GARGOYLES: Re-Awakening

Re-Awakening: 1

Xanatos was looking at Goliath. Or rather, the stone Gargoyle that he hoped would soon become Goliath. He was outside, standing at the top of Castle Wyvern's tower where Goliath had his perch. Castle Wyvern, in turn, was perched atop Xanatos' worldwide headquarters in Manhattan. The skyscraper was the tallest building in the world. It had to be, because that was how the spell was going to be broken. According to her story, Goliath and his five companions had been frozen in stone by a sorcerer, but the spell could be broken and the Gargoyles would awake if the castle rose above the clouds. That was why she had approached him. Because Xanatos was quite possibly the only person on earth with the resources to raise it. And now he had.

Xanatos was mildly worried though. Obviously, his skyscraper was not higher than all the clouds, just some of them. That had left him with a small degree of uncertainty. He had been operating on the premise that the spell would not be broken until the coat of arms he had stolen from the Medi Gallery was in the castle because, he had reasoned, a coat of arms designates the castle. Without it, a castle is just a set of stone walls. With it, it takes on its purpose as a fortification in service of a fiefdom, or kingdom. It becomes declared. Xanatos had had the castle brought here from Scotland and assembled atop his building, with the stone Gargoyles, because he felt confident that the spell would remain in effect until he brought the coat of arms. And it had worked. Neither Goliath nor his companions had burst to life the first night that the castle stood complete. Now though, on this night, with the coat if arms in place, that would presumably change.

But Xanatos couldn't help but be concerned. What if the coat of arms was not the reason that the Gargoyles hadn't awoken? What if they hadn't awoken because the legend wasn't true? What if she had lied to him for some as yet unknown purpose? What if the castle held some other power for her? He would know soon enough. It was exactly three minutes to sundown, the coat of arms was in its place, and if all had been true, then Goliath and his companions would soon burst from their stone skins and Xanatos would be the first human to speak to them in a thousand years. If not, well, she would learn who she was dealing with.

The sun was beginning its final slip below the horizon. Xanatos looked up at Goliath.

"Don't disappoint me."

As the last bit of sunlight faded the shadow of night crept up the castle walls. It started at the outer perimeter, then washed over the inner courtyard and onto the inner structures. It climbed slowly up Wyvern's most notable tower, which was a two-tiered structure with a slightly wider base tower rising some forty feet into the air and a second, smaller tower built atop, adding another twenty or so feet to the overall structure. The very top was where Goliath stood, keeping watch on everything below. On the first tier, below him, were five other stone Gargoyles. Three looked young, if stone Gargoyles could look young, and one looked old. The fifth was different. It had no wings and walked on four legs, the Gargoyle equivalent of a dog Xanatos had quipped to Owen during the castle's reconstruction. He was hoping it would prove more useful than the standard human pet.

The shadow of the sunset reached the five below and then, within seconds, washed over Goliath. Xanatos watched carefully. Two seconds passed—an eternity—and just as his heart was about to sink a thunder clap rang out in the night sky. His heart skipped a beat. He hadn't been expecting something quite so cliché, and it caught him off-guard, but he had little time for bemusement. The distant echo of the thunder clap blended into the noise of breaking stone. Suddenly, Goliath became a spider web of cracks which, all at once, exploded outward. Goliath rose tall, stretched his arms and wings wide into the air, and let out a roar that sounded like a cross between lion and man. It was a breathtaking scene and Xanatos, uncharacteristically, found himself stepping back with his arms raised defensively.

Without turning, Goliath leapt from his perch. He landed amongst his five companions who had emerged from their sleep just as he had. Goliath had a sense of urgency, and he wished to waste no time.

"Tonight we resolve this," Goliath said to the elder Gargoyle. "I have no more patience for this constant bickering. You and I will fly out together and run them off. The two of us can put enough fear in their souls to ensure they never return."

The Elder looked at Goliath, the vertical scar over his left eye broadening as he drew his gaze into a discerning squint.
"You're in quite the hurry there lad," he said. "No good ever comes from a rush. Why don't we get some breakfast and think it over a wee before we go barreling off into the night?"

"No. This has gone on long enough. We must drive them away, or..." Goliath's voice caught. He had just noticed the glowing fog behind his companion. He and the other Gargoyles turned their heads to follow his gaze. The Gargoyle dog looked from Gargoyle to Gargoyle as they stood, mouths agape, staring at something. He, being on all fours, could not see over the wall. He let out a small whine but no one paid it notice, so he sat back on his haunches and then sprang up onto the stone platform he had been occupying before awakening. All five of them peered over the edge, into the glowing myst. They had never seen so much light emanating from outside the castle walls. It looked like hundreds, maybe thousands of campfires. Or was it worse? Was it thousands of flaming arrows and hundreds of burning projectiles on loaded seize engines, all waiting to be released in a rain of fire upon the castle?

"They gathered reinforcements as we slept!" Goliath roared. "Quickly, we must gather the others!"

He jumped onto the castle wall and spread his wings and just as he was about to leap out into the air the clouds parted. As they spread, the Manhattan skyline was revealed. Hundreds of glowing buildings and flashing headlights lay before the Gargoyles, and they had no idea what they were looking at.

"What sorcery is this?" Goliath uttered, unable to avert his gaze. All six Gargoyles stood motionless, staring out at the city,  mesmerized by a site they could not possibly have dreamed. It might have gone on for minutes if not for a sudden, startling interruption from above.

"Pardon me," Xanatos said, peering down from the upper tower. "I believe I can be of some assistance."

Six heads jolted upwards. Now was the moment, Xanatos realized. He would either take his first step into what could become the most powerful chapter of his life, or be ripped limb from limb and recede into history as the eccentric billionaire who had built a castle on top of a New York City skyscraper.