I send out one last arcane blast of raw magic, but the gargoyle is too far away. Spent, I fall to one knee and lower my head. I’m not willing to give up yet, but I’m beginning to think we should’ve talked our plan over first with our mentor. We’re running out of options, and it won’t be long before Lapis Draca decides to just up and fly away instead of lingering around and hounding us.
Lucent hovers just in front of me, and I can hear his thoughts easily.
Mirella, there’s only one way to end this.
How?
I’m not hot enough as a phoenix, but there’s one way for me to really turn up the heat.
How?
I’ll bring her back. Be ready.
And he flies off.
No. No, no, no. If he wants me to kill him, to be sacrificed so we can all live in a slightly more peaceful world… I don’t know if I have it in me.
“Darius, any insight into her psyche?”
“For a second, I was in, but it was only a second. She’s upset about the baby. That’s all I could see.”
By now, Lucent has caught up to the gargoyle. They’re going at it again, and I… I can’t handle this.
But half of us are out of commission. Miyako sways on her feet and collapses to sit on her rear. Vothos and Riran are still fighting off their possible concussions. As for Nea, she remains in her berserker state, and the way she’s juggling her weapons is incredibly dangerous.
Again, the two flying beasts—one stone, one all fire—seem unaffected from our best efforts. No. Wait. Maybe there’s a dent. Wow. All of this fighting and all we have to show for it is a silly indentation. That’s pathetic.
Nea aims with her javelin and lets it fly. It glances off the stone creature’s left shoulder.
“Try to relax,” Darius says desperately.
The berserker stares at him and yanks out a scythe.
“Nea…” I say softly. “Put the weapon down.”
She shakes her head. “I… can’t.”
“You can,” I say, my tone strong. I march right up to her and rip the weapon away from her.
Without warning, Darius flies off his feet. He nearly goes over the side, but Malak catches him in time.
“What happened?” Malak demands before anyone else can ask.
“I tried to break into her mind, and she forced me out.” Darius coughs. His lip is split.
Wait until we’re a little higher. Then do it, Mirella.
Tears burn my eyes. Why me?
No one else can. The weapons won’t hurt me anymore than they do her.
I can’t! I can’t do it! I can’t kill you!
But I’ll come back.
What if you don’t? What if you only have a certain number of lives and—
Now, Mirella!
Even more are down and out. When Darius was flung back, he must’ve somehow hurt Malak. They’re both sitting, rubbing their temples. As for Miyako, she opened her mouth, but no fox-fire came out. She’s spent.
Mirella, right now!
Tears cloud my vision, but I aim the arcane blast for Lucent. It hits him square in his fiery chest. Lightning crackles throughout his body, and he expands, growing wider, fatter, taller, and then, he turns into a massive human-sized flame that starts to burn a hole through the stone of the gargoyle.
Lapis Draca lets out a shriek. “If you want to know where she is…”
No. No, I can’t give in. I can’t!
Before my eyes, the gargoyle’s right shoulder begins to melt. The heat from the dying phoenix is too much for her to handle.
But then, Lucent starts to fall. I do my best to use my wind to slow his descent and then even lift him. The moment his fire dies out, I lay him in the far corner of the roof. To my shock and horror, he turns completely to ashes the second he connects with the roof.
I start forward, but Vothos pulls me back. “He’ll be fine, but it’ll take time.”
“How long?”
The giant shrugs.
Worse, the gargoyle is wounded but not dead. She lands on the roof with enough force that the entire building shakes. A few screams from inside have my stomach churning.
Already, the fighters are going at the gargoyle. Malak is closest, and the troll swings his battle-axe with both hands. The silver of the dual blades shines in the darkness, streaking like a shooting star, and the blade connects with her left shoulder. Before the gargoyle could react, he rebounds and strikes the stone dragon on the right shoulder, where she's already wounded.
The gargoyle lets out a massive bellow and swats Malak. He collides with Riran, who had only just gotten back to her feet and promptly falls back down. I rush over and help her up as Nea gives an unearthly shriek. Her berserker state hasn’t ended at all yet, and she raised her warhammer and her double-edged, double-bladed, two-handed broadsword that she wielded with one hand without any issues. Her might and strength is increased to be that of at least five times her normal self, and she’s already many times stronger than several other species.
But Lapis Draca isn’t going to be taken by surprise again. She opens her mouth, and sparks scatter about before a roaring blast emits like a laser of red-hot, orange energy. I watch in horror as the fire heads straight for the berserker and do my best to conjure forth water, but I can only produce a few droplets. My magic is starting to fade. I’ve been exerting myself a lot already this fight, but I haven’t done nearly enough, not even close, and now, Nea’s going to pay the ultimate price, and unlike Lucent, there will be no bringing her back.
But I shouldn’t have underestimated the berserker. Nea just leaps into the air and does an amazing flip. Through the flames, I can just make out Nea’s form as she lands on the stone dragon’s snout. Her warhammer connects with the top of the head as she jabs one side of the broadsword deep into Lapis Draca’s wounded shoulder.
Despite it seeming impossible for a stone wing to do so, it folds onto itself and then flicks Nea away. She crashes hard onto the roof, creating a small divot, and her form shakes before her berserker state fades away.
Darius rushes over to her, and I head straight for the door that provides roof access. In case anyone inside has any bold plans to come up here, I ward them off, sealing the door shut so no amount of force can open it. At least my magic doesn’t fail me with that.
Vothos nods to me. I have my sword at the ready, and a ball of arcane energy comes easily enough. Darius moves to join us, but he has two balls of psychic energy.
“Show off,” I grumble.
The corners of his lips curl upward. Is he grinning? That would be the first, and I beam at him. We can do this. We have to. Together. As a team.
As one, we start forward. Despite Vothos being a giant and one thinking he would have to be slow and clumsy, he isn’t. He’s surprisingly agile, though not as much as Belb, and his wrist reaper, a piece of wood in his hand as the handle attached curved blade similar to a scythe only much longer, looks far thicker than traditional weapons. He raises his weapon over his shoulder and severs off the stone dragon’s right arm.
No blood gushes. The gargoyle doesn’t even react as if in pain. She just opens her mouth, lunges forward, and swallows the giant whole.
Darius and I unleash blast after blast of arcane magic at the beast. She’s forced back, whimpering some, and when she opens her mouth, dark blood coats her jagged stone teeth. Vothos climbs out on all fours, crawls away, and collapses in a heap.
Another one down.
“Can you use your hypnosis?” Darius shouts.
Miyako, face pale, looking almost as silver as her hair, nods grimly. “I’ll try, but I’ll have to get close enough to touch her temples.”
“Climb onto her back,” I suggest.
“Distract her for me.”
Darius and I keep up our onslaught, but the stone dragon has had enough. Lapis Draca, instead of producing a massive blast of fire, spits out small balls of fire. Each one connects with our psychic blasts, causing them to explode well before her.
Each time, though, that Miyako tries to approach the gargoyle from any side, she lunges toward her, fending her off, even managing to shoot a few fireballs her way for good measure.
Can you cover Miyako and me?
Darius eyes me curiously.
I can get her closer. I’m sure of it.
How?
You’ll see. Just trust me.
Darius grimaces.
Oh, and send a few arcane balls as if they’re from me.
Anything else, princess?
I grin, determined but ready to collapse. I think that’s it.
Darius redoubles his efforts, and I shift my magic from arcane to illusion, creating a picture for everyone that Miyako, as she truly does make a break for it and has to jump to avoid a strike from the stone dragon, the kitsune falls to the ground. In reality, pushing myself to the limit, maintaining the image of Miyako down for the count, I also manage to conjure enough wind to force Miyako into the air. She dips and lowers more than she raises, and I struggle to carry her high enough that she can land on the gargoyle’s neck, facing her head. No. Damn. She touches for only a second before I realize I can’t have her touch the stone dragon, and I force her back up to hover close enough that her fingers can still touch Lapis Draca’s temples.
I can sense the psychological struggle between the gargoyle and the kitsune. It’s a power struggle, too, and the mental and muscle fight between them… Lapis Draca definitely has the edge. Age, experience… but also rage. She’s so upset, so frustrated, so sick with grief… Her emotions and even thoughts are leaking all over the place even as she continues to blast each one of Darius’s attacks.
The gargoyle's grief and pain bring a tear to my eye. There's nothing worse than losing a child, and that the child never even had a chance to lay eyes on her mother makes it even harder to accept.
I’m so caught up in Lapis Draca’s emotions that I don’t see her tail until it wraps around Miyako’s throat. She yanks the kitsune out of the air and throws her aside, over the edge of the building. A sliver of silver catches hold, and Miyako struggles over the edge, one of her tails having saved her. Now, she collapses for real.
It’s up to Darius and I now, and he’s fading fast.
Swiftly, I race over to the corner of the roof, praying and hoping the stone egg is there. I have to shove aside more ashes than I remembered, but the egg is still there.
Smooth. Polished. Heavy. Perfect.
And the baby inside? As stone as the egg.
But I sense something. A spark of life. It’s so subtle that I think I imagined it, and an agonizing minute passes before I sense it again.
The baby isn’t dead. The baby’s dying.
I whirl around and hold the egg above my head, cradling it in my palms. “Lapis Draca! Your baby isn’t dead!”
“Do not lie to me!” she shrieks. “I will eat you all as I ate your friend!”
“You did not eat Valerie,” I say, hoping I speak the truth. I advance a step and then another toward her, nodding to Darius to stop his attack. His balls started the size of his two fists put together, but now, they’re the size of a deck of cards.
The gargoyle watches my approach, and I tenderly lay the egg in front of her. I haven’t attempted to heal anything or anyone yet, and I don’t know if I can successfully now, especially when I’m so spent, but I am willing to try.
For the orphans.
For Valerie.
For Lapis Draca.
For the baby gargoyle barely clinging to life.
I kneel down and touch either side of the egg. My eyes close, and I channel my magic through the stone to the baby. He’s as cold as ice, but his mother is cold to the touch, too.
His heart. It’s beating so weakly, and I try to see him, to see inside of him, through the egg, through his stone exterior, and then, I see his heart. It’s a strange red and blue organ, shaped identical to a human’s but much smaller, like a real baby’s. And there’s a black patch. A hole.
Arcane. Creating something from nothing. I need to patch the hole.
As much as I want to observe the heart, to study the tissue, I can’t. Time is running out. The heart is barely beating once a minute, and the pauses between are growing even wider apart. Soon, it will stop beating altogether.
All of my mind, all of my body, all of my soul, everything I have, my last bit of energy and magic, I pour into the hole, willing it to close, to heal, to beat properly. Sweat dots my forehead, but the more I concentrate, the less I feel any sort of bodily discomfort. The cramp in my legs disappears, and my side sticker fades away. My back pain is gone. All that I am is magic and the tiny bit of tissue that's appearing. For a few moments, the baby and I merge, just the beating heart, and I will it to squeeze, to pump blood, to contract and relax, and then, it does, beating faster, ten times a minute, twenty, thirty, forty… The baby isn't quite as cold to the touch, and he even begins to stir, to move, to rock the egg, and I withdraw then, falling onto my rear, all of the pain in my body rushing back into my awareness. I feel as if I've been hit by a train, but that's not important right now. All that matters is that the egg continues to shake, rocking violently.
“What did you do!” Lapis Draca roars.
The stone begins to crack, the fissure splintering, and then a piece falls to the floor, and the baby stone dragon gargoyle’s tiny claw appears in the opening. More pieces of stone crumble away, and soon, the gargoyle baby has hatched.
“I saved your baby,” I say evenly. I try to stand, bracing my hand on the ground, but my legs refuse to cooperate. “That’s what I did.”
It’s a perfect, beautiful sight as a single tear reflects the stone of her cheek as it rolls down her face. She cradles her baby to her chest with her left arm.
“I… I’m sorry about your arm,” I say.
Lapis Draca does not seem to hear me. She tucks the baby into her wing and manages to take flight even though she’s only truly using one wing. Off she flies, and I might pass out. When I’m not aware, everyone is standing, talking, asking what has happened. Darius is explaining, and from his weary tone, I wonder if he’s given this speech several times already.
The sound of flapping wings, or maybe just one wing, has all of us looking up, and I almost weep with relief. Tucked into a wing, holding the baby gargoyle, is Valerie.
The gargoyle hovers a few inches above the roof, and Lucent helps Valerie down. She’s all wide-eyed, staring up at the giant, and Lapis Draca has to take her baby back.
Thank you.
I start at the foreign voice in my mind. Lapis Draca?
I knew something was wrong with my baby. I sensed your magic long ago while flying over the city, and I thought maybe… but you were not here. Out of all of the beings here, Valerie smelled the most of you.
She’s my best friend.
I never meant to start the fires. I never meant to scare anyone. I… Valerie smelled a lot in the room.
I rub my chin. It’s possible that Valerie took up my pastime of reading to some of the kids to help settle them. The girls all wanted to have princess stories, the boys about pirates and grand adventures. They wanted an escape, and I loved giving that to them. The only reason why the children’s room might smell of her has to be that she took up my spot for me.
She did not sleep there, though. The gargoyle sounds confused.
No. She slept with the other teenagers in another room.
Too many smells in the other rooms. I can’t isolate hers until…
Until the night you took her.
I thought taking her might draw you out, but it was too late. My baby died.
He only ever was dying, not dead.
You saved him. I thought you were too late. I was so angry, so hurt, so… But you saved him, and I… I’m sorry.
I am too. I’m sorry I wasn’t there earlier. I didn’t realize until just now that he was still alive. I… I lower my head. I don't blame Kayden for thinking the baby dead. His mother had too. If only I had checked! I could have saved us all from this fight, from our injuries, prevented Lapis Draca from losing her arm…
“Your arm,” I murmur, not realizing I’m speaking aloud for the first time.
“Over time, it may regrow. I am made from stone, not flesh, and while stone can erode, stone can also solidify and grow new layers. Do not fret. This was my doing, my fault. I am to blame.”
Tears prickle my eyes. Lapis Draca isn’t an evil paranormal creature. We hunted her, but I do not feel right capturing her, and I turn to Darius, to Miyako.
They glance at each other and then the rest of the team. No one speaks as the gargoyle cradles her baby close to her and then flies away again, this time for good.
We hunted her. We fought her. We released her. Maybe this means we’ll lose the quest, but honestly, I feel like a winner.
Valerie drops to her knees and gives me a massive hug.
“Ow! Gentle,” I say with a laugh.
“You have so much explaining to do,” she accuses.
“Yes, yes. After a long nap and a long soak and a feast.”
“Yes, a feast sounds wonderful!” Malak says, and we all laugh.
Correction. I feel like death, but I’m also happy, and isn’t that all that matters? Especially since Lapis Draca is happy too.