When Goliath woke that night, the first thing he noticed was the debris. There was dirt and broken plaster lying around everywhere, and cracks ran up the sides of the monastery. The others must have noticed the same thing as shouts of alarm began to ring out.
"There was an earthquake!" someone said.
Goliath first checked on Angela and Bronx.
"Are you alright," he asked his daughter.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on?" she asked puzzled. Bronx barked and sniffed around curiously, his large fan-like ears alert to the sounds around him.
"There's been an earthquake. We should check and see if anyone is injured," Goliath ordered and they split up to help.
Goliath found Tenzin who was busy checking in on his clan.
"Is everyone alright? Have there been any casualties?" Goliath asked.
"Only a few minor injuries. The monastery has extensive damage we will need to begin repairing immediately, and we still need to check the rest of the village for damage, but everyone is present and accounted for, except..."
Goliath and Tenzin spoke at the same time as they realized who was missing.
"Pema." "Elisa."
Goliath first checked Elisa's room in the dormitory which appeared to be relatively unscathed, but she was not there, nor was she anywhere in the village.
He had just returned to the monastery when he heard shouts about the rookery.
He rushed to help and found Tenzin and Tsering removing a large and very heavy wooden bookcase that had fallen over on top of the entrance to the rookery.
"Pema often likes to check on the eggs during the day," Tenzin said to him. "She could be trapped down there!"
"The eggs could be damaged!" Tsering said horrified at the thought.
Elisa could be down there as well, Goliath realized, knowing Pema and Elisa spent time together during the day.
He jumped in to help and they quickly cleared the way. Tenzin lifted the trapdoor, and with horror, they found it was flooded with water.
...
...
"Come on, Goliath. Hurry," Elisa begged. "Oh, please."
The water had risen up to her shoulders. She was freezing, shivering with cold and forced to hold the egg up over her head at this point.
The ice-cold water just kept rising, and her limbs felt like they were being stabbed with shards of glass.
And then the lanterns went out, drowned by the water, and she was plunged into total darkness. She couldn't see Pema anymore. She had no idea if she was still face up in the water, or if she had gone under like she had prevented all night long.
Her arms began to shake.
And then they started to ache.
She breathed consciously through her nose as she tried to focus on that instead of her arms.
If help didn't come soon she was going to drop the egg, and the other platform would soon be submerged.
Her arms began to shake violently, and a sob broke free.
And then she heard voices overhead.
"Down here!" Elisa shouted.
The water was up to her neck now.
There was a scraping sound and then light spilled in.
"Pema!" "Elisa!"
That was Tenzin and Goliath.
"We're here!" she shouted. Tears of relief slid down her face. Her arms shook with pain.
She couldn't feel her feet and legs anymore and she hurt everywhere else. Her arms were about to give.
"Hurry! The rookery...is full of water!" Elisa tried to shout, but she didn't have the strength anymore.
There was a splash and Tenzin leapt down into the water first, followed by Goliath and Tsering.
"Pema!" Tenzin lamented as he pulled her limp body out of the water.
"Goliath!" Elisa sobbed with relief. "Take it! Hurry!" she begged, spluttering out water. Goliath took the egg she held up over her head, and out of her aching arms.
Her whole body collapsed at that moment from exhaustion, and she slipped fully into the frigid water. Tsering snatched the egg out of Goliath's arms at the same time he reached for Elisa and scooped her up out of the water.
She spluttered and coughed and clung to him as he held her tightly to his chest.
"Th-there...was an earthquake. Pema...was...h-hurt…saving the eggs," Elisa managed to get out weakly through her chattering teeth.
"Where are the rest of the eggs?!" Tsering shouted, panicking.
"I put them...on the...ledge," Elisa said weakly. It was hard to speak, her teeth were chattering so hard she was worried she would chip a tooth.
Goliath and Tsering looked towards the expansion and found the eggs, just out of reach of the icy water.
"We need to get the eggs out of here!" Goliath ordered as he carried her with one arm and climbed up the ladder and out of the rookery.
Tenzin had already carried Pema up and out and had whisked her away to be attended to.
Elisa slumped against Goliath. She was shivering, and he noticed her face was ashen and her lips were blue. He had to get her warmed up and fast.
He looked for Angela, but she was busy with the egg rescue effort. A chain had formed as eggs were passed from inside the rookery and out into safety. Everyone was occupied saving the eggs, but he needed to save Elisa.
He had to get her dry and warmed up, and he quickly carried her to her room.
"Elisa," he said gently.
Her eyes opened briefly as she looked at him in response to him saying her name. Her eyes barely focused on him, and then she closed them again.
"Elisa, no, listen to me," he said as he stroked her cheek lightly with a talon. "You need to stay awake,"
"Mmmm," Elisa said in protest, but she opened her eyes.
"I have to get you out of your clothes, you're wet and hypothermic," he said urgently.
Elisa was shivering violently, but she nodded once.
He worked quickly, methodically, ignoring the fact that he was disrobing the woman he was in love with, and as soon as he had her clothes off he bundled her up in a wool blanket. He rubbed her limbs over the blanket as he attempted to get her blood going as best he could, then he built a fire in the small fire pit.
Her lips were still blue-tinged, but her cheeks were starting to flush with color again. He held her wrapped in the blanket next to the fire and rubbed her arms and legs, willing her to be warm, and after a while, she eventually stopped shivering.
"Goliath?" she said quietly, her voice tired.
"Yes?" he replied in a near whisper, relieved to hear her speak.
"Are the eggs ok?"
"Yes." He actually wasn't sure, but he knew they were doing all they could to save them, and she was in no state to worry about them.
"And Pema...is she ok?" Elisa said, finding it exhausting to talk right now, but she needed to know.
"I don't know. You did everything you could and more. You went above and beyond as you always do, my extraordinarily brave Elisa," Goliath said proudly.
"Not...so brave," Elisa said sleepily. "Or…I would…tell you."
"Tell me what?" he said as he stroked her still damp hair.
She didn't respond, and he realized she had fallen asleep, but she felt warm again which meant she was likely out of the danger zone, and as much as he wanted to stay there with her, he knew Tenzin and his clan would need help.
He indulged in another stroke of her hair as he tucked a loose strand behind her ear, and then he laid her on her bed and tucked blankets securely around her. Elisa mumbled incoherently.
He was just about to quietly slip out of the room when he heard her speak.
"Tell you…that I love you..." she mumbled sleepily.
Goliath paused, going absolutely still. He turned back.
"What did you say?" he said quietly.
There was no answer.
He stared at her for a long time, his heart racing, but she had only been talking in her sleep.
"I love you, too," he admitted, and then he left.
...
...
Elisa woke up a few hours later. She ached from head to toe, but nowhere else near as badly as her arms which felt like lead weights had been tied to them.
She sat up slowly and realized she had been undressed. She vaguely recalled Goliath carrying her to her room, and she blushed from head to toe at the thought that he had taken her clothes off. She looked for clothing, and found they had been laid out to dry by the fire, but they were still wet, so she slipped into a soft cotton robe Pema had loaned to her.
Sunset was a few hours away still, so she slipped out of her room and padded lightly down the hall toward Pema's quarters. She heard voices nearby and recognized the rumbling voice of Goliath amongst them. She followed the voices to Pema's room.
Goliath and Tsering were talking softly outside her door. Pema was resting, tucked into her bed. Tenzin by her side.
"Elisa! You are awake!" Tsering said joyfully.
Goliath had his back to her, and he quickly turned around at Tsering's announcement.
"You should be resting," he chastised gently.
Elisa slowly approached them. She was stiff and tired.
"How is she?" Elisa asked.
"She's alive, but she hasn't regained consciousness," Tsering explained.
"You should really go back to bed and rest," Goliath urged.
"The sun is going to come up soon, and I'm the only one who can watch Pema then. It's ok. I'm fine," she lied.
"You are not fine, Elisa, but I also know I have no way to stop you," Goliath said reproachfully, but there was a great deal of affection in his voice as well.
Elisa looked at Tenzin who was holding Pema's hand in his own.
"I will stay with her Tenzin," she said gently.
Tenzin looked up at her as if he had just noticed then that she had entered the room.
"Oh, Elisa…" he said. "Are you sure? You have already done so much–"
She nodded.
"It's fine. I want to be here for her when she wakes up," Elisa said, refusing to acknowledge the alternative.
"At least...she won't be alone if…" Tenzin stopped himself from speaking his greatest fear aloud, and a tear trickled down his face.
"She won't be alone, either way, Tenzin," Elisa said as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
Another tear trickled down his face, and he nodded slightly once.
He got up slowly, and then he stood outside Pema's door, along with Goliath and Tsering.
Dawn came, and Elisa began her long, lonely vigil.
...
...
She sat by Pema for hours, and she thought of everything she had taught her about love and life.
She had spent hours saving her and a bunch of gargoyle babies from dying in a cold, dark, flooded cavern.
And yet she was afraid to love the guy who was arguably the love of her life.
It really didn't make sense.
She sighed, and rested her arms and chin on her knees.
But what about Tsering? Was she doing him a disservice if she came between him and the possibility of a life with one of his own kind?
Didn't they both deserve that?
But Pema and Tenzin didn't seem concerned about that. They loved each other freely despite all of the challenges of an interspecies relationship and their increasing age difference.
She sighed with frustration.
Her thoughts were all jumbled.
Pema stirred and groaned.
Elisa sat up straight.
"Nngh…Tenzin?" she said quietly, her voice rough.
"He's asleep, but I'm here, Pema," Elisa said and took her hand.
"Elisa?" she said. "Oh, my head."
"You were hit by a falling rock in the rookery. Do you remember?"
"I don't…wait...there was an earthquake...the eggs!"
Pema tried to sit up, but Elisa gently pressed her back down.
"The eggs are fine," she said reassuringly.
"Oh thank goodness," Pema sighed gratefully.
"You saved them when you threw yourself between them and the falling rocks."
"They're our children...I couldn't let...anything happen to them," Pema said quietly.
Elisa held her hand and kept her company until evening came.
Tenzin was overjoyed, and he fawned and worried over Pema.
Goliath did the same to her, and Elisa feigned annoyance, but truly she was delighted to have his attention. He forced her back to her bedroom and brought her food and even helped her to eat when her arms hurt too much to lift them up to her mouth to feed herself. He stayed with her, speaking with her about nothing important as she drifted off to sleep.