Woman In a Chair

Emile dropped to his knees. Sweat blurred his vision and cuts littered his arm, each with their own unique burning sensation.

Blood lowered himself and sat next to Emile. He smelled of iron and sweat. For some time the two boys sat in the maze, their wet backs leaned against the wall, their aching muscles uncontrollably twitching.

"I—I can't keep going." Emile exclaimed.

"How long do you think it's been?" Blood suddenly asked.

"Too long!" Emile replied, "Way too long."

Ever since the lights turned red it's been an endless slaughter in hell. Monsters lurked in the dark corners of the maze, wolves ran through the halls and hunted them, and those damn candelabras appeared at every other corner.

The scorching heat from the candelabras worsened the labyrinth tenfold. The air grew thin and the searing flames purged the halls of all signs of life.

"Come on—" Blood pulled himself up and grabbed Emile's arm, "we're probably close."

Emile draped his arm over Blood and leaned most of his weight on top of him. The two moved one step at a time down the corridor. Blood held his dagger out in front of him, but his hand was shaking.

In fact, his whole body was shaking, both of theirs were. Emile ran out of essence first, all the way back when they broke through the wall.

It's been multiple hours since then and Emile's essence has slowly been building, but every time his body accumulates any energy it goes directly into healing his wounds.

Multiple lacerations across both arms, a stab wound just above his pelvis, and second degree burns above his ankles. Blood ran out of essence too, just a few hours ago.

He had the same burns as Emile, but other than that the young boy was mostly fine. Only a few small cuts and bruises covered him.

They turned down another empty corridor which, surprisingly, made the duo more anxious than not. Where were the beasts? Where were the creatures hunting them from the bloodied shadows?

Emile's eyelids were strikingly heavy, too heavy for Emile to resist their crushing weight. He closed his eyes and sunk even further into Blood who was leading them through the maze.

All of a sudden, Emile felt Blood's body jerk back. Emile's back slammed into the wall and he slid off of Blood to the floor.

Creeping his eyes open, Emile looked to Blood:

"What the hell was that?"

"We made it!" Blood crouched down and gazed into Emile's eyes, "There's just one tiny little problem."

"Yeah?" Emile asked, "And what's that?"

"There is a, um—" Blood stood up and walked away from Emile, he leaned around the wall and continued, "an old lady sitting in front of the doors."

Emile's eyes flew to meet Blood's, "What?"

***

"Congratulations on clearing the labyrinth!" The frail old woman clapped in her wooden chair. She had long, stringy gray hair and a leather face.

She stood up, her back hunched over, and walked to the duo.

"You two performed quite well out there. You must be tired. Please, come with me." The woman gestured to the colossal black gates behind her.

"Even though we destroyed a wall?" Emile asked.

"What about the people behind us?" Blood asked.

"Yes—yes, I know you have questions. That can wait until after you've rest. Now please, come." The woman responded once again urging the two to accompany her.

Emile and Blood both looked at each other. Blood shrugged his shoulders and waited for Emile. Emile shook his head and walked behind the woman, Blood just behind him.

The ancient woman raised the stick she called an arm and placed her palm on the colossal gates. Within an instant, the red world around them disappeared and the tranquil green vibrance returned.

The left gate shifted back, followed by an eruption of dust. The dust filled the space around them causing Emile to find it difficult to see.

"Come on now, just over here." The woman's voice broke through the dust.

Emile followed the sound of her voice and found the crack between the two gates. He squeezed his torso through the foot and a half of space the gate door opened.

Now on the other side, Emile waved his arms and blew the dust away. He found himself in a massive rectangular room. The walls and floor were nothing like the simple stone found in the maze, rather, they were smooth and pristine.

The room itself was some navy blue stone. The walls were adorned with light gray columns that spanned to the ceiling and between every column protruded a delicately flickering candle.

The woman moved ahead and sat down at the incredible dining table in the center of the room. The table stretched through the entirety of the room, sitting somewhere between eighty and a hundred guests.

The table too was adorned with a plethora of candles in addition to three antler made chandeliers which sat just above the dining table.

"Please—" the woman spoke again, "pick any seat you'd like."

Emile and Blood sat opposite each other at the nearest end of the table. Meanwhile, the woman sat at the table's head, right between Emile and Blood.

The woman smiled and lifted her hand, then she snapped. The moment she snapped all the candles in the room flickered simultaneously and the hundreds of plates found on the dining table piled over with a ridiculous volume of food.

At the center of the table, far down from where the three of them were sitting, entire beasts were sprawled onto plates. Then, after the meat, huge bowls of fruits and vegetables crowded the table.

Orange grapes, pink apples, fruits Emile had never seen before spanned across the table. After the fruit, multi towered cakes stretched up towards the chandelier.

It was the feast of all feasts. A meal fit for any King or Queen. So where did it just come from?

And more importantly, why is it being served to Emile and Blood?