Volume #12: "Miles to Go Before I Sleep"
(with apologies to Celine Dion)

"Are you sure about this, Alexander?"

The other flier, in a gargoyle-looking suit of armor, slightly turned his head to his companion. "I'm positive, Lina. If he really did leave Avalon, this would be the first place he would go."

"If you say so." Lina reached for her Avalon stone, putting it before her flight path. "Light."

A piercing beam of light punched through the darkness, toward the ground and trees far below. The light beam cut a path through the wilderness, until a clearing opened up in the distance. Lina narrowed her eyes to look further.

"What ... is that?"

"Xanadu. It's Dad's favorite Earth-bound getaway." In Alexander Xanatos' view, the armor began analyzing the surrounding areas of the retreat. Unusual patterns in the air composition alerted him immediately.

"He's here. There's an exhaust trail from a helicopter, a Xanacorp helicopter."

"Let's go down." Lina extinguished the stone, placing it back in her pouch as she descended to the ground below. Alexander soon followed her down.

Then it began hurting.

She struggled to return to her feet, but a reassuring voice calmed her again. "Stay down, Rosanna. You've been hurt."

Rosanna sighed, then suddenly shot upright. "Oh, my GOD! The girl ...!"

"Liberty caught her. She was backing us up as the ark blew."

Slowly, Rosanna's eyes adjusted to the darkness surrounding her. The owner of the voice finally came into focus.

Rain.

"Where are we?"

"A convenient alley. It's so dark because of the smoke from the ark's explosion." He crouched down next to her. As she readjusted herself to get comfortable, a shooting pain went through her gut.

"Owww ..."

"I can't tell, but your injuries seem to be internal. We have to wait for the dawn, your stone sleep will heal you."

Rosanna shook her head. "You don't understand ... I turn human during the day. I don't know if this will heal."

Rain sighed. "I apologize. I'm just so used to the Clan and Avalon ..."

"Don't be. It's just ... my mother was human. So, as a birthday present when I was three, Alexander cast a spell on me that makes me fully human during the day." Rosanna regarded her tail, flicking back and forth. "Well, almost fully human."

Rain nodded, semi-understanding. The sounds of more gunfire out in the street made him crouch closer to Rosanna.

"What's happening?"

"The Rokkans have been attacking the humans on the streets. It seems that they have dispensed with the deception of the arks and taken to wantonly killing anything that moves."

Rosanna growled. "This is not the way I want to be for long. We have to get moving."

"But you can't be moved." Rain sighed. "Listen to me closely, Rosanna. If I move you, you will die. If the Rokkans find us, we're both dead. Our only alternative is to hide here for now."

Unfortunately, things were going not at all well this evening.

"Samson," Graeme called from the doorway, "we've got reports from all over, the Rokkans are showering Manhattan with gunfire. We need to do something!"

Samson looked over at Liberty, having just returned after catching the little girl Rosanna had dropped in the blast wave. "What are they doing?"

"A common Rokkan tactic. Unfortunately, the way the Rokkan command structure works is that if the first plan doesn't work, annihilate them all."

"Samson, we're almost ready."

The blue cyborg gargoyle turned to see Jason and Robyn Canmore, the Hunters, in full combat armor. "How many?"

"Our forces are down to three Quarrymen, plus us. That makes five humans. Lexington has told us he can lead a sortie."

Samson nodded. "Robyn, you're with Lexington. Split the Quarrymen between three attack parties and take opposite directions. Jason, you're to the northeast."

Jason nodded himself. "I'll take Ariana and Goliath with me. Especially Goliath, he needs to get away from here."

Robyn called up to them. "Graeme and Pontiac are with us."

"All right. I'm going with Liberty and Dad, we're taking the south."

The man finally turned and spoke. "You know, eventually we'll have to leave."

The woman nodded, sadly. "I can't even relax, I keep thinking about him, in combat, alone with the Clan."

"Be calm, my dear. Our son is a capable warrior and sorcerer. He can handle things for a while. Remember, we're only going if it gets out of hand."

She sighed. "All right. Maybe another drink will make me relax."

The man reached for a bottle of champagne, not far from where he sat, refilling their glasses. He let them touch, the musical sound of their striking echoing throughout the room.

"A toast, my dear. To our brave son."

"To Alexander." She smiled, raising the glass to her lips.

"I'm touched. I didn't even know you cared!"

Suddenly stricken from their reverie, they turned around to see the massive silhouette standing in the doorway. In a smooth motion it turned on the lights to reveal itself.

Alexander.

"Hello, mother, father."

"Can you read?"

Rain nodded.

"Tell me the name of the street we're near."

He nodded, turning toward the mouth of the alley and reading the street sign. He returned shortly. "Wall."

Her eyes opened widely. Wall Street?! The blast had blown her nearly 30 blocks away from the river!

"Where did the ... Rokkans go?"

He turned his head up the street. "Further down."

"Help the wounded."

He looked over at her. "My priority is to make sure you're all right ..."

She flashed an intense look at Rain. "As long as you're here with me, your priority is protecting this city and all those within it. Tend to the wounded. That's ... an order from your leader."

Rain finally relented, running out toward those wounded lying in the dust around the center of the gunfire. Rosanna sank back down, the pain from her injuries too much for her to stand. Panting, she reached into her belt for a small electronic device, one she placed near her mouth.

The cyborg suddenly twitched, hearing a radio call in his one artificial ear. The voice was familiar ...

"Samson, it's me!"

His one true eye opened wide. "Rosanna! Where are you?!"

"An alley off of Wall Street. The Rokkans just went by."

"Are you all right? What happened?"

"Long story. Rain's with me, he's tending to the wounded. Come down and help us, okay?"

At that point, a Rokkan sortie jumped down upon Samson and his party. They were caught unawares.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?"

"Forget about me! Tend to ..."

"Every living thing out there is dead, Rosanna! We're just lucky they didn't find us!"

Her eyes widened. Never had she heard of such carnage within her protectorate. "How many?"

"Rosanna, I have to help you ..."

Ignoring the pain for a moment, she jumped on Rain's chest, grasping his shoulders in a threatening way. "DAMN YOU, I SAID HOW MANY?!"

Rain's jaw set tightly. "29. Are you happy now? Can you now live another night with more misplaced guilt?"

Tears were forming in her eyes. At that moment, Rain knew for sure how dedicated she was to living the true purpose of any gargoyle -- to protect, no matter what the cost to herself.

At that moment, though, her eyes rolled back in her head and she lost consciousness, sliding down the length of Rain's body and slumping on the ground. Panicked, he laid her down on her back, pulling out herbs from his pouches, trying desperately to save her life.

Alexander approached his parents warily, with Lina not far behind. She was unsure what to make of this situation.

"On what, a 900-number? Give me a break."

David Xanatos looked at his wife Fox for ideas. She had none. He sighed and turned back to his son. "Then I'm sure you overheard enough. When the situation is beyond your control ..."

Alexander took that moment to rush up to his father, until he was almost nose-to- nose with him. "This ... situation ... was out of control the moment the Rokkans sheet-bombed Manhattan Island! It went further out of control when Goliath nearly died from a beating by a Rokkan patrol. It went over the edge when Rosanna was captured!"

For the first time, Alexander saw his father turn his eyes down.

"I'm sorry, son, we had no idea." His eyes immediately returned to Alexander's gaze. "But what do you expect us to do? All my resources were willed to you when we went to Avalon. There's nothing left with me."

"Yes, there is!"

All in the room turned toward Lina, who approached them with the glowing Avalon stone. She focused her attention on the stone, her eyes fixed.

"Memory."

The stone flashed again, producing a pillar of light through which a kind of holographic image could be seen. It was David Xanatos, with his wife.

Speaking to Oberon and Titania.

"Thank you, Oberon."

"It's a shame, though, that Alexander had to be left behind. Oh the wonders he could have seen ..."

"Actually ... I wanted to talk to you about that. You see, I want some kind of assurance that if my son needs help, any kind of help, that we will be allowed to return to Earth and assist him."

"Why do you ask this, David?"

"I mean you no offense, Titania, but Alexander has lived a sheltered life. His experience in the real world has mostly come from book reading and tutors. If any kind of situation should occur where he should require our assistance, I want to know that we will be allowed to leave ... considering that the Gathering is still going on."

"I see. I grant you this boon, David. Should Alexander require help on the Earth plane, he shall have it, from his parents or from any resources Avalon may offer."

"You were saying, Dad?"

David sighed again, as the image faded and the stone grew dark once more. Lina turned to David. "You told me once you would show me your world. Well, from what I've seen of it, it's not going to be around for long if you just sit here doing nothing."

David raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to call in a favor from the Lord of Avalon himself? Do you even realize how much patience that guy lacks?"

"From what Lina has told me, if we lose this war Avalon is lost. If he wants to save his sorry ass, he'd better pay up when you call in his favor."

In desperation he dropped his head upon Rosanna's abdomen, consumed in his frustration. His bitter tears fell in silence. Still she did not move.

But then suddenly, he felt her body shift. He felt her breathing return. Her body warmed back up. She fluttered open her eyes, trying hard to sit up but finally surrendering to her prone position.

Rain was instantly back at her head, grateful that she was still alive. "You're going to make it, Rosanna. Believe."

He clasped her hand in his. A sudden sunbeam caught the clasp in its light, as Rosanna began shrinking down into her human form. A last gasp of pain, and Rose Maza sat where Rosanna once had been.

Rain could not tear himself from the transformation, could not quantify the effect of a four-fingered talon turining into a five-fingered hand ... while he held it in his own.

Equally confused, though, Rose looked up at Rain, who had not turned to stone. "What happened to you?"

Rain showed Rose his amulet. "I don't remember where this came from, but all I know is that it lets me stay like this during the day."

Rose nodded. "We have a lot to learn about each other. Let's go, I feel better already." She stood up with no pain, much to her relief. Rain insisted, though, that he carry her, and she gently obliged him, allowing him to carry her up a side wall of the alley and into the full sunlight. Sunlight which gave hope to a brand new day.

Slowly, she placed a small electrode near the feet of the cyborg one, the one they had called Samson. Funny, after all these years, they still seemed monstrous to her. But their common enemy was even more monstrous. And that was reason enough to like them.

She tapped a button on the electrode. Soon a thin, electric shield enclosed the three sleeping gargoyles. Satisfied with her work, the woman turned and left. In the new day's light, the name stitched into her dark blue Quarrymen jumpsuit was vaguely visible in the shadow, the red thread blending in.

S. JASPER