Chapter 14: The Battle at Dunwyn

Zummi rummaged through his spells in desperation, trying to find one that would help him and his companions escape. "It's no use," he finally gave up. "None of these spells will help us now. If only I hadn't lost the rest when the shadows attacked us…"

"It's not over yet," Gusto tried to cheer him up. "Tummer escaped the shadows, and the kids will lead Brooklyn here very soon."

"I don't know if we can wait that long," Grammi shook her head. "Demona could start her attack any moment. I just hope Tummi warns the others in time…"

"Or that they find Ursa," Buddi added. "If only Demona had mentioned where she is…"

Gruffi could only stare at the others in misery and frustration. He, too, tried to formulate a plan of escape, but he could see no way out of the dungeon, and he could not keep his feelings of guilt and shame from intruding into his mind.

"We could try breaking the door down," Gritty offered, determined to stay focused so as not to think of Buddi's words. "If we shake it hard enough, we might be able to break the door off its hinges."

Grammi shook her head. "That won't work, the door's too strong." She shot a glance at Cavin and Calla, and her face brightened. "But maybe if one of you used gummiberry juice, we have a chance."

"I can't do it," Cavin told her miserably. "I lost my juice when the shadows dragged me in."

"So did I," Calla added, leaning against the wall and burying her face in her hand. "If we don't stop that monster before my father gets back…"

Gruffi watched her, his heart aching for her. "No, we will stop her," he reached into his belt and pulled out his juice flask, handing it to Calla. "Here, you take mine."

Calla shook her head. "But you'll need it to fight," she said. "I can't…"

"If we can't break out of here, the juice won't help me anyway," Gruffi insisted. "Besides, it's my fault we couldn't stop Demona in time. If anyone's going to take a greater risk while facing her, it's going to be me."

"No, Gruffi…" Calla tried to argue.

"We need a human to do this," Gruffi insisted, looking from Calla to Cavin.

Cavin stood up and approached Calla. "You'd better do it, Calla," he said. "One of us needs to be able to use the juice against Demona, but if your father comes back, you'll have to lead him away, and the juice won't help you. You might as well use it now."

"Calla, you've got to take juice from one of us," Grammi agreed. "If you're not going to take Gruffi's…"

"Take it," Gruffi shoved the juice into Calla's hand. "Before someone else offers. Do it for your father."

Calla sighed in dismay. She knew Gruffi was right, they had to break out as soon as possible. She uncorked the flask and drank the juice, flexing her arms instinctively as she felt super-strength surge through her body. She hurried for the door, grabbing it near the hinges, and shook it violently. The torch lighting their cell dropped on the floor and blew out, but the hinges were starting to give away. Cavin and the bears followed to lend a hand, and within seconds, the hinges broke apart, and the door swung open.

Facilier watched from his cell in amazement, impressed by the bears' and children's determination.

Gusto laughed triumphantly as he and his companions rushed out of their cell. "We did it! We're free!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Grammi warned him. "We still have to deal with Demona and those shadows."

Cavin crouched by the floor for a moment, feeling it for broken pieces of their cell door. Finally, he found a thin nail. "We might need this to pick the lock on the dungeon door," he said.

"Good thinking," Gruffi told him approvingly.

Unnoticed by the bears, Facilier glanced at his own shadow, a sinister smile crossing his face. "Some of these bears still have juice on them," he whispered.

The shadow held up a hand to give him a thumbs-up, and stretched out of the bars to follow the escaped prisoners, gliding on the floor, away from the dim torchlight. In the dungeon's darkness, it easily blended with its surroundings.

As the children and the bears ascended the stairs to the dungeon's door, Buddi glanced back nervously. "Uh… guys?" He began, "I don't like the way the Shadow Man's looking at us."

"Don't look at him, Buddi," Gritty told him, wrapping his arm around the cub to force him to look away. "Remember what Brooklyn told us about him reading minds."

"Yeah, but what if he's-AAAHHH!" Buddi suddenly hollered as he felt someone pull hard on his leg, knocking him off his feet and dragging him down the stairs.

"Buddi, no!" Gritty yelled, rushing down the stairs in alarm after Buddi.

"There's another shadow here!" Cavin realized.

"But where is it?" Grammi asked, looking at Buddi's direction in alarm as she and the others rushed down the stairs to help. "It's too dark to find it!"

"Help!" Buddi yelled. The shadow was now pulling at his clothes, apparently searching for something. "No, get away!" Buddi tried uselessly to fight off his attacker, but all he could see was darkness and the Shadow Man's silhouette smiling expectantly as the Barbic cub was brought closer to him.

"Let him go, you phantom monster!" Gruffi yelled as he and Gritty reached Buddi's side and grabbed his arms, trying to drag him away from the shadow.

"This isn't working!" Calla told the others. "It's like fighting a ghost."

"If only we knew how Brooklyn scared that shadow away," Gusto said, his voice shaking. "We could use some of those claws right about now."

Zummi suddenly stopped in his tracks, feeling his foot brush against something thin. It was the torch Calla had knocked to the floor while breaking the cell door. "No, we need to get some light in here," he quickly picked up the torch. "Lum-ight, cum-and-um-el, num-ow!" He waved his paw at the torch, which instantly lit up.

The effect was almost immediate. The moment Zummi moved the torch in Buddi's direction, the shadow holding him was visible for a split second, before it instantly let go of Buddi and backed away into the dark corner of Faclier's cell.

Facilier growled in rage.

Buddi scrambled to his feet, looking shaken, but otherwise unharmed.

Gritty gently touched his shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asked softly.

"Y-yes, I think so," Buddi answered weakly.

Gruffi looked at Zummi in amazement. "How did you-?"

"Light drives them away," Zummi explained. Like Buddi, he also appeared a bit shaken, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice as well. "I noticed the shadows didn't get too close to us when the torch was lit."

"But how did Brooklyn drive that shadow away?" Grammi asked.

"Gargoyles' eyes glow when they are about to attack," Zummi answered. "That must be how he managed it."

Gusto laughed triumphantly again. "Looks like we just made some progress," he announced. "At least we'll be able to keep the shadows away from the humans until Brooklyn gets here."

"If Demona doesn't get us first," Cavin whispered, as he returned to the dungeon door and picked the lock with his nail, and pushing it open.

Facilier glared at the bears, clenching his fists as they rushed back up the stairs and out of sight.

Once out of the dungeon, the bears and children headed for Dunwyn's courtyard, where they had hid their trap. As they expected, the haystack covering the trap was burned, and the trap's remains gone. Demona was standing by the wreckage, her eyes on the courtyard gate, with dozens of shadowy figures surrounding her. She had strapped the sword she had stolen from Facilier to her belt, yet Ursa's sword remained clutched in her hand.

The companions quickly headed the other way, hiding behind the large tree in the courtyard which they had helped Calla give her father on Monarch's day the year before.

"She's waiting for something," Grammi whispered to the others.

"She must be waiting for King Gregor to come in before she attacks," Zummi answered. "If the shadows are here, they probably haven't attacked any sleeping humans yet."

"I hope not," Calla whispered. "But the other gargoyle you mentioned isn't here yet, how are we going to stop Demona?"

"Demona still has the Shadow Man's talisman," Zummi answered. "Brooklyn said we have to destroy it to stop them, but it won't help us against Demona. And I can't see how it'll be easier to steal the talisman from her than from the Shadow Man."

"At least she can't read minds," Grammi pointed out. "But we've got to think fast, before she changes her mind and sends the shadows after the sleeping humans."

Gruffi glanced at Cavin and Calla. "Listen, you two can help us protect the humans if you light torches and guard their rooms," he explained. "That will at least keep them safe until we get the talisman. The rest of us will stay and keep an eye on Demona, so we can hold her off until the others get here."

"Shouldn't some more of us go with them?" Grammi asked. "The humans are sleeping all over the castle…"

"We don't know for how long," Gruffi told him. "Cavin and Calla should be closest to them, or they might see us when they wake up."

Cavin and Calla nodded and headed on their way.

Buddi turned nervously to Gruffi. "What do we do if Demona attacks?"

"Pray she doesn't catch us," Gusto answered.

Buddi glared at him. "Thanks."

Cubbi pushed the tunnel door gingerly, inspecting his surroundings. The tunnel nearest to Dunwyn's dungeon let out just in front of the courtyard, where he knew would put them in full view of the humans should King Gregor return, or worse yet, in view of Demona.

"Do you see her?" Tummi asked, having just caught up with Cubbi, dragging the sword they had brought from the Glen behind them.

"Not yet," Cubbi answered. "But if she started her attack, we'd hear her, wouldn't we?"

"I don't know," Tummi told him. "What if she's still in the dungeon? How will we free the others?"

"We'll just have to wing it," Cubbi answered. "Now, which way to the dungeon?"

Tummi gulped. He didn't like the idea of facing Demona or the Shadow Man without a plan. "This way," he finally said, stepping out of the tunnel and leading Cubbi down the hall.

Once the two bears reached the entrance to the dungeon, Tummi froze in his tracks. "It's too quiet," he whispered, more to himself than to Cubbi.

"Well, there's only one way to find out what's going on," Cubbi said, trying to sound braver than he felt. "Give me the sword."

"Be careful with it," Tummi told the younger bear as he handed him the sword.

Cubbi pressed the sword to the door frame, slicing away the plank that attached to the lock. Within seconds, the dungeon door swung open.

Cubbi's eyes widened in surprise. That had definitely been too easy. "I don't think it was locked," he told Tummi.

"Demona locked the cells," Tummi told him. "She probably thought she didn't need to bother with the door."

Dr. Facilier looked up from his cell. The two bears that entered were peering carefully around them, clearly searching for something or someone.

The Shadow Man smiled. These Gummi bears were not in the cell with the others earlier, they must have come looking for their friends, not knowing they already escaped… and they had a sword with them, and possibly the juice he had seen their friends use. He glanced at his own shadow. This was something he could use to his advantage.

"I don't see the others," Cubbi told Tummi.

"Oh, no," Tummi moaned, becoming alarmed. "What if Demona did something to them already?"

"She couldn't have," Cubbi answered nervously. "She wouldn't have taken them out of the dungeon for that. They must have escaped."

"Then where are they now?" Tummi asked.

"They must be around here somewhe-AAAH!" Cubbi suddenly screamed, feeling something grab his arm, causing him to drop the sword.

For a split second, Tummi drew back in horror, but quickly recovered, grabbing Cubbi's other arm. "It's the Shadow Man!" Tummi told him.

Cubbi struggled, but whatever had grasped his arm soon released him, but not before Cubbi had seen a shadowy arm move across the floor to grab the shadow cast by the sword he had dropped. Cubbi tried to grab it back, but was not quick enough. The sword was pulled away, and slipped through the bars of one of the dungeon's cells.

"No!" Cubbi yelled, breaking free from Tummi and rushing toward the cell.

"Cubbi, wait!" Tummi called to him and followed.

Within seconds, both bears froze, having just reached the cell they searched for, and sure enough, the Shadow Man was there, giving them a sinister smile.

"Thank you, boys," Facilier told them, chuckling as he picked the sword up from the floor. "You've been a big help."

"Give that back, you mangy old-" Cubbi began, drawing his wooden dagger threateningly, but was cut off when he once again felt his arm seized by the shadow, and was dragged closer to the bars.

Facilier raised the sword and pointed it close to Cubbi's face. "Do you really want to finish that sentence, little cub?"

"Let him go!" Tummi called to him, slowly gathering the courage to approach the bars too.

Facilier chuckled again, now stretching his free arm through the bars to search Cubbi's tunic. Cubbi tried to break free, but could not take his eyes off the sword pointed at his face. Within seconds, Facilier found his juice flask. As soon as he pulled it back through the bars, his shadow tossed Cubbi in Tummi's direction, knocking him off his feet and forcing both bears away from the bars.

Facilier uncorked the flask, draining it quickly.

Tummi quickly held Cubbi close. Both bears could now only watch helplessly as the Shadow Man flexed his now super-strong arms, and bashed the stolen sword against the cell's lock. The lock broke open, and Facilier kicked the cell door and exited. He approached Tummi and Cubbi, and resumed pointing the sword at them.

Tummi thought fast, and pulled out his own juice flask. He drank it quickly, still keeping his arm around Cubbi. Just as Facilier raised his sword to attack, Tummi bounced out of the way, leading Facilier to strike the stone floor instead, hard enough to shatter the blade.

Facilier growled in fury, tossing the hilt aside. Tummi continued to bounce, desperately hoping he could move faster than the shadow that was now chasing him and Cubbi. The shadow seemed to slow down when the bears had reached the lit passage, but did not stop. Facilier was now persuing them too, though fortunately his super-strength did not make him run faster.

Once Tummi passed the dungeon's door, he stopped bouncing and placed Cubbi down. "It wore off," he told him. "I hope some of the others still have juice."

"Yeah, good thing Grammi left Brooklyn an extra flask," Cubbi replied.

"Is the Shadow Man still following us?" Tummi asked.

"Better not wait for him to catch us," Cubbi told him. "We should find Demona, that's probably where the others are." With that, he ran for the courtyard.

"But how will we get passed her without juice?" Tummi asked, hurrying after Cubbi.

Facilier reached the dungeon's door, peering in the direction Tummi and Cubbi had gone. He spotted them heading for the courtyard. As he followed, he suddenly felt drained of his strength, and realized the juice he had stolen from Cubbi must have worn off.

"How do they manage with this juice?" he muttered. "It sure doesn't last long enough."

Now away from the dungeon's torchlight, Facilier's shadow drew near, tugging at his owner's sleeve. Facilier looked around, and smiled a sinister smile when he saw his quarries.

"Looks like I won't need to finish those two off," he muttered. "She'll do the dirty work for me after all."

Tummi and Cubbi hurried into the courtyard, passing by the spot the bears had hidden their trap earlier. Cubbi spotted Demona standing there and tried to stop and turn around, but in his haste he had ran into the wreckage site, accidentally kicking a burned wheel. At the sound of the clank, Demona turned her head, and snarled viciously as she spotted Cubbi.

It was then that Tummi caught up to Cubbi, but he, too, was spotted by Demona. "Uh oh," he moaned softly.

Demona charged at them, but the young bears ran from her.

"Hurry, Tummi!" Cubbi called back, running as fast as he could to the nearest escape tunnel. "Don't let her catch you!"

Behind the tree, Gruffi drew back in alarm. "Demona found Cubbi and Tummi," he cried out. "C'mon, we've got to help them!"

He quickly led the other bears to the courtyard. As they drew nearer to Demona, Gruffi grabbed a large rock from the ground, tossing it with all his might, hitting her on the shoulder.

"Get away from them, devil woman!" He hollered.

Caught off guard, Demona turned to face her new opponent. At that precise moment, Gritty caught up to Cubbi and Tummi, pulling them away from Demona's field of vision.

Demona gave a fierce, cougar-like battle cry, lunging at Gruffi with Ursa's sword raised, Furious her prisoners have escaped. But the bears were ready for her this time. Gruffi hurried for the site of the ruined trap, Demona following. As soon as Demona was within range, Zummi set the trap ablaze again, and Grammi fanned the smoke Demona's way, using her apron.

Demona was forced to pause in her tracks, coughing violently as she inhaled the smoke. She stepped back into clean air as fast as she could, wiping her now watering eyes. At last she had recovered, but the bears had achieved their aim. They had escaped out of her reach.

Demona snarled in fury, turning to the shadows in her vicinity. "Seize them! We won't get far with destroying the humans with those bears around!"

The shadows spread out, blending in the dark areas of the courtyard. Demona could not see if any of them were gaining on the fleeing Gummi bears. "How did they escape?" Demona asked herself. They could not have used their juice, bouncing would not have helped them in a locked cell. Did the humans get them out? But only the bears were in the courtyard. Where were the humans? She looked around wildly, now spotting Cavin and Calla on the castle balcony, rushing around the rooms lighting torches.

"The humans are up there!" Demona shouted at the shadows nearest to her. "Go after them, quickly!"

The shadows flew along the walls, but the nearest one stopped shortly before reaching the balcony's rail, alarmed by the light. In an instant, the shadows turned and headed back to the courtyard.

Demona growled in fury, her eyes flashing red. "What now?!" She demanded.

Behind her, a sinister voice chuckled. Demona turned and growled again. Dr. Facilier was leaning against the castle's wall, looking almost triumphant.

"Trouble controlling my friends, Demona?" he asked mockingly.

Demona made to charge at the Shadow man, when she spotted one of the shadows chasing Buddi, only to stop and turn around when the bear cub led it back to the still blazing wreckage site. Buddi escaped the area, out of the shadow's reach. Demona glanced at the fire, now understanding.

Still glaring at Dr. Facilier, Demona lowered her sword arm, and with her free hand she pulled something from her belt. Ever so slightly, she loosened her grip on it, just long enough for Facilier to see his talisman clutched in her hand. "If I cannot control them, this is clearly useless to me."

Facilier doubled back, suddenly alarmed. "No, don't…"

But Demona tossed the talisman aside, near the fire.

Panicking, Facilier rushed after it, fumbling for it on the floor. The fire's light was of little help, given the soot on the ground. By the time he had found the talisman, Demona had headed for the castle wall, tossed Ursa's sword aside and, using her claws, climbed upwards.

Facilier glared after her, placing the talisman on his neck. He understood: Demona would not dare destroy the talisman as long as the shadows still assisted her in destroying humans, yet she knew he depended on the talisman, and would be willing to destroy it if he himself came too close to her. He headed for a corner of the courtyard away from the battle and turned to his own shadow. "Better just wait it out now," he whispered. "My friends can help with the bears. Let Demona have her fun with the humans tonight. Come sunrise she won't be so lucky."

Meanwhile, the bears did their best to dodge the shadows. This was no easy task, given that so few of them still had their juice, and those who did preferred to save it, not knowing how long they would have to hold the shadows off. Their main advantage was knowing the shadows would not get too close to a light source, and they tried their best to lead them as close to one as possible.

Grammi had just led her opponent to a torch near the castle's wall, and as the shadow near her fled, she chanced a glance around at the others, and glanced up at the balcony in search of her human friends. For a split second, she froze as she saw Demona climbing after them.

"She's going after Cavin and Calla!" Grammi called out to the others.

Zummi, who had just managed to escape his opponent, stopped by Grammi's side. "Do you still have your juice?" he asked anxiously, pulling out his own juice from his pocket.

"Yes!" Grammi replied, pulling out her own flask.

"We have to go after her!" Zummi told her. "If we can just reach her before it wears off-AAAGHHH!"

Zummi hollered as a shadowy figure grabbed him, lifting him off his feet and dragging him in the air, up to the balconly, though Zummi knew it won't stop there.

"No!" Gruffi yelled as he spotted the danger. He and Grammi hurried to the direction Zummi's captor had taken him. "Zummi, throw me your juice!" Gruffi called to his friend.

Zummi hurriedly obeyed, instantly shutting his eyes afterwards, unable to look at how high he was being dragged.

Gruffi quickly caught the flask, and he and Grammi drank their juice as fast as they could. Then they quickly bounced to the castle's balcony, and worked their way to the highest tower. Desperately hoping Zummi would be in their reach before reaching their target, they held out their arms, and bounced with all their might. Fortunately, they managed to grab Zummi's arms just as they reached the tower. They struggled to pull him close, but the shadow was still pulling Zummi upward.

Grammi cast around for something, anything, that might help them, and finally spotted the tower's torch. She tightened her grip on Zummi with one paw, freeing the other to grab the torch as the shadow's force pulled the bears away from it.

"Zummi, light up this torch!"

With a tremendous effort, Zummi forced himself to open his eyes. He tried not to look down at anything but the torch Grammi was putting in his paw. Gruffi changed his grip so that he now held Zummi by the elbow, leaving his paw free to cast his lamp lighting spell. Unfortunately, this brought him close enough for the shadow to seize Gruffi by his upper arm, pulling him closer to the edge of the tower.

"Zummi, do it now!" Gruffi yelled.

"L-L-Lum-ight, cum-and-um-el, num-ow!" Zummi yelled in desperation, aiming at the torch. It ignited instantly, and Zummi swung it at full throttle at the shadow.

As soon as the light touched the shadow, it vanished into thin air. Zummi collapsed onto the floor of the tower, on top of Grammi, but Gruffi, who had been dragged to the edge just before the shadow had gone, lost his balance and fell.

"No!" Grammi yelled as she and Zummi got to their feet, but they could not reach Gruffi in time.

Gruffi screamed as he fell, knowing he had no hope of saving himself without juice. He braced himself for the impact with the ground- except it never came. Someone's arms had seized him, and he felt himself slowing down. He opened his to identify his savior.

"Brooklyn!" Gruffi cried out in mingled shock and relief.

Brooklyn smiled at him, looking just as relieved he had reached Gruffi in time. He carefully lowered Gruffi to the ground and crouched beside him. "Talk about being in the right place at the right time," he said softly.

Gruffi panted hard, still trying to recover from the shock of nearly falling to his death. He wanted to thank Brooklyn, but the moment he stared into his eyes all he could feel was, again, the shame of the injustice he had done him. "Brooklyn, I… I know I was…"

"Gruffi!" came another familiar voice, and Gruffi was nearly knocked off his feet again as Sunni leapt into his arms. "We saw… I thought we wouldn't make it… are the others okay?"

"Yeah… so far…" Gruffi managed to say, glancing back at the tower, noticing that Zummi and Grammi had seen his rescue and we're signaling something he couldn't hear, but he followed their hand gestures to the castle's wall. Demona was still climbing it, and was almost at the level of the balcony. Apologies would have to wait. "There goes Demona!" Gruffi gasped.

Brooklyn followed Gruffi's gaze, and was instantly on his feet. "I'm going after her," he said.

Gruffi tried to steady his breathing, and Sunni grabbed his arm, trying to catch his attention.

"Gruffi, where are the others?" she asked.

"They're…" Gruffi looked around. "They're around here somewhere, the shadows…" he stopped, suddenly wary again. Ursa had just caught up to them, looking as though she had just escaped from one of the shadows herself. Gruffi backed away from her for a moment, though he quickly remembered Demona was now back in her gargoyle form, this had to be the real Ursa.

"Is everyone all right?" Ursa asked, looking worried. "Brooklyn dropped us off a while back to search for you, I couldn't find the others…"

"Everyone was fine last time I saw them," Gruffi told her. "But how did you…"

"Where is she now?" Ursa interrupted, clearly wishing to avoid more questions about her run-in with Demona. "I've been waiting for a chance at her!"

"Brooklyn's gone after her," Sunni replied, looking at Ursa rather coolly.

Ursa growled and hurried away from them to follow Brooklyn.

Gruffi rushed Sunni to a corner, away from the battle field. "What happened? How did you find Ursa?"

Sunni explained, as fast as she could, about Tummi's warning and how she and Brooklyn had searched for Ursa in the forest.

"How did Demona track Ursa down in the forest?" Gruffi asked, appalled.

"Well, Ursa actually tracked her down," Sunni answered. "She…" Sunni paused, unsure how to explain. Angry as she was at Ursa, it did not feel right to deny her the chance to explain herself.

Gruffi glanced back over his shoulder, apparently taking Sunni's pause as a sign she was too worried about the others to continue her story. "Well, you can tell me the rest later," he said. "We'd better help the others. If the shadows get close, lead them to a light source."

"What?" Sunni asked, confused.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn had reached the wall Demona had just climbed, though she was already at the top. Brooklyn climbed faster, he just needed to get high enough to glide, and he would be able to head Demona off in the air.

However, Demona did not jump off the balcony, but instead entered the hallway, now lit by a number of torches. Brooklyn hurried after her. Why there were no Shadows with Demona he did not know, but whatever Demona had in mind entering this hallway could not be good. There was no time to speculate, as Demona was several steps ahead of him and moving fast. Brooklyn had to crouch on all fours and charge after her to keep her in sight. It did not look like she was entering any of the rooms, but instead was rushing along the hallway. Brooklyn had a feeling she was following the torchlights. It was probable, if most of the castle had been asleep since the previous night, whoever lit the torches must be awake, and knew there was an attack going on.

After several minutes of running in the hallway and lighting the torches, Cavin and Calla reached a dead end. The only way to move now was up the stairs, and they had to cross the path they had already lit to get to them. They had not run into any of the knights yet, and assumed they were still patrolling the kingdom in search of the Shadow Man.

"Maybe we'd better split up," Cavin suggested. "You can go light the torches upstairs, and I'll head for the gate. Your father should be back soon…"

"No, we'd better stay together," Calla told him. "If we run into…"

For a split second, Calla froze, her argument rendered unnecessary. Demona had just caught up to them, blocking their way to the staircase. Cavin grabbed Calla's arm, trying to push her behind him to shield her, but she would not budge. She stood her ground, clenching her fist, ready to fight if Demona attacked.

Demona gave a scornful laugh. "Foolish choice, human," she hissed. She raised her clawed hand, ready to charge.

The two children held their torches in front of themselves, ready to use them if necessary. But Demona struck fast with her tail, hitting Cavin's arm, causing him to drop the torch. It fell to the stone floor and blew out. Calla dodged out of reach of Demona's tail, trying to hit her arm with the fire instead, but Demona was ready for her too. She pounced, aiming her claws at Calla's neck, but Calla just barely moved out of the way, and Demona grabbed her long braid instead. She pulled, Causing Calla to howl in pain as she stumbled on the floor, dropping her torch, which also blew out. Demona raised her arm again, ready to strike.

"No!" Cavin cried out, grabbing Demona's arm, trying to force her away from Calla. This proved to be harder than Cavin had expected, Demona was too strong. However he had managed to slow her down enough for Calla to shift her body so that she managed to struggle, making it hard for Demona to fight both of them at once. Just as Calla managed to move away from Demona's claws, Demona managed to bite Cavin's hand, causing him to cry out and release her. Demona snarled, and grabbed Cavin's arm in hers, and tossed Calla at him with her other. The impact forced Cavin off his feet, with Calla collapsing on top of him.

Demona now towered over them both, her eyes glowing bright red. She made to charge at them again, only to be knocked off her own feet. Brooklyn had finally caught up with her, and was now pinning her to the floor, growling and fixing his glowing white eyes on her red ones.

Demona quickly recovered from the shock, using her legs to push Brooklyn off of her. Brooklyn stumbled backwards for a moment but did not fall. He charged again, this time managing to hit Demona hard across the head, knocking her on the wall. For a moment Demona lay still, her eyes shut.

Brooklyn took advantage of the respite and turned to look at the two human children crouching by the staircase. They seemed a little afraid of him, but did not holler or run as most humans did when they saw him.

Calla found her voice first. "Are… are you Brooklyn?" she asked nervously.

"Yes," Brooklyn answered softly, his eyes no longer glowing. From the question alone Brooklyn knew who these children must be.

Reassured by this gargoyle's friendly tone, Cavin now managed to get to his feet. "Are the bears all right?" he asked.

"As far as I could tell," Brooklyn answered. He still kept a wary eye on Demona, who was still unconscious. "Why were you lighting the torches?"

"To keep the shadows away from the sleeping humans," Calla answered. "They're afraid of light."

Brooklyn paused, now remembering that the shadow that had caused Gruffi to fall vanished when Zummi touched it with a torch. "The Gummi bears know this too," he concluded out loud, looking at Cavin and Calla for confirmation. When they nodded, he added, "then you two had better get on with lighting the torches. The bears can hold off the shadows, I'll hold Demona off as long as I can."

"Wait!" Calla told him. "My father will be back soon, we can't let him see the Gummies, they trust us to keep their secret!"

Brooklyn glanced nervously at Demona. She was beginning to stir. "Then one of you should get down to keep watch at the gate," he said. "But take a torch, the shadows are still in the courtyard."

"I'll go," Cavin agreed quickly, heading for his dropped torch to pick it up, lighting it again on a lit torch on the wall. "I can tell the knights I've been out patrolling."

"Hurry!" Brooklyn told him, approaching Demona and getting ready to pounce on her again. He heard Calla pick up the second torch and head upstairs and Cavin dart passed him back out of the hallway. As he watched Demona, his eyes suddenly widened in surprise. His sword was still attached to her belt. He reached out to grab it, when Demona jumped at him, now fully alert. The shock of Demona's unnaturally fast recovery prevented Brooklyn from defending himself properly, and Demona seized the opportunity to pin him to the ground.

"Clever move, splitting the humans up," she hissed. "That girl won't get far on her own, and the boy will be easier to catch without her help."

Brooklyn tried to fight back, but Demona bit him hard on his shoulder and slashed his chest with her claws. Brooklyn howled in pain, but did not stop struggling. He understood now: Demona had only pretended to be unconscious so as to listen to what he planned to do next. She knew attacking her while she was seemingly defenseless would be beneath him.

"We'll finish this later," Demona hissed in his ear, apparently satisfied with slowing him down at the moment rather than killing him. She got to her feet, and headed in the direction Cavin had gone.

Brooklyn tried to get to his feet, snarling in fury. He made to follow Demona when he heard a terrified yell behind him. He turned around to find himself face-to-face with a man he did not know, who was dressed in a suit of armor. One of Dunwyn's knights, who apparently did not take the sleeping powder. A small band of knights followed him, all looking horrified.

Brooklyn quickly steadied his breathing, hoping his fury at Demona didn't show on his face. "Look…" he began, already realizing talking to the knights was useless. He knew what was coming next, he had experienced it too many times.

"It's a monster!" one of the knights yelled, raising his sword. "He must have caused that racket in the courtyard!"

"Attack!" the knight at the front yelled, raising his own sword.

Brooklyn doubled back, feeling horrified. He did not wish to hurt the knights, but he knew they would never believe he was on their side. There was only one thing for it. He got down on all fours and ran. He could only hope he would reach the balcony in time. The knights followed in hot pursuit, and Brooklyn began to fear his injuries would prevent him from escaping them. However, he managed to speed up enough so that the knights momentarily lost sight of him, and Brooklyn sneaked into the nearest bedroom he could find in the hallway. He hid behind the door, hoping he'd have enough notice if the knights decided to check there. He strained his ears to hear their voices in the hallway.

"It ran this way, I'm sure of it," one knight said.

"Spread out, it could still be close by."

"But it had wings, it might have flown into the courtyard."

"You two head down there, we'll search inside the castle."

Brooklyn's heart was racing. He could hear some of the footsteps heading away from his hiding place, though he did not dare open the door yet.

"Brooklyn!" a voice behind him called, startling him. Brooklyn quickly turned to see Grammi and Zummi emerge from the closet behind him, looking unharmed but rather shaken.

Brooklyn sighed with relief. "How… how did you get here?" he asked.

"We tried to head back to the courtyard, but we heard fighting and we tried to find the source," Zummi explained.

"And then we heard the knights coming, so we hid here to wait until they've…" Grammi stopped suddenly, looking at Brooklyn in alarm. "You're hurt!"

"I'll be okay," Brooklyn told her. "Demona caught up to your human friends, but they're all right," he added quickly. "Calla's upstairs protecting the sleeping humans, and Cavin went to the courtyard. But we've got to hurry, Demona's gone after him."

Like Grammi, Zummi was also staring at Brooklyn's wounds in apprehension. However at the mention of the danger Cavin and Calla were in, he quickly composed himself. "We're in the king's bedroom, I've been here before. We're still pretty far from the balcony."

Brooklyn glanced around the room. There was a window on one of the walls. It looked a bit small, but he headed for it anyway and opened it. He folded his wings around himself and leapt to the sill, crouching low. It seemed as though the window was just large enough to let him through. He stepped out to the rooftop underneath the windowsill.

"Come on," he told the bears. "I can get you two down through here."

Grammi followed instantly, though Zummi looked a bit hesitant. "You're… you could hold us both?" he asked.

"Yes," Brooklyn replied, a bit impatiently. "But we've got to hurry."

Zummi followed Grammi out of the window, and Brooklyn rapped an arm around each of them, spreading his wings. He glanced around at the grounds, searching for the courtyard. Once he spotted it, he took off, holding the bears tightly.

"Oh, I hope the others are still all right!" Grammi moaned. "I've lost sight of what's happened since we escaped that shadow!"

"They know how to keep the shadows away, they should be fine!" Zummi added, his voice shaking. His grip on Brooklyn's arm was suddenly vise-like, and he shut his eyes the moment the roof was out of sight, revealing the courtyard a long way beneath them. "Just… just try to land as soon as you can."

Down in the courtyard, Ursa reached the area where she had seen Demona climb the castle's walls. For a moment she hesitated, not knowing how she would manage to get up there, or indeed if she should. There would be too many humans in the castle, and she did not know for how long they might sleep. Her eyes brightened as she spotted something glimmer on the ground, reflecting the dim moonlight. Her own sword. Demona must have left it behind to climb the wall! Beaming, Ursa picked the sword up and sheathed it. But before she could make up her mind about scaling the wall, her attention was caught by the sound of a cougar-like battle cry, coming from over her head. Ursa turned and glanced at the sky. Demona was gliding there, heading for the gate. Several steps ahead of her, Cavin seemed to be running in that very direction.

Ursa unsheathed her sword, heading for the gate as fast as she could.

Unseen by the Barbic warrior, Dr. Facilier had stepped out of his hiding place, snarling in displeasure. Though he no longer needed Ursa as his prisoner, it was a blow to see she had managed to escape his tent. Another reminder of how his weakening magic was failing him. Before he could move further, he spotted another winged creature heading his way. He stepped back into the shadowy corner, determined not to give himself away.

Brooklyn had landed several feet from Dr. Facilier, carrying Zummi and Grammi with him. None of them had seen the Shadow Man.

Brooklyn let the bears down, rubbing his arm where Zummi and clutched it. "You'd better warn the others quickly," Brooklyn told the bears. "The knights will be searching the courtyard, they might see them. I'll go after Demona."

Zummi had just managed to catch his breath. "What if the knights attack you?"

"I'll manage," Brooklyn replied. "But I've got to keep Demona away from them too."

"C'mon," Grammi told Zummi. Together the two sped off, searching for the other bears.

Brooklyn now scaled the wall again, using his claws. As soon as he was high enough, he glided in the direction of the courtyard gate. With his eyes fixed on Demona, he had not noticed Dr. Facilier following him.

Once at the gate, Cavin had lit the torches nearest to it, and quickly turned to scan the courtyard. He could not see any shadows heading his way, but he did see several of them disappear when one of the Gummies touched them with a torch. He had just managed to catch a glimpse of Zummi and Grammi catching up to Gruffi, apparently trying to tell him something, when Demona had landed in front of him, grabbing his arm.

Cavin yelled, dropping his torch in shock.

"Foolish human child," Demona snarled. "If you and the girl had stayed in the dungeon, I might have been willing to grant you a merciful death. But you and those meddlesome fur balls have pushed me to the limit. You'll all suffer now." She raised her claws, ready to strike at Cavin.

Cavin shut his eyes. Unable to escape, he braced himself for the blow he knew was coming. Suddenly, he heard Demona cry out in pain, and felt something warm and wet splash on his face and shoulder. Demona's grip on his arm had slackened, and he broke free. When he finally dared to open his eyes, it was to find Demona clutching her arm in pain, barely hiding a large gash. Ursa was now standing beside her, raising a blood-stained sword.

"That's for kidnapping and impersonating me," Ursa snarled at Demona.

Demona growled at her. "Are you protecting filthy humans now?" She asked menacingly.

"I'm protecting my friends," Ursa replied, still raising her sword.

Demona panted slightly, still clutching her arm. "You and your furry friends have become a greater thorn in my side than I would have thought possible." With a tremendous effort, Demona freed her arm to unsheathe Brooklyn's sword.

"NO!" Demona heard someone yell, and before she knew what was happening, she was knocked off her feet, dropping the sword. She looked up in shock and rage to find Brooklyn pinning her to the ground, looking furious.

"Run," Brooklyn told Ursa. "There are knights in the courtyard, you can't let them see you."

"This way!" Cavin told Ursa, pointing at the path nearest to the large tree. "You can take cover there!"

Ursa hesitated, not wanting to leave Brooklyn or Cavin alone with Demona.

"Cavin, you'd better divert the knights' attention!" Brooklyn called to him. "Go on, I'll be okay!"

Cavin glanced at Ursa, who gave him a quick nod and each of them headed their own way.

Demona glared daggers at Brooklyn, trying to push him off of her. Unable to use her right arm effectively, she dug the claws on her left hand into his arm, snapping at him and biting any part of him she could reach. Brooklyn punched her lip, and moved to bite her left arm, but Demona had managed to kick him off her, knocking him to the floor. Brooklyn quickly recovered and tried to reach his sword, but Demona and reached it first. She grasped the hilt and flung the blade at Brooklyn, striking him on his shoulder, narrowly missing his neck. Brooklyn barely managed to roar in pain before Demona leapt on him, now pinning him to the floor. She used her left hand to dig her claws into his chest, and in her right she held the sword over his head, ignoring the pain from her own wound.

As the gargoyles battled each other, Ursa had reached the tree, relieved to see the rest of the Gummies gather there, apparently all of them had now known about the knights in the courtyard.

"Is everyone all right?" Gruffi asked, as soon as he had caught up to the others.

"Yes," Grammi answered, as the others agreed faintly. "Are there any shadows left out there?"

"I don't know," Gruffi answered.

"It's still not over," Ursa interrupted. "Brooklyn's in trouble, I'm not sure how long he can hold Demona off."

The bears quickly turned to face the gate. Though rather far, they now managed to see Demona tower over Brooklyn, raising a sword.

"We have to help him!" Sunni cried out. "She'll kill him if we don't!" with that, she dashed out from behind the tree, running for the gate.

"I'm coming too!" Cubbi yelled, and hurried to follow Sunni.

"No, wait, you two!" Gruffi called after them. "The humans will see you!"

But Sunni and Cubbi were too far ahead now.

"What do we do now?" Tummi asked, torn, as they all were, between helping Brooklyn and protecting their secret.

"I'll go with them," Gruffi replied, thinking fast. "But don't follow me, or the humans will notice us for sure!"

As he spoke, Gruffi hurried after the cubs.

"This is terrible," Grammi moaned. "If we can't get out there and help them…"

"I should have brought Artie with me," Gusto added. "He could have told us what's going on…"

"Cavin will divert the knight's attention," Ursa told them. "But where is the Shadow Man?"

"Isn't he still locked up?" Gritty asked.

"What?" Ursa asked, confused.

"No," Tummi replied. "He escaped, I don't know where he…"

"There he is!" Buddi cried out, noticing Dr. Facilier was now making his way toward the gate.

"Whoa," Gusto groaned. "I guess we can only hope he and Demona will finish each other off now, huh?"

"What?" Ursa asked. "I thought they were partners."

"Not anymore," Zummi told her. "We'll tell you later. Now we'd better keep an eye on the knights and move when they're distracted."

Brooklyn struggled, unable to reach Demona's arm, he could only hold his left hand in front of him, ready to defend himself from his own sword.

But Demona did not strike at him. She seemed to be hesitating. "How did the sleep spell break?" She asked.

Brooklyn could only stare now. "What?" he asked, caught off guard.

"Tell me how, and I might spare your life," Demona told him. Her voice was still menacing as ever, but there was also a hint of desperation in it.

Brooklyn thought fast. Whatever he said, it would not affect his clan's future, he was sure of that. Goliath had made it clear to him it was impossible to change history. If he could just distract her long enough, just keep her talking, even if it hurt him, he could probably hold her off until sunrise. The bears knew how to defeat the shadows now. If he stopped Demona, the fight was won.

"If you want me to tell you, you'll have to stop this attack," Brooklyn finally replied.

Demona growled, lowering the sword until its point touched the base of Brooklyn's neck. "You are in no position to bargain!"

"I know something you don't," Brooklyn snarled back. "I'm in perfect position to bargain."

Demona roared in fury, raising the sword again, this time preparing to stab Brooklyn, but the latter was ready. He stopped the blade with his hand, clutching it tightly. It was extremely painful, but Brooklyn held his own. It felt good to have the upper hand for a change, make Demona feel some of the despair he had felt of being cut off from the world after she had betrayed the clan.

"Leave him alone!" Brooklyn heard someone cry out. His heart sank. Sunni and Cubbi were heading his way, no doubt intending to confront Demona.

"No!" Brooklyn called to them. "Go back, I'm fine!"

But his warning came too late. Demona had released him, and was now charging at Sunni and Cubbi. Still clutching Brooklyn's sword, she snatched both cubs in her left arm, holding the sword an inch from their throats.

"Tell me now!" she demanded, glaring at Brooklyn with flaming red eyes.

Brooklyn swallowed hard. There was no way out of this. "The sleep spell's not broken yet," he told Demona.

"When will it break?" Demona demanded. "And how?"

Brooklyn glared at her. "A human will break it," he told her. "If you destroy the humans, you'll destroy the clan too."

"You lie!" Demona snarled, tightening her grip on the cubs. They struggled, both looking horrified.

"I'm not!" Brooklyn insisted. "Let them go, I told you what you wanted! Hurting them won't do you any good now. You've already lost this fight, There are enough bears who know how to stop the shadows!"

Demona roared in fury, still refusing to release Sunni and Cubbi.

Brooklyn stepped closer to her, now horrified to find Gruffi approaching the scene. He quickly tried to signal him silently not to interfere.

It was then that Dr. Facilier had caught up to the fray as well. Noting with satisfaction that Brooklyn's eyes darted between Demona and Gruffi, he slipped passed him, hiding from view. He watched the glaring contest between Brooklyn and Demona for a moment, when he heard something from behind the gate. He glanced at his shadow, now smiling broadly.

Still not noticing Dr. Facilier, Brooklyn made ready to charge at Demona, only to be distracted by the sound of fanfare.

"What the…?" Brooklyn asked in alarm. Even Demona seemed momentarily distracted.

Both gargoyles now turned their heads to the sound of a sinister laugh behind them. Dr. Facilier emerged from his hiding place, now heading for the drawbridge's gear and made to turn it. "My friends!" he called out. "I think we have company!"

Sunni quickly turned to Cubbi in alarm. "King Gregor's back!" she whispered.

Demona recovered from the shock instantly. She seemed to be pleased by this turn of events.

Brooklyn watched her in horror for a moment, feeling a chill run through him as he saw five shadows heading towards Dr. Facilier.

Dr. Facilier's smile, however, faltered at the sight of his friends. "Only five of you left?" he asked, a bit alarmed. The bears had apparently been quick with their torches.

Brooklyn now thought fast, noticing Demona's eyes were now fixed on the drawbridge the Shadow Man and his friends were now lowering. He quickly lunged at Demona, freeing Sunni and Cubbi from her grasp and knocking the sword to the ground. He did not dare free his hands to snatch it until the cubs were out of Demona's reach.

"Run!" Brooklyn told the cubs. "Don't let the king see you!"

Sunni and Cubbi hesitated, now also spotting Gruffi heading their way, signaling them to come to him.

"Go!" Brooklyn told them. "Hurry up!"

Finally, Sunni and Cubbi obeyed.

Brooklyn instantly turned his attention to the shadows, his eyes glowing white as he roared at them. He charged, but Demona tripped him on his way with her tail.

"No!" She snarled. "I haven't come this far just to let you stop me! Let the shadows have the humans, I'll take care of what's left of this kingdom afterwards!"

Before Brooklyn could answer, the drawbridge had been lowered all the way, and a band of men on horses entered. In front was a man dressed in fancy robes and wearing a crown, while the rest of the men were dressed in suits of armor.

Demona now seized Brooklyn around the waist, dragging him away from the drawbridge. Brooklyn struggled, but Demona pushed him hard onto a wall. Brooklyn groaned in pain as his head collided with the wall and he lost his balance and fell to the ground, unconscious.

The King and his procession rushed into the courtyard, Cavin following them, looking desperate.

"Your Highness!" a knight called out to the king. "We're under attack! There are monsters in the courtyard!"

Several horses reared and whined, but over the noise the king shouted, "Courage, men! Spread around the courtyard and find these creatures!"

"Wait!" Cavin called out to the king, rushing towards him. "Your Majesty, there's something else…"

"We can't wake most of the knights!" Another knight hollered. "They took some magic powder and have been sleeping since yesterday!"

"An evil man sold it to them, my lord!" Cavin told Gregor.

"An evil man?" Gregor asked, alarmed. "Do you know this man, Cavin?"

"Yes, Sire," Cavin replied. "He's sending cursed shadows all over the place, we can stop them if we touch them with a light source!"

"Quickly, lad," Gregor said, "Find yourself a horse and help Sir Tuxford find this scoundrel."

From behind the drawbridge's gear, Dr. Facilier growled. Unseen by the king or his knights, he quickly backed away from the gate, towards the spot Brooklyn now lay. He did not dare take the time to finish off the gargoyle, but stopped to pick up his discarded sword, and ran.