He stopped abruptly. The sound of rusty metal and a frantic clattering echoed through the main hallway. The heavy doors of the throne room flew open. A skeleton in golden armor, his cape in tatters, came running in, nearly tripping over his own femur.
The undead creature didn't even look at Leo. He rushed behind a pillar, every bone in his body trembling, holding his shield above his skull.
"Vark..." the demon growled. "What is that?"
"He's coming! By all the Gods of the System, he's coming!" yelped the skeleton. "He wants to turn my vertebrae into pan flutes!"
Suddenly, the Mage made his entrance. He wasn't walking. He floated thirty centimeters above the ground in a lotus position, but completely upside down. His clothes were a patchwork of potion stains and bits of lichen.
"I SEE YOU, CRYSTAL SNAKES!" the Mage screamed, brandishing a gnarled staff. "STOP BITING THE COLORS!"
"That is Barnaby, Master," the advisor sighed, covering his eyes with one hand. "Our magical artillery unit. Well... he was. Before he discovered that Level 3 mushrooms have 'expansive' properties for the mind."
Mage Barnaby suddenly stared at the pillar where the skeleton was hiding. A maniacal smile stretched across his chapped lips.
"You! Prince of Porcelain! You're hiding the secret of the Ultimate Blue inside your ribs! Give it back to me!"
Barnaby pointed his staff. Leo expected a fireball, a bolt of lightning... Instead, a dozen frozen trout, stiff as justice, shot out of thin air and crashed onto the skeleton's shield with a metallic clang.
"HELP!" screamed the skeleton, collapsing under the weight of the fish. "HE'S FISHING ME! MASTER, DO SOMETHING!"