"Now we can finally eat!" The woman's voice suddenly twisted, growing deep and raspy.
She raised her frail arms into the air and slammed down onto the dining table with far more force than Emile was expecting. The opposite end of the table launched into the air.
Meats, fruits, sweets, it all flung into the air and crashed against the three chandeliers. Grease and frosting dropped from the antlers onto the unrecognizable table.
Both Emile and Blood quickly reacted to the woman's outburst. Emile stood up and backed away from the table while Blood summoned his dagger and held it to the woman's throat.
"Mind telling us what you're doing?" Blood demanded.
"Khahahaha!" The old woman cackled and leaned into the blade until the dagger dug deep into her neck. Blood splattered from her neck and covered Blood's chest.
"It's been a long time since I've had a proper meal!" The old woman's voice tore once more as a bloodied grin replaced her expression.
With the snap of her fingers, countless bones spawned in the air behind her. The bones were shaped like drumsticks, but the end was sharpened to a fine point.
The bones came crashing down onto the two boys. Emile dove under the dining table to avoid the bones while Blood's greed got the best of him.
Instead of retreating and avoiding the incoming bone shards, he chose to slide the dagger even further across the woman's neck until she was completely beheaded.
Her head playfully wobbled then fell forward onto her plate just as a bone shard pierced Blood's only arm.
Even more laughter escaped from the lips of the disgusting witch. Her headless body picked up her head and turned it around to face Blood.
With another wicked grin, she antagonized the boy:
"You're going to need to be stronger than that to kill me!" The woman's voice warped even more, it now sounded like a demonic monster was speaking over the voice of the old lady.
Both could be heard, but the woman's voice existed far beneath the roars of the demon.
Emile, who was still underneath the table, yanked Blood's leg and sucked him under the table as well. Meanwhile, the bone shards continued to plummet into the table above them.
But then, the bones stopped and the woman pushed her chair back. She walked around the corner of the table and stopped just before Emile's sprawled out chair.
Then her head dropped beneath the table.
"Boo!" The woman mocked while her detached skull dangled in the air in front of Emile's eyes.
Emile quickly reached above the table and grabbed his butter knife which he then thrust into the woman's decrepit eye. He kicked her wobbly shins and ran out from under the table.
At the same time, Blood exploded from beneath the table and the two raced to the uninteresting single door at the end of the hall.
"Khahaha!" More laughter could be heard from behind them.
Emile slammed the door open and then just as violently shut it. Without wasting any time, Emile and Blood ran down the contemporary hallway. They stopped at another door a ways away and entered the unknown room.
Locking the door behind them, Emile inspected the room. A few rows of shelves, bags filled with miscellaneous goods stuffed in a corner and a wall of poorly stacked journals and books.
It was a storage room and the amount of dust on the shelves supported that discovery.
"Are you okay?!" Emile asked while looking at the bone shard lodged in Blood's bicep.
"Why didn't she die?" Replied Blood.
"What?"
"I mean I cut her head off and everything." A disappointed sigh escaped Blood's lips.
"That's what you're worried about?!" Emile tried to strain his voice while whispering.
"Oh, I'm fine." Blood pulled the bone from his arm and the tip was perfectly clean. He threw it to the side and continued, "Remember this suit is a relic, it's pretty tough." Blood smiled.
"Not tough enough to keep an arm apparently…." Emile mumbled, "But anyway, what the hell was all of that?!"
"She's probably the guardian." Blood emotionlessly replied.
"The guardian?"
"Every labyrinth needs a guardian. They oversee and control what goes on in the labyrinth. They're like the final boss." Blood informed.
"You didn't feel like mentioning that earlier!" Emile wanted to choke Blood.
"Labyrinths aren't inherently bad or anything. They're literally just a dungeon made by a powerful person. I thought maybe she would pass on some incredible legacy or treasure or something."
"Why wasn't any of this in the packet?!" Emile grew even more frustrated. He pulled the folded piece of paper from his back pocket and reviewed their assignment.
Assignment: Eradicate life within the labyrinth.
Location: Border between the Hollow Mountains and the forest.
Estimated Pop: 600-900
Average Stage: Chosen
'Graves my ***!'
'Collector's gonna be in a grave when I get back, I'll tell you what!'
Then suddenly, the sound of a closing door traveled down the hall into the two boys' ears.
She was coming.