Kudara's Stories

Puppet Strings - Chapter 20

Puppet Strings - Chapter 20

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 as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.  All original characters are the property of the author.

Warning:  none

Notes:  This fanfiction does not specifically reference the events in the Unofficial Gargoyles Saga, but I do make use of some of the events and people mentioned therein.  Michael or Nostradamus is a character from the TimeDancer Saga : The Devil’s Deal by Kathy Pogge.

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: 04/15/08

**************************************************************************

Rachael was waiting for them in the spirit realm; standing beside her was a tall tanned man with short salt and pepper hair.  The Owl’s chosen looked surprised for a moment when she first saw them, and then she smiled approvingly, “Nice look Kendra, I like it.”

“Thank you,” Kendra’s cheerful voice came from behind Demona, “I rather like it myself.”

The Cree woman turned to the tall lanky man standing beside her, “Demona, Kendra, I’d like you to meet Wayne Robinson one of Wolf’s chosen, he’s with the FBI,” she introduced him.

Demona met the human male’s gaze, the tentative welcoming smile on her face died as she recognized the hard evaluating look he was giving her.  She had seen the same look in Goliath’s eyes so many times in the past few years.  The gargoyle felt Kendra step up beside her, saw the males blue-grey eyes shift slightly and a wary look cross his narrow face.  It didn’t take much intuition to guess that her lover was giving him a warning look, and considering that Kendra had stayed in her were-jaguar form the glare was probably even more intimidating than usual.

Rachael sighed in annoyance, “Wayne you know what the spirits, including Wolf, decreed,” her voice carried her disapproval.

Demona shifted her gaze to the Owl’s chosen wondering exactly what the woman was talking about.

The hawk nosed man turned to look at Rachael, and to Demona’s surprise he looked appalled at the Cree woman’s accusation, “I am not disagreeing with them,” he protested, “they’re right, she shouldn’t be held accountable for the actions the Fey manipulated her into taking.”  He turned his gaze back to the fiery haired gargoyle, “I’m just not as sure that she won’t decide to take up her vengeance again if something happens to the gargoyles from her clan or Kendra.  I don’t believe that teaching her about nature magic is a good idea right now, I think the Ancient One should wait a few years until she’s showed that she can control herself when under pressure.”

The gargoyle’s green eyes narrowed, “So instead of judging me for what I’ve done, you’re going to judge me for things I haven’t yet done?” she asked lashing her tail angrily.  She hadn’t expected to meet this attitude from the other chosen; she was used to it with her old clan, but not here.  She had gotten used to being accepted, she should have know it couldn’t last.

“No,” Wayne looked back at the gargoyle, “I’m just saying that we shouldn’t be handing you a loaded weapon when you’ve already shown yourself to be liable to use it when you’re angry until you’ve proven that you can control that anger instead of it controlling you.”

Demona opened her mouth to snap back when she realized she had no idea what he was talking about, what loaded weapon was she being handed?  Moreover, she was uneasily aware that his accusation about her temper and the trouble it had gotten her into in the past was only too accurate.

“She doesn’t realize does she?”  Wayne said, the hardness in his eyes easing, “The Ancient One hasn’t told her, she doesn’t know that what can heal can also harm.”

Rachael shook her head at him, “She’s not human Wayne, she hardly needs to use magic to kill someone when those talons she has can cut into rock and she’s about three times as strong as a human,” she said exasperated.

“Wolf’s chosen,” the deep resonant voice of the Irish Elk preceded him as he stepped out of the swirling mists that surrounded them.  “Owl’s chosen, young Jaguar, my chosen,” he greeted them as he walked toward them.  He turned his majestic head toward Wayne, “I understand your concern for yourself and your fellow chosen, however, I know my chosen and she is not in danger of misusing the power I have given her.”

The Wolf’s chosen and the great stag spirit stared at each other for a long moment before Wayne finally looked away, “I hope that you are right Ancient One.  I don’t ever want to…” his voice trailed off, and he shook his head.  He looked back over toward Demona, “Anyway that isn’t why I’m here, neither the Canadians nor the FBI has any evidence indicating that you’re anything but human.  You don’t need to worry about them finding out unless whoever kidnapped you decides to publicize it.”

“That might be a problem,” Kendra commented, “the kidnappers were Quarrymen and they’re led by my cousin Jon Canmore who doesn’t seem to be entirely sane these days and we suspect he’s enchanted as well.”

Wayne directed his attention toward the Jaguar’s chosen with a sharp look, “I heard about your family, I didn’t know that one of them was leading up the Quarrymen though, I thought the guy’s name was John Castaway.”

Demona watched quietly as Kendra and Wayne discussed her cousin and his change in name and looks.  It was obvious to her now that there was something she didn’t know about the Wolf’s chosen.  She hadn’t realized it at the time, but despite how Wayne had looked at her, there hadn’t been any matching judgmental emotions directed toward her, which there should have been if his thoughts were directed toward her.  She hadn’t felt anything from him though until he had told her that no one knew Dominique Destine was a gargoyle and then she had felt only reassurance from him.  His comments to the Ancient One suggested that if she misused her powers he would become involved in some manner, and she was starting to suspect it was more that possible involvement that was concerning the Wolf’s chosen rather than the actual possibility of her misusing her powers.

“We got a call from your Gargoyle Task Force asking if we had heard of any of the organized crime groups we keep an eye on had been directing money toward the Quarrymen,” Wayne was saying when Demona’s attention returned to the discussion.  “We hadn’t heard anything, but I’ll add them to our list of organizations we keep an eye on.  I was thinking about doing that anyway, but their attempt against your lives just gives me that final reason.”  He nodded toward Demona and Kendra.

This was the helpfulness Demona had expected when she first saw him here; to say she was baffled by him was definitely not an understatement.

Wayne rubbed his hand over his short hair, “Look I know I’m not the best guy for a sensitive conversation…”  A snort from Rachael interrupted him; he scowled in her direction before turning back to Demona and continuing.  “I really don’t think you’re a bad sort.  You just have a temper to go along with your hair, and I don’t want anything bad happening if you fly off the handle and go all apocalyptic on people even if they do deserve it, because we’re the ones that will get called in to disable your powers and try and clean things up.  I don’t want to see you in that situation,” it could have sounded like a threat, but it didn’t, instead it sounded and felt like a plea.

Demona stared at him, her tail twitching restlessly, responding to her uncertainty, “I don’t want to see me in that situation either,” she responded after a moment, “but why would you be called into deal with disabling my powers?”  She glanced over at the Ancient One questioningly.

“What is given is not so easily taken away,” the spirit responded, “and in most instances that response is not necessary.”

“Usually all that’s needed is to take someone’s powers away until they’ve have a chance to cool down, deal with their anger or grief or whatever’s pushed them over the edge,” Wayne explained, “then we take the blocks away.”

Demona felt Kendra’s hands upon her shoulders and the soft, warm press of her chest against her back as her lover stepped close, “So if you’re taking all the guns and sharp knives away until it’s safe to give them back, what’s the big deal?  Other than of course the person in question probably really needs some help to get through whatever happened to put them in that headspace in the first place.”

“That second one,” Wayne responded grimly, “And the fact that a lot of damage can happen before we can get there.”

Kendra’s thumbs rubbed soothing circles into the muscles of Demona’s neck as the were-jaguar softly responded, “I sort of thought that might be the case.  You’ve seen such situations go bad I gather.”

An expression of pain ghosted across his lean, narrow face, “yea I have.”  All of them were silent for a moment as they absorbed that piece of information.  “Well, I’ve got to go,” Wayne said looking sad and tired, “I’ll let you know if the situation changes.”

“Thank you,” Demona said to him quickly having the sense that he wanted to leave immediately.

Wayne nodded in reply, and then faded rapidly until he had completely disappeared.

Rachael sighed, “He’s never going to get over Alice is he,” she said quietly, “not that I guess I blame him.”

Demona asked, “Who was Alice?”

“It was about eighty years ago now?”  Rachael turned toward the Irish Elk.

“It has been eighty three years since the Crow’s chosen took her life,” the Ancient One replied.

Kendra’s hands on her shoulders stilled at this, Demona asked in dismay, “What happened?”

“Her daughter was raped and killed,” Rachael quietly took up the story, “Alice found her in the woods when she went looking for her after she didn’t show up for dinner.  The men who had raped her had cut her open and left her to bleed to death.”

Demona barely felt Kendra’s hands tighten on her shoulders she was too busy remembering.  The two women in the woods had died like that; she had been horrified when she had found their bodies in front of their cottage.  She couldn’t imagine how much more horrified a mother would be to find her daughter that way.

“She went after the killers,” Rachael continued.

“Surely that’s understandable,” broke in Demona angrily, remembering how she had killed the men who had done that to the two women, “that a mother has the right to avenge her daughter’s murder!”

Rachael frowned pensively, “I don’t necessarily disagree with you Demona, but that’s not why her powers were blocked by a pack of Wolf’s chosen.”

“What did she do?”  Kendra asked quietly.

“She didn’t stop with them; she decided to make sure no one else’s daughter suffered what her daughter had suffered,” Demona grimaced; she could guess where this story was headed.  Images of people turned to stone by her ill-conceived spell danced in her mind; she knew only too well where unchecked vengeance could lead one.  Rachael continued, “That was when Wayne and several other Wolf’s chosen were sent to block her from her powers.”

Demona asked, “What went wrong?”

The Owl’s chosen drew in a deep breath, “They got there well ahead of the others sent to help and bound her powers.  Unfortunately, none of them thought to keep watch over her other than to make sure she didn’t hurt anyone else.  She hung herself; Wayne was the one who found her.”

Demona flinched, unless you did it exactly right hanging was a slow and painful death.  Over the years, she had seen enough humans hanging other humans to know that, and she had almost been strangled by hunters a few times herself.

“So he’s blamed himself ever since for not thinking that she might be a danger to herself without an external target for her anger and grief,” Kendra commented.

Rachael nodded, “they all did,” she added.

Demona asked after a few seconds, “What did you mean by a pack of Wolf’s chosen?”

The Cree woman turned her attention to the gargoyle, “Wolf’s chosen are stronger when they do their magic in a group each supporting the others.  A large enough group of them is strong enough to bind any other chosen, which is why they were given that duty.”

“That was not the only reason;” the Irish’s Elks voice interposed, “Wolf chooses those that are naturally inclined toward maintaining law, order, and tradition.  Those characteristics along with their ability to augment their magic by performing it as a group made them our first choice for such a difficult duty.”

“Like Wayne, most of them are in some type of law enforcement organization,” Rachael commented.

“That makes sense,” Kendra responded.  The words law enforcement jogged her memory, and she recalled something she should have mentioned before now, “That reminds me, I heard what I thought was a search plane this afternoon.”

“Most likely,” Rachael replied, “You will have to be careful from now on with your camp fire.  The woods are too dense for them to spot the camp from the air, but they would probably be able to see the smoke from a fire rising above the forest.”

Kendra’s hands left Demona’s shoulders as the were-jaguar stepped around her to stand by her side, “Yea, I already figured that out,” she grumbled.

Rachael smirked, “Darn those people trying to rescue us when we don’t want to be found just yet.”

Demona joined Kendra in chuckling at the quip.  She met the Ancient One’s eyes; she knew it was time for them to go.  “Time for me to go to training,” she told Kendra, “Are you staying here or?” she asked glancing over at Rachael.  She didn’t know if the other woman was staying or leaving tonight.

“I’ll stay here,” Kendra said, “I need to work on my claws some more, I wasn’t anticipating needing to climb up stone and concrete.  I felt the strain on them when we climbed that cliff, and from what you’re saying I’ll need to climb much higher.”

The sky-blue gargoyle nodded, “At least three to four times that height to be safe,” she confirmed.

Kendra blinked, “Well, alright then,” she said, “I guess its back to the drawing board on the claws.”

“I’ve got some time tonight,” Rachael offered, “Not sure how much help I’ll be though.”

“Let us begin,” the Ancient One’s deep voice drew Demona’s attention as the great stag turned and headed into the mists, leaving her no choice but to follow.  “Do not be concerned about your young Jaguar,” he said as she caught up to him, “the Wise One will arrive shortly, she will find the young Jaguar’s problem too interesting to not join her chosen in helping solve it.”

“She’s not mine,” Demona corrected him quietly, feeling the fluttering of uncertainty in her stomach.  The thought of Kendra being her mate filled her with equal amounts of joy and fear.  She remembered only too well how much Goliath’s promises of forever had worked out.  The one human friend she had made after her alliance with Macbeth, Michael, who was better known now as Nostradamus, had prophesied when the enchantment on Goliath and the others would be broken.  She had waited for four hundred and sixty two years for David Xanatos to be born and obtain enough wealth to raise the castle above the clouds and the first thing Goliath had done was after telling her the centuries had made her hard, unforgiving and not as he remembered her was to leave her to go visit a human. 

Goliath wasn’t aware of the fact that she had followed him that night.  He didn’t realize that she had noticed how he looked at the human woman when Elisa reached up and made him look at her upon that rooftop.  He might not have realized what he was feeling for the human but she certainly had realized what that look meant after his rejection of her actions in front of the remaining clan.  In that moment she had realized that she had suffered all that time alone, she had fought and run from the hunters that would not cease trying to kill her, she had evaded Macbeth during the times he felt suicidal instead of letting her old ally find her and end their shared misery, that she had survived all those lonely, hard years just for her mate to betray her for a human woman.

The irony of her current situation certainly hadn’t escaped her.  Goliath had his human female lover and now she had hers, and her human lover was rapidly winning her heart.  Just as, she guessed, Elisa Maza had won Goliath’s.  Kendra’s loyalty, her understanding, her humor, her gentleness, her fierceness and strength and honor…the list of Kendra’s attractive qualities could go on and on, even the fact that Kendra was human had become something that the gargoyle appreciated.  As for being her mate, however, they had barely known each other for two weeks.  Granted it had been an incredible two weeks, and she felt closer to Kendra right now than she had ever felt towards Goliath, but it was just too soon to think of such things.  Why, she and Goliath had courted for years before declaring themselves mates, it was just too soon for her to think of Kendra in that way, Demona told herself.  The gargoyle noticed they were almost to the stream, “Where are we going?” she asked the stag spirit.

“The tree that you took flight from was injured by your talons, your task tonight will be to heal the damage,” he responded.

“Injured…” she repeated and then fell silent troubled by his words, it hadn’t crossed her mind to consider what her talons were doing to the tree when she climbed it to get airborne.  They stepped out into the open and turned north; the tree was fairly close for she had taken to the air as soon as they reached the open space.  Demona frowned as she stepped up to the shadowy image of the tree, even in the spirit realm she could easily see where her talons had punctured through the bark as she climbed.  Resin was seeping out along the injured areas sealing them.  She focused her sight and was immediately confused by what she was seeing; she could tell the tree was injured from the discordant flaring of life energy around each wound in its bark, but that was not what was puzzling her.  She stared at the closest wound, then above and below it where the unwounded bark was, it almost looked as if tiny motes of life were attacking the wounded area.  “Am I seeing bacteria?” she finally hazarded a guess.

“The small motes of life attacking the damaged area?” the spirit inquired, “Yes, they are what the humans call bacteria, they are seeking out the sap of the tree for energy.  Unfortunately, in doing so they will cause more damage and the decay of the tree’s structure as they multiply and spread among its tissues.  To combat this, the tree will form several layers of tissue to wall the bacteria and other organisms away from the damaged area.  The tree has already begun to do so; if you look at the area directly above and below the wound you will see that the tree has already walled off the tubes that would transport sap through the affected area so that the bacterial cannot spread through its vascular system.”

Demon paid close attention as the Irish Elk spirit continued to explain how the tree would heal itself.  She could see the steps it had already taken to protect itself; it was almost like a tiny battle, the bacteria attacking and the tree putting up defensive fortifications to prevent any further incursions.

The Ancient One continued to instruct, “Look at the nature magic around you, whereas all life magic is held within living things nature magic is not.  You will notice small amounts of unclaimed energy available in the air and land around you, reach out your will toward it and call it to you.”

The flame haired gargoyle altered her sight, examining the nature energy around her, searching for what the Irish Elk was describing.  She hadn’t noticed any excess nature energy when they were having their lesson on nature magic a few days ago, but then she hadn’t been looking for it.  Now though, specifically searching for it, she could see the motes of energy floating all around her almost like dust in a sunbeam.  She reached out her will to them, and called them to her.  Slowly at first and then faster they flowed into her, she felt a tingling inside her that grew and grew.  It didn’t feel unpleasant but neither did it feel soothing, it felt restless as if she needed desperately to do something with it, to run about madly or jump or…

“Chosen,” the stag spirit said sounding amused, “let the energy know you have enough.”

Oh yes, she definitely had enough energy, Demona thought, becoming uneasily aware of the fact that even her thoughts seemed to be chasing themselves around restlessly inside her head.  As the energy flow into her slowed and finally stopped, the fiery haired gargoyle realized her tail was lashing from side to side betraying her agitation.

Seeing that his chosen had stopped the energy flow the Ancient One continued, “Unfortunately you cannot heal the tree from the spirit realm; you must go into the living world.  For me to instruct you once you have reached this tree you will need to know how to span the two realms, to remain in the living realm while being partially in the spirit.”  The stag spirit stared at his chosen taking in the restless way she shifted from taloned foot to taloned foot, the twitching of her wings and agitated lashing of her tail.  “Perhaps it would be wise to take in less energy next time,” he offered dryly, his ears twitching.  Demona stared at him, from the way his ears were flicking back and forth, she had the definite impression that he was laughing at her.  “You can ground excess energy into the earth, simply place your hand upon the ground and let some of your energy bleed away through the connection,” the Irish Elk directed her.

“You could have mentioned that earlier,” the gargoyle complained as she did as he suggested.  The great stag spirit did not reply, he merely watched as she grounded enough of the energy so that it no longer felt as if it were trying to crawl out of her skin.

“Chosen,” the Irish Elks deep voice drew the gargoyles attention; her green eyes went to his brown one’s. Realizing that he wished to impart knowledge to her, Demona met the stag’s gaze.  Information flowed from the spirit to her as he showed her how to span the two realms so she could talk to him while in the living.

“I should go tell Kendra what’s happening so she doesn’t get pulled out of the spirit realm when I leave the tent,” Demona said as soon as she understood.

The great stag dipped his antlered head, “I shall remain here and await you.”

Demona went to all fours and began running swiftly back through the forest to the clearing where Kendra and Rachael were located.  When she arrived, as the Ancient One had predicted, the Eagle Owl spirit was there as well.

“Demona?”  Kendra questioned, worried at the way the gargoyle had rushed into the clearing.

The flame-haired gargoyle quickly explained what she needed to do, and that she hadn’t wanted to disturb Kendra when she slipped out of her arms and left the tent.

“Actually,” said the blue eyed were-jaguar, “We’re done with my claws, and I’d like to see this if you don’t mind the company.”

The Wise One remarked, “There will likely be little to see, but none the less it may prove interesting.”

“I don’t know what there will be to see,” Demona admitted.  Turning to Kendra, she said warmly, “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do yet, but I certainly won’t mind your company.”

Kendra grinned, “I guess we will find out when we get there then.  Rachael, Wise One, thank you again for your help with these,” she extended her claws which glittered in the dim light.

Demona stared at the sharp talons that now shone like obsidian; she reached over and grabbed one of Kendra’s hands before her lover could retract her claws.  “They didn’t look like this before, what did you do to them?”

“Changed the composition of the claw itself to make it harder so that it could dig into stone or concrete easier, and made the tendon that extends the claw stronger,” Kendra explained.

“Demona, Kendra,” Rachael said, drawing their attention, “I need to get going, unless something changes I’ll see you in three days, I should arrive just after noon.”

Demona nodded, “We’ll have everything packed and ready.”  Her green eyes widened as she remembered what the Ancient One had said about making a second amulet for Kendra, “Rachael, we will need the materials for a second amulet, will that be difficult?”

The Owl’s chosen gave her a bemused look, “No, but why?”

“The Ancient One suggested that Kendra will need one for herself for the same reason I need one,” Demona looked over at her winged lover.

Kendra’s sapphire blue eyes widened in realization, “To explain how I could change to this,” she indicated her current form, “If the clan sees me.”

“Very forward thinking of the Ancient One,” the Eagle Owl said approvingly, “it is likely you will eventually encounter that situation and have need of such an item.”

Rachael nodded, “I’ll have two amulets ready for Thursday night,” she assured them with a smile.  She turned toward the Eagle Owl, “Good night Wise One.”

“Good night to you my chosen,” the Owl replied.

“Thank you Rachael,” Demona just had time to say before the Owl’s chosen disappeared.

Kendra turned toward the Eagle Owl, “Good night Wise One, and thank you for your suggestions they were perfect.”

“You are welcome young Jaguar,” the Wise One replied.

“Why does almost everyone call me that instead of Jaguar’s chosen?”  Kendra finally asked.

The Wise One clicked her beak together a few times, now Demona was almost certain that was the owl’s version of laughter.  “Because those who are chosen by the Jaguar, and chose the Jaguar, are more intertwined with the gift of his spirit than are most other chosen.  Your human spirit and the jaguar spirit inside you are becoming one; you are more than just chosen, you are jaguar and human.”  The owl’s luminous yellow eyes regarded Kendra intently, “Most of you go feral after enough years, choosing to spend all their time as a jaguar.  I do not believe, however, that will be the case with you,” her gaze shifted briefly to meet the gargoyle’s, “I think you will have reason to keep your humanity dominant rather than submerge your humanness within the solitary jaguar.”

Demona’s eyes widened as she took in this information, some part of her had already realized that Kendra was different from either she or Rachael.  She just hadn’t realized exactly what the difference was between the black-haired woman and them.

“You might be right,” Kendra replied quietly to the Owl spirit, blue eyes turning toward the fiery haired gargoyle.

The warmth in Kendra’s blue gaze it seemed to go straight to Demona’s heart where it lit a sweet aching yearning.  Recalling her reason for being there in the first place, the gargoyle cleared her throat, “We should go; the Ancient One is waiting for me.”

Kendra nodded, her form wavered and disappeared leaving Demona alone with the Wise One.  She hesitated a moment, “Solitary?” she asked the owl spirit.

“Jaguars mate once a year, but they do not remain with their mates.  They raise their young alone and remain alone almost their entire lives.  Humans however, like gargoyles, desire and need mates with which they can form a bond with that spans their entire lifetime,” the Wise One responded.

Demona nodded thoughtfully, “Good night Wise One.”

“Good night Ancient One’s chosen,” the Eagle Owl spirit replied.  Feeling a sense of satisfaction, the Wise One watched as the gargoyle disappeared.  Everything seemed to be proceeding as she and the Ancient One had hoped it would proceed.  Already the changes in temperament and attitude she noticed in the gargoyle since the fiery haired one had first appeared here were striking.

As for the young jaguar, it looked as if Jaguar’s experiment with choosing a human who was not from the tribes who had worshiped him was reaping unexpected benefits.  The humans mind was as quick and agile as her body.  No one before her had explored the limits of their shapeshifting abilities as she was and the Wise One knew the Jaguar was impressed with her developing abilities.  Her developing relationship with the gargoyle female was surprising, but it seemed to be working out for the betterment of both chosen and the Wise One hoped it would continue to flourish and mature.

Becoming aware of the warm body, and strong arms and wings wrapped around her once again, Demona allowed herself a few seconds to just enjoy the scent and feel of her lover.  Kendra’s arms tightened around the gargoyle and Demona turned her head enough to be able to rub her cheek against the soft thickness of the were-jaguar’s fur.  A rumbling soft purr began in the chest underneath her ear, and the gargoyle’s lips curved into a smile.  The ability to purr was one of the unique things about Kendra that the flame-haired gargoyle particularly enjoyed.  Gargoyles could produce a low rumble in their chest that was almost a purr, but it really wasn’t anything like the true sonorous feline purr she was hearing and feeling now.

“We need to get going,” Kendra’s reluctant voice echoed underneath the gargoyle’s ear.

Demona stifled the grumble of disappointment she wanted to make, the Ancient One was waiting for her and she did want to learn how to heal.  The little she had learned earlier only made her more interested in finding out what else the great stag had to teach her tonight.  Four minutes later, they arrived at the pine tree she had climbed only two hours before.  Demona looked upon the ugly gashes her talons had left in its reddish bark with a feeling of regret.  She hadn’t meant to damage the tree she had only wanted to show Kendra how to get airborne and finding the cliff they were seeking.

Kendra examined the bark of the tree seeing the damage Demona’s talons had left in its bark when the blue gargoyle climbed it earlier.  She glanced over at her lover, and seeing the troubled look on the beautiful face offered, “I wouldn’t have thought about it either Demona.  I can’t even tell you the number of trees I’ve sharpened my claws on over the years.”  The were-jaguar smirked, “I guess I’ll have to make myself a very large scratching post to use instead.”

Demona’s jaw dropped for a moment at the image that popped into her mind, and then she started chuckling, “That will have to be some scratching post to withstand the claws you have now,” she observed.

Kendra extended her claws and stared at them thoughtfully, “Hmm, it will have to be won’t it.”

The gargoyle shook her head, smiling; she turned her attention back to the tree, “I need to get going, he’s going to be wondering what’s taking me so long.”  Demona closed her eyes and concentrated on reaching out to the spirit realm while keeping her consciousness within the living.  It took her a few tries, she knew how to do what she wanted thanks to the Irish Elk spirit, but knowing how was the easy part, it was the concentration required for accomplishing what she knew how to do that was hard.

She knew she had succeeded when she heard the voice of the Ancient One greeting her, “Chosen.” 

She opened her eyes; the sprit realm appeared laid on top of the living world, turning the trees a shade greyer than they had been in the dark.  The great stag spirit appeared as a shadow to her sight standing majestically beside the pine tree.  “Ancient One,” she returned his greeting.

“Let us begin,” he said briskly, “for this is much more draining than being fully in the spirit realm, and I do not wish you to injure yourself.”

Demona nodded, “what should I do?”

“First focus your attention on the injury closest to the earth,” the Irish Elk instructed, “you now understand how the tree will heal itself.  Your first task is to assist the tree in its natural healing process.  Concentrating on the energies appearance, release the nature energy you took in into the wound as life energy.  As the life energy flows into the tree will it to assist the tree in healing as you envision the healing process in your mind.”

The gargoyle altered her sight so that she could see the life magic around her; the tree appeared more brilliantly golden here in the living realm than it had in the spirit realm.  The wounds in its bark were also more noticeable; the life energy around each wound was flaring in what almost appeared to be pain.  “Do trees feel pain,” she asked quietly.

“What?” she heard Kendra say in surprise just before the spirit answered.

The great stag met her gaze, “All living things know when they are injured.  However, if you are asking if the tree feels pain as you would, then no, it does not have a nervous system or brain to interpret the injury in that manner.  It does have chemical reactions that let the entire tree know that it is injured and where the injury is and that is what you are seeing.”

Reassured, Demona laid her hand over the gnash in the tree’s bark and willed herself to see golden light moving from her hand into the injury.  When the golden light began flowing, she thought about how the tree made a barrier around the injured area, protecting itself from further damage and rot.

“Very good,” the great stag praised her, “look upon your work chosen.”

The gargoyle let her sight go back to normal and looked at the gash, it looked months old now instead of new.  The bark around it had healed and the small amount of exposed pith that had been bleeding resin was now a hard, smooth barrier of wood.

Kneeling beside her Kendra reached out and touched the bark around the healed injury.  Her blue eyes turned toward Demona, and the gargoyle could see that her lover was impressed.  Seeing the results of her efforts the fiery haired gargoyle was rather impressed herself, her lips curved upward with a small, pleased smile.

“Color me impressed,” said Kendra.

The gargoyle turned her head to look at her lover, she hadn’t heard that particular human idiom before and wondered if it were just rhetorical or there was a actually color associated with being impressed like white with purity and red for courage.

Before she could ask, the Irish Elk said, “The next healing will be more difficult; instead of encouraging the tree to heal on its own; you will provide enough life energy to knit together the pith and bark until it is whole once again.”

Demona whipped her head around to look at him, “How am I supposed to do that?”

The spirits ears flicked rapidly back and forth once, “You will need to take in more nature energy before beginning,” he advised, “however, before you do so let us discuss how you will bring about this healing.”  The great stag had her examine the uninjured bark and pith nearest the injured area closely.  She needed to know exactly how each tissue was composed because she would have to shape the life energy to match the uninjured tissues exactly.  Once she had the energy in place, she would weave the energy among the damaged tissues and then pull them together just as if she were stitching a wound closed.

Now that she understood what she was to do, Demona altered her sight so that she could see the nature energy around her.  There seemed to be more of it here than she remembered, but perhaps that was because she was not reaching from the spirit realm into the living.  She began drawing in the energy; as soon as she began to feel the itching sensation underneath her skin, she willed the energy absorption to stop not wanting a repeat of the first time she had done this.

“What are you doing?”  Kendra asked curiously, “you’re acting very…fidgety all of a sudden.”

Demona looked over at her lover; the were-jaguar was observing her intently her head cocked slightly to the side as she stared at the gargoyle with a puzzled expression.  “It’s because I’ve absorbed some nature energy, it makes me feel as if I itch all over,” the gargoyle explained.  She placed her hands around the edges of the gnash in the pine bark, concentrating on what she needed to do.  A few minutes later she gazed in amazement at the undamaged bark of the pine tree, there was no sign now of the ugly rip in the bark that had been there before.  She knew she had done this, but she was still left with a sense of unreality as she looked at the evidence of her work.

“Wow,” the awe in Kendra’s voice as she reached up and ran her finger over the now unblemished reddish bark filled Demona with pleasure tinged with embarrassment.

The confusing mixture of pleasure and embarrassment only increased when the Irish Elk added quietly in his deep, resonant voice, “Very well done chosen.”  The great stag waited until his chosen’s gaze went to the remaining talon marks, “Leave the others to heal naturally, over the next few days watch and learn how the tree heals itself.  Now for your last lesson this night, pull a small amount of nature energy into yourself,” he instructed.  When she had done as he asked he continued, “Focus upon the energy and will it to form itself into a sphere of energy in your open hand.  You do not want to burn yourself, so when you will it to create light think of light that gives off no or little heat.”

Light that gives off no or little heat, Demona repeated the stag’s instructions to herself as she stared at the ball of nature energy that now floated just above her outstretched hand.  Cold light, blue light, her mind answered, no sooner had she thought it than the energy sphere lit up with blindingly brilliant blue-white light.  Demona flinched away from the bright light closing her eyes against it and there was a protesting yowl from Kendra at the same time.  The gargoyle’s concentration broken, the light winked out of existence.  Spots danced in front of her eyes when Demona opened them.

“Ok, that would be a useful weapon at night,” Kendra commented after a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Demona apologized, still blinking her eyes trying to recover from the sudden light, “I didn’t realize it would be that bright,” she mumbled embarrassed.  She heard Kendra’s quiet chuckle just before the were-jaguar’s strong arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled into a warm reassuring hug.

“You definitely did it though,” her lover noted, amusement clear in her tone.

The gargoyle had to join the were-jaguar in her amusement at that comment, “I guess I did, didn’t I.  Let me try for less light this time.”  Kendra let her go and the gargoyle held out her hand once again, concentrating on reforming the energy ball, this time though she carefully thought about creating a dim blue light.  This time though the light was barely brighter than a candle.

The Ancient One said, “You can control the intensity of the light by focusing your will upon it.”

Demona concentrated upon the light floating above her palm, it slowly increased in brightness until it was as bright as a lamp and cast a cool blue light upon the forest around them.

“Are you doing that?”  Kendra asked, Demona looked over at her and noticed there was a delighted smile on her lover’s face as she watched the globe of light.

Demona’s expression lit with a matching smile, “The Ancient One’s teaching me how to control it,” she confirmed.

The great stag said, “You can control its location in the same manner.  Move the light around you chosen; it does not have to remain in your hand.”

Demona stared at the globe of light in her hand and willed it to rise.  Obedient to her will it rose a few inches into the air and halted, she lowered her hand and stared at the glowing globe in wonder.  This was so different from sorcery, the gargoyle thought, with sorcery you spoke the spell and the globe appeared and would follow you, but you didn’t really have direct control over it.  This though, this she had direct control over, Demona willed the globe to rise and move to the side.  She smiled delightedly as the globe smoothly obeyed, moving to exactly where she wanted it.

“Coolness,” Kendra exclaimed, and then looked embarrassed at the gaucheness of her outburst.

The flame haired gargoyle couldn’t help it; she began laughing merrily at her lover.  The sound of it rang in the cold night air, light and joyous.  Kendra smiled delighted at the gargoyle, her blue eyes crinkling up at the corners as she enjoyed the sight of the gargoyle laughing so unreservedly.

“I believe you are familiar with the idea that light is merely a type of emitted energy?” the spirit asked as soon as his chosen had stopped laughing.

Demona turned her attention to him, “I am,” she confirmed becoming more serious as she turned her attention back to the Ancient One.

“The nature energy you used to create the globe is being transformed into this type of emitted energy, the light will last as long as there is energy to supply it,” the Irish Elk explained.  “Now that you understand the basic…”

While the Irish Elk was speaking, a sly look came over the were-jaguar’s face, “Can you make it bigger and disk like?” she asked completely unaware that the stag spirit was speaking.

Demona held up one finger, “Just a second, the Ancient One is speaking,” she said quietly, moderating the admonishment with a quick smile for the were-jaguar.  Kendra eyed the empty space where her lover was staring intently, it was odd knowing that Demona was seeing and hearing the Ancient One in the spirit realm when she could not.

Apparently unperturbed by the interruption except for a brief flicker of one ear the majestic stag began again, “Now that you understand the basic method for producing light, be aware of the fact that I had you created it as cold light only to keep it from burning your hand.  You may use the light as a heat source as well, though this will use up the nature energy supplying it more rapidly.”

As soon as he finished, Demona looked at the globe and willed it to increase in size and change shape, she looked back at her lover inquiringly.

Kendra started chuckling, “Can you make it look like one of those flying saucers from the fifties shows?”

Demona smirked, she did happen to know exactly what Kendra was referring to having watched about ten minutes of one of the ridiculous black and white movies one Sunday afternoon before changing the TV channel.  The disk thickened and sported what looked like windows along its edge, and as a final touch she sent it spinning wobbly.

Kendra began laughing, in between bouts she gasped, “You realize we could take this on the road and start a new UFO craze right?”

The gargoyle looked at the disk spinning irregularly on its axis, she shook her head, “I don’t think you’re supposed to be tempting me to do cruel things to humans,” she commented chuckling.  The gargoyle glanced over at the giant stag spirit who was regarding the still chuckling Kendra with interest, one of his ears cocked toward her. 

He looked over at his chosen and shook his antlered head, apparently choosing to not address their antics, “If you will modify the globe so that it emits heat our lesson will be over for this evening.”

She willed the globe back to its original shape brought it closer and concentrated.  Its color changed to a more natural light, the gargoyle lifted her hand toward it and felt the warmth it was now giving off.

“Congratulations, chosen,” the Irish Elk said.  “Tomorrow night we will investigate the Weird Sisters appearances during the night when you cast the sorcerous spell to turn the inhabitants of the city to stone.  Perhaps you can divine a meaning to their words and actions that I could not.”

Demona caped her wings about herself, she didn’t really want to see or hear anything about that time.  She would frankly rather forget it had ever occurred, but she knew that wasn’t possible.  She looked up at the great stag; he was gazing at her steadily.  She saw nothing judgmental in his eyes only a sternness that she sensed would permit no shying away from this task on her part.  She nodded.

“Go wholly into the living realm my chosen;” the great spirit said gently, “I will see you again tomorrow.”

“Good night Ancient One,” Demona replied before she let her consciousness return completely to the living realm.