AN: I apologize for the short chapter. Retrospectively, this should have been part of the previous chapter, but I made some changes to my overall timeline. As always, reviews are welcome, particularly if a part of the story is confusing or doesn't make sense.
"Take her," Goliath growled to Macbeth in a voice tinged with sorrow, "Put her in your prison for the time being. We will call Xanatos and have him deliver us back to the tower. This quest is over."
Outraged, Demona drew a breath to protest, but no words came, so she settled on a defiant glare.
"Where is the remote control for your implants?" he asked her sternly. Maintaining her pained silence, she reached into her bag and held the remote out toward him.
"No!" Luach interjected, pulling her arm back and laying his own hand protectively on her caped wing , "This is unjust. Will you not even hear what happened?"
"He has heard, my son," Macbeth told him, "And seen the carnage for himself. Don't interfere with Goliath. He is a just leader."
"But, Father, Demona is our friend!" he protested.
"No, Luach!" he replied bitterly, "She is not as you once knew her."
"Neither are you, if you would allow her to be imprisoned for defending herself and her clan, without even the chance to speak for herself!"
For a moment, Macbeth looked doubtful. He realized the truth in his son's reprimand, but looking again at Demona's defiant glare he replied,
"Her words are those of a lunatic, Luach, poisoned with the many lies that penetrate and ensnare her heart. She cannot be trusted."
"Can I be trusted, Father?" Luach pleaded, "Can your love for me be at least as strong as your hatred for her?"
"Of course!" Macbeth replied, defensively, "I would trust you in anything!"
"I overheard them talking," Luach assured him firmly, "I stood as close to them as I stand to you now. The woman wished to defy you and take Demona to another, who sought to destroy her. 'Canmore', was the name she said, and 'The Quarrymen,' the band which they would sell her to. The man only convinced her by promising that you yourself were the only one with power to destroy her completely. They both spoke with contempt for the gargoyles and the man Xanantos for protecting them, calling for his murder with the rest. I heard this with my own ears. If you will not hear her, at least believe your son!"
Macbeth's head lowered as he heard of this betrayal. Stunned and trying to make sense of it, he was startled by the loud crack and roar of the ATV engine starting up behind him.
"What is that?" Goliath demanded, looking at the rising cloud of dust in the driveway. The young gargoyles hurried to the edge of the patio and the whole group watched as the ATV whisked loudly up the driveway and into the woods, with the still wounded henchman atop it.
'That, my leader, is Macbeth's loyal, peace-loving henchman, headed off to betray us all to Canmore."
She turned to Macbeth with a sardonic sneer, "Do you believe me now, or do you wish to question him further when he arrives at dawn with a score of quarrymen, prepared to turn my clan into playground pebbles?"
Macbeth turned from her in disgust and she called up to the patio.
"My warriors! Go and bring that fool back here, alive if you can. He knows where our enemy lies in wait. But go with caution, that weapon of his can be devastating."
"Aye, aye!" Blaze cheered as he leaped to the roof of the house, "Looks like we get to have some fun after all!"
"I want the head!" Thorn claimed as he raced behind him and leaped into the air before him.
"She said to take him alive, you halfwit!" Linnet chastised as she joined them in the air.
"Aye, well then I want to be the first to drive his machine!"
The three of them headed off to recapture the rogue henchman and in a low, concerned voice Goliath said,
"Lexington, go with them."
"They can certainly handle a single, injured human," Demona reminded him with confidence.
"It's alright," Lexington said in a somewhat mocking tone as he took off, "I'll see the precious hatchlings wear their helmets when they ride."
"What is that about?" Demona wondered as Lexington hurried to catch up with the others. Goliath cleared his throat.
"Adelpha, I should have heard your side of the story before I judged the situation," he confessed, but she shook her head, wanting to change the subject.
"I realize now, why you tried to keep everything in the world from me for so long," she told him, "The Hunter and the Quarrymen, perhaps even half the city suspected that I was hidden away in the castle, and they wanted me dead. You and Xanatos, the clan, and our daughter were all at much greater risk, keeping me there."
Goliath nodded solemnly, "That was one consideration. There were other reasons though."
"Why did you?" she probed him, "Why not imprison me somewhere else and give them less reason to attack."
"We wanted you with us," Goliath replied, as if the answer should have been obvious, "What chance would you have had otherwise?"
Demona sighed, looking away.
"Never mind about before," she said curtly, "I trust you would have heard my side eventually. As Macbeth said, you are a just leader."
"Thank you," he replied.
"Naively foolish, but just, nonetheless."
"Of course."
It wasn't long before the young ones returned with their prey, who they dumped unceremoniously at Macbeth's feet.
"Well done!" he praised them, and to the traitorous henchman he rebuked, "I considered you a friend."
"Well, it seems like you got enough 'friends' here, Macbeth," the man retorted snidely through his pain, "I knew you were soft on them, but I never would have thought you'd betray your own kind like this, making buddies with demons!"
"I'm afraid I much prefer their company to that of the cowards and murderers you've aligned yourself with."
The man grimaced with pain, his voice becoming choked with emotion as he spoke.
"She was right all along. She wanted to take the demon to Canmore, but I talked her into bringing her back here instead. She's dead now because I trusted you!"
"Come along," Macbeth said coldly, hauling the man by the shoulder, and taking him away toward the bunker. Luach joined him, taking the traitor's other arm.
"Just make yourselves at home, I suppose," Macbeth called to the rest of them, over his shoulder, "I may be a while."