Goliath, Bolin and Dingo rode together in the back of an open top cargo truck for the short trip to their destination.
Goliath took the opportunity to take a breath and calm himself. He had gone into his stone sleep worried about his family, and upon waking to the empty helicopter, he had been fearful as to what may have happened.
Being greeted by Dingo… Well, that had been unexpected.
On the short trip, Dingo had been introduced to Bolin, then immediately began filling the pair in on the welfare of the rest of their group. Dingo had personally checked on everyone before he had left before sunset.
The children were fine and resting comfortably in their own cabin.
Elisa had a bandage on her hand, but otherwise seemed unharmed. She had been resting in a hammock.
Fox, as best that they were able to put together, had hit her head during their hard landing, and had a concussion. She was being cared for by the doctor in their clinic, but had already been showing improvement.
"And complaining about being made to stay in her bed," Dingo chuckled. "Nice to know that some things never change."
The trucks slowed and came to a stop just outside the village, effectively halting further conversation.
As the engines silenced, Goliath heard the confused voices of the people who had been in the vehicles.
"What is happening?" Goliath asked Dingo.
"I don't know, but I'm about to find out," Dingo said, and leapt from the back of the truck.
Goliath and Bolin followed close behind. If this is where the others were, they wanted to make sure that they were in no danger.
Goliath took in the ring of small houses, the small water source in the center, and finally took in the large gathering of people on the far side. A bonfire had been lit, and the humans were moving to stand in a close ring around it.
As Goliath watched, a group of ten gargoyles, their skin colors ranging from a golden tan of the desert sands and the bold reds of the surrounding rocks, moved in to join the circle.
Goliath and Bolin stood back, unsure of what was happening, and if there was danger, where it lay.
Dingo approached the circle and a pair of elders approached him. After a brief conversation, a grim faced Dingo returned to the American gargoyles.
"Goliath, your people are safe, but there was a problem while I was gone," Dingo said. "Follow me," he said, leading the pair away from the gathering that was gradually gaining volume.
Dingo took them to the clinic building. Outside, standing guard at the door, was a large red male.
"Koa," Dingo called, raising an arm in greeting. "Thank you for staying. I have spoken with Talia. We are here now, and we'll take over. She would like you to join at the council meeting."
The male nodded, and silently left his post.
Dingo opened the doors and motioned Goliath and Bolin inside.
Goliath entered first, and had to act fast to catch his daughter as she flung herself into his arms. "Dad!" she all but shouted.
Liam came running next.
With his children in his arms, Goliath felt a measure of peace even with the chaos building outside.
"Where is your mother?" Goliath asked after a moment.
"Someone's looking at her hand," Liam said.
Goliath frowned. What had happened to her hand? She had been fine, physically, when he'd been forced to sleep.
Nayeli looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "I distracted mom," she admitted. "She was trying to break out a window, and I startled her. She cut her hand."
Liam broke in, "She would have been fine, Ellie, but she broke the cut open again fighting with that doctor guy."
Goliath looked from his son to his daughter, "Perhaps you should tell me what has happened."
Liam hurried through the explanation. How they had tried to rotate out taking care of Fox, trying the door and being unable to open it from the inside. Elisa breaking out the window to cool them off and get air, cutting her hand in the process and finally being able to fire the flares to signal for help. Finally, being rescued by Dingo and the others, being taken to the village, and going to sleep.
Then, waking to the doctor trying to take Nayeli's blood sample.
Goliath's arms tightened involuntarily around the shoulders of his children. He looked to Bolin who nodded, and stepped outside. Bolin would make sure that no one got near the family.
Goliath reached down and gently lifted Nayeli's arm for inspection, only to find that the wound had been covered with a bandage.
Nayeli lifted her arm and self-consciously covered it with her opposite hand.
"It's not bad, dad," she said. "It doesn't even hurt anymore."
"Pain or not," Goliath practically growled, "You should have been protected. Watched over. Where was your mother? Where was Dingo?"
"Dingo had just left with the others," Liam said. "To go get our things and help you find us here."
"Mom was asleep outside," Nayeli said. "She'd been awake all night so that Fox was taken care of and let us rest. She was really tired but wanted us to have the beds, so she slept outside. She was right outside the door, dad."
Goliath nodded. He had figured as much. Had Elisa been in the room while the event had actually been happening, he doubted the man would still be able to walk under his own power.
"You must be Goliath," a soft female voice said, and Goliath looked up to see a young human woman and an elder male gargoyle approaching from the curtained off areas in the rear.
"I am Jannali, the night nurse of the clinic here," the woman said, then motioning to the Gargoyle to her side. "This is Tau, a clan elder and healer."
The gargoyle offered his arm, and Goliath took it.
"It is an honor to meet you," Goliath said.
"And I you," the elder said, his voice low and rough with age.
"Your mate is this way," Jannali said with a small smile, turning to lead Goliath to the back.
He missed the disapproving look from the elder, but the children saw. They exchanged a silent look, then moved to follow their father.
"When Elisa's wound reopened," Jannali was saying, "it broke the temporary bandages that were holding it closed. When I unwrapped her hand to check on it, it gave the appearance of an infection. I have given her antibiotics intravenously, as well as a tetanus shot just to be safe. She was still a little dehydrated from her ordeal, but the IV should help with that as well."
Jannali swept back the curtain in a doorway and Goliath spotted his mate. She lay on a cot, her head propped up on a pillow and looking almost bored as she stared at the ceiling.
The movement in the doorway caught her attention, and she turned her head to see who was there.
She smiled instantly. "Hey, Big Guy," she said in a quiet voice.
He wondered at that, until he spotted a sleeping Fox on a cot on the other end of the room.
Careful to walk quietly, he strode to her side and caught up her uninjured hand. Kneeling to the side of the cot, he raised that hand to his brow and finally, finally felt as if he could breathe easy.
"Elisa," he said softly. "I am so glad that you… all of you… are safe."
"We'll be fine," Elisa hurried to assure him. "The kids are restless, though. We've basically been told, in no uncertain terms, that we were to stay here until you guys got here."
"That was a wise decision," Goliath said firmly. "I have already heard from our children what had happened before our arrival."
Elisa sighed. "I didn't even know," Elisa said. "I didn't know anyone was in there, with the kids, until it was too late." She ran a hand over her face. "I should have slept in the cottage with them. I could have slept on the floor. It just didn't occur to me that I would need to be there."
"It is not your fault," Goliath hurried to reassure her. "You had been awake all night, all day, and fought to get everyone to safety. That is more than enough for one to take on."
"You should have seen Liam, Goliath," Elisa said with pride. "By the time I got there, he already had the man subdued and on the ground. You would have been proud."
"I am proud," Goliath said. "Of all of you."
"What will happen?" Elisa asked. "To the doctor, I mean."
"He will stand before the tribe elders," Jannali said quietly as she entered the room. The swishing of the curtain was the only noise that she made, her feet gliding with a silent grace across the floor. "He will have to answer for what he has done. Once he has, the elders will decide his fate."
There was a sadness on her face that made Elisa ask, "You know him well?"
"He is my brother," Jannali answered, not making eye contact anymore. "Even when we were growing up, he did not like being here. It was too small. Too isolated. There were too many secrets," she sighed. "We were kept here, in these very cabins, most of our lives. We were born here, raised here and schooled here. I love it here, with the tribe and the gargoyles. My brother… He wants other things, and always has. He always will, I fear, and now he may have allowed his greed to take the choice to return from him."
Elisa frowned. "What do you mean?"
Jannali raised her gaze to meet Elisa's. "He has betrayed the trust of the tribe and broken his oath to care for those brought here. That is the only thing that the Nargun, the Gargoyles, have asked of us in return for their aid and protection. If he cannot justify what he has done or prove himself innocent of the crime, neither of which is possible as far as I can see, he may be banished."
"I am so sorry," Elisa told her.
Jannali shook her head. "It was nothing that you did. We had heard stories of your daughter, especially after the newscasts from around the world began showing her picture. When we heard that she was able to be awake during the day, a few of the ancient legends, ones so old I had never heard of, began to surface. The clan was hopeful to meet your Nayeli, the Child of Hope, someday. I hope you will not hold my brother's actions against the clan."
"Have you spoken to your brother?" Goliath asked. "Has he told you why he would do this thing?"
"He would not speak to me," Jannali admitted, "But he had already shouted his plan for all to hear. He wanted Nayeli's blood samples, and was going to sell the samples to the highest bidders. It was pure greed that drove his actions, and for that I am sorry. I would like to apologize for the actions of my brother toward your family."
"I have learned that the actions of one family member does not reflect the feelings and actions of all," Goliath said. "You have done nothing wrong, and have been treating my friend and family's wounds. I would be remiss if I did not thank you for what you have done."
"No thank you is necessary," the young woman said. "It is what we do. We care for and watch over each other and those who cross our lands."
"Mom?" Nayeli's hesitant voice called from the doorway an instant before the curtain moved. "Could Liam and I stay in here with you?"
"It's going to get crowded in here," Elisa murmured, but motioned her forward. "What's wrong?"
She hesitated, but finally admitted. "The elder doesn't seem to like us."
Jannali frowned a little. "Tau?"
"Yes," Liam said, entering behind his sister. "When Jannali called Mom your mate, he didn't look happy, Dad. He has basically ignored us since then."
"I wonder why?" Jannali said. "He is the most soft spoken and gentle of the healers. It is why I asked him to come and help instead of going to the meeting outside."
"Maybe it is because he is an elder," Elisa suggested. "Big Guy, we knew how others might think about us. Situations like this were always a possibility."
Goliath sighed. Yes, they had feared the reaction. The others had been so accepting, especially with Nayeli's birth, that he had almost forgotten.
"Give them time," Jannali said. "They have had a short time to even see you, and less time to talk with you upon waking because of what had happened."
Goliath sighed. "We will wait, and we will hope to speak with them all," he said, "but we will need to make arrangements to return home. We must contact Fox's family as well," Goliath pointed out.
"The sat phone!" Elisa burst out. "Did Dingo find the sat phone?"
"I do not know," Goliath admitted.
"We can go find out," Liam suggested. "Nayeli and I can grab Bolin, and find Dingo."
Elisa looked as if she were about to protest, but Goliath stopped her. "Only if you swear to stay with Bolin. Do not leave his side," Goliath warned.
"As if he would let us," Nayeli said with an exaggerated eye roll. "He's almost as bad as The Wing."
"C'mon, Ellie," Liam said, getting to his feet. "Let's go get some fresh air before they change their minds."