Cato approached them and said, "The council has come to its conclusion. None of you have been charged with a crime, however, we must protect the safety of our clan and our home."
"We understand that, but-" Lexington interrupted and Cato cut him off.
"Do you?" Cato asked, "We have managed to preserve our community and have lived in peace for generation upon generation, and all of this could easily be destroyed by the indiscretion of any of you. Can you promise to keep all you have seen and learned to yourselves?"
"Of course! Yes!" the three promised.
"You must not tell anyone, not even others of our own kind."
"Never!" Goliath promised and the others nodded their agreement.
"You must understand that despite our being blessed with a peaceful existence, we are both prepared and willing to defend our home and loved ones. If you fail to keep this secret, you are risking not only our safety, but that of your own clan and anyone you choose to tell." He looked at them gravely, "Are you certain you can keep that promise?"
They all nodded again.
Cato turned to Thistle and said, "Let the record show that they have vowed to keep silent about Bain Felix to all others. Let the record also show that we offer sanctuary to Adelpha." Lexington gasped softly and Goliath swallowed a cry of pain.
Cato refocused his gaze on Demona and said, "If you wish it, we would have you remain here with us." Nodding toward Goliath, he added, "Under some significant restriction at first, until we are all comfortable. It is clear your leader cares for you and fears that staying here might inhibit the progress you've made. But we also have the resources and the knowledge to help you, as we've helped heal many a rogue gargoyle to which we've offered sanctuary. And without the use of intrusive human mind control, I might add! You would find a home here among us, Adelpha. Do you accept our offer?"
Goliath longed for her to at least look at him, but she stared straight at Cato, her eyes filled with confliction.
"I cannot," she replied simply.
"You are certain?" he asked softly.
"I've told you my reasons," she replied, and looking at the floor, she would say no more.
"Since she has refused sanctuary, all three shall be transported by boat to Avalon," Cato declared, and Thistle scribed, "From which they may resume their travels."
"Avalon?" Goliath asked in even more surprise, "Why Avalon?"
Lexington looked thrilled though. He had wanted to see Avalon, and meet the clan's grown children, ever since Goliath had told them of his adventures there.
"So the council orders," Cato concluded, "Your belongings will be returned and you will leave Bain Felix this very night. Go in courage and good fortune!"
Tremendously relieved, all three thanked Cato and the council and rose to leave.
As an elder went to fetch the bag with the control panel and Lexington's computer for him, Cato addressed the council and suggested they take a short break before continuing with the session. Eyeing a group of young warriors that had assembled at the rear of the chamber, he said, "We have a team just recently returned from several months exploring the world and gaining crucial information. I'm certain we all look forward to hearing your report on your adventures, my son."
The assumed leader of the group acknowledged Cato with a respectful bow.
"We are happy to share it with the council," he responded in a loud voice that caught Demona's attention. The young warrior was handsome, and rivaled Goliath in size, but his raucous tone had a hint of bravado that brought a certain New York businessman to mind. She watched him for a moment as he interacted jovially with his boisterous and confident comrades, until he happened to glance up just in time to catch her gaze.
She looked away quickly, not meaning to give the impression that she was minding their business, but she sensed his continued interest in her. Lexington had his bag and they began to follow Garnet out of the chamber, but the young warrior approached her and greeted her warmly.
"Good evening, Sister!"
Made a bit uneasy by his unexplained forwardness, she smiled politely and acknowledged him with a bow of her head but he surprised her further by putting his claw to her chin and looking intently into her eyes. He smiled broadly, making her even more ill at ease.
"I know you," he told her confidently, "I know your name."
"You are mistaken, Brother," she replied awkwardly, "We've never met."
He glanced knowingly at the companion who had followed him across the room, and the second warrior nodded in agreement.
"A beautiful and formidable warrioress, with hair of crimson, and eyes that hold the sadness of the world," he stated, as if recalling a memory. He moved his claw from her face to her shoulder where he touched the engraved armband she always wore.
"A golden serpent," he observed, "Your friends have been looking for you."
"I've no friends," she replied, her tone becoming frustrated.
"Two young males and a female, not yet having reached their first rookery. We encountered them in Scotland. They are accompanied by a man." The warrior scowled in disgust at the thought of traveling with humans.
"We had to wait several nights until the human slept, in order to approach them. We asked them who they were and where they were going, but all they would tell us was that they were most anxious to find you. They said they'd been searching for a very long time."
"I don't know them," she insisted.
"Adelpha?" Goliath interrupted, "Are you ready to leave?"
The warrior glanced at Goliath with surprise.
"Adelpha?" he repeated as if he wasn't quite prepared to believe it, "Not 'Demona', then?"
"I'm called 'Adelpha,'" she told him.
Goliath looked confused by the exchange, but had the sense not to say anything, despite his suspicions. The young warrior looked doubtful, but he replied,
"My apologies, then. I must be mistaken."
"An honest mistake, Brother. No apology necessary. I'd love to stay and hear of your many adventures, but we have an adventure of our own ahead of us."
"May you go in courage and good fortune, then!"
Goliath and Lexington said nothing about the encounter while in the presence of Garnet, who guided them briskly through a corridor to a broad tower with large, open doorways to the outside. From there, they took off and glided across the island. Demona looked in amazement as they passed over the island and marveled at the structures built by generations of her own kind.
"A whole island of gargoyles and not a single human," she sighed a bit sadly, "It truly is like paradise." Goliath didn't quite know what to say.
As they approached a long, sandy beach on the far side of the island, they beheld a large bonfire that appeared to float in the darkness of the water, rising and falling with the waves. Garnet guided them in that direction and as they drew closer, they saw the fire was contained within an enormous iron cauldron that rode on a floating platform at the end of a long marina. There stood two elders, a male and female, adorned in robes of midnight blue that made them almost invisible in the darkness.
"These are the watchers," Garnet explained as they landed, "And they will set you off on your journey to Avalon."
"To Avalon?" one of the elders repeated in surprise.
"To search for Old Felix," Garnet explained to them. The female elder eyed them up and down, then told her companion.
"You'd best give them the old skiff. It's lucky."
"Lucky!" the male elder exclaimed, rolling his eyes at the silly suggestion, but he disappeared into the dock.
"Stay here by the fire," the female elder instructed them, "I will go and get some provisions prepared for you."
"I have to leave you now, as well," Garnet told them, "I hope you find Old Felix. We sorely miss him around here! Tell him that, if you do find him." Demona nodded and Garnet waved as she let a strong gust of sea breeze lift her away.
"Go in courage and good fortune!" she called down to them.
"Thank you, Garnet," Demona called after her with genuine gratitude, and the others waved their thanks.
"Who were those warriors you spoke with?" Goliath asked her sternly, once Garnet had departed, "And how do they know your name?"
"I have no idea," she replied honestly.
"The 'friends' they were talking about," Lexington asked, "Could the man have been Xanatos and the gargoyles Brooklyn, Broadway, and Angela?"
"I don't see how," Demona reasoned, "Even if Xanatos had a way to trace us here…and I sincerely hope he doesn't if he doesn't want to end up a dead man…We haven't been gone that long and that crew of gargoyles surely didn't meet up with Xanatos and the others in Scotland in the last few hours!"
She hoped she was right, but in truth, that was the first scenario that had come to her mind as well. It frightened her to realize that there was a good chance that Xanatos could track her, even to Bain Felix, through her implants. She had not been entirely honest with the chief elder. When he'd asked her if she'd ever told any humans about Bain Felix, she had said she hadn't. And it was true, in a sense. She'd never told Xanatos about the mythical island directly, but she knew he'd read Zarastrian's journals himself and knew of the possibility of its existence. If he and the others attempted to follow her there, the Bain Felix clan would kill him. She was certain of that, and she didn't blame them in the least bit. Still, the thought distressed her, though she couldn't say why.
"Who else could it have been though?" Lexington asked, "Macbeth?"
"Highly unlikely," she declared, "Macbeth wouldn't be looking for me in Scotland. He knows precisely where to find me in New York, if he wants me. And what three gargoyles would he be traveling with?"
Goliath had his own suspicions about the identity of the three gargoyles and the man who traveled with them, though he couldn't think of why they'd be searching for Demona, in Scotland or anywhere else. He studied Demona's face, trying to guess whether she was being truthful or not. She seemed concerned about something, but clearly didn't want to reveal what troubled her.
"Why are we going to Avalon?" he asked, changing the subject.
She looked up at him irritably.
"I'm going to Avalon to look for Old Felix the Healer," she explained in a tone that clearly indicated her opinion that Goliath should really try to keep up, "You two are going to Avalon because that's the only way the council would agree to release you."
"Why?" Lexington asked.
"Because I was able to convince them that because we traveled through a magical portal to get here, we have no idea of the actual physical location of the island. Now that the portal is closed, departing by way of Avalon is the only way we can maintain that very convenient ignorance, and not be a threat to their security. Does that answer your question?"
"No," Lexington replied, showing a bit of attitude in his tone, "Because I meant, why are you trying to find this 'Old Felix the Healer' anyway?" They both stared at her in anticipation and she sighed.
"Not that it's any of your business," she began, "But I believe Old Felix can give me something I need to break a curse that is on me. The same curse that threatens your lives along with the rest of our kind."
"That certainly sounds like our business to me," Lexington observed, rolling his round eyes.
"Not your vendetta with the Canmore siblings again?" Goliath groaned.
Her eyes flashed in fury at his dismissiveness.
"Yes!" she snarled. She approached him violently with her claws clenched in fists, as if she wished to punch him clear off the platform. "Whether you believe me or not, the Hunter's curse will not be satisfied until every gargoyle is destroyed, starting with the ones I associate with, and not ending until even the innocent on this island are slaughtered. It matters not where I hide or how many of the Hunters I kill. The curse will simply continue with the next generation until I am truly the last of my kind."
Goliath shook his head as he looked at her with a mixture of pity and exhaustion.
"You explained this quest to the council of elders?" he demanded of her.
"I did."
"And they decided to not only allow you to continue on it, but to indulge you by providing assistance?"
"They did."
Just then, they noticed the light of a lantern, drifting toward them across the surface of the water. They watched it curiously as it silently drew closer to them. They thought it might float clear onto the platform itself, until they heard the hollow whack of the wooden skiff striking the edge of the dock and the light of the cauldron revealed the faces of the two elders, who were nearly invisible beneath the dark cloaks they wore.
"This ought to take you wherever you need to be," the elder declared, grinning, "Come aboard!"
The three joined the elders as the male opened a compartment under the deck.
"Fresh water," he said simply, lifting a full skin to show them, "Food, supplies, a few cloaks…I'm not sure what good these will do before any of Lord Oberon's own, but if you should happen to encounter any mortals, men or gargoyles, these cloaks will hide you from their eyes. There's a good rope here and if you are caught on board at sunrise, I recommend you use it to make sure you and the boat aren't separated during the day. And this!" He lifted the end of a heavy chain.
"This is important," he continued, "This chain is made from iron, which the third race won't tolerate. If you find you need protection, you can form a circle around yourselves."
"Wouldn't it make more sense to form a circle around them?" Demona asked with a touch of snideness, but the elder silenced her with a stern look.
"Don't be foolish, girl! Most of the third race are not blood-thirsty, but even the most jovial among them are nothing to trifle with! Iron will hold them off to a point, but if you use it against them, they will not thank you for it! Best to approach them with respect and not vex the creatures!"
Demona opened her mouth as if to protest, but Goliath interjected.
"Your words are wise, Brother. Thank you."
"Yes, thank you," she added reluctantly, "For all your help."
"It is nothing, my dears," the elder laughed warmly, "Will you be wanting any weapons for this journey?"
Before Demona could speak, Goliath gave a sharp and startling, "No!"
She groaned and turned her back on him, sulking with contempt at his foolish ways.
"Should we cast off?" Lexington asked after storing his bag safely in the hold, "We don't know how long it will take to get to Avalon."
"Not quite, Young One," the female elder chided as she climbed onto the dock and reached into a basket that sat near the edge, removing a small branch, budded with white and purple flowers. She tossed this into the flames of the cauldron and beckoned for them all to gather round. The elders chanted a ritual of farewell as the three of them stared into the flames.
As Demona watched, the comforting sound of their voices grew fainter and she was surprised to see the flames brighten and take the forms of images. She saw the grieving and enraged face of Gruoch, uttering again the words that enslaved generations of the Hunters to do her bidding until her vengeful curse was satisfied. At her feet lay the forms of her husband and son, both cruelly taken from her. But curiously, the image of Gruoch disappeared and the forms of the two men rose. Demona watched in confusion as the Hunter moved to shatter a group of gargoyles in stone sleep, but Luach stood before him, ready for battle. Luach struck at the Hunter again and again, but could not destroy him. Then, one of the gargoyles broke free from its stone sleep and attacked Luach, slaying him, and allowing the Hunter to destroy the others. Then, in turn, it was Macbeth who slayed the Hunter.
"That's a lie!" she thought bitterly as the vision rang as an accusation in her heart, "It was Canmore that killed Luach and not I!" Despite her protest, she realized that she did feel some remorse for the loss of Macbeth's son. He'd stood up for her clan, against his father and grandfather. She had heard his loyalty spoken with her own ears, but it was more than that that caused even her cold heart to feel a tinge of sorrow for him centuries later. He'd been a friend to her for years, treating her not merely as his champion, useful only in her capacity to defend his realm, but a soul with value in and of itself. Of course, that meant nothing to Macbeth or Canmore, both ambitious men caught up in the game of squabbling over land and power. But it had meant something to her, and her heart had grieved, however briefly, when she'd learned of his death, even in spite of the rage and hatred that quickly overtook her. She looked away from the flames in disgust, unable to understand the unnerving vision or what she was meant to learn from it. Goliath and Lexington, however, seemed calmly fixed on the flames. She wondered what they were revealing to them. At last, the chanting stopped and the elders laid their claws on each of their shoulders, wishing them all courage and good fortune before helping them to cast off the dock.
A sudden mist seemed to have moved in on them during the ritual and the skiff silently made its way through it, soon leaving sight of the island of Bain Felix behind them. She watched the moon and stars, peeking through the mists and the only sound was Lexington, who had already taken out the control panel and was trying to reassemble and reprogram it in the moonlight.
"I will help you," Goliath said suddenly. His deep voice broke the stillness and startled her. She peered at him suspiciously. Lexington had also stopped his work abruptly and now stared at him in confusion.
"What's that?" she asked.
"I will help you finish your quest," he repeated softly, "And then I'm taking you home where you belong."
She turned away from him to face the direction the skiff was heading. It seemed to her a strange thing for him to say to her. He had no choice, at this point, but to go along with her to Avalon. She supposed it was good to know that he didn't plan on inhibiting her any more but she didn't know how he could help in encountering Old Felix the Healer. Rather, the fairy child had insisted that the curse was something she alone could break. On the other hand, she had to admit that it was better not to be alone. She turned again to look at him over her shoulder. He was still watching her.
"So be it," she responded as they drifted on toward Avalon.