Brooklyn and Sorrow awoke under the strange light of a dim street lamp. Glancing out the small window in the front of the flight pod, it looked as if they were in a large, flat lot, paved with gravel. He could see the axles and wheels of a large truck, parked just beside them. It was an unnerving feeling to wake up somewhere they knew nothing about and find they had been asleep in a place that was so exposed to the world.

"Well, it seems that Lexington got us here in one piece," he said groggily, trying to talk himself up into optimism.

"But where are we, exactly?" Sorrow asked him as she brushed chunks of their stone skin away from her legs and hair. Lexington's flightpod was a brilliant invention, but it didn't account for the dusty mess of stone gargoyles awakening inside of it. As Brooklyn's own senses awakened, the cramped quarters in which he and Sorrow nestled seemed to heighten every detail of his companion. The pulse of her heartbeat, the texture of the woven cloth she wore around her torso, the intricate detail of the glistening patterns on her neck and shoulders, and the fresh, clean scent of her hair and skin that was newly emerged from beneath her stone skin. The effect was intoxicating to Brooklyn and he felt an intense need to evacuate the vehicle lest he be compelled to remain in it with her forever.

He was reaching for the latch to open the pod, when they heard the uneasy sound of Lexington's voice over the radio.

"Hey, Brook," he hollered urgently over a lot of background noise, "You'd better get out here. We have a problem."

Quickly, Brooklyn opened the pod and peeked through the opening for any sign of trouble. Finding nothing, he led Sorrow out and hopped down the short distance to the dusty gravel below. The flightpod had brought them to what appeared to be a large and mostly abandoned parking lot. The surface was weedy in many places and had large sinkholes, as if no one had tended to it in a while. There were a few aging vehicles, including a pickup truck with all four tires that had long since gone flat. On the other side, was a couple of newer vehicles and a golf cart that had appeared to have experienced more recent use.

Brooklyn noticed one particularly lavish sports car with a sticker in the window, indicating it was a rental, and wondered apprehensively if that meant that Xanatos was already here at this site. At the edge of the lot was a gray steel barrier that had pale, flaking yellow stripes painted on it. Beyond that was, a massive drop down the side of the mountain, into a vast valley where they could just see the tiny distant lights that indicated a small town, twinkling through thin clouds. Brooklyn was genuinely shocked at the sight of the seemingly endless view before him. Xanatos had one told him with pride that no man made structure on earth had a higher view than the top of the Eyrie Tower. The dilapidated porta-potty that someone had abandoned in the weeds at the edge of this parking lot laughed at the claim of this arrogant mortal.

"You can see the whole world from here!" Brooklyn thought out loud, but there was one thing he couldn't see and that was any trouble.

"Lexington?" he called, and his irritated-looking brother swung down from the other flight pod.

"What?" Brooklyn asked in a voice that almost giggled at Lexington's sour expression.

"It turns out that there was one thing I failed to calculate for," Lexington replied bitterly.

"What?" Brooklyn asked again, starting to worry a bit.

"A stowaway!" Lexington growled as he pointed his thumb back up at the cabin, where a mischievous red face peeked down at him trepidatiously.

"Alexander!" Brooklyn thundered, "Get that fraudulent tail down here this instant or, so help me, I will twist it until it falls off like a skink's!"

Alexander gave a very incorrigible look, but obediently slid down from the portal.

"How could anyone refuse an invitation like that?" he replied snarkily.

"Don't even start with me," Brooklyn warned, "Do you have any idea how dangerous this kind of stunt is? We can't have a kid like you just show up in the middle of a mission!"

"You told the others it was just a precautionary mission!" Alex accused, clearly fuming about being referred to as a 'kid', "And Goliath said that I was old enough to start training as a warrior! So, here I am! Train me!"

"Oh, no you don't! I'm happy to train you in the rookery, in the gym, and in controlled situations where we have the whole clan present to help keep you safe. You did not get your permission form signed for this field trip!"

"How could I?" Alex retorted, "Maybe you forgot, my dad is the one who's missing?"

"Don't be overdramatic," Brooklyn replied with a sigh, "He's not 'missing'. We just don't know where he is yet."

"Neither does the mining company," Alex informed him, "Or the hotel in the town where he never checked in last night. While you were sleeping all day, I made some phone calls. The last person who says they saw him was the attendant at some car rental place in the airport in Denver."

Brooklyn's eyes narrowed.

"Why would he be at the airport in Denver?" Brooklyn asked suspiciously, "He said that if they couldn't find a place to safely land the hovercraft around the mine, they would take it to Durango.

"He wasn't. It wasn't my dad," Alexander explained, "I called the car rental place and told them my dad's credit card was stolen and they said the guy who used it to rent a car was tall and thin, had light brown hair, a scar above his lip, and an oversized t-shirt. Does that sound like my dad to you?"

Brooklyn had to admit that it didn't sound like Xanatos at all. What worried him more, although he didn't say so to Alexander, was that the scar he mentioned sounded like it fit the description of Will Marshall, who had a cleft lip repaired as a child.

"The last time his phone was pinged, he was somewhere on this mountain, but that was late last night," Alexander continued, worry evident on his face, "Then his phone lost its signal for service. But it still has the GPS tracker that Lexington put in all our phones and I looked that up on Lexington's laptop."

"You got into my laptop?" Lexington growled, then turned to Brooklyn incredulously, "Are you listening to this?" Then turning back to Alexander with eyes flaring.

"How did you get past my security codes?", he demanded and Alexander laughed mischievously.

"I guess I had a good teacher?" he flaunted with a sweet smile, and Lexington huffed at the flattery.

"This parking lot was the last place the GPS was picked up," Alexander continued, "So while you guys were asleep, I checked it out. I found my dad's phone and wallet over there in that pickup truck, along with this." Alexander jumped up and hoisted himself back over the edge of the flight pod and produced a holster, with one of Xanatos Enterprise's laser rifles still tucked inside.

"Whoa there, Tiger!" Brooklyn cried, snatching it away from him as if afraid it would explode in his inexperienced claws and Alexander rolled his eyes.

"I have managed to not shoot myself every time my mom takes me into the firing range to practice," he reminded him, the timbre of his young, but confident voice rising with his frustration, "I'm not a complete idiot. My parents trust me. They have been teaching me to defend myself since I was in kindergarten. Why do you keep treating me like some stupid kid?!"

"Newsflash, Alex," Lexington replied with a smile, "You ARE a kid and there's nothing wrong with that. Let yourself just be a kid for once. Let the grownups be the grownups and fight the bad guys. You are entitled to a normal childhood."

Alexander shook his head emphatically.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Alex replied without the least touch of sadness in his tone, "But my life is not normal and there's no point in pretending it ever will be. I could sit around and cry about it, but what good would it do? It is what it is. Meanwhile, my dad is in trouble and I can't just do my homework, eat Takis, and hope the grownups figure it out. What would you guys have done when you were my age if your parents were in danger? Kick back and do whatever was the medieval equivalent of playing Pokemon? I don't think so!"

"We would have…" Lexington began to retort, then looked to Brooklyn for help.

"The world was a very different place then," Brooklyn replied carefully, "And we were never your age. Not really. Back then, we didn't get the chance to be. Maybe that's why we protect you? We want you to have an easier time of it."

"Easier isn't always better," Alexander pointed out and Brooklyn gave a small groan, rubbing the ridge on his brow as if his head ached.

"I can tell you what we wouldn't have done," he said finally, "We would not have sabotaged rescue efforts by sneakily insinuating ourselves into a possibly hostile situation that could easily turn into a battle."

"What do you mean, sabotage?!" Alexander demanded, his voice getting crosser and more outraged by the minute.

"You know exactly what I mean," Brooklyn replied, "Our primary objective tonight was to rescue your dad and Goliath and get crucial information to the mountain clan. Now we've got to worry about keeping your precious butt alive as well."

Alexander folded his arms and smacked his tail irritably on the gravel beneath his clawed feet.

"Don't worry about me," he replied cockily, "I can look after myself."

"You had better look after yourself," Brooklyn demanded, "You are here in training only. You use those crazy fairy powers of yours to keep yourself hidden from any strangers we see. You obey my orders at all times. No combat whatsoever, do you understand? If anyone throws as much as a spitball, you get out of there and run like hell!"

Alexander's scowl slowly morphed into a grin.

"Right!" he agreed.

"You did good work while we slept, kiddo," Lexington praised him begrudgingly, "You probably saved us a ton of time, and time really matters on this mission."

"Of course!" Alexander replied with an arrogance that no one could claim that the young Xanatos heir had not come by honestly. Brooklyn rolled his eyes at the antics of the precocious youth, but if he was being honest, he was rather impressed with him.

"How close are we to the entrance to the mine?" Brooklyn asked.

"It's just up this road," Alexander explained, "There's some kind of elevator to bring people down. I was going to try to go down and see if I could find my dad myself, but I had to get out of there quick!"

"It's nice to know that you had the sense to wait for backup from us!" Lexington commented, still looking a little put out that he had somehow been hacked by a middle schooler.

"It wasn't that exactly," Alexander admitted, "I was trying to figure out the equipment when I heard an explosion."

"An explosion?" Brooklyn repeated anxiously.

"Yeah! The ground started shaking and I ran as far away from the shaft as I could. Suddenly, this huge cloud of hot smoke started bursting out of the ground. Not just at the shaft, but every hole or vent in the entire area!"

"That does not sound good!" Lexington replied, glancing at Brooklyn with his eyes even rounder than normal.

"It took a while before I could even get close enough to the shaft to have a look. The whole elevator system was totaled!"

"If the shaft down to the mine is destroyed," Brooklyn thought out loud, how will we get down there?"

"The same way I did," Sorrow reminded him, "Through the collapsed tunnel in the forest."

Brooklyn turned around and looked at her. He'd been so distracted by telling off Alexander, he'd almost forgotten she was there.

"I can show you," she offered quietly, as if she was afraid he would not trust her.

"Come on!" Brooklyn replied, "You show us the way."

Sorrow led them through the forested hillside to the place where she remembered finding the opening.

"I was afraid you were going to whip that boy!" Sorrow confessed as they glided and Brooklyn gave her a surprised look.

"I would never harm Alex," Brooklyn replied defensively, "He is like one of our own."

"I see that now," she explained with great admiration, "You listened to him, even though you were very angry. You are a good leader, Brooklyn."

The group hustled and glided low to the treeline, hoping not to be seen by any of the mountain clan's guards, but luck would not favor them.

"Uh oh! Here comes company!" Lexington exclaimed at a pair of shadows that raced toward them along the moonlit canopy.

"Follow me! Hurry!" Sorrow urged and she dove beneath the canopy. They followed blindly through layers of sharp sticks and leaves and she led them up a steep incline to a small crevice in the face of the rock, which opened into a slot canyon.

"You first, young one!" she said, gesturing for Alexander to hurry inside, and Lexington soon followed. Brooklyn looked doubtful that he would be able to force his broad shoulders through the thin opening, but he didn't have the time to protest before he felt sharp talons digging into his back and a great force pushed him, beak-first, into the stone hillside.

"No! Stop!" Sorrow cried out, and Brooklyn heard a snarl as the pressure on his back was released. He turned to find the red glowing eyes of a gargoyle beast staring at him. The beast snarled at Brooklyn threateningly, but obeyed Sorrow's command to not attack. Brooklyn heard shouting not far from them in the woods, and suddenly, the beast bayed loudly, summoning his masters closer.

"Quiet!" Sorrow hissed at the aggressive creature, who whimpered and hung her head as Sorrow hastily pressed her claws on Brooklyn's shoulder to move him through the awkward crevice.

"Take them through the canyon. There is a rock slide halfway through. The opening is well hidden there, under the rubble. But you can find it if you know to look for it. I will keep the guards busy."

"Sorrow, no!" Brooklyn replied, "We aren't leaving you alone. They will kill you if they catch you!"

"They won't catch me!" Sorrow insisted, "And I'll soon meet up with you again. But your friends are in trouble and you need to get to them quickly. Go!"

Reluctantly, Brooklyn turned to hurry the others toward the opening into the tunnels, but Alexander pushed past him.

"Wait!" he cried, "Come here! Here, girl!"

As if immediately transformed by the sound of his voice, the red-eyed, snarling beast whimpered and cocked her head curiously. Then she bounded toward the crevice, sniffing at Alexander with her long, horned snout. Alexander, only inches away from her great, powerful maw, whispered an incantation and grabbed a handful of dust from the ground and blew it directly into the face of the fierce creature. Brooklyn and Sorrow both gasped in alarm, but the beast gave a loud sneeze, then licked Alexander's face with a long, black tongue. Alexander giggled and ordered the beast to 'go play'. Brooklyn grabbed the boy by the shoulders and hurried him through the narrow, rocky canyon.

'What did you do?" Lexington asked him as they leaped from boulder to boulder.

"Standard no-sniff charm!' Alexander told him nonchalantly, "It's temporary and it won't hurt her. I use it on Bronx all the time, so he doesn't get into my candy stash. Now she won't be able to track us for a while."

They hurried on through the slot canyon, until they found the landslide Sorrow had described. After the explosion in the morning had forced a great deal of ash through the holes, it wasn't hard to tell which rocks they had to move. They soon dug their way through, but Lexington stopped not far into the hole they had made.

"Uhhh, Guys?" he said uncertainly, raising up a bright flashlight that he'd fastened to his belt, "This is a really deep hole."

"How deep?" Brooklyn asked and Lexington took a rock and dropped it. After a moment passed and they did not hear the loud clatter of a rock falling on rock, Lexington said,

"That deep."

"It's not wide enough to glide down," Brooklyn observed, "So, I guess we climb down the sides."

Climbing down a long, pitch black, narrow chasm into the unknown is just as tedious as it sounds, and Alexander soon lost interest and popped into his fairy form, floating casually back and forth between the other two as they made painfully slow progress. On one hand, this was slightly helpful in that Alexander's magical form emitted a pleasant, silvery light that allowed the gargoyles to look down occasionally and confirm that they were still nowhere near the bottom. On the other hand, he quickly began to make his boredom known.

"You guys are taking forever!" Alexander complained for the third time, drawing out each syllable of the last word for dramatic effect.

"Tell you what," Brooklyn replied irritably after he had lost his footing and sharply descended about twenty-five feet before he was able to regain his grip on the crumbling wall, "Why don't you go down ahead of us and make sure there's a bottom.

"What? Of course there's a bottom!" Alexander replied incredulously, "If there wasn't a bottom, and this hole went all the way through the earth's crust, it would go into the mantle, which is a layer of magma and would burn us alive in two seconds!"

"Well, go down and tell us what it's like?" Lexington suggested.

"All right," Alexander replied, rolling his eyes, and he let himself fall down the shaft where he caught himself just before landing on the rocky floor. He formed a ball of magical light in his hands so he could look around.

"It looks dark!" Alexander yelled up to the other two, "And rocky. And…"

Alexander's eyes fell on a large pile of rubble that seemed to have come to rest on some sort of machine. When he turned past it slowly, his own light reflected on the machine's headlamp and filled the passageway with strange patterns of light. The exposed portion of the machine was painted a bright yellow and its head seemed to glare menacingly out from under the rocks which had fallen to crush it. Alexander reasoned with himself that it was only some old mining equipment that had probably been destroyed in the blast he'd heard earlier, and nothing to be afraid of. But then he heard a strange sound, like a muffled growl.

"Brooklyn?" Alexander tried to call, but his voice came out much quieter than he had intended. The sound came again, but louder and higher and some of the smaller pebbles began to fall away from the pile.

"Brooklyn!" Alexander shouted back up the shaft, "There's something down here!"

A sickening scraping sound echoed from the passage above them as Brooklyn tried to slow his descent as much as possible as he fell, then landed painfully on the jagged rocks. Lexington was not far behind with his smaller wings outstretched, pinwheeling down a little more gracefully before crashing beside his brother.

"Ugh!" Brooklyn groaned as he righted himself, "What is it?"

"There!" Alexander told them, holding his sphere of magical light out so that it reflected on the head lamp and lit up the space again.

"That's just an electric mining car," Lexington reassured him, "Or at least it was until the wall collapsed on it."

"It was moving," Alexander insisted, "And growling."

Brooklyn approached the machine tentatively.

"It's probably just some rocks settling after the explosion," he reasoned, but then they heard the growling sound again.

"Quick!" Brooklyn said immediately, as he jumped on the pile of rocks and began tossing them aside, "Help me Lexington!"

Between the two, they continued to dig through the rubble, while Alexander curiously held the light up for them so they could see what they were doing. At last, Lexington unearthed a gray claw. Or rather, a blue claw that was so covered in dust that it looked gray. Brooklyn joined him and they had soon exposed Goliath, who was coughing up dust and debris.

"Goliath, what happened?" Brooklyn asked as he helped him get free of the remaining rubble that pinned his legs.

"Pagosa," Goliath replied in between gasps, "Set off an explosion in the main part of the mine. He didn't want anyone to find out he had stolen the exoskeleton's from Xanatos enterprises, so he staged an accidental explosion so the mining company would think they were destroyed in the blast. It's not the mine he is after, but a powerful weapon that's hidden underneath."

"Anasorsco," Lexington replied, "We know. But where is Xanatos? And what about Beloved Mother and the rest of the clan?"

"She and the other three left the hovercraft to return to the clan," Goliath explained, "While Xanatos went to meet with Pagosa and a supposed banker who was going to make the transaction. Xanatos was still not ready to trust Pagosa, so I stayed close at hand. As soon as they arrived at the mining office, I recognized Will Marshall and knew that the mountain clan had been deceived. Xanatos knew as well, but he wanted to find out what this Pagosa was actually up to and told me to stay hidden until he gave the signal.

Pagosa and Marshall took Xanatos into the mine. I followed down the elevator shaft behind them, once the coast was clear, but there were so many passageways and with very little light, I was lost. I finally found them by following the track for this machine, but Marshall had taken control of one of the exoskeletons and as soon as he saw me, he panicked and began to fire the laser around the tunnel like a madman! Both Xanatos and Pagosa tried to stop him, but the wall caved in. I was pinned under this pile of rubble and knocked unconscious. When I came to, I could barely move or breathe, but I heard Pagosa telling Marshall about his plan to blast the entrance of the mine to give them time to find Anasorsco. He gave Marshall Xanatos' things and told him to make it look like Xanatos had come into the mine for a meeting with the mining company and been killed in an accident."

Alexander gasped and looked at Brooklyn apprehensively and Brooklyn laid a claw on his shoulder.

"What did happen to Xanatos?"

Goliath growled, his eyes alight with rage.

"Dawn came above the ground, and I was turned into stone," he explained, "I did not see or hear where Pagosa took him, but I believe he was still alive. Pagosa needed certain codes to use the program that controls the machines to do as he wanted. Our friend Xanatos was reluctant to comply. When I fell asleep, Pagosa was still trying to threaten and extort information out of him that he needed for his plans."

"Well, come on!"Alexander cried impatiently, "We've got to find them!"

"We will find them," Goliath assured him, a pitch of anger rising in his voice as he rose to his feet, "We will not allow him to harm Xanatos, nor our new friends, nor anyone else they seek to intimidate with this weapon. But which tunnel do we try?"

There were three tunnels around them, one of which was the one partially blocked by the collapsed wall.

"The track for the mining cars runs down this way," Lexington reasoned, "We should probably start here."

Brooklyn growled in frustration.

"Sorrow said she found the opening to Anasorsco in a tunnel that was old and that the clan didn't use anymore. So, maybe we should take the other one?"

"I wish Sorrow had stayed with us" Lexington griped, "Either one of these tunnels could open to a hundred branches all of which could go off for miles. We have no idea where we are going and every minute we waste means Xanatos is in more danger."

Brooklyn scowled at Lexington. He didn't care for his tone at all.

"Sorrow lured away the guards, remember?" he retorted, "She was trying to give us more time!"

"Which is being wasted now because we have no idea where we are going without her!"

"Don't blame her! She was trying to help!" Brooklyn clapped back in a tone that surprised even himself as it echoed back to him off the hard cavern wall. Goliath gave him a curious look.

"Come," Goliath interjected warily, "Let us not waste time arguing the fact."

"Fine," Brooklyn replied and he turned and led them quickly down the less traveled tunnel.

They walked in silence for sometime, led by Alexander's light and the flashlight only Lexington had thought to bring along. Brooklyn felt himself growing more frustrated as they went.

"This isn't right," Lexington grumbled, "We've gone the wrong way!"

"You know what?" Brooklyn snapped in return, "Do you want to be in charge?"

"I didn't say that!" he cried defensively.

"Well, quit being pig-headed!"

"I'm pig-headed?" Lexington exclaimed in outrage.

"You think you know everything! But I'm the one who can understand Sorrow and I know what she said about the tunnel that leads to Anasorsco and-"
"You just don't want to listen to anyone else!" Lexington accused.

"Guys?" Alexander asked in a confused voice, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is I can't concentrate on finding Pagosa with him whining!" Brooklyn complained and Lexington snarled in response.

"Quiet, both of you!" Goliath ordered, "We're wasting time with this quarreling and if we are close to Pagosa and Marshall, they're bound to hear you bickering like hatchlings and then we've lost the element of surprise!"

Brooklyn sighed, realizing Goliath was right. Lexington shot him a contemptuous look, but remained silent.

"It's not them, it's this mountain," Alexander said quietly.

"What?" Goliath asked in surprise.

"There's something wrong here," Alexander explained cryptically, "There's a kind of energy or force. I can feel it. It's angry."

"What's angry?" Goliath asked him cautiously, "What do you mean?"

"The spirit is angry. It eats hate," he tried to explain, though even he seemed to realize that what he was saying made no sense.

"Pagosa's spirit?" Goliath asked, "Marshall's spirit?"

"No," Alexander replied, shaking his head, "Anasorsco."

Brooklyn tried to understand this claim.

"Sorrow said that Anasorsco was a magical weapon, made by human sorcerers."

"Human hearts created it," Alexander explained in a voice that wasn't quite his own, "Human sorcery embodied it. But it does not serve humans. It consumes them."

Brooklyn stepped toward Alexander anxiously. The clan rarely saw the boy in his fairy form. He had shown it to Lexington more often than others, as they spent a lot of time together, but Brooklyn had only seen it twice before, and for a short time. Now he looked at his young friend with a mixture of amazement and alarm.

He was lighter in color than in his human form, and his ears were shaped in typical fairy fashion. His skin glowed with the strange luminescence of the full moon, and even when he stood firm on the ground, his curls of hair seemed to float, as if he were riding in a space shuttle. But, by far, the most memorable feature of his fairy form were his eyes, which shone like two rings of fire that never settled on a specific color. But now, when Brooklyn looked into those unearthly eyes, they had gone completely black, and Brooklyn was certain that Alexander was no longer looking at the realm before him.

"Alex, what do you see?" he asked gently.

"I see Anasorsco, locked away," Alex replied again, in that strange voice, "It's talking to me. It's asking me questions. It's never known a child of Oberon before."

"I don't like this Alex," Brooklyn said urgently as he took him by the shoulders and gave him a light shake, "Come back."

The obsidian eyes grew wider and a cruel laugh that was surely not from Alexander filled the tunnels and echoed off the walls.

"A halfling!? What is a halfling? The power of Oberon wielded by the weak spirit of a human child? And Lord Oberon allows this folly? How fascinating!"

Brooklyn gasped in horror as Alexander's face turned to look at him, seemingly possessed by the presence of this eerie, evil force.

"And three gargoyles!" the being laughed wickedly, "I am meant to feed on the fear and rage of mankind, but an occasional delicacy is always welcome."

The face of their young friend sneered with the contempt of Anasorsco as he looked them over.

"But where is the lovely dark-haired female who was my sustenance for so long? Where did she go? I was far from finished with her!"

"You can't have her and you can't have Alexander either!" Brooklyn bellowed at Anasorsco and Alexander laughed mockingly.

"No? Well, it's no matter. My servants have been nourishing me for months now with a steady supply of delicious tidbits, and I grow stronger and stronger. Tonight, they will adorn my altar with an offering of flesh and blood and, at last, I will have the power to break free from this prison!"

With a sudden gasp, Alexander's eyes went back to normal and he fell forward onto his knees.

"Alex!" Lexington called, hurrying to his side to help, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he replied, his voice having returned to his own, "I pushed it away from us, but you mustn't fight with each other anymore. If you do, you might let him get his hooks into you and you will have to face him alone to stop him from taking you."

"We won't fight anymore," Brooklyn reassured him.

"Yeah," Lexington replied in earnest, clearly equally creeped out by the whole experience, "I'm not sure what that thing is or what it's planning to do, but we do NOT need to be its dessert course!"

"What is this being, Alexander?" Goliath asked, "Is it one of Oberon's children?"

Alexander shook his head earnestly.

"It isn't really a 'being' at all, Goliath," he explained, "Human sorcerers created it a long time ago. They were so angry at their enemies, they wanted a way to destroy them from within. So they sort of…programmed their darkest magic into Anasorsco. And now, even though its creators are long gone, and so are their enemies, it keeps going.
"Like a machine!" Lexington realized.

"A corruption," Goliath added with a disdainful growl, "What can we do to stop it?"

"I don't know," Alexander admitted frustratedly, "My powers can keep it from touching me, and touching my friends as well, so long as you don't give in to it. But I don't have the power to undo the magic that created it. I think all we can do is starve it."

"Then let that be our plan," Goliath decided, "We must find Xanatos quickly and see that his traitorous captors are taken away from this place. But we must move quickly and take care. I suspect Anascorsco's power will only get stronger as we approach the sarcophagus. And it said it would receive 'an offering of flesh and blood tonight' and become even more powerful. It means to kill."

Faced with this grim reality, the three gargoyles, and Alexander who retained his fairy form in order to better protect his friends, hurried down the tunnel, now keenly sensing the direction they must go. They were so hurried, they almost ran directly into Sorrow, who was walking blindly in the dark, looking for them.

"You got away!" Brooklyn exclaimed with relief.

"So far," she said, "But hurry! Anasorsco is awake tonight. I've never felt it so strong before!"