Chamberlain slept until well into the afternoon. The shade from the tree had blocked suns' rays from waking him up. He yawned and got up. He looked over to make sure it hadn't been a dream. Brooklyn was still there, posing in his stone sleep.
Now that he was up for the day, Chamberlain went to find some water. He was thirsty and getting hungry by the minute. Some water would help until he could find some food.
After drinking his fill from a water hole, Chamberlain wondered what he was going to do for food. He wasn't the best hunter. That was the Garthim's job. Not his.
He took note of the surroundings and went looking for some animals to try to catch if he could, but otherwise would try for plants if he had to.
In the end, he had to settle on the plants. Animals kept on getting away from him. He finished his meal and went back to Brooklyn. The big sun was setting first. His hunting had taken the rest of the day.
Then the yellow sun. "One more sun to set." Chamberlain said out loud. He was anxious for Brooklyn to wake up and give him someone to talk to again.
Finally, the little sun set! Chamberlain waited for Brooklyn to snap out of it. "Wake up, Brooklyn!" He said.
Now he heard a cracking noise, then growling. He backed away. He noticed cracking on the stone. What was happening? Was he breaking? Then the eyes glowed bright white. He fell to the ground in shock as stone fragments splintered off the gargoyle. He closed his eyes to protect them.
Brooklyn roared as his stone skin came off. He stretched and yawned. Then his eyes returned to normal. He looked around and saw Chamberlain on the ground. "You okay?" He asked.
Chamberlain lowered his arm. He was still in shock. "You…?"
"Yes?"
"Your eyes glowed! Skin cracked! Thought you break!"
"Of course! My stone skin does that every sunset Chamberlain. It does no harm to me. My eyes do glow with the adrenaline that it causes. They also glow when I get mad. Pain involved too." Brooklyn said. "And my wound is now gone!" He glanced down.
The Skeksis looked too. His eyes were used to the dark. But there was still some light yet. He saw that the wound was gone! "That's incredible! Never seen that fast of healing!"
"Our kind calls it the 'concrete cure.'" Brooklyn said happily.
"And no scar."
"Nope. No scar. Except maybe when we get really old. Then there might be scars. Hudson sure has quite a lot, being the oldest in my clan."
"I did want to ask, what are your clan's names?"
"My friends you mean?"
"Yes."
"Goliath, he's our leader, he's purple colored with almost black hair; Angela is his daughter, she has the same colors, but her mother's female looks, I hate her mother, Demona; I'm the second in command; Lexington is green and is the smartest of us; Broadway is our cook, he's a blue-green; Hudson is our oldest, was the leader before he passed it to Goliath, he's also brownish; and Bronx is kind of like our dog or pet, he's all blue. He's the only one without wings."
"All different colors. What about Demona?"
"I hate her! She nearly tried to kill me and the clan many times! She's not part of the clan. Though she was one of the survivors of our clan's massacre. She has red hair, blue skin, and purple wings." Brooklyn said. "She's also immortal."
Brooklyn looked at the Skeksis. He was clearly intrigued. He had Chamberlain's attention now. "What?"
"How is she immortal?" Chamberlain asked.
"Magic. Sorcery." He said. "Magical beings helped her. She was also able to become human in the daylight. And being our enemy, all but Angela, she would love to kill us in our sleep."
"I'm sure so many of my clan would want me dead too. I never got respect from them. They were happy to see me banished." Chamberlain said.
"And who are your clan mates?"
"SkekUng the General is the new Emperor, Zok the High Priest, Shod the Treasurer, Ok the Scroll Keeper, Tek the Scientist, Ekt the Ornamentalist, Na the Slave Master, and Ayuk the Gourmand." Chamberlain said. "We had lost our other Emperor. I wanted that role so bad. I fought and lost in the Trial by Stone."
"I'm next in line to be leader if something would happen to Goliath. But I'm not in a hurry. I did have that role once, when he, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx were on a quest. But I let him have it back when they came home again."
"Who is Elisa?"
"She's a human friend and ally of ours. One of very few." Brooklyn said. "Despite being different, I would say she and Goliath are a pair after Goliath wasn't with Demona anymore, when we found out she had turned to evil."
"So do you think you can catch food?" Chamberlain asked.
"I can. But I don't do it often. I'm used to just having food at home and eating when I want to."
"Same here. But the Skeksis are not good hunters. The Garthim do our hunting for food for us." Chamberlain said. "Hungry?"
"I've actually been that way too since I got here, but the wound last night took my mind off of it." Brooklyn said. "Why don't we just go back to your castle instead. I really don't want to kill anything. I would rather eat fruit before killing something."
"I had to eat plants earlier. Though not my idea of a good meal. Must eat meat." Chamberlain said.
"I will eat meat, but like I said. I don't want to kill anything. These creatures have a right to live too. And most humans deny animals on Earth their right to exist."
Chamberlain felt that the more he listened, the more his kind had in common with these humans. "Could us Skeksis help with it?"
"No. Humans would do the same to you too. You would have to live in shadows, stay hidden to stay alive." Brooklyn said. "They would kill you! They have weapons that can kill on contact! Humans just fear things they don't understand."
"Ok."
"Ok, let's go to your castle."
"I don't know."
"You said the Crystal could send me home."
"Yes."
"Then let's go. Which way?"
Chamberlain pointed east. "I walked a long way. Feet hurt."
"Oh I could take care of that. If we find a cliff, I could glide us to your castle. A lot faster." Brooklyn suggested. "Not afraid of heights, are you?"
"No." Chamberlain tried to deny it.
"Ok. Now I need to have a cliff to take off of. I can't just take off." Brooklyn said.
They looked for a small while and soon came to a big rock. "That rock will work fine." The gargoyle said. They walked over to it. "Wait here."
Chamberlain watched as Brooklyn climbed up a tree. Then he jumped down. "The wind has good up and down drafts. I could deal with that."
"Ok." The Skeksis said, a little fear in his voice.
"What? You sound like you're afraid." Brooklyn said.
"Just never flown." Chamberlain said.
"I promise, I won't drop you, and the secret is don't look down. You can cover your eyes if you want to."
"I think that be best for me." Chamberlain said. "But how I go?"
"I said I would carry you. You can ride on my back, but don't strangle my neck. Just hold on to my shoulders."
Chamberlain tried to get on then, but Brooklyn said to wait until up on the rock. They got up there, then Brooklyn lowered his height a bit for the Skeksis to grab hold of his shoulders, then he lifted himself up again. "If you don't mind Chamberlain, but first on take off, I need to have a hold under your legs."
"As long as you not pull something." SkekSil said seriously.
"I won't." Brooklyn smiled. He and Chamberlain walked toward the edge now. Now he leaned down and he reached back for Chamberlain's legs.
Chamberlain found it disconcerting, but let him. He had permission.
Brooklyn lifted his friend off the ground a bit. Now he was on the edge. "Close your eyes." He did.
Now the gargoyle gave a leap and jumped off the rock.
Chamberlain felt a jump and a rush of air in his face. He opened his eyes at the shock of it. He saw the landscape going by faster now, and Brooklyn was going higher. He was lifting into the air! He couldn't help but open his mouth in shock.
The Skeksis was a good light weight for someone nearly Brooklyn's height. So that's why Brooklyn could carry him. At least right now, Chamberlain didn't have the weight of his heavy robes at the moment. They would be back at the Castle in no time, traveling this way.
