997 A.D.
It was a night with a full moon and an eclipse going on too.
There were four humans riding their horses late at night on their way to the next town. One was King Constantine the 3rd, Brigti, Gillcomgain, and a sorcerer man called Brother Valmont. They were just riding peacefully when Valmont sensed something magical. He turned his horse towards the moon.
"Something approaches…" Valmont sensed the air.
The other men turned to his words and were going to ask what he sensed when a light opened up in the sky above them, surprising them.
"Your Highness, are you-?" Brigti asked what he was seeing.
"Look, up there!" Gillcomgain exclaimed.
Out of the flames in the sky dropped a red gargoyle and a small Skeksis, getting tossed and rolled towards the men, getting the wind knocked out of them, grunting as they rolled. They soon stopped in front of the men and their horses. They both sat up and looked up at the audience in front of them. Brooklyn dropped the Gate on the ground too.
"Where are we?" Sil asked.
"I don't… know…" Brooklyn replied.
The horses reared in panic. Horses had a usual fear of gargoyles. The men now saw what they were. They got furious and determined to kill them. Gillcomgain was the first Hunter of gargoyles.
"They're gargoyles!" Brigti said.
"Father! They're demons!" Gillcomgain snarled, taking out a knife.
"Kill them!" Constantine ordered.
"Sil, move!" Brooklyn yelled. Sil quickly got out of the way but wasn't leaving his friend. Brooklyn was still down as the young hunter ran towards him, snarling.
"Die, Demon!" Gillcomgain snarled angrily. He had a knife ready to stab Brooklyn.
"Hey, I come in peace!" Brooklyn cried out that he didn't want to hurt him, but he had to defend himself and his friend. He was still down, and he quickly resorted to grabbing the boy and flipping him over himself and away from Sil, who had stopped to look back at the men from a safe distance. He also saw the Gate on the ground and picked it up. Gillcomgain screeched as he was thrown a good distance.
Brooklyn then got up, hunched over. "Looks like we're not in Manhattan anymore. Don't suppose any of you could tell us where we are? Or more important, when?" Sil also looked over at the men for an answer.
Constantine then stomped his horse angrily. "Can't any of you kill two gargoyles for your king?!"
The men ignored Brooklyn's question and knew they had to get out of here quickly if they were even going to live. The red male got up and ran to Sil. "Get on, hurry!" He ordered. Sil hurriedly got on Brook's back, and he ran for the edge of the hill, spreading his wings and jumping off.
"What's going on, Brooklyn?" Sil asked fearfully.
"From things going on, it's the tenth century Scotland." Brooklyn figured out where and when they were, but not the year. They had to get away quickly before something happened to them.
Brother Valmont was also a hater of gargoyles, and he summoned a spell that made a bow and arrow appear in his hands down below them.
Brooklyn flapped his wings to get more momentum to get higher in the air to escape his foes. Sil still had the Gate in his hand too.
"Great, and we lost the Gate!" Brook snarled.
Valmont down below took aim at the pair fleeing from them. He pulled the arrow back and fired, hoping to kill the flyer.
"No, we didn't…" Sil said. It got Brook's attention. "What?" Then he screamed in pain from the arrow piercing his left thigh.
"What?!" Sil cried out in fear. He had never heard Brooklyn scream in pain like that before.
"They shot me!" Brooklyn shouted but he had to ignore the pain to keep them both aloft. He nearly lost his balance in the air but flapped his wings again and got higher. They flew off towards the nearest village. At least they had gotten away.
Down below, the men were disappointed that they hadn't killed their prey. Constantine was most disappointed. They could only let them go, or the one gargoyle could die later from his wounds. A crash landing could kill the smaller one that couldn't glide, he assumed. Then he turned to the others.
The men were on a mission to locate the Magus, Tom the Guardian, his mom, Mary, and Finella. They were trying to locate Princess Katherine to get her to forcefully marry the evil king. They had some reward papers ready to post to many communities. Constantine then ordered Gillcomgain to go to the nearest village.
"There. Post it there." Constantine ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Gillcomgain replied and had gotten back on his horse to start riding that way.
Brigti was Gillcomgain's father. He spoke up. "With all due respect, King Constantine… is it wise to spend our time chasing after phantoms and gargoyles while the Grim amasses an army?"
Constantine smirked evilly at the other man. "We want no gargoyles alive for the Grim to amass, Brigti. A lesson learned from studying the fate of my father. As for phantoms, Brother Valmont assures me they possess a prize worthy of the chase."
Valmont was furious that he didn't kill the two fleeing silhouettes in the dark above. "Aye. The Grimorum Arcanorum. Neither gargoyle nor Grim could stand against it." He declared.
On a wall in the village, Gillcomgain nailed a poster that told of the wanted criminals. They were wanted alive to be turned over to King Constantine for a reward. Then he mounted his horse and rode off when he was done.
Shortly after he left, the poster was grabbed by a woman's hand and ripped off the wall angrily. It was Finella who had done it. Mary stood beside her. They had the Grimorum Arcanorum with them.
The two women had been on the run since returning from Avalon from the king and his henchmen. "What does it say, Milady?" Mary asked Finella. Mary also held the reins of a palomino horse mare pulling a wagon.
"Wanted ALIVE by the order of the great King Constantine III…" Finella replied.
"Oh, isn't that nice. They want us alive." Mary scoffed.
Finella continued, "For the murder of our beloved King Kenneth II. He lays his crimes at our feet, and the feet of the Magus, and your boy, Tom!" She exclaimed.
"At least they are safely on Avalon with Princess Katharine." Mary said.
"We're to blame for her disappearance too!" Finella stated angrily, then went on, "For the abduction of his Highness's royal cousin and the theft of the king's Grimorum."
"Of course, he wants to get his dirty hands on the magic book." Mary figured.
"He cleps you and I witches 'The Devil's Dams…' says we're in league with 'demon gargoyles' and claims that I have turned to sin and evil in grief over Kenneth's murder of my son…" Finella finished and turned away sadly.
"You had a son?" Mary asked.
"No!" Finella retorted.
From inside the door they were standing in front of, a man then spoke up as he had heard them talking. He was the gatekeeper. "Who goes there at this late hour?!" He demanded furiously.
It was then that an injured Brooklyn and Sil landed on the rooftop of the gate. Brook's eyes were glowing from the pain he was in. "Here, slide off." He told Sil, who slid off his back.
In the moonlight, the Skeksis could see an arrow in his friend's leg. It was bleeding badly. "That needs treatment."
"It'll heal at sunrise." Brook said, then he broke the arrowhead off. Sil watched him. Brooklyn then put the arrowhead in his mouth to stifle a yell of pain as he had to painfully pull out the shaft. He had a small whimper of pain as he did so. Sil grimaced as he did so.
"What can I do?" Sil asked.
"Might try to find bandages if I can." Brooklyn said, then he held up the arrow in his hands. His eyes were no longer glowing. His hands were covered in his own blood. But then, they just disappeared in his hands magically. It shocked both Brook and Sil, gasping. This was sorcery alright.
Down below, Finella and Mary started replying to the gatekeeper and there were some guards coming out too.
"Stay quiet, Sil." Brooklyn whispered. "We're here in a strange time and place. This is where you must follow my orders without question. Got it?"
Sil nodded and they both looked on down below the wall.
"Who goes there?" The gatekeeper asked.
Mary replied, "Tis the Lady Fi-Fiona of Edinburgh." She had caught herself to not say Finella's name. "She is on pilgrimage and seeks shelter for the night."
"The gate's been closed for hours. Go away!" The gatekeeper snapped.
But Mary was determined to get in. "But I can pay for our lodgings with gold."
The gatekeeper then changed his tune. "Well, if you're holy pilgrims in need of shelter, how can I turn you away?" He opened the door and came out, Mary handing him a bag of gold. Then, a guard came up and shouted.
"Hold, Porter! Tis the witching hour, and you open the gate to strangers?!" The guard exclaimed.
From above, Brooklyn wasn't liking what he was seeing. Sil was still perplexed at seeing these strange humans. He was still wary of strange humans himself.
"If it comes to it, I will still help these ladies." Brook told Sil.
"I know." Sil said.
Porter the gatekeeper replied to the guard, "Not strangers, pilgrims, with gold."
The guard glared angrily. "The devil has gold aplenty as our good king knows!" He grabbed a paper off the wall. This was trouble. He looked at it to recognize the women in front of him.
Mary knew that the king was no good at all. "Good king! I'll tell you what sort of man your good king is-." Mary exclaimed angrily.
"Devil's dams!" The guard growled. Then he removed his sword from his sheath. "Witches! Black magic! Help! Back to the gate!" He ordered Porter. The guard was calling out to minions on the other side.
Brooklyn and Sil could see this was turning out not to be good. They were cringing to see how they could turn out to help if they had to. Sil was going to follow Brooklyn's example. Brook's eyes started to glow as he prepared to help the women. He perched. Sil got on his back.
On the other side, the minions started yelling out, "Burn the witches! Take their gold! Deliver their bones! Burn the witches!"
"The king wants them delivered alive!" The guard ordered.
The women knew they were in trouble. Then, Finella had an idea. "Mary, the book…" she said.
Mary had a bag with her, and she took out the Grimorum. She gave it to Finella. Then, Finella opened up the book as more threats were shouted.
"Get in the cart, Mary." Finella said, then shouted out a bluff. Mary got on the cart. "Hold, Mortals! You DARE threaten the Sorceress Finella?! Then you DARE face all the demons at my command!"
The men stopped for a moment. The guard stated, "She's bluffing! Rush her!"
Porter then questioned, "Why would a witch bluff about using magic?"
The guard then exclaimed, "She can't get all of us- unless we give her time to summon her minions. Attack!"
That was when Brooklyn knew the time was right. "Hold on, Sil!" He ordered and took off from the roof. He flew over the humans and grabbed the blade of the guard's sword into his right hand, his eyes aglow. "Too late! The minions have come!" Brooklyn snarled fiercely.
The sword ended up cutting Brooklyn's palm, but he ignored it for the time being as he now landed onto the cart with the women standing near it.
"What do we do?! What do we do?!" Porter asked the guard in fear.
Sil got off Brook's back, and Brooklyn then made a statement. "You have two choices, Humans. You can wait for my clan to come eat your brains… or you run away!" He threatened, blood on the sword's blade.
The men responded with, "Run! Run away!" They turned and ran in fear for their lives.
Sil laughed at how they ran away. Brooklyn then said, "Now that I've set back human-gargoyle relations for the next millennium, why don't you get in the cart before they realize that our clan's not coming, and I don't eat brains." The red gargoyle told Finella.
Finella quickly got in the cart, pushing past Sil. She just thought he was a gargoyle too. Sil made sure to make way for her.
Mary then ordered the horse to move out. "Hyah! Magus! Hyah!" The horse whinnied and did as she was told, to run off with her passengers.
Brooklyn was shocked to hear that. "You named the horse Magus?" he asked. He kept the sword next to him. It would become a weapon of his. He would need it. Little Sil also carried his father's dagger with him. He wouldn't leave Castle Wyvern without it.
"There was something about her face…" Mary replied.
Then Brooklyn felt a sting of pain on his right hand and saw it was covered in blood like his leg. Two injuries in one night and they hadn't even been here long. Finella noticed too. "You bleed." She said.
"That's a short-term problem. I'm way more concerned about them coming after us." Brooklyn replied.
Sil had sat down to avoid being thrown out of the cart from its momentum going so fast. He had seen horses on tv before, but to now get to experience it for real. But he wasn't going to leave Brooklyn. There was light coming up on the horizon, signaling dawn was coming.
Mary turned to Brooklyn. "Why? You were more than a match for that lot."
"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but…" Brooklyn said, but then he turned to stone before their eyes. The sun had come up.
"Ah, I see." Mary said in realization as they continued onward.
"This happens to him in daylight." Sil declared from behind them.
"But you didn't turn to stone like him." Finella said.
"Because I'm not gargoyle." Sil stated.
"What are you then?" Mary asked. "You are a young fellow from the sound of your voice."
"I'm a creature called a Skeksis. Just friends with Brooklyn here." Sil tried to explain. "What happens now?"
"We need to find a place to sleep soon. We won't be able to keep our energy up for long without a good sleep." Mary declared.
"But you are so small, little one. You wouldn't be able to protect us if they come after us." Finella said.
"I've been taught enough about survival if came into bad situations." Sil replied. "Just not hurt me. You are still strangers to me."
"Oh, this is Lady Mary, and I'm Lady Finella. We've been on the run from King Constantine since we returned from Avalon." Finella explained. "What's your name?"
"I am called Sil, or Chamberlain." The little Skeksis introduced himself. "And this is my friend, Brooklyn."
"I thought gargoyles didn't have names." Mary questioned.
"That I not know, but the gargoyles of the clan raising me all do. We're from New York City." Sil explained.
"Where's that?" Finella asked.
"Uh, other side of the world." Sil replied. It was just what he knew. He had been told of Scotland of where it was and shown where New York was.
"That's not possible." Mary stated.
"Sure, it is. There are many places not known about, right?" Sil asked.
"Sure, there is. But it seems not possible." Finella said.
"We were brought here by this little device called the Phoenix Gate." Sil then held out the Gate in his hand. "It's magical. It made us time travel to this time. What year is it?" Sil asked.
"It would be 997 A.D." Mary replied. "Now we understand."
They looked for a place to stay for the day, but it was hard to find a place safely. They had to keep going for their own sakes for safety, and Brooklyn's. Little Sil had too much adrenaline going to feel like sleeping. He hadn't been awake too long since leaving New York. He still had plenty of energy left. It was just characteristic of his kind too. Being active when they were young. But toward late morning, he yawned and fell to sleep in the cart close to Brooklyn's side.
The women were keeping an eye out for them.
…..
At a camp elsewhere, there were men coming to King Kenneth's son's camp. Chalvim.
There was a man and boy coming to the tent of the leader. "Maol Chalvim!" The man, Findlaech, called out. He entered the tent.
Chalvim replied, "I'm right here. No need for shouting!"
"The Grim approaches." Findlaech announced, holding open the tent for their guests, a boy and man.
"Then we will welcome our cousin according to his station." Chalvim replied.
The man slid his hood off, smiling in greeting. "Oh, welcome me better, Cuz. Welcome every man according to his station, and who shall scape' whipping?"
"Ah, Findlaech, good to see you. How fares Moray?" The Grim asked, putting a hand on Findlaech's shoulder. Findlaech smiled in return.
"As any clans eat loyal to you, my Lord." Findlaech replied.
The Grim's face then changed. "Badly, huh?"
"Aye." Findlaech replied. Then he turned to the boy. "And how is young Bodhe?"
"Ready to follow my father into battle!" Bodhe replied.
"You'll make him proud." Findlaech said.
"That he does already." The Grim proclaimed proudly.
Then Chalvim spoke up. "Can we get on to the business at hand, Kenneth?" He inquired.
Kenneth, the Grim, then replied with a grin, "Aye, Maol. But first, remind me why I am called the Grim and not you?"
Chalvim then got angry. "I've not the time to review the concept of irony, not when Constantine's men outnumber us five to one."
They all resorted to looking at a map. Findlaech then said, "His Scots don't outnumber us. It's his Irish dogs that-." He got interrupted by Chalvim.
"The source of his soldiers hardly changes our dilemma. Or lack of a solution." Chalvim stated.
Then Kenneth put a hand on his shoulder. "The solution remains the solution of our fathers, Maol… Gargoyles!"
…..
Elsewhere, Constantine, Gillcomgain, Brigti, and Valmont came across a cave that had seven sleeping stone gargoyles in it. The men didn't hesitate to start destroying them in their sleep, which was the downfall of so many gargoyles, even Brooklyn's clan back a few years ago (from this time frame).
"Die, Demon, Die!" Gillcomgain yelled out angrily. He had such a vengeance against any and all gargoyles ever since the gargess who would be known as Demona had scratched his face. He smashed away with no problem, leaving stone pieces everywhere. This clan wouldn't wake up at sunset.
Constantine was proud of the young man. He then complimented Brigti on his son's work. "Your son has a talent for this, Brigti."
"Aye, Your Highness." Brigti replied. "Gillcomgain can be quite single-minded."
After the clan's destruction, another wanted poster was pounded into the wall before they moved on. Having it posted there beside a cave with gargoyle remains was a deadly threat message to anyone who saw it, especially any gargoyle.
…
Later, towards sunset, the cart came to a stop and being bounced into the side of the cart woke Sil up from his sleep. "Hm?" He moaned as he came to. "Where are we?"
"A little stop right now. Your gargoyle friend should be waking up shortly." Mary replied. "Good you're awake too."
The sun went down, and Brooklyn's stone form started cracking, his eyes glowing. Sil got away from him, covering his face. Brook roared to life again. He dropped the sword in his hand on the cart. It was fine.
Brook calmed down. Then Mary spoke to him. "Excuse me, but don't I know you from Wyvern?"
Brooklyn remembered her. "Hey, that's right. You're Tom's mom!" He was excited.
"You knew her before, Brooklyn?" Sil asked.
"Yeah. I did. The clan knew her too, briefly." Brook stated.
"Mary. This is the Lady Finella." Mary said.
"Oh, this is too cool! Call me Brooklyn, and this is Sil, or Chamberlain." Brook declared.
"We know. We also talked to him earlier today before he fell asleep. He woke up prior to you waking." Mary replied. "But I don't understand. I saw the Magus cast a spell on you. He said you would sleep as stone till kingdom come!"
Sil looked up at Brooklyn curiously. He had been under a sleep spell once?
"Does this mean that Goliath is awake as well?" Mary asked.
Brooklyn put a hand to his head, looking back at Sil. "Uh… it's complicated. What's the year?"
"997, they said." Sil replied.
"Yeah, I figured it was something like that." Brooklyn declared. "Uh, Goliath's still asleep, and so am I…"
Finella wasn't sure what he meant at that, but she snapped, "If you think this is some sort of dream, I can assure you-."
Brooklyn interrupted her. "Look, I know you've never seen Star Trek or Quantum Leap, but I need you to understand. We are both from the future." He explained. "I think now that we were sent here to protect you and the Grimorum. But to do that- not to mention get Sil and I home to Manhattan- I need something called the Phoenix Gate."
"You mean this right here?" Sil held the Gate in his hand up.
"Where did you get this, Sil?" Brooklyn asked. "I last had it and dropped it last night."
"I found it on the ground when I ran from those men." Sil replied.
"Oh, that's good thinking." Brooklyn smiled at him. "But we still need to go Castle Wyvern to check things out. But if my clan's history is straight, Goliath has a half of the Gate, and the other half is with his ex-mate." Brook realized.
Then he took the Gate in his hand from Sil. "This one just won't take us anywhere until the mission is completed. And I don't know the incantation to make it work. The other one possibly could send us home."
"Maybe you should put that one in a pouch on your belt for now, so you don't lose it." Mary suggested.
"Yeah." Brooklyn agreed.
A pouch was created, and Brooklyn put it on his belt. The current Gate was put into his pouch. They then traveled to Castle Wyvern. Brooklyn would be able to show Sil where he used to live before it had been taken to New York. Sil would also see him as a stone statue that wouldn't wake up for one thousand years. He also needed a sheath for his new sword. Brooklyn wondered what he looked like as a statue. He would try not to be humiliated when he saw himself.
Mary directed Magus the horse toward Castle Wyvern so Brooklyn could try to further along his plan. Sil was just along for the ride.
…..
Back at the cave where the small clan had been shattered, Goliath's mate had arrived there and found her clan destroyed. This infuriated her so much. Her eyes glowed angrily, and she was also in grief too, once again.
The humans would pay for doing this! To her, all humans were evil. But in reality, she was the one that had really spelled the downfall of her kind the most in Scotland from creating the Hunter in the first place for scratching Gillcomgain's face three years ago.
Constantine had mainly hated gargoyles since he wanted a wife who didn't love him and had had gargoyle eggs that were like her children instead of wanting to mother an heir for him. He was the real tyrant for murdering King Kenneth in the first place.
And now, King Kenneth's relatives were planning a war with the help of gargoyles, but they needed to find some and that was going to be hard without someone who would lead them to it properly.