Volume 10: "By the Grace of Oberon"

Stepping down from southern wall, the gargoyle regarded by everyone as the clan's leader scanned over his brothers in arms. He nodded, self-satisfied.

"Gabriel!"

He turned to see Tom, the Guardian, rushing toward him.

"Guardian, what is wrong?" Gabriel looked around, not seeing one of his newer human friends. "Where is David and Fox?"

"They left this morning. Said something about their son needing them at home. Gabriel, we don't know where Lina is."

Gabriel looked to Ophelia, his mate. "Do you know where she may have gone?"

"Your guess is as good as mine lately. She's been spending more and more time across the island, near ..." Ophelia sighed as the memory of the Magus, their friend and companion in their earlier lives, returned to her.

Gabriel took Ophelia's silence as the answer to his question. "We'll go find her. She shouldn't be there, it's far too dangerous. Especially with the Gathering going on."

"I'll go with you." The Guardian jogged after Gabriel, leaving the castle.

"There you are! Where were you hiding?"

He approached her slowly. "I wasn't. You ran right past me, Lina." He produced a small, flat stone from his belt, handing it to the girl. "Take it. You can probably make it work better than I can."

The light shining from its surface gave it a mystical glow. She smiled widely. "What is it?"

"A stone I found in a cave not far from here. Like everything born of Avalon, its power is great."

Lina smiled. "Thank you ..." She trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"In all the excitement of meeting you, I've forgotten to ask your name."

He chuckled. "I've long forgotten my own name. I've been living here for so long I don't even remember my clan."

More breaking foliage distracted them both. They dove for the lower bushes, hoping to hide. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as a cold doggoyle nose managed to find Lina with no problems at all.

"Boudicca! Stop it!"

"I found her, Gabriel!" The Guardian's voice called behind him, as he approached Lina, grasping her hand and pulling her up. "Where have you been? The clan's worried sick!"

The other gargoyle with her stood up, finally. "It's all my fault. I sincerely apologize."

Gabriel finally caught up, but his face twisted into confusion as he saw Lina next to another male gargoyle, not far in age from himself. "Lina, who is this?"

"Uhhh ..." Lina hesitated for a short time before coming up with the answer. "This is Rain. I found him last night."

"Rain?" he whispered.

"Found him, you say? Where?"

Lina turned and pointed. "Over by the hot trees. Why?"

Tom slowly approached the male, looking at the peculiar pendant by his collarbones. "Because this is one of the pendants of those newcomers who brought the hot trees." He looked up at the gargoyle. "It allows him to avoid his stone sleep."

Before anyone could say another word, a bright flash lit up the sky. Gabriel looked up.

"That came from the castle. It must be important." He looked over at the other two gargoyles. "Why don't you bring Rain with you, Lina? We'll decide what to do with him."

Lina and Rain exchanged worried glances.

Gabriel, Tom, Lina and Rain pushed their way through the crowd, nearly up to the front. Gabriel turned to Lina.

"Don't do anything to embarrass me, Lina."

"I wouldn't!"

Suddenly, Oberon made his appearance before the massed crowd. By his side, as she had been for quite some time, was Queen Titania, resplendent in fae magic and majesty. He came forward to address the group.

"Friends, children, this is indeed a dark night for Avalon. Earlier this day, two of Avalon's honored, Fox and her husband David, left for the earth realm. They informed Titania before their departure of why they were leaving."

Titania stepped forward. "My daughter told me of an impending invasion which threatens the earth realm. Unfortunately, should earth fall, Avalon will lose its anchor to reality. Everything here will perish."

A nervous rustle made its way through the massed audience. Lina and Rain looked at each other, worry creasing their faces.

"Because of this, Avalon is in need of champions. However, the champions may not be of fae blood. Although this matter is very serious, the Gathering must take precedence. We will allow two gargoyle champions to leave."

Oberon took over. "Fox has informed us that the gargoyles are on the front line of the defense forces. Thus, we will send two gargoyles forth to fight."

"Gabriel, please choose two of your clan to go."

Gabriel turned toward the massed crowd. "Whoever here has the courage to join our comrades, let them step forth and ..."

"We'll go!"

Another loud rustle went through the massed group. Lina approached, dragging Rain behind her.

"Lina? You will go?"

"Why not? I have the courage. I am unafraid of anything."

Under his breath, Rain whispered loudly, "Don't speak for both of us that fast, Lina."

Gabriel nodded. "Very well, Lina. I grant you this request." He turned back to the mass. "Lina and Rain shall go join our brothers and sisters."

"Be sure that you come home. We will miss you every day you are there."

Tom grasped forearms with Rain. "Good luck, lad."

Rain nodded mutely, climbing into the skiff and sitting down. Lina stood with Gabriel, embracing him tightly.

"We'll be back. Trust me."

"Good journey and good luck. Avalon will take you where you need to be."

Lina smiled, turning back to the skiff and climbing in. Picking up the row pole, she dipped it into the water, casting them off into Avalon's mists. Rain looked up at her, arms crossed.

"What?"

"I don't believe I let you volunteer me for this."

"Oh, come on, it won't be that bad. We'll be where we need to be, we find the local gargoyle clan, we join up, beat up on the invaders, and come back home. Simple."

Rain simply sulked, looking out on the water.

"Now ... where would the clan be?"

"Wouldn't there be a castle? I would expect they would be there, defending it."

"True. Look around, see if you can find one."

Rain looked straight up. "I found one."

"Where?"

He pointed up. Lina followed his finger, until she saw it: a magnificent castle, perched atop a gigantic skyscraper.

And they were just across the street from it.

Well, at least things Rain had never seen before. Lina had seen some of this when the Xanatoses were living on Avalon.

Directly in front of the building, an automobile blocked their path. Lina looked it over carefully, as Rain crept up behind her.

"What is it?"

Lina whistled. "It's called ... a Cadillac. David was showing me some cars in a book, and this was one of them." She admired the car for a few moments more before the building door opening distracted her. A human man in a trenchcoat came around to the driver side of the car, not noticing them. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door.

At that moment, Lina approached him. "Hello."

He yelled for a moment, then looked at her. He started chuckling.

"Where did you two come from?"

"From Avalon. We're here to help the gargoyles, can you tell us where the clan might be?"

The man sighed. "They were all up in the castle, last I knew. Hang on a second." He pulled out another mysterious device from his coat, punching a few buttons before bringing it up to his ear. "... Yeah, Alexander, this is Steve Bluestone, downstairs. There's a couple of gargoyles down here with me ... I know the clan's up there with you, but these two are new in town ... They said they were from Avalon ... Oh, okay. Thanks."

He closed the device, putting it back in his coat. "Just hang tight for a minute. Someone will come to meet you." He opened the door of the car, climbing in.

"Wait ... who will come meet us?"

"Alexander. Trust me, you'll know him when you see him." Revving the engine, Steve drove away. Lina turned to Rain, shrugging her shoulders.

The sudden tingling feeling that came over anyone affected by fae magic suddenly consumed Rain and Lina. Then a light bathed them both. Just as suddenly, they were gone from the street level.

"Uhh ... which one of you is Alexander?"

A goateed man came forward to greet them. He smiled, with a tinge of mystery that Lina suddenly recognized.

"I'm Alexander. And you are ..."

"You must be David's son! Wow!" She broke out in a wide smile, jumping into Alexander's arms and hugging him tightly. "We're friends of your father's, but he never told me how cute his son was!"

"Oh-kay ..." Alexander turned to the gargess on his right. "Uh, Rosanna, could you help me out here?"

She approached the overly happy gargess wrapped around Alexander. "Greetings. I am Rosanna, leader of Clan Manhattan. And you are ..."

"Oh, forgive my manners." She unclamped from Alexander, turning to Rosanna. "I am Lina, of Clan Avalon. We're here to help you with the invasion, as Avalon's champions."

"At least, she's the champion. I'm just along for the ride." The male came forward finally, a look on his face which showed his distaste with being there. "I am Rain."

"Welcome. We can use all the help we can get." She turned to the rest of the clan, behind her: a cyborg blue male, two beaked siblings, a web-winged male with a mate and child, a portly blue male, a large violet male, and an even larger white female.

Lina took the last one in, especially, with shock. "You've been eating a lot of beef, haven't you?"

"Lina, Rain, this is the clan. Samson, Graeme, Ariana, Lexington, Pontiac, Cadillac, Broadway, Goliath, and ..."

The tall female finally spoke, her voice the sound of crashing thunder. "Liberty."

"That's right, Liberty." Rosanna sighed. Unfortunately, her relief didn't last for very long, as an alien attack force opened fire over their heads.

"It's a Rokkan patrol! Clear out and counterattack!"

The now-very-extended clan did as they were told, leaping off the battlements and scattering in the air, meeting the Rokkans where they were. Soon Lina found herself with Samson, hovering above the scene.

"Let me guess ... the invaders?"

"That's right."

"What kind of weapons are they using? I can't figure them out!"

Samson rolled his eyes. "Look, just try to stay out of the way for now. After the attack's over I'll teach you about 21st century armaments." He extended his cyborg left hand, blasting away at the Rokkan attackers.

Lina harrumphed. "I'll show him I can be useful!" She scrambled over her pouches until the found the stone, the one Rain had given her only three hours before.

"Maybe you can get it to work better than I can."

Lina grinned. Of course she could! She raised the stone high above her head, concentrating her thoughts on the magical piece of Avalon itself.

A blinding flash distracted everyone involved in the battle, all eyes looking toward the source.

Rain could only chuckle. "Well, I guess she got it to work after all!"

As the flash cleared around the battle area, the Wyvern defenders soon found themselves surrounded by some peculiar looking fowl. The first one to react, though, was Rosanna. What surprised them the most, though, was that her response was not angry.

On the contrary: she was laughing hysterically.

"Pigeons! She turned them into pigeons!!"

They watched as the formerly much larger attackers, now confined to small bird bodies, flapped away from the scene of the battle. Samson looked back over at Lina, his jaw agape. Seeing this, she smugly grinned in his direction.

"That useful enough for ya, Sammie?"

"You said you were a friend of my father's?"

Lina nodded, smiling. "He showed me a lot of stuff from around here. Mostly technological stuff, but he told me about the clan. At least, the old clan, the one that Goliath was the leader of."

Alexander sighed. "Well, at least I know that he's enjoying himself in his self-inflicted exile. I hope he appreciates the time difference."

Lina leaned forward. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, Alex. David and Fox left ..."

"When?!" Alexander stood bolt upright in fear.

"This morning. He said they were coming to help you."

Alexander figured the time difference in his head. This morning on Avalon could have been nearly three weeks ago. Which would mean ...

"Oh, God. Daddy's home!"