Inspired by PrincessArien's "The Road Not Taken". Check it out, the story is well worth a read or several.

Disclaimers

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles 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 Celgress.

Gargoyles A Different Choice – Prologue

By Celgress

Castle Wyvern in Scotland October 994 C.E., night

The Second stood perfectly still as waves of stark horror washed over her. How had things gone so wrong? She wondered at a lose for words. Only a few minutes passed before her mate and leader Goliath returned. The Second witnessed him land atop the tower where she usually perched during the day and let out an anguished scream. Realizing that Goliath must think the remains there were her own the Second considered telling him otherwise. However, her fear and guilt held her back. She was about to flee when another thought crossed her mind. What if something else unexpected happened tonight? What if she never saw Goliath again. He would surely desire vengeance against the Vikings. While he was a great warrior even the greatest of warriors could fall when outnumbered, which he certainly would be. She could not standby while Goliath put himself in danger. Her heart would shatter into a million pieces if she also lost him this bleak night. The possibility was more than she could stand. In spite of her doubts, the Second glided off toward the tower.

"Goliath my love, I'm so sorry." The Second said landing beside her mate. She could think of nothing else to say. Inside her heart was breaking. She knew his pain was her fault, as was the massacre from whence it stemmed.

"My love you are alive! Thank the Dragon!" Goliath exclaimed with relief. He embraced her tightly. "How did you survive?" He asked a long moment later once he broke their heartfelt embrace.

"I, I," She stammered initially at a lost for words. "I spotted the approaching army. I attempted to find you and our Mentor, but it was to late. The sun was already rising. I had no choice. I took cover. I'm sorry I couldn't save our Clan."

The Second sobbed overwhelmed by her emotions. She was an unwitting accessory to murder many times over. Worse yet her own family were the victims. She had become a monster. How could she ever make things right, erase this stain on her soul?

"It isn't your fault." Goliath said comforting her. His kind words only made the Second feel worse.

"I'll be alright." The Second said with a sniff wiping away her many tears. She tried her best to put on a brave face. She did not deserve her mate's, or any gargoyle's, sympathy.

The Second felt horrible lying to Goliath. But more than anything else she feared how he might react should he learn the truth. She would tell him, eventually, if they survived what lay ahead. Now was not the time to burden him with the knowledge of her grave misdeed, not when he needed to remain focused on the dangerous task ahead.

"There was treachery here." Their Mentor said from below looking up at the pair while holding several bows. "The archer's bowstrings have been cut."

"What is going on?" The dark red skinned beaked male asked as he and the other two young males emerged from the Rookery along with the blue skinned gargoyle beast.

"We have been betrayed." Goliath said. He and the Second glided down into the courtyard. "Were there any others in the Rookery with you?"

"No, just us," The heavyset aquamarine skinned male said.

"What do we do now?" The green skinned web winged male asked.

"We find those who did this. We make them pay." Goliath said his eyes flashing white.

"I couldn't agree more my love." The Second said her eyes flashing red.

Yes, make them pay for what they had done the Second thought. The humans called Vikings deserved no mercy and she would make they received their just reward for their savage actions. It was the least she could do.

It didn't take the remaining gargoyles long to track down the Viking band who sacked the Castle. Falling upon their enemies with great fury the gargoyles lead by the Second easily bested them. Goliath for his part had gone after the dishonorable Viking Chieftain and his accomplice the duplicitous former Captain of the human guards of Wyvern who fled with Princess Katherine as hostage. In fact most of the Vikings followed the lead of their chieftain and fled at the first sign of trouble. Miserable human cowards the Second thought. Landing near the tied up Magus the Second, the trio and the beast dispatched the few remaining guards. Rather than be grateful the young mage was incensed.

"You fools they would have ransomed us!" Magus shrieked after the Second, with great reluctance, cut him free. "Now thanks to your interference the Princess is dead."

"What is he talking about?" The green web winged male asked.

"Why are you angry with us wizard?" The Second said in irritation. "We saved you ungrateful human."

"Saved me have you! I'll show you! I'll show you all!" Magus raged. "I shall send you to join the Princess!" Magus then started reciting an incantation in Latin direct from the Grimorum Arcanorum, his personal spell book inherited from the late Archmage.

"Aye what is all the commotion about?" The Mentor said ambling towards the group.

"We must stop him!" The Second yelled realization dawning on her. She knew enough Latin to get a rough idea of what the Magus intended through use of his spell. "He's casting a spell on us! He's trying….." Before she could finish her warning the five gargoyles and one gargoyle beast found themselves locked in an unnatural stone slumber. Her last conscious thought was that she would never see Goliath again. A single tear trickled down her now stone face.

Magus didn't enjoy his revenge for long. A few seconds later he found himself in the grip of the enraged Goliath. Staring at his frozen companions the towering gargoyle snarled at the hate filled human wizard.

"Stone by night, what sorcery is this?"

"Sorcery indeed and if I had my way you'd join them beast!" Magus said not in the least bit intimidated by Goliath.

"Oh Magus what have you done?" Princess Katharine said looking at the stone gargoyles.

"Princess I thought you were dead. I used a powerful enchantment to turn them to stone." Magus explained.

"Bring them back!" Gargoyles growled tossing Magus on the cold, hard ground.

"I cannot the page with the counter spell was destroyed by the Vikings." Magus said.

"You turned them to stone forever?" Princess Katharine asked inspecting the stone gargoyles.

"The conditions of the spell are that they should sleep until the Castle rises above the clouds." Magus said getting to his feet. "It might as well be forever. The condition is impossible to meet."

"I'm sorry Goliath we have done you and your Clan a great wrong," Princess Katharine said offering a weak smile. "Anything you desire if it is within my power to grant it's yours. You need only name it."

"The eggs in the Rookery, all that remain of my Clan, will soon hatch. They shall require protection and guidance. Things I cannot offer them alone." Goliath said looking forlornly at his stone mate.

"We'll watch over them as if they were our own." Princess Katharine assured the heartbroken gargoyle.

"I have one last request. Help me take my cursed clan members back to the Castle then Magus cast your spell one last time, on me." Goliath said solemnly.

994 C.E. - 2014 C.E.

Days became weeks, weeks became months, months became seasons, seasons became years, years became decades and decades gave way to centuries. Time marched on erasing all trace of what had occurred one tragic October night in 994 C.E. Forgotten and neglected following the massacre Castle Wyvern fell into ruin. Avoided by all but the bravest of travelers due to persistent rumors of a curse Castle Wyvern and her seven stone gargoyles become the stuff of local legend and campfire tales aimed at frightening children and adults alike. Starting in the 16th Century several groups used the ruins as initiation grounds for their prospective members. Anyone brave enough to spend the night among the fallen stones without fleeing in panic before dawn broke would earn a place within their exclusive ranks. However as Scotland matured these groups to slowly went beneath the mill wheel of time. By the dawn of the 21st Century no one had visited Castle Wyvern in well over one hundred years. It stood all but forgotten atop its mournful outcropping of jagged rock washed by the timeless Atlantic Ocean. It likely would have remained there forever if fate had not intervened at a most appropriate time, sparing the castle from certain doom in the process. Far away from the dreary storm tossed coast of Western Britain an event occurred which would alter the fate of Castle Wyvern and her enchanted gargoyles. A billionaire playboy named David Xanatos unexpectedly took interest in the decaying edifice.

Built early in the 10th Century C.E. Castle Wyvern was scheduled for demolition in the summer of 2011. A nearby town eagerly sought to expand their growing housing development by building an extensive seaside shopping mall on the site. Which they hoped in turn would become a regional commerce hub. Outraged upon hearing that such an important historical building, there were few unaltered medieval dwellings left in Europe such as Castle Wyvern, having been mysteriously abandoned following a Viking raid in autumn 994 C.E, was to be unceremoniously toppled. David Xanatos purchased the castle from the United Kingdom government for 4.2 million Euros. Another 20 million Euros were expended on carefully dismantling Castle Wyvern and then transporting it piece by precious piece to its new home high atop the massive freshly constructed Eyrie Building in New York City. The herculean undertaking was at last completed in late September 2014, more than three years after it began.

October 4th, 2014 dawned usually hot, humid and hazy in New York City. A minor media frenzy accompanied the grand opening of what was being officially termed "the Castle in the Sky". Many local and state government officials attended the ribbon cutting ceremony. Everyone celebrated a rare positive news story in a city to often known in recent times for heartbreaking acts of gang related violence and out of control super being brawls. None present at the ceremony knew it at the time but they stood on the cusp of monumental events that would play a role in changing the destiny of their city and one day their world forever.

To Be Continued

Author's Note -

The more interest there is in the first mini-chapter of this story (hits, favs, follows, reviews and PMs) the sooner I'll update it. The reason I shall use this measure is because I already have six active stories on the go, as a result I am running rather low on free time. Frankly I should not be starting a new tale, but I love this concept so much I am ignoring my own misgivings.