Xanadu, China. 599 AD. Sui Dynasty.

Brooklyn rose shakily from the ground, surveying his surroundings. The Phoenix had dropped him on a shallow slope veiled with yellow grass. The moon illuminated small hills along the horizon. But other than the lumps in the landscape, he saw nothing. No trees, no humans, no water, no cities. No Manhattan. Only an empty landscape met his gaze. He sat upon the ground, pressing his folded talons against his forehead. He had left Mary and Finella in Saratoga Springs, only miles away from home. Alas, the time was in the late 1970's. He was with the two women for two weeks, long enough to teach them about the modern world and then was whisked away again by the Phoenix. And now he was in the middle of nowhere, with only a Scottish Broadsword hanging from his belt. He clenched back tears of grief, longing for his clan. He had been on this journey for about a month and anguish was slowing overtaking him. In Scotland and Saratoga Springs he had work to do to distract from the pain, but now he was alone in the wilderness, his woeful thoughts haunting him.

I miss them. I don't know when or where I am and I just want to go home. I can't take- STOP! Brooklyn, if you're going to make it through this you can't think like this. Put aside the emotions and be logical! He snapped himself to attention and stood up, observing the land. The gargoyle stretched his wings and took to the skies. Upon reaching a sufficient altitude, he looked about. Looking a mile East, he spotted some kind of herd and soared in their direction. He lifted his head to the heavens, hoping to discover the time and location based on the night sky. A sheet of thick, oncoming waves of clouds obscured the sky. He swooped in towards the creatures and landed in the yellow grass. He discovered that the herd was a strange mix of goats, water buffalo, Bactrian camels and gargoyle beasts. Being guarded by four brawny gargoyles.

Gargoyles! Brooklyn approached and called out to them, starting to run.

"Hey! HEY!" The nearest gargoyle- jade in color with black hair reaching her hips- leveled her staff defensively. The tall indigo male next to her made a clicking noise to the herd. Brooklyn approached and called out again. He was now yards away.

"Hey! Who are you? Where am I?" The jade gargess snarled and yelled in response.

"STOP! Do not approach!" Brooklyn ignored her and continued to sprint forward, only to be tackled from the side by a dragon-like gargbeast. Its body stretched a yard long, matched with burly whisker-like tendrils extending from behind the nostrils and pronged horns. The beast snarled, eyes glowing red and the jade gargess appeared above it.

"Enough, Táng. Good girl." She cooed, stroking the beast while holding her staff defensively. She turned to Brooklyn, her eyes glowing red. "Why are you here? And why were you gliding?" Brooklyn gulped and tried to pull away, but Táng placed a clawed paw on his shoulder. She growled lowly.

"My name is Brooklyn. I'm lost, I don't know what time it is and I was looking for other gargoyles." The indigo gargoyle popped up behind the gargess and whispered to her. He wore armor, a strange hat and had a gray beard that dropped from his chin in tendrils. The female whispered back, her voice barely audible. Brooklyn observed them. He examined the features of the gargoyle beast, still perched over him. This beast looks familiar. Where have I seen it before? He looked at the female's clothing. She wore a small cream dress with a light floral design and a silver dragon pendant around her neck. Those clothes are familiar too. I saw them one night.Then the memory came back to him in a flash.

Broadway had wanted some noodles. So the trio flew to Chinatown in Manhattan. The gargoyle beast resembled the dragon décor and the gargess was wearing a cheongsam like the ones displayed in the shops. Jalapeña. I'm in China. He raised his head from the ground, hoping to get a better look at the gargoyles. Táng responded with another snarl and Brooklyn returned his head to the ground. The indigo gargoyle glanced at the strange, crimson gargoyle and Brooklyn took this chance to speak.

"Listen- I know that I'm som- OUCH!" The jade female had whacked him across the head with her staff and leaned in to scold him.

"Do you know nothing of hierarchy? You do NOT speak directly to the elders, only to moderators like myself." She stood upright. "Surely you know this, you possess a name as well." Name? Moderator? Wait… If I'm in China, they must be speaking Chinese. How do I understand them?

"I'm sorry. That was… very rude of me. So… moderator: Please answer my questions. Where am I, exactly? What year is it? And why do my name and gliding matter?"

The moderator relaxed to some degree and clicked her tongue. Táng stepped off of Brooklyn and sat patiently as her mistress spoke.

"You are in the territory of the Xanadu clan, it is the Sui Dynasty by the human's count. Your name indicates that you have high status. That is the way of all clans in China." She curled her face into a scowl. "And you're a fool to be gliding tonight. The typhoon season has come, the first storm is over yonder!" She pointed to the thick clouds, rumbling ominously in the distance. She indicated for him to stand. "You shall take shelter with our clan. It is not safe out here."

She turned and consulted with the indigo elder. He nodded and continued to walk, leading the bizarre herd. Brooklyn followed, feeling excessively awkward. He was the only gargoyle with a weapon; the only one who did not know where they were going and he had just been humiliated by the clan's moderator. He walked alongside the gargess.

"You mentioned the Sui Dynasty. That doesn't make sense to me. Do you know what year? Like in BC or AD?"

She thought for a moment. "You mean the Roman calendar? The one that the Westerners use?

"Yes, yes! That one!"

"It is 599 years after the Death." She threw him a confused glance. "How do you not know the time? Or about the typhoon season?"

"I'm not from around here." Raindrops were starting to fall, battering against his beak.

"You are a Westerner? Do you wish to trade with us, like the Korean clans?" She spoke louder, as the wind was picking up.

"Trade what?"

"Gargoyle beasts, of course. Or livestock. That is our primary purpose in the Xanadu clan. We raise and protect our herds. Few other clans have such fine selections."

They continued to walk; various sounds emerged from the mass of animals, distressed by the sudden downpour. The other gargoyles walked in silence, each had gargoyle beast walking right next to them, occasionally nipping at wandering goat.

"Moderator-?"

"I am called Bo. Us moderators also have names."

"Right. Okay, Bo. We're speaking Chinese, right?" She shot him a bewildered glance.

"Yes. Have you come by some sort of magic?"

"...Yeah, I kinda did. How did you know?"

"You don't know your location, the dynasty and your pronunciation is off, even for a foreigner. You must have come by some form of magic."

"Have you ever heard of the Phoenix Gate?"

"There are legends of it, mostly stories brought by traders. It is said that it cannot be contained by the walls of time, it's powers can translate language for its traveler. But the Phoenix Gate is controlled by the traveler, how did you not know that it would bring you here?"

"Long story, but the gist of it is that I'm from the future, my clan leader tossed the Phoenix into oblivion and now for some reason the stupid thing has me running around the globe at different time periods."

"This may be for a purpose." She shouted above the storm. "The village is on the top of this hill, the climb is steep. Brace yourself!"

The herd moved slowly up the large hill, occasionally a goat lost its footing, but one of the gargoyles was always there to help it up. Brooklyn noticed grooves carved into the side of the hill, water tunneling down into the valley. After twenty minutes of arduous climbing, they reached the top.

"Wow..."

Brooklyn saw an old abandoned village, now occupied with gargoyles. Other herds occupied canopied arenas, gargoyle beasts guarding the livestock. Gargoyles were bustling about, putting last minute touches on fences, carrying buckets of milk and tending to gargoyle children inside the huts. Bo helped guide the buffalo and camels into a sturdy pen, separate from the goats and sheep. Immediately, several male adolescent gargoyles jumped in the pen and feed the animals large bales of straw, bringing buckets to milk the females.

Bo smiled and patted Táng, the beast purred with pleasure. She turned to Brooklyn.

"Well, then, Brooklyn, let me give you a tour." She indicated him to follow and started towards the center of the village.

"See the crevices in the ground? It is to prevent our village from flooding during a typhoon. And if you look carefully, along the outskirts we have erected large posts, to keep lightning away from the animals. If you look inside the huts, you will see that many of our animal caretakers are busy preparing cheese to be set out in the daylight. Dairy has become part of our staple diet, as well as the rice and grains that we feed to the animals. If an animal becomes too old or is sick beyond recovery, it becomes food for our beasts."

She indicated a hut with a warm light glowing from within.

"This is our safest hut. It is sturdy and is the only one with lamps. We keep our scrolls and documents here. Because it is well protected, we also let the infants nap in there." Brooklyn looked in to discover crates, presumably filled with scrolls, and little one-year-old gargoyles sleeping beneath the watchful eye of two rookery mothers. "My mate and I contributed an egg to this year's generation." Bo declared proudly. She continued to a great stone well in the village center. Lying adjacent to the well was a stone pool. "This is our well and fountain. The well is used for drinking water and for the livestock. The young ones bathe in the fountain. Here is the storage hut; the well-slanted roofs prevent any water from penetrating and spoiling the cheese, grain and straw. And last, but not least, we have the meeting hut. Our four herding elders counsel with the four village elders here. By dividing up the leadership, we are led by eight wise leaders. This number brings luck."

Brooklyn, Bo and Táng took refuge beneath a canopy. Distracted from the storm, Brooklyn scanned the village, taking in every detail. He eventually turning to see Bo exposed in the light. Torches protected under the canopies illuminated her features. The gargess had two horn ridges above each brow, webbed ears hidden in her hair, a small nose and a two-inch strip was shaved down the middle of her head. Brooklyn took immediate notice of the strip.

"…Bo? Why is your head shaved?" She snickered and spoke to him, harboring a slight edge of inferiority.

"So that the clan members can identify a moderator from the back, of course. We all have it." A beige, beaked gargoyle approached Bo from behind, he lunged and wrapped his wings over her.

"NO!" Brooklyn lunged, pulling the gargoyle off of Bo, pinning him against the ground. The surrounding gargoyles looked around, frightened and whispered to each other.

"Get off of him!" She thrust Brooklyn from the other male. "He is my mate!" She helped the beige male to his feet. Táng made a bewildered grunt. The other beaked gargoyle rubbed his neck, and muttered something to Bo. She rolled her eyes and spoke aloud to him.

"He is of equal rank to you, my love."

"Hmm… Stranger, is it custom to attack an affectionate mate in your clan? I can assure you that it is not in ours."

Brooklyn gazed at the ground, thoroughly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't my best move."

"…Apology accepted. Now Bo, we have received more human news. The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo has wed. We don't know if it affects any human tribal boundaries, but we need to keep up to date on it."

"I am not surprised. With word of her excellent leadership, it was only a matter of time."

Brooklyn's face betrayed his befuddlement. He spoke out.

"I'm sorry, how do you guys know all this? And why?" Bo smiled, somewhat embarrassed.

"Moderators are selected from clan scholars. My mate is of a lower rank, but he is an excellent scout. We find it beneficial to know what the humans are up to."

The crowd began to disperse. Táng departed from the group to meet an orange, male gargbeast. Bo whispered to her mate and quickly stroked his raven hair. He returned the gesture and departed.

Brooklyn looked around anxiously, embarrassed by the encounter. He heard the bleating of a goat, and quickly changed the subject.

"Bo? How do you say 'goat' in Chinese?"

"How to say it? You just said it!"

"I know, it is the Phoenix's translation powers. But I don't want to rely on magic. Teach me."

"Alright, goat." She stated.

"No, I heard it in English. Try again."

"You speak English?" she inquired, curious.

"Not the point, please try it again. Look at me and say it slowly." Brooklyn pleaded.

Bo turned and looked him straight in the eyes, speaking slowly, lips moving slowly.

"Shānyáng."

"YES! That was it! It's Shānyáng, right?"

"Yes, but I am not hearing you speak it differently."

"No matter, I heard it and I just said a word in Chinese! Another! Um… Camel!"

Bo looked directly at him again and uttered the word: "Luòtuo."

"Luòtuo." The gargoyle smiled. "Awesome."

"That is enough for tonight," Bo beckoned for Táng to her side. "Sunrise draws near."

She proceeded to remove a torch and put it out in the rain, extinguishing it.

"Bo, does your name mean something? And Táng's?"

"Yes, don't you hear the words in your language?" They walked towards the edge of the settlement.

"No, just the words in your language." The adolescents threw grain into the troughs, and proceeded to make a ring around the corrals. "What're they doing?"

"The younger gargoyles rest in the center of the village; safer on the inside and creating a protective barrier around the animals." They proceeded past groups of camels, water buffalo and gargoyle beasts. A great deal of gargoyle beasts.

"Bo, why are there so many gargoyle beasts?"

"We specialize is breeding and raising animals, including gargoyle beasts. We currently have 297 pairs of mated adults and 301 unmated beasts, adults and juveniles included." Bo and Táng led Brooklyn to the edge of the village. The other gargoyles and beasts had assembled for the imminent dawn. Brooklyn looked around and imitated the others in bending his knees and spreading his wings, creating a physical barrier around the gargoyle settlement. As the others yawned and peered towards the pink horizon, a sudden shriek pierced Brooklyn's ears. "HELP! We can't find her!" Before he could turn to the distressed cry, the sun rose and encased his body in stone.