The red curtains parted wide once again. At center stage was a single narrow rim of light, focused, onto a full suit of armor that lay motionless, sprawled against an ever-growing pool of blood that glinted harshly back.
Then from somewhere unseen, a strangled voice in panic cried out, "The castle has been breached!"
Cue the music.
For every petrified scream stifled so abrupt came the heavy rumble of drums, like the pounding of a thousand hearts beating incessantly. The dissonant blare of trumpets as swords clattered, mixed with the grating screech of violin strings as chaos continued to spread within the castle walls.
The stage lights from all sides glimmered a deep dark red, spewing, spurting, staining everything and everywhere. As the anarchy built, as the cymbals crashed, the choir sang loud in a deep sonorous terrifying unison.