Two

The island inhibitors took flight on a strong gust from the high tide and then came fast at the boat. Goliath steadied himself as the fellow gargoyles swooped low. "Brothers!" Goliath shouted. "I am of your kind, there's no need to alarm!"

"For what reason do you come to these icy waters?" The deep voice growled back as wings cast shadows over the boat.

"We were led here!" Goliath replied. "By forces unknown to even us!"

There was a pause before the gargoyles in flight replied. "Meet us ashore!"

Goliath watched as the fellow creatures circled once more and then proceeded to glide back toward land. Elisa, Angela, and Bronx had remained very quite throughout all of this and when Goliath glanced back, saw that each were now standing.

"No worries." He assured them.

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Viola and Sebastian huddled into the sandy warmth with the large, speckled eggs. Sebastian stroked one of the eggs, as if to comfort it, when the motion was actually comforting himself. Viola waited patiently, her head on one of the eggs, and her knees in her grasp. Feste and Antonio waited with the guardians near the entrance to the cave, where roots of trees dug deep into the cavern.

"Fabian," Maria spoke after a few moments, "you and Valentine should go to see if everything's all right. Curio, we'll stay here with Viola and Sebastian."

Perking up at the sound of his name, Sebastian rose to his feet. "Is everything all right?"

"Sit down, Sebastian," Viola insisted, "everything will be fine, Duke will take care of us…he always will."

Sebastian turned on his sister with conviction. "Shut-up, Viola. I'm almost fifteen, I know what I'm doing."

Maria sighed and glanced back at the pair of gargoyles in front of her. "Go on, now."

Fabian and Valentine nodded solemnly and cautious escaped from the cavern. Turning, Maria went to the twins, quelling their fears. "Everything's fine. How about we turn the eggs?"

"Right, right, it's about that time." Curio agreed, wobbling over to the eggs. "Come on, now."

Biting his lip Sebastian scowled at Viola before going about the task Maria had suggested. Viola sat up, ignoring her brother's reaction, and started to go about doing her share of turning the eggs. Antonio licked at the salty sand on the turned eggs as Feste sniffed them with curiosity.

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When Goliath felt the jolt of land under his feet, he got out of the small boat and laid the paddle in it before offering his hand to Elisa and Angela. Bronx leapt onto dry land and began to shake off his weariness before growling at the approach of visitors.

Goliath froze and turned back to see a foursome of gargoyles approaching. The largest of the group, comparable to Goliath himself, was a hunter green with a black mane and gentle horns combined with his brow line. Beside the assumed leader, was a robust female, who was completely white, her wings tinged a soft grayish-blue, like her eyes. Between her eyes was a jewel of the same color, and she wore a red top with a matching loincloth.

"Welcome to Illyria."

Elisa felt the grip on her hand loosen slightly and she stepped from the boat, followed by Angela. "Thank you, friends." Goliath spoke as he noticed all eyes go to Elisa Maza.

"I am Duke, leader of this clan," the largest gargoyle introduced himself, "and this is my mate, Olivia. My predecessor is Toby, and his young companion, Andrew."

Toby belched loudly and Andrew tried to hold his chuckles in. Duke shot the pair an annoyed look and then continued the introduction. Toby was older, like Hudson, but probably twice the old gargoyle's weight. He had a full salt and pepper beard with similar looking hair and had a grayish tint to his skin. Andrew was shorter than Toby, with dark blue coloring and dark brown hair. Out of the four of them, he looked nearly human. "Your clan is no larger than my own." Goliath replied. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Goliath, this is Angela, and my human companion is Elisa Maza. The beast is Bronx."

"You must be famished after such a journey." Olivia insisted. "Come warm yourself by our fire while we bring you something to eat."

The sound of wind being cut by wings came to everyone's ears as two new gargoyles arrived. "Who are our guests, Duke?"

"Fabian, Valentine, come meet Goliath and his Manhunter—"

"Manhatten."

"Manhatten," Duke repeated, "yes, Manhatten clan. His beast, Bronx, his friend Eliza Maza and Angela, his…mate?"

Angela spoke up to disprove such a notion. "Oh no, he's…he's my elder."

"Do forgive me, my lady."

Fabian puffed up his chest a bit and smirked as Valentine gave her new competition a glare. Fabian had gray skin, like Toby, with a human-like appearance as Andrew did, but his hair was long and blonde. Valentine was a deep, crimson red, with curly dark hair that matched her dark eyes.

"Pleased to meet you all." Goliath replied.

After a brief exchange of kindness, the group moved to the fire. "Valentine, come help me prepare something for our guests." Olivia insisted, leaving all of the males to speak with the new arrivals.

Valentine silently glared at Angela and followed Olivia without question. When Olivia and Valentine were out of earshot, the elder of the gargoyles turned to her crimson skinned friend. "When you go to fetch some of our reserves, go to the Maria and Curio," Olivia insisted, "tell her that neither she nor the Sinclairs are not to be seen until our guests have gone."

With a nod, Valentine spread her wings. "I'll return as soon as I can."

Olivia glanced back at the fire, her eyes alight with worry. What did the sea have in store for the Sinclairs?

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Maria heard the sound of wings and instantly went to the entrance of the cavern. She felt the brush of the wind as leaves scattered from the landing above, and then Valentine appeared. "Send up some salted fish."

Curio came over as well, curious as to what happened. "What's going on up there?"

"Gargoyles from a place called 'Manhattan'." Valentine replied. "Olivia gave orders that neither you two nor the Sinclairs are to exit the haven."

"What!" Curio squawked. "That's not fair!"

Frowning at the demand, Maria then nodded. "Give me a second."

Maria turned and went to the back of the cave where Viola and Sebastian now slept atop the warm eggs. She retrieved a net full of fish and went back to Valentine, handing the fish up through the roots.

"See you before morning's first light."

Valentine disappeared into the darkness and Maria glanced at Curio. "Do you feel kind of shunted, too?" Curio asked and when Maria rolled her eyes he shrugged. "I thought so."

Valentine flew through the low hanging smoke and then swooped below it, landing at the site of the newcomers. "Thank you, Valentine," Olivia appeared, taking the net and going to the fire, "the fish are meager this year, forgive their size."

"Spare what little you can for us," Goliath assured, his dark eyes kind, "we don't need much."

Bronx barked with impatience and Goliath laughed, patting the beast's head. Off in the distance, the bark was replied and Bronx's ears went up with delight. "Wild dogs." Duke said. "Marooned here by sailors."

Elisa became suspicious, but said nothing as Goliath went about explaining their journey. "There are really other clans?" Fabian asked with curiosity.

"Yes," Goliath replied, "there are clans on Avalon, in Japan, in Brazil—"

"Avalon?" Duke scoffed. "That's just a myth."

"Aye, boy, didn't I tell you that Avalon was a truth?" The old gargoyle Toby grunted. "The elders' stories aren't to be taken so lightly."

Proven wrong, Duke laughed. "All right, old one."

"You should hear half of the stories he tells." Andrew agreed. "What I wouldn't give for them to be true."

"They're all true!"

"Sure as my name's Feste." Fabian retorted. "Like there's three mystical witches that go around cursing people for their faults."

Andrew joined in again. "Yeah, he had me at the part where some guy named MacBeth lived forever and ever."

"His stories are true." Goliath replied in defense of the eldest of the gargoyles. "There are three sister witches and a man named MacBeth was cursed by them to live forever."

Andrew and Fabian went silent, exchanging bewildered glances. "Boy, what a curse." Valentine snorted with sarcasm. "I bet he has lots of trouble being immortal."

"I'm sure it's rather frustrating to see those you love live and die." Duke said, diligently watching Olivia. "Think of the loneliness."

Goliath glanced at his companions and then back at the other gargoyles. On the horizon, a tinge of yellow could be seen.