It was a short glide, if not a little rough with the sea air coming off of the cliffs. The six of them had launched themselves over the water, angling their wings to catch the updrafts and lift them up to where the lighthouse stood.
The tower holding the light, as well as the long attached house were a gleaming white, the lighthouse having had stood the test of time for hundreds of years. Thanks to the care of the humans and gargoyles together, Lyra had said.
Lyra spoke along the way, telling them a brief history of the clan and its relationship with the O'Shea family.
The O'Shea family would be there, Lyra warned.
Brooklyn chuckled. "We have no problems with humans," he said. He had been warned (as if it had been necessary) about going into too much detail too quickly of just how close of a relationship they had with humans at home.
As they crested the top of the cliff, Brooklyn realized that not all of the light was coming from the lighthouse lamp.
The house had a small fenced yard, probably a place to let the small children play without worry of them roaming to the cliffs, Brooklyn mused. Around the fence, small bright lights had been strung and illuminated the yard that now contained two large picnic tables that were holding several platters of food and pitchers of what looked to be lemonade.
And already seated around the tables, was another eight gargoyles. They were sitting, laughing and chatting with a pair of humans, but no one touched the food or drink.
Everyone turned as their three females, Hudson, Brooklyn and Garia landed.
The clan rose to their feet, cheering and calling out greetings. The male human rose, walking forward to introduce himself as Flynn O'Shea.
Flynn was tall, having finally stopped growing at 6'4", and towered over his petite wife. Even sitting, she barely came to his shoulders. They must have looked odd to most people, but seeing the devotion in his eyes for his wife, none ever questioned it again.
Without hesitation, he offered his arm, shaking the forearms of the visiting Gargoyles and inviting them to join them all for their meal. Leading the way to the tables, he introduced his wife, Shannon.
There was a moment of awkwardness as Brooklyn was seated and harmony swooped in to sit beside him, but Lyra sat on her other side, and that seemed to keep the female's flirtatious nature in check. Hudson sat on Lyra's other side, and Garia sat next to Shannon.
The clan members were all in shades of blues, greens and grays, and they all had a unique split wing patterns that neither Brooklyn nor Hudson had seen before.
In total, there were eleven members of the Emerald Isle clan, and as they were once more seated, Lyra made the introductions.
Selah was the clan leader. Tall, with a double wing similar to that of a dragonfly, she had skin the color of the sea.
Brio, a younger male around Brooklyn's own age, was her second and was as grey as a stormy sky.
There were three more males, Piper, Harper and Fife.
The rest of the clan were females. Melody and Harmony were joined by Calliope, Aria, Viola, Rhapsody, Cadence, and Sonata.
The next hour passed quickly, as each clan member fairly tripped over themselves… and each other… asking questions and answering a few themselves.
It was into this chaos that Matt and Bronx entered, spawning more excitement, questions and essentially bringing about the whole process again.
Hudson and Lyra, content to let the young ones entertain themselves, retreated to the far end of the table.
"I do have a question," Brooklyn asked, once the excitement died down again. "How have you all remained hidden all this time? You're not exactly isolated," he said, pointing to the small town's lights and buildings at the base of the hill. "And yet, there was no information about you."
