As Demona and the trio of gargoyles approached those gathered around the fire, Luach rose nervously to greet them, his mind swimming with the heartbreaking thought of Demona's desertion, the horrible story Goliath had shared with him, and the memories of decades of loyal friendship. With a slight bow of his head, he greeted her,
"My Lady."
Her eyes narrowed at the salutation, which she clearly found strange. For a moment, she studied him suspiciously, as if wondering if he meant to mock her. Finally, she bowed as well in response.
"Your Highness," she addressed him formally and cooly, "I cannot understand why you have done what you have done, but I am truly grateful."
"I told you the reason," he reminded her and she nodded uncomfortably and quickly changed the subject.
"I saw a small hotel at the end of the village that had an internet cafe in the lobby," she announced, "When the sun rises, we will go there and I will attempt to contact Macbeth. It seems the next course of our journey is clear. We must deliver Luach to his father." The three new gargoyles nodded their heads in eager agreement.
"He helped us, so it's only right," the female commented.
"Aye, we can't just leave him now," the larger of the males agreed.
"Indeed!" declared the smaller male, hurrying to Luach's side and drawing him close to his shoulder, "With all we've been through together, we're more than friends. We're like brethren!"
"Ah, yes!" the larger male laughed snidely, cuffing his brother on the head, "Behold the family resemblance!"
Goliath glanced warily at Demona. He expected her to react in horror, but if she was at all scandalized by this talk, she disguised it well.
"How do you plan to get us all to Macbeth, whenever we do find out where he is?" Goliath asked.
"You told me that Avalon sends voyagers where they need to go. I should think it evident that Luach needs to go to Macbeth. With any luck, fate will agree." She glanced over at the skiff, still beached inexplicably in the forest, over a hundred yards above sea level.
"I suppose we'd better work on getting our watercraft back down to the beach," she proposed.
"What? That thing?" the smaller brother asked, glancing at the boat, "Not to worry!" He began to lift the stern of the boat and hoisted it confidently onto his shoulder, prepared to portage it wherever she commanded.
"I think she wants it down in one piece, Brother, so we can all actually ride in it," the female pointed out sensibly, and her brother set the stern down gently.
"I'd like to know how you hauled it up here in the first place," Lexington said, eyeing Demona suspiciously. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled at him sweetly, keen to keep her secret.
"We have plenty of rope and a chain," he continued, "We can easily work together to glide it back down to the beach without capsizing it."
"But we can't all sail in it," the female pointed out, "It's far too small to fit us all! We'll need a second skiff, or perhaps a raft!"
"Clever girl!" Demona acknowledged, then turning to Lexington, she said, "Perhaps our brilliant engineer can draw up a plan for a convenient and seaworthy raft?"
"A raft!" Lexington sneered haughtily, "I think we can do better than that! We have all night!"
"Eat first," Ophelia directed, and they noticed that she had arranged several tins of warmed food out on a log beside the fire. She picked up one tin and carried it to Goliath.
"It looks pretty awful," she apologized, "But there's plenty here and it will help keep your strength up." She smiled shyly as she placed the food in his claws and they all gathered round to eat, except Demona. Since she didn't need to eat, she added her portion to that of the three famished warriors. She moved to offer the last of it to Luach, who refused.
"You must not," he argued earnestly, "They have gone without, far too many nights, to keep me alive. Please! Let them have it all, Demona." She didn't reply, but obliged and gave the last of the potion to her warriors.
"We call her 'Adelpha' now," Lexington interjected with a tenor of irritability that was not typical for him.
"Oh?" Luach replied in surprise, "T'is a pretty name."
"She didn't want to be called 'Demona" anymore. Not by her own brothers," he expanded further and Luach looked uneasily to Demona, who was also studying Lexington curiously. Finally, she broke the awkward silence.
"That is true," she replied, "But his Highness may feel free to address me as he always has." The smaller of the male gargoyles touched her on the shoulder assuringly.
"Well, it is no great matter to us," he said, "Whatever they call you, we know you just the same."
It appeared to be just the right thing to say, for she smiled and grasped his arm affectionately. Lexington looked away sullenly.
"Do you not have names then?" Ophelia asked the trio in surprise.
"Macbeth bestowed a name upon our leader," the female explained, "But among ourselves, we've never needed them." The others nodded their agreement.
"But how do you tell each other apart in conversation?" Ophelia pressed.
"We're very open in our affection for one another," the smaller male explained with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "If we see something that requires praise, we say it directly, rather than go talking behind backs."
"And if you have criticism?" Ophelia asked, sensing that he was playing with her a bit.
"We keep it to ourselves," replied the larger male, which caused the others to burst into laughter.
"Aye, that's how it is!" the smaller male laughed sarcastically.
"Don't listen to those fools!" the female told Ophelia, "My brothers and I are even more open with fraternal correction than praise!"
"But only with the most heartfelt affection, Sister," the smaller male cried defensively.
"Of course," she replied, smiling mischievously, "And as for the elders? Well, somehow we always seem to know who it is they want to criticize."
"Will nothing silence that Chattering Linnet!?" the smaller male cried, imitating the scolding tone of an elder while gesturing at his laughing sister with a cross demeanor. She gave him an indignant look and turned to the larger brother and mocked him in turn.
"Curse that incorrigible, Tiresome Thornbush!" she wailed dramatically, causing him to scowl while his brother laughed encouragingly.
"And what about you, Brother?" the larger male demanded.
"That's easy!" he exclaimed, adopting an exasperated voice, "Yet another catastrophe caused by your youthful Self-Will A-blaze!" The others had a good laugh at this impersonation as well.
"So…Linnet, Thorn, and Blaze?" Lexington concluded.
"Aye, those names ought to suffice for us!" the female agreed.
"My warriors," Demona protested, "I would have you given names with a spirit of love and not chastisement."
"But our elders did love us!" Blaze insisted, then looked down as if hit with a sudden sad realization.
"We will not be returning to them ever again. Will we?" Linnet asked softly, looking at Demona. Sighing, she shook her head.
"No, my young ones. They are long gone."
A mournful silence took over the group that had only a moment earlier been laughing so heartily.
"We lost the clan we were born to," Thorn said at last, "Now we've lost another clan as well. But we will stay together and still move on. We won't give up hope."
"And we have our leader once again," Linnet added, smiling at Demona, "And new friends as well. We will be alright."
They sat in silence for a while, soaking in these comforting thoughts. Goliath caught Demona watching him. No doubt she guessed the dispute that was coming and was trying to read his reaction.
"Come," Demona said impatiently, once they had finished eating, "There is much work to be done.
As the group divided to work on the two main tasks before them, Goliath approached Demona quietly.
"I presume you are hoping that your search for Macbeth returns us to New York?"
"You presume incorrectly, then," she retorted, "New York is the last place I wish to bring these impetuous young ones."
"Surely you know that they would be welcome there among us?"
"Oh, I know very well that you would welcome them," she retorted accusingly, "As well as what you'd be welcoming them for! I won't have it! Their lives are precious. I won't have them made into cannon fodder for your hopeless crusade to save humanity from its own nature."
"Adelpha!" he pleaded, "You know you can't be what they need from you."
She grimaced at his words, her pain evident in her eyes, but she did not argue the point.
"We will take them to Avalon," she replied coolly, "They will be safe and happy there among our clan's children."
"Who said we want to be safe and happy?" interrupted a voice and they turned to find Blaze, Thorn, and Linnet had crept up behind them.
"It sounds like a rather boring life for a warrior," Blaze commented, with a raised brow, "I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
"Yes. Never have we been safe or happy before. Why on earth should we start now?" Thorn added ironically. Linnet stepped forward earnestly, grasping her leader's arms.
"We've lost so much already," she pleaded, "We cannot be separated again. We will go wherever you go."
"Where I go is a prison," she told the girl bitterly, "And I would not have you join me there."
"We will fight for you," Blaze declared adamantly, giving Goliath a glare of pure defiance.
"You'll do no such thing," she scolded.
"You did not raise cowards," Thorn growled under his breath.
"Nor did I raise fools," she replied, her temper flaring.
"My leader, if you would only-
"Enough!" she ordered, and the three young warriors reluctantly fell silent. Demona gave Goliath a pained glare, clearly blaming him for the entire controversy.
"I know no other way forward at the present time," she told them, trying to regain her composure, "Before anything is decided, we must find Macbeth and deliver Luach to him, and we will have to travel by way of Avalon to do so. Perhaps another solution will present itself along the way." The three of them looked at one another skeptically, accurately detecting all the signs of a standard deflection.
"We will do as you say, my Leader," Linnet replied, glancing at her brothers, "We all will."
"Thank you, my warriors," she replied with a sense of relief, sending Goliath a final contemptuous look before leaving them to assist Lexington with the construction of a second vessel to take them across the sea to Avalon.
Lexington's elaborate new boat was easily finished with many strong hands to help and the group lowered it and the original skiff down to the beach beneath the cliffs, just as the sky began to take a purple hue.
"We are ready to leave at sunset," Goliath declared.
"Nearly so," Demona corrected, "Is there anything I should bring back from the village, besides more provisions?"
"Is it really necessary to go to the village at all?" Goliath asked, "Perhaps you might be better served to engage your implants and rest?"
"I'm not tired," she informed him, "And it's best we find out where Macbeth is, in case fate doesn't wish to favor us tomorrow night."
Before Goliath could argue she added, "When you are ready, your Highness, I will carry you up the precipice. Letting the sunrise find us on this beach would be a significant inconvenience." With that, she walked away toward the rocks. Luach moved to follow her, but Goliath stayed him with a massive claw on his shoulder.
"I don't like this," he confided, "Please remember what I told you and do not let your guard down. She is capable of anything."
"I understand," Luach told him, "But I do not believe she means to harm me."
Anxiously, Goliath watched as Luach climbed on the back of an unstable murderer with no sign of reservation whatsoever and allowed her to carry him up a dangerous, rocky cliffside before releasing herself to a gust of wind, which carried them off toward the village. He watched them disappear over the edge, then sighed. Whether she ended up physically attacking him or not, Goliath suspected that the trusting king had a broken heart in his future, when her true nature was inevitably revealed to him. He looked back at the three young warriors, who were now admiring Lexington and his computer with fascination, and hoped that they were not destined to face the same disappointment.