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Here are the posts for the topic 'gargoyles' from my mailing list, Fantasybits.
by JacLyn Jones (jasujo@hotmail.com)
The last rays of the sun shown through its crystalline iridescence and rainbows danced on the road below. It shimmered at the edges with pale blues and deep reds and still remained free of color. It was the embodiment of liquid solidity as it stood guard over the ground below.
A woman ran though the streets, occasionally looking back to see if
he was still following. She ran behind a corner and stood there, pressed
against the cold brick, her breath rasping out. She tried to listen, but
heard only the puffs of air from her lungs and her heart drumming in her
throat. Then she heard them, his footsteps, coming closer and closer.
The woman ran out into the street again, wondering why her, mentally
screaming for someone to help, while afraid to give voice to her plea.
She looked back again and saw that he was catching up, his brown overcoat
flapping in his created breeze. The woman redoubled her efforts and ran
with what strength remained.
Up ahead was the temple. If only I can get to the temple, she
thought. As its large stone frame rose in front of her, her tired feet
stumbled and she fell to the ground. She tried to get up, but skittered
along the cobblestones, tripped on her coat and was once again thrown to
the ground. He was almost upon her.
"Please, someone, help me," she murmured over and over, clutching her
worn purse to her chest. She crawled backwards, her wide eyes watching
him approach. His grim smile, like a vise around her throat, prevented
her from calling out.
"Help me!" It heard the plea and stirred. It raised to its back
haunches and stretched its mouth in a silent yawn. It rose on its pads
and unfolded its massive wings, the pale moonlight reflecting off its
crystal wings. The protector flapped its wings once, slowly, then again.
It bent its knees, its sinuous muscles tensing, and pushed off, hovering
in the air. It lazily flapped its wings, sprinkling light over the scene
below. It raised its head in a silent roar and gracefully turned and
straightened its wings into a swift dive. Its wings cut through the air
like razors.
The man stood over her. He held her wrist as she struggled to break
free. Suddenly, the dark was shattered. Sparkling light surrounded
them. The man let her go and stepped back, frightenedly looking around
him, while the woman remained on the ground, entranced by the strange
glittering. A winged figure softly alighted between them. Its leonine
body glistened, reflecting the surrounding illumination, and faintly
glowing from its own pure light. It turned its head and met the woman's
eyes. They held their glance for only moments, but the woman seemed to
snap out of her spell and quickly stood, dropping her purse in her haste,
and ran toward her home.
The figure turned back to the man, who was now fearfully backing
away. It slowly approached him, watching. Then it quickened its step
and, in a movement barely able to be seen by human eyes, struck out with
its claw. The man did not even see it coming. Crystalline claws like
razors slashed through his neck and he fell to the ground, already gone.
All he had seen was a bright light, then nothing.
A soft thump was heard at the woman's doorstep. She sent her husband
to check it out. He slowly opened the door and looked around, confused,
not seeing anything. He almost closed the door again, until he looked
down. There on the step was his wife's old brown purse. He picked it up
and stared at it in amazement. There, stuck in the side, was a
glittering crystal in the form of a single claw.
The first rays of morning searched the road and found the man's body
lying prone. A soft breeze ruffled his hair. A man, tiredly on his way
to work, stopped by the body. He kneeled by its side, looking at the
deep gashes in its neck. He reached over and closed the blinded eyes.
The man said a prayer and looked up to the gargoyle, shielding his eyes
from the sun. He stood and looked back to the body, shaking his head,
then turned and continued on his way.
The sun's light shown through its crystalline iridescence and
rainbows danced on the road below. It shimmered at the edges with pale
blues and deep reds and still remained free of color. It was the
embodiment of liquid solidity as it stood guard over the ground below.
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