Kudara's Stories

Puppet Strings - Chapter 12

Puppet Strings - Chapter 12

By Kudara

Disclaimer: All the characters appearing in Gargoyles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.  No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder.  All original characters are the property of the author.

Warning:  Cultural guessing, this chapter introduces a Cree Nation character.  I don’t’ know anything about the Cree except they live in the right part of Canada for the character to be Cree, which is, of course, why the character is Cree.  I went with what I could find on the internet so take it all with a big grain of salt.

Rating:  Teen

Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing.  Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.

Revision History: 03/05/08

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“Demona,” the older woman greeted the redhead politely.  “I am Rachael Wabagano, senior among the Owl’s chosen,” she introduced herself.

Rachael indicated the supplies in the trailer behind her ATV, “I’ve brought a few things I thought you might appreciate having for the next few days.”

Dominique eyed the older woman uncertainly; she wasn’t used to humans knowing her true name.  She understood  this woman had learned her name from the Eagle Owl spirit, and that this human possessing such knowledge most likely wasn’t a threat to her, but still it unsettled her.  There was also the fact that she could sense the power the woman possessed now that she was closer.  It was not the leashed, primal energy Kendra so effortlessly exuded, it was quieter and calmer, but it was power nonetheless.

“This is for later tonight when hopefully we will have something to celebrate,” Rachael pulled out a white, long circular container from a corner of the trailer, it looked vaguely familiar to the redhead, “it will need to settle from the ride, but it will be alright in a few hours.”  She handed it to Dominique who hesitantly accepted it, the container was labeled, Oban Single Malt Scotch Whisky aged 14 years.  No wonder the container seemed familiar; this was one of the whisky distilleries near Wyvern Hill and the one that she liked the best.  She had bought a few bottles of Oban scotch over the years, and had some much older than this stored in her cellar.  Exactly how much did this Owl’s chosen know about her past, the immortal gargoyle wondered with rapidly growing unease as she stared at the scotch container in her hands.

“That is the right area isn’t it?  When I asked Owl told me you were born on the western coast of the Highlands, in the castle that now sits atop a skyscraper in New York.”  Rachael inquired of the frowning redhead.  Owl had described this one’s temper as being as fiery as her hair, and said the gargoyle had about five times as much dislike of humans in general as Rachael had of the white tourists who came to visit the tribe’s community and gawk at her people as if they were exhibits on display.  After what little Owl had told her of the gargoyle’s history, she could understand why, but that didn’t mean she wanted to run afoul of either the redhead’s temper or whatever mines lay in wait among the remaining fey enchantments.

Dominique incrementally relaxed, “Yes it’s the right area,” she responded.  “I have different vintages of this brand of scotch stored in my cellar aging,” she found herself volunteering somewhat to her own surprise.

The older woman smiled, pleased, “Oh good, I wasn’t certain that you would even appreciate it, but I decided to take a chance that you might.  I have so few people around with whom I can share my appreciation for single malt scotch…” she hesitated for a moment before adding darkly, “at least people that I can share it with safely and without feeling as if I’m doing something morally wrong by drinking at all.”

Kendra, who had been poking around in the trailer exploring what items the woman had brought them, looked up at this, “Are you Native American?” she asked, somberly.

“In Canada we refer to ourselves as First Nations people or indigenous people, but yes I am of the Cree Nation,” the older woman responded, “My tribe lives at the southern end of Lake Mistassini.”  She turned toward the trailer, unhooking the bungee cords that held everything down, “We can start moving things to your camp while we talk.  I brought everything that I appreciate having along on the hunting trips I arrange for the tribes youth, so we have a few trips to make.”

Rachael lifted out a long grey nylon bag and handed it to Dominique, “A tent.”  She then went around and lifted out a large tan rectangular carrying case with the brand name Coleman on the side, it looked as if it were heavy the way she lifted it.  This she handed to Kendra who had a puzzled look on her face as she accepted the item.  Rachael said, “There’s a portable water heater in it.”  Blue and green eyes fastened with startling intensity upon the tan container, they barely heard the woman continue, “I’ve got tarps and a hose with a shower head so we can set up an outdoor shower for you to use.  It only does five gallons at a time, but it’s better than cold water or heating a pot full of water on the fire.”

There was a moment of silence when the Cree woman stopped speaking.  Her dark eyes tracked from the blue-eyed jaguar’s chosen to the redhead and then to what they were both staring at, she grinned, “We can set up the shower first if you want,” she offered. 

The two sets of eyes swung up and back to her, Kendra spoke first, “I don’t suppose you brought any clothing for us with you?” she asked hopefully.

The slightly almond shaped, dark brown eyes warmed understandingly, “Yes, I was able to figure out your approximate sizes from what Owl showed me.  I brought you three changes of underwear, two sets of fleece pullovers and one set of water and wind resistant shells for both of you.”

“Thank you,” Kendra’s appreciation was quick and heartfelt; Dominique’s was slower and stiffer, but nonetheless just as truly meant.

An hour later, they had set up the new camp, instead of a rough shelter with pine boughs cutting the wind there was a blue and grey three person, four-season tent with an inflatable mattress and two sleeping bags inside.  The hollowed out fire pit with its protective ring of stone was still there, but now beside it was a low plastic table with a propane cook stove.  Stacked underneath the table were various canned vegetables and soups.  Beside it was a cooler containing milk, eggs, coffee, and a few loafs of bread.  Off to the side in the woods there was a rough shower with tarp sides.  They had dug a deep trench along the shower’s tarp sides to guide the water away from the camp and down the hillside.  Rachael was staying this one night with them before starting back and had pitched her bright yellow one-person tent on the other side of the camp from theirs.

While they had set up the camp, Rachael had told them about her past, she had been born in 1761 and had been twenty-three years old when the first smallpox epidemic from the tribes contact with European explorers had spread like wildfire though all the tribes in the area.  By the time the last tribe member had been buried over seventy percent of her tribe had died.  The remaining tribal members had grieved and carried on as best they could with their lives.  They survived by trapping and hunting deer, moose, caribou, beaver, and hare, and gathering wild plants as they had for centuries.  They also traded with the other tribes and with European settlers at the Hudson Bay Trading post.

Life continued almost unchanged for Rachael and her tribe until the early 1900’s when over trapping by white trappers resulted in population depletion of the game animals the tribe depended upon for both their livelihood and food supplies.  Increased contact with the white Europeans also brought a fresh round of diseases the tribe had no natural defenses against.  The following twenty years were very difficult for the tribe with both disease and starvation taking their toll of the tribe’s members.  Finally, in 1948, the Canadian government had limited trapping in the Mistassini’s hunting lands; it took another ten years for the tribe and the land to begin to recover.  More recently, following the James Bay Agreement in 1975 in which the tribes were compensated for the development of hydroelectric power on their tribal lands, and new government sponsored services such as education and health care were begun, life had once again begun to improve for her people.

“Now I take the youngsters out into our hunting grounds each fall and teach them how to be Cree hunters.  I teach them how to know the habits of each animal so that the hunter may find it, how to understand how each animal thinks so the hunt is successful, and how to respect the gift of the animal when they give themselves to the hunter.  I teach them of balance, the reciprocal obligation the hunter has with the earth and the animals to provide the conditions for their growth and survival just as they provide for our growth and survival.”  Rachael concluded as they finished stacking the last of the supplies the woman had brought them.

It had not escaped Kendra’s notice that the longer Rachael talked about her past, the more Dominique had relaxed around the Cree woman.  Considering how prickly and wound up the immortal gargoyle had been initially around the older woman, this was a definite improvement.

“Interestingly enough I find that most chosen, no matter who their mentoring spirit, instinctively hunt with the same or a very similar philosophy.  Kendra, I assume that you hunt?” the older woman’s question caught the black-haired woman by surprise as she had been watching Dominique and not paying strict attention to the older woman.

Kendra focused on the Cree woman, “Yes, I hunt once during each full moon,” she responded uncertainly.

“I’ve not had a chance to ask any of the large predator cats chosen these questions; this should be quite interesting to see if the trend I’ve noticed continues,” the older woman said enthusiastically.  “How do you find the animals you hunt?  Once you find them how do you ensure your hunt is successful?  And is there anything you do to make sure your on predation doesn’t negatively impact on the population of your chosen prey?”  The Cree woman quickly rattled off her questions.

“Umm,” Kendra frowned, “well there really isn’t much to finding them.  I only own three hundred acres and I generally know where my deer herd is bedding down for the night on the nights that I hunt.  Prior to the hunt, I select which deer that I’m going to hunt for that month based on my herd management goals.  From there it’s more of a case of separating out that deer and bringing it down as quickly as possible on the actual night of the hunt.”

Rachael stared at the black-haired woman for a moment, she obviously hadn’t been expecting this type of answer, “So you have a single prey animal that lives in a well defined area,” she frowned thoughtfully, “As you can probably guess that’s very different from how we hunt here.”

Kendra nodded, “Your last question is much more relevant to my situation, with only three hundred acres my efforts are much more focused on maintaining the herd numbers and health.  When I first started I only had two hundred acres, I’ve added the other hundred over the past seven years to give the herd more room.  Their currently at a healthy population for their habitat size at forty-three deer with thirty being does and the remainder bucks.  Since I’m currently maintaining that population, I hunt does and bucks fairly evenly during the year.”

Dominique found the conversation surprisingly interesting; she hadn’t given any thought to the question of whether or not Kendra had hunted prior to their experiences here, though given her lovers skill in bringing down the caribou she perhaps should have guessed.  From what Kendra was saying, she had turned into quite the naturalist as a result of her being chosen by the jaguar spirit.  “I understand that the chosen are required to live in harmony with the earth and try to protect the environment,” she said recalling what Kendra had told her of what the priestess had said, “but exactly how active are the chosen expected to be?” the redhead asked Rachael curiously.

The Cree woman smiled, “A very good question, and one without a clear answer for you unfortunately.  It really depends on the animal spirit, some require more active efforts others less.”  She nodded towards Kendra, “The Jaguar spirit is one of the spirits that does not have specific requirements in regards to the environment.  Instead, the Jaguar chosen are expected to be excellent warriors and gifted war leaders.  Owl requires us to be rather active in protecting both the environment and the various owl species; we also teach others how to live in harmony with the earth whenever possible.  In addition, Owl encourages us to gain new knowledge about the world every day.”

Kendra regarded Rachael with a puzzled expression, “Gifted war leader?  What does that mean?  I don’t recall being taught anything about anything like that.”

“It does not have to be taught, it is something you already are as one of Jaguar’s chosen,” explained the Cree woman.  “For instance, Lion’s chosen are charismatic by nature, they have the gift of persuading large groups of people that they are good all around leaders.  Jaguar’s chosen are charismatic as well, but their abilities are more specific.  They are good at persuading individuals and small groups that they are capable of dealing with challenging situations successfully.  And they are as a rule correct, Jaguar’s chosen are unusually gifted in instinctually reading such situations and making tactically sound decisions that lead to victories much more often than not, their gift is such that it’s rare they come across an unwinnable battle.  Outside of such situations though, Jaguar’s chosen aren’t normally that interested in leading, so they often make only average administrators.”

“They are troubleshooters, but not managers,” Dominique commented thoughtfully.  She could easily see Kendra excelling in that type of position.  Then her green eyes narrowed, for a moment she wavered between annoyance and amusement before settling on rueful amusement.  She had always wondered exactly how Kendra had managed to get her to agree to spar in the first place, even though she was very thankful that the black-haired woman had; now she suspected she had her answer.

“Demona, what is it?”  Kendra asked staring at her puzzled.

“Just thinking about our first meeting, and how you persuaded me to agree to spar with you.”  The redhead admitted.  “Between you being a human and a Canmore, I really should have thanked you for your investment and sent you on your way instead of agreeing to spar with you.”

Kendra looked bewildered for a second before her eyes widened and then she looked appalled as she made the same connection.

“Don’t apologize,” Dominique ordered her sharply, regretting that she had said anything, “don’t even feel bad about it because it looks like it’s turning out to be one of the more fortunate decisions I’ve ever made.”  The redhead paused, surprised for a moment by the astuteness of her own words.  “It’s lead directly to this,” she continued determinedly, indicating the fire and the women around it.  “If it hadn’t been for me agreeing to spar with you I would have never found out about the enchantments on me, much less had the chance to do anything about them.  I would have lived for centuries continuing to sabotage any chance of a relationship with my daughter, with anyone.”  She stared into Kendra’s blue eyes willing the other woman to believe her, to know that she was thankful that Kendra’s gift of persuasion had influenced her to agree that day.

“Alright,” Kendra was still troubled, but she could see that Dominique was serious about what she said.

“It is your responsibility how you use your gift and your responsibility not to misuse it, but Demona is right, in this case its use has lead only to good.  Do not regret that, especially since you were unaware of even having it at the time,” Rachael added.

Kendra grinned and held up her hands in a gesture of surrender, “Alright, alright, you two don’t have to gang up on me anymore, I get it.”

Dominique suppressed a flicker of resentment for the presence of the Cree woman.  If it weren’t for Rachael’s presence, she would have been pleased to use other more persuasive means of showing Kendra exactly how much she didn’t mind the current state of events.  However, they wouldn’t have a nice tent and a hot shower if it weren’t for their guest either so…  Her gaze went back to the shower, “If no one minds I’d like to try out the shower.  I’m really tired of wearing these clothes,” she said.

Kendra smiled, “Go ahead, I’ll take mine after you’re done.”

Rachael rose from where she had been sitting by the fire, “I’ll show you how to use the shower,” she offered.  As they were leaning over the water heater the Cree woman said in a low voice, “You two don’t have to hide your relationship from me, I don’t want to feel as if I’m making either of you uncomfortable with my being here.”

Dominique glanced at her startled.

Rachael explained, “Owl told me you two were together, yet I haven’t seen either of you act as if you were, so it occurred to me that you were hiding it.  It’s sad that gays have to do that to protect themselves, but I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to do that around me.”  As if the previous low voiced conversation had never occurred, the Cree woman began to explain the workings of the propane water heater in a normal tone.

As she bathed, the redhead thought about what Rachael had said to her, it was true, Kendra had subtly pulled away from her when she reached out to stroke her hair while giving her a regretful look.  Recalling the two women in the forest so many centuries ago, Dominique had instantly understood that Kendra wanted to be cautious around their guest.  Things hadn’t changed much for lesbians over the years until now.  Too many humans still believed such feelings were wrong and evil, being gay wasn’t as dangerous as being a gargoyle, but it wasn’t that safe either.  It had been polite of Rachael to let her know that the Cree at least wasn’t one of those humans.

Dominique had to be careful with the water as there was only five gallons for her to use, but it was heavenly to have actual soap and warm water to wash her skin and hair, to feel clean all over once again.  Afterward, as she put on clean clothing for the first time in five days, she found another thing for which to be grateful.  By the time Dominique stepped out of the shower, her mood was greatly improved.

Kendra grinned as she watched Dominique come out of the shower, her wild red hair hung in damp curls about her face and the woman had a rare smile upon her face.  She looked heart achingly beautiful to the black-haired woman.  To her surprise, the redhead walked directly over to her, reached up and pulled her head down, and then pressed her lips against Kendra’s in a firm possessive kiss.  At first, Kendra stood stiffly, her eyes rotated over worriedly toward the third woman by the fire; Rachael though didn’t seem to be reacting to the kiss as if anything unusual was going on at all.  Finally, she relaxed and wrapped her arms around Dominique returning the redhead’s kiss in full measure.

Much better, Dominique thought as she reluctantly pulled away from Kendra, “Let’s go get water for your bath.”  She hadn’t liked the distance between them even as she understood and agreed for the reasons behind it.  She knew there would be too many times it would be necessary once they returned to New York, but she didn’t want to start now especially when Rachael had let her know it wasn’t needed.

“Alright,” Kendra agreed bemused.  Once they were away from the camp, Dominique related what Rachael had told her.  “How could I have forgotten that most of the native cultures had no problems with homosexuals,” groaned the black-haired woman.  “There’s even a Two Spirit group in New York City, I’ve seen their ads in Gay City News.”

“Two Spirit Group?” questioned the redhead.

“I’m not certain if all of the different tribes believed this, but from what I understand at least several of them did, they believed gays possessed both male and female spirits and that was what made them homosexual.  Gay men could dress as women and were treated as women, women could decide they wanted to dress as a male and were treated as men.  I think a lot of tribes tried to channel gays into shamanism because they thought that two spirit people were better at it.”  Kendra explained.  “Some of that tolerance has waned under the influence of Christianity and the mainstream culture disapproval of gays, but I really should have considered that Rachael, given when she was born, would have no problems with our relationship.”

While Kendra was bathing, Dominique asked Rachael something she had been wondering about ever since the woman had first introduced herself, “How many chosen does each spirit have?”

“It depends,” answered the Cree woman with a grin.

Dominique commented dryly, “Let me guess, it depends on which animal spirit?”  That seemed to be the standard answer when it came to the spirit realm.

Rachael chuckled, “Yes, it depends on which animal spirit.  Owl currently has eleven chosen, some of which have been given different gifts.  Jaguar as far as I know has two chosen, Kendra and one other, a man whose name I do not know, but I know he lives in Belize.  There are some animal spirits that do not have any chosen; and there are some that have more than even Owl, like the Eagle spirit.”

“What do you mean by Owl gives different gifts?” the redhead asked curiously.

“That not all of the Eagle Owl’s chosen have the same gifts.”  Rachael answered, “I am the only one to have the gift of immortality, and young Robert and I are the only ones who have been given the gift of transformation.  The other nine chosen can come into the spirit realm and gain insight and wisdom from the Eagle Owl spirit that they take into the living world with them.”

Dominique eyed her shrewdly, she had no doubt that those nine benefited from the association, but it was clear that they didn’t benefit nearly as much as Rachael and this Robert.  The information also suggested that there was a limit on how much power each spirit had to spread among their chosen.  “Is each spirit’s power limited then?” she asked curious to know if she were correct.

The Cree woman nodded, “Different spirits are more or less powerful, but they are all limited in how much power they can give to their chosen.”

Realizing that she still didn’t have the most basic piece of information, Dominique asked, “What exactly are the spirits?” 

“Finally,” Rachael said, her eyes crinkling with amusement, “a question for which I have a simple answer.  They are the life energy of all their kind that ever existed or ever will exist.  If you will, they hold the souls of their kind when they are not inhabiting a body in the living world.”

“So if I go exploring will I find spirit of Tyrannosaurus Rex in there?”  Kendra asked from the shower, making it clear that she was listening in on the conversation.

Rachael began laughing, “Only a cat would go looking!” she exclaimed.

There was matching laughter from the shower enclosure, “What can I say, I am what I am,” Kendra acknowledged.

Even Dominique joined in on the laughter that followed that statement.  Once the merriment had died down, Rachael answered, “No, you won’t.  Spirits that have no ties to the living realm go…elsewhere.  Not even Owl is certain where they go, only that they go elsewhere after a period of time.”

“So why is the Irish Elk still there,” Kendra asked as she stepped out of the shower, beating Dominique to the question by the barest margin.

“Because the Fey are still here,” Rachael commented solemnly.  “The Irish Elk were strong, swift and compared to other deer species, smart.  They were challenging prey for the Fey, which is why they preferred to hunt them above all the others they could have chosen.  He has never forgiven them for hunting his kind to extinction; it is his interest in them holds him to the living realm and thus to the spirit realm.”

There was one thing that troubled Dominique given her experiences with the Fey, “How do the chosen know who will welcome becoming their successors when they are ready to die.  Kendra didn’t mention ever being offered a chance to either accept or decline being chosen by the Jaguar’s priestess as her successor.”

“I accepted,” Kendra immediately stated, “I definitely accepted, it might not have been a formal process, but I was always aware that it was my choice to accept what was happening to me the year I started having the dreams.”

“It is still your choice,” Rachael commented, “you could choose today to reject the gift and go back to being a normal human.”

Kendra was appalled, “Never,” she stated firmly.

The Cree woman smiled.  “Does anyone want lunch yet?” she asked sensing Dominique’s questions were answered for the moment.

When the three women settled down around the fire once again, it was with bowls of stew filled with hearty chunks of meat, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and green peas along with thick slices of the bread Rachael had brought. 

Kendra asked Dominique curiously, “Where in the Highlands were you born?”

“I was hatched in the caves of Wyvern Hill in 938,” the gargoyle corrected her.  “My clan had lived there for thousands of years, even the oldest of us did not know for how long gargoyles had lived in the caverns beneath the hill.  The only humans around at that time were farmers and herders.  We lived at peace with them and they with our clan, some of them even became friendly with us and traded cheese and milk for the game we hunted.”

The redhead continued, her voice becoming bitter, “At peace until one of the humans whose family we regularly traded with came to us with his lord, Prince Malcolm, and persuaded our clan leader to ally with the Prince and his brother against the human currently upon the throne of Scotland.  Culen had killed their father and taken the throne by force of arms while the two brothers were too young to oppose him.  In exchange for our clan’s aid in their battle, Prince Malcolm promised that his line would protect our clan during the day.  With our clan’s aid Prince Malcolm and his brother defeated Culen, and Kenneth III became the King of Scotland.  The humans built a castle on the lands above the caverns where our clan’s rookery was so that they could protect us as they had agreed, our clan even assisted them with the building of it using our strength to move and place the stone blocks and timbers.”

Dominique’s fists clenched and she glared into the fire, remembering the old pain and anger, “It did not take the humans long to begin calling the castle that we helped them build their castle and the lands surrounding it as their lands.”  She realized what she was doing when her palms began to hurt; she unclenched them and looked up meeting Kendra’s sad, compassionate gaze.  It calmed her, reminded her that this was all in the past; she gave the black-haired woman a small smile before continuing. 

“It was during this time that I accepted the Archmage’s offer to learn human sorcery.”  A low, angry growl distracted Dominique; Kendra’s eyes were narrowed slits of blue at the very mention of the mage’s name.

Rachael glanced uncertainly at the Jaguar’s chosen; it was unsettling to be so near to the blue-eyed woman while she was seething with anger, however muted.  “Owl told me of this one and his role in bringing the attention of the Fey to you for his revenge.”

Dominique assessed the Cree woman with a swift glance, then nodded, “As I said he agreed to teach me how to read and then to teach me sorcery.”  She rubbed her arm remembering, “He was not a kind teacher, but he was the only human to offer to teach a beast.”

“He was the beast not you,” Kendra growled angrily.

Dominique glanced at her lover, finding her anger on her behalf rather endearing, her lips twitched in amusement, “If you don’t quit interrupting with your growls I’ll never get through telling this.”

Kendra stared at her noting the signs of affection and amusement on the redhead’s face.  She humphed quietly to herself and settled for scowling at the fire, regally ignoring the snort of amusement from Dominique at this behavior.

“I was barely out of my hatchling years when I began learning how to read under the Archmage’s teaching, and I’ll admit the way he treated me affected how I viewed all the humans at the castle.  I was his servant, cleaning whatever he ordered me to, gathering what plants he wanted from the countryside, and sometimes I was his thief, stealing items he wished to possess.”

“The Phoenix Gate,” murmured Kendra.

“Yes, the Archmage ordered me to steal it from Prince Malcolms intended bride Princess Elena.  I did, but instead of giving it to the Archmage I broke it in half and gave one piece to Goliath as we watched Prince Malcolm’s wedding as a token of our love.”  Dominique shook her head at the memory; neither of them had lived up to the naively optimistic promises they made that night.  “Interestingly enough that action lead to the gate being reunited in 1995 at Xanatos’ wedding to Fox, I used it and ended up transporting Goliath, Xanatos, Xanatos’ father, Fox and myself back to 975.  I tried to warn my younger self about the massacre of our clan in 994, but the only thing I managed was to confuse my younger self.  Time it seems, is not so easily changed.”

“What happened?”  Kendra asked softly, staring at the redhead in concern.

Dominique could not meet her gaze, how could she tell Kendra about the role she played in getting her clan killed by the Vikings.  That she had been more than willing to trade the lives of the humans in the castle for the safety of her own clan, and how everything had went wrong and both the humans and her clan had ended up destroyed.  “I’d rather not talk about it,” she whispered harshly.

Kendra’s gaze sharpened on the hunched over figure of the redhead, she could see the guilt and anguish betrayed by Dominique’s posture as easily as if the woman had admitted it aloud.  It was clear to her that whatever had happened in 994, the gargoyle felt that she in some way was to blame for it, and that she expected them to blame her as well if she told them what had happened.  Her gaze went to the Cree woman who was also staring at the redhead with knowing eyes.  “Who do you think cast the sorcery spell on you,” Kendra asked deciding to change the subject, she would bring this up later after Rachael had left when she had a better chance of getting the immortal gargoyle to discuss it.

Dominique looked up, startled by the abrupt change of subject.  She was more than willing, though, to have the focus of conversation off the previous topic.  “If my memory is correct there was a spell that had that effect in the Grimorum Arcanorum, it was a battle spell designed to be used against a superior opponent to cause them waste their forces in ill considered attacks.  It was supposed to influence people to both be easily angered and to act rashly when angered.”  As she recalled more about the details of the spell her face became grimmer, who had cast such a spell upon her and why?

Rachael asked intrigued, “Who would have had access to this Grimorum before the Weird Sisters enchanted you?”

“The Archmage,” answered Kendra quickly.

Dominique scowled, “the Magus as well, he was given it to use to cure Prince Malcolm and he kept it afterwards,” she added.  She was certain that he had been the instigator of much of the dislike the humans began feeling toward the gargoyles even before Prince Malcolm’s death.

Rachael waited a few seconds, “Do we have any other suspects?” she asked.

The phrasing of the question was interesting, Dominique thought, apparently Rachael was treating this like a crime.  “I am not aware of anyone that I came into contact with that also had the Grimorum,” she answered after considering the question carefully.

“So we have our crime, the spell, and our weapon, this Grimorum which I gather is a spell book?”  Rachael inquired.  Dominique responded with a short nod.  Cree woman continued, “And we have two suspects, the Archmage and the Magus.  Now we need to determine who had a motive to commit the crime.”

“The Archmage wanted Demona to be angry as a part of his revenge,” Kendra offered.

Dominique shook her head thoughtfully, “That’s true, but the timing is wrong, that was the cause of the Weird Sisters enchanting me.  Both the Eagle Owl and Irish Elk spirits were certain that the sorcery spell predated the Sister’s enchantment.”

“So what motive would this Magus have to casting such a spell on you?”  Rachael asked.

The redhead stared at her bewildered; nothing immediately came to mind beyond the young mage’s general dislike of her clan.

Kendra stared into the flames thoughtfully, “Maybe it might be better to ask,” she looked up into Dominique’s green eyes, “if you noticed any point in time where you abruptly began to lose control over your temper, or began to make rash ill considered decisions.  If we know when then maybe we can figure out how such behavior could have benefited him.”

Dominique felt ill, yes, there was just such a time, and now they were back on the topic of the Viking’s attack and her role in it.  She couldn’t seem to escape it.  “Prince Malcolm’s daughter was always afraid of our clan because when she was young her father threatened to give her to us if she misbehaved.”  The redhead shook her head in remembered disbelief, “As if we would have done anything to harm the child, and yet he made her believe that we would.  Our clan leader protested, but Prince Malcolm would not listen and when the Prince died and Princess Katherine became leader of the humans at the castle…things had become strained between my clan and the humans before that, but after they became much worse.”

“The Princess made it very clear that she believed us to be monsters and that she did not want to maintain the alliance her father had promised to us in return for our aid to him in restoring his brother, Kenneth II, to the throne of Scotland.  It was not long before the humans in the castle forgot why the castle had been built, that it had been built to fulfill Prince Malcolm’s vow to protect us in return for our aid in his brother’s battles.  Instead, they regarded us with fear and hatred; they began whispering among themselves of driving us away.  Driving us away from the land we had lived on for thousands of years.  They were the ones who came to us, they were the ones who proposed the alliance to gain our aid, and they were the ones who sought us out.  We did not need them; we were safe until we were foolish enough to believe the Prince’s empty promises of his clan protecting ours.”  She could clearly remember the sense of betrayal, her anger at Hudson for believing in the human’s promises, her feelings of helplessness at what was happening around her. 

Then Kendra’s hands were upon her shoulders, bringing her back to the present, and her lovers blue eyes were sympathetic and understanding.  “I had an egg in the rookery,” she said to Kendra, “and the humans were always talking about how much food we ate and how much better off they would be without us, that they no longer needed us to protect them.  They whispered, forgetting our hearing, about us being monsters and that we would turn and attack them some night.  They whispered about the new eggs in the rookery, how many more of us there would be when they hatched…some of them whispered if they were permitted to hatch.  I knew they were thinking about destroying our eggs, but Goliath who was my mate and the new clan leader would not listen to me.  He told me that we just needed to be patient that the princess would get over her fears and understand that we protected her and the castle.  That it was our duty to protect them.  Goliath forgot it was their duty to protect us, our clan had already paid for the human’s protection by helping Prince Malcolm’s brother become King.”

Kendra drew the upset woman into her arms.  She could only imagine the fear and anger Demona had felt at the time, believing the clan’s unborn children were in danger and she could not get her mate and clan leader to listen or act to protect them.  She rubbed her hand in slow soothing circles on the redheads back, waiting for her to calm.  “So you chose to act because it seemed as if no one else would and you had to protect your children from the humans.  Something went wrong didn’t it, and instead of protecting your clan you played a part in their deaths and probably a lot of the castle’s human inhabitants as well,” she said gently.  Dominique’s head rose so quickly that Kendra had to jerk back to prevent her jaw from being struck by it.

“How?” the redhead asked, her voice strangled.

“Because she knows that there isn’t much that a mother would not do to protect her children,” Rachael’s troubled voice intruded.

Kendra nodded, “I can’t think of a better way to get hurt than to be stupid enough to go after a mother protecting her young.  I take a wide birth around the deer with their young in the spring because I know it’s the one time of year the does will attack me if I come too close to their young.  It doesn’t matter how big or frightening I am, a mothers need to protect her young is a strong instinctual drive.”  She looked into green eyes, “I’m not standing in judgment of your actions because I can tell that you felt desperate and Goliath not acting when you brought your concerns to him probably just added to that desperation.  Combine a mother’s desperation to protect her young from harm with that spell from the Grimorum and I’m not surprised that something happened that you have obviously regretted for over a thousand years.”

Dominique’s green eyes filled with tears as she nodded a silent admittance of her guilt.  She wanted to claim it was the all the humans fault as she had for so many long years, but the truth was she had always silently known of her own crushing responsibility for what had happened.  Her open, lashing anger at the Captain of the Guard for failing to protect them as he had promised and at the Princess for her calling them monsters and for encouraging the other humans in the castle to hate them had always hidden the anger and self-loathing she felt for her own part in killing her clan.

She rested her head against Kendra’s shoulder, feeling the flickering of hope that Kendra wouldn’t turn away from her in disgust as Goliath and the clan had once the black-haired woman found out the entire tale.

It was quiet in the clearing except for the occasional popping sound of the wood on the fire and the light wind sighing through the pine forest.  Eventually Rachael quietly asked, “What about that time makes you think that was when the spell was cast upon you?”

Dominique cleared her throat and turned her head, which was still resting on Kendra’s shoulder, so that she could see the Cree woman.  “Because I can now tell that was when I first began feeling the level of anger and fear that I grew so used to feeling over the centuries until the owl spirit taught me how to remove the enchantment that amplified my anger last night.”

Kendra straightened, “I bet that if we could look at Princess Katherine we would see signs of the same spell,” she said, her mind making possible connections between the discrepancies in how Demona described the younger Princess Katherine and how the elderly Princess had acted in the returned memories Kendra had witnessed.

The redhead sat up, her face thoughtful, “I never did understand how the person Angela described as the woman who raised her could even be the same spiteful human that I remembered from the castle.  If she were also under its influence that would explain why she was so different on Avalon from the woman I remembered her as.”

“So now we have two possible targets of the spell?” inquired Rachael.

“Three,” corrected Dominique wearily, “the Captain of the Guard who was the clan’s most faithful friend, he also began acting angrier and more reckless than usual around the same time as I.”

Kendra met Dominique’s green eyes gravely, “Maybe you should tell us what happened so we can figure out why Magus would have orchestrated such a powder keg of a situation as you described.”

Resignedly the immortal gargoyle began, telling them about the raids of the Vikings, the refugees the castle had taken in that had strained relations between the gargoyles and humans to the point of open violence between them.  She told of how the gargoyles had woken one night with the Vikings within the castle itself and on the verge of victory, until the clan’s waking at sunset had turned the tide of the battle and they had routed the Vikings completely.

“The Princess called for a feast to celebrate the victory over the Vikings, but when the Captain of the Guard had Goliath and I accompany him to the feast because it was our clan that saved the castle from being defeated…”  Dominique paused, a snarl of rage on her face as she remembered the insult.  “The Princess told him to take the beasts away because we had no place at her feast.  The castle dogs were in the feast room eating scraps from the tables and she told him to take us away.  Without us defending them they would have been dead or the Vikings prisoners by then!”

Kendra shook her head at this; she couldn’t fathom what could have possessed the Princess to have acted so stupidly, spell or no.

“As we were leaving, the Princess ordered the Captain to report to the Magus from that moment on, that the Captain was no longer to speak to her.  I can still remember the look of triumph on Magus’s face at that moment; it made him the Princess’s only advisor,” Dominique said, her eyes narrowed.  “I’m certain he was the source of some of the Princess’s maliciousness against us, he was always there whispering to her about how viscous and dangerous we were and about how the Captain couldn’t be trusted because he cared more for us than for the humans in the castle.”  She paused, and then continued grimly, “He was right, that night the Captain came to me with a plan to rid the castle of its human occupants and leave it to us.  He would go and meet with the Viking leader, Harkon, and arrange for him to attack the castle again the next night.  He would then trick Goliath into leading the clan against a diversionary force so we would be safely away from the castle while the attack occurred, and by the time we returned the Princess and her people would be gone and the castle would be ours.”

“The Captain set the plan in motion the next day; however that night Goliath insisted that only he was required to scare away the Vikings.  He refused to take anyone but Hudson, the old clan leader with him no matter how much I pleaded with him to take all of us.”  Dominique’s voice trailed off for a moment, “The Captain insisted that the plan would still work, that the Vikings could attack during the day while he kept us safe in our stone sleep.  I was uncertain, but I allowed him to persuade me.”  The immortal gargoyle closed her eyes, tears slipped out from between the closed lids, “I was so angry with the Princess with the humans of the castle that I just wanted them gone and away from the clan, from the rookery and our eggs.  By the time that I reconsidered my decision it was too late, dawn was upon us and the Vikings were already moving into position to attack.  I left the castle and went into my stone sleep upon the beach at the edge of the cliff, I suspected that something would go wrong, but in my fear of what my rookery brothers and sisters would think of me I did not warn them.  When I awoke the castle was deserted and my sisters and brothers were in shards.”

Kendra gathered the now sobbing woman into her arms, what a horrible train wreck of a situation and all apparently because a man had wanted more power and influence, and hadn’t thought about any of the possible consequences of his setting so many people against one another in his quest to get it.

Rachael waited until the redhead’s grief had worn itself down before she spoke.  “If we are all correct and the Magus placed the spell on the Captain, the Princess and you then he is more at fault for what happened than any of the three of you, for without the spell and his whispering poison into the Princesses ear none of the events which lead up to the Vikings attack during the day would have ever occurred.  I do not know if I could even say how much you are responsible for your own actions in the tragedy because of the nature of the spell placed upon you.  Without its influence you would at least have known that the Captain, no matter how good a warrior, could not have protected you from an entire raiding group of Vikings if they decided to destroy you.”

“That does not ease my guilt,” Dominique responded wearily after a few seconds of silence.  She pulled slowly away from Kendra’s arms and stood, “I need to be alone for awhile; I’ll be down by the stream.”  Her face wan, she turned away and walked into the forest.

Kendra debated silently on following her anyway to watch out over the redhead, but instinct told her that now was not the time, that the gargoyle needed time alone to think.  She was aware of the Cree woman watching her closely, but she ignored her staring instead through the trees where Demona had disappeared.

“Do you think she deserves to be punished for her part in her clan’s deaths and the deaths of the humans in the castle?”  Rachael asked her.

Kendra shook her head, this she was certain about, “I think she has had too much experience with anger and vengeance, too many centuries of punishment already at the hands of the Archmage and the Fey.  I suspect she has punished herself now for a thousand years for what she did and that she has ripped into herself for it for far too long.  She needs to learn new skills not more of old ones.  She needs to learn how to build and create instead of destroying, how to feel an appreciation for the world and the living things upon it instead of the blackness of anger and revenge at the world.  She needs to learn how to cherish something and find it of worth and of value enough to nurture and protect it, and she needs to learn how to protect without leaving only scorched earth behind her.”

Silence from the Owl’s chosen finally caused Kendra to look at her curiously.

Rachael had and odd expression on her face, “I think I ought to be grateful that Jaguar found you first instead of Owl or I might have had to share him with you.”

Kendra shook her head, “I suspect I’d be too active for Owl, I only have these seriously thoughtful moments once every year or so,” she commented with a wry smile.