A/N: Dear Readers: Thanks for reading! I hope you will consider writing a quick review. Right now, I can't even read the story's stats, so I know if anyone has read it!
Demona woke with a start, shaking from the pain of her transformation, and finding herself in a strange room, too small to be called anything but a cell. She was laying on a thick mat, elevated slightly from the floor. A table stood nearby, adorned with small jars and folded bits of cloth. There was a sweet, herbal aroma that drifted from that general direction. Directly overhead, there was a strange device suspended from the ceiling, which emitted a violet-colored light that caused the stone walls to sparkle. It also emitted a great deal of heat, which she found distasteful. Her skin felt tight and dry, as if the odd light had scorched her as she slept. Most of the light in the cell, however, seemed to come from beyond an opaque panel of veined marble. She sat up on the mat and pressed the panel firmly with her claw, wondering if it was merely lit from behind for effect, or if there was another room or passageway beyond it, as the room had no other entrance that she could see.
She recalled the last events of the previous night. She had seen gargoyles! A large group of her own kind. She had always hoped there were more out there, hiding from a world ruled by treacherous humans, but it had been so long since she'd seen a sign of any. She had long since accepted the likelihood that she and her clan were the last of their kind. Angela had told her that she had seen others in the world, but Goliath had forbidden her from telling her mother anything more specific, for fear of the harm she could do with that information. Even without the details, the idea had given her reason for both hope and concern. When she had been nearly certain they were the last, there had been nothing to live for but vengeance. But if it was true that they were not alone in the world, then perhaps there was yet a world worth fighting for? And now she'd seen the proof with her own eyes. The group of warriors that had apprehended them were more of her kind then she'd seen in centuries, and they guarded a rookery prepared to protect and nurture at least fifty eggs.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices beyond the panel and a winged shadow passed before it.
"Hello?" she called, "Is anyone there?"
The panel descended into the floor to reveal two female gargoyles. The first was a young, but formidable-looking warrior. Her coloring was mostly amber, though a deep red marking, like a mask, emphasized her eyes. Her dark hair was braided tight to her scalp from her horns, down to her shoulders and she wore a breastplate of armor that was decorated with interlocking symbols. Demona noted that a weapon of some sort was sheathed at her waist. She studied Demona with intense curiosity, then said to her companion,
"She seems to be doing well now. Tend to her needs as best you can. I've yet to receive any orders regarding what to do with her."
The second gargoyle entered the cell, as the first stood guard at the door. This one was an elder with a no-nonsense, but warm and comforting gaze. She wore a linen garment that was pinned at both shoulders with brooches. Around her waist was a thin, chain of bright metal that was fastened at one hip and from one end of the chain swung an amulet that bore an insignia that she recognized. She had seen it before, when she was young, marking the bottles and jars that contained medicines, salves, and sedatives that had been used on the clan when injured or ill. It was the mark of a healer. On the front of the amulet, was a dark colored stone, the color of onyx, that glistened even in the dimness of the room and occasionally seemed to emit a flash of flame, when the light hit it just right. She approached slowly, crouching beside the mat and laying a large basket on the floor beside her.
"Are you well, Sister?" she asked her gently. Overwhelmed, she nodded in response.
"Well we can turn this off, at least," she told her as she reached for a thin chain on the wall behind her and switched off the device on the ceiling.
"What is that?" Demona asked her.
She smiled and replied, "Just a sunlamp. You can't hope to heal as you should without the sunlight!"
"But I'm not injured," she reasoned.
"When the guards brought you here, just before sunrise, you were unconscious. I didn't have the time to discover what was ailing you, so I covered the basics. Are you in any pain?"
"No," she assured her.
"The guard said you were struck with some sort of weapon, but we found no injury on you. Will you let me check you over?"
She nodded apprehensively and the healer took hold of her arm, checking her pulse. She touched her face and throat and listened to her breathing. Demona felt a bit silly, being examined when she knew she was fine, but somehow, she didn't wish to decline the kindly elder's attention.
"Child, your heart is racing! Are you afraid?" the healer asked.
"I don't know how to explain how I am at the moment," she admitted, "I thought I was the last of our kind for so long. I had given up hope of ever finding others."
The healer looked at her with concern.
"How long were you alone?" she asked gently.
She shook her head sorrowfully. "Unthinkably long. Long enough to drain all my hope, drive me to the brink of madness, and leave my soul unrecognizable, even to the one who loved it the most."
The elder looked heart-sick at her words. She glanced over her shoulder at the guard, who was eyeing Demona with both curiosity and suspicion.
"Garnet, fetch a cup of the medicine I've put on the stove for my patient," the elder ordered.
"She's technically a prisoner and I'm supposed to be guarding her," Garnet protested.
"Do as you're told, girl," the elder said with a motherly firmness.
"Yes, Auntie," she replied reluctantly and sending a warning glance toward Demona, she disappeared around the corner.
Once alone with her, the elder said, "You needn't live that way anymore. The leaders of this clan are just and compassionate and Bain Felix has always been a refuge for our kind, even for rogues and those who've never known a home. Whatever crime you might be charged with, no matter what is decided by the council, they will make a home for you here."
"You mean, stay here?" she asked forlornly, "I couldn't. And Goliath would never allow it."
"Who is Goliath, that he has such a say in the matter?"
"One of the others who came here with me," she told her, "It's complicated, but he holds me prisoner and is not inclined to release me."
"What does he think he can do before the council and before our guards if they decide to grant you sanctuary here? If he attempts to take you by force, he only stands to make himself a long term guest in lockdown."
Demona sighed, "It wouldn't come to that. All he has to do is talk. If he has the chance to speak to the council and tell them of my crimes, I am certain they wouldn't have me here, except perhaps to see me imprisoned or executed. There's no real home for me, here or anywhere."
"Executed?" she repeated in a scandalized tone, "Kill our own kind? Never! What gargoyle would do such a shameless thing?"
"One who is unfit to belong in any clan," Demona answered after a long and bitter pause.
"Auntie?" Garnet asked tentatively, returning from the other room with a steaming, fragrant bowl, "You're being careful, I hope! Remember, you mustn't tell her too much. If she knows certain things, the council may not allow her or her companions to leave!"
Demona's head shot up in alarm.
"What do you mean?" she asked anxiously, "They have to let us leave! I only came to dispel a curse and I never intended for Goliath to follow me…and there are three others we left behind! We must return to them eventually!"
"Thank you for your concern, Garnet," the elder said sternly, raising a brow at the younger guard who was now looking a bit sheepish, "And thank you for bringing this medicine to help calm my patient."
The elder took the earthen bowl and offered it to Demona.
"Drink this, Sister," she encouraged, "It will really help. And don't be anxious about the council. I told you, they are good and just. Whether you or your companions wish to leave or stay, I'm certain they will come to an agreement. And if it were to come to that, well, Dain Felix is like paradise! You could heal here and find hope again. And the clan could easily go and fetch your friends so you could be together."
"They wouldn't come. They wouldn't want to leave their protectorate," she worried out loud.
"Their…protectorate?" Garnet asked, "What does that mean?"
"The humans they protect," she explained further and the elder exchanged a warning glance with Garnet.
"You're not in a covenant with humans are you?" Garnet asked in a tone that didn't disguise her disdain for the idea.
"I'm not in a covenant with anyone!" she protested, "But Goliath and the others…They'd never abandon their humans, not even for paradise."
"That complicates things," Garnet commented grimly.
"Don't you go borrowing trouble," the elder chided her but Demona's head was already spinning between fear and a new, but vague sense of hope. Although she wasn't at all sure which scenario she ought to be hopeful for.
"Well, you'd better drink that up," Garnet said skeptically, "They're almost ready for you."
"I'm ready now," she replied. She handed the bowl back to the healer as she rose from the mat.
"Thank you for your help."
"It's nothing, Sister," she assured her, "And here's the book you had when you came in last night." She offered her the little reader, which was sitting on the table beside them.
"Oh, that isn't mine," Demona explained, "I found it in the rookery, just before they caught us. I didn't mean to take it. I was just admiring it."
The elder smiled at her, and placed the book in her claw.
"If you admire it that much, you should keep it. We can always print more and none of hatchlings like that one anyway!"
They rose and moved into the adjacent room, which was large and well-lit. A fire was burning in one corner, where a kettle of sweet-smelling brew was bubbling. There were a few other mats in this room, accompanied by the necessities for healing and assisting injured gargoyles, though it appeared empty at the moment. There was also a large, open window, and Demona stopped as they passed it, catching a comforting glimpse of a sky filled with stars. The streaks of the Milky Way were impressive and bright and the reflection of the crescent moon shone on the waves of the sea in the distance. How she'd yearned for the beauty of the night, of which she'd been deprived so long! For a moment, she thought she'd be the most fortunate of wretches if this council of just and compassionate elders sentenced her to an eternity of imprisonment, if it meant she might catch the sight, sound, and scent of that view every once in a while.
"Come on, Sis," Garnet urged nervously, as if she was afraid she meant to make a break for it, "They'll be waiting for you."
Reluctantly, she turned away and obediently followed Garnet to the door, but they all alerted to the sound of frantic footsteps and a screaming child. They cleared the doorway just in time to avoid being mowed down by two gargoyles, one of which was carrying an anguished hatchling. Demona's instant delight at seeing the first child of her kind that she'd seen in centuries melted pretty immediately, when she caught sight of his mangled wing. The second joint was clearly shattered and the bones were bent in the wrong places at horrific angles. The membrane itself was severely torn and bleeding profusely. The sun would heal the membrane, perhaps, if it was set properly, but those fractured bones…She doubted the child would ever glide on it.
The healer quickly began giving orders, and the two others scrambled to fetch what she asked for as the child cried in pain.
"Is there anything I can do?" Demona asked earnestly as the sound of the hatchling's distress disturbed something inside her.
"Try and hold him down while I have a good look at him," the healer asked and she took a hold of the hatchling, trying to simultaneously restrain and comfort him. One of the other gargoyles reached over her shoulder to place a rolled up cloth with a strong-smelling liquid on it in the child's mouth, and his shrieks of pain turned into whimpers.
The healer grimaced as she examined her patient's wing.
"There's nothing I can do with this," the healer muttered to the two other gargoyles, confirming what Demona feared, "I'm going to have to use a stone on him."
Demona looked up curiously, and watched as the elder took the dark-stoned amulet from the chain on her waist, and placed it on the little one's chest. The stone seemed to burst into a red flame and the child's entire body seemed to seize up for a moment. Demona watched in amazement the hatchling's wing reformed perfectly. She released him and he rose and embraced the elder.
"Thank you, Auntie!" he sniffled, and she laughed as he handed her the amulet she'd used to heal him.
"Well, that one's dead now," she announced disdainfully, tossing the amulet on the table. Indeed, the stone, while still black, had lost the light that had been in it.
The elder scolded the young one. "You have to be more careful, child! Now that we've lost Old Felix, there's a limited supply of these things!"
"I'm sorry, Auntie. I'll be more careful," the hatchling promised, and the elder handed him off to one of the two others, who carried him away after thanking her.
"What happened to Old Felix?" Demona asked her tentatively, "I remember hearing about him and his healing stones when I was a hatchling. How did you come to lose him?" The elder looked back at her awkwardly, realizing she had forgotten herself.
"Old Felix has been gone for several years," she replied cautiously, "Lord Oberon called him away for the Gathering. He left us a large supply of stones, but they can only be used by the healers he gave them to. Once we are all gone, they'll be worthless, even if there are any left."
"Auntie!" Garnet scolded, "Remember what I said?" The elder nodded and placed a claw on Demona's shoulder.
"Come, Sister, you must get going! They're surely waiting for you now!" Demona thanked her again, and followed Garnet into the corridor.