In that moment, Ma had stepped into the room and seen those two fighting while Gammon shuddered on the bed. Her eyebrows had risen and she set down her purse on the floor with a rattling noise.
The fighting didn't stop; Waiter had noticed her entry, and the Master of the Graveyard had noticed her entry, but neither could stop. Graveyard was chomping on Waiter's fingers, and the girl pulled on her short brown hair as she screamed in pain.
What occurred was, at last, Waiter flew and crashed into a cluttered wall. Papers and pins fluttered and rolled to the floor around her, though to look at Waiter she seemed to be unhurt.
Then, retaining her same dignity and unruffled appearance, Graveyard turned to Ma with a dark scowl on her face. "Ah, if you had arrived half an hour later I would have felt justified to devour him."
Gammon's eyes flickered slowly towards her; Ma met them and stared back as if indifferent.
"Even now it seems you feel justified in doing that," she noted; the Master was still standing by Gammon's bed, as if ready to snatch him off it and gobble him up.
"Well, I was going to have already eaten him if Waiter wasn't here."
"Is that so?"
Waiter had run to resume her place at Gammon's side, her face drawn into a sharp pouting expression and her hands curled into fists. She didn't say anything, but she did stare down at the two other women as though daring them to. Ma smiled and waved at her.
"Regardless of that, if you'll take her now I can continue with my meal," the master muttered as she fixed her eyes back on Gammon. "So although I thank you for coming in with medicine in hand, I refuse to wait now that I have his taste on my tongue."
"I can't allow that."
"Oho ho, and what will you do about it?"
"I'm simply not going to let you do it."
The delicate features of Graveyard's face twisted, and she looked at her opposite with the darkest of frowns on her face.
From just outside, the creaking of graves alerted them to something's movement.
In the graveyard was a clattering of bones, corpses that were half-eaten and hollow-eyed dragging themselves across the fresh dirt. Waiter saw them first and then Ma turned calmly with another flick of her wrist. In her own hands was a bright, bright flame, which grew fierce and shot out the door, enveloping the shambling bodies.
There came a faint sound of screams from rotted vocal chords, but unlike a group of humans the dead didn't raise a fuss at the maelstrom of fire, but only lay still and burned.
Ma sighed with satisfaction, but Grave wasn't finished. Shadows grabbed at the sorceress, clinging to her arms and legs, and pulled. Ma swept backwards and hissed; as if twisting to get free, she flung her arm back. Out of her palm shot another fire.
The flame snuffed out; snarling, Grave moved faster than was possible in her big dress, slamming into the sorceress and knocking her back. With her unsteadied, Grave threw Ma to the other side of the room like a piece of wood, and she hit the opposite wall with a crack.
"Hey!" Waiter ran to the crumpled woman and grabbed her hand.
By the bed, Grave's attention was again drawn to her next meal. "After all, a visitor will surely come by later on. And when they do, you can make them into the new Gardener…" She stroked Gammon's head; in that moment, when she smiled, her mouth was full of razor-sharp teeth. "And I bet they will also taste just as good."
"Stop. I'm not going to allow this."
The sorceress was back on her feet. Around Grave, a strong wind blew that didn't come from the still night outside. Ma's eyes were glowing brightly, and her hands hardened into fists.
Between the two women there was only silence, with Waiter in the corner. Grave's shadows remained around Ma while Ma's eyes and the wind bored into Grave.
Then, the shadows retracted.
Grave laughed, "If you're willing to put yourself in harm's way just for him…? Well, it's alright. I'm willing to leave him be right now. Even though it makes me so disappointed…"
Ma regained her composure, but didn't speak. Gammon relaxed back against the bed with a long shudder.
"Even so, because I'm disappointed…" Grave took the Gardener's hand for another time. "I'll take this compensation as punishment."
As Ma and Waiter watched, and Gammon's eyes became as big as saucers, Grave put his ring finger into her mouth.
Her long tongue lapped at the webbing at its base.
Then down her jaws came with a snap.
