Gargoyles: Guardians

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is property of Disney.

Author's Notes: I feel a desperate need to edit this story in order to make it compatible with the now canon SLG comics.

Chapter 1: Beginnings Monastery of Aria--England, 1139

It was a dark and stormy night. Brooke moved forward through the rain. It poured down on her blond hair. Mathias limped next to her, his arm slung over his neck. He was badly hurt, and blood coated the entire left side of his chest.

"Don't worry beloved," Brooke whispered, "They said that the monastery is at the end of this forest, we'll be there soon. Just hold on!"

Brooke tried not to think about the rumors that surrounded the Monastery of Aria. The soldiers that they had encountered the previous night spoke of demons in the monastery. They said that the monastery was cursed and forsaken by God.

She shook of that thought. It was a monastery, a sanctuary of God. There wouldn't be demons. Would there?

The forest suddenly broke way into a clearing. About a hundred feet away was the monastery. There was a huge cliff face behind the monastery. A castle had been built on top of the cliff, looking over the monastery it seemed.

"Come Mathias," Brooke said, "we're nearly there."

Thestral sat in one of the guard stations above the gate. The Monastery itself was built right up against the cliff face, surrounded by a 30 feet high wall in a semicircle.

Thestral hated rain. Especially when he was on guard duty. The rain now matted his white hair that usually bushed out, down. And it was murder on his feathers. He was an average Gargoyle. About six feet tall, with twin horns that raked back. He was a beaked Gargoyle, with short hair behind his horns. His skin was arctic white and his wings were pterosaur style, however he was unusual in that he had white feathers coating the back o his wings.

The feathers were purely decorative, and he did have wing membranes, however they were transparent and thus no one realized that he was actually not a feathered Gargoyle like Kaigen or Rachel.

"How did we get stuck with guard duty in the rain," Thestral commented to his friend.

Kaigen merely grunted in ascent. The Lupine gargoyle was a descendant of the Ishimuran Clan. Most gargoyles that dwelt at the monastery were descendants of other clans. Kaigen was only second generation. He was obviously recognized as his parent's child, (unusual for gargoyles) and they had trained him in the art of Bushido and the ways of the Samurai.

He had black fur, and wolf like features. His most distinct feature was his jade green eyes. He had black feathered wings, and wore the Samurai armor once worn by his biological father. Normally he'd have more to say to Thestral, but he took guard duty a little more seriously than Thestral did. In addition to which he had noticed something unusual coming out of the forest in front of the Monastery.

"Thestral," the wolf like gargoyle said, "Do you see that? There's someone coming out of the forest!"

Thestral snapped to his feet and looked out over the grass towards the forest.

"I'll get Goel," Thestral said, leaping off of the wall and gliding towards the Abbey.

"Mathias," Brooke said, "Come on! I'm not going to lose you now!"

The two of them had limped to the gate of the monastery, just before Mathias had lost consciousness. Brooke rapped the huge doorknocker. There was no response.

"Oh come on now," she thought, "I know it's late but surely someone is standing Vigil."

The gate slowly opened to reveal a bearded man in monk's robes. His eyes were crystal blue, and his beard was pure white.

"Come now young lady," he said with a distinctly deep accent. Brooke could not quite place the dialect. "We've not much time."

A tall well-muscled man with flame red hair picked up Mathias, and carried him inside. Brooke followed them inside, never taking her eyes off of Mathias.

They took him to a room within the monastery, and lay him on the bed. The red head stood attentively in the corner, as if waiting for the bearded man to give him an order.

The bearded man bent over the injured boy, who like his female companion could not have been more than 17 years of age. He examined him closely.

"This wound is not natural," he said, "magic caused this. What happened here?"

"I'm sorry, um…" She trailed off.

"If you need a name, I am called Goel," he said.

"It's my fault!" she said bursting into tears. "You see I had attracted the attention of the sorcerer Borean! He said he was madly in love with me, but I did not love him. Mathias is my one true love. When Borean discovered that I was to be betrothed to Mathias, he attacked him, and we left."

"Hmm," Goel thought, based on their clothing, these youth were most likely nobility of some sort, Goel knew better than to pry.

"Can you save him?" She asked earnestly.

"Aye," he said, "His wound is not deep but he has lost quite a bit of blood. I can heal the wound, but then he is going to need rest. Benu retrieve my Mandrake powder from the cabinet."

Benu nodded and left the room, only to return a minute later with a small pouch. He took this and began rubbing the powder into the wound.

"The Mandrake is a rare herb that counteracts most injuries sustained by magic," Goel said, "There! He will live. I must go child; I have duties to attend to. Do not leave his side, he needs you now more than ever."

Goel slowly closed the door, leaving Brooke alone with Mathias. He removed a gold cross on a chain from around his neck. Instantly a change overtook him. His skin became dark blue, and bat-like wings erupted from his back. His forehead cracked into ridges. He also spouted a tail, and his feet became giant talons. The only lingering humanity was the fact that his clawed hands had five fingers instead of four.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"At least it stopped raining," Kaigen said, trying to cheer Thestral up.

"I just want to know if the human is all right!" Thestral said, frustrated that he could do no more for her.

"The human is fine young one," Spoke a deep voice from behind them in the shadows.

Thestral spun around in time to see Goel step out of the shadows. Kaigen bowed out of respect for the leader of the clan.

"I know that it is nearly dawn," he said, "but I believe that a sorcerer may be following our new guests and I want you to be on guard. You will be on guard duty tomorrow night, and I'll be sending Skyler and Riathamus to be on duty with you."

Thestral groaned. The sky began to grow lighter. Goel placed the cross around his neck again, resuming human form.

Thestral leapt onto a pedestal on top of the wall, Kaigen joined him, and the two gargoyles striking a pose just as the sun began to stream over the cliff behind the monastery.

There was a crackling sound as the two Gargoyles hardened into stone.

Goel looked over into the forest in the early morning light.

"I do believe that this clan is about to be tested," he said pondering.

To be continued…