A white veil loomed over the room, hovering over the grand table spanning across. It covered so much space it stretched out all the way to the round tables scattered across the hall. Hiding all the delicious pastries and dishes catered by occasion beneath.
Pure statues lined the edges of the room, with two spiralling pillars on either side. Varying in stature and size, some of them depicting warriors holding their weapons, some depicting the likes of queens and kings.
One statue missed an arm, while another missed the head, and another missed its leg. But none of their parts seemed to be in sight; the cuts were pin precise, and it would be an injustice to call it skilful.
Amongst the statues, the draconic lanterns spewed light out. Leo didn't actually know what real dragons looked like, but if his sisters tales were right, then he was more than sure that this was them.
They also somewhat resembled the draKons, just like the rest. But regardless of their appearance, these lanterns actually worked; even better than the previous ones.
And the air down here was pure as well. Going down that stone hatch, Leo felt the vibrations in the ground as the doors opened and closed, letting a rush of fresh air inside.
He couldn't see the ventilation holes in this room or any of the imperfections the upper labyrinth held. This room was obviously a step up in architecture from the others. There were no vines, no cracks, nothing that could trace it back to the others. The whole room was clean and well kept.
Three grand chandeliers towered over the place, each with a huge set of unlit candles, sitting at different levels from eachother in a seemingly random order – of which the veil wrapped around, cascading down to each pillar.
Beneath all of it, at the centre of the room stood the immense table, with marble legs and several carved out chairs surrounding the rectangular structure. Coated in a silk woven cover.
All throughout the table, in front of each chair stood the same five items. A simple plate, a glass, and a set of silverware – spoon, fork, and a knife.
None of the plates held any food, except for two of them, the plate at the head, and at the bottom of the table. Excluding the overflowing roundtables, this one was the largest, yet completely empty.
Leo looked around the room as his eyes adjusted to the bright light. Putting his palm just above his eyebrows, his eyes went wide:
'What the hell is that?'
At the head of the table, on the far side of where he stood, there was a peculiar figure sitting on the tall chair.
'...'
Leo was speechless, but the slight shade coming from the chandeliers gave him some doubt. He couldn't be sure of what it was until he inspected it up close. But nonetheless, he had to be careful approaching it. It was enough that he fell for the hatch trap, but to exhaust himself further, risking the food and drinks in front of him would be beyond foolish.
In fact, he was salivating at the mouth like a dog, everytime he walked one step forward, the hunger in his gut grew heavier. It's like it pulled him in from all directions.
'Not yet.'
He grit his teeth, slowly hopping his way forward by holding with one hand onto the chairs. The figure was getting closer, clothed in dark robes covering its face and body. Leo was startled at first by the humanoid.
If this was the person keeping this place intact, then for the better or for the worse, he'd at least have someone to speak to, rather than conversing with himself.
Looking around the room, there didn't seem like anything was amiss. Granted, Leo was mesmerised by the sight, compared to the rotting table in his home, the only thing he recognised in this place was the scent of freshly cooked food, similar to the bakeries up the street.
In his town, the further you strayed from the middle, the further the poverty and insanity got. Leo just so happened to live near the bottom of that slope, also referred to as the 'First Line Of Defense' zone.
He approached silently, cushioning his footsteps with great caution.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
His breathing quickened, not enough for anyone to notice, but the rising feeling in his chest was definitely there.
"..."
His lips rubbed against each other in a dry manner.
[...]
Unconcerned as ever the runes were.
He extended an arm forward, reaching over the plate of food and right at the humanoid creatures hood.
Shift.
Leo's eyes locked tight to the figure as his hand reached directly over the wine at the head of it all.
Creak.
From beneath the table cloth, the robe emerged, jumping forward and grabbing Leo's wrist tightly while the fabric of the hood slipped right off.
"Ahh!"
Leo pulled away instantly, falling with his ass on the floor, hitting his elbows hard against the polished stone before looking up at the figure.
It stood stationary, but he still couldn't see its face, or any of its features for that matter, the robe was still in the way; only the hood had fallen off, but from where he was down below, only the bland design of the roof could be seen through a veil.
His heart jolted out of place, and that's when he felt something strange grasping his hand, something... sharp?
'What the hell?'
Leo lifted his right hand up, hearing some clicking as he did so. But when he took a look, he flung his arm to the sky so hard it nearly broken off:
"Wh- ahh!"
An oval object shadowed through the air.
A skeletons hand!
Leo kicked away a bit, moving back until his body stumped against the leg of a roundtable. Rattling the utensils atop until one of the forks fell down next to him.
Ding.
That was not the sound of a fork hitting the floor, but the sound a bell, a tiny one.
The sitting robes shifted, getting up by themselves with their back turned to Leo. The fabric lifted up into the sky, shooting out some sort of magic in the air.
The flying hand stopped dead in its tracks as a small yellow string reached out to it. And in the same moment, it flung back to its spot. Returning beneath the robes to their rightful owner.
At this point, Leo was trembling slightly, holding his hip with one hand – ready to unsheathe his sword. And with his other hand holding the fork dirtied by the floor.
It turned its body, and the same clicking sounds could be heard.
'It's another undead... but this one's different from the ones before –'
He was right. As it turned around, the head of a skeleton popped out cleanly. There was no flesh attached, no muscle. It was a pure undead in all its wretched glory, and this time, it didn't look like a clock was controlling it.
Its face sent shivers down his spine, its round eye openings, almost making it look human, glowed with a blue ambience that drew attention. It encroached on him slowly with its bones smacking the cold hard floor, staining it with a little bone residue by each step it took.
Looking at the thing rushing towards him, he stood up, placing the fork back where it belonged and unseathing his sword.
But it stopped moving.
"Huh?"
The glint in its eyes faded away, keeping the whole body standing in the meanwhile.
A burning sensation came from his hands. The runes were making their brief appearance again.
They flew around, settling just in front of the robed skeleton.
[Undead * Draconic Butler ]
[~~~~~~]
The runes revealed its title, just like they'd done with the eagle and the wolf. This time, with some weird symbols and a jittering message down beneath. His eyes were instantly drawn to the unreadable text, similar to their demands for blood.
"I can't read this. That's where the numbers have been, right?"
Placing a hand on his chin, he relaxed his sword to the ground.
"What's so special about those anyway?"
Focusing on the upper message, he pieced some of the action together. Its title was giving him some trouble, but Leo was certain it was a hint to the reason why it stopped.
"It's clear that it's an undead, but a butler?"
He looked it up and down, approaching slowly as he went for the robe again. But this time, it wouldn't budge, not one bit. It's like it fused to the skeleton.
"Well, that's not good..."
More than anything, he was worried that his sword wouldn't be able to pierce through such a hard material, but those worries were quickly ridden as he recalled what happened to the knight.
"There's also that door."
Initially, he did not notice it. A decently sized door stood right in the centre, one that did not have a keyhole the size of his sword or anything like that. It was a regular wooden door.
"That name too..."
It flashed through his eyes for a while.
[Undead*Draconic Butler]