No Trespassing (Bad Ending)
By:  Nocturne Duskclaw
	A small figure made their way over the ruins of what was once a city populated by wizards.  The figure was wearing a heavy dark blue cloak with the hood drawn up.  They have a slender body and under the cloak are wearing boots, cloth pants and a simple tunic.  Strapped to their side is a long dagger, the blade tinged with purple dust.  As they make their way deeper into the city, a breeze blows the hood of their cloak down revealing a young female mink.  She has black hair, snow white fur, a small pink nose, and large light brown eyes.  She looks in her mid to late teens as she bundles the hood back up, giving a small grunt as she climbs over some rubble.
	Her name is Melody, a mercenary and thief who makes her living taking odd jobs from people who seek her out.  She is at this city because she had heard there was treasure hiding deep within, and she was being paid handsomely for the job.  Any treasure she finds she can keep, just so long as she finds a certain spell book that is inside of a vault.  She kept on her guard though, as this job seemed too easy for her to just walk in and take it, but the client, an older mouse wizard assured her that the city was abandoned long ago.  She thought back to meeting the wizard and getting the job from him…
	“So, you’re telling me that there’s no one in the city at all?  I find that hard to believe.”  Melody says, sitting in a tavern at a table in the back corner.  She is dressed casually in her tunic, pants, and boots, but her cloak hanging on the back of her chair.  With the cloak off, it can be seen all down the left side of her body, from her face and down past her torso, arm and leg are covered in black tribal tattoos.  They are very intricate in their designs, a holdover from when she was younger and lived in a tribe with other minks who were warriors.
	Across from her, sat an old looking male mouse with a long beard and old face, but intense eyes that showed he was still fully in his mind despite his age.  His cloak was a deep red in color, and he was sipping from a mug of ale.  “I promise you my dear, the city of Cassandora is long, long abandoned.  The wizards that lived there got into a civil war many years ago and wiped each other out.  Everything they owned is still there, laying about for anyone to claim.”  He says, setting the mug down.
	“Uh-huh… and if there is so much there to just walk up and take, why haven’t others taken everything already?”  She asked, looking incredulously at the old wizard.  “I find it hard to believe a city full of wizard’s riches that has no one in it hasn’t been picked clean already.”
	The mouse gave a sly smile and said “Ah, indeed it has.  However, there is one place that hasn’t been found yet, because I am the only one who knows about it.  It’s a vault deep in the city that was owned by the city’s arch-mage.  I have been searching for a way in for a long time now and have finally acquired a key.  And before you ask, I can’t get it myself because the city has a seal around it preventing anyone from casting magic.”  He reaches into his cloak and pulls out a large, black iron key and sets it on the table with a loud thump sound.
	Melody picks the key up and looks it over.  “So, what’s the catch old man?  I doubt you are doing this just to help out a mercenary.”
	The mouse laughs softly and says “You’re as shrewd as the rumors about you say.  Yes, there is something I want.  If you find the vault, you can have whatever you want from inside of it.  Any single item will give you the wealth to retire for the rest of your life.  All I want is a spell book.  It is black leather bound, with a green jewel set in the middle.  It’s the arch-mage’s personal spell book and writings of his.  I want that book, nothing else in the vault matters to me.”
	“Must be some book.”  Melody says, looking at the wizard.
	“Indeed.”  He says back and there is a moment of silence between them, the tension getting heavy in the air.
	“Okay, I will do this job.  The idea of being able to retire and not have to stick my neck out anymore is very appealing.”  She says, as she takes the key and puts it in her bag of holding.  “I will set out tomorrow morning to head for the city and look for this book of yours.”  She holds her hand out to the mouse, who smiles and takes it, the two of them shaking on it.
	“Here is a map to get you to Cassandora, and I have also paid for your room for you.”
	Melody smiles and looks at the map, saying “Thank you.  Meet me back here in four days, and I will have your book for you.”
	The young mink pushed her way through some more rubble, taking a step back to avoid some old linens tumbling down off a broken-down shelf as she made her way through the ruins of a house.  “What a joke, this place looks like it was a shithole before any war happened.”  She says as she gets though the house and finds the doors leading down to a cellar.  “He said the vault should be down here.”  She reaches down and pulls the door open and begins to slowly descend the stone stairs leading down.  She reaches into her bag and pulls out an ever-burning torch and gently taps it on the wall to make it gently light up, the flames crackling gently as she makes her way deeper and deeper. 
She gives a shiver as it’s cooler down here, and she can hear water dripping gently.  She sees the walls are hewn stone and the stonework looks very well done, possibly dwarven made.  She runs her fingers along the stonework a little as she finally reaches the bottom and sees a long hallway stretching before her.  She begins to walk along down it, holding onto her torch with one hand, and taking out her dagger to hold in the other.  “This place is creepy as a tomb…”  She whispers softly, and then freezes as she hears a soft clattering noise further down the hallway.  She looks down into the darkness, holding the torch out at arm’s length as she sees something slowly moving towards her.  Something tall and white, moving in a smooth clattering motion.
When it makes a few more steps forward, Melody’s fur on the back of her neck stands up as she sees a skeleton making its way towards her.  This skeleton however wasn’t like others she faced before, which were the bones of people that had just been animated and carried swords and busted up armor.  This one was a foot taller than her, and in its ribcage was full of what appeared to be intestines dripping with a yellowish green bile.  One of the ends of the rubbery looking intestines coils around his neck and goes up into the jawbone, acting like a tongue as it hisses at her loudly.  Melody suddenly inhales sharply, the creature before her so jarring she wasn’t breathing for a moment as her heart thudded in her chest.  She was about to try and attack, but the creature suddenly lunged at her.
She yelped in surprise as the undead being moved much faster than something without muscle would be expected to as she jumps to the side narrowly avoiding it slashing at her with its bony fingers.  However, the slimy appendage lashed out and tried to wrap around her neck.  She quickly ducked; her cloak being pulled away from her as the tentacle squeezed tightly and pulled back.  She runs towards it as the cloak wraps around the skeleton’s head and it thrashes around.  She plunges her dagger into the squirming mass of flesh in its ribs and stomach, twisting the knife and pulling it to the side, making a large tear as the bile like fluid spills out onto her a little, making her jump back.  As the skeleton wails and falls to the ground, Melody looks down and sees the bile is slowly eating though her clothing.
“Shit!”  She exclaims loudly, quickly getting her boots and tunic off, throwing them to the side as they dissolved into nothing.  She leans on the wall, panting as the creature begins to crumble and melt away, leaving just a puddle on the floor.  She is now bare foot, her feet small and slender with three toes on the ends, and topless, her small chest heaving as she catches her breath.  After a few minutes, she stands up and says “I am going to kick that old geezer’s ass before I give him that book…  I just bought those boots.”  She sighs and continues to make her way forward though the cold tunnel, making her rub her arms and shiver a little.
After about a half hour of walking, she comes to an immense door that looks about ten feet tall and ten feet wide.  “This must be it.”  She says and takes out the key.  “That arch-mage must have been half giant or something…”  she muses as she walks up and puts the key into the keyhole and turns it with a loud thunk.  The door opens and she sees bright light pouring into the hallway from the room inside.  She gasps as she walks inside, and sees piles and piles of gold, countless gemstones, and many magical looking weapons, armors, and objects.  She walks forward into the room fully and says “T…there’s so much.  I can’t believe it.”  As she picks up a single gold coin and rubs her thumb over the front of it, tossing it into one of the piles.  She then shakes her head and says “Book!  Right, the spell book.”  She begins to search around the room slowly, not knowing she is being watched by something in the shadows.
“Found it!”  She says, picking up the black leather book with the green gem and sighing.  “That was a little hairy back there, but it was- “
“worth it…”  a voice softly whispers in the room, making her shiver as she looks around, the voice sounding a lot like hers.
“Who’s there!”  She shouts, as a black shape slowly begins to form behind her.  It is silent as it rises, forming a column of darkness that is swirling gently like a funnel.  At the tom there are a few tendrils, one of them having a blue crystal at the end like an eye as it lowers down slowly.  Melody looks around in front of her, unaware of the being behind her.  She then hears a soft sound behind her, and she turns, face to face with the blue crystal.  It begins to glow softly, swirling with colors.
She is about to scream but she sees the colors swirling softly and gently and it’s so pretty, so soothing.  “Wh..what’s going on…”  she says softly, her eyes wide as she looks deep into the crystal.  A small smile comes over her face as she drops the book and her dagger, sighing gently.  “It’s so pretty…  So blue.  Like the ocean.”  She giggles as the being begins to move backwards, leading her cross the floor slowly. Her bare feet softly walk over the stone floor as she feels more and more relaxed with each step.  “Don’t go… come back…”  she mumbles softly as she follows the darkness towards the back of the treasure vault. 
She begins to hear voices in her head, soft, warm, and gentle voices speaking in a warm chorus.  “Relax little one…  you’ve traveled so far, you’re cold and tired.  Join us.  You’ll be warm and safe, and you can sleep.”
“Tired… I… I want to sleep.”  she coos as her body shudders.  She steps onto a pile of coins and slips, her side hitting into the wall hard and making her cry out in pain, closing her eyes and tearing her gaze away from the crystal.  The dark being growls as she staggers to the left, the being lunging but missing her and hitting the floor with a wet splat noise.  Melody holds her side and looks up, growling as she says “You tried to…”  and she runs to the side as the darkness piles up onto itself to make another attack.  Melody looks at the things laying on the ground and she scoops up a short sword with a shining white blade.  A tendril lashes out at the mink, grabbing her around her arm and she feels the strength in her arm gently drain as it begins to pull her towards its mass.
Melody grunts as her left arm goes limp, but she grips the short sword in her right hand and turns, thrusting it forward.  The blade plunges into the black mass, sinking in as a second tendril wraps around her forehead, squeezing gently as she suddenly feels very dizzy and tired.  She groans as she weakly pushes the sword deeper into the black mass and feels the point of the sword hit something solid.  Her eyes flutter as she gives one final push, her vision darkening slowly around her as the tip of the sword pierces the mass and she fully blacks out, her last thoughts being her leaving the city and returning with the book, a smile coming over her face as she feels like she is sinking into darkness.
The dark mass screeches loudly as its core its pierced by the holy sword, the sword flashing in a bright white light that engulfs the creature ad burns it away into nothingness.  The blue crystal that was its eye falls to the ground and shatters as Melody falls to the floor with a soft grunt.  She lays there for a few moments and then groans, holding her head as she gets up slowly.  Her arm is still numb and hanging limply at her side as she sits there, shivering at how close a call she just had.  She takes a few moments to try and calm her breathing, but she is shaking like a leaf, and it takes her a few hours to finally calm herself down.
“That was too close…”  She says softly as she gets up and gets the book, putting it into her bag of holding.  She gets as much of the gold and items she can carry, her big able to take almost everything inside the vault.  She finds a pair of boots and slips them on, also finding a shirt and cloak to wear.  She sighs, not feeling so naked now as she begins to make her way out of the vault and the ruined city.  After the fear she had before, it begins to give way to relief and giddiness as she finds herself laughing and unable to stop for a long while as she heads back to the tavern in the town of Naal.
A few days later Melody was sitting in the tavern, waiting for the Wizard.  She had been busy in the time she made it back to the city and the day she was waiting for the old mouse.  She had sold the magical items, keeping a few for herself and purchasing a manor at the top of a hill in the town.  She was dressed in nicer clothing, looking like a nobleman instead of a thief.  She was waiting for the wizard as she had a bone to pick with him.
The older mouse walks in and sees Melody, not recognizing her at first until she looks at him and he sees the tattoos on her face and hand.  He heads over quickly and sits down, asking “Did you get it?  Please tell me you got the book!”  He almost pleads with her.  She looks at him and takes a long drink from her mug.
“Mind telling me about the fact you left out the vault was protected by monsters I’ve never heard of before?”  She asks, her voice calm and smooth for now, though she could feel her anger rising as the mouse answers her.
“I was worried you wouldn’t have done it for me if I told you that there were powerful creatures down there.”  He says as he keeps motioning for her to give him the book with his hands.
Melody looks and leans in a little.  “Oh, I’m sorry, you’re done.  I was waiting for the part where you at least apologize to me for nearly getting me killed.”
“Listen, you’re standing here are you not?  Now do you have the book or what?”  He asks again, leaning over the table and getting into her face a little.
Melody is unmoved however, and she simply takes the book out of the bag and drops it on the table in front of him.  “Here.  Take your book and go.  You’re lucky I don’t just kill you for lying to me.”  
He grabs the book and says “Please, like some lowly thief could touch me.”  And he heads outside.  Melody smiles though, and she motions with her hands to some of the people sitting at the bar, and they get up and head for the door after the wizard. 
Outside, the wizard stops as there are several people standing in his way.  Tall men and women in armor, carrying swords and shields.  It’s the town guard, other members coming out behind the mouse, surrounding him.  He looks and says “What is the meaning of this?  Allow me to pass at once!”  He stamps his foot on the ground to accentuate his statement.
“Fayryn Tamaggin, red wizard of Kress, you’re under arrest for transporting forbidden magic across the Kingdom.”  A woman guard says, standing over the mouse clad in red.  Two male guards quickly move in and put manacles on his wrists as the mouse grunts and tries to struggle.  Melody walks out now, smiling as she leans on the wall of the tavern.
“I did a little research on you and that book while I was waiting.  Pretty brazen of you to wander around the way you were with a price on your head.  That book too is highly sought after.  The book alone could pay for an addition to my manor.”  She smirks.  “You being added to it, well, it just makes me feel that much better.  And don’t think about casting anything, those manacles are anti magic.  This was the wrong town to come in geezer, an ogre mage tried to take this town over several years ago.  There’s lots of anti-magic stuff laying around because of it, and everyone, even the smallest child knows how to use it.”
The wizard growls at her and says “You are going to regret this.  Mark my words, I will make sure you suffer.  You have no idea what is in that book, the damage it can cause in the wrong hands.  I’m the only one who can use it properly.  If you let someone else have it, you are a fool.”  The guards begin pulling him away as Melody looks at the book on the ground.  One of the guards looks at the book, and then to Melody.
“So, what are you going to do with that?  If he’s right that book is dangerous.”  He says, a young male horse.  “We can’t just let anyone have it.”
“I know.”  Melody says, picking it up and putting it back in her bag.  “I looked through it a little, I can’t even read it.  It’s written in strange language that was giving me a headache the more I read it.  I’m afraid if I try to destroy it, something might happen, or some wizard will come for revenge.”  She sighs as she looks to the guard.  “Contact the mayor, we’ll talk about it.  I think this book is going to be sealed with the other forbidden objects we have here.”
“Yes Miss.”  He says, heading off to the mayor’s home.  Melody goes back into the tavern and sits down, thinking about it.  As much as she was mad the wizard, she knew that he was right.  This book was serious business and needed to be handled with the utmost care.
“I’ll find out what to do tomorrow…  for now, I just want to relax and be glad I never have to stick my neck out like that again.  That was way too close.”  She says to herself and finishes her drink.  She gets up and takes a carriage up to her manor to get ready for bed, she was going to be busy tomorrow morning with the mayor and this mysterious book.