Previously:

Elisa: "...She's a very special young woman... this girl's not just smart, she's also very strong, she's never lost any fight she's been in, even if she fights a whole gang by herself."

Lexington: "What's your name?"
"Kyrana Kirri, but I'm usually called Kyra by my friends..."
Kyra: "...Micheal, ... a real jerk. Even Cana hates him, and she likes almost anyone."

"What's that?" Brooklyn asked, looking at the black jewel.
"This is my grandmother's, it's been in my family for... generations." Kyra answered.

Demona: "I have a plan to get that amulet away from Kyra..."

Kyra felt that something was following her. She turned around, but there was nothing there. If she'd only looked above she would have seen Demona and headed right back.
Unfortunately, she didn't and went straight on her way. Kyra realized her mistake too late and Demona glided down and grabbed her. Kyra fought the gargoyle, cursing and kicking the whole way as she was dragged to the base. Micheal came up to her, he took Kyra’s chin in his hand roughly, pulling her face close to his.
"I'm through playing around. Like it or not, you're mine." he said sternly. Kyra pulled her head back and Demona carried her inside. Micheal tied her to a beam in the middle of the main room.
"You won't get away with this, Brooklyn and the others will come for me." Kyra told him.
"I don't think they could do much." Demona said and snapped the jewel off the girl's neck.
"Now you can't do anything either." Micheal told Kyra.

"Just to make sure the magic is strong enough..." Kyra started, then concentrated on a rope in the main area. It flew across the room and wrapped around Micheal. He frowned at her, obviously angry.
"That wasn't necessary." Elisa told her and pulled out handcuffs.
"I'm only paying him back for tying me to a wooden beam an hour ago, he knows I hate that." Kyra replied and returned the confident smile he had given her when he'd done that.
"At least we know the magic works." Brooklyn said.
Lupus dropped the knife by Elisa's feet. She untied Micheal and put the cuffs on him. "Let's go, Micheal. Next time, don't kidnap a gargoyle's friend. You'll get more trouble than you want." Elisa took Micheal out of the base and took him to the police station.

"At least Kyra's safe now." Lexington said.
"Yes, but she may never be safe after Micheal gets out." Elisa replied. "If we don't get her out of there, when Micheal comes back he may do something even worse than what got him taken away in the first place."
"This time I'm not disagreeing with you about this." Goliath replied, "Kyra won't be safe if she stays there, we have to get her out before Micheal gets out." .... "She could stay here."

Unseen Danger

Kyra was playing hoops with her best school friends, Kirsten and Kiesha, on the school's big basketball court. The sun was slowly sinking behind the Manhattan skyline. As the shadows crept over the court, Kyra remembered that Elisa told her to see the Gargoyles that night. She told Kirsten and Kiesha that she had to go and ran to the castle.
As Kyra went down the back streets, Lupus and Cana ran alongside her. Finally, as the sun disappeared over the horizon, she reached the back entrance to Eyrie Tower. Cana and Lupus followed faithfully. Elisa had given her a code to use at the back door and Kyra entered it and dashed in when the door slid open.

Outside, in the castle, Elisa was with the Gargoyles, waiting for Kyra.
"I wonder where she is?" Brooklyn asked.
"She was probably having fun with some school friends and forgot the time. She'll be here soon." Elisa answered.
Just then, Kyra came out of a doorway. "Hi guys, what did you want to talk about?" she asked.
"Kyra, did you know that Micheal gets out tomorrow?" Elisa asked.
"Sure, the principal told our first period teacher over the PA system." Kyra answered.
"Well, after tomorrow, you won't be safe. In fact, with Demona out there, you aren't safe now." Elisa replied.
"I guess not, so what can I do?" Kyra asked.
"The law gives you two options, going to an orphanage, or living with an adult friend who's responsible enough to raise you." Elisa answered.
"There's no way I'm going to an orphanage." Kyra said. "Not again."
"I didn't think you'd want to." Elisa replied. "But it's not safe for you to stay in that base. First of all, Micheal does come back tomorrow, and Demona knows where you are. You may have natural magic, but we don't know if it's stronger than the jewel."
"You've got a point, but I don't have anywhere else to go." Kyra uttered. "That's why I never left the gang. I would have, if I could, believe me."
"Goliath said you could stay up here." Brooklyn told her.
"How?" Kyra asked. "I don't have school all day, I need a room to sleep in."
"There's a small room up in the tower, you could do your homework and sleep up there." Lexington replied and pointed to the turret the gargoyles rested on each day.
"How do I get up there?" Kyra asked.
"There's stairs." Angela replied.
"Well, the whole city hasn't found you guys up here yet, so Micheal wouldn't either." Kyra said, adding: "I guess this is the safest place in the city."
"Then you're staying?" Brooklyn asked.
"Until we can find a safer place for her." Elisa reminded him.
"Of course, if it's all right with you guys." Kyra replied. "And Xanatos."
"I don't see any problem with that, she shouldn't stop the secrecy of your hiding." Xanatos replied, he had been listening from the doorway Kyra came in. "And I agree she should be kept from Micheal."
"Great. Now that everything's settled, Broadway, Lex and I were going out to explore the city." Brooklyn said, "If you want, you can follow on the ground. We can go downtown and get your stuff."
"Sure." Kyra replied.
"Father, may I go?" Angela asked.
"Yes, be careful." Goliath answered.
"Kyra, take Lupus and Cana." Elisa reminded. "Bronx may not take immediately to being alone with new dogs..."
"Oh yeah. Cana, come on, bring Lupus." Kyra called, going down the stairs. Cana stood up and tugged Lupus' ear. He stood up and went down with her.
Later, Kyra was walking along the street below the gargoyles. "Hey guys." she called into the headset.
"What's wrong?" Brooklyn asked.
"Cana's getting uneasy, I need to take her to the park and let her run around." Kyra answered.
"Ok, just be careful. Go back to the castle when she settles down." Brooklyn replied and he, Broadway, and Lexington glided off to get Kyra’s box of stuff, she really didn't need anything else. Angela went with her to the park.
Kyra took Cana and Lupus to Central Park and let them run around and chase squirrels and birds.
"Careful you two, don't hurt them!" she laughed. Angela never saw such ridiculous behavior. Cana came over with a small stick. She dropped it by Kyra’s feet, begging and whining.
"Ok, I'll play with you, maybe it'll wear you down faster." Kyra replied and threw the stick as hard as she could. Cana ran as fast as she could after the soaring stick, jumped, and caught it right in her mouth!
"Good girl, bring it here." Kyra called. Cana came over, wagging her tail. Kyra threw the stick again. This time Lupus went after the stick.
"Lupus! Wait your turn!" Angela exclaimed. Lupus and Cana each took one end of the stick and tugged as hard as they could.
"You two are hopeless." Kyra said sarcastically. They both yelped playfully and ran, Angela and Kyra chased after them in play.
Although they didn't know it, they were being watched. Demona was in a tree, watching everything Kyra was doing. Her eyes narrowed and glowed as red as fire as Kyra ran with the wolves and the wind swept her hair back, reminding the gargoyle of a certain pest. Elisa came almost out of nowhere just as Demona was thinking that.
"Kyra, Angela!" she called. Kyra skidded to a stop, Angela went a little farther, catching herself with her arms. She stood upright as Kyra stepped a little forward. The wolves kept running around and yapping their furry heads off. Kyra rolled her eyes.
"Over here, Elisa!" she answered.
"It's almost midnight, you'd better come in for the night, Demona's out by now." Elisa warned.
"Okay, come on you two." Kyra called. Cana dropped the stick and barked. Angela and Kyra started walking and the wolves followed them out of the park. Demona glided off to her lair.
Five minutes after the girls got to the castle, Brooklyn and Lexington were just coming in from their exploring. Broadway came a few seconds later with Kyra’s box.
"What took you guys so long?" Kyra asked with mock boredom. Brooklyn smiled. Kyra had a very active sarcasticness and he liked it.
"We thought we saw Demona, so we had to wait for her to go by, so she wouldn't follow us here." Lexington answered.
"Good idea." Elisa said. "I don't know why Demona's never thought to check the castle again. She knows you belong here."
"It's not Demona's style. She likes to trick you into thinking you're safe, or alone, then she attacks." Brooklyn replied, "And never at your own turf, it gives you too much of an advantage."
"Yeah, she's really good at tricking others." Broadway added, coming out from carrying Kyra's box into her room.
"It's getting late Kyra, you'd better get some sleep." Goliath said.
"Ok, see you guys tomorrow night." Kyra replied and went up to the turret. The wolves followed.
"Guys, while we were walking over here, Kyra said that she felt like she was being watched in the park." Elisa said, "You don't think Demona might be watching her and Angela?"
"I know why Demona would watch over Angela, she's being protective, but why would she spy on Kyra?" Goliath asked.
"She's probably looking for weaknesses." Brooklyn answered.
"I don't think Kyra has weaknesses." Broadway said, "I mean she's got magic, and natural strength and plenty of smarts, she's perfect."
"No one is perfect, Broadway." Elisa replied, "Kyra has to have at least one weakness, and if Demona finds it before we do, she'll use it to her best advantage."
"And Kyra will have more trouble than Micheal ever gave her." Brooklyn added.
"Well Demona's always one step ahead of us, you have to give her that." Lexington remarked.
"Yeah, and that one step is the one that's too high for us to get over." Brooklyn stated.
"She's winning the war, but you're winning the battles." Kyra added, leaning on the doorway.
"What do you mean?" Goliath asked confusedly. Kyra came back out.
"She's ahead of you, winning the war against you because of her weapons and help. But you're fighting back and winning the individual battles." Kyra explained. "Actually, you're winning more than she is, usually." Goliath frowned, wondering how Kyra could know so much about them and Demona before she'd heard it from them.
"Kyra, it's late." Elisa reminded her, looking at the moon, it was setting.
"I know, the wolves are knocked out but I'm not tired." Kyra answered with an innocent face. Elisa sighed and smiled.
"One thing's for sure, Demona's not much of a warrior." Brooklyn replied.
"Why is that?" Elisa asked.
"A true warrior thinks of others before themselves and fights only when they have to." Lexington answered.
"And when they fight, it's with honor, not hatred." Broadway added.
"Demona doesn't do any of that, actually, I'm not sure she ever did." Brooklyn finished.
"That's why we have to be cautious, if we can, we stay away from her." Goliath explained.
"But it's impossible." Kyra replied, "Where Demona isn't, Micheal and the thugs in his gang will be. They'll patrol the streets looking for you all night, and they'll look for me all day."
"We have enough time for thinking of a plan before Micheal finds you guys." Elisa told her.
"Right now, we have to worry about Demona." Broadway said.
"I would like to know how Demona could trust Micheal, Xanatos, and Savarrius, then despise every other human on earth." Elisa stated.
"Talk about mixed values." Lexington added.
"Can we talk about something that isn't so annoying?" Kyra asked.
"That cancels Micheal." Brooklyn blurted.
"Brooklyn." Elisa said sternly.
"Well, Micheal is annoying, especially during the day. You guys will only have to put up with that jerk during the night." Kyra said, "I don't know how, but he's got every class I have except for Girl's Basketball, and he sits on one side of me in each class. Lucky for me, Chris sits on my other side, so I have a good excuse to ignore Micheal. Too bad he sucks up to the gym teacher and I always get stuck on his team when we do something."
"Just make sure Micheal doesn't get jealous or angry." Goliath warned.
"Him?" Kyra said sarcastically, "You need a heart to have an excusable reason to be jealous and that definitely puts Micheal off the list. And his anger isn't exactly a major threat. Peeve him off and he gets careless."
"Kyra, you have school tomorrow on the other side of town. You've stalled sleep long enough, get to sleep or I won't let you go with the trio tomorrow night." Goliath replied.
"I'd just sneak down and follow them anyway." Kyra protested.
"Get some sleep before morning, Kyra." Elisa said and Kyra went into the turret.
"How did you do that?" Goliath asked, "Kyra put up a fight when I told her to go to sleep."
"Psychology. Kyra thinks of you and the others as friends, so she refuses to take orders. I have authority towards her because of my job." Elisa explained, "But I suppose she has limits on how far she obeys authority." she added, remembering that Kyra was in a gang.
"How do you know how to control Kyra's independence like that?" Brooklyn asked.
"I don't control it, I calm it, and I learned how to do that by watching my mother. Beth was just like that at her age." Elisa answered.
"At least someone can keep Kyra's independence under control, if only a little." Lexington replied.
"Kyra's independence is what makes her unique." Goliath reminded him, then admitted, "Although she shouldn't use it so much, it makes her vulnerable."
"That's it, that's Kyra's weakness!" Elisa exclaimed.
"What?" everyone asked.
"Kyra uses her independence way too much. She's probably even the type that never asks for help when she knows she needs it. If she is, she'll get into a big fight on her own and get killed, I think Demona already knows it." Elisa explained.
"Demona does know." Brooklyn realized.
"How?" Lexington asked.
"She knows that most teenagers are independent." Goliath told him, "After all, she was one once."
"And Kyra definitely uses her independence around Micheal." Elisa added.
"Micheal should back down now that he's learned Kyra can defeat him with more than muscle, but Demona will never back down until she's won." Brooklyn replied.
"We'll have to keep an eye on Kyra when she's near Demona's territory until she learns to control her self-dependence on her own." Hudson suggested.
Meanwhile, Demona was sulking over her last defeat and thinking of a way to prevent another, when Micheal came to tell her something, he had gotten out two hours ago.
"What do you want? I'm trying to figure out how to get my revenge." Demona scowled.
"I know, I have an idea on how to get Goliath when he's helpless." Micheal answered.
"What's the idea?" Demona sighed. In her opinion, humans were rotten plotters.
"You thought Goliath worried more about Elisa than anyone, that was your mistake." Micheal began.
"I don't get it." Demona replied.
"Now Goliath will be cautious with Kyra because she's a wildcard. If you caught her, Goliath couldn't do anything, he'd be too worried. He knows you'd hurt her." Micheal finished.
"He knows I'd kill that traitorous brat." Demona corrected. "So if I capture Kyra, Goliath can't stop me, because he'll know I'd kill her if he got in my way. There's a catch, right?"
"Yeah. Kyra is sure to be guarded all night, you can't get to her without getting through Brooklyn. He and Kyra are best friends by now, he won't let her be captured." Micheal admitted.
"No problem, I'll catch her during the day." Demona replied.
"How?" Micheal asked confusedly.
"Come here an hour after your school gets out tomorrow and you'll find out." Demona said as if she were hiding something.
That day, Kyra went to school just as the Gargoyles turned to stone since daylight savings time ended a few weeks ago. She met up with Kirsten and Kiesha and they walked the rest of the way together.
After school, Kyra’s friends asked her why she was heading home alone and refused to let them come with her, but she didn't tell them, Kyra knew her friends wouldn't be a threat to the gargoyles, but if Micheal learned from them by accident, he would be.
Meanwhile, Micheal had gone to Demona's lair, Destine Manor, he was surprised to hear her voice call him in. She stepped from behind a pillar, in human form.
"If you tell anyone, you'll be sorry you could even speak." she said coldly.
Micheal replied, "How did...?"
"A Child of Oberon did this." Demona said before he could finish, "I can only think of one thing this is good for: if I ever find out where Goliath is hiding now, I can shatter him myself."
"And you can catch Kyra without Goliath or any of the other gargoyles finding out." Micheal added. "At least not until nightfall."
"Naturally." Demona replied. "Now, speaking of that little brat, where is she?"
"In a half-hour she should be on the street heading to basketball practice." Micheal answered.
"Good, I'll get her then." Demona said, "First we think of what we do when we get her, she won't exactly be cooperative."
"She never is." Micheal stated.
"How would you know?" Demona asked.
"You didn't think you were the only one who tries to capture her, did you?" Micheal answered.
Later, Kyra was heading to the basketball court at the high school when she felt that someone was following her. Kyra looked up, feeling pretty silly since it was daytime, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Demona was after her, day or night. She finally ignored her instincts, the most foolish thing she could ever do in that situation, and continued to walk into an alley. Suddenly, a now familiar shadow was cast over her from behind, except something was wrong with it, no wings... She heard the voice that went with the figure, Demona's, speak.
"Surprise." she said cruelly.
Kyra spun around as fast as she could and nearly stumbled over herself. "Dominique?" she exclaimed.
Micheal came from the other side of the alley, Kyra was trapped! She gave Micheal a glare she always used, it let him know she wouldn't be caught without a fight. He returned the glare, ready to fight her.
That night, Goliath was worried about Kyra, she’d sworn that she would come to the castle directly after her practice which usually ended well before sunset. He knew something was wrong, and that Micheal had to be behind it. Elisa had checked on the court two hours ago, during light hours, and Kyra’s friends said that she never came.
When Goliath and the other gargoyles had woken up, Xanatos was about to go out looking for Micheal, he knew the boy's family. Micheal was actually a runaway of a fairly well-to-do family in Queens, he still contacted them once a week to let them know he was alive so they couldn't send cops after him. Goliath went down to talk before he left.
"Xanatos, where is Kyra?" Goliath asked.
"Actually Goliath, I was going to look for Micheal, his family says he didn't call after school." Xanatos answered.
"Kyra has been missing since three this afternoon, Micheal must have had something to do with it." Goliath replied.
"That is strange." Xanatos added, "I'll have to talk to him once I find him, and if he did something I know the first place to look."
At Destine Manor, Kyra was locked in a small room, the windows and door were tightly shut and locked. The windows are way too small to escape through anyway, she thought. She’d had lost the battle since there was no way she could ever defeat both Micheal and Demona, maybe one of them, but not both.
"I wonder why Demona still wants me?" Kyra thought aloud, she would know soon enough, too soon.
Back at the castle, Elisa had just come up. "Where's Goliath?" she asked.
"I don't know, but he said he'd be back soon." Brooklyn answered. "Xanatos is with him."
"That means there's trouble with Micheal." Elisa stated, "Did Kyra ever come back?"
"No, not yet." Lexington answered.
"That's the trouble, Kyra must be in danger." Elisa replied.
"We'd better go look for her." Brooklyn decided. "I'll look by the river with Lex, you and Broadway check the park. Bronx, you, Lupus and Cana check the school yard, look for signs of what might have happened while you go there."
Meanwhile, Goliath and Xanatos were heading for Destine Manor, Xanatos had guessed correctly that Micheal had taken Kyra there. It was in the one area of the city the gargoyles didn't know much about because everytime they went near there, there was a fight and they were driven back out. Besides, it was the home of Demona's human self.
"How much farther?" Goliath asked.
"Not much, it's over there." Xanatos called and pointed to the building. "Let's go, but be cautious, Demona won't like you being around here." Xanatos said and dived down in his gargoyle armor. Goliath followed, hesitating first, he didn't know what Demona might have waiting for him.
Inside, Kyra was looking out the window, she had seen Xanatos and Goliath land nearby and knew not to let Demona know they were there. She was tempted to warn them of the traps Demona had set, but Demona was too close to the door, she would hear the girl’s calls and go out there before they could get away.
As they carefully walked towards the lair, Goliath felt something give under him, he jumped out of the way as a net snared Xanatos. Goliath ripped the net to shreds and they continued to head for the forbidding lair.
"It looks like Demona was waiting for our invasion." Xanatos said quietly.
"She knew we'd come for Kyra." Goliath told him.
The door was steel and immovable, even for Goliath. Demona had made the only useable entrance in the top of the building.
"I guess you'd better start climbing." Xanatos replied, Goliath started climbing up the wall until he felt an updraft and glided the rest of the way. Xanatos used the jet in his armor suit to go straight up to the roof.
Meanwhile, Bronx had found many scents, Micheal's, Demona's and Kyra’s, they mixed in many places so Bronx knew there had been a small fight. He snuffed and followed Demona's scent quickly, Cana ran along with him. Lupus trotted a little more slowly, keeping an eye out for any trickery.
At Demona's lair, Goliath and Xanatos had found the entrance to Demona's lair. Unfortunately, Demona looked outside and saw the torn net, she knew that meant Goliath was nearby, and probably inside by now. She stormed away from the window and went directly to Kyra’s cell. She opened the door and went in.
"Goliath has found you somehow, unfortunately he won't reach you in time." Demona snarled and grabbed her. Unknown to her, Goliath and Xanatos were very close.
"Come on, who knows what Demona's done by now." Goliath ordered.
"I wouldn't hurry, if you know Demona as well as I think you do, you know she's set traps in here in case someone got past any traps we missed out there." Xanatos warned.
"Well I'm not going to walk slowly, by now Demona knows we're here." Goliath protested and went a little faster.
Meanwhile, Elisa and Broadway were having no luck in the park. On top of that, they met up accidentally with Kirsten and Kiesha. Broadway was surprised that Kirsten looked a lot like Kyra. Kiesha wasn't afraid of Broadway, neither was Kirsten, they figured, if a police officer was with him, he couldn't be dangerous, despite what everyone else said about his kind.
"Have you girls seen Kyra around here recently?" Elisa asked.
"Sorry, we haven't seen Kyra since school ended for the day." Kirsten answered. "She never showed for practice."
"Yeah, why, is something wrong?" Kiesha asked.
"There will be if we don't find her, someone really bad is after her." Broadway answered.
"You mean Micheal?" Kirsten asked.
"How did you know about him?" Elisa asked.
"He's been out to get Kyra since she moved here from Montana." Kiesha explained.
"Why?" Broadway asked.
"Well, she was instantly the most popular girl in the school because she was so pretty, and the school had more boys than girls. Micheal was only nine, but whenever Kyra went to class, and when she played basketball, or walked with the other girls, he only noticed her. Kyra was his friend, sort of. One day, she met Christopher and pretty much forgot Micheal existed until she became an orphan and joined his gang. He still hated her for ignoring him, until she became older and hadn't seen Chris in over a year. He got his hopes up that she would fall for him, but she met up with Chris in high school and they got together." Kirsten replied. "Micheal's mostly sore about that, but there have been other things."
"Why did Kyra join Micheal's gang?" Broadway asked.
"It was the only one that hadn't been shut down by the gargoyles and the cops. No one breaks the law, at least not the major ones. So it can't be stopped." Kiesha answered.
"We'd better keep looking for Kyra before one of the members does break a major law." Elisa commented.
"Let us help you, we know where Micheal likes to hide during the night." Kirsten volunteered.
"Let's go. We're wasting time, he may have done something already." Broadway hurried on and Elisa followed, Kirsten and Kiesha led.
At Demona's lair, Goliath and Xanatos had just found where Demona had taken Kyra when she was taken out of the cell. A large room, with Micheal standing guard by the only door and facing in, arguing with Kyra. Luckily, Demona didn't know about a secret passage that ran through the main rooms of the building. Goliath found a hallway entrance and he and Xanatos went to the room. They pushed the wall open a little when they heard Micheal and Kyra arguing. Goliath could tell from the tone in Kyra’s voice that she was about to slap Micheal if he said one more word and quickly pushed the wall farther.
Kyra turned around when she heard the wall scrape against the floor. "Goliath!" she exclaimed and ran to him. He took her behind him to protect her from whatever Micheal might try. Xanatos came from behind Goliath.
"All right Micheal, what's going on?" Xanatos asked sternly.
"Ask Demona if you want to know." Micheal answered curtly.
"Watch your attitude, Mike. Your family is going to hear about this..." Xanatos warned, "You'd better get Kyra out of here, Goliath."
Goliath led Kyra through the passage in the wall, it went right outside. When they got out, Bronx, Lupus and Cana had just gotten there and Elisa was running up with Broadway, Kiesha, and Kirsten.
"Kyra, you're safe!" Elisa exclaimed.
"Sure, you didn't think Demona would hurt me, did you?" Kyra asked, "I heard her saying that I was supposed to be the only thing keeping Goliath from getting her."
"I thought she wanted to get Elisa out of the way." Goliath replied.
"Yeah, but I guess she decided to try something else." Kyra said uncertainly. "Besides, that wasn't working was it?"
"Well, let's go home, before Demona finds out you escaped." Elisa said and they left quickly. Xanatos returned to the castle that night, saying Micheal had been restricted to gang base territory for what he did, or rather tried to do.
A week later, Kyra was playing in the park with Cana, she hadn't told Goliath about Demona's daylight transformation, because everybody already knew. Cana ran faster than Kyra could, so Cana had an extra long leash on her so that she could run after the stick, but Kyra could get her back if she didn't return. Finally, it was getting late and they retreated to the castle until nightfall. As Kyra walked back, she took the main streets and never went in the alleys until she got to Eyrie Building and went in the back door.
Kyra probably could have used her magic to get out of Demona's lair, but she promised Goliath that she would not use her magic except in emergencies, and that wasn't a critical emergency by her standards. Kyra’s standards were set extremely high, unless someone was getting hurt, or about to get killed, she would never use her magic. Actually, she was about to "zap" Micheal, not slap him, when Goliath and Xanatos rescued her.
When Kyra got to the castle, the sun had just set and the gargoyles were coming down to the main level. Lupus ran right into her and Bronx followed, the combined force pushed her to the ground, she pushed Lupus away and Bronx got up voluntarily.
"I have got to train the wolves." she said as she stood up and Lupus lunged out playfully, "No! Bad!" she signed it and yelled it quickly. The trio laughed a little until she glared at them. Then they all laughed.
Brooklyn, Lex, and Broadway went out to explore as usual, and Cana went over to the warmest corner of the tower and slumped down to sleep. She seemed to have less energy even though she did the same things as usual this week, she even ate more than usual. Kyra wasn't worried, she thought Cana was just getting ready for winter early; some wolves were known to stock up their bodies with fat and not do as much activity before winter. They usually kept as much strength as possible to stay alive during the coldest months.
The strangest thing was, Cana was gaining twice as much weight as she should have from the food she was eating, and hardly ever allowed anyone near her except for Kyra, Goliath and Brooklyn, she growled fiercely whenever anyone else went even two feet near her. Even Lupus couldn't go near her without getting a quick bite on his ear.
A few hours later, Kyra went back outside with Lupus and left Cana inside, she just didn't seem like she wanted to go back out. Angela went to do her own exploring, Goliath went with her to protect her. Not much would dare go after her, she was a strong girl, but he was always cautious of her.
As Kyra walked Lupus to the park, she was careful to watch the sky and ground at almost the same time. When they got to Central Park, Kyra still kept an eye out for danger, but let her guard down a little. It would be much easier to lose Demona out here in the open where Kyra could outrun her instead of wasting needed energy climbing over things on the street.
Lupus was slower than his little sister so Kyra didn't need a leash on him. She was so fast that she could keep up and sometimes go in front of him. The shadows that crept all over the park and the eerie sounds reminded her to stay alert. Demona didn't usually attack this soon after a defeat, but she was pretty unpredictable. Kyra would learn this by watching Demona in battle with the others. Only after she figured out Demona's pattern of attacks, or someone was getting hurt would she dare ever show herself. Demona couldn't kill what she didn't know was there.
Kyra was pretty smart and very strong for a girl, even a sixteen year old one. Demona knew she was clever, but had no idea how strong she was. She wasn't able to fight her long enough to test her strength and courage like she had done with Goliath and the clan. Still, she guessed pretty close so far, unfortunately, Kyra had never used her magic in any fights yet. She was never forced to.
"Lupus, come here stupid!" Kyra called. She momentarily forgot that he couldn't hear her, Lupus had run off near the street. She pulled out a shiny, thin, tin whistle and blew it, no sound came, at least no sound that a human could hear. Lupus halted immediately and returned to her side. The high pitched whistle was one of the only things his damaged ears could pick up.
Unluckily for Kyra, his ears could not pick up the faint crack of a twig just ten yards away. She couldn't hear it because it was too far away for a human's "primitive" form of hearing to pick up. Lupus started growling towards a thick bush, something just didn't smell right over there, he was used to smelling squirrels and birds in bushes, but not this creature. Kyra backed from the bush as Lupus stepped closer and growled more fiercely, baring his teeth and tensing up to spring into the bush.
Suddenly, he whined and stepped away quickly as if he identified who was in the bush and was afraid of them. Kyra knew it couldn't be Micheal since Lupus never backed from him. Phalog was supposedly dead, Macbeth was no longer an enemy, he didn't even know about Kyra, and she barely knew much about him, except that he and Demona were connected by sorcery. If they were near to each other and one got hurt, the other felt pain as well and they were the only ones who could kill each other.
Demona! The horrible realization of who was in the bush rang through her mind for what seemed like eternity. Kyra was about to run, when Demona jumped over the bush, her eyes glowing pure red with hatred.
"Haven't you learned never to travel this city without Goliath or the others?" Demona asked wickedly.
"I don't need them, I can take care of myself and Goliath knows it." Kyra answered. "So do you. You watched me long enough."
"Goliath knows little of this city, even less than a child just been born in it." Demona replied.
"You're the one that knows little, Demona, especially about humans." Kyra said icily.
"How is that?" Demona asked curiously, really she didn't care.
"You think all humans are bloodthirsty and hold no worth of others lives." Kyra answered angrily, "In reality, you think of humans, the way Goliath and the others think of you."
"That's impossible, Goliath would never think of someone that way." Demona said.
"Things have changed Demona, Goliath thinks of you as an enemy, and nothing else," the girl replied.
Demona showed no emotion. She had thought of Goliath as that since he sided with Elisa, but never thought that he would return the hatred. She always thought that Goliath was incapable of true hatred. This made her hate him and the others even more than she used to. Kyra was uncertain of Demona's next move. When she made it, Kyra was extremely surprised, Demona walked away, sulking in anger. Not wanting to take any chances, Kyra ran the other way, with Lupus a full yard behind. She had to tell Goliath before sunrise.
Kyra got to the castle in just enough time to tell Goliath she had something important to tell him, but the sun came before she could tell him.
The next night, she told Goliath about what Demona had done in the park the previous night. Goliath couldn't believe that Demona had just walked off without even putting one scratch on her. He thought he knew all there was to know about Demona, but she never gave up a fight without starting it!
The biggest problem was that Micheal was still an enemy. Micheal was 18, old enough to be considered an adult, so Xanatos and Mike's family could not control him. Kyra was only 16 and still had two years before she would be able to do something about Micheal herself, something Goliath wouldn't let her do anyway.
Kyra knew how to handle Micheal during the day. Besides the fact that he had only one year left in their school, he couldn't follow her to half of the places she went to, like the basketball court during practice, the choir room during her concert practice (she was in the "High Voices" choir Sopranos and Tenors), and especially when she went home! During the night, however, was much harder. He seemed different, harder to fight, still she was able to beat him, but she put through more force than in a daytime battle.
Demona was difficult to defeat also. As long as she had the jewel, she would be impossible to beat with strength. She would have to be outwitted, and that would be even harder.
Kyra was really good at keeping secrets, no one but the gargoyles knew about her magic. And she still hadn't told any one but Brooklyn the other secret, the secret that gnawed at her, and scared her once in a while. She had never told a secret in her life. Her friends had found out about the gargoyles accidentally, actually, the whole city knew about them, but they found out Kyra knew them.
Kyra was surprised that they weren't afraid of Broadway or the others. Kirsten usually screamed at everything that didn't seem usual, but she showed bravery when she had to, it was just that she was easily spooked, especially at night. Kiesha was level headed and didn't care about what sneaked up on her, as long as it didn't have murderous intent. Maybe they could help us, Kyra thought. Then again, Kirsten may not be able to handle Demona if she showed up. Kyra thought it over carefully and decided that her old friends might be able to help her new ones.
"Hey guys, I've got an idea on how to prevent Demona and Micheal from being a problem for a while." Kyra said one night, "And I mean a long while."
"That sounds pretty hard, how do we do it?" Lexington asked.
"My other friends, Kiesha and Kirsten, know a lot about fighting Micheal and they could learn how to fight Demona the same way I did, by watching how she fights." Kyra answered. "If they helped us, Micheal and Demona would pick the fights at farther intervals."
"What?" Broadway asked.
"They would wait longer to attack between battles." Elisa translated. "Kyra, make sure you stay in simple terms when you're talking to these guys. Except for Goliath and Lexington, they don't understand much college speak."
"Sorry guys." Kyra replied. "Sometimes I can't help it. It's not easy being a smart kid."
"Just be careful." Goliath told her, "Now why do you think Kiesha and Kirsten could help?"
"They always helped me when Micheal got too out of line on the school grounds, you'd be surprised how hard Kiesha can hit a senior when she's mad." Kyra answered.
"Then they know how to fight?" Brooklyn asked.
"Yeah, that doesn't happen every other day, but it happened more than once a month. That's about the intervals that Demona attacks on, right?" Kyra replied.
"Sometimes even more if she's really mad at us." Elisa told her.
"But, why would Demona slacken up the attacks just because we have more help?" Brooklyn asked. "That doesn't seem her style."
"She always has. Didn't she attack you more when you didn't have me on your side?" Kyra answered.
"Nearly twice as much, I guess the fact that she would have more against her makes her wait longer so she can think of a way to still overcome us." Goliath replied.
"One more made her attacks number nearly half as much, what if two more helped?" Broadway half asked.
"Then the attacks would come much less than now." Elisa answered. "For a while."
"It just might work, we'd have more time to think of ways to keep Demona from winning, and she wouldn't be able to attack during the day because you and your friends are human and stay active all day." Angela said.
"Most of the day." Kyra reminded her. "I sleep through the early part of the day, then wake up for school. But Demona can't cause too much trouble that early. She needs her beauty sleep."
"Kyra, ask Kiesha and Kirsten if they want to help, tomorrow at school." Elisa told her.
"Preferably away from Micheal." Goliath added.
"No problem, I'm sure they'll help, they'll be fighting Micheal too and they would never pass up a chance to do that, half of the girls and some of the boys wouldn't either." Kyra replied and went up to her room to do her Biology homework.
Kyra always got B's in science, it was never her strong subject, she was a math and spelling whiz. Once she went up to her room, unless there was a serious battle happening, she would stay up there all night. Cana usually followed her to the stairs, but was getting too heavy to go up them. Kyra had taken her to a vet's earlier that week and found that Cana and Lupus weren't so closely related, Cana was pregnant with at least two pups in her. She was getting pretty territorial and was left alone except when Kyra fed her, she was the only one Cana let even near the basket she was in now.
The next day was Saturday, so Kyra had the whole day to spend with her friends (the human ones) and went over to the basketball court at the school in her school uniform: black shorts with magenta along the waist and in a narrow line around the bottom of each leg, and a black tank top tee with magenta lettering with the school's name and Kyra’s number on the team (12).
Kirsten and Kiesha were already there, warming up. So was Christopher, Kyra’s boyfriend, he always played with them every Saturday. Christopher played on the boys' team so he had a uniform as well, he and Kyra wore the home court uniform and Kirsten and Kiesha wore the off home court uniform, the colors were opposite to the home court uniforms. Kyra thought Chris looked great in his uniform, actually, she thought he looked great in everything. Chris had short light brown hair that stopped right below his ears, he had yellow-green eyes and skin almost as pale as Kyra’s. Everyone in school thought they
made the perfect pair, everyone except Micheal of course.
Chris and Kyra were the best players on their teams, during special demonstration games when the girls' and boys' teams mixed and split, if they went in the same team they always won, so the school had them both play together but for different groups each time.
Naturally, Chris and Kyra were winning, but the game was very close, Kirsten and Kiesha were two points behind. Suddenly, Kyra felt like someone was watching her. She called a time out and looked around, spotting the spectator almost immediately. Micheal always did get on her nerves, especially when he watched her play on weekends. He probably watched because her uniform was tight and short.
"Micheal, go home." Kyra said like he was a stray dog, her voice told Micheal that she was quite annoyed.
"Why should I? It's not a school day, anyone can come on the court." Micheal replied.
"Not if they aren't wanted and team members are using it." Kirsten told him, stepping beside Kyra.
"Yeah, get lost, Mikey." Kiesha said angrily, "You're spoiling our concentration."
"Go on, there are two other basketball courts on the school, go use one of them." Chris said calmly. He tried not to lose his temper, he hated Micheal being within three feet of Kyra.
"Well, what're you waiting for? Why don't you go see someone that wants you around her?" Kyra declared.
Kyra knew exactly who she meant and so did Micheal. She didn't care if Micheal did go to see Demona, as long as he stayed there.
Micheal stormed off, uttering something before he left. Only Kyra heard and understood him, her magic allowed her to have hearing as good as the wolves. It didn't really bother her, at least at first it didn't.
"You'll be sorry," were his exact words, and they didn't intimidate her in the least. They did make her wonder why he said it and decided that after the game she would tell Elisa about it. Maybe it would make more sense to her, but first, she had to talk to Kirsten and Kiesha. Kyra wished she could tell Chris, but she had no idea how he would take it.
Kyra knew Chris hated her being in a gang, he worried that she would be hurt. If he found out she was battling a demon with wings at night, he'd never let her do it.
"Hey, Kirstie, Kiesha, wait a second." Kyra called as they walked home.
"What is it, Kyra?" Kirsten asked.
"You know how I was kidnapped by Micheal and you met my new friends?" Kyra said.
"Yeah, they were really nice, what about it?" Kiesha asked.
"Well, Micheal wasn't the only one who kidnapped me, another gargoyle, named Demona did too." Kyra answered.
"But, you were kidnapped during the day." Kirsten said confusedly.
"I know, Demona had a spell put on her so that when the sun rises, she turns into a human. The other gargoyles need help keeping an eye on her and Micheal during the day since they can't, and Elisa and I aren't enough." Kyra explained.
"And you want us to help?" Kirsten asked.
"Yes, if you can. I have to warn you though, if we get in Demona's way, she'll put up a fight, and she was the best warrior in her clan." Kyra warned.
"Do we get to fight Micheal too?" Kiesha asked. She loved hitting Micheal, but the school rules wouldn't let her do everything she wanted to.
"Well, Micheal and Demona work together if her plots involve me, which they usually do now." Kyra answered.
"Then we're definitely in." Kirsten said.
"Remember, you might have to fight Demona too, and she's very strong. Even Goliath can't beat her without help, and he's the leader of the clan." Kyra told her.
"We don't mind, it sounds like she has this coming to her." Kiesha answered bravely and bounced the basketball about eight feet straight up. She was strong for her slim build.
"Good, I'll tell Elisa, I have to go to see her anyway. Micheal said something that I didn't understand completely and I need her help figuring it out." Kyra said and walked away.
"I didn't hear him say anything." Kirsten said to Kiesha.
Elisa was at her apartment when Kyra came up to see her. "Hi, Kyra, what's wrong?" Elisa asked, "You look worried."
"I was playing basketball with Kirsten, Kiesha, and Chris, then Micheal came over. He said something that I don't understand." Kyra answered.
"What did he say?" Elisa asked.
"Well, we all told him to go away and he mumbled that I'd be sorry. I could hear it because of my powers, but my powers can't tell me what it means." Kyra responded.
"Anything happen that would help explain why he said it?" Elisa asked, "What did you say just before he said it?"
"I told him to see Demona since she's the only one who doesn't mind him nearby, but in different phrasing since my other friends were there." Kyra answered.
"Then we'd better go talk to Goliath after sunset." Elisa replied, "Until then, you better stay here, where Demona can't get to you, she can't get here during the day, she needs her wings to get to the window. And it's locked at night. With newly installed bulletproof glass." she added with a smirk.
That night, Elisa and Kyra went up to see the Gargoyles. Kyra told them about what Micheal had said. Goliath told her not to worry, "Threats aren't dangerous, unless Demona makes them, since she always carries her threats out."
Kyra shrugged her worries away and went out for a walk to think of why Micheal said that. It wasn't exactly a unique threat, people were saying that before her ancestors had magic. While Kyra thought, she didn't watch where she was going and ended up by the Harlem River. Kyra went up to a rooftop to get a better view. The river was beautiful at night, the moon and starlight glistened like magic and danced on the water's surface. She smiled at the sheer beauty of the light.
Suddenly, she felt a presence, she turned around to see Demona holding a gun, ready to fire. Kyra knew there was only one way to escape, she backed up to the building edge and jumped into the river without a splash, she used her magic to make her able to hold her breath underwater longer and waited. What seemed like hours later, Kyra came out of the water and started to walk back. But Demona was still there and cornered her against a wall, she raised the lazer and prepared to fire, smiling wickedly. If she’d had the breath, Kyra would have screamed.
Well have I got ya hooked yet? Read the next chapter to find out what happened and e-mail me with your comments and suggestions: