Exhausted from the encounter with the Weird Sisters, Demona made a quick assessment of Luach and the three young gargoyles before collapsing on a seat near the bow of the skiff. With relief, she noted that none of them seemed to have been seriously injured in the battle, and she made sure to praise and thank them for coming to her aid. She stopped anxiously when she came to Luach, whose posture remained slumped and on whose face remained the trace of a grimace.
"Are you injured, your Highness?" she asked, placing her claw on his arm as if to help support him.
"Nay, and the pain is becoming more faint by the minute," he assured her.
"Come," she beckoned, "Ride in our boat instead, so we can keep an eye on you."
"As you wish," he replied through gritted teeth as he gingerly lifted his leg over the side of the boat. She watched him uneasily, wanting to help him. There were a thousand things she wished to say to him, but she didn't dare to say them out in front of the clan.
"Your wealthy magician seems to have delivered us out of peril once again," Luach commented as she crouched beside him, "I think I should like to meet this man one day!"
"I am not sure you would like him, if you did," she cautioned him, "He isn't like you at all." It was true that two more different men she couldn't imagine and she highly doubted they would be fast friends.
"He saved your life tonight," Luach pointed out, reaching for her shoulder affectionately "Perhaps all of our lives. For that alone, I should like to see him and thank him."
Demona fell silent at these words, for she didn't know how to respond to them. While under the Weird Sisters' control, she had seen Luach tortured and tormented on her behalf and had been helpless to protect him. Now he was anxious for the chance to thank a billionaire for merely sending a ransom to buy their attackers off. She didn't know if she should embrace him or give his senseless head a good shake. She felt she was paralyzed to do either while Goliath looked on, watching her with a silent frown from the other side of the boat, where Ophelia was quickly going through supplies to fetch anything that might comfort him after his wound.
"Well, perhaps you will meet him before it's all said and done," she finally replied, trying her best to keep her voice free of the emotion that was welled up inside her, "Who knows where Avalon will send us next, and the man does get around!"
She glanced again at Goliath, who was now thankfully distracted from studying her, and more focused on Ophelia's persistent fussing over him. Demona watched with a bit of glee as she sensed his frustration rising. He clearly didn't wish to hurt the girl's feelings, but she wasn't taking any gentle hints either.
"Thank you, Ophelia," he gently protested as the eager youth all but stuffed his mouth with a cloth soaked with a pain reliever, courtesy of the healers on Bain Felix, "I'm quite well now. Adelpha did well with the balm Titania gave her."
Almost disappointed, she withdrew from him with her treatments.
"Ophelia," Demona summoned, "King Luoch might benefit from your help."
"Oh, of course!" Ophelia replied, clearly happy to be of use, and Demona rose and switched places with her, taking a paddle beside Goliath to scull them out into the open water. As they made their way through mist, she whispered to him with a hint of taunting in her tone.
"You've acquired quite a persistent admirer."
Goliath sighed in response, glancing over his shoulder to ensure she was still distracted by Luach.
"Please, speak to her," he begged.
"You would have me to speak to her?" Demona asked in genuine surprise.
"Who else? You've done it before!"
Demona chucked softly, careful to keep her amusement under Ophelia's radar.
"True. There was never an end to love-sick youths to be counseled," she admitted, "But are you certain that's what you want? She is a pretty, kind-hearted thing. Given time, perhaps she'd make the sort of companion you would appreciate?"
Goliath gave her an annoyed look, then pleaded again.
"You always knew just what to say. Please speak to her."
His unexpected praise gave immediate pause to her taunting, and she studied the pattern of the boat's wake as she considered his request.
"Very well," Demona agreed after a moment, "When the time is appropriate."
She and Goliath wordlessly paddled the boat until it suddenly began to take a course of its own. The occupants of both vessels looked up in excitement as they began to increase in speed and with a great jolt, they realized that they were no longer at sea, but racing down a stream of rapids. The boat jolted again, knocking Demona and Ophelia to the deck, as it struck more rocks. Behind them, the other boat was dealing with the same issues.
"Quickly," Goliath urged them all above the sound of the rushing currents, "Work to get the boats ashore before they sink!"
"What shore?!" Lexington cried in dismay, and indeed, they had found themselves in a narrow gorge between two tall ridges. There was no place in sight to land the boats upon the sandstone ledges. They would have to do their best to paddle through the dells and not crash on the rocks. It wasn't long, however, before the skiff had wedged itself tightly between two rocks. The river showed no mercy for their predicament and a gush of water rose over the top of the deck dragging them all with a great force. Instinctively, Demona grabbed hold of Luach and pulled them both up onto the stern of the boat, the only part not completely submerged in the unforgiving rapids. Goliath and Ophelia had pulled themselves onto the rock itself.
"Our supplies," Ophelia complained as she reached for the compartment that contained them. She opened it to reveal it already flooded with water.
"Leave it," Demona directed, "Better to get out of this river!" Reluctantly, Ophelia left the compartment, but not without removing a basket that looked like it contained mostly sopping, wet fabric. Goliath ventured toward her on the unstable edge of the skiff and Demona helped to load Luach onto his shoulders. Then, they opened their wings and allowed the chaotic winds of the gorge to lift them from the wreckage. Gliding on such unruly currents was not easy. Demona found she couldn't get much height. She glanced at Goliath who was also struggling to stay above the churning river, especially with the added weight of a large man on his shoulders.
"Come! Let us climb the rocks and get above the gorge," Demona called and the others nodded their agreement and they all clung to the rock walls. Having a moment now to safely look downstream, she saw the four young gargoyles had also abandoned their vessel and were climbing the rocks as well. Soon they were all gathered safely on a ledge, near the top of the gorge.
"Our boat when through several chutes, but then it capsized," Linnet informed them, "But we otherwise enjoyed the ride."
"T'was great fun!" Thorn agreed.
"Aye, I'd do it again, if we have the time," Blaze added.
"I'm afraid we don't," Goliath replied sternly.
"Where do you think we are?" asked Ophelia, "And where do you think we should go?"
"I might be able to help with that," Lexington replied. Demona noted that he had managed to salvage the bag with his computer case in it, which he now opened and removed a GPS unit.
"We're in West Virginia!" he exclaimed happily, then frowned a little, "Kinda in the middle of nowhere. But at least we're a lot closer to home than we were before!"
"West Virginia?" Demona repeated, glancing at Goliath, "Does that inspire any guess as to what we're supposed to do here?"
"Not particularly," he admitted, looking east toward the brightening horizon, "Perhaps we would do best to find a safe place to spend the day. In my experience, whoever or whatever we are meant to encounter here will find us in its own due time."
Demona lept from the edge of the gorge, allowing the wind to carry her high above so she could see as far as possible.
"The gorge continues that way for several miles." she reported, "I see the lights of a few towns, but it's hard to tell how large and how far away, with all the mountains. If we go upstream, there's a large lake there, with hardly any lights that I can see."
"It's as good a direction to start as any," Goliath agreed and they headed toward the flowage upstream of the gorge. The lake didn't seem that large at the center, though it did have at least one island they could see. There were also several branches that stretched back into valleys between the mountains, and that was where Goliath suggested they look for refuge. They avoided the first branch as they saw several marinas and docks, their lights bobbing quietly with the gentle waves in the early morning darkness. The second branch, however, looked dark and secluded, and more likely to not be discovered by humans during the day. The whole group disappeared under the cover of the trees with just minutes until daylight.
"Do you think you will want to sleep?" Lexington asked Demona, offering her the remote for her implants.
"I doubt it," she replied thankfully, "But I'll take it just in case." She placed the remote in her bag and the sun rose, changing Demona into her human form and the gargoyles into stone.
"Well," Luach said, once her transformation was complete, "Let us try and get some rest as well."
As the morning progressed, Demona kept watch as Luach attempted to get a bit of sleep on the cold, rocky, damp ground. The forgotten cove seemed to be well chosen as hours went by without the sight or sound of a human. At one point in the late morning, Demona's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of a small motor boat making its way past in the distance, but the boatman didn't trouble himself with the narrow cove where they were hiding. The only other sign of humanity was when she sporadically heard the piercing sound of a diesel whistle, echoing off the stone walls and ledges, followed by a mile of freight cars, rattling as they were hauled. She began to wonder if it wasn't safe enough to use the implants to enforce a nap for herself after all, but then the tranquility was broken by a sudden splash and she caught sight of a large trout, gliding up from under the surface to catch an unsuspecting insect, and she got another idea.
By the time Luach awoke, she had rediscovered her long-latent survival skills and procured several large fish that were smoking on the fire.
"How convenient!" he exclaimed warmly as he stretched his limbs and joined her where she sat, balanced on a log, amid the six stone gargoyles.
"I thought you ought to have some nourishment to help heal you after what you went through on Avalon," she explained, "Are you still in pain?"
"Only from sleeping on some knobby tree roots," he assured her, "Thank you kindly, for the breakfast."
They spoke little as Luach ate some of the fish she had prepared. The breeze made a low groaning sound as it whipped through the hollow, causing Demona's human dress and the two remaining soaked cloaks to flutter from the branches where she'd hung them to dry in the sun.
"What are those?" Luach asked as he stared at the strange, silvery fabric that seemed to absorb and reflect light at the same time.
"Cloaks that were given to us for our mission," she explained hesitantly, remembering that it was imperative she not tell anyone about Bain Felix, "They are really quite amazing. They make you almost invisible."
Curiously, Luach rose and lifted one of the cloaks off the branch.
"Wonderful!" he admired, "Perhaps we ought to use them to explore the area? If Avalon sent us here for a reason, should we not try to find out what that reason is?"
They were discussing the possibility of climbing up the ridge and looking for a town, when Demona suddenly shushed him. She jumped to her feet on the log, and leaving against a thick branch, she gazed through an opening in the canopy at the ridge above them.
"What is it?" Luach asked anxiously.
"I thought I heard the sound of a motor coming from up there," she said softly. Luach joined her on the log, peering at the thick wall of green before them.
"The forest is far too dense to see anyone," he complained.
"Yes," she agreed, "And it's hard to say, if the sound came from behind us, or somewhere on the lake and it's merely echoing off the ridge." They waited a few moments, then heard a man's voice shout something and the motor started up again, this time, clearly moving across the ridge toward the point at the end of the peninsula.
"What is it?" Luach asked.
"I'm not sure. It sounds like some sort of utility vehicle. Perhaps more than one. Maybe there's a road or a trail up there along the ridge?" They listened a while longer as the sound seemed to stop regularly and change direction, going back and forth along the ridge.
"What could they be doing?" Luach asked.
"I'm not sure," she replied, "But I suspect they may be coming our way soon. I believe whoever is driving them are traveling down the ridge on switchbacks. Let us put out this fire so they don't spot us, if they haven't already." Quickly, they soaked and buried the campfire and Demona put on her mostly dried dress and one of the cloaks. Luach took the other cloak and they slowly made their way up the ridge, trying not to leave a path that would lead anyone back to the sleeping gargoyles.
It was slow going up the rocky ledges, but before long, Demona's theory was proven correct, and they came upon a primitive, unpaved trail, marred with ruts made by a small vehicle. They ascended the trail cautiously, listening for the vehicles they expected to approach them at any minute. Only a few yards away, they came upon the first switchback, as well as a second trail, blocked by a thick, rusted chain and a sign that read, "Private Road, No Trespassing."
"Let's wait here for them to come by," Demona suggested, "The cloaks will shield us from their eyes and we can get a good look at who they are and which way they go." Luach agreed and they positioned themselves on the mossy ledge just at the intersection of the two trails.
There were, indeed, two ATVs, and as they approached, Demona's suspicion grew. Both riders were dressed in full tactical gear, as if they were about to storm the headquarters of a terrorist ring. The two ATV's swung around the switchback as if they meant to continue down toward the water, but then they stopped.
"Do you still see it?" asked one rider with a raspy, female voice, "This is about where we saw the smoke."
"No," the other replied in a deep growl, "Whoever it was, they must have put it out. No matter. We'll find them."
"We're in trouble," Demona whispered anxiously to Luach.
"Why? We've done nothing!"
"Look at those weapons!" she explained, "Those are military grade. Even in West Virginia, no one carries guns like that. They aren't just guarding granny's fresh baked apple pie either. Avalon has dropped us right in the middle of something serious."
Suddenly, Demona gasped. One of the riders was scanning the shoreline with a device she recognized as a thermal imaging scope and was focusing almost exactly where they'd left the others.
"Luach, run!" she hissed, pressing against his shoulder.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"That way! Go!" she repeated urgently, almost shoving him off the ledge. He jumped down quickly and ran uphill and into the woods, while she took a large rock and hurled it into the woods on the other side of the path to distract the two riders. They turned toward the sound, giving her a moment to get herself off the ledge and give herself a few yards head start. The female rider glanced down at the scope as she turned back to her companion and caught the image of a human shape, hurtling down the private road.
"Hey!" the woman cried, her voice echoing on the rocky hillside.
"Hey, what?" the man replied, befuddled as he followed her gaze down the still and silent road, "There ain't no one there!"
"Oh, no?" the woman asked, showing him the image on her scope.
"Come on," the man grunted as he jumped into the seat of his ATV.
Demona heard the motors fire up behind her and the sound of bullets whizzing past her and ricocheting off the rocks.