Synopsis: in Castle Wyvern, the eggs are about to hatch.
All the 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 NotreDame. I disregard The Goliath Chronicles as invalid in the continuity.
Any kind of feedback is welcome and much appreciated. Thank you very much to everyone who wrote to me, especially to Samuel B. for his beta-reading.
Birth
Previously, on Gargoyles:
The toddler put the photo back on the bedstead and noticed that a drawer was not completely closed. He opened it and saw something shiny inside. Perhaps this was his present?
One minute later, Alex was back in his bedroom. It had been a funny evening but he was glad it was over.
"Lady in the sea"
"As you seem to have some kind of experience on gargoyles matters, I thought you could be interested in a special report" Alex's father carried on (to Mike Harker).
The sun rose on Avalon. (Arch) turned into stone and just had time to wonder how Katherine would react. Well, she would forgive him for leaving. Mothers always forgive you.
"My ex-love"
Avalon
Njörd, Nordic god of wind and sea, was the first to notice the boat that had just accosted. It was about twelve meters long and had several ranks of seats on its deck. There were two words painted on its side: "Bateaux parisiens". Puzzled, Njörd approached and had a better look.
There was a gargoyle in stone sleep kneeling on the deck. What had the gargoyles been doing? Where had they found this boat? It was not a fey's doing anyway: there was obviously iron in the chairs' structures. Better to tell someone about it.
One hour later, Arch broke out of his stone shell and blinked. There was so much light, how was it possible? And how came his tail was still painful? Hardly had he had time to ask himself these questions that a grey-haired woman hugged him. He sighed, relieved to see that he was back in Avalon and annoyed by the fact that someone was calling him "my egg" at that moment. That's mothers for you!
"Yes, Katherine, I'm all right…" he muttered.
"But where have ye been? I was so worried!"
"I was… having a walk around, nothing more."
"Do ye think we are stupid?" Guardian Tom interrupted. "Where have ye been and what are ye bringing back?"
"Oh, since when are you interested in what I do?" He glanced at a small fey who was silently standing there and had obviously awakened him. "Make me sleep again, my tail is aching!"
The princess pouted. She was sorry to see how immaturely her foster son was behaving but she was even sorrier to see how he was suffering. Her husband shook his head. "Ye're too gentle with him. Please leave us alone" he whispered. She nodded and left the room. The guardian of the eggs sat in front of Arch. "Now tell me what ye have been doing, young man."
"I… Katherine should thank me, I've just delivered her mail for Angela!"
"What?" Tom was about to ask how his estranged foster daughter was doing but he realized that this was obviously an attempt to change the subject. "So ye've been to… Manhattan?"
"Yes, sir."
"Without asking for permission?"
"I'm sure the Magus would have given me his permission, he was so better a father than you are!"
During his travels every hundred years, the guardian had visited many different countries and eras. He had had to take part in some wars (quite involuntarily), suffered from hunger, cold and misery and had been in deadly danger more than once. But sometimes he had the feeling that those hardships had been nothing compared to what you have to suffer when you have to raise a child. Especially a stubborn child like Arch.
"The Magus is not here right now and I am the one who is raising ye" he said firmly.
"Oh, let me laugh. You let Angela leave Avalon. Why?"
"Because…" he sighed. "She warned before leaving! Katherine was dead worried!"
"As if I were still an egg! I'm nearly thirty-nine, can't you see that?"
"Archangel" Tom continued, trying hard to remain calm and composed, "I know how old ye are but if you act like an egg, don't be surprised if I treat you like one!" He turned to the fey, who was tactfully looking through the window and pretending not to hear anything. "Nyx, could ye please make him sleep now?"
"Stop!" Arch nearly shouted. "What about the things I brought with me? I want my things right now!"
"Lord Oberon has confiscated the boat" Tom answered, hardly able to keep his calm. "He was offended, we had a hard time with him. Didn't ye think that ye could travel with something else? And as for the egg… it's in our old rookery."
Arch burst into an uncontrollable laughter. Thailog was not going to have this one, after all! The guardian watched him in dismay and nodded at the fey.
"Don't they ever grow up? Please, make him sleep now…"
Manhattan, the 11th of February, 1998
Lexington put the mouse aside and smiled at the young man who was standing just behind him. "You see? It gains time this way, and basically it amounts to the same thing."
"Thanks, Lex. I didn't know this method. Can you stay?"
"No, thanks. I have things to do."
Chris nodded. Even after their meeting in Halloween, they had carried on chatting on the internet. They had met a few times. The green gargoyle really loved the fact that there was another human he could talk to without risking to be killed.
But he hadn't told anybody in the clan about him. Well, they probably wouldn't mind. Even though Chris was gay. But perhaps they would mind if they knew that he and his human friend had done together the kind of things gargoyle generally never do before the mating ceremony.
Okay, there was no harm with it. Chris hadn't obliged him. And he was practically sure that Goliath and Elisa had already done it more than once so what was the problem?
Well, he was not in love with Chris and Chris was not in love with him. He had tried out of curiosity. It was good but doing it with someone he really loved would be probably different. The green gargoyle was satisfied with his life but sometimes he wished he had a little more. Soon Goliath and Elisa were going to be mated and happy. Broadway and Angela were already together, and so were Fox and Xanatos, and Brooklyn and Maya… well, these two ones were both in deep denial, refusing to admit that they were attracted to each other. But one day, they may get together too. And he would remain the only unmated gargoyle in the clan. There were already not many gargoyles in the world so how many of them were gay?
"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Chris asked again. Lex knew what "staying" meant and shook his head.
"No, thanks. I have to baby-sit."
Lex was dying to tell his friend that the eggs were going to hatch this night. But he had the feeling this was really a private affair. Having a soft spot for babies, he was really looking forward to see them at last. He left to the Eyrie building, smiling inwardly and blessing the gargoyle ways: the eggs belonged to the whole clan so no one was going to presume that he would be a bad rookery father, just because mating with a female was not among his desires.
A street in New York City
Elisa left the precinct and hurried to her car. It was the eggs hatching night. She was feeling more and more impatient, just as if the eggs were their own. Well, in a way, they were their own. She had managed to negotiate with Maria Chavez, telling her that there was a 'family celebration'. Either Captain Chavez had miraculously believed her, or she had guessed that it was something important anyway. And now she had her night off.
Well, nearly.
A few nights earlier, Goliath had come to her home, looking quite angry, and had explained her about Xanatos' 'last idea'. The multi-billionaire had contacted a journalist and he was going to attend the hatching. Of course he hadn't asked anybody for their opinion. Hudson had disapproved the initiative, it didn't seem in keeping with the gargoyle ways. The Trio were sceptical, Angela didn't seem too reluctant and Maya had been deeply shocked by the idea. The worse thing was, nobody knew who was said journalist .
Elisa had hardly managed to calm down her mate-to-be. She had doubts about the chosen person. After a few hours searching her own apartment, she had finally found Mr Harker's phone number (she couldn't even remember his name) under the cat's basket, and phoned him. He had acknowledged about the report and had been very polite but he didn't seem too willing to renounce to his 'scoop'. He had finally told her that he would come and 'talk to the gargoyle, if they accepted it' and then they would decide whether they wanted to allow him into their rookery or not.
Elisa had accepted the offer but she already knew Goliath's answer. It happened that "Mike" had a problem with his car and his photograph didn't have a driving licence. So she was going to drop them at the Eyrie Building, supposedly to help them. In fact she wanted to take this last chance to convince them not to make this report. You never know. It could work.
A room in Castle Wyvern
"I wish I could understand you but I can't. I know you…"
Angela put her pen and paper aside. The eggs were going to hatch and she was going to have rookery children (or clan siblings, she wasn't sure) so she wanted to make peace with her own mother, and she had begun to write her a letter. But she couldn't find the right words. The thing was, she was still unable to forgive Demona for having tried to kill Elisa. But could she be a good rookery mother if she hated the gargoyle who had mothered her?
Let's do it she thought. Katherine always told me that a good person is able to forgive. Now I miss my princess. I wish she were with me now. She would know what to do. The lavender gargess had a sudden surge of affection for the woman who had raised her. She had been her real mother, when she was thinking of it. Her rookery mother.
"I'd like to talk to you because I don't want to hate you forever and if I had
to anyway, I'd prefer it to be for a good reason..."
No, she couldn't write that! Why did it have to be so complicated?
Angela sighed and had a look at Birch, who was lying on the floor, at her feet. She bent down and took the little girl in her arms. What a cute little thing! Suddenly, Angela wondered how Princess Katherine had felt at her own hatching. Suddenly having to raise thirty-six children she was not related to, how strange it must have been!
Well, she was going to help raising three babies she was not related to. Like mother, like daughter.
A street
For the umpteenth time, Lenny checked that his camera was working by photographing the rainy street and his colleague Mike, who was yawning and holding a bunch of white roses. The journalist was feeling more and more out-of-place and nearly wished Detective Maza would forget about him. Unfortunately (or fortunately), a red Fairlane finally came to a halt in front of them. Lenny waived at the driver childishly.
Elisa greeted them as politely as she could. Were it not for those two nutcases, she would already be at Goliath's side, waiting for the eggs to hatch! She made them enter and frowned at the roses.
"Flowers?" she asked.
"It's for the mother-to-be" Mike explained.
"Flowers. Yes. That's the right thing to give when you're intruding in somebody's private life."
Lenny didn't know the meaning of the word 'sarcasm' and took the word as a compliment but Mike blushed slightly. Originally, he had not even bought the flowers for the gargoyles: he had a date with Emily the night before but she had not come and throwing the roses away seemed to be a waste. But now he had the feeling that he was not doing the right thing. Well, after all, he was just a normal citizen who needed to pay his loans. Could anybody blame him for trying to gain some money?
"Mike always has great ideas" Lenny interrupted. "Don't you, Mike?"
The journalist sighed inwardly. "Detective Maza, I know we may…"
He never finished his sentence. A car tore to them and Elisa just had the time to avoid it. There was a horrible sound and when the detective looked back, all that she saw was a multiple crash. Breathing heavily, her heart pounding, Elisa stopped her car. She couldn't help thinking of the car accident that had made her loose her baby. The journalist got worried. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yes…" she got a grip on herself while Lenny was leaving the car. "Just a bad memory."
"Good." Mike left the car and went to Lenny, who was photographing the crash. Apparently, few people were hurt. The journalist started explaining his colleague when you are in front of this kind of accidents, taking photos was not the priority, while Elisa was calling the precinct. She refrained herself from saying "I am locked between a car crash, Mr Boring, Mr Stupid and a bunch of roses, please send me help before I get mad" and left the car in turn.
Then someone pushed her hard on the side and she fell on the pavement. There was the sound of brakes and she realised that had someone not done that, another car would have run on her. She looked away and saw a brown shape scaling a wall. But… she blinked. It looked like it had no legs at all. It was neither a gargoyle, nor a mutate.
Without thinking, she ran for it. A few minutes later, she was on the top of the building, looking around her. She took her gun: if this creature was one of Sevarius's inventions, she had better be cautious. "Hey?" she asked. "Is anyone here?"
"Don't move" a male voice said gently.
She froze. He was just behind her, she could see his shadow. "Why did you save me?" she asked cautiously.
"That's what gargoyles are supposed to do, aren't they?"
"You're a gargoyle?" She wanted to turn back but he had grabbed her wrists and was holding her firmly. The strangest thing was, there was no sign of aggressiveness from him. Apparently, he just didn't want her to see his face.
"Yes. And you are going to go down to your car and to go to the place where you are about to go, OK? I have to leave now."
"You must come with me! I know other gargoyles, you must meet them."
The gargoyle laughed. "I know, Elisa. Well, you'll see me at the castle! I love you." And then he let go of Elisa's wrists. When she turned back, all that she saw was a long beige feather on the ground. Slowly, she took it and turned it in her hands. Jalapeña, how did that gargoyle know her name or where she was about to go? Why didn't he want her to see his face? He was probably a bit insane but… had she dreamed?
Puzzled, she went down to her Fairlane.
Castle Wyvern, atop the Eyrie building
In a corridor, Brooklyn and Broadway were walking after Bronx, who was searching for a baby-bottle. Alex still had not given up teleporting them anywhere and they sometimes had to search several rooms before finding one.
They finally found it in a bathroom, on the top shelf of a closet.
"Good" Broadway sighed. "Imagine, if we had lost it!"
"Oh, yeah. It would have triggered the end of the world" his brother said sarcastically.
"Hey, you're not happy? Our eggs are going to hatch!"
"And it will be so great when we'll have all those half-pints crying at the same time so we won't be able to watch TV or anything!"
The aqua gargoyle guessed there was something wrong but he preferred not to insist. He didn't want to argue with his brother, especially on that very night. Perhaps Brooklyn was just a bit jealous of all the attention the eggs caught.
He was partly right. The red gargoyle was bit jealous, yes, but most of all, he missed the Trio. They had been very close friends ever since they were hatchlings and their new life in New York City had only put them closer. Now they were still friends but it was definitely not the same again. Broadway was spending more time with Angela, and Lexington with Alex. The beaked gargoyle knew he couldn't blame his brothers for having a mate or a liking for children but sometimes he really missed the past.
Brooklyn realized that he was alone: his brother had apparently left the room. He went out too, walked randomly in the corridors and opened a door. Maya was sitting with her back on him. Judging by the position of her arms, she was breast-feeding Birch. She jumped when she heard him. "Is there a problem?"
He sighed inwardly and entered the room. Talking to her back was not particularly enjoyable but he knew she hated being watched when she was nursing the baby. "Always optimistic, I see? No, there's no problem."
"You wanted to be alone?" she suggested. "Wait, we have nearly finished."
"Hey, you're not going to run away from this room just because I came in, are you?"
There was an embarrassing silence. Then the Mayan gargoyle shook her head.
"No, I'm not going to run away. I just though… well, some gargoyles prefer to be alone when… I mean, eggs hatching are a big change, I knew a hatchling who couldn't stand… I mean, I don't mistake you for a hatchling, but…" She blushed furiously and patted the silver baby on her back, sounding so embarrassed that the beaked gargoyle couldn't help smiling. "I…"
"Need some help?" Brooklyn asked to change the subject, hoping for a negative answer.
"No, thanks" she said while lacing the top of her tunic back. "Hey, stop doing that!"
"What?"
"I'm talking to this little monster" she laughed, taking the baby on her lap again. The beaked gargoyle moved to have a better look. It was a cute sight. He thought with an unexpected twinge in the heart that Maya was more interested in the eggs than in him. Oh, I can't blame her for loving children...
"We'll see them in half-an-hour" she said more to herself than to him. "Oh, I'm so nervous."
"It will be okay, don't worry. You'll be a great mother."
"Do you really think so?" she asked, blushing again.
"I'm sure of it."
"Thanks."
There was an embarrassing silence. Then Birch started chewing the strings of her rookery mother's tunic. She laughed. "Don't eat this! You already…"
And somewhere in the castle, Bronx started howling.
Goliath came back from patrol and checked the hour. Elisa was late. It was only by twenty minutes but it was enough to make him worry. He tried to reassure himself by thinking she had probably managed to convince the journalists to abandon the report, with her you never knew what could happen.
The castle seemed to be deserted. Only Lexington was checking his new camera (he had decided to photograph the hatching). He hardly nodded when he saw him. Where was everyone?
Then the two gargoyles heard Bronx howling. The sound was coming from the rookery. Without thinking, the gargoyles ran for it.
The door banged open (that is, it did just after Lexington shut down the alarm system). The gargoyles entered the room and saw Hudson and Bronx who were both staring at one of the eggs. The shell was starting to crackle.
"What's happening?" Broadway asked while entering too, closely followed by Angela. They were reading in the library when they had heard Bronx. Nobody answered but he didn't need an answer. It was the second child of the clan that was now hatching.
Everyone was staring at the egg, except Goliath, who turned his head when he heard the door opening again. But it was not Elisa. It was Brooklyn, followed by Maya, who was holding Birch. Where was she? Her children were coming to the world, why couldn't she be present?
The shell crackled and a tiny green hand appeared. It grabbed Hudson's finger when he approached his hand. The brown gargoyle put away pieces of shell, revealing a vegetal green baby, covered in slime, with small, curved horns and a snake-like lover body. It started crying. The former leader held it awkwardly. He had been trained to be a leader, not a rookery keeper, so what should he do?
Without thinking, Maya gave Birch to the closest person, that was Brooklyn, grabbed a towel and walked to Hudson. "Give it to me" she said sharply, giving an order to someone for the first time in her life. She took the baby cautiously and wiped it as if it was the most precious thing in the world. "It's a male" she said with a trembling voice. "Healthy. Beautiful. Oh…" And tears started running down her face.
"May I?" Lex asked, putting his camera aside and taking Birch from Brooklyn's hands. The beaked gargoyle sighed with relief. He too felt quite clumsy with a baby in his arms. The camera stayed forgotten on a table. This moment would have deserved a photo to be taken but nobody was thinking of it.
If someone had had a look into the corridor at that very moment, he or she would have seen Xanatos standing in his nightgown, arms crossed. The multi-billionaire had been awakened by Bronx and had guessed what was going on. Better not entering the rookery at that very moment. He couldn't help thinking of the night Alex was born. This event had changed his life, when he was thinking of it. It's amazing how a child can make you realize things you didn't even know about yourself…
Same building, different place
Elisa burst out of the lift, followed by the two journalists, who were panting. Mike was still clutching what was left of his roses: he had lost the half of his bunch during the travel. Mike managed to follow the detective to the door of the rookery but Lenny, hampered by his corpulence, was trailing way behind them.
At the door, Elisa stopped and turned to the journalist. "Please, Mr Harker" she said. "Wait a minute, I'll tell them about you. Okay?"
"Okay. And..." he didn't know what to say. "Please call me Mike."
She nodded, wondering why calling this man by his first name would change anything about the situation. A minute passed. He hesitated and then opened the door slightly to have a look.
The detective was talking to the leader of the clan, who was holding a baby in his arms. He handed the tiny being to her and Mike was sure he saw her wiping tears away. A mad idea went through his mind. A human and a gargoyle... TOGETHER? No, it was impossible.
Then the human handed the baby cautiously to another person. Mike was troubled. This was too intimate, too private. He couldn't bother them just now.
Michael took the best-looking rose in his bunch and put it against the door. He left, went back and saw Lenny who was photographing David Xanatos. "Lenny, we're goin back home" he said.
"Hey, pal, we haven't done the report yet!"
"No report, Lenny. I... have forgotten my tape recorder and... flashes on new-borns eyes is bad so no photos. We go home."
"Oh..." The photograph was disappointed. "So can I have your roses?"
Mike agreed, wondering what his colleague was going to do with flowers. At that point, David Xanatos interrupted them. "I don't want to interfere in your private affair but I guess the night has been interesting?"
"Yes..." Mike answered, making a wish mentally (it was the first time he was talking to a multi-billionaire in his pyjamas). "Now may we leave? I... have things to do."
"You told me yesterday that the only thing you could do at home was washing your dishes and answering your mommy's stupid phone calls!" Lenny protested while his colleague was making a mental note to kill him slowly later. He tried hard to find something to say.
"Well, my mommy is at my home, washing my dishes, I have to go and help her" he finally said lamely, knowing perfectly well that the joke was not funny. And suddenly, without thinking, he grabbed the half of what was left of the bunch of roses and left.
Lenny put a wry face. "I apologise for my colleague, he talks without thinking" he said. "And he took my roses!"
"Weren't they his?"
"He gave them to me!"
"Well, there were only flowers" Xanatos concluded. "I may have something more interesting for you. I hear you're a good photographer?"
"Yes!" Lenny beamed, opening his briefcase. "Do you want to see some?"
Xanatos agreed, trying to hide the fact that he was annoyed. But one photo attracted his attention. "Where did you get this one?" he asked.
"Oh, someone made me a joke. He borrowed my camera and took a shot of a stupid message. A man called doggy telling his friend Betty that he couldn't help her. I would get mad if this happened all the time!"
Xanatos had a better look. "Dear Beth, I know what happened to you…" Yes, this message looked like a joke but the formula included seemed serious. Beth could be Beth Maza. And Coyote and Asclepios were probably codenames. The question was how and why the journalists were involved with this message but just now there was something more important. "May I borrow you this one?" he asked.
"Take it! Do you like photography?"
Xanatos finally managed to get rid of the photograph and read the text again. "Don't try to join me on Avalon, Beth…" This could be code again. Well, he would find a way to get what he wanted. He always did.
The rookery
"The boy seems to have your eyes, I think" Angela said to Maya. "He may be your biological child."
"Impossible, my mate was blue-skinned. The egg I laid was the smallest in the rookery anyway" the Mayan gargess answered very fast, still ashamed of having laid such a ridiculous egg. Goliath's daughter understood and tried to change the subject.
"I wonder if the next one will be a boy or a girl."
"I bet on a boy" Brooklyn said immediately.
"I bet on a girl" Broadway added.
"A beast" said Lexington. "Wait, what are we betting?"
"If I win, you let me use your computer for a week" Brooklyn suggested. "And Broadway goes on a diet."
The aqua gargoyle and his web-winged brother looked at each other. Broadway was about to retort but Lexington whispered something at his ear. The aqua gargoyle shook his head. "We can't do that" he whispered. "It's not respectful!"
"It's just a joke, we won't make him do that."
Broadway nodded reluctantly. The small gargoyle took his beaked brother by the arm and pulled him out of the rookery, hardly noticing the white rose that was resting against the door. "Brooklyn, if I or Broadway win, you ask Maya out."
The red gargoyle opened wide eyes but he didn't have time to answer. Bronx started howling again and the two brothers entered the room again. The shell of the last egg was crackling. A tiny, pinkish hand appeared. And then another one.
And then another one.
Puzzled, Goliath, who was the closest to the egg, put away pieces of shell and discovered not one, but two babies, one was a soft pink and the other, reddish brown. He stepped back, astonished. Twins. It hardly ever happened. Everyone was stunned in the rookery: for a nearly extinguished species, a double-birth seemed like a miracle.
Towels were passed in silence. Brooklyn was the first to get his senses back. "Boys or girls?" he asked in a toneless voice.
"The pink one is a lass, the brown one is a lad" Hudson answered. "We have a very balanced rookery."
The red gargoyle sighed with relief. Nobody has won the bet.
Elisa didn't say anything. She was holding the brown newhatched and wondering how things could get more perfect. Well, Demona could give them their stolen egg back but… they'll find a way to have it later. She kissed the baby on the forehead. Like his green brother and his twin sister, he had a snake-like lower body. She remembered the gargoyle she had met a few hours earlier. "You'll see me at the castle. I love you." And then there was nothing left of him, only a feather on the ground…
"Please, Maya" she asked suddenly, "did some gargoyles in your clan have feathered wings?"
"Lots of them" the red gargess answered, puzzled. "The feathers come about a year after the hatching. Why?"
"Nothing" she said, wiping a tear away. "I just wanted to know."
New York City, 2076
In a room of the Eyrie Building, a man with a blue tattoo around his eye was writing a letter. A red-haired toddler was watching him, cuddled on the lap of a silver-skinned female gargoyle in her late thirties. The man put the letter in the envelope, closed it and gave it to the child. "Listen to me, Alex" he said. You're going to go back home and to put this letter in a safe place. You'll read it when you are eighteen. Do you understand?"
The child nodded. At that point, a ball of fire appeared. Next second, a reddish brown gargoyle with feathered wings was standing in the room. The silver gargoyle got up and hugged him. "At last you're back!" she said.
"Hey, what could happen?"
"I want to go back home" the toddler complained. The brown gargoyle smiled and gave him the phoenix gate. Grown-up Alex knelt down in front of him. "Concentrate. Think of your grandfather's bedroom. Go back to this place." The child concentrated and teleported back to his time.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" the silver gargoyle asked.
"Don't worry, Birch" the man said. "I know it will work because it has worked already. When I was about three, I lurked into my grandfather's bedroom, found the Phoenix Gate and found myself decades later. And I found my older self and he… I mean, I told me to write this letter…"
"You told us a dozen times" Birch said, laughing. "A gargoyle has to go back in time to meet Elisa Maza and so on…" Her face became serious again and she turned to her rookery brother. "Did you see her?"
"Just like she wrote in her diary. I saved her from this car about to run on her. She suspected it was me and so on." The brown gargoyle looked sad suddenly. "It was weird, you know, seeing her so young, and I couldn't tell her anything because I hadn't told her anything… Why do human age and die so fast?"
"I miss her too" his sister whispered. She turned to Alex Xanatos. "Are you sure you won't… you didn't forget about this letter?"
"I secured it with a spell, sister. I will… I have read it anyway. Time travel is funny this way."
Somewhere in the courtyard, children started shouting. The silver gargoyle sighed. "Another game that goes mad and everyone else is on patrol. Those hatchlings…" The two gargoyles exchanged a knowing smile and went out to calm down the playing.
To be continued…
Author's note: I know: I cheated by making Alex use his fey powers to activate the Phoenix Gate. Magics shouldn't be mixed, all gargoyle fans know it but I just didn't find another way to make my plot. Shame on me. Well, I'm waiting for your flamers. :-)