Prologue - Birthday Flight

May 22nd, 1993

The walk to Into the Mystic was one of excitement for Liam as today was his birthday and after celebrating with his parents, with a couple of presents and a birthday cake, he wanted to celebrate it with the Gargoyles, especially Griff and so he left as the sun started setting over the horizon.

He informed them of when his birthday was and so they promised that they'll allow him to spend the rest of his birthday at their shop, with Griff promising to give a very special gift or two.

Liam had four slices of his birthday cake with him, three of them being for the three Gargoyles and the fourth would be his third slice of cake.

Upon entering the shop, he was greeted by the three Gargoyles, who didn't wear their robes and had a banner saying "Happy Birthday, Liam Gardner" with moving images of various different creatures, including a gryphon and a unicorn.

"Happy birthday, Liam!" All three greeted him, which made the young man smile.

"Thanks, guys." Liam said as he handed them the box containing the slices of birthday cake. "I've brought some birthday cake for you guys."

They opened the box and each got a slice of chocolate cake and while Una took her time with her slice, both Leo and Griff devoured theirs in three bites. Liam took his slice and ate it at the same pace as Una.

"Did your mother bake this?" Una asked as she wiped some of the icing with a finger and sucked it.

"Yep, she's made every single one of my birthday cakes since I was three years old." Liam replied before he took another bite.

"Well, your mother is a saint." Griff complimented as he wiped the icing off his beak and licked it off his finger.

"Yeah, she rivals even our cooks at Knight's Spur." Leo added.

"I'll make sure to tell her that, she blushes anytime someone compliments her." Liam chuckled. He then saw that the three Gargoyles looked at each other with smirks of their own.

"Liam, how do you feel about having a couple of gifts from us?" Griff asked, making the human go wide eyed.

"Gifts? From you guys?" He asked.

"Of course, you're part of our clan, we might as well celebrate the day of your birth with a few gifts." Una said, having finished her slice of cake and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, guys." Liam said, looking at each of them. "So… what are these gifts?"

"I'll show you the first one, if you'll follow me." Griff said, holding his hand out and Liam grabbed it, letting the gryphon Gargoyle lead him upstairs and out onto the balcony past the glass door.

"Okay… why are we outside?" Liam asked.

His answer came when Griff wordlessly grabbed Liam and pulled him into his arms bridal, making the now twenty year old gasp and blush at the grinning Griff.

"Hang on tight." He advised Liam, who instinctively wrapped his arms around Griff's neck before the Gargoyle leapt off the railing and they were now up in the moonlit sky over the city of London.

Liam looked down and gasped in awe as the two were now gliding the air currents with Griff's opened wings. Liam has seen the Gargoyles take off to glide and patrol London but to actually be in the air like this, it was a whole other thing entirely.

It gave Liam a sense of freedom, that he wasn't restricted to the ground because of gravity. And feeling the wind brush against his face while in Griff's arms was such a soothing and pleasant sensation.

He looked down below at the city and gasped as he watched cars driving down the streets, looking like ants crawling on the ground, people walking and looking like tiny spots that moved up and down the lit streets.

Liam was just so glad that he didn't have a fear of heights because this was truly incredible.

"What do you think?" Griff asked with a hopeful grin on his face.

"I'm so jealous of you Gargoyles. I wish I had wings like you." Liam replied, looking into Griff's eyes with reverence and joy.

"Well, I hope you enjoy this!" Griff grinned before he did some fancy manoeuvres, doing things like barrel rolls, dives before ascending up in the sky, launching Liam in the air before catching him, all of which made Liam laugh and grin.

"This is amazing!" Liam cheered before he nuzzled his face into the crook of Griff's neck, finding comfort when they simply glided over London.

The two glided for a bit longer, able to glide past Big Ben and the Tower Bridge before they flew back to Into the Mystic before midnight.

"Now for the second gift, we'll have to go back to the shop since it's one from all three of us." Griff said as they approached the Soho region of London.

"Any hints?" Liam asked playfully.

"Let's just say it has some significance." Griff hinted at with a smirk.

Shortly after, they landed on the balcony above the shop and both Leo and Una walked out, the latter holding a small box in her hands.

"We contacted the clan to ask if there's anything that we can give you for your birthday. And some of them felt this would be perfect." Una told Liam, handing the small box to Liam.

Intrigued, he slowly opened it to reveal a historical golden amulet the size of a coin that had the symbol that the pins on the Gargoyles' robes bore: a side profile of a gryphon, looking very much like Griff, down to the mohawk. It was carried by a thin golden chain.

Liam pulled it out and examined it closely, seeing that it had to be from the 18th century and had rubies and diamonds on the edge.

"It belonged to a member of our clan from the 18th century. He was a cougar named Bane. Our records say that he was one of the bravest and most caring Gargoyles in the clan's history. We feel like he'd be happy if you had this, as a way to signify that you are part of our clan." Una explained as Liam put it on around his neck, somehow sensing a feeling of familiarity that he didn't understand. It somehow soothed him and he felt like he found a long lost possession.

"Thank you so much, guys. I'll treasure it with all my life." Liam said, deciding to hug the three, hugging Griff longer than Leo and Una, who both looked at each other with a look that Liam couldn't decipher when the young man and the gryphon Gargoyle both hugged, clearly not wanting it to end.

Eventually, though, they parted and Griff looked at Liam fondly with the amulet around his neck.

"It looks good around your neck." He told Liam who smiled.

"Thanks, Griff." Liam replied before he looked over to Leo and Una. "What else can you tell me about Bane?"

"There's plenty more. Why don't we have some tea while going over his life?" Una said, gesturing to the door and they all entered back into the shop, ready to go over the life of a cougar Gargoyle that Liam grew a curiosity over.


Just so you know, there is actually real significance with Bane and that amulet, just wait until later in the story and you'll see why.