Chapter Three: Predator
It was later that day,
as Kanthara was introducing Lanara to the gargoyle's habit of patrolling and
protecting the city, when Kanthara instructed her young ward to wait in an ally
while she took care of something. Lanara nodded, and wondered at being treated
like a kid again. However, as Kanthara was a former street person too, Lanara
felt unsurprised that Kanthara still had a few people out there she might want
to check up on...
The sound of a fight
nearby drew her attention. Peering over the side of a building, she spied a
group of thugs chasing another street person. It was probably someone whom the
thugs had decided didn't like his face and intended to either beat him up good
or kill him. She knew she had the power to stop it now, and she intended to.
Lanara spread her wings, and dove, and gave her battle cry for the first time -
just like she had heard Kanthara do.
"Behind you!"
one of the boys shouted.
"Oops."
Lanara realized she had probably just done something really dumb, and curved
back towards the alleyway. A gunshot filled the air. Lanara felt something hit
her, and she rolled to the ground in the alleyway. Lanara tried to stand up,
but felt her body jolted with electricity. She was covered in an electrified
hunting net used on large animals! She struggled and struggled to tear the net
off her body or wriggle out of it, but the voltage made moving impossible - it
was everything she could do just to stand!
Trapped, Lanara
recognized the leader of the group - Rico - who walked up to the young gargess
and pointed a 12-gauge shotgun at her private parts.
"Don't move,
girl. Don't do anything stupid."
one threatened. "I'll go real easy on you..."
"Come on, Rico,
let's make this quick! I hear these
things travel in packs!" threatened another.
"SHUT UP!!!"
Rico replied, rage in his eyes. He then turned back to Lanara, admiring her
stacked new body. "You gonna be
nice, bitch? Man, I'm gonna LOVE fuckin' you!"
"Dream on, Rico!" Lanara snarled at him in
a very gargoyle way, pulling against the electrified net, pouring voltage into
her body. "AHHHHH!!!" she wailed.
Rico loaded a round into
the chamber, laughing. "You can spread those legs, or you get a new mouth
a few inches south of the old one.
Choose."
"HOLD,
VILLANS!!!" came a new voice in a noble manner. Even Lanara blinked.
The thugs looked up to
see a metallic apparition walking towards them, with the sound of heavy
clanking feet. Their eyes widened as
they saw a man in full knight's armor, carrying a colored metal shield and
wielding a monstrous blade in his other hand.
"Lay another hand on the lady and I swear, by Harry, you'll regret
it for the rest of your sorry lives... what little time you'll have left to
live them!"
"You've gotta be
fucking KIDDING me! Only in New York man!" Rico points the gun at the man in armor. "Get outta here you wacko or else
you're gonna get stepped on!"
"Leave,
villains...or YOU'RE going to get stepped on!"
Geez, Richard...
his mind screamed at him, don't you think you're padding your part a
little?
"That's it, buddy,
you're DONE." Rico shouldered the shotgun and Richard crouched, holding up
the rectangular shield and bracing himself, angling the surface of the
shield. The shotgun roared, pounding
the shield with buckshot and Richard was thrown onto his back, but he had
figured right - the heavy-gauge steel of his shield had held. The sound
reverberated from his shield, causing it to ring. Rico's grin vanished as he
realized that the armored man was getting back to his feet. Rico raised the gun again, then saw that the
last round had jammed the chamber without ejecting. He looked up again and saw that the knight was now running
towards them, a battle cry rose from behind the helmet, and sword up high in
the air. "GOD AND KING RICHARD!!"
Kanthara's battle cry
was heard, and out of the darkened night sky came her foot, aimed right square
into Rico's jaw. Rico fell back as Richard bashed him with the shield, knocking
him down. "Where's Lanara???" Kanthara shouted frantically to
Richard. The others were not too surprised to act, and they drew their own
weapons - knives, a chain, a baseball bat.
Richard smiled. HERE was combat
he could deal with, though he was still outnumbered five to one. He ran to the trapped girl and put himself
between the thugs and her.
"Try to pass at
your peril!" He warned her in a
noble fashion.
Lanara's eyes glowed,
and she snarled. "That's easy for YOU to say!"
"GET HIM!!!"
one of them yelled, and they fell upon him, slashing at him. The baseball bat bounced off the shield and
Richard lunged, letting the steel ride up his thigh, causing a long slash
design to cause more pain than injury.
The thug howled as he stepped back, but the chain-wielder was already
taking his place. Richard had to step
back and gripped his sword to keep it from being yanked away. The exhaustion of the day's battle was
taking its toll, however, and he had to force himself to keep alert and
active. He would die before he would
let them take her. He knew it as he
knew how to breathe; it was a part of him.
Where the courage or zeal came from, he couldn't tell... but it was
there and it gave him new strength.
"Behind you!"
Lanara shouted in warning. One of the knife men yelled out and more thugs came
from around the corner, nine more of them. The reinforcements came in, then
stopped as the winged shaped of Kanthara swooped down once more for another
pass - unwilling to give up the element of air superiority, scattering the
first group like tenpins as she lashed out with unfettered gargoyle
strength. Now they faced an angry
knight and an enraged gargoyle, and they decided that the odds were no longer
in their favor. Yelling and running,
they left their "blood-brothers" to their fate.
Richard stepped back,
his armor unbearably heavy and he went to one knee.
"Lanara!"
Kanthara exclaimed, spying her young protègè - worried and pained at her
plight. Kanthara landed and ripped through the net's power device, allowing
Lanara to break the cords almost effortlessly. "Are you alright?"
"Remind me to get
the plate number of the cab that ran me over." Lanara moaned, turning to
Richard.
Richard dropped the
shield and managed to get his sword back into its scabbard, and finally pulled
off his helmet. Sweat poured and he
realized dimly that he must smell dreadful.
"My apologies ladies... I must smell atrocious." He sat down and laid his head against a
wall. "Are you hale, milady?" Lanara nodded, militarily.
"Good..." Richard sighed, noticing that they weren't flying off
immediately. "Allow me to introduce
myself. My name is Richard."
"As in King
Richard?" Lanara asked, smiling.
"Call me
Kanthara." The older gargess
looked down at Richard. "You do
realize, of course, that what you did was really, really dumb. Taking a sword to a gunfight is not
considered a really bright idea..." She smiled. "However, you did hold them off until I showed up, and for
that I thank you."
Lanara lay down by the
wall, rubbing her skin a little, still trying to pull herself together. Richard
pulled himself to his feet and walked towards Lanara. He reached out a hand.
"And your name, gentle maid?"
She smiled, taking his
hand. "Lanara." She replied weakly.
Kanthara stepped closer
to Lanara protectively. "Do you
always talk as archaically as you dress?"
"Eh? Oh, the armor. I was at an event at Madison Square Gardens called SCA live
steel... I didn't actually step out of Camelot."
"I
gathered." Kanthara knelt by
Lanara and stroked her skin, rubbing feeling back into her body. "I'm gong
to have to take her home, Richard.
Thanks for the assist."
"Uhm..."
"Yes?" Kanthara looked back as she gathered Lanara
easily into her arms, both spreading their wings.
Richard considered, and
then was silent. "Nothing. Look, you'd better go before they get their
courage up again."
"Will you be
alright?" Kanthara asked.
"I'll be fine...
nobody saw my face, so I doubt I'll have any trouble." He smiled with
confidence.
Kanthara nodded, and
helped the younger gargess over her shoulder, supporting her until they could
get air under her wings again. Lanara stopped, and looked back at Richard. Like a perfect moment in time, their eyes
met. Richard felt something within him, a very unfamiliar sensation... but a
very pleasant one. It gave him the
strength to break into a run as he left the alley... in fact, he felt as if he
could fly himself.
Kanthara poked Lanara.
"Coming?"
Richard held out a hand
to them. "Wait..." Kanthara paused, blinking at him. "Will I see
you again?"
Kanthara shrugged.
"You might not like that... hanging around gargoyles is not exactly a good
way to ensure a long life and good health." Her sarcastic tone was dry and
humorless.
Richard lowered his
hand they looked at each other for a while, then Kanthara turned and leaped
into the air, grabbing air. Richard
watched them go, then beat feet home.
Once inside, he tossed
his jacket to the side, putting his backpack on the bed and sitting down in
front of the computer. For the
thousandth time that day, he wondered how Kanthara and her ward were doing. He couldn't get the young gargess Lanara out
of his mind; she appeared every time he seemed to close his eyelids.
Maybe there really is
magic, Richard thought, drifting off to sleep.
Richard snapped
awake. He felt his eyes drooping, and
his brow furrowed. "I thought I
was tired, but I didn't think I was that tired...maybe... (yawn) I'll just grab
a nap and call it a night..." He got up and his head swam, and he fell to
the floor just as the gasses in his house began to thin and disappear. He didn't hear the men enter and never felt
their hands as he was picked up and helped outside to the unmarked van, placed
inside, and taken away.
The van continued on to
a facility in the business district, hidden behind the innocuous walls of an
office building. He was taken to a
gurney and wheeled into a large room filled with sophisticated equipment and
white-suited men with masks. They
watched as Richard was wheeled in, and one man walked down to the side of the
gurney as, twenty feet overhead, a man in an Army uniform watched.
"You've watched
the surveillance videos on this one?
"Yes, but why
now?"
"He made contact
with one of the runaways - we can't let word of that get out."
"Progress,"
his deep voice commanded, a frustrated edge on his voice.
"We've placed
stories in the media that his home was broken into. Our men on the police have planted evidence leading to a
kidnapping, and a sloppy murder later on.
A body has been located that will serve."
"Continue."
"After a complete
analysis of his genetic makeup, we can begin the process in an hour. He has the
stamina you were looking for, and should be able to survive the process."
"Excellent,
proceed and update me on the progress.
I have some Senators to placate and an alibi to create." The man left, imperiously walking through
the halls back to his vehicle.
Samples were taken of
every kind of tissue he had, bone, organs, blood, even a small part of his
brain was removed and tested for reactions to a series of chemical
compounds. Richard was blessedly asleep
during all this, but his nightmares were vivid and wild. Surrealistic images of familiar things
bombarded him; even the two gargoyles he had met had turned into tentacled
monsters and slowly devoured him.
And he couldn't wake
up.
Finally, four vials
were brought to him. His neck was tapped with a drip, and each one of the
fluids were injected into his neck...
Then real nightmare
began.
His dreams began to
fade and disappear, and all that was left was a timeless grayness that filled
his vision and clouded his brain. He
didn't know how long he was like that, but all at once it changed - a blinding
spike of light wedged itself into his brain and he blinked.
The room was back, and
he was alone except for a young woman of Asian descent; Richard's mind couldn't
make out her features distinctly. His
head throbbed painfully and his mouth felt as if it was full of cotton. "What...?"
"SSSHH! Not a word.
You've got to get out of here."
"What... bloody
hell... what happened? Where am
I?"
She pulled his bonds
free and helped him up. "There's
no time to explain."
"Who are
you?"
"I am Akiko. Come on... you've got to escape!"
"From
where...?" Richard squeezed his
eyes shut in pain. "From
whom?"
"Come on..."
Akiko led him down the hall, away from the lab and to a locker room. She tossed him some clothes. "Get dressed."
Richard suddenly
realized that he was completely naked, but was in too much pain to
protest. He sat down and pulled his
clothes on, but the denim jeans felt like chainmail and the cotton shirt felt
like burlap.
"I don't
understand..."
"You've been
selected for an experiment. I came here
to help you escape before they could turn you into a tool."
"They, they
whom?"
Akiko looked down at
Richard. "Put your shoes on,
Richard. We don't have much time left
before their shift change."
Akiko brought Richard
down into the garage, looking around.
Richard followed, and then stopped suddenly as he feels his head explode
with a fresh burst of pain. It drove
him to his knees, his eyes watering as he falls. "AAAAAAAAHRRRRR...!!!"
Akiko turned back. "Richard??"
"MY HEAD... feels
like the population... of New York... is screaming in my ears!!!"
Akiko dragged Richard
to her Jeep and pulled him inside, then closed the door and ran to the other
side. Richard didn't feel nearly as
heroic, but he kept himself from screaming at the flames that were eating his brain
and moving slowly down his neck to engulf the rest of his body.
"What... did they
do to me??"
"I don't know...
all I know is that the equipment they used was made for genetic research."
"Genetics?" Richard held his stomach with his hands,
feeling the knives start to begin.
"Please... God..."
"We're almost
out... just stay calm."
"Calm? My body feels like it's going through a meat
grinder... oh LORD..." he said through gritted teeth as another wave of
pain hit.
When he regained
consciousness, he found himself in an apartment. At first, he thought the whole thing was a horrible dream, but
then he noticed that his ceiling had changed colors. He sat up in bed and looked around, finding himself in a strange
room, in a strange house.
"What
happened?" He wondered aloud, and
then stopped. "Must have a cold or
something... my voice sounds weird..." He reaches up to his throat and
touches it tentatively, then stopped.
His grip felt very
strange. He didn't move, unwilling to
look at his hand. The word "GENETICS" kept moving around in his
brain.
"Please, God...
no..." He closed his eyes and walked towards the door, his mind going in
circles around the inside of his skull. He burst through the door without even
bothering to open it, opening his eyes to look around for a phone. "I've got to call somebody...." He
reached out to pick up the phone, but stopped just short as his hand came into
view...
...Or more accurately,
his claw!
His skin was midnight
black, the claw thick and massive, and four fingers given way to three
talons. "Please, somebody tell me
I'm just going crazy...!!!"
If it weren't for her
stone sleep, Lanara doubted she would have slept well that night. She was
having trouble keeping her thoughts off of Richard. That fleeting memory of his
eyes was stuck in her memory, and she was starting to obsess over it. She was
terrified of mentioning it to the other gargoyles - uncertain of how they would
react, and so she kept herself quiet.
"Kanthara,
Lanara..." Brooklyn came into the room.
"I just heard on the police scanner... there's a report of a black
monster with wings at 54th Street and Thomas."
Gee, isn't that close
to where we met Richard? Was the thought that crossed Lanara's mind, but
refused to voice it.
Kanthara nodded. "Come on, Lanara - you're with me. Let's go."
Lanara was not exactly
unwilling to tag along.
Richard stopped as he
slammed the door to the roof closed, leaning against it. He could hear people rushing up the stairs,
so he ran for the lip of the roof, looking down. The ground was probably thirty
floors down.
He turned back towards
the door. People were pounding on it,
trying to get through. He looked
down.
Nowhere else to
go... might as well end it now... Richard leaped from the roof blindly,
wanting to die... but something within him screamed into his brain, WHAT ARE
YOU, NUTS????
Richard opened his
eyes. Twenty floors left to go before
it was street pizza time.
Richard blindly reached
out for the wall, expecting to feel his fingers scrape off, but instead felt
the concrete give under his claws. A
loud SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEE came forth as Richard slowed himself to a stop, fifteen
floors above the ground. He gripped the
wall with his body, hugging it close.
"Just don't look
down... don't look down..." he repeated over and over, and then ignored
his advice. He squeezed his eyes
shut. "Right... just don't look
down AGAIN..."
Richard hung on for
dear life, his claws and talons embedded in the concrete. I'm not moving...
I don't care, I'm not moving an inch, not a bleeding chance... Richard
held on, trying to get his brain to clear. Come on, Richard... get it
together... He pulled his hand up, scraping his claws over the wall,
slowly moving it up over his head.
It didn't take long for
Kanthara and Lanara to spot the dark figure clinging to the outer wall of the
building - from their vantage point he was very easy to spot.
"Who is it?"
Lanara asked
"No idea."
Kanthara asked. "But he doesn't look well."
"Just one more
floor, Richard... just one more..."
"Doesn't he look
like...?" Kanthara began to point out.
"Richard! Oh my
God!!!" Lanara side-winded, calling out his name.
Richard blinked. No,
that couldn't be right... He considered looking around, but he decided
against it, instead just calling out, "WHO'S THERE?"
Richard was only barely
recognizable as the man he once was, his bulk had nearly doubled and his head
now wore a shaggy mane, seeming held in place by thick eyebrow ridges with
short spikes radiating from the ridges of his face. His skin and hair were so black he almost looked like a shadow on
the face of the building. The most shocking change of all was his tail... or
rather, tails. He had two tails, same
length, each slightly thicker than Kanthara's tail.
"JALAPEÑA!"
Kanthara exclaimed.
Richard felt a warm
touch on his aching shoulder. He risked looking in that direction, and found
Lanara's face - etched with concern. "What happened?!!!" she asked in
desperate concern.
"Please...
somebody just get me down..." The plaintive tone in Richard's voice was
extremely unsettling, especially to Richard, and he felt ashamed.
"Take his
shoulder!" Kanthara instructed. The two females took him buy an arm,
helping him to shift his weight onto them. Once Richard was off the wall, the
two girls, took to the air, and helped him to a nearby rooftop.
His clothes were in
tatters, only his pants still around...and only by shreds. He was almost as broad chested and powerful
looking as Goliath for a boy of Lanara's age.
Kanthara noted as she got closer that he had a line of short, sharp
spines running from his forehead over the middle of his head down to the back
of his neck. She also noted with some
concern that his tongue was forked, his hands were slightly webbed and his ears
moved back and forth, canting like a cat's ears.
Richard allowed himself
to be pulled up, giving no resistance as he was pulled to the roof again and
set down. Kanthara looked at
Richard. His eyes were a dark, icy
blue...dull with confusion. Kanthara was considering him with a thoughtful
look. "Whatever they did to Richard, they didn't blend him like they did
to us, they added things. A whole different kind of mutate."
Lanara put her arms
around his shoulders, trying to calm him. "It's okay, you're safe now.
Tell us what happened - we're your friends."
"I don't know... I
came home, woke up in a lab... I got out... somebody got me out... I woke up in
an house with nothing..." Richard shook his head. "Why? I never did no harm to anyone... why'd they
do this to me???"
Lanara looked up at
Kanthara with a thoughtful expression. "Richard - Did you have a high IQ
in school? Have any special physical abilities?"
"Never took an IQ
test, mum and father never believed in them.
I got good grades though... I was a grade head of my peers, that's why
parents wanted to finish my schooling here.
Thought it would teach me self-reliance or some other thing. God, my
parents..."
"That's why they
took me and Robbie and turned us into freaks - because we were really
smart."
Richard paused, and
looked at Lanara. "What do you mean - you were human once? Who's doing
this to us?!!!" Richard's reply
was nearly a cross between a roar and a scream.
"We know that not
everyone is lucky enough to get away from them." Kanthara explained.
Lanara put a hand on
his arm.
"What am I going
to do now? I can't go home, I can't
call my parents, my friends..."
Lanara squeezed his arm
a little. "Neither can I. Come with us to the castle. I've been needing a
roommate anyway."
"Castle???" Richard felt woozy.
Kanthara turned to
Lanara. "Stay with him... I think
I might know someone who can get us there, fast. Dawn is coming. Stay with
him." Kanthara got a slim digital
phone out of her pocket and dialed.
"Derek? Kanthara. I need a favor." Kanthara relaxed significantly as she
listened. "Thank you, Derek. I owe you one..."
Lanara smiled at
Richard. "It'll be okay. We'll see if we can get your things from your
house. The people who changed me took all mine."
Kanthara hung the phone
up, and regarded the boy. "Why did he get away...?"
That's when the sound
of the chopped was heard overhead. A bright light shone on them.
"No!"
Kanthara exclaimed, shielding her eyes.
Lanara pulled out the
laser weapon she had been given, standing over Richard.
The pilot smiled. "Control, this is Foxtrot Zero
Zero. I have them."
The reply from the base
was swift and final. "Neutralize
them."
"Roger
that." The pilot nodded to the
gunner, who armed the rocket launcher and fired.
Richard saw the rocket
heading towards them and all attempts at suicide melted away. Kanthara snarled, "SCATTER!!" and
the three bolted in different directions as the rocket hit where they used to
be.
Richard ran towards the
stairwell door. He might've made it
too, but the sound of chaingun fire turned his eyes from his goal for a
moment. He looked back to see the
gunship turning towards Lanara, the bullets chewing up the rooftop behind her.
"LANARA!"
Richard exclaimed with concern. Something went "snap" in his
brain. All thoughts of self-pity,
remorse and fear vanished like snow before a flamethrower and he turned,
running back towards the chopper, his eyes burning a fierce red and an inhuman
ROAR thundered across the rooftop. The
chopper saw him too late, turning to aim, but Richard closed the distance too
quickly. He leaped to the chopper's
front, his claws digging into the metal and he roared his rage once again,
causing the Plexiglas canopy to shudder.
The pilot panicked,
pulling back on the control stick as he saw the canopy ripped down the middle,
a massive claw reaching in and grabbing the face of the gunner.
Richard SQUEEZED.
"HOLY
SHIT!!!" the pilot yelled as the gunner ceased to function, the front of
his skull squeezed together like an empty beer can. The pilot barreled around, shaking Richard loose as he pulled
back to a safer distance, taking over the gunner controls.
Richard fell to the
roof hard, just starting to recover as the gunship moved into position. The pilot grinned as he poised there, his
thumb over the trigger that would wip the roof clean of all life, when a red
light went on in his vision. He
recognized the warning signal too late: the RADAR LOCK tone.
Below him, the
RoadBuster fired a missile directly into the chassis hiding the chopper's main
source of power, blowing the engine apart and sending fire through the
vehicle's core, flash frying pilot and gunner before veering off to crash in
the street below.
Richard ROARED in
triumph as he saw the vehicle crash, then turned as he heard Kanthara
approach. She waved at the car
below. "We're on our way
down!"
Derek nodded, noting
the big black gargoyle at the edge of the roof. "Geez, this guy looks like what
my car would look like as a gargoyle.
What's HIS story?"
Kanthara turned to
Richard. "Get Lanara and go to the
car. The driver is a friend of
mine."
Richard nodded and
looked around, trying to find Lanara.
He couldn't see her. He stepped
forward and that's when he heard something... it was a heartbeat, clear as a
bell in his ears. He followed it to the
source and found Lanara hiding behind an air conditioning unit, holding her
left leg. Richard bent down to look at
the wound. Shrapnel from the bullet's
impacts had bruised her leg, but she was okay.
Richard picked her up
and carried her to the edge of the roof.
Kanthara had already glided to the street below.
"Thanks for the
lift, Derek." Kanthara smiled and
Derek had to remind himself that Kanthara was happily married.
"Null
perspiration." He pointed up to
Lanara and Richard. "Who's the
tree trunk?"
"Long story."
Derek sighed. "Get in. We're about to get a serious case of the blues, so move it."
Richard looked down,
and then took a half-step back.
"Lanara, are you alright?"
She groaned, holding a
paw over the throbbing shrapnel wounds in her legs and tail. "Twice in a
week!"
Richard looked down at
Lanara. "How... how do I use my
wings? I don't even know what muscles
to flex..."
Lanara looked up at
Richard. "Try thinking of them as
hands. It'll come naturally to you."
Richard nodded, then
closed his eyes and flexed. His wings
came out sharply, spreading to a HUGE wingspan. Richard smiled, then opened his eyes and jumped, angling his
wings. He came down faster than he
wanted to, but his powerful limbs cushioned the impact, crunching the asphalt
underneath. He stood up from the crouch
and looked around. "This new
body... has certain advantages..."
"No shit,
Sherlock." Derek smiled. "Now get in. We've gotta go."
Derek got back into the driver's seat as the others got in, Kanthara in
the shotgun seat and Richard squeezing into the back. "Geez, Kanth, where'd you get the Chrysler Building back
there?"
"Derek...!"
"Right, right, no
conversations with the cabbie, got it.
Hang on, back there, this ride may get a little bumpy." The triple turbine engines whined into life
and the car rocketed forward as if stung, moving like lightning down the street
and around a turn, the wheels gripping the street.
Richard looked down at
Lanara, and then ripped off some of the tattered clothing to bind her
wound. "Lanara, does it hurt
bad?"
She groaned. "A
little. I might have something wedged in my left leg. It'll cure at
daybreak."
"Daybreak?"
Richard asked, confused.
Derek saw two blips
come up on the heads-up display.
"Cops. Sorry guys, as much
as I would love to have some fun with you, I don't have the time." Derek pulled over and activated the
holoflage. The car turned into a beat
up gray VW bug sitting on the side of the road and the police roared right past
them.
Derek grinned. "GOD I love my work."
"Derek, unless you
relish the idea of stone shards all over your interior, don't you think we
should get back to the castle? We've
got less than an hour before we become paperweights."
"Kanthara? Has anyone ever told you that you're no damn
fun at all?" Derek put the car
into gear and turned off the holoflage, driving off towards the castle and making
it in record time... even for him.
Kanthara quickly kissed
Derek on the cheek and ran up to the roof, Richard in hot pursuit, carrying
Lanara. "Who was that guy?"
"Best driver you
ever saw. We've got to get into
position."
"For what?"
Kanthara got to the
roof and went to the side.
"Alright, Richard, now just go to that outcropping and
wait."
Richard moved quickly
to the outcropping, still holding Lanara.
"Now what?" he rumbled. The sun's rays bathed Manhattan and
Richard didn't say anything else for a long time.
Akiko dropped the
photographs on the general's desk. "Executed flawlessly, sir."
"And Foxtrot zero-zero?"
"Lost. Our subject
didn't need much help though."
He looked at the
photographs and smiled. "Look in on our subject from time to time - gain
his trust. He could be our best project yet."
The gargoyles awoke
with a thunderous roar. Kanthara yawned, and scratched her wings for a few
moments before turning to her young protègès. Richard felt the urge to stretch
at first, but then felt the weight of Lanara in his arms, and held on tightly
to her. He looked at her with concern. She roared as well, shattering stone
pieces.
"Feeling any
better?" Kanthara inquired.
"Much."
Lanara smiled, leaping down to the paving stones, and standing right up to her
5'0" fifteen-year-old height.
Richard looked
impressed. "Your legs don't have a scratch on them!"
"Yep, the good old
concrete cure-all." Brooklyn added, cuddling up to Kanthara.
Lanara turned and gave
Richard a hug. "Thanks for saving me! Twice now in two nights."
"I sure hope this
isn't a nightly occurrence." Richard sighed, regarding his paws.
"Welcome to the
bigtime." Brooklyn sighed. "You get used to it."
Lanara turned to
Richard. "Let me show you where my house is. You can't stay in yours
anymore because the people who attacked you obviously know they can find you
there, and I'll help you move your stuff."
Kanthara nodded, and
Richard agreed.
Together the two
youngsters glided away into the newborn night. Brooklyn looked at Kanthara
after they had left. "What's bothering you?"
"Richard's in
danger. How else could someone have freed him?"
Brooklyn sighed deeply,
nodding.
