Volume #31: "Friends and Mates"

Graeme's order was quickly followed by his attack party. Nokkar, especially. Firing behind him, he fell back to a safer position in the alleyway, keeping constant fire between himself and the Rokkan patrol. Liberty was slower to respond, though she had Lina pulling on her, trying to keep the Rokkans at bay with some of her new magic skills.

"Come on, Libby, we gotta pull back!"

"No! I won't lose my shot!"

Graeme ran up behind Liberty, grasping her shoulders. "I said fall back! Come on, Liberty, you won't be any good dead!"

Liberty finally nodded, firing off a couple more shots before turning around to assume a place in safer ground. Unfortunately, too slowly.

One of the patrollers, cognizant of the layout of the alley, fired up toward the upper walls of the brownstones framing the alley. The falling masonry became too much for the two gargoyles ... falling upon them, burying them in powdery stone.

"Hello."

The newcomer nodded, sitting down next to Ariana. "Rosanna told me I should come here and speak with you." She sighed sadly. "She told me of some similar circumstances we've both lived through."

"Similar circumstances?"

"Yes. We have both recently lost mates."

Ariana's eyes suddenly opened wider. "You're that new one, the Hawaiian."

The newcomer nodded, extending her hand. "I am Lili'uokolani, of Clan Honolulu. Please call me Lili, it's much easier to remember."

Ariana smiled. "Lili it is. I'm Ariana." Carefully, so as not to jostle the hatchling in her arms, Ariana reached for Lili's hand. "And this sleepy fellow is Solomon, my son."

Lili smiled, sadly. "I had an egg in Honolulu ... Ka'auna and I watched it every day, we couldn't wait for it to hatch."

"How long was it?"

"It had ... three months to go." Lili's face dropped. "To think that my child may be dead ..."

Ariana laid a comforting hand on Lili's shoulder, as the Hawaiian gargoyle let her emotions out.

The sounds of talons clicking against stone brought her attention from the book. She looked up, hoping to see someone who could make her forget.

Unfortunately, the one entering the library was the very one who was the cause of her current funk. Rain.

"Rosanna ..."

She abruptly dropped the book on a nearby shelf, hopping down from her stool. Rain saw her trying to leave. "Wait, Rosanna, I want to talk to you ..."

"About what?" Her eyes, both natural and artificial, flashed with frustration. "About how you've kept your secret for so long? How you kept it from me that your father is a protector of my bloodline?"

"Rosanna, I honestly didn't know ..." He reached for her forearm. She snatched it away from him, using the other hand to rake his face.

"Damn you, Rain!" She ran out of the library, away from him. Rain stood, shellshocked, holding on to the stool for support ... while Rosanna's blow hadn't been very strong, the shock of it was enough to throw off his balance. He sunk to the floor, crouching in a ball.

"God, Rosanna, I'm so sorry ..."

"Here's to Ishimura ... may she be long remembered."

"Hear hear!" Brooklyn and Vinnie laughed a bit before cocking their heads back, allowing the alcoholic beverage a passage into their throats. When they came up for air, Sata looked over at them, disbelieving what they were doing.

"I know it's been a few days, Vinnie-san ... but could you please show at least a little respect for the dead?!"

Vinnie looked at Brooklyn, then over at Sata. "Sorry, it's just it's been a while since I've seen you two, it just came out, y'know?"

"Give the man a break, Sata. He's been traveling for a while just to get here."

Sata walked up to Brooklyn ... more like stalked up. "And you, Brooklyn, simply encourage him!"

Vinnie replied to this by belching. Brooklyn simply looked up at his mate. "Well, geez, don't blame him, honey. If you want to blame anything ... blame the beer."

She clearly saw that her mate was not just drunk, he was inebriated. "Fine then. I'll blame the beer." Impulsively, she picked up Brooklyn's bottle.

"Uhh, Sata? What are you doing?"

"Since you two are so skillful at avoiding your problems with beer, I thought I would give it a try." She placed the bottle to her lips.

"Uh oh, I don't think she wants to do that."

Vinnie's comment brought agreement from Brooklyn, followed by a last attempt to get Sata to put the bottle down. Much too late, however; Sata pulled the bottle back, draining it.

"Ohh no ..."

The panic attack didn't last, however. Exactly two seconds after draining the bottle, she turned even greener than usual and spit out the contents of her mouth.

"What'd I tell ya?"

She simply growled, tossing the bottle aside. "How on earth can you stand to drink that swill?!"

Her mate sighed. "It's ... kind of an acquired taste."

"Oh, thank God you're home!" She rushed into his arms, barely leaving him enough time to clear the doorway before Nokkar came in.

"Yes, I'm here." He returned the embrace with equal vigor, as Slash came in the door, behind Nokkar. The giant alien seemed unaffected by the desperate show of affection Brianna was giving to her mate.

=Where is Rosanna? We have news.=

She broke away from Griff long enough to point down the hallway, then wrapped her arms around his neck once more. Nokkar nodded, motioning for Slash to follow him.

Once they were in the hallway, though, they came quickly upon Goliath. "Good evening, Nokkar. How was the attack this evening?"

=It did not go well at all. I must find Rosanna ... I fear we may have lost Graeme and Liberty. The Rokkans blasted down the alley around them.=

The older gargoyle's eyes widened. "Come with me, then. We can't lose any time, and we can't wait for my daughter."

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"Me too, Liberty. I haven't been in this situation in a while, but I know it's not fun."

"I've never been in this situation."

"Don't worry, Liberty. We'll be rescued soon. Just hang on."

"Graeme, it hurts. My back hurts."

"My legs are being crushed, I'm not much better off."

"We aren't going to die, are we? I've been close to death once before."

"We're going to make it. We have to."

The only thing that alerted her to the presence behind her was his voice, speaking softly.

"I wanted to tell you, Rosanna."

She looked up at the speaker. Her eyes darkened a bit more. "Go away, Coyote. I don't want to speak to you."

"But you need to. The only way you'll ever pull yourself out of this funk and become a leader again is to speak with me. Please, Rosanna. Let's not keep repeating our mistakes."

She turned slightly away from the window. "Why couldn't you tell me?"

He approached her slowly. "It's not that I didn't want to ... it's that I couldn't. I would have been in serious trouble with Oberon's Court had I told you."

Rosanna nodded, resignedly. "But why?"

Coyote sighed. "It's because Rain's existence absolutely cannot be known by the Court. If it were known that he were a halfling, he would be absorbed into the Court, and neither I nor Turqueza would have ever seen him again."

This brought another angry reaction from Rosanna. "And what about me, huh? When were you planning to let me in on the little secret? Three or four or twenty years on down the line, when I wind up fighting Oberon over my mate?!"

"No. When Rain destroyed the Sisters."

This stopped Rosanna cold. "What?!"

"I've seen it. I've lived it in my dreams thousands of times, Rosanna. It's Rain's destiny to confront and destroy the Weird Sisters."

Rosanna relaxed somewhat. "My God ..."

Coyote approached her slowly. "But he can't do it alone. He needs you. That's why he was brought here, guided here by way of Lina." He took one of Rosanna's hands in his own. "Please, Rosanna. He may not have told you the straight truth ... but he never lied when he showed his love for you."

"I know ... but you've got to hang on, Liberty. We'll be rescued anytime."

"I can't take this anymore! (sob) I don't want to die!"

"Don't panic, that's the best way to get killed. Keep it calm. Center your focus."

"I'll try."

"Do it for me, Liberty."

"All right. I'll do it for you."

Nokkar's direction allowed Goliath enough time to prepare to land with the unusually heavy load Nokkar's body gave him. He caught one last draft, slowly parachuting down into the ruined alleyway. Slash alighted and landed a short distance away.

"This does not look good. The rubble looks too heavy for anything to survive."

=Nevertheless, we must know for sure. Otherwise, they are truly dead.=

Goliath nodded. "Let's start digging, then. Slash?"

The mute mutate nodded, digging into the rubble.

"Rosanna ... you're speaking to me now?"

She smiled. "Your dad told me the whole story. I know now."

"Know what?"

She sat down next to him. "Your destiny, Rain. I know what you were born to do." She leaned closer into him. "And I want to be a part of that destiny."

He brought his arm around her shoulders. "Really? How do I know that if I learn any more secrets, you won't ..."

She interrupted him in mid-thought with a kiss. "I don't care if you ever learn any more secrets. I'll live with them."

Now it was Rain's turn to smile. He brought her closer into his arms, finally knowing what reciprocated, unconditional love felt like.

"Keep ... focusing, Liberty. We'll ... be out in ... no time."

"I know this feeling, Graeme ... I'm close to death ... and so are you."

"No ..."

"Graeme, I have to say this ... please ... if I get to do nothing more ... in this life, I need ... to say this."

"Liberty ..."

"Ever since ... the night you caught me ... I knew we were ... meant to be together."

"Liberty ... the lack of oxygen ... I think it's getting to your ..."

"No, Graeme ... I don't think I've ever ... been thinking clearer."

"Well then ... I know now my feelings ... aren't just mine."

Slash was digging furiously through the bricks, trying to free the trapped gargoyles within the masonry prison. Goliath was digging with an equal amount of fury, hoping to free them. Nokkar, for the most part, had been trying to keep the rubble clear of the workspace.

=I see them! There!=

Goliath, then Slash, saw it. Four green fingers, which no doubt belonged to Graeme. Goliath desperately pulled more bricks away from the revealed body parts, until an entire hand could be seen.

"Help me!"

With no further prompting, Slash and Nokkar came to Goliath's side, pulling more rubble free as Goliath pulled on the hand. Slowly, the full form of Graeme could be seen, pulling free of the rocks. Panting, he breathlessly looked up at his rescuers.

"Liberty ... still in there ..."

=I see her.= Nokkar's yell was accompanied by his grasping a pale white hand, now sticking up from the rubble. Straining under the weight, Nokkar pulled on the hand, soon joined by Goliath and Slash digging her out.

Finally, the giant gargess had been pulled free. She rocked on her heels for a moment, then steadied herself.

"You came."

Goliath couldn't help but smile. "Of course. We wouldn't have left you there."

Liberty smiled, slightly. "Is Graeme out?"

"I'm right here, Liberty."

With a wobbly gait, Liberty made her way over to Graeme, collapsing next to him. As exhausted as they both were, they were still able to pull each other into a happy embrace, as Slash, Goliath and Nokkar looked on.

=Demona, come in.=

Demona's face appeared on the comm device. "Report, Thorn."

=The traitor and the Clan's second have been rescued. They're defenseless, out in the open.=

"No. When they die, they die as a clan. Come back, some of the eggs have hatched, we must welcome the hatchlings."

=But they're wide open!=

"That's enough, Thorn! Return!"

Thorn shimmered out of sight.

=You should have let me attack! They were vulnerable!=

Demona growled at Thorn. "You listen to me well, Thorn. I am your master, not the other way around. You follow my orders when I tell you to, understood?"

Thorn growled again. Demona leaped across the desk, swinging her talons into Thorn's face and sending the giant hybrid against the far wall.

"I said, is that UNDERSTOOD?!"

Panting, Thorn made her reply. =Yes ... my mistress.=

"Good. And let's never have this discussion again." Demona turned to Samson. "Are our forces in place?"

"They're ready whenever you are, grandmother." With those words, the sunrise came, turning Samson to stone. Thorn, as well, became a slumped statue against the far wall.

Demona underwent her painful metamorphosis into her human self, Dominique Destine, a name she didn't bother with anymore. She looked around the office, frowning.

"Very well, then. Come tomorrow night ... the Clan dies."