The sky was darkened by a sea of grey clouds as large waves crashed onto the sides of a steep cliff. Lightning danced across the sky, providing illumination to the five travelers in their little boat. The sudden shift from the calm waters of Avalon to this choppy storm had thrown them off, nearly throwing one or two of them overboard.
"I've never seen a storm like this!" Angela commented. "It was always summer in Avalon!"
"Trust me, the real world likes to throw curveballs like this." Willow informed her.
"Here's another one." Elisa spoke up. "I have no idea where we are. There aren't any cliffs like this back home."
"There are in my home." Goliath answered. "My old one at least."
"Wait… are you saying these are the cliffs of Wyvern?" Willow asked.
"The very same." Goliath confirmed. "Though why Avalon would send us here, I have no idea."
It was then that two tornados rose from the water, closing in on the tiny boat as if directed there by the hands of fate. Thankfully, Angela's steering skills were enough that they avoided capsizing. Even so, the storm was growing worse, and the winds and waves threatened to smash them against the unforgiving stone. Bronx covered his head in fear as the storm raged on, the others clinging to the boat in desperation.
"Angela, aim for the opening in the cliff!" Goliath demanded, pointing straight ahead.
Angela complied and steered the boat towards a hole in the cliffside.
"Hold on!" Goliath called out as the boat was pushed forward by an oncoming wave.
The small boat just barely made it into the cave, the water finally settling down to the point that they could safely disembark. Both Elisa and Willow dropped to their knees, looking a little green around the gills.
"Now that was an E-Ticket ride." Elisa remarked.
"Yeah, one I do not want to ride again." Willow insisted.
Bronx just whimpered in disapproval at the whole prospect.
"Perhaps we should wait out the storm in here." Angela suggested. "Then we can return to Avalon and find your 'Manhattan' Island."
"When the tide comes in, this cavern will be underwater." Goliath informed. "We must move to higher ground."
Willow groaned, but straightened up and shimmered into her gargoyle form. As she began climbing up, Goliath pulled Elisa onto his back, he, Angela, and Bronx following after her. By the time they reached the top, it had begun pouring down rain, drenching the five travelers to the bone.
"So much for avoiding being underwater." Willow quipped. "Goliath, where can we find shelter?"
Goliath was about to answer, but something caught his eye. The sight of his former castle, standing as proud and strong as it did over a thousand years ago. He blinked, rubbing his eye before looking again. This time, all he saw was the empty crater where the castle once stood.
"Goliath, you ok?" Willow asked, sounding a little more concerned.
"Yes..." he replied after a minute. "It's just… old memories."
"This is where the castle used to be, isn't it?" Elisa guessed.
"Yes." Goliath answered. "Now all that remains are shadows."
Forgetting shelter for the moment, the travels walked towards the edge of the crater. The cold and the wet chilled everyone to the bone, but Goliath couldn't help but feel there was something unearthly at work.
"So this was the site of our ancestral home." Angela mused before catching sight of a strange cavern opening. "What was that?"
The group gathered around the entrance, Goliath's gaze a million miles away, and a thousand years in the past.
"The Rookery." Goliath answered. "I was hatched here. With my brothers and sisters."
"I may have lived in the castle back in Manhattan, but something tells me it was different here." Willow remarked.
"It was." Goliath replied. "Angela and the others were but eggs when Princess Katharine took them. It was here I knew their guardian Tom, when he was just a lad."
Angela looked around dreamily, as if imagining what it might have been like.
"It must have been beautiful." She let out.
"Goliath…" a voice called out.
Goliath reeled back, recognizing the voice as Demona's. A timely howl from Bronx and a crack of thunder had his senses spinning out of control.
"Come to me..." Demona's voice beckoned.
Elisa was the first to notice Goliath's strange behavior, grabbing him by the arm.
"Goliath?" she questioned, drawing the others' attention. "Is everything alright?"
"What's wrong?" Willow asked.
Before any answers could be given, a stray lightning strike hit a nearby tree, setting it ablaze. The flaming embers rained down on the group, causing them to scatter to avoid getting hit.
"Goliath!" Angela exclaimed. "We can't stay here!"
"Angela's right." Willow agreed. "If we stay here, this storm will get all of us."
"Didn't you say there were caves around here?" Elisa inquired.
Goliath shook his head, returning to reality before turning away from the Rookery.
"Yes," He confirmed. "This way."
He turned and began walking away, the rest of the group exchanging confused and worried looks before following after him. After a bit of walking, the found a suitable cave they could use to weather out the storm. Once they were inside, Willow returned to her human form before both she and Elisa shrugged out of their coats, wringing them out to try and dry them off.
"Not exactly homey." Elisa remarked.
"What is this place, Goliath?" Willow questioned.
"Catacombs once occupied by the Archmage," Goliath answered. "Where he made what we thought was his last stand."
He noted a buried axe on the ground and picked up, feeling the edge.
"The Vikings made camp here the night before they sacked the castle." Goliath continued, tossing the axe aside.
"The day of the Massacre..." Willow recalled.
"The day they destroyed my clan." Goliath snarled. "And the night that came after, I had to choose between life and revenge."
Willow looked at Goliath, seeing the ancient anger etched into his features.
"The Tale never spoke of what happened." she explained. "What… what did you do?"
"Hakon, leader of the Vikings, and the Captain of the guard had dragged the Princess to the cliff." he explained. "They planned to throw her over the edge when I landed. Upon seeing the man I once called friend by the side of my clan's murderers, I was lost to my rage. I wanted nothing more than to end their lives with my own hands."
He looked down at his claws, clenching his fists.
"But in the end, my vengeance was stolen from me." he lamented. "The Captain tackled Hakon over the edge of the cliff, nearly taking the Princess with them. I chose to save her, and the two fell to their deaths."
"You made the right choice, Goliath." Willow reassured.
"She's right." Angela agreed. "If you hadn't saved Princess Katharine, then my Rookery kin and I would have never been hatched."
"Still, I wanted revenge." Goliath let out, a slight glow to his eyes.
"Revenge wouldn't have brought any of them back." Elisa insisted. "I know back then you weren't above taking lives to protect your home, but there's a difference between killing for self-defense and doing it out of hatred."
"If you had killed them, it would have made you no better than them." Willow agreed.
"It wasn't supposed to be this way!" a new voice called out, getting Goliath's attention.
"He's the one you want!" A second voice insisted. "He shattered them!"
Goliath slowly walked towards where he thought the voices were coming from, much to everyone's dismay. That's when a high scream rang out, catching Goliath off guard.
"Princess!" he cried out.
Bronx let out a growl, sniffing the air and looking genuinely confused and on edge. The entire group then jumped at the sound of thunder echoing through the cave.
"Sheesh, this place is creepier than a morgue at midnight." Elisa shivered.
"Tell me about it." Willow agreed. "I feel like my goosebumps have goosebumps."
"Bronx seems to sense something." Angela noted, holding the gargoyle dog.
They all looked towards where Bronx was facing, seeing the entrance to the Archmage's catacombs.
"It's the caves from Hudson's story." Willow realized, running her hand along the glyphs. "He said that these glyphs were ancient, even back then."
"Any idea what they mean?" Elisa asked as Goliath walked up.
Goliath looked at the stone carvings, shocked as they seemed to shift before his eyes. It depicted himself standing over the forms of many gargoyles, raising his fists as if to strike. Goliath backed away in fear as Bronx snarled in anger.
"Okay, you are really starting to scare me, Goliath." Willow let out.
"What… what do you see?" Goliath asked.
The others looked back to see the same carvings, doing their best to make them out in the dim light.
"It almost looks like the Archmage." Elisa explained.
"He's attacking gargoyles." Angela added. "Why? What did you see?"
"I saw… old fears." Goliath dismissed before turning back. "That's all."
Willow snorted, crossing her arms.
"Right, and I'm a fairy princess." she quipped.
"Why would he lie to us?" Angela asked.
"Give the big guy some slack, you two." Elisa insisted. "This place has a lot of bad memories for Goliath. Old wounds bleed as bright as new ones sometimes."
"I know that." Willow replied. "It's just… I thought after everything we've been through together, he'd realize he doesn't have to suffer alone."
"Just give him time." Elisa told her. "He'll come around… I hope"
The three walked over to Goliath, who stared out at the mouth of the cave, his gaze 1000 years in the past.
"We don't have to stay here, Goliath." Elisa told him.
"Yeah, this place is beginning to scare me." Willow added. "The storm's dying and we can find somewhere else to make camp."
Goliath let out a soft growl, nodding in agreement.
"Perhaps you're right." he allowed. "Too much of the past is alive here."
They then started making their way out of the cave. Goliath took one last look back at the old cavern, feeling as if it was watching him. When he turned back around, he gasped at the sight of the Captain and Hakon standing there, laughing at him. On instinct, Goliath charged forward and grabbed the two by the throats, slamming them into the stone wall. He roared angrily, ancient hatred boiling inside him.
Unbeknownst to the bitter gargoyle, it was not Hakon and the Captain he had in his hands, but Angela and Elisa. They struggled in Goliath's grip as Willow jumped on his back, shimmering into her gargoyle form. She struggled to hold onto him, shouting over his furious snarls.
"Goliath, what are you doing?!" she snapped. "You're hurting them!"
Bronx came barreling towards Goliath, plowing into him hard enough that he dropped his two captives. Both girls gasped and tried to regain their breath as Bronx put himself between them and Goliath. This left Willow to pin down the angry Goliath, trying to get through to him.
"Goliath, what's gotten into you?" She demanded. "You've been acting psycho since we got here!"
Goliath looked up and saw who he thought were his enemies were really Elisa and Angela. Shaking in revulsion, he glanced over at Willow. He blinked, and she transformed into Hakon, who laughed maniacally. He gasped in horror, hardly believing what he was seeing. On instinct, he pushed her back, scrambling away.
"Goliath!" Elisa called out. "Stop it!"
He turned towards her and saw her and Angela, images of The Captain and Hakon still flickering in his mind. Unable to tell reality from fantasy, he got to his feet and tried to put some distance between him and his friends.
"Stay away!" Goliath warned.
As he struggled to clear his mind, his own voice echoed in his ears.
"You are the betrayer?!"
He bolted at that, fearing what his sudden onset of madness would make him see or do next.
"You're in danger from me!" Goliath yelled back.
He bolted back into the cave, stumbling slightly as he did. He ran through the arch into the tunnels below, his vision swimming.
"I don't know what's real anymore." he lamented.
Unwilling to let Goliath run off alone, the girls quickly took off after him.
"Goliath, stop!" Elisa shouted as they entered the cave.
"I don't think he hears us." Angela told her.
"He hears us, but I don't think he trusts his own senses right now." Willow corrected.
"Then we'd better follow him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself." Elisa insisted.
Angela and Willow nodded as they took off after Goliath, unaware of the two strange, swirling apparitions floating above them. Goliath took a moment to catch his breath, but when he heard the girls following him, he resumed his retreat. He ran down a long, stone staircase into the dark depths of the cavern. The girls stopped at the entrance of the cave, turning to Bronx.
"Find him, boy." Willow told him.
Bronx sniffed the ground, growling before barking loudly, taking off down the stairs. The three women quickly followed after him, desperate to catch up to their confused friend.
...
The staircase opened out into the Archmage's former sanctum, where Goliath wandered aimlessly. More voices rang in his head, Demona calling out to him once again.
"Goliath." she beckoned. "Join me in the dark."
"Go..." he begged, his voice laced with sorrow. "Leave me alone..."
In the shadows, he could see the forms of Demona, with Othello and Desdemona alongside her. They were whole, untouched by time and Xanatos' cybernetics.
"Goliath…" Demona spoke. "Don't abandon us…"
Goliath covered his ears to try and drown out the voices, barely noticing when Demona's voice shifted to become Elisa's.
"Goliath!" Elisa shouted.
Goliath turned, shocked to see that the three had followed him, all of them looking at him with grave concern. He stumbled backwards, raising a hand in a warding gesture.
"Stay back..." he warned. "I might hurt you."
"Goliath, whatever's going on, we can help." Willow insisted. "You just have to let us."
"You can trust us." Angela told him.
"I can't trust anything!" Goliath cried out before taking off into the darkness.
"Not again!" Willow lamented.
They all took off after him once more, unaware of the three gargoyle apparitions becoming only two, transforming into Hakon and the Captain.
...
Goliath ran along a narrow ridge overlooking a deep chasm, his friends hot on his heels. Even as he tried to run from them, he couldn't help but worry about their safety on such a precarious ridge.
"Watch out." he warned. "You might fall."
The women were indeed careful, edging along a particularly precarious bend slowly.
"If he falls, can we follow?" Elisa question.
"Not with how narrow that fissure is." Angela answered.
"She's right, I don't think there's enough room for even my wingspan, much less Goliath's." Willow agreed. "If he falls, it could end real bad real fast."
"Swell." Elisa remarked.
Goliath had made it a bit farther down the ridge when Hakon's spirit came swooping down. The viking was glowing brightly, howling in hatred and rage. Goliath's blood ran cold at the sight of the horrifying apparition.
"No!" Goliath let out. "Stay back!"
He took a step back, turning his face away from the blinding light. Because of this, he didn't watch where he was stepping and his foot slipped off the ridge. Luckily for him, his friends saw him began to fall and reacted quickly.
"Goliath!" Elisa cried out.
Bronx jumped forward, as did Willow. They both grabbed onto his wrist, though Bronx caught it with his jaw, causing Goliath to roar in pain.
"Hold on!" Willow shouted. "We got you!"
The path crumbled slightly beneath them, making it harder for the two to keep a steady footing. The two began sliding forward as Elisa and Angela came to their aid.
"Goliath, give us your hand!" Elisa insisted.
"Hurry!" Angela begged.
Struggling, Goliath reached up for them, taking hold of Elisa's arm. She clamped down on his arm as Angela grabbed ahold herself. Together, the four began lifting Goliath back to safety. Unfortunately, even with all four of them, Goliath was still too heavy, and the path kept breaking off beneath them.
"Hold on!" Willow warned.
Goliath looked up as she spoke, his vision swimming again. Hakon and the Captain came into view once again, the words 'Murderer', 'Betrayer', and 'Killer' echoing through the cave. Letting out an anguished cry, Goliath let go, dropping down into the fissure. Everyone reached for him futily, their jaws dropped in horror.
"Goliath, no!" Angela cried out.
Goliath bounced along the inside of the ridge, disappearing from sight. There was a loud thud at the bottom, one that made all three women flinch.
"We need to get down there." Willow insisted.
"Agreed." Elisa told her. "Angela, I'll need your help if you don't mind."
Angela nodded and pulled Elisa onto her back, scaling down the wall with ease. Willow and Bronx followed right behind, the former praying they'd find Goliath alive.
...
Luckily for the violet gargoyle, the thud had not been his body hitting the bottom of the ridge. Goliath had managed to dig his claws into the stone, slowing his descent. Though his lost his grip on the wall not long after, he managed to catch himself on the ledge of a small cliff. This cliff had been carved in the shape of a skull by erosion, giving it an ominous appearance. Still, he pulled himself up, finding a staircase hidden within the mouth of the skull. Seeing it as the only way he could go at the moment, he began to climb.
...
Deeper within the cavern, in an area littered with stalagmites, a huge, hieroglyph-covered structure stood in the center of this entire area. In front of this structure, the two, ethereal green glows could be found. They bobbed next to one another, Hakon's voice emanating from one of them.
"Now we have him." the ghostly viking declared. "The ancient magic is strongest here."
"But what if he suspects?" The Captain's voice questioned from the second light.
"What if he does?" Hakon shot back, chuckling darkly.
Goliath continued moving forward until the stairway came to an end. There, it opened out into the sea of stalactites. He gasped at the sight of the ancient structure, slowly moving towards it as if drawn to it. Above him, the two swirling masses of light observing him from above. The masses twitched and writhed, Hakon's voice speaking out once again.
"If there's any fight left in him, this will take care of it." He assured.
Goliath walked up the small case of stairs leading up to the structure. He placed a claw on one of the carvings, the glyphs begin to glow a bright purple color. As the glyphs glowed, the cavern began to shake, raining rubble down into the stalactite sea. These chunks of rock began to gather together, coalescing into the shapes of the many gargoyles that had been crushed on the night of the massacre. They all roared and screeched, closing in on Goliath who backed away in horror.
"No..." he gasped. "It's impossible."
"Murderer!" the various gargoyle zombies called out. "You destroyed our clan! Now you will pay! Death to Goliath!"
"You're wrong!" Goliath cried out, anguish and pain lacing his words. "I tried to save you!"
The two glowing masses of energy shot down into two of the stony gargoyles, possessing them and spurring them to attack. They easily grabbed him, one lifting him up in the air.
"Ye betrayed us!" the Captain's voice declared from it before throwing Goliath into the middle of the stony hoard.
Goliath slowly sat up, the stone gargoyles closing in on him like a pack of zombies. They picked him up and shoved him around, the violet gargoyle doing nothing to defend himself. He merely took the beating, as if his will to fight had been ripped from him.
"Now we'll have our revenge." Hakon's voice declared from his gargoyle.
The glyphs continued to light up as Goliath slowly grew weaker. One of the possessed gargoyle zombies threw Goliath into the stairs of the structure, the lights retreating back into the air.
"Enough!" The Captain's voice demanded. "Make an end to it!"
"Don't be a fool." Hakon's voice snapped. "I've waited a thousand years for this!"
"If he becomes too weak," the captain pointed out, "he won't serve our purpose."
"Oh, very well." Hakon relented. "Now for the final touch."
As Goliath staggered back to his feet, panting and breathing heavily, the crowd of zombie gargoyles parted to reveal a stony version of Demona. Goliath gasped at the sight of her, his eyes glued on her as she stalked towards him.
"Goliath." she greeted coldly. "After all these centuries, we meet again."
"No..." Goliath begged, clutching his head and stumbling back. "Please, no..."
"I bring you a gift, Goliath." she declared, her hand shifting into a large mace. "The same gift you granted me: oblivion."
A gargoyle got behind him, pushing him towards his stony ex-mate. She lifted her arm above her head as Goliath continued to whimper.
"This cannot be." he let out. "You were not part of the slaughter."
He latched onto that fact, granting him enough strength to catch her arm as it descended upon him.
"That's right, you fled before the attack." he remembered. "Escaped with your life. You're not real."
He then mustered up enough power to throw the fake Demona over his shoulder and into a pair of zombie gargoyles. All three shattered on impact as Goliath turned back to the rest of the stony hoard.
"None of you are real!" He challenged.
With the secret learned, all of the zombie gargoyles began to crumble away, shattering before Goliath's eyes. As soon as they all crumbled to dust, Goliath saw the two green lights descending before him.
"Ah, you finally figured it out." Hakon's voice declared coldly.
"You..." Goliath snarled, remembering the two prominent figures in all of his hallucinations. "The Viking Hakon… and the Captain."
The two lights grew and stretched, eventually forming into translucent versions of the two men. Goliath's eyes widened in utter shock.
"I'm so glad you remember us." Hakon jeered. "Because not a day goes by that we haven't thought about you, and what you did to us!"
"How are you here?" Goliath questioned. "You both fell to your doom the night of the Massacre!"
"Aye." the Captain nodded, stalking towards Goliath. "And for more than a millennium, our spirits have languished in the godforsaken hole! Whether it be by the magic of this place, or the strength of our hatred, we've been bound here, unable to find peace!"
"As much as we hated each other, we hated you a thousand times more." Hakon declared. "You sent us to our deaths, Goliath! And now you'll help us live again!"
He then gestured to the glowing stonework, which began to grow ever brighter. The glow extended to Goliath himself, who suddenly felt as if his very life force was being pulled from him. He sank to his knees, crying out in pain and his body began to become translucent.
"The magic will drain you of your very life force, and in turn replenish ours." The Captain declared.
As he said this, both he and Hakon began to glow as well, their forms solidifying. Goliath looked on, leaning heavily on the stone steps as he tried to get through to them.
"Your deaths were your own doing." He insisted. "I laid no talon on you that night. Don't you remember?"
"I remember your glowing visage as we went over the cliff!" The Captain shouted.
"I remember a man I called friend, standing side by side with the man that murdered my clan." Goliath replied. "I remember trusting you with their lives, only for you to betray us all!"
"I never wanted that!" the captain objected.
The glowing became even brighter, as if the Captain's rage was hastening the process. Feeling the effects beginning to sink in, Hakon walked up the steps of the structure, placing his hand against the glowing stone. His eyes widened, disbelief and amazement flooding his voice.
"It's working." he let out. "I can feel again. After over a thousand years, I can feel again!"
Realizing he could now interact with the real world, Hakon wasted no time taking advantage of it. He body slammed Goliath, the gargoyle too weak to fight back.
"I've dreamed of doing this for a millennium!" He declared.
He then dashed towards Goliath and grabbed his arm, throwing him across the cave while laughing the entire way. Energy danced madly across the entire structure, doing its work on the three. The Captain looked down at his hands, the return of his flesh bringing with it a feeling of guilt. It seeped past the wall of hatred, Goliath's words about his betrayal making his restarted heart sink with grief.
...
Meanwhile, Angela, Willow, and Elisa managed to reach the mouth of the skull cavern Goliath had entered. From the stony mouth, they could hear the sounds of the energy dancing, and see the purple glow from the structure.
"That can't be good." Elisa let out.
"Should have known better than to let Goliath run off alone in this cave." Willow swore.
"It may not be too late." Angela insisted. "Hurry!"
Bronx barked, taking off towards the light as the woman followed close behind.
...
Hakon continued his senseless beating of Goliath, laughing maniacally with every blow that landed. Eventually though, his fist went right through the gargoyle, nearly throwing the viking off balance. Rather than be mad about the loss of his 'fun', Hakon just seemed to laugh.
"It is almost complete!" Hakon cheered. "Soon we'll be free, and you'll haunt this pit 'til the end of time."
Goliath tried tackling him again, but he just phased right through him, much to Hakon's delight. The Viking roared with laughter as Goliath became practically invisible. The Captain looked down at Goliath in remorse, the gargoyle meeting his eyes.
"What good is life… without honor?" Goliath challenged.
The Captain looked upon his fallen friend, the memories of the Massacre returning to him. He felt disgust at himself for how he'd just stood there, allowing Hakon to destroy the Wyvern Clan. Now, he was allowing it to happen again. His fists clenched as a wave of righteous fury washed over him.
"No, not again." he declared. "I will not let this happen again!"
Moving fast, the Captain charged right at Hakon, tackling him and forcing him towards the sparking stone structure. Hakon was caught off guard, but quickly tried to fight back. However, the Captain was far stronger, and began moving him towards the heart of the structure. The energy enveloped them like a curtain, illuminating the entire cave as the rest of the group finally arrived.
"Jalapeña..." Willow let out. "What is all this?"
"Goliath!" Elisa screamed.
The three girls saw Goliath's nearly invisible form, running to his side. As they tried to help him up, their hands went right through him, much to their horror.
"What did they do to you?" Angela questioned.
"Good question." Willow let out, her eyes drawn to the stone structure. "Here's another. What's going on in there?!"
Inside the wall of energy, both Hakon and the Captain continued to struggle.
"What are you doing?!" Hakon demanded. "You've broken the line of power, you fool!"
"Aye that I did!" The Captain replied.
Suddenly, Goliath felt his strength returning to him, his body becoming solid once again. Elisa immediately threw her arms around him, as did Angela. Bronx howled happily, a big doggy grin on his face. Willow did not join in, her eyes glued to the fight inside the glowing structure.
"We've hated Goliath for a thousand years!" Hakon yelled.
"Nay," the captain growls, "I've hated myself for betraying him and his clan, and now I've been given a chance to atone!"
"Goliath, what is all this?" Willow questioned.
"No time!" Goliath insisted. "Everyone get back!"
The gargoyles and Elisa quickly began to escape back through the passage, just as the whole stonework began glow almost as bright as the sun. Suddenly, it went up with a loud explosion, the ancient structure going up in a rather dramatic fashion before collapsing on top of the two ghosts. The glow died away and the dust settled, leaving nothing but ruins in its wake. Slowly, the group poked their heads out from their hiding place, the gargoyles wrapping their wings around themselves.
"Two men were in there." Willow recalled. "Men you knew, right?"
"Who were they?" Elisa asked.
"One enemy and one friend." Goliath answered.
As he said this, a blue-white glow rose out from beneath the wreckage. Everyone stepped back, Goliath instinctively putting himself between it and Elisa. However, he relaxed when the light collapsed into the captain's ghost.
"Thank ye, Goliath." he said with a smile. "You helped me break the shackles of hate and guilt that held me here. Farwell, old friend."
His form became blinding once more before shooting upward, slipping through the roof of the cave before disappearing. Everyone watched it disappear, then Elisa turned to Goliath.
"I get the feeling this is going to be a really long story."
"Yes," Goliath confirmed. "Centuries long. Let us leave this place."
"Best idea all night." Willow declared, all five of them turning and walking away from the ruins.
...
By the time the group reached the surface once more, dawn was close at hand. Goliath had spent the journey telling the story, all three of his companions listening intently.
"You know, when this all started, I thought you were losing your mind." Elisa spoke up.
"After hearing this story, I'm not sure if losing your mind would have been the happier tale." Willow remarked.
"What do you think happened to Hakon?" Angela questioned.
"He has made his fate, Angela." Goliath told her. "No matter what it might be."
Willow yawned, looking up at the lightning sky.
"Dawn approaches." she remarked, settling onto the ground. "We should rest. It's been a long night."
Goliath nodded in agreement, sinking down onto one knee as Angela placed a hand on Bronx's back, all three turning to face the rising sun. As morning's first rays peeked over the horizon, their skin petrified and they turned to stone. Willow unfurled one of her wings, gesturing to Elisa with her head. Elisa sat down next to her, accepting the makeshift blanket. They leaned on one another, both instantly falling asleep.
...
Below in the ruins of the structure, Hakon's ghost found himself imprisoned in one of the fallen stones. He banged against his stony prison, screaming in fury.
"Don't leave me here alone! Not without anyone to hate!"
