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Puppet Strings - Chapter 8
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: none
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: 02/16/08
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Dominique disappeared into the shelter
before sun went down to change into her halter-top and
loincloth. She emerged just in time for her change to take
place screaming in pain as simultaneously her wings erupted from
her back, her feet and hands changed to talons, and her skin
darkened into blue. The immortal gargoyle snarled at the sky
and flared her wings before calming, the red glow disappearing
from her eyes.
Kendra walked over to her, asking gently,
“Are you ready?”
Demona wanted to say no, her emotions were
a stirred up mixture of fear, curiosity and resoluteness. She
both wanted and didn’t want to face whatever it was that she was
going to find out tonight. Finally she responded curtly, “I’m
ready,” she crouched and crawled into the sweat lodge.
Kendra handed the redheaded gargoyle two
sticks, “Use these to guide the stones into the pit,” she
instructed. The black-haired women rolled four rocks from the
fire using her own sticks and then pushed them carefully into
the lodge. Once they were at the lodge opening Demona took over
and rolled them into the pit inside the lodge. Kendra grabbed
the drumming log and sticks, placed them inside the lodge and
then handed Demona the water filled pot. Finally, she stripped
down to her underwear and laid her clothes next to the fire and
entered the lodge herself and pulled the blanket down, only
leaving a small gap for light. She took the pot from Demona and
poured some of the water over the rocks letting the hot steam
fill the closed in space. Then she started drumming and
chanting.
Demona stared at the black haired woman in
wonder for Kendra was chanting in no language the gargoyle
recognized. The novice shamaness stared intently into Demona’s
green eyes as she chanted. The immortal gargoyle found herself
ensnared by the Kendra’s blue gaze… and abruptly she was
standing next to the stream where the sweat lodge was located.
Demona looked around for the lodge and saw the shadowy outline
of it as well as the shadow forms of Kendra and herself sitting
inside. She turned around and saw Kendra standing next to her;
strangely, somehow she could also see the woman’s jaguar form at
the same time. She stared back at the shadowy form of the lodge
fascinated at the fact that she was seeing the ghostly outline
of the real world here in the spirit realm.
Kendra stared at something behind the
gargoyle and Demona turned to see what had attracted the black
haired woman’s attention. A dark eyed, dark haired woman now
stood next to them. This must be the priestess that Kendra had
spoken about the gargoyle realized. The dark haired woman was
staring at the gargoyle, a concerned, thoughtful frown upon her
face. If Demona already hadn’t had a good idea what might
prompt such an expression she would have snapped at the woman
for it.
“I am pleased to see you here,” the
priestess greeted them. She then turned and addressed Demona
specifically, “The Ancient One already knew of you, and has
agreed to meet you,” she hesitated, “there is also another
spirit that is curious about you and would like to meet you as
well if you permit it.”
The immortal gargoyle was surprised, how
had this Ancient One already known of her? And who was this
other spirit that wanted to meet her? “Very well,” she agreed
uncertainly.
“Good,” the priestess responded obviously
pleased, “She is very wise and knowledgeable about all forms of
magic.”
Demona was about to insist that the
priestess tell her exactly what type of spirit she was talking
about when the dark haired woman turned around and looked
expectantly toward the east.
Out of the trees, gracefully stepped a very
large stag with antlers unlike any the immortal gargoyle had
ever seen before. Demona stared at it in astonishment; in size,
the stag dwarfed the caribou they had brought down earlier and
she guessed that it stood over seven feet tall at the top of its
shoulders. Its antlers had wide thick flattened areas or palms,
reminding her somewhat of the antlers of moose and she guessed
the stag’s antlers reached twelve or so foot in total width.
How it had managed to make its way through the forest with such
antlers she could not even begin to guess.
“Holy,” exclaimed Kendra from beside her,
she feel silent for a moment and then she muttered in a much
quieter voice, “Its Bambi’s dad on steroids.”
Demona felt a grin tugging at her lips at
that comment. What breed of deer was this? She recalled that
Kendra had said that the ancient spirit’s children had been
hunted to extinction by the Fey, and she wondered if this stag
was the ancient spirit that had agreed to help her. That would
explain why she had never seen any animal like this, the smile
fell from her lips and she felt a sharp pang of regret at the
thought. She wondered what it would have been like to see herds
of these magnificent creatures roaming through the hills of
Scotland. She knew what it was like to be hunted almost to
extinction, but to be utterly alone, to know that no others
existed of your kind.
As the animal stepped closer with dignified
grace, Demona noticed Kendra subtly edging away from her, eyeing
the stag with obvious wariness. She glanced at the black haired
woman, concerned, and then she smirked. She leaned over and
whispered, “Certainly you weren’t thinking of trying to hunt
him?”
Kendra shook her head vigorously, “Not this
little kitty, nope,” she whispered back.
A snort from the stag indicated that they
had not been quiet enough to escape being overheard, “Fear not
young jaguar, I know you intend me no harm.” The stag’s tone
was resonantly deep, and clearly amused.
Kendra eyed the giant stag’s horns and
sharp hooves; it didn’t take much of an imagination to figure
out what they would do to her even in her jaguar shape. “Good,
I definitely wouldn’t want you to think for even a nanosecond
that I was any threat at all,” she replied earnestly.
The priestess smiled and shook her head at
this, before turning to face the giant stag, “Greetings Ancient
One,” she said respectfully. “This is the one I told you
about,” she indicated the gargoyle.
“Demona, yes I have seen this gargoyle in
the past and upon Avalon a short time ago,” the stag stated.
The immortal gargoyle stared up into the
giant deer’s wise brown eyes, “How?” she asked, then she looked
around her, “the spirit realm it touches Avalon as well.”
“Yes, the spirit realm touches Avalon” the
stag confirmed, “I am sorry I could aid neither you nor the
human male called Macbeth. Without an intermediary, such as
your companion,” he nodded toward Kendra, “to act through, we
cannot affect the living world from here.”
“You were there,” Demona stared at the
stag, agitated, “You saw those witches make me attack our clan’s
children, attack my own daughter,” her eyes flared red.
“I have watched them for eons, I watched
helpless as they hunted down and killed my children for sport
even as our numbers dwindled due to starvation. I watched as
they killed the last of us and then regretted only the fact that
there were no more of us to hunt,” the great stag spoke with
great sorrow. “After that I watched them, and learned about
them.”
“And though he has not interacted with the
world since his people died, he has shared with the rest of us
everything he has learned from watching them. Through our
chosen ones the knowledge he has gained has been used against
them,” a voice from above startled Demona. This must be the
second spirit, the redheaded gargoyle realized as a large eagle
owl swooped down from above, its feathers black and white
barred. “Might I trouble you for a perch Ancient One? I so
dislike taking off from the ground,” the owl requested politely
as she hovered in the air.
“You may,” the stag agreed.
“Thank you," the Eagle Owl alighted near
the center of the great stag’s antlers and turned her luminous
amber eyes upon Demona, staring at her in such an intense way
that the gargoyle felt uncomfortable.
“Wise One,” the priestess greeted the owl.
“Jaguar’s chosen,” the owl dipped her head
toward the priestess as she acknowledged her. Then the owl
turned her attention back to the gargoyle. “You were right,”
the owl announced, “She does have a rather fascinating
assortment of fey magic upon her.” The owl turned her head
sideways as if that helped her get a better look at the
gargoyle. “What a smorgasbord, there’s enchantments, compulsion
spells,” the volume of the owl’s voice dropped and it became
obvious that the owl was mumbling to herself as she continued
listing the types of fey magic she was seeing, “manipulation
spells, binding spells, shape changing, healing spells, binding
enchantments…” The owl’s head twisted around in the other
direction as if getting a different angle would help, “There’s
even some I don’t recognize, and the subtlety of them is so
unusual, the Fey usually don’t bother with it.” The Eagle Owl
sounded entranced with what she was seeing.
Demona snarled, her eyes glowing red, “I’m
not here for you to study me; I’m not some specimen of yours.”
She was angry, and she was frightened. The litany of
enchantments and spells the owl had rattled off, and the things
she had said afterward…why would the Weird Sisters have gone to
that type of effort? What had they done to her that everyone,
even Kendra, was able to see, but she wasn’t?
The owl’s head swiveled immediately
upright, “I beg your pardon,” she apologized softly, “Of course
you are not. You are here because you seek help, and my help
you shall definitely receive.” The owl vowed.
The gargoyles eyes returned to normal as
her anger faded.
“And mine;” the majestic stag assured her,
“However, the question before us now is how to proceed? The
enchantments upon her are intricate, and I do not understand the
purpose of all of them. The ones that bind her and the human
male together are all that sustain her life, if we dissolve the
wrong enchantment we will kill her instead of aiding her,” the
stag pointed out grimly.
“True,” replied the owl thoughtfully, “they
do seem to all be wrapped around and tied together don’t they.
We will have to unsnarl each one to see what it does and how
it’s connected with the rest before teaching her how to dissolve
them.”
The great stag stared thoughtfully at
Demona, “She needs to see first, she needs to see what we see,”
the stag paused, and continued in a compassionate tone, “She
needs to understand what was done to her and why.”
The owl bobbed her head looking very
agitated, “Are you sure?” she asked. Demona thought she sounded
uncertain, “From what you have told me the truth will not be
kind to her.” The owl let out a mournful cry, “Not very kind at
all. Are you certain that is where you wish to start?” the owl
asked again.
Demona wanted to break in and ask what the
two spirits were talking about, certainly she deserved to know
what the Weird Sisters had done to her and why they had done
it. Didn’t she? She glanced uncertainly at the owl who was
staring at her with such obvious compassion.
“Wishing,” the stag pawed at the ground
sharply, “I wish my children were still running across the
grasslands but they are not,” he breathed in deeply. “I do not
wish to start with the why of it, but that is where we must
start, otherwise she will not trust us and will fight us even if
it is only unconsciously. She has no reason to trust us any
more than she does the Fey,” the stag pointed out. “She must
know the truth, she must know the why to know who she can trust
and who she cannot.”
The owl snapped her beak together, and
Demona couldn’t discern whether this indicated the owl was angry
or upset.
“You have a valid point,” the owl still
sounded reluctant, “Very well, we shall start there.”
Demona finally broke in, asking in
frustration, “Start where?!”
The two spirits focused their attention
back upon her. It was the great stag that answered, “By
returning the memories that are currently denied you. The three
fey did not take them away, they simply cast a spell on you and
the human to deny you access to them.”
“My memories of Avalon,” Demona whispered
suddenly understanding.
“And before,” the great stag added.
The gargoyles eyes widened slightly, she
had known that there were several days missing but hadn’t known
that there were days missing before she had been taken to
Avalon.
“Do you wish to have your past returned to
you, to regain the memories rightfully yours that the three fey
sisters denied you?” the great stag asked in a formal manner.
“Yes I do,” she responded immediately, She
had never liked the fact that there were days missing from her
memory. The memories might be unpleasant, but she deserved to
know what had happened.
The stag inclined its antlered head for a
moment, then raised it again. It stared at her for a long
searching moment, “The Eagle Owl spirit is correct, these
memories…returning them to you is a necessity, not a gift, for I
am certain what you are about to remember will wound you
deeply. I wish you to know that I will help you determine the
truth of your past. You no longer stand alone against the ones
you call the Weird Sisters.”
The owl fluffed her wings, “Well said,” she
complemented the stag, “I will add my own assurances of aid to
the Ancient One’s, you no longer stand alone in this battle.”
Demona stared at the two spirits, not
knowing quite how to respond. Frantic questions raced through
her mind asking what events were in these memories that would
cause the two to feel as if they had to reassure her before
returning them.
She felt Kendra’s warm presence by her side
just before the black haired woman spoke, “I too am here for
you. Whatever you remember and I think it’s become pretty damn
clear to both of us that it’s not going to be pleasant; I will
help you deal with it as much as you will let me. I will not
leave you alone in this just as I would not leave you earlier.”
Kendra’s blue eyes were resolute and
determined as they met Demona’s own startled gaze. The gargoyle
felt a rush of warm affection for the woman beside her. She
felt confident that Kendra would be with her. Whatever it was
that she about to face, Kendra would not desert her, it was
simply not who the woman was. The gargoyle turned leaned
against Kendra responding automatically to the mixture of
warmth, gentle concern, caring and fierce protectiveness she
felt from the woman. Strong arms wrapped around her and Demona
reveled in the warm embrace for a few moments before realizing
one essential thing. She was feeling Kendra’s emotions. Her
green eyes opened startled, and met equally surprised blue ones.
“What?” they uttered together.
“This is the spirit realm,” the priestess’s
voice drew both of their attention, “In the case of strongly
held emotions you are able to feel them if you are the cause of
them, such as what, I gather from your actions, you are
currently feeling from each other.”
Kendra reached up and stroked the
flame-red, wild hair, “Well good,” she said, “I’m glad that you
know I’m serious about being here for you.” She met Demona’s
gaze calmly.
The gargoyle smiled, “I do.” Kendra’s calm
acceptance helped quell her own unease at the thought of her
emotions being felt by anyone else, even if it was the person
who was the cause of them in the first place.
Turning back to the great stag, she took in
a deep steadying breath. Now that she knew that she was not
only feeling her own emotions, she could discern Kendra’s sure,
steady strength beside her. It gave her courage, and her voice
was admirably even given the level of anxiety she was feeling as
she said, “I am ready to remember, dissolve the enchantments.”
Demona felt a moment of dizziness then…
She was standing still as stone, unable to
do anything but stare stiffly straight ahead. She wasn’t even
certain where she was, except that she was indoors within a room
hung with ornate tapestries.
Selene appeared in front of her, the black
haired fey's eyes were cold as they examined her. “So it
begins, we will finally get our revenge upon the human sorcerer
and his companions for their insult against us and their
trespass upon Avalon. Mortals have no place upon our fair
isle.”
Another of the sisters spoke from behind
her, “We use one mortal sorcerer against another, the Archmage
has been useful in allowing us to bend Oberon’s law.”
“What of our soldiers, are they ready for
their task?” the white haired Luna appeared just within her
field of vision.
“As the Archmage instructed, they are
filled with bitterness and hatred, and they are bound to no
living thing save each other. They are strong and skilled
warriors and will attack without mercy whomever we instruct them
to,” Selene smiled coldly.
“But first they have other tasks to
perform,” Luna spoke next.
Demona remembered stealing the Grimorum
Arcanorum, the Phoenix Gate and the Eye of Odin, from Goliath
while Coldstone kept the clan distracted, with the help of
Macbeth. She remembered standing with Macbeth by a table upon
which were the three magical items, staring at them confused as
to why she had obtained them.
“But why did we steal these things? And
how did we even know where to find them?” Demona asked Macbeth.
He moved to grab the Grimorum from her
hands and after a short back and forth struggle with the book
she finally let him take it. He put it back on the table and
turned to her glaring, “For that matter why are we working
together now?” he asked aggressively.
She growling at him, and he went for the
chair by the table. Then she couldn’t move, just as before.
“It seems we have arrived just in time my sisters.” She heard
one of the Weird Sisters say.
Selene appeared within her field of vision,
“The spell we placed on these two was about to wear off.”
Another sister that she couldn’t see
replied, “You can only compel someone to act against their
nature for so long.”
The other two sisters stepped next to
Selene who was staring at she and Macbeth coolly, “Was it wise
to release Coldstone?” she asked.
Phoebe commented, “Perhaps we could have
found a way to place a spell on him as well.”
The white haired Luna authoritatively, “We
do not need Coldstone. These will do quite nicely in the coming
battle.”
The three sisters raised their arms
together and Demona felt a magical wind stir and then the room
disappeared and they were standing upon a barge, two Archmages
were waiting for them.
The sisters gave the Archmage that looked
like Demona remembered from nine hundred years ago the Eye of
Odin. The magical artifact bound to him upon his brow and he
transformed, now he more closely resembled the second Archmage
that stood beside him. The sisters gave him the book, and
impossibly opening his mouth wide, the first Archmage swallowed
the Grimorum making it part of himself so that he could take its
magic with him onto Avalon. Finally, the sisters gave him the
Phoenix Gate. Now the two Archmages looked exactly alike.
The mist rose again and now they were by a
lake bordered by high cliffs. To her right were steps leading
up to a stone rotunda. The Weird Sisters lead Macbeth and she
up the steps to the rotunda, a small pool filled the center of
it.
It was daylight, and Demona was in human
form, the Archmage insisted that they wait until sunset to begin
their attack upon the Magus. The Weird Sisters left upon some
errand, leaving Macbeth and she alone with the two Archmages.
One of the Archmages stalked towards her
still form, “This beast betrayed me,” he hissed staring at her
balefully. “I showed her kindness by agreeing to teach her to
read, seeing that she was more cunning than the others of her
kind. I even taught her rudimentary spells, and in return for
that, she split the Phoenix Gate in two and gave half to that
other beast she mated with instead of giving it to me! I told
her were to find it, I ordered her to bring it to me and she
disobeyed me,” he spat. Vindictively he continued, “I should
have left her wallowing in the filth of her own ignorance like
the other beasts. I was mistaken when I thought that she would
be useful to me.” Demona felt chilled and afraid, she was
completely unable to move, helpless in the face of the
Archmage’s hatred.
He circled around her, “And then to add
insult to injury she betrayed me a second time, she was one of
the beasts who followed me, who stole the Grimorum from me and
almost caused my death.” He paused, “Would have caused my death
if it weren’t for myself,” he laughed.
Suddenly he stopped, “You said we were
doing her no favors by choosing her as one of our cannon fodder,
what did you mean? I want vengeance upon her as well as upon
Goliath.”
The second Archmage rose, “Don’t you
remember our specific instructions regarding these two?” he
smiled cruelly.
“To make sure they remain powerful
warriors, the Weird Sisters were to make sure their lives were
filled with bitterness and hatred. Bitterness and hatred make
warriors that are hard and merciless. They were to make sure
they did not become contented with their immortality, or
concerned with descendants or lovers that might make them soft,
compassionate. They were to make sure they remained alone, that
they had no ties to anyone but each other, and that the ties
that bound them together were ones of enmity.” The first
Archmage repeated, “Why those words, how does that give us our
revenge for her betrayal of me.” He spoke to the second
Archmage shaking a pointing finger in her face.
The second Archmage laughed, it was a cold,
cruel sound. “This beast has lived a thousand years. A
thousand years of hating, a thousand years of bitterness, a
thousand years of being completely alone. A thousand years of
our revenge, a thousand years of repayment for her betrayal.”
The first Archmage stared at her, and then
he smiled, “I see.” A few seconds later, his face fell, “But
she does not know why, until she knows this was her punishment I
have not had my revenge,” he snarled at the second Archmage.
“Patience,” counseled the second Archmage,
“When the Magus and his companions are destroyed, when Goliath
is dead, then we will have the Weird Sisters lift their
compulsion. Then she will know the full cost of her betrayal.
She will know how foolish she was to have disobeyed and betrayed
me.” The two of them turned and stared at her, and if she could
have, she would have recoiled from the gloating satisfaction in
each of their eyes.
The second Archmage, finally stopped
glaring at her, turning to the first to say, “The only thing
better would have been if I could have broken the enchantment
upon Goliath and set them at each other. I’m certain that the
Weird Sisters could have used what happened at Wyvern Castle to
do it, unfortunately though I couldn’t figure out how, so I had
to make do with Macbeth.”
The first Archmage observed, “That is
unfortunate. I guess we shall just have to be content with
killing him now.” The two looked at each other and then laughed
manically. Even as their laughter chilled her, she wondered how
they planned to kill Goliath when as far as she knew he was
still in Manhattan.
The Weird Sisters lead the attack upon the
castle the Magus had claimed for his own, breaching the outer
wall with their magic immediately after the sunset. There were
gargoyles inside, she had not known there were any on Avalon,
but there was nothing she could do, rage as she might against
the enchantments that bound her. They attacked firing at those
in the castle even as they asked who they were.
Silently, trapped in her own mind, Demona
screamed out in protest as one of her shots when through a teal
colored female’s wing, wounding her badly. A pale green colored
male swooped in and struggled to pull her weapon away from her,
she slashed at his wings feeling the skin tear as she drove him
away. She raged at attacking them at all, but at least she had
not yet landed any killing blow. To her relief, magic
surrounded her summoning her away from the attack.
Selene began protesting immediately, “Why
did you call us off?
The Archmage replied arrogantly as if
lecturing a student, “If we wait until dawn the gargoyles will
be stone. Three puny humans will be all that stand between us
and victory.” He smiled, “Besides I need to give them time to
bring Goliath to the island, my vengeance would not be complete
without him,” he ended spitefully.
Demona didn’t know whether to wish Goliath
away or hope that he was indeed coming here. As stupid as she
thought her ex-mate was, he was still a magnificent warrior and
he might be able to protect the other gargoyles from Macbeth and
her.
Time passed as the Weird Sisters and the
two Archmages stared into the pool in the middle of the
rotunda. Finally, the Archmage reached down and stirred the
water and announced, “Finally all the pieces are now in place,
Goliath and his clan are doomed.”
One of the Archmages left on an errand.
Time passed while the Sisters and the remaining Archmage stared
into the pool. The Archmage rose, apparently having seen in the
pool whatever he had been waiting upon, “Finally, now the real
fun begins,” he said smiling, and then he broke out into the
maniacal laughter she was beginning to expect from him.
Macbeth and she were sent out to intercept
Goliath. Demona stepped into the bushes beside the path and
waited for her former mate to arrive. She breathed out a sigh
of relief and felt a wave of fierce satisfaction when she felt
the stick she had spotted moments ago now underneath her left
foot. It was not long before she spotted Goliath and two
younger gargoyles moving quickly down the path toward the
rotunda. Purposefully not thinking about what she was doing,
she shifted her weight and the stick cracked with a loud snap
underneath her foot.
The younger blonde male stopped, Goliath
and the lavender female pulled up looking towards him
curiously. “I heard something over there,” the young male said,
pointing toward where Demona was hidden. “Did you hear it?” he
asked them.
Goliath and the lavender female both shook
their heads. Demona groaned silently, stupid stubborn male. As
she knew would happen, Goliath proceeded to ignore the
possibility of danger and didn’t check to see if the younger
male had actually heard anything.
“The grotto is just ahead,” the young
lavender female announced.
“I’ll act as a diversion,” Goliath laid out
the attack plan, “Retrieve the Eye of Odin and the Phoenix Gate
and get out.” The younger gargoyles moved off, Goliath called
softly after them, “and no heroics.”
As the younger two continued following the
path toward the Grotto and the rotunda there, Goliath turned off
the path and into the woods apparently planning on coming upon
the rotunda from the back. Demona’s body moved to follow the
two gargoyles, the compulsion upon her apparently deciding they
were the greater threat. As she followed the most obvious and
least concealed route to the path, the immortal gargoyle felt a
surge of hope; it seemed to be easier and easier to have some
effect on her own body. She deliberately pushed nosily through
some bushes, hopefully even her apparently deaf ex-mate couldn’t
miss this much noise.
She met up with Macbeth and the two of them
followed the younger gargoyles who finally stepped off the path
to hide behind some bushes approximately fifty feet from the
rotunda. Demona had been starting to wonder if the two would
just walk directly up to the Archmage. The blue-skinned
gargoyle stepped directly behind the two, appalled at how
oblivious the two youngsters were to their surroundings.
She pushed the muzzle of weapon lightly
into the lavender females back, only to roll her eyes in
exasperation as the female turned to the male beside her,
complaining softly, “Stop it.”
What was Goliath thinking to send such
untrained youngsters against the Archmage? Demona thought
angrily.
“Hands up and don’t move,” ordered Macbeth.
Demona was relieved they weren’t just
firing upon the two, she wasn’t certain she could make herself
miss at this close range. The youngsters turned around and the
immortal gargoyle saw the female’s eyes flare red. No,
she thought despairingly, as her weapon swung toward the
attacking female. Then Goliath was there pushing it aside. She
felt a wave of relief, apparently she had finally been loud
enough for him to hear.
“These are our clan’s children,” he said
glaring at her. She looked past him at the two youngsters. How
had she not realized this before, she wondered, she had seen
the Magus and Catherine at the castle, these then were the
hatchlings from the eggs she had seen them loading onto carts
over nine hundred years ago. Time must flow much slower here.
“Demona, I know you hate humans, but these
are innocent gargoyles,” Goliath continued.
But she wasn’t really listening to him now,
she was looking at the young lavender female behind him, the
young lavender female whose coloring was an exact match of her
ex-mates. She was taking in the young females face, seeing the
shape of it, and wondering. Her weapon swung up towards the
youngster, her body controlled by the compulsion spell of the
Weird Sisters. Everything inside Demona rose up in outraged
protest, this female could be Goliath and she’s daughter.
“No,” she managed to utter her protest
aloud; the compulsion snapped allowing her control of her own
body after days of enslavement. “Can it be?” she questioned
wonderingly, her gaze taking in everything about the young
female.
Seeing that she was free Goliath turned to
address Macbeth, “And you, Macbeth. Does your much-vaunted
sense of honor include the slaughter of innocents?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Demona saw
Macbeth’s weapon drop and her one time friend’s hand raise to
his forehead as he doubtless suffered from the same pounding
head as she.
“The Archmage is using you,” Goliath
informed them, as if this were news to them.
Demona was trying to think of a suitable
scathing comment, after all how stupid did Goliath think she
was, when the Archmages maniacal laughter preceded his
appearance.
“Oh your very good Goliath,” the Archmage
said condescendingly, “But appealing to their better natures
won’t help you, their my creatures now.”
That was all the warning Demona had before
her brief moment of freedom was abruptly over.
“I have great plans for you Goliath,” the
Archmage continued after regaining control over Macbeth and
Demona, “But these young ones are expendable.”
With a sickening sense of realization, the
immortal gargoyle realized that this too was part of the
Archmage’s revenge upon her; he would force her body to slay her
clan’s children, to slay her own daughter. It was also his
revenge upon Goliath, he would doubtless hold off killing her
former mate until all their clan’s children were dead, making it
clear that Goliath had failed to protect them before finally
killing him.
“Destroy them,” the Archmage commanded.
Helpless, Demona watched herself raise her
weapon; Bronx’s attack was never so welcome even as she
struggled to keep his jaws away from her. Just before Bronx
left off his attack, she heard the younger male gargoyle’s
voice, “Angela, come on.” The small group retreated quickly.
As the Archmage ranted, she savored the
knowledge she had just gained, Angela. She wondered who
had named her daughter, and if the name gave her some hint of
the young females personality. They returned to the rotunda.
As the Archmage stared into the pool broodingly, the three
Sisters pulled Macbeth and Demona off to the side.
“They broke the compulsion placed upon
them,” Selene eyed them narrowly.
Luna observed calmly, “They were forced to
go directly against their natures. The gargoyles are young and
untrained; Macbeth refused attack those unable to defend
themselves.” She stared at Demona, “And this one has always
resisted any compulsion to directly harm another gargoyle.”
The yellow haired Phoebe spoke, “Her nature
is to protect her own kind. The Archmage thinks to compel her
to kill the gargoyles in the castle, but she will continue
rebelling against that compulsion. He will be forced to make
her a mindless servant before she will obey such an order.”
Selene frowned, “The Archmage controls them
currently, not us.”
Demona could sense them glancing at one
another, the three sisters gestured and she could feel the
compulsion on her lessen briefly before being replaced.
“We should repair the compulsions on the
gargoyle, they have been weakened,” observed Luna.
“Will they be needed?” asked Selene
coolly. Demona knew full well that the black haired sister was
asking if she would live long enough to warrant them bothering.
She knew if the Archmage succeeded in his plans that she
wouldn’t want to live with the knowledge of what he had forced
her to do.
“We may have a further use for her,” Luna
stated.
Phoebe stepped in front of the gargoyle
staring into her eyes, “Remember Castle Wyvern, remember what
your actions lead to, the slaughter of your clan by the
Vikings.” Demona remembered, she remembered the brief moment of
hope that the Captains plan had succeeded before that hope
turned to horror as she turned over the stone fragment of
Coldstone’s face. “You were the cause of their death, you were
the one who helped the Captain of the Guard weaken the castles
defenses so that the Vikings could come and kill your clan
during the day.” Regret and grief welled up inside the
gargoyle, but the Sisters did not stop there.
Selene replaced Phoebe, “Remember your clan
at Castle Moray, you betrayed Macbeth to Canmore and in return
Canmore betrayed you. Canmore found them all and killed them,
from the eldest to the youngest. If you had not led him to them
they would have lived.”
Demona remembered, she remembered Gruoch’s
words, "Go and search for your kind, then. Search until you and
your kind are but a nightmare memory.” She remembered the
frantic flight back to the cave where the clan had taken
shelter, the fragments of their stone forms that she found proof
of the woman’s words.
Tears welled in the gargoyles eyes and ran
down her face, yet there was no mercy no compassion in the gazes
of the three sisters that surrounded her. Luna stepped in front
of her, “You bring death and destruction to your kind, to
associate with you means their certain demise.”
Selene added, “Any gargoyle that is near
you is in danger, danger from the Hunters that seek your death,
and in danger from the choices that you made.”
Phoebe spoke next, “The only way you can
protect them is to protect them from you.”
“The only way to protect them is to drive
them away from you.” Demona was no longer certain which sister
was speaking as their words drove into her mind.
“To protect them you must make them hate
you, make them want to have nothing to do with you, then they
will be safe.”
“To protect them you must remain alone.”
Luna alone was in front of her now, examining her tear tracked
face with a chill dispassionate stare.
“I must remain alone,” Demona repeated
obediently, accepting her fate. The three Weird Sisters nodded
in satisfaction.
The remainder of the battle on Avalon was
blurred in her memory, mixed in with the sadness and grief the
sisters had stirred within her. There were moments of clarity,
her horror when she entered the castle and saw all the wounded
gargoyles. The strangeness of seeing Princess Catherine looking
so old, of seeing the woman who had called her a beast and
looked upon her with hatred, standing so staunchly in front of
the young gargoyles determined to protect them even if it cost
her whatever short years remained of her life.
Elisa Maza providing a much needed
distraction when Demona was almost certain she could no longer
delay her body from firing upon one of the wounded gargoyles.
Her victory when she persuaded herself that she didn’t need a
weapon to take on the human woman, and threw the laser rifle
away before rushing Maza.
She was so used to not fighting with her
full abilities against the Detective, that it was easy to
persuade her body to do so now. Originally, she had stayed her
hand in order to give the human time to betray the clan, so that
they would understand what she already knew, there was no human
they could trust. Recently she had grudgingly begun to consider
that Maza actually might be the exception that Brooklyn claimed
she was, that the detective would never betray the clan.
Finally, with Maza and the male in armor
holding her down to the floor, Demona decided it was time to
remind her compelled body that it had thrown away a perfectly
good weapon. Even as she snarled, “I’ll destroy you all,” and
clawed for the weapon she knew she was too far away from the
rifle to reach it. The Weird Sisters compulsion must be
weakening if she had this much control over her actions, she
realized feeling a stirring of hope.
Of everyone that could have picked up the
laser rifle, Demona was surprised to see that the Princess was
the one to finally reach for it after a yellow colored gargbeast
knocked it further away.
“Enough of this,” said the Princess in a
clear, angry voice, “Get clear!”
Demona felt the two humans scramble away
from her, she managed to slow her body as she rose, waiting for
the impact of the blast that would stop her from attacking. To
her surprise the old woman didn’t fire at her but the wall
behind her, she barely had time to realize that before something
heavy struck her head.
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