text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, fantasy, zombie]
  
  "Blaise, you need to go. You need to take Apprentices and g..."
  
  Blaise slaps you, and for the first time in your life, when she hits you it actually hurts.
  
  "Fuck you, Dag! You don't get to have a valiant death and leave me all alone with a bunch of fucking kids!"
  
  "I'm an Orc. Dying a valiant death is what we do."
  
  "No! I'm not leaving you to die for me. You're the only one I have, who's been with me since I was a little girl. You don't get to leave me alone!"
  
  "Well, I can't let you die! You know I can't let you do that!"
  
  "Then... you could come with me."
  
  "I can't leave everyone of my friends to die for me."
  
  "They're already going to die, One Orc won't make a difference. We could survive."
  
  "We'll be tracked down for the rest of our lives."
  
  "So what? We'll overcome it."
  
  You stare at Blaise's hopeful face.
  
  > Refuse
  "No, Blaise. I can't do that."
  
  "Then I'm staying," Blaise says, and you know you won't convince her.
  
  "Fine," you sigh.
  
  "What do you want to do now?"
  
  "I don't know. We could go prepare the troops and attack now or maybe we could visit the Throne Room one last time before. I don't know."
  
  > say "Let's go to the Throne Room."
  You walk with Blaise to the Throne Room. She enters the big, empty hall, and walks to the Throne, sitting in it. She sighs, and leans back.
  
  "I never imagined myself sitting in here. Queen Blaise. A lotta good I did," she says bitterly.
  
  "We did our best," you sigh.
  
  "Get me Dad's crown. I want to wear it when I die."
  
  You walk over to the steel and black jewelled crown that sits in the middle of the room, and pick it up.
  
  "Fuck!" you grunt.
  
  The Crown is ice cold and gives you a burst of pain.
  
  "What the fuck?" you ask.
  
  Blaise raises an eyebrow, standing and walking over to you.
  
  "Don't touch it," you say.
  
  Blaise grabs the crown, and puts it on, and the room goes dark.
  
  > Darkness
  A pale, ghostly, translucent figure appears in front of you, its light breaking the darkness. You draw your sword and grab Blaise, pushing her behind you.
  
  "Hello, Blaise. It's good to see you," a voice says.
  
  Blaise stops, deathly still.
  
  "Dad?" she asks, her mouth opening.
  
  You stare at the figure, which begins to take on Dante's features.
  
  "Hello, sweetheart. I've missed you so much," Dante says.
  
  "Hey, Dad." Blaise says, tears streaming down her face.
  
  "You've become so grown-up. Gods, you look so much like your mother. You're beautiful," Dante says, his ghostly visage turning to look at you. "Dagden, you're looking strong and healthy."
  
  "What are you?" you ask.
  
  "What am I? I don't think there's a name for what I am. I'm stronger than a ghost, more incorporeal than a Lynch, weaker than a God. I had been planning to ascend to Lynchdom, as you know, but I was stopped. The ritual was broken by the Alliance, and I was trapped in this state. I clinged to... life, or undeath, which kept me trapped in the crown, waiting for an opportunity to use my power."
  
  "Dad, everything's gone to hell. We're surrounded by the Alliance, and they're going to invade in the morning and we'll all be killed. We'll die here!" Blaise says, terrified, attempting to hug her father and going straight through him.
  
  "Ah... I figured as much. What's your plan?"
  
  "I don't know," Blaise admits.
  
  "I guess I'll help you, then. I have a lot of power left that I've been saving."
  
  "What happens if you use the power?" Blaise asks.
  
  "I... I pass on. If I use my power to save you, I'll lose my grip on undeath and die... but we all die otherwise."
  
  "No! Dad, we can attack and target their leaders and raise them and have them convince the masses to retreat..."
  
  "Sweetheart, calm yourself. I've tired of this realm, and will continue on to whatever awaits. If I can use my last strength to save you, I've succeeded."
  
  "What are you going to do?" you ask.
  
  "Are you familiar with Elementals? Magical beings that represent Elements. There's Fire Elementals, Ice Elementals, Water Elementals, Life Elementals... one of the lesser known ones are Death Elementals. Death Elementals can rarely be summoned to this realm and when they are, only for a few hours, but I can do that. Release them on the enemy, and raise the undead armies to wage war again and conquer the Alliance."
  
  "Dad, you can't do that. You'll die."
  
  "I'm wasting strength talking to you. Soon I'll be too weak. Dagden, protect my daughter. Blaise, I've abandoned my hopes for immortality. I've abandoned my hope of building the Dead Empire. But I have many, many hopes for you, Blaise. I love you."
  
  "I love you too, Dad."
  
  Dante smiles, and his aura fades as Dante disappears. Suddenly, the room fills with black, sulfurous smoke and you begin to cough as your vision's obscured. The smoke clears after a minute of coughing, and you pause. Standing around you in a ring are nine figures in black, hooded robes. Under the hoods you can see grinning skulls. Each hold a large scythe in their arm, and they all pause, staring at you.
  
  "Are these...?" you begin to ask.
  
  "Death Elementals," Blaise says.
  
  The nine Death Elementals stand, watching you.
  
  "I... we... need you to go kill the army outside the walls of this castle," Blaise says.
  
  You watch as the Death Elementals begin to walk, single-file, out of the Throne Room. You follow them as they walk towards the gates, and one slowly opens it.
  
  "Should we stop them?" you ask.
  
  "No," Blaise says.
  
  The Death Elementals walk slowly out of Reaper Castle, raising their scythes. Then, they attack. The creatures move with lightning speed with fearsome strength, tossing tents out of the way and slashing apart the men inside. There's a black and crimson blur as they speed through the camp. You watch as a massive slaughter takes place. You don't know how long it takes, maybe minutes, maybe hours, and then it stops.
  
  "What the fuck...?" you ask, in complete shock and terror.
  
  The nine Death Elementals convene at the gates, staring at you. You go to draw your sword again, but Blaise stops you.
  
  "Don't."
  
  "Fine," you say.
  
  The nine Death Elementals stare at you for a few minutes, before the black, sulfurous smoke begins to be emitted from under their cloaks and you begin to cough as your vision's obscured. The smoke clears after a minute of coughing, and they're all gone.
  
  "What the fuck just happened?" you ask.
  
  "We witnessed the powers of death," Blaise whispers.
  
  > Six Months Later...
  The Kingdom of Man was created and grew into what it is over a thousand years. The Orc Tribes became what they are in roughly four hundred. The Dwarven Clans have lasted nearly eight hundred years. The High Elves, Wood Elves and Dark Elves have lasted literally millennia.
  
  You and Blaise have conquered it all in six months.
  
  You sit on the back of Bones, riding towards Alexandria. The city is the largest in the Alliance, and the various leaders of the Alliance are hiding there. You ride towards the city next to Blaise, a massive army of undead behind you.
  
  "If we conquer here, the Alliance falls apart," Blaise says.
  
  "Damn right," you say, grinning.
  
  You ride toward the city walls, in front of a massive gate. Dozens of terrified defenders line the walls, bows drawn.
  
  > Attack
  "Attack!" you roar.
  
  Your undead armies charge forward. The fight is brief. Many enemies surrender instantly, while the rest are massacred. A Flesh Monstrosity kicks down the gates, and walks inside. You wait next to Blaise, watching the endless slaughter. After about an hour, the fighting is over. You ride slowly into the city, heading towards the castle at the center of Alexandria.
  
  You slowly ride into Alexandria. You enter the massive castle through the huge gates. inside are corpses and signs of slaughter. You quickly enter the Throne room, and see the enemies who've been hunting you for the past few years, lying dead.. Sitting in the throne is a black haired, young man wearing a massive golden crown, his throat slit. Lying to his right is a tall, slender woman with flowing blond hair, the Elf Queen, a spear through her throat. To his left is a short, stocky Dwarf covered in golden jewelry that embroiders his long red beard that lies bloodstained, his head sitting next to his corpse. You've annoyed there's no Orc representative, but than again, expecting the Orc Tribes to agree on a leader would never work.
  
  Blaise slowly sits in the chair, looking up at you.
  
  "We did it, Dag. We did it."
  
  > The Next Day...
  You stand by the throne in Alexandria, Blaise sitting in the Throne.
  
  "I can't believe we're here, Dag."
  
  "I know."
  
  "We made it," she smiles. "My Dad always wanted to make the Dead Empire, and we've done it."
  
  "I know. Remember when we were little kids playing hide and seek in the hidden tunnels?"
  
  "Yeah. That was fun. And sleeping in the tree in the garden."
  
  "Those were the days, Dag."
  
  "Well, now we have an empire to build. Taxes to charge, laws to install, people to promote, things to do... We're the rulers of an Empire."
  
  "Yeah..." Blaise says, standing and hugging you.
  
  "We did it."
  
  > Five Years Later...
  A Future for the World
  
  Over the next five years, you build your dreams. You install a new justice system, implant a fair tax system, wipe out the various bandits that plagued the land and did a bunch of other shit you don't care about. The point is, Blaise is happy, and so are you. There's a lot to be done now. Blaise has quite a few guys chasing after her, but that's up to her. You advisors grow quite powerful. The Apprentice Necromancers, Thorn especially, become incredibly powerful and look after large areas of land for Blaise. Sir Trent becomes a leader in charge of the many undead patrols that guard the Dead Empire from both external threats and act as a police force. Kai is rewarded with massive amounts of money for his service, which he blows on prostitutes and drink and demands for more until a new tax the Kai Tax, is put in place on baked goods to support his gambling, drinking and fucking habits.Mr Nilvos is given a large manor and fortune to enjoy, and Soren is put in charge of the new Church of the True Power that you think is stupid, but Soren's quite happy with. You personally are given tremendous amounts of power and influence, though you stay at Blaise's side throughout.
  
  You stand next to Blaise, looking out at the setting sun, standing on the walls of Reaper Castle. You gently rub Stitches by your side and Mort on your shoulder.
  
  "We've done well, haven't we?"
  
  "Damn right. I can't believe what we've done."
  
  "I love you, Dag. You're my best friend."
  
  "I love you too, Blaise. Don't tell Val."
  
  Blaise laughs, and punches you.
  
  "Don't joke about that. I think she might be pregnant."
  
  You wink and shrug. You watch the sun setting, and smile.
  
  "The future is open to us, Blaise. The whole world is under our command. We've created a great empire you and I."
  
  "We've created a future, Dag."
  
  You look out at the world, and think that Blaise is right. You've done it.