding and reading especially, and was the son of a rich Lord. Eventually, he found a small book which he began reading, only for it to suck him into an area of pure darkness, where he was forced to wander forever for a way out. You turn the page, only to find almost the exact same story. Marion was a young fishmonger who couldn't find a husband, before finding the book and being teleported to the dark place to end up as an eternal wanderer searching for freedom. You turn the page, and see the same story again with a different person. You want to put down the book, but you simply can't. Something's forcing you to continue reading. You reach the final page, and let out a scream as you see the title: Dagden.
  
  > Scream
  Wandering the Blank Pages
  
  You scream, as a blinding light causes you to shut your eyes. You open it, to see nothing.
  
  "Hello? Hello?" you ask, waving your hands around, finding nothing.
  
  You step forward, waving around to grab something. You need to find a way out. You begin walking in a straight line. You know if you keep walking, you'll reach... something. There has to be something. There's always something. You begin walking, wandering the blank pages.