GARGOYLES: Re-Awakening

Reorientation: 1

Their eyes fixed on Xanatos. He sighed. "Gentlemen, this situation is headed in the wrong direction. I'm going to reach into my pocket and pull out a small object. Don't be alarmed, it's for communication purposes only." He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a small radio. Goliath took a step forward. "If I were a sorcerer, don't you think I'd have a better plan than this?" he asked, raising a hand. It was enough to make Goliath hesitate. "Everything can be explained, but not by me." He kept his eyes fixed on Goliath, then raised the radio to his mouth. "Send her up."

What seemed like an eternity passed, but eternities were good in these situations, Xanatos knew. The strongest negotiator is always the one who can tolerate silence the longest, and he was the best negotiator in the world. Suddenly, the hatch to the tower flung open and a tuft of red emerged. Demona stepped from the shadows. "My love," she said, "you do not know how long I have waited to see your face again."

Goliath looked at her, his eyebrows drawing together. "Demona," he said after some hesitation. "What do you mean? We've only just awoken. I saw you just last night. What is the meaning of..."

Demona cut him off. "No my love, you have only just awoken. I have been waking, day after day, for a thousand years since I last saw you." She could see in his face that he did not understand, so she walked over and stood directly next to Xanatos, signaling their familiarity. She let it sink in. "Look at me carefully, Goliath. Can you see it?"

He studied her and it was true. Something was not right. She was his mate, the same Gargoyle she was the night before, but she was somehow different, somehow changed. She was still young, but somehow aged. Her eyes seemed harder, more steady than he was used to, and her demeanor was different as well. Her stance was far more confident, more proud. Much of this he could not have articulated, but he felt it. More than that, she was standing directly next to this man, this Xanatos, without any signs of guard. Whatever was going on was not simple, this he was slowly coming to understand. Demona saw that the opening had come.

"This man is no sorcerer, and he is not your enemy. He has rescued us," she said. "What has happened to us is sorcery, but it is the sorcery of a thousand years ago. Goliath, can you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Of course," Goliath answered. "The invaders nearly overtook the castle. It is time to seek them out at their camp and end it. I have decided!"

Demona smiled. "I am glad," she said, but then her smile faded as quickly as it had come. "But you decided that not yesterday. You decided it a thousand years ago. It has long since passed." She gazed off into the night and suddenly seemed far away. But quickly she regained herself and turned back toward Goliath. "As you slept, the cowards were able to strike, not with swords, but with magic. They knew that they could not win as long as our clan was present. Every night that we drove them back our defenses gained the time they needed to regroup and the daylight hours were never enough to break the defense before we awoke again. They needed to get us out of the way!" Her eyes flashed with the anger Goliath knew so well, yet it was more intense than he remembered. She took a breath, and collected her emotions. "The invaders had a sorcerer among them. As we fought, day after day, he attempted to find a spell that could neutralize us."

"Neutralize?" Goliath asked. The word was strange to him.

"Render you helpless," Xanatos said flatly. Goliath's eyes came to rest on him again.

Demona stepped forward and took Goliath's hands into hers. His attention returned to her and she continued. "While you slept a small group approached the castle. They claimed they wished to negotiate an end. They claimed to come under a flag of truth. But as always the humans knew nothing but treachory. Nothing but betrayal!"

Xanatos glanced at her.

"As they feigned interest in peace under a banner of truce the sorcerer had a chance to cast his spell. A spell that kept you frozen in stone, even at night, for a thousand years!" Demona cried.

Several seconds of silence passed. It was unclear who would break it.

"The spell was designed to last until the castle rose above the clouds, Goliath," Xanatos offered. "As you can see, now it has."

Goliath did not at first respond. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He was unsure what to believe. This seemed a ruse. It could even be a spell now, a vision designed to confuse and mislead him into making some kind of mistake. But it was all too clear, all too real. Sorcery was usually more vague, more dreamlike. Demona's hands felt solid, her eyes looked clear and bright. He could even smell her. "I," he stammered. "How can this be?"

For the first time, one of the other three companions to Goliath and the elder spoke. It was the little one. He was a light shade of yellow-green with a round head and pointed ears. He varied from the others in that his wings, rather than being separate from his arms like an angel's, were attached from his waste up to his forearms like those of a bat. "Goliath," he said. "This doesn't feel like a dream, or a trick. I think it's real."

Goliath lifted his head. Then suddenly he threw Demona's hands away, turned, ran, and sprang from the wall out into the air. At first noone moved. They were too startled to react. Then they all ran to the walls and looked out after Goliath. He was circling the castle at an incredible clip, his massive wings splayed wide. Soon, he returned to the tower. He was frantic. "I see no one. No signs of anyone. No signs of the battles. It is as if there was never anyone here!" He grabbed onto the wall in front of him and squeezed, cracking it. His head hung and he shook it again. Then, he looked up. He spun with a start, walked rapidly to Demona and grabbed both her shoulders. "Where are the others?" he asked.

Demona looked to the side, over his shoulder. "Where?!" he demanded.

Slowly, she answered. "Gone," she said. "They were destroyed as they slept. There is noone left but us."

Goliath's head dropped again. Then he threw it back and let out a howl that sounded like the cry of a man mixed with the roar or a lion. It made the hair on the back of Xanatos' neck stand. Xanatos waited a minute, then spoke "Goliath..."

"Silence!" Goliath roared. Xanatos would normally have never acquiesced to such an outburst directed at himself, but even he was not ready to test the limits just yet. Goliath looked back at Demona. "Tell me."

"After sunrise, as you slept, the humans came and cast their spell. From that moment forward you were unable to wake. Then they returned in force. They breached the defenses and claimed the castle. Once they were inside, they slaughtered everyone. Then they turned on our bretheren. They destroyed them while they slept!" Tears welled in her. Even after a thousand years the death of her clan brought her to the edge. "I returned in time to stop them before they reached all of you."

"Returned?" Goliath said. "Returned from where?"

Demona looked away again. "I was already out there, hunting the humans. I had left immediately after the battle—the battle that to you happened only yesterday. I had no more patience! But I could not find them and was forced to spend the day in the forest. When I returned, it was too late. The castle had already fallen. I was able to frighten them off—they probably believed the spell had not worked, or not fully. It was enough to save the six of you, but no more."

A long silence fell over the scene. Noone spoke, not even Xanatos. For Goliath and his companions, they were hearing of the death of their brothers and sisters and of their entire lives. It was a heavy blow. For Demona, the emotions were more complex. She should have been filled with joy at seeing her clan, and her beloved, again. But she was not. She knew it was only temporary, an intermediate step, and so she did not allow herself to become too invested. More than that, she had never lied to Goliath before, never deceived him like this. In many ways it was a betrayal, and she hated betrayal. It pained her, but she knew it was necessary.