GARGOYLES: Re-Awakening

Premonitions 3:

New York City looks different at dusk. The light takes on a reddish hue and the shadows, long and angular, seem to accent the buildings, causing them stand out even more. As the lights slowly blink on, one by one, an energy surges through the streets that is not present during the day. It seems to set things in motion and bring all of the city's potential to the front of everyone's consciousness. Its dark corners also multiply. The ends of alleys become hidden. The spaces behind shops and restaurants obscure due to the dimness of inadequate lamps. This transition from light and safe to dark, exciting, but also dangerous is the environment that Goliath and the clan would now wake up to tonight and every night.

As the stone broke its way free from Goliath's skin, he was already dimly aware of this new reality. Since last night's venture with the flying fortress, and Demona's ever more concerning behavior, something had been percolating in him on the not quite conscious level. Awake now, and looking out over the city, it developed into a full impulse. With determination, he jumped from his perch and glided down to the lower level of the tower into the midst of his clan.

"I'm hungry," said the round, somewhat heavy Gargoyle.

"Big surprise there," the small, yellowish-green one with the bat-wings said. "Maybe we can do a little exploring and find something to eat. What do you think, Goliath?"

"I have something else in mind," Goliath responded.

"Oh. And what is that?" Demona asked, with a somewhat penetrating, searching look.

"Ya, what could be more important than breakfast?" the heavy one said.

"Follow!" And with that one word, Goliath spread his wings and leapt from the castle walls. The others looked at one another for a moment and then, with a shrug, obliged. Demona was the last to jump—reluctantly—from the wall.

The group flew together over the city. It was dark now and the lights of driving cars were pulsing through the streets. it was still magical to the group, save Demona, and all eyes were fixated on it. Goliath though, was not only interested in the cars. He was looking for something else, something he had seen with Demona. He swung in a wide arc northward in the same direction that he had flown with her the night before. His eyes were sharp. He looked hard.

Demona flew up beside him. "My love," she began, "what is it that you seek?"

He did not answer. Demona knew him in such moods. They had been mated for long enough. He wanted to make a point and he would not speak until he was able to make exactly the point he wished. She knew there would be no sense in trying to drag it out of him and so she resigned herself to waiting. No sooner had she come to that conclusion did Goliath's eye catch something. With a sudden thrust of his arm and a triumphant "There!" he pivoted downward and descended like a meteor onto a rooftop below. The clan followed, somewhat bewildered, and soon they were all gathered on the rooftop.

Demona recognized the roof. It was the one they had stopped on the night before, where she had shown Goliath the street thugs as they mugged the young woman. She felt a dim hope, or perhaps more accurately, a flicker of triumph. Perhaps her demonstration had prevailed. Perhaps Goliath was ready to show the others and to begin to temper his feelings towards the humans. The group walked slowly to the edge and peered over the same alley Demona and Goliath had observed the night before. They waited in silence. No one felt moved to question what they were waiting for. Demona knew it would not be long. Nothing showed the impotence of the humans more than the fact that groups like these could pull the same crime on the same corner night after night, and no one would do a thing about it. It was just one of the small realities that kept her contempt for mankind fresh.

After a short while, the same scene from the night before began. The two men, a frightened young woman being shoved against the wall. Demona began to speak, softly. "I brought Goliath here last night. I'm glad we are all here to witness it again together. You will all learn what..." Before she could finish her thought, Goliath suddenly rose, spread his wings, and leapt from the building. He glided down in the blink of an eye. His speed was such that when he reached the three humans below, snagging the two men by the backs of their collars and lifting them into the air with him, the woman was knocked to her knees. The bump she received came so suddenly that it took her a moment to understand what had happened and collect herself. By the time she had, all the action was already past. Goliath had grabbed the two men, flown them to a height of roughly two stories, and then released them so that they came crashing down into a dumpster at the far end of the alley. The women heard the metallic bang and looked up in time to see the lid of the dumpster fall. Bewildered, she stared for a moment but then, suddenly reconnecting with reality, quickly rose and ran off with a scream.

Goliath landed on the roof where he had started. The updraft he used to carry the two men was enough to raise him all the way back to the roof, making his maneuver a masterful, seamless stroke. His companions stared at him in wonder, all except Demona. "What were you thinking!" She roared. "That woman could have seen you!"

"But she did not," Goliath replied.

"You have no idea what would befall us if she had! The humans would have no understanding. They would hunt us like wild animals. They would..."

"The humans," Goliath interrupted. "Always 'the humans'. You speak of them as if no differences exist amongst them."

"Because there are no differences!" Demona cried.

"Was there no difference between that woman and her attackers? Is there no difference between Xanatos and his rivals, who we attacked in his name?"

Demona was silent. Goliath turned and looked away for a moment. Then, without turning back he began to speak again. "Since awaking, I have noticed that there is something different in you my love. Something...changed." He turned and approached her slowly, reaching his arms out and embracing her shoulders. "I know now what." Demona lifted her eyes to meet his. "You no longer protect," he said.

Goliath released her shoulders and stepped back. With a slight turn, he beckoned them all to hear him. He dropped his wings and wrapped them around his body, like a living trench-coat, that signaled the solemnity of what he had to say. "A Gargoyle lives to protect. It is what we are," he said. "In our own time we protected the castle. Or so we believed." Goliath stopped and looked off, reflective.

"What do you mean, Goliath? Didn't we?" The yellowish one asked.

Goliath did not answer at first. Then slowly, he raised his eyes to look at his companion. "Xanatos has shown us that the castle is mere mortar and stone. It can be moved. It can be...owned. No, I no longer believe we protected the castle. We protected more than the castle. We protected what was able to be, to thrive...to live within the castle." He refocused on the entire clan. "Much has changed in one thousand years. That much is clear. But we, what we are inside, must never change."

"What do ya propose, laddy?" The elder asked.

"We will protect again. But not just the castle. We will protect this place in which we all now live, this—Manhattan. I know I have not seen all," Goliath continued, looking at Demona, "but I do not believe that most humans are like those two." He pointed to the dumpster. "There are good people still, and it is our duty, our purpose, to protect those who are in need, as it has always been. You may have forgotten my love, but we are here now, together again, and I believe you will remember."

His arms were on her shoulders again. For a brief moment, she showed surprise, as if she had only now realized that Goliath and the others were with her again. But it did not last. Her eyebrows narrowed. With a quick movement, she slapped Goliath's hands from her shoulders and her eyes flashed red. She turned and jumped on the edge of the building. "A pretty speech, Goliath," she said. "I will not try to argue with you. I will show you. I will show all of you!" And with a turn, she spread her wings.

"Follow!" She cried, and was off into the night sky.