Tsering thought about rejoining the party, but she was too heartbroken at the moment.

Not about Goliath. She knew there hadn't been much hope there, but telling him about Rinchen had stirred up old feelings that had never healed.

She tried not to think of Rinchen over the years. She pushed memories of the only night they had shared together deep down, the ecstasy of it and then the agony of forced separation afterwards.

She wandered through the village and found herself at the monastery. She tried to meditate for a time, hoping to find solace, but she found none.

She decided to check on the rookery.

She knew gargoyles weren't supposed to be possessive over their own egg, but she found she could not help it. Especially after what happened a week ago.

No one else knew, but she knew. She recognized the pattern of spots on the egg's shell.

Hers and Rinchen's egg.

No one had known who had sired her egg, she had kept that secret.

Many suspected it had been Tenzin.

Many had asked, but she would never give up Rinchen's name.

She caressed the egg tenderly. It was the same one Elisa had personally held up out of the water to save. If she had known Goliath was in love with her, she never would have tried to court him away from her.

She had saved her egg, after all.

She had saved all of their children.

The rookery had been repaired and reinforced and some changes made so that it could not flood again, and the eggs had been tenderly returned to their place until they hatched in two years.

She had just come back up from the rookery and passed the archives when someone called to her.

"Tsering!"

She whirled towards the sound of Rinchen's voice. Her heart pounded with excitement anytime he was near, and also trepidation.

"What do you want, Rinchen?" she said dejectedly.

"Tsering, please do not leave," Rinchen said, anguished. "I am begging you."

"Why would you think I am leaving?" Tsering said, confused.

"To be with Goliath," Rinchen replied.

"I am not leaving, Rinchen," Tsering said sadly. "This is my home as much as I wish to leave sometimes."

She walked away from him.

"Then...you do not love him?"

"No," Tsering replied wearily. "No. Though I tried. I have tried so hard to forget you."

Rinchen took her hand and pulled her into one of the archive rooms.

"I have tried as well," he said as he held her hands tightly. "And I have been miserable every day because of it."

"I don't know what to do, Rin," Tsering lamented, shortening his name affectionately. "I cannot move on. I have tried–"

"Then let's leave together! We can go with Goliath and Elisa."

"We can't! You know what would happen! We have lived here our whole lives, Rin!"

"Then I will leave my position. I'll leave the order and take whatever punishment Tenzin gives me. Nothing will be as painful as the hell I have been in without you."

"Why didn't you leave before?" she hissed and she shoved him angrily. "I didn't tell anyone it was you who fathered the egg, and I had to face the constant murmurs and disgrace alone!"

"I am so sorry, Tsering! I was a coward. Tenzin knew. He made me choose...and I'm so sorry. I should have chosen you...I love what I do, but I love you more. I can't lose you, Tsering!"

"I can't do this without you anymore, Rin," Tsering said as she rested her forehead on his chest.

He put his arms around her and pulled her tightly to him.

"I will face Tenzin's punishment for breaking my vows. I don't care anymore what happens, I love you. I want to be with you."

"I…I love you, too," Tsering said, and she put her arms around him.

Rinchen sighed and wrapped his wings around her. He stroked her head, his talons dragging through her golden feathers, and she leaned into him as his hands moved lower, down her neck and back. He touched the struts of her wings and she purred passionately. Her hands went to his sash as his went to hers, quickly untying and opening their tunics.

He lifted her up against the bookcase as she cried out passionately for him.

"Rin..." Tsering sighed lovingly as she caressed his head. He found her tail with his.

"What is the meaning of this?!" a voice demanded.

They both turned toward the voice and found Norbu standing in the doorway, glaring angrily at them.

They scrambled to get their clothes back in place.

"Norbu, just stay out of this," Rinchen growled.

"You have broken your vows!" Norbu said angrily.

"I broke them a long time ago!" Rinchen growled. "And this is none of your concern, acolyte ," Rinchen snapped.

Norbu bristled.

He hated being spoken down to like that.

He hated being condescended to, and he growled, his eyes blazing white, and lunged angrily at the two of them.

...

...

Goliath ran with Angela to the monastery. As they got closer, he could hear the sounds of fighting, of low growls and punches landing hard.

Rinchen and Norbu were bloody and bruised, growling and snarling viciously as they landed blow upon blow on each other.

"Stop this!" Goliath yelled as he threw himself between them. He grabbed Rinchen by the shoulders and pulled him off of the other gargoyle. Norbu had been in the middle of a punch and was unable to pull back before his fist connected with the side of Goliath's face. He had been tiring so the blow was not as strong as it could have been, but it still stunned Goliath for a moment.

He growled threateningly at Norbu, forcing the young male to retreat back. Goliath was a lot bigger and a lot stronger than he was. Rinchen returned to the fray, baring his fangs and ready to attack again, but Goliath grabbed him by his tunic and hauled him back roughly.

"What is the meaning of this?" he growled.

Norbu was gasping for breath as was Rinchen.

"Rinchen should be stripped of his position and banished from the clan!" Norbu growled.

The fight had started to draw attention and other gargoyles were filtering in.

"On what grounds?" Goliath said, working as a mediator.

"I found him fornicating with Tsering!" he spat.

"What is going on here?" Tenzin growled as he stormed through the crowd, Pema behind him.

Tsering was nursing what looked like a broken arm, and he looked at his second and then to the two males.

"Who has done this to Tsering?!" he snarled. "Who dares to attack our own?!"

"It was Norbu," Tsering hissed. "He attacked me and Rinchen unprovoked."

"Norbu, you have attacked a fellow monk and my second, what defense do you have for this outrageous behavior?"

Norbu wiped at his broken nose, smearing blood across his face.

Angela looked at him distastefully.

"I found Tsering and Rinchen mating in the archives," he said, his tone disgusted.

There were murmurs through the crowd.

"So you attacked them? There is no call for violence over such a thing," Tenzin snarled.

"Rinchen broke his vows!"

"I did, and I am not ashamed of it!" Rinchen growled back. "I love Tsering! She is my mate, and I will not be a coward anymore!"

There were several gasps and mutters.

"It is not your place to be judge and jury as an acolyte, Norbu," Tenzin said coldly to the young gargoyle monk. "You should have come to me."

Norbu looked away, and he wiped more blood from his nose.

"As for you, two," Tenzin said glaring with disappointment at Rinchen and Tsering. "Go to the infirmary. I'll have Dorma meet you there. I will deal with you later."

Tenzin then turned to Norbu. His rage barely contained.

"And you...come with me," he growled and marched off towards his study.

Norbu followed reluctantly, his wings drooping behind him.

Tsering and Rinchen hobbled off together in the opposite direction, his arm gently around her waist as she leaned into him.

"What vows did Rinchen break?" Angela asked Pema.

"His vows of celibacy," she replied. "When acolytes reach the age of forty, they take their vows, never to take a mate, and elevate to full monk status."

Angela was surprised. Monks were supposed to be celibate?

She and Norbu were thirty-eight. He hadn't taken his final vows yet.

He hadn't broken any vows when he had tried to coerce her into satisfying his needs.

But then why did she feel so dirty and used?

Elisa came jogging up at that point. She'd changed into her usual jeans and t-shirt, but she still had a rather rumpled look about her, and an unmistakable glow in her cheeks.

"What did I miss?" she said somewhat breathlessly.

Pema grinned at her.

"We have much to talk about later," she said and winked at her. "I am going to help Dorma in the infirmary."

Then she hustled off in the same direction as Tsering and Rinchen.

"Norbu caught Tsering and Rinchen mating and a fight broke out." Goliath explained.

Elisa looked perplexed.

"Wait. Tsering and Rinchen? That girl gets around," she snarked.

"Do not be hard on her. It's complicated, and desperate people do desperate things," Goliath explained gently.

"It's like a god-damn soap opera around here," Elisa muttered. "Hey, Angela, you ok?"

Angela jumped as if she had forgotten that anyone was around her. The rest of the clan had wandered off at this point, the drama over.

"Yeah. I'm alright…" she said, and then her chin quivered. "Actually...no. I'm not alright. Something happened with Norbu that I'm really ashamed about."

Elisa and Goliath looked at each other, and Goliath's face darkened.

"You can talk to us Angela, it's ok. What happened?" Elisa pressed gently.

She tearfully told them what had happened on the mountain with Norbu.

Goliath remained silent the whole time, and when Angela finished he stormed off without saying a word.

"Is he mad at me?" Angela asked Elisa tearfully.

"No, in fact, I would hate to be Norbu right now," Elisa said wryly. "You actually clocked him?"

Angela nodded.

Elisa hugged the young female reassuringly.

"Good job," she said gently.

...

...

"I need to speak with you about Norbu," Goliath growled as he barged into Tenzin's study.

Tenzin was slumped over his desk, his head in his hands.

"What has he done now?" Tenzin groaned as he lifted his head up.

"He tried to take advantage of Angela."

"Tried to take advantage of her? How exactly? Is she OK? When did this happen?" he said alarmed.

"Over a week ago. Angela was raised by humans, and is naive in a lot of our ways. Norbu tried to take advantage of her naivety and use her to gratify himself."

"And he called Rinchen out for breaking his vows," Tenzin muttered "Tell me exactly what happened. I will take your word for it so that Angela does not have to retell the experience."

Goliath explained what his daughter had told him about the hunting incident.

Tenzin growled.

"A week ago, another female came to me and told me he had tried something similar with her a while back. It took her a while to work up the courage to tell me. I was going to make him take an additional five years as an acolyte as penance, and to never be in the monastery at the same time as the young female, but I think he should be stripped of his position entirely," Tenzin said. "His behavior is completely unacceptable."

"In my clan, this would have been a banishable offense, at least temporarily," Goliath growled.

"This is not your clan, Goliath," Tenzin reminded him. "And I already have quite the conundrum on my hands."

"Your second and Rinchen?"

Tenzin nodded.

Goliath sighed.

"Do you need a sympathetic ear or a word of advice?"

Tenzin huffed a short bitter laugh.

"I may need both."

Goliath nodded and took a seat.

"I knew about the two of them...long ago. I knew Rinchen had sired an egg with Tsering, but I felt like a hypocrite telling them what they should not do, and the deed was done, and I saw how much they tried to make it right, how they tried to avoid each other despite how much they loved each other, and I thought that was penance enough."

"Unfortunately, it has made them both act rather desperately."

"I confronted Rinchen years ago, when I knew he had mated with Tsering. I gave him the choice of staying with the order or being with Tsering. He wanted both, but he could not have both, so he chose the order. I think it's safe to say he has changed his mind."

"Why can he not have both?"

"Centuries of tradition. It is just not the way things are done here."

"The bond from mating...you know how strong it is, the fact that they have managed this long...it shows their character."

Tenzin nodded.

"There is what my heart wants to do, what my heart feels is right, but my head does not want to break with tradition." Tenzin lamented.

"It's a tough choice. I understand that. My clan had to make a lot of changes when we woke up in Manhattan. Adjusting to new technology, a new culture...names," he laughed softly. "Some changes were easier than others, but we had to make them to adapt."

Tenzin sighed and looked at Goliath, and his face became sorrowful.

"I fear hurting my clan."

"They're already hurting, Tenzin. Just look at Tsering and Rinchen."

"I know…it is just…there are those in my clan who think strongly that I am not fit to lead due to my relationship with Pema, and because of Tsering. When Rinchen broke his vows with her during the breeding season, there were rumors that I had sired her egg because of our close relationship. I have largely ignored the rumors, fearing addressing them would only give them more credence and lead to more speculation, and if I handle this poorly, I could have a coup on my hands," Tenzin said as he glanced down at his desk.

"I understand your plight, Tenzin, but doing the right thing is never easy, and you know what the right thing is here."

Tenzin nodded slightly and sighed.

"There's another reason why monks are required to be celibate. Long ago, we feared outgrowing our valley and our limited resources, so we required the monks to be celibate. Three males and three females are chosen from every generation for this purpose."

"If you are worried about your numbers, you can isolate yourselves during the last breeding cycle like the London clan does, like you require the monks to do, but forcing two gargoyles apart who love each other, who have already mated, it's just cruel, Tenzin."

The Shambahla clan leader sighed.

"I know," he said.

Tenzin looked at him, his eyes regretful.

"Pema told me, by the way, about you and Elisa. I suppose congratulations are in order."

Goliath purpled.

"Er, thank you. Word...gets around fast, it would seem," Goliath grumbled.

"Pema witnessed Tsering's desperate attempt to seduce you earlier...and her failure. When she couldn't find Elisa afterwards, she worried that she had seen the same thing and possibly misinterpreted it. She went to check on her, and well, you weren't exactly being quiet," Tenzin said with a grin. "She left immediately when she realized what was going on. She was quite excited to tell me."

"I apologize for the indiscretion," Goliath said embarrassed.

"No need to apologize...that is not the issue," Tenzin said dismissively.

"But there is an issue? That surprises me, all things considered…"

Tenzin looked remorsefully at him.

"Pema was really excited that you and Elisa had mated until I reminded her that you were leaving tomorrow."

Goliath's brow furrowed with confusion.

"Why would that affect my relationship with Elisa?"

"There is something we have not told you about Shambahla."

"What is it?"

"There is a reason no one knows of this place, despite the number of people who have come here over the centuries. When you leave, the enchantment blocks all memories of this place. Everyone you have met here, everything that happened...you will forget as soon as you step foot out of this valley."

"What?!" Goliath said horrified as the implications of Tenzin's words set in.

"I am sorry. I truly wish there was something we could do. We do not want you to forget about us, but there is nothing to be done. We don't even know how to remove the spell around the valley. The knowledge of it has been lost to us for centuries."

"Stars…" Goliath lamented. "I will forget that Elisa is my mate."

"If I had known you two would work so quickly," he huffed and shook his head. "I should have warned you, but I also wanted to spare you the pain, and I think we have created more for you because we kept it from you."

Goliath leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his head buried in his hands, raking his talons through his hair.

"There has to be a way!" he said as he looked up at Tenzin.

"Trust me...everything has been tried."

"I have to tell Elisa," Goliath said, and he stood up to leave.

"I am very sorry, Goliath. I only hope this is a minor setback for you two, but I am sorry about it nonetheless."

Goliath didn't say another word, he left Tenzin in his office to worry about his own problems. He had his own.

He found Elisa talking quietly with Angela on a bench in the archives where he had left them earlier.

"Elisa, I need to speak with you,"

"Okay," Elisa said, concerned by his urgency as he pulled her aside to talk. "Is this about Norbu? God, I'd like to wipe the floor with him–"

"No, Elisa, this has to do with us…"

"Us? Goliath, what is it?" Elisa said.

So, he told her.

"Hold on! No!" Elisa shouted. "We won't remember anything of Shambahla? Or anyone? Nothing that happened here…at all?!"

She'd had her memory wiped before and she was not eager to relive the experience.

"I don't even know what to do, Elisa, I don't want to forget, I don't want to lose you," Goliath bemoaned.

"Oh, god!" she cried out with despair, and Goliath put his arms around her.

"We have to do something! We have to figure out a way to break the spell! There's no way! We've worked too hard to get where we are now to just have it all ripped away!" Elisa shouted angrily, and then her anger turned into sorrow, and she burst into tears. "I finally have you, and now you're going to be taken from me?"

"Is everything ok?" Angela asked, concerned about Elisa's outburst.

Goliath turned to his daughter and told her what Tenzin had told him.

She didn't mind forgetting about Norbu, but she felt sorry for her father and Elisa, and she left them alone to talk about it and went to help Pema in whatever way she could. There was probably some clean up needed in the dining hall at the very least.

"I know we are supposed to leave tomorrow, but I want one more day, Elisa," Goliath said as he pressed his brow to hers. "One more day to be with you, to love you, before...we go back to the way things were."

Elisa pressed herself to him, holding him tightly.

She nodded, and held him like she was worried he would disappear right then if she didn't.