Well, here's the long awaited (at least, we hope somebody out there has been waiting for this!) third installment of the Pendragoness and Dark Id saga. We had some fun with this one, and the subject matter ranges from the macabre to the ridiculous, thus continuing our proud tradition of writing fanfics that don't take themselves too seriously (except when they want to). This story in particular is rather hard on Dark Id, at least to begin with, and the character has what I can safely refer to as a Really Bad Day.
This time, we decided that it simply wasn't enough to insert our own characters into the story. No, this time we sucked in most of our friends and family as well, turning them into villains and allies. We thank them for their tolerance. :)
Thanks again go to the creators of Gargoyles, without whose inspiration we would never have written these stories. If it wasn't for them, I'd have to rely on Japan for good cartoons, and write nothing but "Ranma 1/2" fanfics.
And now, a Blatant Plug. If you are reading this, and yet have not read "The Gargoyles Saga" I implore you to mend your ways! The more than forty members of the Gargoyles Saga staff (including myself) have worked, and are still working, hard to continue the Gargoyles series in fanfic form on the Internet. Support our effort by reading the fruits of our labor! Check out "The Gargoyles Saga" at one of its many locations (http://www.gargoyles-saga.org is one).
And now, Pendragoness.
Welcome once again to our domain, my friends--but please wipe your talonned feet as you do!
Well, if you've been waiting for this, which got delayed drastically because of me, Id and I hope we do nae disappoint you.
Hoo boy, have we got a million in-jokes crammed into this story! I wrote my 2 guy friends, Craig and Erik as the Faeries Corran and Malum (their real life nicknames), and Aaron and I could not help but add mentions of our siblings each, and write Jared as the vampire. Guess what, Josie? You're in too! Well, Leia has been pounding into me for not giving her a role, but she asked for it! "Xenaaaaa, Warrior Princess"!! Come on, everyone, sing it!
And we do apologize for the silliness you might find. Aaron was in a silly mood, which rebounded off me and got ME in a silly mood, and it snowballed. Whoops.
Now here goes my thanks: *cracks knuckles*
A weird thanks to my dog, Angela Elisa Ophelia Bronx, for keeping my home life..interesting. She keeps going to eat my teddy bear whom I named Hudson. "Bad Angie! Get off of Hudson Bear!" :)
To Dark Id/Aaron for working with me on this series and with submission help.
A courteous bow to Christine and Christi. "Legend" does so rule, Mentor!
A wave to my very own clan, Clan Le'Femme. We are the guardians of Fanfiction from the evil clutches of Pondscum Adam. Don't worry, Mad Merlyn, he's goin' in our stewpot!
Thanks to Firedancer, Skydancer, Lisette (hi, girlfriend!), and our new member Tia Grey.
Of course thanks to Leia. If I don't, she might pull out that 8 foot sword!....(read story)
Hi to Frosta, Batya, Mae, LD and Shadow, and Don.
Well, seems Stephen S. be a twin also. Garg twins RULE!!!! I'm going to be Elektra for Halloween, give me an em!
Hey, Casssshhhhewww! That's you, Matt! You ever cut your hair and Leia will kick your tail!
And last but not least, a deep thanks to Archmage.
Arch:
"In the words of all that's singing,
Hand in hand, the beginning is at the start!"
Well, suffice to say, I know a lot of you guys out there in Garg land. Keep your wings open and your faces to the skies.
* * * * * * * *
and Aaron 'Dark Id' Ziegler
spanner@visi.com
http://www.visi.com/~spanner/Spanner.htm or
http://www.visi.com/~spanner/DarkId.htm
* * * * * * * *
The Mists of Avalon enveloped the two skiffs. And remained, as if reluctant to release the party to their next destination. MacBeth stroked his beard in thought.
"Hey! Aren't we gonna go someplace??" Dark Id called to the mists.
Pendragoness looked around for something to throw at her evil friend, then finally decided on Tom's shoe.
"Hey!" the teenager protested, as he was knocked to his backside down in the boat.
"Would you stop your complaining??" Pen growled impatiently, hitting Id straight in the head. Dark Id rubbed his head and picked up Tom's shoe, pulling his arm back to catapult back at Pen when Broadway clamped down on his wrist. "Leave her alone!" he said.
"Besides, for one who will be a mother, aren't we acting a wee bit immature?" MacBeth smiled wryly at his Gargoyle ward. Pen glared at her Guardian.
"He started it with his gripin'!" Pen muttered, sitting down in the skiff.
"Yeah, Pennie, what will you be teaching your kid??" Dark Id stuck out his tongue at his friend. Pen glowered darkly at him.
"Whoa!" Dark Id feigned fright." Some mate you picked, Tubby!" MacBeth grasped the evil being by one dark ear.
"And that'll be enough outta you, laddie," the immortal king commanded.
Tom got his shoe back and out it back on. Broadway sat on his haunches and intently studied the horizons.
"The mists are clearing!" Tom noticed.
"Finally we're getting someplace. Hopefully it's Avalon," MacBeth mused.
"Joy," Dark Id and Pen exclaimed dully in unison. They turned to each other and made a face.
The skiffs hit the beach and the travelers hopped out into the surf to drag the tiny boats in from the tide. Broadway splashed through to his mate. "Oof, put me down!" Pen said when Broadway promptly picked her up.
"Broadway, a little help!" MacBeth called as he and Tom struggled with the skiff's weight. Satsana demurely waded to the beach, shaking the water from her skirts. Broadway set Pen down. Dark Id leered at her.
"Sheez, you make me sick when you and Broadway hang all over each other!" he said.
"He's just protective over the baby," Pen smirked at him. "I'd like to see Angela hang all over *you*."
"Where are we?" Satsana looked around.
Tom glanced around for a moment before answering, "Ireland."
"And how do ye know that?" asked MacBeth.
"I've been here before," Tom answered. "And judging by where we're standing, we should have guests to welcome us very soon."
No sooner had the words escaped his lips than the ground split open beneath the feet of Dark Id and Pendragoness. Each yelped a short cry before being swallowed up by the earth. A moment later, the small fissures closed again, leaving no trace.
Tom's jaw dropped. "Was this the welcome you had in mind?" asked Satsana.
"PEN!" shrieked Broadway, dropping to all fours and scratching futilely at the ground where Pendragoness had just been standing.
"No, this is not right!" Tom exclaimed. "I KNOW the Sidhe! I helped them! They should not have attacked us!"
"You know who took Pen?" Broadway roared, eyes flaring white. "Tell me! I'll fight them all if I have to!"
"Perhaps you should explain," MacBeth urged sharply.
"Aye," the boy answered weakly, still looking somewhat shocked. "It was five of Avalon's years ago. I had set out to visit Goliath's clan, and as had happened once before, Avalon took me to many destinations I had nae intended. One of these places was here. Ireland. It was here that I discovered the Sidhe. They had all been trapped within a cavern of iron--trapped, because they were Children of Oberon. It was their rogue sister, the Ban Sidhe that had betrayed and imprisoned them centuries before, and they had remained trapped until I came to them. As a mortal human, I had no fear of iron, and in time, I managed to free them. They had seemed grateful, and they promised that I would always be welcome among them. Now, it seems that they have betrayed me."
MacBeth patted his shoulder compassionately. "Lad, it has been more than a century since ye were last here. Perhaps they have forgotten-"
Satsana shook her head. "No, that is impossible. I know the Sidhe. They would not forget a face, nor would they break a vow. I do not think they were attacking any of us. Their sole purpose seems to have been to take Dark Id and Pendragoness."
"But why?" Tom asked.
"I would imagine that it has something to do with Oberon," Satsana answered. "The only traits that set those two apart from the rest of us is that they have both been enchanted by Oberon."
"How would they know that?" Tom asked. "Ye said yuirself, there was nothing else to distinguish them from the rest of us."
"When Oberon enchanted these two, he marked them with his Seal. Oberon's Seal is a magical signature that only members of the Third Race can see. Any creature bearing Oberon's Seal is considered to be Oberon's property. The Sidhe know this, and yet, they decided to take them anyway. They must have something big in mind to take such a risk."
"Something big indeed," called a voice behind them. "Welcome back to Ireland, Guardian Tom, friend to the Sidhe. It would seem that you are needed once again."
"Malum?" Tom asked. The owner of the voice decided to make himself known.
"It does the Sidhe good to see you again, Guardian," Malum said.
"Where is my mate??" Broadway yelled. He grabbed the Fae by his collar and raised him in the air. "Give her back or I'll tear you all limb by limb!" Malum gave the enraged Gargoyle a cool look.
"Your mate is in no danger, at the moment, now would you kindly put me down?" he asked in a bored tone.
Broadway growled. "Put him down, Broadway, he's with us," Tom said. Broadway finally did so and Malum brushed himself off.
"Temper, temper, Gargoyle. Your mate is in good hands, though her shady friend may not be." Malum said.
"What do ye mean??" MacBeth demanded.
"What's going on, Malum?" Tom asked.
"The Sidhe are in danger. Ever since Daddy Oberon had sent us all from Avalon, we formed our own group, a Clan if you will, and settled here. Oberon was always talking about an unfulfilled prophesy that would take ages to start and complete. Your mate, Pendragoness is it? The Sidhe have use of her power."
"What power? Dark Id was given the magic," MacBeth scowled.
"Only the power of creation," Malum said. "We know of this prophesy, and that the hatchling she carries is very important. An Arthur of the Gargoyle Race if you will,"
Broadway's head was reeling. "You mean my baby is destined for something important?" he gasped.
"Sure thing. Just to ask, what lengths did Daddy Oberon do to cause this conception?" Malum gave a wicked grin. Broadway turned red.
"That is none of your business!" Broadway roared. Malum ducked his head before the Gargoyle could make another swipe at him.
Tom's mouth was hanging open. "You mean Oberon changed Pen to her Gargoyle form for this purpose? What lengths? Oberon made Broadway do this? Was it rape?" the teenager cast his Gargoyle friend a saddened look.
"It wasn't rape!" Broadway hissed. "Oberon 'enchanted' us so to speak. We both wanted it--"
"Enough," MacBeth cleared his throat." Our top priority is to find me wards--"
"And to do what Avalon sent you here to do?" Malum asked ominously. He crossed his arms and cast a knowing look. "That would be to save the winged sorcerer from himself, wouldn't it?" MacBeth, Broadway and Tom gaped at the Fae. Only Satsana gave him a strange look.
Deep beneath the ground, several short men carried the limp forms of Dark Id and Pendragoness. Brownies to be precise, and 2 feet tall. They communicated to each other through grunts, shouts and laughs, but they couldn't form precise syllables to words. Dark Id had tried to give them a fight when the Brownies tried to lead them further on in the underground corridors, and so they tranked Id so to speak with powerful herbs. Pen too, for good measure.
"Are they with you?" a voice asked as the midgets got to the Great Hall of the cavern, carrying their unconscious cargo with ease.
"By Oberon, what did you do to them?" the voice asked as the Brownies set Pen and Id on their backs. A beautiful Sidhe came nearer. Her gown draped behind her and her Brothers and Sisters were behind her as well.
Dark Id groaned and rubbed his head and Pen also stirred.
"Be still, Kinsmen. We do not know how they will react," the Sidhe woman commanded.
Pendragoness began to sit up, clasping her belly with both arms. "Aaron, how many times have I told you not to put anchovies on the pizza?" she muttered. Then her eyes snapped open. "Who are you?? Where am I?? Where's Broadway?" Pen demanded.
"Go 'way, Josie, I'm trying to sleep in," Dark Id lazily said. Pen prodded him with her with her angular foot.
"Wake up, Id, we're not above ground!" she hissed.
"Temper, temper, Pen. Did we wake up on the wrong side of the skiff tonight? Or was that Broadway?" Dark Id asked sarcastically, gaining consciousness.
The Sidhe woman sighed impatiently. "Why did you drug them, you imps? The male seems to still be under the herb's power, and you could've seriously hurt the child!"
Dark Id immediately sprang up. "Where are we?? And what--is this thing doing to my hair?" Dark Id glowered. A Brownie was happily tying knots in his long white tresses.
"Away!" the Sidhe woman commanded and the Brownie slunk back. "Welcome, Fairy friend. We are in dire need of you two."
"Why did you nab us??" Dark Id growled, materializing his energy sword into his hand.
"Stay your hand, Boy," a Fae leered at Id.
"Be silent, Corran. We did kidnap them in a way," the Sidhe woman said.
"You have the air of Avalon, and Oberon, all about you. You two have been played upon by our father, Lord Oberon. You have his Seal upon your souls." the Fae woman said.
A Brownie loped to Pen and grunted to his comrades, pointing a grubby finger at her more than slightly rounded belly.
"Get back, you fool! She's part of an incomplete prophesy!" the Sidhe Woman glared. Pen snickered as the Brownie scampered back. The Brownie's antics reminded her of the Ewoks from "Return of the Jedi".
"I don't like to be played with, I've had more than enough experience with your kind," Dark Id glared. He was having his time of it trying to regain his sardonic composure. But he was amongst a band of Fae who were more tricky than the crafty Dark Id could ever be.
"Watch what you say, sorcerer. We have a direct line with hell, so I would not be trying anything," Corran smirked. He materialized a dagger and flipped the blade between his hands.
"Or what?" Dark Id asked.
"Id, shut up," Pen hissed at him. She had a very bad feeling and Dark Id's mouth wasn't helping.
"You need to be taught a lesson," Corran said and flicked his wrist hard. His movement was so quick that had Pen blinked, she would've missed what had happened. First the dagger was between the Sidhe's hands, and the next second, it was lodged in Dark Id's tunic front. Dark Id gagged in a very surprised manner and staggered to his knees.
"ID!!" Pen screamed and caught him before he hit the dirt face first.
"Hey, Pennie," Id smiled, a trail of blood trickling out the side of his mouth.
"Oh, god, Id," Pen gasped. There was so much blood and her talons were covered in it. She lay her sorcerer friend on his back and tore his tunic open. The dagger was in to the hilt.
"Why??" she yelled at the Sidhe as Id stopped breathing.
"Indeed, Corran, an explanation is needed," the Sidhe woman glared at him.
Corran blew on his nails. "He's just taking a little test, is all. And Hades is testing him." .........
"Please, Malum," pleaded Tom. "Take us to our friends."
"All in good time," Malum responded. "But come. The Guardian and his friend are entitled to the best hospitality the Sidhe have to offer. It is the least we can do for you while your friends face their destinies."
Broadway's eyes flared, and he clenched his fists. "You're right! It is the least you can do! You can keep your hospitality! Just take us to Pendragoness!"
Malum sighed. He could see that it wasn't going to be easy to convince the large green gargoyle that this was all for the best. "Please, do not worry. Pendragoness will come to no harm."
"And what of Dark Id? Can you guarantee his safety as well?" Satsana asked coolly.
Malum shifted uncomfortably. "I cannot promise that," he answered. "The portion of the prophesy known to us is unclear on that point."
MacBeth bristled. "Ye cannae believe we're going tae just sit still while one of them could be hurt!"
"You have no choice," Malum snapped sharply. "The prophesy was quite clear on that point. Dark Id must face this trial alone."
MacBeth looked ready to say something impolite, but Satsana placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. "He is right, MacBeth. You cannot fight a prophesy. I would not help us, or Dark Id, to make the attempt. But it may help if we were to learn more of this prophesy." She gazed calmly at Malum. "Please, tell us what you know."
Malum nodded. "Of course. But not out here. Please, follow me." He gestured to a dark opening in a nearby boulder. Broadway was certain it had not been there before.
Broadway scowled. "I've read a lot of stories, and most of them agree that no good comes from an invitation into a fey's home."
"Broadway, please," urged Tom. "These are my friends. They will nae harm ye."
"But Dark Id is another story," Broadway grumbled. Nevertheless, he followed the Sidhe into the darkness.
After walking for what seemed like hours, guided only by the flickering light of Malum's torch, the five emerged into an enormous hall. Beautiful arches and columns reached up to a ceiling more than a hundred feet above, while the walls and floors sparkled with gilded decorations. Painted on the ceiling was a lovely mural, featuring a number of different scenes, such as a portrait of Oberon and Titania, landscapes of Avalon, and, to Tom's embarrassment, a picture of Tom standing triumphantly over the defeated form of the Banshee, the latter wrapped in iron chains.
The hall was occupied by dozens of Sidhe of every shape and description. Some possessed an ethereal beauty, while others were almost too hideous to set eyes upon. Many of them turned to greet the newcomers, and began to cheer wildly upon seeing Tom. By now, the young Guardian was beet red.
Malum clapped him on the back. "Now, now, don't be modest, Guardian. You did us a great service a century and a half ago, and Oberon's Children have long memories."
MacBeth grimaced at that. "Long indeed," he muttered.
Malum led the four to an adjoining banquet hall, where a table was being lavishly prepared with tantalizing dishes from around the world. Broadway's eyes became very round as he examined the colossal dinner. With a bow and a flourish, the Sidhe invited them to sit and eat. Broadway needed no further prompting, and soon had gathered a plate piled high with curry rice, an entire haunch of ham, grapes, plums, dates, and a number of other foodstuffs.
The others soon joined him, though Tom gawked a moment at Broadway's large selection before beginning his own. Satsana, who was somehow able to look graceful even while tearing open the shell of the boiled lobster on the plate before her, prompted Malum to explain what he knew of the prophesy concerning Pendragoness's child.
Malum nodded and finished chewing a mouthful of roast goat before answering. "You mortals have had dealings with Oberon's Children in the past, but you may not know that the foresight of the Sidhe is erratic, at best. The prophesy, if it has been written yet, will not be discovered for many centuries, so all that we know of it comes from what glimmers we can read of the future. These glimmers almost invariably deal with the future of the Sidhe themselves."
Satsana nodded, mildly impatiently. "I understand your limitations, Malum. Please continue."
"Perhaps it would help if I were to recite the verse we learned:
'Guardians three, one of light, one of dark, and one of wisdom,
shall land upon the shores of the Sidhe.
The mother of the Child shall seek Life's sweet boon,
Whilst the Dark one shall confront Death in his domain,
To stay his black hand.
Their companions shall remain aloof, guests of the Sidhe,
And they shall feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carps,
And anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals,
And fruitbats, and-'
well, you get the idea."
"Sloths?" asked MacBeth, looking somewhat ill.
"Yeah, it's great!" answered Broadway enthusiastically around a mouthful of chicken-fried sloth. "You should try some!"
"No thanks," answered Tom. "I'm still trying to find some meat on this fruitbat."
Satsana turned her attention back to Malum. "I see," she answered. "Do you know any more?"
Malum shrugged. "It goes on for six more verses describing the meal we were to treat you to, and you can see that right here. Other than that, no."
"Then it seems clear that there is little we can do but sit here and eat while Pendragoness and Dark Id do whatever it was that they were sent here to do," Satsana sighed. "Pass me the zebra jerky, would you Tom?"
As Tom passed the requested item, Broadway frowned. "So that's it? We're just gonna sit here?"
Satsana passed him a level gaze. "Unless you can think of some interpretation of the prophesy that lets us do otherwise, yes. There's little point in fighting fate."
Broadway began to look thoughtful. He wasn't quite willing to accept that his destiny was so clearly mapped out. After all, Oberon had seemed to think that he would be able to hold onto Pen and her unborn child, but they had escaped him...for now, at least. If Oberon was wrong, Satsana could be, too.
Meanwhile, in the very bowels of the earth, Pendragoness gazed up at Corran with eyes suddenly flaring scarlet. "A test?!" she snarled. She held up her hands, wet with Id's blue-green lifeblood. "You've killed him! You monster!" She lunged for Corran's throat. The startled Sidhe lifted his hands as though to cast some kind of spell, but froze. Literally. As did Pendragoness, in mid-lunge.
The female Sidhe lowered her own hands, and turned a gaze on the ice encrusted Corran. Her eyes narrowed. "Is there any reason that I shouldn't let her tear out your throat Corran? Speak." With that word, the ice around the frozen fey's mouth vanished.
"The prophesy," Corran said through chattering teeth. "The prophesy makes it obvious:
'Whilst the Dark one shall confront Death in his domain,
To stay his black hand.'
Here is as close as a mortal can get to the realm of Hades. I had to free his soul."
"There could well have been another way," his captor snapped. "It seems unlikely that his purpose here was to save his own life. We have no guarantee that he will recover. You have acted rashly and foolishly." With a snap, Corran was once more completely frozen. Another gesture, and Pendragoness thawed. As the Sidhe had expected, the girl did not continue her aborted attack on Corran, instead crumpling to the floor.
"He's really gone!" Pendragoness sobbed. "I can't feel our link anymore. That means he must really be dead."
The feminine Sidhe snapped her fingers, and a horde of Brownies carried off Corran's frozen form. She then gently embraced the sobbing gargoyle and let her cry. "That is true, child. But there is hope. Your dark friend has a chance."
"I know you feel pain, child. I could strangle that fool Corran for acting so rashly. But calm, girl. Calm," the Sidhe woman walked Pen to a sort of couch-like bed made of animal skins and sat the Gargoyle down, then rocked her.
Pen sobbed and pushed the Fae away. "My friend was slaughtered and you expect me to calm down?? I can't even FEEL him anymore which means he's truly dead, and you expect me to lie here and do nothing??? I want, I want to see Broadway! I gotta see Broadway!"
The Sidhe woman held the shaking Gargess who had hunched over and sank her claws into the rough leather of the skins.
"I gotta see him," Pen sobbed feeling a great need to see her mate than she'd ever felt.
"Be still, Pendragoness. You must be strong for your child's sake and your friend's sake. Ssh, do not cry," the Sidhe woman soothed.
Pen continued to shake for several moments but finally managed to calm down. The Sidhe Woman clasped the Gargoyle's shoulders gently and laid her onto her back.
"Sleep now, for Dark Id has to face his test."
Pen gazed up at the Fae with curiosity. "How do you Faeries know so much about us?"
The Sidhe woman smiled. "How can I answer that when we have watched your race from the beginning of time?" She patted both hands over Pen's tunic middle.
"Your babe just kicked, he is a feisty young one," the Sidhe woman smiled in such a way that showed her sharp teeth.
"He?? Broadway and I have a son??" Pendragoness pounced on that.
"A warrior through and through like the prophesies claimed," the Sidhe Fae released her hands from the swell of hatchling that Faery magic helped create through true love."I am going now to greet your friends."
"Umm, where are they? What are they doing?" Pen asked sleepily. Damn, that Sidhe must have drugged her or something.
"They are in fine hands with Malum and the rest of the Daoine Clan. Your Guardian Tom is quite the hero from his deeds he did a century ago to save us," the Sidhe woman said, starting to back away.
"I always knew that guy had more than we'd imagined. Tom's a fine lad," Pen yawned.
"I'll see your friends now."
Pendragoness sat up. "Wait, please!"
"Yes, She-Gargoyle?" came the answer.
"Please give my Broadway this message--" Peness caught the Fae woman's hand and kissed the tips of her slender fingers,"-- and tell everyone I love them."
"That I will. Rest now, for you have your own destiny to face." No sooner than these ominous words left the Sidhe's lips, than Pen was on her back, arms clasped protectively over her middle, and close to falling asleep.
The Sidhe Woman left her. Pendragoness started up at the patterns the torchlight was casting on the stone ceilings and a tear trickled down her cheek. Dark Id, Aaron was gone. Dead. And there was nothing she could've done to prevent his death. It had all happened too quickly, like some cruel scene from a movie where you where powerless to act against the rules.
The blade had come too fast. When Pen's blood-soaked talons had torn the fabric of Id's tunic open, she hoped that maybe she could get the dagger out, that the sorcerer could then heal himself. But that damn blasted dagger had been in to the hilt for God's sake, and if Pen had tried to dislodge it, Dark Id would've died almost instantly.
Pendragoness turned her fair head to the side to look at Dark Id's mutilated body. Her talonned hands passed over her belly and Pen sighed at the swell. "We're in this together, my child. But what am I supposed to do??" She swung her feet to the floor and staggered to the body.
Kneeling, the Gargoyle closed Dark Id's eyes. "Rest in peace, my friend, and find a way back," Pen whispered. Falling upon the skins, she fell into fitful slumber.
Dark Id was far from peace. His spirit had been dragged through flames and burning pits and it hurt like, well, hell. He had been cheated from his life by that renegade Fae, and he wanted his life back!
Dark Id screamed in mindless agony as his spirit was jolted through painful memories reflected bright in flames. Oberon ripping his self-control away and leaving him a raving animal. MacBeth scowling darkly at him. Angela shoving him away from her in disgust. Pendragoness' eyes glowing scarlet-red at him. Broadway carrying her off to their bedchamber as she clung passionately to his form.
The pain of those memories.... Hell sure knew how to kick hard. The transparent Dark Id held his aching head and sank to his knees in fiery soil. Of course there was that sordid and painful memory of a time where he had witnessed Broadway and Pen in open territory. The other times they had gone to their chamber hadn't dwelled on his mind before, in fact, he was rather amused. But that one time had been disturbing for Dark Id.
"God!!" Dark Id screamed at that last memory.
"God? I'm afraid there's no God here, Dark Id," an oily voice proclaimed.
Dark Id spun around.
"Ready to face your destiny, sorcerer?" Dark Id wasn't sure he believed in the Devil, but that frightening creature perched on the high throne could very well change his mind. A strip of cloth covered his waist, and hooves tapped on the stone floor. Horns erupted from the top of his pointed face and a dark beard snaked from the pointed tip of his chin. Beady mean eyes ate Dark Id's vulnerability.
"What do you mean?' Dark Id took the defensive.
"There is a prophesy the Daoine Sidhe have and you, your grey-bearded Guardian and that pregnant Gargoyle fit the bill. Tell me, are you scared?" the creature asked.
Dark Id narrowed his eyes. He was regaining his power of sarcasm. "No, and what freak job are you? You either looked like something my little brother hit on the freeway or some low-budget villain in a horror movie."
The creature smiled surprisingly at that response. "The Sidhe warned me you'd have ambition, real fire. And I am Hades, Ruler of the Dead. But personally, Dark Id, I would be scared if I were you."
Meanwhile, the Sidhe Woman came upon the Banquet Feast and caught sight of Pen's companions surrounded by laughing and talking Sidhe and platters of delicious food.
Broadway had long since filled his ample gut with food. Malum and Tom were talking of the Sidhe and their rogue sister, but Broadway's eyes glazed in sadness. The male laid his head on his arms.
MacBeth took a sip of wine (almost as fine as the wine they served in Moray) and set his goblet down. "Do nae worry, Broadway. Malum told us Pendragoness is in fine hands and no harm will come to her or your babe," MacBeth patted Broadway on the back of his bald head.
"How can I know she's safe? I love her so much and I can't go to her until she's completed her 'test'," Broadway covered his head with his arms.
Tom nodded. "I'm worried," he said simply.
"How so?" MacBeth asked, still patting Broadway comfortingly.
"We know Pen will be safe, but what about Dark Id? Malum said he needed to save himself," Tom fretted.
Satsana wasn't all too worried over Dark Id, for the prophesy wouldn't allow him to be lost. With her powers as Titania, she sensed he was dead, but had a chance to save his life. All she could grant him was godspeed.
"A word," the Sidhe woman approached and pulled up a chair next to Broadway and MacBeth. The immortal raised an eyebrow at her. "Who are you?"
"I come from your ward, Scotsman. Pendragoness is, and will be fine," the Fae woman explained.
Broadway lifted his head. "What?" he asked.
"She says she loves you all, and you most of all Broadway," the Sidhe took Broadway's hand and brought it to her lips. "She wanted me to relay this to you--"
The Sidhe kissed Broadway's talons and Broadway's eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"Pen," he whispered. "Take me to her." Broadway commanded. .........
"You mortals are always so impatient!" the Sidhe woman chuckled mirthfully. "But I would suppose you must be, with lives as fleeting as yours. But very well. I will take you to her." She lifted an eyebrow with amusement as she studied Broadway's belly, now swollen even beyond its usual roundness. "After all, you seem to have fulfilled YOUR part of the prophesy quite thoroughly."
"Hey!" Broadway answered defensively. "I didn't want all that food to go to waste, that's all."
The Sidhe merely smirked and turned to lead the way to their companions.
Laura sat up. This took her quite by surprise, as she was certain that she had been deeply sleeping only moments before, and she had no recollection of having gone through the process of waking up. It was at that point that she realized that she was Laura, and not Pendragoness. Panicked, she felt for the bulge that had been growing within her abdomen. Nothing. Her stomach was as flat as a board. Oh, no, she thought. She stared down at her belly and was greeted by another surprise. Not her belly, but what lay on the floor before it. Gargoyle legs, by the look of them. Laura whirled, and found to her surprise that she was sitting in a gargoyle. Pendragoness, to be precise. Laura scrambled away on all fours until she backed into a wall.
Laura glanced at herself once more. She was most definitely here. Yet, Pendragoness (bulging belly and all, Laura noticed in relief) was most definately over there. (And Dark Id's cooling corpse was no longer over there, having apparently been moved while she lay sleeping, but Laura was trying hard not to think about that particular fact at the moment.) But how could this be? Last time Laura had checked, she WAS Pendragoness.
Cautiously, Laura crossed the room and examined the gargoyle. Looking at her was much like looking at her twin--at least, if her twin had suddenly grown wings, a tail, and more than a foot of height. Laura smiled a moment as she thought of her twin sister. Leanne would truly freak if she somehow learned of Laura's adventures over the past few months. Either freak, or demand a piece of the action. Probably the latter.
As she was thinking nostalgic thoughts about her life before that fateful day on the Ricki Lake Show, her hand accidentally brushed against Pendragoness's face--and passed through the flesh and bone as if they were merely vapor. Laura jerked her hand away, revealing that both her hand and Pendragoness's face were unmarked. What was going on?
"In here, Broadway," a familiar voice called.
Laura's eyes lit up as she saw the bulky form of her love standing in a doorway to the chamber she and Pendragoness occupied. "Broadway!" she cried out in relief, running to him with open arms.
"Pen!" Broadway called, running to, and then, disturbingly, THROUGH Laura.
"Wha-?" Laura started in bewilderment, stumbling at the unexpected lack of resistance. She whirled to see Broadway kneeling beside Pendragoness. Laura spun once more, this time to face the female Sidhe who had comforted her earlier. She wasn't certain, but she could have sworn that the fey's eyes focused on her just long enough to flash a reassuring smile.
"What have you done to Pen?" Broadway asked in concern.
"She is in a very deep sleep," the woman answered calmly. "A Soul Sleep."
"A what?" asked Tom as he and the others filed into the room after her.
"I felt that Pendragoness would have less difficulty in fulfilling her part of the prophesy if she were not confined by mortal constraints," she replied, "particularly with the sun rising in only minutes. So, I drugged her with an herb that only exists in these caves, where the underworld is so close one can almost touch it. That herb allows her soul to walk while her body lies sleeping." There. That time Laura could have sworn that the fey winked at her.
"For how long?" Broadway asked.
"She has twenty-four hours to find out what she needs to do, and then do it, before her soul returns to her mortal shell." The Sidhe woman was looking straight at Laura now. "She must fulfill her part of the prophesy: 'The mother of the Child shall seek Life's sweet boon,'" she said. "I can do no more for her."
"And what about Dark Id?" Broadway asked.
The Sidhe looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Well, I'm afraid he's kind of...well, dead, right now."
"WHAT?" three voices cried in unison. Satsana, as always, remained calm.
At that point, the sun must have risen, as Pendragoness and Broadway (jaw slack with horror) froze into stone. The Sidhe chuckled and said, "I've always wanted to do that to a gargoyle."
"Ye were joking, then?" MacBeth demanded.
She shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. Due to an unfortunate miscalculation, Dark Id was stabbed to death only hours ago. I assure you, we are doing everything we can to bring him back."
"There is hope, then," Satsana said. It was a statement of fact, not a question.
"Where there is life, there's hope," the Sidhe answered serenely.
"But he's dead," Tom pointed out.
"Oh. Right," the Sidhe looked uncomfortable. "Well, come with me. There is little more you can do now. I will show you to your rooms. I assure you, they are every bit as extravagant as your banquet. Nothing but the best for the Guardian and his friends!"
Laura had heard all that she needed. "Life's sweet boon," eh? She knew of one person who needed that boon, and fast. But how was she supposed to grant it to him?
With little other ideas, Laura walked briskly out the door, and within moments was hopelessly lost in the labrynthine corridors of the underground dwelling of the Sidhe. Oh, great, she thought. A lot of help I am.
Laura turned a corner and came face to face with the frozen shape of Corran. "You!" she snarled. Corran, with little other option, merely looked back at her. "It's your fault that Aaron's dead!" Laura swung at the helpless fey, and cursed as her fist passed through him.
Glowering, she stared at Corran. But Corran wasn't looking back at her. His eyes had a pleading look, and continually flickered down to Laura's hip. "What is it?" Laura asked. She looked at the same location, and was surprised to see her magical sword scabbarded at her waist. Her magic-shattering sword. Laura smirked. "Obviously you want to talk to me, or else you'd never have pointed out the one thing I can probably kill you with," she said. "Fine. I'll let you talk. Then you can join Dark Id."
Laura touched the magic ice confining Corran with the tip of her glowing blade, and the ice shattered in a violent explosion that sent Corran flying across the room into a wall. Neither the explosion nor the shards of ice touched Laura, though whether this was by virtue of the blade or by virtue of her incorporeal form remained unclear.
Corran slid limply to the ground. "Gently," he croaked somewhat belatedly.
With a few broad strides, Laura crossed the room. Standing with one fist on her hip, and the other extending the sword so it was within inches of Corran's neck, she commanded, "Now talk."
Corran glanced worriedly at the sword before announcing, "The Nameless One did not let me finish," he said.
"Nameless One?" Laura repeated.
"She who is without a name," Corran answered. "Or, more specifically, the Sidhe who is without a name. When the rest of us chose our names, she declined, feeling that her namelessness would set her apart as clearly as any name. She's the one who froze me, before I had a chance to finish explaining myself."
"What's to explain?" Laura raged. "You killed Dark Id to fulfill some stupid prophesy that could probably have been fulfilled some other way!"
"She must truly lack faith in me if she imagines I would do something so rash," Corran said bitterly. "Listen, all of the Sidhe who knew of the prophesy knew that the guardian of darkness was going to confront Hades in his domain. We also knew that he was going to have to leave his body to do it. The mortal entrance to Hades has been sealed for more than a thousand years."
"So why didn't you just put him into a...Soul Sleep," Laura asked.
"That is what the Nameless One could not see," Corran answered forcefully. "Let me put it this way: try to change to your gargoyle form."
Laura frowned, but before she remembered that doing so would leave her a helpless statue, she made the attempt. Nothing happened. She looked at Corran questioningly.
"There, you see?" Corran said. "When you left your body, you left Oberon's enchantment of it as well--all except your sword, it seems. It seems to be linked to your soul in some manner that doubtless only Oberon himself could accomplish."
"What does this have to do with killing Dark Id," Laura pressed.
"When you appeared on Ireland's shores, as the prophesy had foretold, we could all see Oberon Mark upon you. Only I realized that, as the Dark Guardian was only so because of enchantment, the prophesy would demand that he somehow take that enchantment with him. So I created that dagger. It isn't an ordinary dagger, I assure you. By throwing it into his heart, I created the connection between enchantment and soul that he would need to keep his form in the underworld."
"It also killed him," Laura pointed out unnecessarily. "Very messily."
"But not irretrievably!" Corran snapped. "If I had remained there, I could have followed the course of his soul, to make the appropriate preparations to recover it and return it to his body once he was finished. Unfortunately, thanks to the meddling of the Nameless One, one for whom I could find many names right now," he added under his breath, "I don't have any way of finding him. At least, not without some dinlae root."
"You can bring him back to life?" Laura asked dubiously.
"Not without dinlae, and certainly not unless the dagger remains in the mortal's heart," he answered. "By enchanting the dinlae, a plant whose roots reach into the underworld itself, I can attune it to Dark Id's soul. Once found, I can prepare his body to reclaim it. As for the dagger, if it's been removed, then his soul will revert to its true form. I don't know what would happen to him then."
Laura was unsure whether or not to trust the murderous fey, but saw little alternative. "Fine then. Where to we find this...dinlae, then?" she asked, lowering her sword enough for the Sidhe to stand.
"Follow me," Corran said, walking briskly out another door.
In hell, Dark Id confronted his destiny.
"Scared? Dark Id is never scared," Dark Id snorted. Hades cast a wry smile at the winged sorcerer.
"Can you be so sure? If I remember correctly, you were writhing and screaming not too long ago over those memories. Tell me, sorcerer, are you afraid of what your friends might think of you?" Hades tapped a thorny talon against his beard.
"I've told you before, nothing scares me," Dark Id crossed his arms stubbornly, though his heart rate would've given away his supposed confidence.
"It is in the Sidhe's prophesy that you complete YOUR task, and that is to face me in hell to face your destiny," Hades smiled and stepped off his throne. With a wave of his hand, Dark Id was completely laden down with cold iron chains, tying him down to the fiery ground.
Dark Id struggled at his bonds and looked up, straight into Hade's beady eyes. The devil smiled again, and it wasn't kind.
"But you must be first stripped of all safeguards....." Hades firmly grasped a wingtip in each of his large hands and yanked hard.
"YAHHHHHH!" Dark Id screamed in mindless agony and pain. He collapsed to his knees, his tunic torn and hanging at his waist, gasping as if as a stone was crushing his chest. God, it felt like his shoulders had been ripped apart!
Two hooves planted themselves in front of him and Dark Id forced himself to look.
Hades held a torn and mangled wing in each large hand. Dark Id gagged in pain at the sight of the two missing limbs and the pain became more intense as he became aware of sticky blood seeping down his back.
Hades studied them. "She gave them to you, didn't she? The Mother of the Child of Destiny?"
Dark Id mumbled something unnecessary between his panting breaths.
"Well," Hades chuckled," You will have a chance to defend yourself, though you won't be needing these for awhile." At a nod of his head, the chains melted away.
Dark Id clutched himself around the middle and gasped loudly. "Then why did you chain me up??" he growled, giving the devil a glare.
Hades displayed the dismembered limbs and laughed evilly. "Just to make sure you didn't move or I might've torn something else. Like your spine if you weren't careful. Now. Are you ready for your test?"
Back at the labrynth tunnels, Corran led a cautious Laura behind him.
"It is your task in the prophesy, you know," Corran called back to the human girl as he zig zagged around bends leaving poor Laura running to keep up.
"Slow down!" she panted, keeping one hand over her magical sword's hilt to keep the sheath from banging into her.
"No, you hurry up! Anyway, the prophesy calls that the Mother of the Child shall seek Life's sweet boon." as Corran spoke, Laura's hand moved to pass over her stomach, and she froze feeling only her flat belly.
"But I-- *I* am not pregnant! My Gargoyle form is! Wouldn't the babe have stayed with me when I changed??" Laura demanded.
"Would you stop talking and let me finish??" Corran flashed Laura an annoyed look, then registered when she scowled and showed a nasty section of her blade.
"Right," the Sidhe muttered,"Anyway, you are commanded to give Life's gift. And what better way to give Life's gift, which is life itself, than to bring your friend back to his body?"
"So where do we find this dinlae root?" Laura asked Corran.
"We must leave the underground Sidhe caverns to find it. It grows only at a significant area where only the Mother of the Child of Destiny can find it." Corran pushed at the roof of the stone tunnel. The square of roof he pushed at rolled to the side, letting sunlight beam in through the hole.
"Be careful, for word is that the Hound of Ulster roams about our lands," Corran whispered nervously.
Laura hid her wide smile behind her hand and snickered, quite loudly and mirthfully. She remembered that episode where Bronx was thought to be the legendary Hound of Ulster.
In the depths of Hell, Dark Id gritted his teeth against the pain he was feeling and laughed, "Go ahead. Test me, if you must. It will make no difference. Prophesy or no prophesy, I've seen my future, Hades, and I'm in it, alive and well."
"Can you be so sure?" Hades smirked.
"Not even YOU are powerful enough to change the path of history," Dark Id answered with certainty.
"Ah, but the future you see is not always the future you think it is," Hades responded with an evil grin. "Should you fail this test, I need merely send a simulacrum in your place. It would not be a great stretch to find a demon willing to assume your identity and charming personality. You've seen yourself in the future. But can you say for certain that it was you, and not a replica?"
Dark Id remained silent. The future that he had seen during his "exercises" with Titania did not reveal with any certainty whether or not the Dark Id of the future was really him or not. Hades nodded, correctly interpreting Id's silence. "You cannot know for certain. I do hope that you fail your test. I have little chance of getting my hands on your soul otherwise."
"What do you mean?" Dark Id asked, a bit miffed. "I'm as evil as they come!"
"Hardly!" Hades laughed. "Face it, Dark one. Aaron is not the evil type. Oberon really had to scrape to find enough evil on him to create you, and what did he end up with? Nothing more than a mean-spirited, second-rate practical joker! You're soft, Id. I doubt you could make yourself kill someone, even in battle."
"Can we test that? I wouldn't mind some chicken-fried Hades, right about now," Dark Id answered, purple energy sparking between his hands. He tried to sound menacing, but Hades's words were shaking his confidence.
"Please," Hades sighed in a bored tone of voice. He gestured with one clawed hand, and Dark Id's magic was snuffed out like a candle. "But we will test your resolve, make no mistake about that." Hades snapped his fingers, and Dark Id suddenly found himself alone in an enormous room.
The room appeared to be narrow and very long--it was too dark to see how long, even with Dark Id's improved night vision. The walls on either side of Dark Id were lined with shelves, and on these shelves were an incredible number of hourglasses--so many, that the combined sound of their falling sands was a deafening hiss. Curious, Dark Id picked one up. There was a name inscribed on its base: Andreas Meuller. No matter how he tried, Dark Id was unable to turn it; its sands merely continued their unabated fall. He suddenly had an uneasy feeling.
"This looks a lot like something out of Discworld," he muttered.
"Of course it does," Hades's voice boomed. Of Hades himself, there was no sign. "This room has no form of its own, and so drew upon an image from your mind. Its purpose is very similar to that of Death's room of Lifetimers in Terry Pratchet's novels."
"You mean, each of these is someone's life?" Dark Id asked.
"Not exactly. Each hourglass measures how much life a given creature has remaining."
Dark Id's eye was caught by an hourglass that looked cloudy. The sand inside, if there was any, was impossible to read. Dark Id picked it up and read the name. Anansi. It figured. An immortal. Perhaps the spider trickster would die someday, but it was impossible to tell from the glass alone.
"So, did you bring me here to admire the view?" Dark Id asked crossly.
"After a fashion," Hades chuckled. "Why don't you 'admire the view' three rows down from Anansi's hourglass, hmmm?"
Dark Id glanced downward, and noticed an hourglass that was nearly out of sand, among several that still had more. "That's the one," Hades said cheerfully. Hades's cheer could not be good news. Dark Id picked up the hourglass and looked at the name.
"Angela?" he whispered. "But she's still so young..."
"Cancer," responded Hades. "One of the few ailments a gargoyle's stone sleep won't cure. She has a few days before the tumor really becomes malignant. After that, it's time to say goodbye."
"So why show me this?" Dark Id asked angrily.
"Isn't it obvious?" Hades answered. He appeared in a cloud of brimstone. In one clawed hand was another hourglass. While this one was still mostly full, it had stopped for some reason. Squinting at it, Dark Id could make out a tiny, transparent dagger lodged in the narrowest part of the glass, preventing the passage of the sand. Dark Id's eye flicked to the name, and he was unsurprised to discover his own name upon it. "That's right, sorcerer. Yours. And you have so much sand left..."
"You're bluffing," Dark Id said. "Time is immutable. If Angela's gonna die of cancer, there's nothing I can do about it. If she lives, it's the same way."
"Ah, but whether she lives or dies depends on your decision," Hades smirked. "You don't know whether she lives or dies, but your choice now will decide which way history fell. You're right, of course. Time is immutable. But your decision now will decide what immutable path history took."
"So this is my test?" Dark Id asked.
"Of course," Hades replied. "You claimed that you were evil. Are you strong enough to condemn Angela when you have the chance to save her? Believe me, I'd much prefer you didn't. I've small chance of seeing Angela here when she dies. She was well named. And, as I've said, I had little hope of seeing you, either. By giving her what remains of your life while your soul resides here, you become MINE."
Dark Id hesitated. "And your simulacrum will take care of Pen?"
"It will do everything the prophesy requires of it, have no fear," Hades answered. "It will have little alternative. Oh, how delightful! I do believe that you're actually considering saving her."
"Do it," Id sighed.
"Excellent," Hades hissed, his eyes glowing red. He took Angela's hourglass in his free hand and flipped up the cover on each with a clawed thumb. He poured the sand from Dark Id's into Angela's, and closed the cap once more.
"How is that going to help?" the dark sorcerer asked angrily. "You said that the glasses only measured life."
"This is just symbolic," Hades answered. "Angela's tumor has now been rendered permanently benign." He held up the other hourglass and smiled. "And you've been rendered permanently mine."
"That's it? Test's over?" Dark Id asked grimly.
"Test's over."
"So why did you tear off my wings?"
"Because it was fun," Hades answered with a fangy grin. "And you and I, we're going to be having a lot more fun. Oh, yes, a lot of fun indeed."
Hades touched Dark Id's shoulder, and both vanished in another sulfurous cloud.
Some time later, an enigmatic figure strode down the hall of hourglasses, stopping at the two standing in the middle of the floor. The jackal-headed Egyptian god stooped and picked them up. He sighed. "Hades, my cousin. How you like to toy with the minds of mortals." With one black finger, he flicked the empty top of Dark Id's and the interior shimmered. After a moment, it could be seen that the hourglass was still full. "It is not time for either of these mortals to die." He replaced Angela's in it's location on the shelves, and began to stride down the hallway, Dark Id's in hand. "Hades is always leaving his playthings lying around. Yet, the Jackal god is in the business of cleaning, is he not?" Anubis chuckled to himself and continued down the hall.
In the Sidhe labrynths, the nameless Sidhe woman led Satsana, Tom and MacBeth to show them the best of their chambers.
"This would suit you, our Guardian," the Sidhe woman bowed her head, and opened the double doors. The chamber was lit by a crackling fire framed by an elaborate mantel and fireplace. Tom's mouth opened as he ran his fingers over the carvings and fancy hieroglyphics. In one design, a carving depicted a boy triumphant over a screaming Banshee. Obviously this chamber was intended for Tom.
"You may stay here, Guardian," the Sidhe woman instructed.
"If you may, I will show you yours now," she said, touching Satsana on the shoulder. The two looked at each other and the Sidhe found herself perplexed by the woman's gaze. Almost as if she knew her from somewhere......
MacBeth cleared his throat deeply, capturing the Sidhe's attention. "If you do nae mind, we will all stay here." The Sidhe woman nodded and left, closing the double doors behind her.
Tom collapsed on the wide bed in a groan.
"I have neva eaten so much before in mi life!" the teenager held his stomach, rolling on his side.
MacBeth hefted his belt and adjusted his tunic, adding a groan of his own. "I'll say, mi lad!"
Satsana added her own agreement by nodding, and sat demurely on the edge of the huge bed. Tom sat up to allow her room.
"Why did you hold us here together?" Satsana asked.
"I thought that we must talk. There is something going on concerning my wards' very souls. I thought we might be able to help them," MacBeth suggested.
"I doubt it, MacBeth. Didn't Malum say they had to help themselves? I suppose all we CAN do is to wait," Satsana shook her dark head.
"And hope they come through," Tom added.
MacBeth frowned and stroked his beard. "Still, I don't like sitting around and doing nothing!"
Laura tapped her hand against her sword hilt.
"Well, let's go," she said impatiently. Corran, looking a bit apprehensive, followed her. The two trekked along, Laura with renewed vigor, and Corran lagging somewhat.
"Come ON, pick up the pace!" Laura snapped, as Corran slowed for the 5th time.
"I still say, what is your hurry?" Corran scowled. He knew they had their dinlae root to find so he could salvage Dark Id's soul, but his sullenness was making him forgetful.
Laura whirled, and with a Shing!, her sword was drawn rather quickly and was pressed to the Sidhe's throat. She struggled vainly with it with both hands, as she had been stronger as Pendragoness.
"Look, my friend is DEAD, and you said this is the only way to save his soul! Now, come on!" she hissed. Corran gave her an aggravating look.
"Now, where do we find this dinlae root?" Laura asked, sheathing her blade.
"Might I be of some assistance?" a deep voice rumbled from the brush. Corran and Laura jumped, though with all the things she had been through, not as much. Raising a hand to her forehead, Laura shielded the light from her eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked. Anubis strode from the bushes, ever in his Egyptian air of godly glory. Laura gaped at the sight of this god, though Corran trembled. From fright? Laura pushed that thought aside, and recovered.
"Anubis?" she asked, almost uncertain.
"Yes, human, I am here to help," Anubis said.
"But why?" Laura asked.
"I am a son of Oberon, one of his Children, and I feel it my duty to make sure his property will complete their tasks in their prophesy," Anubis said, then raised a hand where a plant-like object materialized.
"The dinlae root!" Corran hissed. Laura held her gaze to it, with wide eyes. She made a reach to take it, but Anubis caught her wrist with the other hand. "But one thing, human."
Laura looked up in awed fear at the God of the Dead. "What is it, then?" she asked.
"Take care of the child. You have no idea how important he is to us all."
"I think I know how important," Laura whispered. How odd to be talking of her unborn child, when her stomach was flat as a board.
"That is not all. Honor your marriage bed as you honor your friends," Anubis said. Laura blushed very deeply. Had the god's face not been expressionless, she could've sworn he would have been raising an eyebrow at her.
"I honor my mate," she whispered.
"As he honors you. Now we must save your friend from my cousin," Anubis raised his hands, leaving Laura to grasp the root protectively. Chanting a few Egyptian words mingled in Latin, the 3 were enveloped by a white light, and thus vanished from the Irish forests.
"Oh yes, are we having fun now?" Hades asked, grinning savagely. Dark Id panted under the white hot poker brandished above him. His heaving chest went concave trying to avoid it. The demon supplying the poker leered.
Dark Id's white hair plastered to his sweating forehead. "Try your worst," he growled, straining under the iron chains clamped on his ankles and wrists. He was trying to be brave, but Hades unnerved every confidant mannerism Id possessed. And all he was getting was torture for his efforts.
"Believe me, Dark Id, you would not like to see my worst," Hades waved his hand and the demon brought the tip of the poker down.
Upon arriving in hell's pits, the Sidhe, the Egyptian god, and the human were confronted by an agonizing scream of painful agony and torture.
"Id!" Laura jumped, one hand reaching for her sword hilt as the other held the sheath steady so she could yank out the weapon in one swift movement.
"We have the root, I can take him back!" Corran said, wiping his brow.
"Come, we must put an end to this, it is nearly sunset," Anubis determinedly stalked down the corridor and Laura ran after him, leaving Corran to catch up quickly.
"AHHHHH!" Dark Id screamed louder than he'd ever screamed. The demon bore down on the poker, twisting it in Dark Id's chest, tearing a good piece of his flesh.
"How does that feel, sorcerer? How does...."
"Hades!!" a voice thundered. Hades jerked up at the yell.
"Oh no," he muttered. The demon took out the poker and leered at the newcomers.
Anubis crossed his arms. Laura got to the god's side, then gasped on seeing the-- wingless sorcerer? "Id, what'd they do to you??" she demanded. Dark Id didn't answer, didn't even open his eyes as he was in too much pain.
"Hey, Anubis! Come to join the party?" Hades asked.
"Release him, Hades," Anubis ordered.
"I think not. He gave himself to me to save the Gargoyless on Avalon," Hades sneered. Laura gasped.
"Angela?? What's wrong with her?" she asked.
"It has been taken care of, human. Your--Angela is all better now," Hades said. "And you heard me, cousin, the elf is mine."
"No, he isn't. True enough he gave up his life to save the Gargoyle's own, but he's not yours. He passed his test, and that means Dark Id gets to live," Anubis said. "I have made sure of this."
"What!" Dark Id snarled, " I get to live and you decide to torture me?? I should tear you apart!"
Hades scowled deeply, steam hissing from his nostrils like some cartoon bull.
"Let him go, cousin," Anubis commanded.
"Fine. You spoil all my fun," Hades pouted, waving his hand so that the chains vanished. The demon leered one more time and followed suit.
"It is for the best, cousin. I am a fair god," Anubis was saying as Laura and Corran rushed over to the pathetic maimed body that was Dark Id.
"Id! Whoa, are you ok??" Laura cried out, tearing a scrap of Id's tattered tunic and pressed it over the wound in his chest.
"That's not the half of it, you should see what that creep did to my back-- Laura?? I thought-- Oh my god!!" Dark Id yelled, jumping in shock. "Where's your baby???"
"That's a long story," Laura sighed. She grimaced at the sight of the fleshy mess that was her friend's back. "What happened to your wings??"
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me," Hades said in a rather bored tone. He snapped his claws and held one mangled wing in each hand.
Laura rolled Dark Id to his stomach (Dark Id yelled in additional pain), and gingerly took one wing, shuddering not by the limb's appearance, but by what she was doing.
"Brace yourself," she gritted her blunt teeth as she brushed his white locks off his back.
"Ngh!" Dark Id yelled as Corran wove magick into the wing, and when Laura fit the joined part back into his flesh, he healed the area, sealing the limb whole once more. Dark Id collapsed in pain, and barely moved as Laura got his other wing in.
Anubis and Hades merely watched. Dark Id climbed to his feet, and staggered so that Laura caught him around the waist.
"I have our root, so I can take your soul back," Corran said. He took Id's arm across his shoulders. "You can follow us, Laura." The two vanished. Laura looked to the jackal-headed god.
"Thank you, Anubis."
"Take care of life's most precious gift, life itself," was his mystical answer. Laura closed her eyes and followed Corran from hell to the Sidhe tunnels.
Pendragoness awoke to the now-familiar sensation of being encased in stone. Stretching and yawning, Pendragoness shattered her temporary encasement, shards of stone pattering to the ground on either side of where she lay. Sitting up, the first thing she determined was that, yes, she was pregnant again. The day's activities were far too vivid in her mind to have been mere figments of her imagination.
As the cobwebs of sleep faded from her mind, she became aware of the fact that Broadway had awakened beside her. This fact was emphasized when that gargoyle scrambled to her side to take her hand between his own. "Are you all right, my love?" he asked worriedly.
Pendragoness instinctively reached down to feel her belly with her free hand. Once again, she could feel its slight bulge. With a sigh expressing both relief and the slight apprehension Pendragoness always felt at the realization that she was carrying a new life within her, she answered, "I'm fine, Broadway. Let's go check on Dark Id."
"You mean he IS alive?" Broadway asked.
"If Corran did as he promised," Pendragoness answered darkly. "If he didn't, I'll have a few choice words to share with him."
Pendragoness quickly stood and practically yanked her bulky mate off of his feet in her eagerness to see her friend. Stumbling, Broadway followed her. "Where're we going?" he asked.
"Before I returned to my body, Corran and I searched until we found someone to take us to Dark Id's body. I know exactly where he is, and if Corran values his life, he is there with him," Pen grinned savagely, causing Broadway to rear back in alarm.
Soon, they had arrived at the small chamber within which Dark Id's body had been deposited. Corran, it seemed, would be spared Honor's wrath, as he was kneeling beside Dark Id's impaled body, apparently concentrating deeply. The Nameless Sidhe stood nearby, looking slightly guilty for some reason. She gestured at the newcomers to remain silent and watch. Obediently, Broadway and Pendragoness stood quietly. As they observed, Corran grasped the hilt of the dagger, which was itself still sheathed in Dark Id's still form. With a bright flash of light, Corran pulled the dagger free. Where Dark Id had once possessed a messy and undeniably mortal wound, his dark blue skin was now unmarked. Whatever Corran had done to heal the body appeared to have been very thorough, as no trace of blood remained, and even the torn tunic was whole once more. But was he alive?
As if in answer, Dark Id's hands shot up and grabbed Corran by the neck. "I am not happy with you," Dark Id said calmly, his eyes burning with a cold fire.
"Gaak," Corran replied.
"There are nicer places than Hell that I would have liked to visit," Dark Id continued, absently tightening his grip. Brief flashes of magical purple energy revealed that Dark Id was using his magic to enhance his normally unimpressive strength.
"Hurk!" Corran continued, his eyes bulging.
"I'll admit it was educational," Dark Id said thoughtfully. "Hades was nothing if not creative. Perhaps I should demonstrate some of my hard-earned knowledge on you... Still," Dark Id threw the gasping fey to the ground, "seeing as how you were kind enough to clean my threads, I'll let you live. This time." Dark Id's eyes narrowed. "But next time, you're going first."
The Nameless One smirked. "I do hope this teaches you a lesson, Corran. Next time, ask before you plunge a dagger into someone's heart. It is a diplomatic skill known as tact, and I'll grant you that you aren't the first of Oberon's Children to need a lesson in this area."
Corran looked hurt, and the guilty look returned to the face of the Sidhe who was without a name. "And I apologize, Corran. I judged you too swiftly, and my punishment was also premature. I did not give you the credit you were due, and very nearly cost the Guardian of Darkness his life as a result."
"Sure, appologize to him," Dark Id muttered in annoyance. "He's not the one who died and was tortured by Hades himself."
"Um, sorry," Corran and the Nameless One responded hastily.
"I don't suppose you any iron on you? That would go a long way towards a real apology," Dark Id said. The incredulous looks he received were hardly a surprise. "Too much to hope for, I suppose," Dark Id sighed. "Let's get out of here."
"Wait!" Broadway said. "What about that iron prison Tom freed you from? Isn't there iron there?"
"No longer," the Nameless One answered. "After we escaped, we arranged to have a village of mortals strip it, so that it could not be used to trap us again."
"Like Id said," Pendragoness frowned. "Too much to hope for."
"Please," Corran said. "If we are ever able to properly atone for our shabby treatment of you, we will."
"You can start by showing us out," Pendragoness said bluntly.
"Indeed I shall," called another voice. Malum entered the room with Tom, MacBeth, and Satsana in tow. "Please follow me." He turned and headed back the way he had come. The six from Avalon followed.
"Farewell, Guardian Tom!" the two fey called. Tom waved back.
Pendragoness squeezed Broadway's arm. "What was that about Tom freeing them from an iron prison?"
"Wait'll we get to the skiff. Then I'll tell you all about what we've been doing," Broadway promised.
By the time Broadway had finished describing the magnificent feast (something that made even Dark Id wish they had tallied a while longer among the Sidhe), the skiff had emerged from the mists to deposit the travellers on the sandy shores of a river. The landscape, covered by wisps of a low mist, looked bleak and gloomy under the bright illumination of a full moon. Scattered pine trees dotted the landscape in places, while in the distance, rough, craggy mountains loomed like vultures over their prey. As if to complete the effect, somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.
"Well," Dark Id snorted. "I'd say it's not hard to tell where we are."
"Transylvania," Broadway nodded in agreement.
"You should fit right in, milad," MacBeth chuckled, clapping Dark Id's shoulder.
"It is kind of...nice," Dark Id agreed.
"Look!" Tom cried, pointing. In the area where he pointed, the mists were gathering, taking the shape of a tall, handsome young man, no more than a few years older than Tom. He was dressed in much the same style as Dark Id, but in colors even darker than Id's black and purple. "Ah, my scrying was correct," he hissed, revealing that his canines were long and pointed.
"And I'd say that it's not hard to tell what that is," Dark Id remarked.
"A vampire," Pendragoness responded.
The man seemed to ignore the comments. "You," he said, indicating Pen and Broadway, "You are gargoyles, are you not?" Without waiting for their answer, he added, "I have read of your kind."
"Who are you?" MacBeth asked.
The vampire bowed and grinned toothily. "I...am Nephron," he answered.
"Say, isn't that the basic functional unit of the kidney?" Dark Id asked.
"Shut up!" Nephron responded defensively, and with more than a little irritation. He straightened. "I have plans for the villiage of Ayluvtuski, and I bear this warning. I will not tolerate your interference when I exact my revenge against those who cast me out. According to the divining spells I have cast, interference is something you are likely to cause. So, I give you these options. Leave now, join me, or face my wrath. What'll it be?"
"Hey, wait just a minute-" Pendragoness started to protest.
"Wrath it is," Nephron said. "Strike, my dark minions! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" With that, Nephron wrapped his cloak around himself and transformed into a bat. He flapped off into the night.
"Um, I guess he was in a hurry," Pendragoness noted.
"Did he say dark minions?" MacBeth asked.
The group suddenly became aware of annoying and high-pitched squeaking. Then they appeared. Hobbling across the grassy ground, were hundreds of the vilest creatures any of the group, including Satsana, had ever seen. At first glance, they appeared to be rabbits, but an unwelcome second glace revealed them to be covered with some sort of hideous slime, as if each was partially digested. Every now and then, one would open the fanged orifice that served as its mouth and expectorate more of the vile slime coating themselves.
"Oh, my," said Satsana. "Vomit-bunnies."
"Vomit bunnies?" Broadway asked incredulously. He looked confused.
"Oh, this is too much," Pen said and tried not to smile, though a hoard of these-- things were bearing down on them.
Satsana gave the disgusting creatures a cool disdain look. "A slight problem, my friends, but I'll take care of that."
Before anyone could say anything, she summoned an energy blast and struck the V-bunnies. Immediately, there were heaps of smouldering, slimy carcasses.
Satsana blew on her somewhat smoking palms. "That was easy enough."
"Alittle too easy..." Tom muttered, clenching one fist over his sword hilt.
MacBeth scowled darkly at Satsana. He was sick and tired of her half-answers to the truth he wanted, and he was sure this woman form was not her true one!
"How could ye do that? Who are you??" MacBeth demanded, then grabbed the Fey-in-disguise by her arms, Satsana struggled against him, then finally wrenched free.
"I can't TELL YOU!" Satsana growled.
"Why? Why can't you tell me? Why do you work Dark Id like a slave?? What do you do that exhausts mi ward to the point he canna walk??" MacBeth demanded hotly.
"I've told you before in Scotland, I CAN'T TELL YOU! THE FUTURE, YOU IMBECILE!" Satsana, normally reserved and cool in her emotions, began to yell at the Scotsman.
In the background, the elders bickered, while Oberon's Honor and Wrath watched Broadway and Tom circle the bodies, ever the curious ones.
"Well, I see you're pregnant as ever," Dark Id commented.
Pendragoness felt the bulge within her with one hand. It never ceased to amaze her that the bulge was a new life and even more that it was a special life, destined for glory.
"Yes," she said with pride.
"Just one thing," Dark Id wagged a finger at his friend, " Don't ever do that to me again!"
"I don't intend to," Pen scowled. It had scared her when she had awakened as Laura, and her stomach was flat, and not swelled. It was something she would not go through a second time. It scared her to think where the child would go while she was a human.
"Broadway, come away from there," Pen called to her mate. The Gargoyle was still examining the bunny carcasses.
"Ew, sick," he commented. Tom scrunched his nose at the stenches and agreed."You said it, Broadway."
"Broadway, leave those---things alone," Pen called again. Dark Id jerked up and got a VERY bad feeling.
"Get over here, you fool!" he snapped.
"But there--" was all Broadway could say. Satsana and MacBeth's spat was interrupted by what happened next.
The V-bunny carcass, the one he had been circling around, rose up on it's rotting haunches and leapt at Broadway. He yelled in fright and knocked Tom out of the way.
The dead V-bunny grabbed Broadway by the ankles and knocked him onto his back and straddled him.
"Broadway!" Pen screamed. Dark Id caught her around her large waist when she would've leapt her hand at the creature.
"Let me Go!" Pen screamed in defiance and tried to fight against Dark Id. Id was forced to capture her with a better restraint as she fought harder.
"It'll kill you!" he grunted.
Broadway grabbed the V-bunny by it's gaping jaws and tried to force it back as it tried to maul him. The creature began to froth slime at it's mouth and Broadway yelled in pain, taking his hands back. The slime was actually *burning* into his palms.
Tom, the wind knocked out of him from Broadway's blow, was trying to drag himself away on his hands and knees, whimpering. A nice big splotch of slime splattered onto the back of his right leg and he shrieked in pain.
"Damn it, Id, let me go!' Pen hissed, struggling against her captor. She finally managed to kick Id in a very unnecessary place, and broke free. Dark Id sank to his knees, cursing.
Taking his talons away from the creature was what it needed and it began to gnaw on Broadway's face. Broadway's screams were terrible.
Taking her magical sword between her hands, the pregnant Gargoyle sliced the V-bunny. It hissed back in retaliation and dissolved--so did all the other bunny bodies to MacBeth's relief.
"Oh my god, Broadway," Pen fell clumsily next to her mate. He was moaning in a very pathetic way. His face was covered with slime and was undefinable.
Pen tore the hem of her tunic and began wiping his face. "Tom! Are you ok?" she asked, continuing her task.
Tom rolled onto his side, gasping. "I don't think I can walk," he said.
Satsana went to aid the teenager and MacBeth caught Id by the shoulders.
"Id! Can't you heal him??" Pendragoness demanded of her friend. Oberon's Wrath gave her a dark look. "I'll try, but I'm not feeling the best right now."
"I'm SORRY ok? I shouldn't have kicked you. Now will you help him?" Pen asked.
Dark Id tried to compose himself and channeled purple energy into the writhing mass of Gargoyle. His face was healed, though scarred by burn marks. But there was another problem at hand.
"Can't you help his eyes??" Pen demanded, cradling her mate's head. Broadway's eyes were vacant, they looked like deep cataracts.
"Oh, lad," MacBeth said when he saw them.
"Why can't I see? What's wrong with my eyes? Pen? Where are you, Pen? Why can't I see you?" tears poured from the corners of Broadway's blank eyes.
Pendragoness brushed a talon over his cheek and kissed his eyeridge. "I'm here, Broadway. Everything will be alright."
Broadway groped blindly for his mate.
"What are we gonna do?" Tom asked. Satsana helped him sit, and cast the question at MacBeth with her eyes.
Heinous laughter met their ears, rounded and pointed. Sardonic, amused laughter.
"Oh, please," Nephron's voice echoed around the group. "Did you burn yourselves? Oh ho ho, there is only one thing that can cure your wounds and I have it!"
The voice faded into the night. MacBeth whirled on Satsana. "Secretive or no, it is clear that you are either a powerful sorcerer, or one of Oberon's Children! Is there nothing ye can do for the lad?"
Satsana shook her head. "Oberon himself would not be able to heal him completely. The venomous slime of the V-Bunny has no known cure. Even were I to transform him to another shape, he would remain blinded and scarred in that form. That this Nephron claims to possess a cure for the poison comes as a surprise to me."
"Well, it seems obvious that our dear friend Nephron has elected to be less than hospitable." Dark Id cracked his knuckles, an action he had never been able to accomplish as Aaron, but one that seemed to come naturally to his more sinister half. "I elect that we return the favor. Just give me a sliver spoon, a cheese grater, and about five minutes alone with our bloodsucking friend, and I can guarantee some results!"
Tom looked a bit ill, as he thought about the possibilities. "You can get him to tell you about the cure?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Dark Id shrugged. "The important thing is that it'll make me feel a whole lot better."
"Thanks a lot, Id," Broadway said.
"We'll worry about torture later," MacBeth scowled. "We should find this village he hates, this Ayluvtuski. Perhaps they know where we can find this vampire. It is pointless to plan vengeance when we do not even know where our adversary dwells." MacBeth sighed. "In any case, I learned not long ago how pointless vengeance is in the first place."
Dark Id barked a short laugh. "Ha! That's a lesson I'll be a long time in learning, old man."
"With you, I don't doubt it," MacBeth replied.
The six travelers stepped gingerly over the remaining charred V-Bunnies (none of which, fortunately, rose to attack them) Pendragoness and Satsana gently guiding the blinded Broadway to safety, and MacBeth supporting a struggling Tom, whose leg had been partially healed by Dark Id. Once clear, they began following the river in a direction that they hoped would take them to the village Nephron had mentioned. Hours later, as the sun began to rise, the village came into view.
Broadway and Pendragoness hardened into stone under the first rays of a sun obscured by the ominous clouds that never seemed to leave the skies. The landscape looked only slightly less bleak by daylight than it had by the light of the full moon. Dark Id stretched and settled down in the sizable patch of shade cast by Broadway's stone form. "Well, you guys can run on ahead. I've got a serious day of guard duty ahead of me."
"I'll keep you company, sorcerer," smiled Satsana. "After all, Nephron and his slimy minions are creatures of the night, much like gargoyles. I would hate for you to have to be bored. Now, what could I possibly find to occupy your time...?"
Dark Id grimaced, and MacBeth lifted his eyes to the heavens in resignation. "It would seem that ye will nae be swayed from yuir chosen task," MacBeth sighed. "Very well, Tom and I will visit the town."
"Enjoy yuir guard duty," Tom smirked at Dark Id, who glared daggers at him in return. Tom then grimaced, as a new bolt of pain shot through his leg. Hopefully, someone in the town would have some idea how these wounds could be healed.
MacBeth and Tom walked onwards, as the two behind them vanished in a puff of flame. Before they had gone even a few steps further, the air lit once more, signaling their return. Without even bothering to turn, Tom recognized the subsequent "thump" as the sound of an exhausted sorcerer collapsing to the ground.
When the two reached the town, there was some kind of early-morning rally going on. A good chunk of the town's population was gathered around a wooden stand, and on this stand stood a rather unassuming young man. He was wearing leather armor and a whip, but in other regards did not appear particularly noteworthy. The crowd, however, seemed to be paying attention, at least. Possibly because it was so difficult to make out what the man was saying.
"Yieu must stand up tieu zees horribul creehcaur," he screamed.
MacBeth stared, slack-jawed. "Good God, his French accent is even worse than Demona's! I didn't think that was possible!"
Tom flicked a glance at him, before turning his gaze back to the stage. The man was still babbling, and Tom needed every ounce of attention he could spare to decipher what he was saying through the accent. "Hieu weel fahlow moi on zees holee quest?"
The crowd started muttering. One voice called out, "Why should we? We kicked that vampire out years ago, and he hasn't bothered us since!"
"Yeah!" another cried. "If we attack it now, it'll have a reason to attack us in return! There's only a hundred and forty-two of us, and one of him!"
"Yieu fieuls!!!" the man raved. "Eet ees a creechaur of dahrkness! Eet will kill yieu all if yieu dieu not strike fehrst!"
It was no use. The speaker appeared to the crowd to be little more than a raving fanatic (which he was), and was not particularly charismatic to begin with, and so failed to hold their attention. In spite of a great deal of further cajoling (which was rendered inert at least as much by its incomprehensibility as by the lack of interest shown by the crowd), the townsfolk slowly began to disperse.
MacBeth touched Tom's shoulder to gain his attention, and the two of them made their way through the crowd. The speaker seemed to have lost some of his rage, and was now sitting dejectedly on the platform. "Excuse me," MacBeth said. "Who are you?"
Seeing that someone was actually looking at him again, the man hastily stood and assumed an arrogant posture. "I am Clerveu, Vampire Flayer!" he announced. "Fehmed thrieuout zee land fohr my prowess and my terribul achsent!"
"I don't doubt it," muttered MacBeth.
Clerveu apparently didn't hear him. "I have flayed mohr zan zehrty-zhree vampires een onlee zeex yeahrs!"
"Then why can ye nae kill this one by yuirself?" asked Tom after taking a moment to replay that sentence in his mind.
The vampire-flayer seemed to sag. "Eet ees not how I dieu eet," he replied. "Fehrst, I gathair a numbair of followairs, and zhen I leed zhem aganst zee vampire. Zhen, while zee vampire reeps zhem into leetle pieces, I come frohm beehind and heet eet weez a woodan stake. Zhen I flay eet."
"That does nae seem very honorable," Tom noted.
Clerveu nodded. "But eet eez zee onlee way I know," he answered.
"Do you know where the vampire lives?" asked MacBeth.
"Of couhrse," Clerveu answered, a hopeful look in his eye.
"Then ye have six followers," MacBeth said bluntly. "But don't count on us being ripped to shreds."
"Zhat ees, of couhres, opsheenal," Clerveu answered eagerly.
Tom grabbed MacBeth's shoulder and hastily whispered, "Are ye sure we should take this fellow? He seems of a most ill character."
"Do ye know anyone else who would be willing to take us tae the vampire, speak now. Ye heard the villagers. They believe that to attack Nephron would be foolish, and I doubt the words of two strangers are going tae change their minds." MacBeth extended a hand to the vampire flayer. "Welcome aboard, lad," he said. "Now, do ye know of an inn where we can rest for the day? It has been a long night."
Clerveu nodded. "Thar ees vone vright dees flay." MacBeth and Tom followed him, as the townspeople gave them weird looks. Tom groaned and collapsed against MacBeth's side. The immortal warrior caught the teenager and straightened him up.
"Hup, there ya go. Hold out there, me lad," MacBeth said, putting a strong arm around Tom's waist and helping him to walk along. To a degree. Tom was on MacBeth's right, so his left leg walked in tune with MacBeth's right, as Tom's right leg trailed along by the tip of his shoe. Tom groaned in pain.
"That slime burned right through me leggings," Tom said, wincing.
"We'll check it out at the inn, lad," MacBeth promised.
"Thar ees thee inne," Clerveu said. He tried to lodge them a room, but the innkeeper, an old stooping man with a thick cascading white beard, couldn't understand a word he said. So MacBeth spoke up, his dialect much easier to understand.
"This way," the innkeeper gestured and led the 3 up the stairs and to a room. It was furnished with 2 beds, a table, a dresser and a fireplace. The sunlight drifted in through the open window.
"You sayd that youu had other compeenions?" Clerveu inquired. MacBeth eased Tom onto a bed and produced his dagger, tearing Tom's legging from the ankle to the knee.
"Yes, we will meet them at sunset," MacBeth said, taking a soaked rag from the innkeeper and wiping the slime from Tom's leg. He hissed in pain.
"You know, you could search for Nephron during the day and destroy him easier," Tom suggested. Clerveu smacked his forehead.
"Now, vhy dideent't I tink oof that?" he wondered.
Clerveu stayed up, as Tom and MacBeth slept on the beds. Tom dreamed of Princess Katherine, and MacBeth dreamed haunting dreams of Gruoch and Demona.
Tom awoke as the sun began it's descent, wondering why Katherine plagued his mind. Was it because he missed her? What was happening to him lately, anyway? Tom would get these funny feelings in an embarrassingly low place whenever he thought of the Princess. Why did it bother him so much that only the Magus was there on Avalon with her throughout the day?
MacBeth jerked himself awake, shaking his grey head. His mind seemed to want to let the whole thing between him and Demona slide, but his body thought differently of that. However, guilty memories of Gruoch made him shameful to consider his feelings for Demona, past or present.
Clerveu was watching the ever setting sun. "Shoold vee now ventoore out too gathoo youu freends?"
"Yes, let us be off," MacBeth shook his head hard and the 3 set off to the outskirts of Ayluvtuski.
Once Satsana had returned herself and Dark Id back to the sleeping forms of Broadway and Pendragoness, the sorcerer fell onto his face in exhaustion.
"Leave me alone," Dark Id muttered, curling up by Pen's feet. Satsana merely raised her eyebrow at him, then sat down to watch the sun.
Dark Id slept for most of the day and awoke as MacBeth, Tom and Clerveu arrived.
"This is Clerveu, a vampire hunter," MacBeth introduced the Frenchman.
Clerveu scoffed at the Gargoyle statues. "Ach, yee've been watcheeng statuus all dee?"
Dark Id gave MacBeth a slow delicious grin. This guy was in for a stroke.
The sun set and Clerveu gaped as the stone splintered and broke away.
Broadway rubbed his blank eyes and groped around him. Pendragoness caught his wrists in her hands. "I am here, my love," she said, bringing his hand to her lips. She sat him down to a sitting position. Broadway buried his face in her hair, smelling her scent. It was his only relief.
"By all theet ees holee!" Clerveu gasped and reached for his whip, his eyes shifting from this sincere act of love to the bulge of Pen's stomach. "And theet deemon ees weeth child too, no douebt!"
A strong hand clamped down on his wrist. MacBeth scowled darkly at the Frenchman.
"The female is my own ward, and her child is very important. And they are my companions, like it or nae, they be part o' the deal. Understand?" MacBeth asked.
Clerveu gave a surprised stare. "Ooof coursee, Mac-Beeth."
Pen cleared her throat. "MacBeth, my guardian."
"Yes, my ward?" MacBeth asked.
"If you're going to track down Nephron, I must say that Broadway is staying here. He can't go to battle in his condition." Pen said.
"I was about to suggest that. Nor can ye, Pen, not in the month you're in. Ye both stay here and we'll be back for ye," MacBeth said.
Clerveu gave a secret glare at the Gargoyles. Not only were these creatures demons, but they were going to be invalids!
"T'would bee fer zee beest," he said curtly.
"I will stay here and watch over them," Pen was surprised to hear this from Satsana.
"Very well," MacBeth said. "Tom, can ye walk at all?"
Tom grimaced and gestured to his burnt leg. "Nae, MacBeth."
Satsana shook her head. "As I said, V-Bunny wounds are impossible to heal."
"Not according ta Nephron," said MacBeth, "Still, ye'd best stay as well, lad."
"Let's bee off!" Clerveu said excitedly. He, MacBeth, and Dark Id left to track down Nephron.
At the village inn, the old bearded innkeeper slumped over in pain. His granddaughter Leia rushed forward to aid him.
"Grandfather, what is it?" she gasped.
The innkeeper shook his white head. "The- the Grimorum!"
Nephron hissed as he channeled gigathaum after gigathaum of raw blue magical force into the book before him. He was forced to close his slitted eyes and turn his head as the book glowed more and more brightly. Fortunately, the illumination was mere magical energy and not sunlight, the latter of which would have surely killed him. After a moment, he gave up. It was no use.
Nephron took his hands off of the book, hands which were blackened and peeling, but already healing. The book itself was untouched; the only sign of its recent ordeal was the fact that the simple lock that sealed it shut was glowing red. But even that did not last, as the lock dimmed, soon returning to its usual black color.
Nephron grimaced. It would seem that he would have no choice. The lock sealing the Grimorum Arcanorum could not be forced open by magical means. The old man had seen to that by foolishly binding his lifeforce to the simple iron. But the old man was even more a fool if he thought that that would be sufficient to prevent Nephron's vengeance. The lock could not be opened, but Nephron knew that he possessed magic enough to destroy it--a procedure that would surely cost the old man his life. Nephron had tried to avoid this course, out of respect for the friendship he and the old man had once shared. But the old man was sadly mistaken if he thought that their friendship would be enough to prevent Nephron from taking his life to achieve his ends.
A series of vile splutting noises drew Nephron's attention. He cocked his head to gaze upon the hideous creature that had entered the room. "Yes, what is it?" he said, eyes narrowing.
"Bleahbleah, sqeeeeek, *hork* squeeek squeek bleah *haulgh slurpslurp* sqeeeeeeeek!" the Vomit-Bunny replied, even as it wallowed in its own puke.
"Yes, well-" Nephron began.
"Squeeeeksqueeek *hooooork ackack* Bleah! Bleeeeeaaaaah!!!"
"But-"
"Bleah *slurp squidgesquidge* squeek bleah-"
"SILENCE!" Nephron commanded chillingly. "You do realize that you cannot speak?" Nephron asked icily. The V-Bunny stopped short and sheepishly tried to avoid Nephron's gaze. "Good. Now, I have only two uses for you and your ilk, as guardians of my castle and as my army of darkness. As my creations, you have no choice but to obey me. As I have not yet ordered your attack on Ayluvtuski your presence here suggests to me one of two things. Either you decided to interrupt my work for your own personal amusement, which would bode very ill for you indeed," the V-Bunny shook it's head frantically, causing bile and bits of partially digested raw meat to spray in all directions, "Or there is an intruder." The V-Bunny nodded hastily. Nephron smirked cruelly. "In that case, I still fail to see why you needed to bring this to my attention. Go. Deal with the intruder. And do not disturb me again unless death himself is at our gates."
The V-Bunny was practically tripping over itself in its haste to leave, skidding and sliding on the putrid semi-liquid it had dragged in with itself. Nephron sighed and turned back to the book. It seemed to mock him, daring him to remember the days long past when he was human, rather than the creature of the night he had become.
There had always been a vampire at Castle Ayluvtuski, for as long as anyone in the nearby village of Ayluvtuski could remember. Nephron himself had heard the stories, and believed them, but no one in the village was particularly worried. The vampire never came to the village, and the few villagers who were foolish enough to journey to the castle never returned, so the wiser villagers adopted a policy of ignoring the vampire, hoping that it would leave them alone. Many claimed that it was a naive policy, but those that did inevitably journeyed to the castle and never returned, so the remaining villagers were never swayed by their arguments.
Nephron had been a young man, one of two apprentices tutored by the town's resident magician. The magician himself was rather unremarkable, but he did know magic, and what magic he knew was enhanced by the Grimorum Arcanorum, a mystical book of magic that he claimed to have found in a dusty corner of a library in France. Nephron and his fellow apprentice, Vila, had been the only two lads in the village to show any aptitude for magic, and the magician had been happy to instruct them.
Then, one night, for no apparent reason, the vampire of Castle Ayluvtuski descended upon the village. Arrogantly, he strode through the village. Most of the villagers who beheld him fled in panic, and those few that challenged his presence he swatted aside like flies. Eventually, he reached the home of the magician.
Nephron had no idea why the vampire had chosen him of all the villagers. He still did not. Nevertheless, it was he that the vampire had come for. The magician tried to stop the vampire, using the Grimorum to cast a spell of fire. The flames charred the creature of darkness, but were unable to destroy him. In retaliation, the vampire drained the aged magician dry of blood and left him dead on the floor. Vila and Nephron, who had been hiding, attacked the vampire in a rage. Vila was thrown to the side by the powerful creature, but Nephron wasn't so lucky. Nephron, the creature took home with him.
Nephron spent days imprisoned in the vampire's home. Every day, the vampire would drain him almost completely of blood, and then force Nephron to drink the vampire's blood to replentish his own. It wasn't until Nephron's teeth grew points that he realized that the vampire was making him into a vampire as well. By then, it was far too late to do anything about it. The transformation was nearly complete.
The vampire who held him would not speak to him. He said not a word over the many days that he worked to transform the young man. But once the transformation was complete, once Nephron stood before him as much a vampire as he himself was, then he finally answered the question foremost on Nephron's mind. Why? Why was he doing this to him?
Because he was lonely. The vampire had lived alone for hundreds of years--the few people who dared to come to the castle never came to talk, always to try to destroy him. He had little alternative but to kill or be killed, but Nephron could tell by the glint in the vampire's eye that he had enjoyed it. This was not a nice individual, however lonely he was. And Nephron did not approve of the method he chose for selecting a "friend" from among the villagers.
So Nephron attacked the ancient vampire. The vampire had apparently not expected the attack (what he had been expecting was unclear; he would have had to have been daft to believe that Nephron would honestly want to be his companion after what he'd put him through), and Nephron tore him into small pieces with his new vampire strength. This was not enough to kill him, of course, but it did incapacitate him long enough for Nephron to escape. He returned to the village.
Vila was understandably unsettled to discover what had happened to his friend, but welcomed him nonetheless. Sadly, the rest of the village was less sympathetic. Almost to a one, they demanded that he leave. Now that he was a vampire, the villagers wanted nothing to do with him. Nephron did leave, hurt and bitter. But Vila promised to search the Grimorum to see if he could find a cure for vampirism within its pages.
Years passed, with Nephron making periodic attempts to return to the village, to see if they would be willing to let him return. The answer was always a stubborn "No". In his frustration, he challenged and defeated the original vampire, who had by then regenerated. He dragged the fellow to the village, and killed him permanently with a wooden stake through the heart, in the hopes that the villagers would finally see reason, finally see that he was not a monster, as the previous vampire had been. It was not enough. Not long after that, Vila sadly informed Nephron that he could find no cure. Nephron's bitterness reached new heights, and he vowed then and there to make Ayluvtuski pay for abandoning him. He demanded that Vila hand the Grimorum over to him. Nephron had spent several years traveling the countryside, studying magic here and there and building up his magical skills. But he needed the Grimorum for what he had planned for the village. Vila was understandably reluctant, and had anticipated Nephron growing sense of vengeance. As much as he sympathized with him, he was unwilling to let Nephron destroy the village. So, long before Nephron demanded the book, he had locked it with an iron lock, one magically locked with his own life force. Nephron took the book anyway, certain that he would be able to remove the lock eventually.
The years passed. Nephron refused to sup upon the blood of humans, one of the few traits he shared with the previous vampire. But where his predecessor had preyed upon wolves, Nephron sucked the lifefluid from rabbits. His draining had a peculiar effect on the creatures. Rather than just dying, as had the wolves, they became horrible, twisted, vomit-covered zombie rabbits willing to obey his every whim. At first repelled by the vile monsters, Nephron eventually decided to use them. Calling the creatures Vomit-Bunnies, he directed them to protect his castle night and day. The V-Bunnies, like himself, could not stand direct sunlight. But unlike himself, they were not forced to sleep during the day, remaining quite able to strike from the shadows. And so, Nephron's putrescent army grew.
In the village, Vila grew older and abandoned his magical career in favor of one as an innkeeper. Meanwhile, Nephron searched far and wide for a way to open the Grimorum Arcanorum without killing the one person in the village who had never abandoned him.
Now, Nephron was tired of waiting. Those who had shunned him were old, and Nephron wanted them to taste his vengeance before they all died without his help. With a final silent farewell to his aged friend, Nephron rolled up his sleeves and prepared to cast the spell to break the lock. Soon, the spell he required would be his--and the village would rue the day they had betrayed him.
Clerveu stared up at Nephron's domain. "Hee ees een there."
"Noooo kidding," Dark Id said.
"Watch yuirselves, lads, he might have more of' em Vomit Bunnies aboot th' place," MacBeth advised, reaching to his side. Just his luck, no sword.
"Need this?" Id asked, and reached into his pocket-universe.
With a shing!, he produced a sword from the Atlantis collection into his dark hand and handed it to the staring MacBeth.
"Onward, noow, freends!" Clerveu said, brandishing his whip and the 3 stalked forward. However, Dark Id was thinking of his other companions, and wondering if the Grimorum really could cure the damage the V-bunnies had done to Broadway and the Guardian.
Back at the outskirts of Ayluvtuski, Tom lay back on his back, head arched at the sky, hissing in pain. "Ah," he moaned. The slime was burning through the make-shift bandage MacBeth had placed on his shin.
"Oh, Tom," Pen said, laying Broadway back and going to the Guardian," I hope your leg will be healed when we get the Grimorum." She protectively smoothed his hair off his forehead. Acting like a mother, though she was almost slightly older in human years.
Tom clenched her talonned hands.
"And you, Broadway, hasn't the day's sleep healed your sight?" Satsana asked. For a change, she sounded very sincere.
Broadway pawed at the scrap of tunic Pen tied over his eyes. "You tell me, how bad does it look?"
Pendragoness patted Tom and carefully untied the cloth. She bit her lip to keep from making any horrible sound and Satsana raised a thin eyebrow. The flesh around Broadway's eyeridge was slimed and scorched, blending wonderfully with the burn scars on his face. Blank unseeing eyes turned at Pendragoness.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Broadway asked.
"Broadway, it's not all lost," Pen said, tying the cloth back around his eyes.
"Maybe MacBeth and Id will get the cure, you can be healed!"
Tears coursed under the cloth. Pen felt a rising lump in her throat. She didn't think he could be able to cry in his state of condition. But cry he did.
Broadway reached for his mate and Pen moved to his outstretched arms. The Father of the Child of Destiny sobbed loudly for his lost sight.
"What--what if I'll never be able to see our baby? What if I'll never see the babe Oberon wants so desperately? He's got to be important if Oberon wants him so--badly!" Broadway cried. Pendragoness caressed one hand against the back of his bald head.
"Ssh," she soothed.
Young Leia Morgana, granddaughter of Vila the innkeeper, strode through the woods with determination. Her grandfather had not given her permission to leave on this particular mission, but he had been in no condition to stop her, either. She knew little about Nephron, only that he had once been a friend of her beloved grandfather's, and that he was a vampire who hated her village, and with good cause. But that did not excuse him from hurting her grandfather. One way or another, she was going to stop the vampire, and the Silver Sword would aid her in her task.
MacBeth was, of course, absolutely right. Over the decades, Nephron had created thousands of V-Bunnies to guard his castle, and these creatures were ready and willing to defend Nephron's castle against invaders. Like a slimy river, the disgusting monsters slurped out of every nook and cranny, noxious slime oozing from their mouths. Fortunately, they did not catch their victims unaware.
Side by side, MacBeth and Clerveu held the goopy assault at bay with flashing sword and cracking whip. Clerveu, in spite of the fact that he came across as a pathetic wimp of a vampire hunter, actually seemed to know what he was doing when it came to his weapon of choice. The long, leather whip was tipped by a short serrated metal edge which cut through the tepid flesh of the Vomit-Bunnies like, well...like an edged whip cutting though Vomit-Bunny flesh. It went wholly without saying that MacBeth's sword cut through the creatures' ranks much like an iron sword cutting through ranks of undead bunnies.
Dark Id was not assisting MacBeth and Clerveu in their gruesome task of hewing the grotesque attackers to pieces. He was instead engaging in a task no less important: Making sure the things stayed down once they were hewn. Dark Id used his purple magic to char the dismembered corpses into a greasy sort of black charcoal, a state he was reasonably certain the things wouldn't be able to recover from.
"Thar eez so mahnee of them!" Clerveu cried miserably as he sliced another chunk out of the attacking force. "Ah knoo weh should have fahond sahm villagairs to send een fehrst!" Indeed, for every V-Bunny he had just slaughtered, another three slurped forth to do battle. Soon, Dark Id was forced to forsake his barbequing in favor of using his sword to help the other two fight. Unfortunately this did little to improve matters, as now the V-Bunnies that weren't quite dead had a chance to continue fighting.
"Augh! Blast!" shouted MacBeth as a lucky V-Bunny splattered slime across his sword arm. He dropped back behind Clerveu and Dark Id, wincing as the noxious vomit ate away at his skin. He quickly tore off a piece of his tunic and used that to wipe away what he could, but it was clear that he was out of the fight.
"Um, this is not good," noted Dark Id, as the three of them were slowly forced to back away from the oncoming horde. "I really wouldn't mind some help, right about now."
"'Scuse me, mister," a high-pitched voice called out as a short object brushed past the struggling dark sorcerer.
"Wha-?" Dark Id began. But his voice trailed off as he witnessed a silver flash cut through the darkness, every V-Bunny it touched bursting into flames. The V-Bunny victims didn't flame long, however, each crumbling into ash mere moments after igniting.
"'Bye, guys! I gotta go see Nephron," the voice called as it's owner vanished around a corner.
Dark Id, Clerveu, MacBeth, and the few remaining V-Bunnies gazed after the newcomer with wide eyes and slack jaws. "Please tell me that you just saw a ten-year-old girl with an eight-foot sword overwhelm nearly all our opposition." At that moment, the remaining sixty or so V-Bunnies fainted and flopped over. "ALL our opposition."
"I deed," answered Clerveu faintly. "I deed not know zhat zhey mayhd leathair dresses zhat smalle."
Dark Id shook his head, clearing it of the shocked haze he had been feeling. "Whoever she is, I think we really should find Nephron before Xena Junior there chops him into pieces too small to tell us how to cure V-Bunny wounds!"
Clerveu and MacBeth (who now had a very personal interest in finding a cure) nodded their agreement, and the three of them dashed off along the path that the diminutive swordswoman had carved through the V-Bunnies.
Nephron was rapidly striking an eggplant of moderate size with an angry chicken (the sixth step in a ritual that Nephron was beginning to suspect was a practical joke, rather than a spell for shattering a lifelock) when a ten-year-old girl burst into his workroom and thwacked off his right arm with an eight-foot sliver sword. "Hey!" Nephron protested.
"Stop hurting grandfather!" Leia bawled out, waving a Silver Sword nearly twice as long as she was tall in a menacing manner.
Nephron gave her an irritated look. "You know, you'd probably have more diplomatic success if you made your demands BEFORE you chop off people's arms. It's called 'tact'." The vampire sighed in disgust. "Now look. You've made me lose my chicken." The battered fowl in question had, of course, taken advantage of its unexpected liberation to flop out the window. "Besides, you should be careful with that thing. It's silver. I might have burst into flames if you weren't careful." Nephron bent down to pick up his missing limb.
Leia looked rather sheepish. "Actually, I was kinda trying to make you burst into flames. I'm not very good at this." Then her gaze hardened again. "But I'm still not gonna let you hurt Grandpa Vila!"
Nephron was so surprised that he dropped the arm. "You're Vila's granddaughter? Leia? Where on earth did you find a leather dress your size? And why do you want to kill me?" He bent over in another attempt to retrieve his lost arm.
To add to the confusion, the three other vampire hunters made an appearance. "Aha! Nowh I weel flay yieu, yieu fiende!"
Nephron dropped his arm again. "Clerveu?"
Clerveu was startled. "Ah, yieu have haird ov mee? I mean, ov courhse yieu have haird of Clerveu, zee greate Clerveu, vampire flayer!"
"No, Clerveu, don't you recognize me? I'm your Uncle Neffie!"
"Uncle Neffie?" Clerveu's eyes looked ready to pop out of his head. "UNCLE NEFFIE? Ees eet really yieu?"
"I haven't seen you in years! When did you become a vampire flayer?"
"Onlee a fiew yeahrs agoe. When deed you become a vampire?"
"I've been a vampire since before you were born, Clerveu!"
"Sacre bleu!" Clerveu shouted, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Pehrhaps I was wrong tieu theenk zhat all vampires whar evil. Why, I weel geev upe vampire flaying zhees vehry momhent and begeen a life dedicated to righteeng zee wrongs I have done!"
Dark Id blinked, cleared out an ear with one finger, and then blinked again. "Was that really as corny as it sounded, or did I mishear?"
"I'm afraid it was, lad," MacBeth answered, slightly horrified.
Nephron tried to pick up his arm, but dropped it again when he found the pointed end of an eight foot silver blade leveled at his chest. "Excuse me," Leia said calmly, "but I think that this sword is big enough to warrant paying at least SOME attention to me."
"Um, sorry?" Nephron offered.
"Hey, cool!" Dark Id suddenly exclaimed. "A Grimorum Arcanorum! I've always wanted one of these!" Dark Id grabbed the book and dropped it into a pocket dimension.
"Hey, I need that to wreak terrible vengeance on the people of Ayluvtuski!" Nephron protested.
Clerveu looked confused. "Whaht? Zhat sounds evil!"
"Well, I became a little evil after my former neighbors and relatives shunned me," Nephron said sheepishly.
"Whaht wahr yieu goeeng tieu dieu weeth zhem?"
"Within the Grimorum Arcanorum is a spell so terrible, so insidious, that only it was capable of fulfilling my dire vengeance," Nephron began ominously. "A love spell. I was going to cast it on the whole village, and then parade my Vomit-Bunny legions down the streets. Everyone in the village would have fallen in love with a V-Bunny! Bwahahahaha!!!"
He paused, waiting for a response. "That's all?" said MacBeth. "No corpses filling the streets, or anything like that?"
"A love spell?!" asked Dark Id, lost in his own little dream world, "COOL!!!" MacBeth glanced at him, rather worried.
"Yes, that's all," Nephron answered MacBeth. "I mean, it really is horrible. Really! I mean, just look how disgusting V-Bunnies are!"
"Well, I suppose," MacBeth said doubtfully.
"DO I HAVE TO KILL EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM TO KEEP YOUR ATTENTION!?!?!" Leia shrieked. Everyone immediately fell silent. "Good. Now, Nephron, you want your vengeance 'cause no one wants you in town, right?" Nephron nodded. "How 'bout if people let you back. Wouldja stop hurting Grandfather?"
"Why would they want me back?" Nephron asked bitterly.
"'Cause if they don't, I'll poke holes in 'em," Leia answered cheerfully.
"That just might work," Dark Id supplied helpfully.
"You'd do that for me?" Nephron asked.
"Sure!" Leia answered. "'Specially 'cause Grandpa misses you, and is really, really sick of you poking at the Grimorum tryin' to open up the lock he put on it!"
"Well, this is great!" Dark Id said enthusiastically. "Let's all skip back to the village so Young Xena can reintroduce the vampire to the villagers on pain of torture, and I can get Gramps to unlock this swell book for me. Then we can all live happily ever after! Just as long as we don't have to hold hands while we skip!"
"I don't suppose ye have a cure fer V-Bunny slime on ye, laddie?" MacBeth asked Nephron.
"Sure, right here," answered Nephron, distracted by happy thoughts of finally returning home. He reached out for a bottle, before remembering that the arm he was trying to reach with was no longer there. Reaching with his left arm instead, he handed MacBeth a bottle. "This salve is made from distilled V-Bunny blood and my own special blend of seven different herbs and spices. It should do the trick. Just wipe a dab on any affected flesh." MacBeth wasted no time in rubbing some on his own skin, which quickly healed.
"Let's go!" suggested Leia impatiently, and the five of them began to exit.
"Don't forget your arm," Dark Id reminded Nephron, who was about to leave without it. Soon, the arm was reattached and beginning to heal back into place.
Nephron, Clerveu, MacBeth, Leia Morgana, and Dark Id walked to the direction of Ayluvtuski. The ominous voice of the narrator boomed over the party.
"As the group reached the top of the hill that overlooked Ayluvtuski, they looked on with awe," the voice said.
"Awwwww!" the 5 put their arms around each other in cheerful unison.
"NO!" the narrator interrupted in his British brogue, causing the 5 to look around in confusion," I said AWE, A-W-E!"
"Ooooooh!" the 5 said.
"That's more like it!" the narrator snapped.
The villagers were approaching to meet the newcomers. Vila was limping on his cane.
"Grandfather!" Leia cried out happily, rushing to embrace him.
"Leia," Vila said," Why are you wearing that tight leather dress? You look like some Xena junior!"
Nephron struggled not to laugh.
"Say, could you open this for me?" Dark Id asked, handing Vila the Grimorum.
"Sure," the old man replied, distracted by the unexpected appearance of his old friend. With a quick twist, the lifelock fell to the ground.
"Thanks," said Dark Id, stuffing the mystical tome back into a pocket dimension.
"Hey, don't he look familiar?" a villager asked, pointing at the vampire.
"Zhat ees too! eh ees me ooncle," Clerveu said.
As the villagers went to listen to Clerveu's, Nephron's, Leia's and Vila's story of how Nephron came to be, MacBeth and Dark Id edged away.
"Well, I'd say we did what Avalon sent us here tae do," MacBeth proclaimed.
Dark Id waved to Leia who waved back.
"Let's heal 'em and get outta here!" Dark Id agreed.
The men trooped off, after a final goodbye to the Leia.
"Heh heh, watch Oberon freak out when he sees this!" Id snickered. MacBeth managed a grin at that joke, carrying the bottle of healing salve.
After a few short minutes, the three adventurers arrived at the makeshift camp occupied by their wounded companions. "You're back!" Pendragoness cried happily. "Broadway, Dark Id and MacBeth are here!"
"I can hear them, Pen," the blinded gargoyle answered with a smile. He turned his sightless eyes towards the two approaching men. "Did you find a cure?" he asked hopefully.
"Aye, laddie," MacBeth answered, producing the bottle from a pocket. "Just rub this on yuir wounds, and they should heal enough for Id's magic tae finish the job."
As MacBeth was about to hand the bottle to Broadway, Satsana snatched it from his grasp. "One moment, MacBeth." She peered intently at the fluid inside, and then sighed disappointedly. "So, this is why no cure has been previously known. Only he that created the V-Bunnies can remedy their dire venom. Nephron's own essence pervades this medicine, and that is one ingredient no magic user can replicate." Satsana handed the bottle to an eager Broadway.
The rotund gargoyle poured a portion into one taloned hand and rubbed the medicine into his sore, festering face. Relief was immediate, judging by his sigh of contentment, and when he pulled his hand away, no trace of the venom remained, with the notable exception of his missing eyes and the scars around their sockets. Broadway held out the venom for Tom to take.
"My turn?" asked Dark Id with a nasty smile after Tom had taken the cure. Without really waiting for answer, he reached out and placed his hands on either side of Broadway's head. Purple energy crackled and Broadway howled in agony as Id's magic twisted spare flesh into brand new optic nerves and muscle.
As the sparks subsided, Broadway clasped his hands to his face, momentarily overwhelmed by the moon's bright glare after so many hours of darkness. When he could see without blinking, Broadway glared at Dark Id. "I think I preferred the cure," he said.
"You're welcome," Dark Id answered cheerfully. He flexed his fingers and dark energy flashed from fingertip to fingertip. "You want a turn, Tom?" he asked.
Tom, who had just finished rubbing salve into his skin, hesitated before answering, "If it's all the same to ye, I'll let my leg heal on its own."
"Suit yourself," Dark Id answered, and the purple flashes vanished without a trace.
"How did you defeat Nephron?" Pendragoness suddenly asked, eager to her the tale of their adventure.
"Well, we didn't defeat him, exactly," Dark Id admitted. "In fact things became pretty, well, zany towards the end."
"We'll tell ye all about it as we ride the skiffs," MacBeth promised.
"And what of iron?" Satsana asked. No one noticed her slight shiver of apprehension upon mentioning the lethal substance.
MacBeth paled, and then slapped a hand to his forehead in disgust. "Blast! With all this worry about Broadway and Tom's wounds, it completely slipped my mind! The very reason we're ON this cursed voyage! I suppose we'd best return tae Ayluvtusky and see if they have any they'd be willing to part with."
"Don't bother," Dark Id yawned. "When we were last in town, I stopped by the blacksmith's and swiped his anvil."
"His anvil?" MacBeth asked in surprise.
"Yup. An eight hundred pound chunk of iron, plus what we already have, should be quite enough for our purposes, I think."
"Well, then," Tom smiled. "Shall we return tae Avalon?"
All were in agreement, and so the six of them began their trek back to the skiffs.
On Avalon, Princess Katherine and Angela were tending the gargoyle eggs. The Magus, as he sometimes did, had taken a break from his writings to help his princess with her evening chores.
As the Princess turned an egg, she said, "Our friends have been gone for many hours. I do hope they've come tae nae harm."
"I would not worry, my Princess," the Magus reassured her. "You have heard Tom's stories. He frequently visited many destinations not of his choosing before Avalon would allow him to reach his Wyvern goal. Doubtless the same has happened now. The world has never been without deeds for heroes to do, though it has all to frequently lacked the heroes to do them. Avalon will find other tasks for them, and when they have the iron they seek, they will return."
"Aye, yuir right, of course," the Princess sighed. "'Tis silly of me tae worry, but I do. Part of me is always afraid that when Tom leaves, he will nae return."
Neither the princess nor Angela caught the brief flash of pain that crossed the Magus's face at those words. Though the Magus would never admit it, especially to himself, there had lately been a part of himself that secretly yearned for Tom to leave and never return, for he to be left alone on Avalon with his princess to raise the gargoyle eggs together. But a far larger part of the Magus's mind knew that such wishing was pointless and unproductive. After all, he was useless to her. Tom was young, strong--a warrior. That was what his princess needed, a strong young man to help her raise the eggs, not a washed up excuse for a mage. The Magus couldn't even cast a simple firelighting spell. Though he was on the verge of unraveling the ability to tap into Avalon's magic to cast spells, he knew that doing so would be utterly exhausting. In short, he could never be worthy of her.
The Magus's sullen musings were interrupted by Boudicca's furious barking. "What is it, girl?" asked Angela.
Boudicca ran towards the door to the castle before turning to bark a second time. Angela's eyes widened happily. "They're back! That must be it!"
Without further prompting, the three of them set down their eggs and jumped to their feet. They reached the castle entrance just in time to greet the six weary travelers.
Boudicca charged ahead of her Avalon-bound masters and nearly collided with Pendragoness in greeting. Pen laughed, stooping not-so-easily- to her knees to hug the beast.
"You missed us so, didn't you?" she asked, rubbing Boudicca's ears. Boudicca thumped her tail eagerly and went to greet MacBeth and the others.
Princess Katherine and Angela exchanged a glance, for the swell of hatchling looked slightly bigger. How long had they been gone in the outside world? But that thought was put aside as they rushed forward.
As the Princess threw her arms around Tom, the Magus found his sullen thoughts earlier had returned. He sighed uselessly and looked at the expectant Gargess. He was truly glad to see their companions safe, even Thomas, he would admit, for he had looked up to the Magus when he was younger. But the Magus was more reserved in his emotions.
"Broadway, Pen!" Angela cried out, embracing her friends. Broadway hugged her back and Pen did the same, Angela ever mindful of her condition.
"What adventures were you having without me?" Angela asked excitedly.
"A great many, lass!" MacBeth called, politely hugging the Princess.
Dark Id leered at Angela and swung her around.
"Nrgh, put me down, Id!" Angela protested.
"No way, Cutie!" Dark Id said cheerfully." Now that I'm back, face the Wrath of Oberon!"
"You make it sound you like your tie to Oberon," Angela scowled and Dark Id finally set her down.
The Magus took his time in approaching the travelers at that point. Satsana regarded him coolly. Magus ignored her.
"Pendragoness, your child was in danger at some point!" he said." What happened?"
"And Thomas," Katherine started, "Yuir leg!" In the excitement earlier, she had not noticed his slight limp.
Indeed, as Angela, the Princess and the Magus stepped back and looked more carefully, the aftermaths of their traveling could be seen. The Guardian of the Eggs was limping, though to what injury they could not see. There was something in MacBeth's eyes that spoke he suffered a nasty blast to the past. Dark Id remained slightly more protective of Pendragoness, though he was his usual jibing self. But something belied his nastiness, as if something had happened to strike a blow at his pride. Pendragoness was herself, though it was imminent something made her worried, and a talonned hand would clasp over her middle every other minute, as if making sure the life she carried was still there. Broadway kept blinking, as if to clear his eyes. There were a few telltale scars around his eyeridge.
But there was one factor that all shared: exhaustion. Even Broadway and Pen looked tired. All save Satsana. Something kept her going as good as new and Magus could not guess what. Though he had gotten vibes that she was not what she seemed.
Princess Katherine broke the brief silence.
"Come along, Thomas, I'll check ova' yuir leg," she said.
"Princess, it'll heal fine by itself," Tom protested feebly. The princess shook her head.
"I still want tae look at it. Or do I have to drag ye by th' ear like a disobedient kitchenlad?" Tom saw the argument was futile and allowed Katherine to lead him to their infirmary.
"You all look like you've been through the wringer," Angela commented, using a phrase from the 20th century.
"You don't know the half of it!" Dark Id chuckled, using a quote from an episode Aaron and Laura had watched before attending the Ricki Lake show.
"More than we'd intended to!" Pen seconded. Boudicca nuzzled comfortably against her leg. Pen remembered Laura reading something off the Internet that the watchdogs protected the expectant Gargoyle mothers.
"But we found our iron--" MacBeth stretched his arms and yawned deeply."--and I would say our quest is ova'."
"Not quite," the Magus said. He pierced a look at Pendragoness, Dark Id, then MacBeth. "There is some business left needing attending to...."
"But the quest is over!" Broadway protested. "Pen can't travel now! It could hurt the egg!"
"Fear not, friend gargoyle," Magus reassured him. "The business I speak of lies between me and your magical friend Satsana." Magus shifted his gaze to the named woman, who seemed slightly startled. "My Princess, if you would excuse Satsana and I, we have much to discuss."
"Of course, Magus!" Katherine hastened, though in a somewhat puzzled tone. "I value yuir privacy. But is this something that cannae be shared among us?"
"That remains to be seen," Magus answered darkly. "My lady?" he said firmly to Satsana, who followed him out of the room, curious to see what the mage had to say.
Once alone, the Magus got straight to the point. "You are of Oberon's kind, are you not?"
"What makes you think that?" asked Satsana with a half smile.
"I was restless this past day, and couldn't sleep," replied Magus. "As I lay awake, pondering many problems, I suddenly realized something that had been bothering me since the day all of you arrived."
"And that is...?" Satsana prompted.
"The castle likes you."
"Pardon?"
The Magus ran a hand along a nearby wall as he elaborated, "Perhaps it is the magic of this island. Perhaps it is by craft of Oberon himself. Whatever the case, this castle lives, in a sense. I am certain you are aware of the magical natures of many of the rooms of this castle, whether by your experience upon arriving here with your companions, or, as I think more likely, by experience before even we arrived. These magics respond more quickly to those that the castle is familiar with. When the Princess, Tom, and I first arrived at this castle, the magical lamps were noticeably sluggish in registering our presence. Likewise, it was quite some time before the library began to stock the books I most enjoyed reading. But, as the castle got to know us, these delays and difficulties ceased. When your friends arrived, I anticipated the same problems would arise for them, and I was not disappointed. Except in your case. This dwelling knows you, Satsana. And to my knowledge, the only way it could is if you had dwelled within its walls for many years."
Satsana sighed. "It is getting more and more difficult to pull the wool over the eyes of you mortals nowadays. Very well, magician. I see no harm in revealing the truth, as half of my companions know it now anyway. I am, as you have so cleverly deduced, one of the Third Race. How does this concern you?"
The Magus nodded, satisfied, but also concerned. "When I suggested this magic isle as a home for my Princess and the eggs, it was with the knowledge that Avalon had been abandoned. The presence of one of Oberon's children disturbs me a great deal. After all, should Oberon return, it would bode very ill indeed for any that had taken up residence in his home."
"Fear not, Magus," Satsana smiled. "My presence hardly heralds Oberon's return. I accompany MacBeth and his wards because I bear a grudge against Oberon himself. While I cannot directly oppose him, I hope to cause him harm through Pendragoness and her child, whom Oberon covets."
The Magus sighed, and looked quite old for a moment. "At any rate, this confrontation is pointless. Fey or not, herald or not, I lack the power to stop you or your lord. I can only hope that you speak truth. The true purpose of this meeting is this. Only a few short weeks before you left in search of iron, you had been on the verge of telling me something. Then, Pendragoness nearly destroyed herself, and I forgot the matter in the excitement of the moment. Now, I remembered. Do you recall what it is that you wished to tell me?"
"Merely this, Sorcerer: put aside your own wishes and respect the ones of your companions. That is all. I'd thought you already knew that, Magus," Satsana smiled at the silver-haired mage, but it was a genuine smile of assurance instead of mirth.
Magus looked at her, and tears welled in his eyes, realizing what she was implying.
"Indeed, My Lady," he said and walked away.
Satsana watched him retreat down the corridor. "Ah, Magus, you have no idea such pain you would bring if you so wished to fulfil your love for the Princess..."
Dark Id threw himself on a large sofa-like end of furniture and kicked his feet up.
"Come on, Pen, sit down and rest awhile," he invited. Pendragoness sat next to him, caping her wings, then leaned back, a look of pain on her face.
"Gods, my back hurts," she winced.
"And so it would, carrying several extra pounds in front of ya! Here, let me help ease the pain," before Pen could voice question to his statement, she felt his hands massaging her back, below the wings.
"Ah, thank you, Id," Pen said.
MacBeth crashed himself into his own easy chair, and nodded his head to the side. He opened his eyes to watch.
"I remember my Gruoch often spoke of such aches when she ha' been carryin' Luoch," he spoke. Broadway knelt on the floor next to Pen.
"I'll take it from here, Dark Id," he said. Dark Id flashed him a secret scowl, but gave Broadway his seat, allowing him to continue the task.
There was jabbering in the corridor, and Angela, Tom and Katherine came in, Magus a bit farther behind in tow.
Tom was protesting with Katherine, his young face beet-red.
"What happened to *him* ?" Pen asked Angela.
Angela smirked. "The Princess made him strip his leggings so she could inspect his leg."
Dark Id gave a roar of a laugh. "Hah! I'll bet that's not all she was inspecting!"
"Hush, laddie, that be their own business, not ours," MacBeth said, and dozed off. Broadway and Pen snickered.
Dark Id stretched and yawned. "Well, It's almost sunup. Time for my daily session with Satsana," Dark Id grimaced slightly. "And then I'll hit the sack."
"Why would ye want tae hit a sack?" Broadway and Pendragoness chorused in unison, each doing a passable imitation of Hudson. The two of them glanced at one another and burst out laughing.
Dark Id smirked, "Well, it's clear both of you recognize a cue when you hear it. Have a nice stone sleep, you two." Dark Id wandered off to find Satsana.
"Well, it looks like MacBeth is comfortable right where he is, and the rest 'o ye need little tae prepare ye for the coming day," said Princess Katherine, smiling slightly at the sight of MacBeth dozing in his chair. "But tomorrow is another night, and we must get our own rest. Come, Tom, Magus."
"Aye, Princess," Tom nodded, face still aflame from his earlier examination. He and the Magus followed her from the room, leaving only the three gargoyles and the sleeping immortal.
A fascinating rainbow of emotions crossed Angela's face as she watched Broadway and Pendragoness snuggle, beginning with jealousy towards Pendragoness, moving on to resignation at the inevitable, then happiness for her friend's happiness, and finally a fierce determination not to interfere with the lovers' happiness, and to protect their unhatched child. At any rate, Angela realized that the two of them might like some privacy without having to retreat to their room. "See you tonight, lovebirds!" Angela teased gently, exiting the room. The two were so absorbed in one another that they barely heard her, merely waving in response.
It was quite some time before the couple even moved, and when they did, sunup was mere moments away. Pendragoness suddenly thought of something that had crossed her mind a few times in the past, but never at a convenient time. "Broadway?" she said softly.
"Yes, Pen," Broadway answered.
"Before this whole adventure started, I occasionally thought about what it would be like to have a child..." Pendragoness hesitated a moment. "The thing is, whenever I did, I assumed that I'd be married, and have a loving husband to raise the child with." She smiled tenderly at Broadway. "Believe me, Broadway, I don't think I could ask for a better husband than you. It's just that...well, I'd like to have a wedding."
"A wedding?" asked Broadway.
Pen's eyes, though not alight, seemed nonetheless to glow. "Yes! A real wedding, with cake, and exchanging vows, and dancing--everything!"
Broadway began to catch Pen's enthusiasm. "Pen, if you want a wedding, then we'll have a wedding!" He grinned and added, "But you probably shouldn't help with the cake."
Pen's eyes widened, "Oh! You-" But try as she might, she just couldn't get angry, especially since she could see the love and laughter dancing in her mate's eyes. So, she started laughing instead, and only a moment later, Broadway joined her. When the sun chose that moment to rise, the two were caught in a pose of innocence, a statue of two loves living and laughing together.
Satsana passed along the parapets, as the sun began it's arch into the sky for the new day. She paused to look and at the Gargoyle couple, and smiled slightly. Hands held with gestures of mirth, and broad grins on their chiseled faces, any not familiar with Gargoyles might've thought the stone mason to be loony. It was clear Broadway and Pendragoness were very excited about something and had not paused from their laughing fit to strike a thoughtful or frightening pose.
Angela was further down the parapet, and her arms were crossed, with a hard set, not unlike that of her father's, to her eyes. Satsana merely passed this look as a protective stance, for she had dwelled into Angela's mind (unknowing to Angela, of course, Satsana smirked) and knew she bore no grudge to Pendragoness or her unborn child.
"A wedding, how interesting to gargoyle custom," Satsana said to herself. She knew what they had been discussing not too long ago, and thought it rather intriguing. Although, if she recalled, Demona and Goliath had made similar vows over a millennia ago, in present time.
Satsana went to find Dark Id, and found him waiting at her chamber door.
"Well, Dark Id, you seem to realize that you are resigned to your duty," Satsana said, with a slight smirk.
"As if I had any choice," Dark Id scowled. Satsana led him into her chamber and closed the door behind them.
Princess Katherine walked with Tom and Magus to their chambers.
"Good day, Thomas," she said and pressed a light kiss to his forehead. She didn't need stoop any more, for Tom was growing ever taller than her. Tom bowed to her and went into his chamber, blushing.
Earlier after she had inspected his leg injury, she had kissed him on the forehead in a reassuring gesture. That had been an embarrassing situation, Katherine telling him to strip his leggings Although his tunic covered him well enough to almost his knees, Tom had flushed a scarlet hue.
Magus silently strode down the corridors when Katherine sent Tom off to sleep. It bothered him greatly what Satsana had implied him to--or, not to do. And he did not miss the evidence that Katherine was growing attracted to the young warrior. A new tome in the library might take his mind off things for awhile.
Nearly a month passed before Pendragoness decided that all the necessary preparations had been made for a wedding. This was going to be the most important day of her life, after all, and she wanted it to be absolutely perfect, or at least, as close as it could come to being perfect on an enchanted isle with only a few guests. Princess Katherine, of course, considered the whole idea to be a grand one (since the day that she had learned that Pendragoness's true form was that of a human, she had been uneasy about the fact that her child would be born of unwedded parents, a status that had frequently caused problems in her time) and had made every effort to help the young bride-to-be and her husband-to-be to prepare for the event. While the closets of Oberon's place provided a multitude of clothing for gargoyle and human alike, both she and the transformed girl agreed that a wedding dress was far too special to just be picked out of a closet. So, the two of them worked for weeks to create the perfect gargoyle wedding dress. Unfortunately, the extent of Katherine's sewing knowledge covered little more than what was necessary to sew patches onto worn clothes, and Pendragoness was no better a tailor than she was a cook. It was only a few nights before the wedding that the two of them ruefully admitted that they had no idea what they were doing and headed for the castle closets to pick out a nice, ready-made gargoyle wedding dress.
Broadway had much greater success with his project, which started not long before Pendragoness and Katherine's finished. His endeavor, unsurprisingly dealt with food. He had always wanted to try to bake a wedding cake, and now was his chance. He had decided to try to make one that was as large as possible, in spite of the fact that there were only a handful of people that were going to be eating it. Fortunately, food didn't seem to spoil on Avalon (unwanted food just seemed to vanish after a time, and reappear when desired) And if the blueprints Broadway had drawn up were any indication, they would be eating wedding cake for years after the event.
Dark Id was largely uninterested in the whole process. Admittedly, if he was tied down and subjected to a gristly array of red-hot torture devices, he MIGHT have admitted that he was happy for his friend. But in the absence of such devices, he was happy to spend most of his spare time in his pocket dimension reading the Grimorum Arcanorum (he was unwilling to risk the possible consequences of removing the Grimorum from the pocket dimension while on Avalon's soil). However, he did have plans in mind for a suitable wedding gift, something appropriate...
MacBeth spent most of the month showing Tom how to forge armors and weapons out of the quantity of iron they had brought back with them. The most difficult part, of course, was melting the anvil Dark Id had "acquired", but once it had been reduced to manageable chunks, the work began to run much more smoothly. The first fruits of their labors were two beautifully sculpted iron wedding rings, an idea of Tom's. On Avalon, where gold and silver were plentiful, iron was the most precious metal to be found. To prevent the rings from rusting, the two of them cornered Dark Id in one of the rare moments that he could be found. While he couldn't enchant the ring directly, he did enchant a pot of lacquer, into which the rings were dipped.
Angela and Satsana did not have any special projects of their own, but the two of them made themselves useful by lending a hand wherever it was required (though Satsana was noticeably reluctant to have anything to do with the ironworking. Boudicca, of course, operated at all times as a morale booster. Playing with Boudicca became an excellent stress reliever.
But now, the day of the wedding was at hand.
MacBeth and Dark Id were already waiting on the castle parapets when sunset approached. Anticipation hung heavy between them, for tonight was the wedding for Broadway and Pendragoness.
As soon as the gargoyles broke free from their stone slumber, Angela leaped off her perch, and grabbed Pendragoness, waltzing her to the Great Hall.
"Wha?" she asked, then Broadway was grabbed by Dark Id who proceeded to pull him the opposite direction.
"Now, now, the bride isn't supposed to see the groom before the wedding!" MacBeth roared in laughter at the pair's bewildered expressions. Dark Id and Angela had planned this action to the second to pull it off.
"Come on, Pen! Princess Katherine has your gown all laid out," Angela said excitedly.
Satsana watched Id pull Broadway along by one webbed ear and listened to Broadway's mocking "Ows" fade down the corridors. MacBeth laughed to her.
"I wonder if I had looked tha' way on me own wedding day!" he chuckled. Satsana smirked.
Katherine was waiting for the two gargesses when they had arrived at her chamber. "Gods, I'm so nervous," Pen fretted, anxiously chewing on her talon-tipped finger.
Katherine helped her into the gown and made last adjustments, making sure to fit loosely over the swell of egg. "Aye, ye look beautiful!" Katherine said and kissed her cheek in a sisterly manner.
Angela pulled on her own gown and smoothed out the fabric.
"Broadway's going to trip over his tongue when he sees you," she commented and grinned. Pendragoness managed a nervous smile and handed Angela a wild Avalon flower to tuck behind her pointed ear.
"Here I go, the ol' ball and chain," Pen joked. Angela recognized that joke off some tv show she'd seen and the two giggled.
Katherine looked bewildered. "What is this ball and chain? Is it not an honor to be wedded to your love?"
Pen and Angela cracked up. Katherine smiled too.
"Aye, you two and your strange jokes," she said.
MacBeth went to see how Dark Id was torturing Broadway. "Hold still, you lummox!" he heard Id say.
"I'm saying, my wings won't fit!" Broadway answered. MacBeth snickered, then came into the chamber to help out. Dark Id was trying to help Broadway adjust into his tunic, while Tom just watched in amazement.
"I got an idea!" Id snapped his fingers, eliciting a crackle of purple flame with the gesture.
"Raise your arms and tuck your wings under," he commanded. Broadway raised his arms, and clasped his wings under and up to rest the tips on his shoulders. He now had an idea how Id was going to do this, recognizing the motion on something Brooklyn had done so long ago when he had learned to ride that damn blasted motorcycle Lex had fixed up.
Dark Id pulled the turquoise tunic over his head, causing Broadway to yelp as his ears were yanked through, and had Broadway slip his arms in the sleeves. "Hokey," Id stood back and leered maliciously, "Let 'er rip!" Broadway let his wings unfold, and they tore through the fabric and unfurled in their open position.
"Good thinking, lad," MacBeth said to Dark Id, who gave a puckish bow. Broadway flexed his wings back and forth. He couldn't stop smiling.
Dark Id watched MacBeth stride forth and clap a hand on Broadway's shoulder. He scowled. "Well, might as well check up on the women," he thought and disappeared in a cloud of purple dust.
He teleported outside their chamber door and nearly ran into Satsana. Dark Id let out a nice little yelp of surprise, then gathered his slick composure.
"I won't be needing your "services" for quite some hours, Dark Id, so no need to be alarmed," she said sweetly. Id grumbled and then knocked on the door.
"HEY! Anybody decent?' he asked.
The door opened. It was Angela. "Oh, it's you," she teased.
"Is everything ready?" Satsana asked the Princess. Katherine nodded.
"The cake is in the kitchen; I'd asked Magus to finish up on it."
"Are you sure Broadway didn't let Pen near that cake? " Dark Id teased, raising his voice a little.
"I heard that!" Pen called from the chamber. Angela laughed.
Magus came down the corridor, his accustomed mage's robes trailing over his slippers.
"Everything is set, Princess. We are all ready whenever ye are," he said, trying to hide the glow in his eyes of how beautiful Princess Katherine looked.
MacBeth was waiting near the entrance to the Great hall. Earlier that day, Dark Id had zipped around the Hall and set up decorations and flowers. An oaken book holder and candle served as a make-shift altar, and Broadway was standing at it, twitching his foot nervously.
Katherine went to stand behind the "altar" as she was fit to conduct the ceremony due to her Christianity. Magus was a sorcerer, and in the days of Wyvern gone, his mystical kind were not looked upon by the ministers and clergy. He learned no religion, only his spells and arts of magick as a mage should.
Angela took her place near the altar, as Pen's maid of honor. Magus and Satsana merely took seats in the audience, Magus looking terribly troublesome in the Fae-in-disguise's presence. Boudicca shuffled in and sat on her haunches at Tom's feet, whining pleasantly. Tom could not help looking at Katherine in an aspect more than friendship.
Dark Id walked Pen to the Hall on his arm. Pen was surprised that he was not cracking jokes, or leering at her as he usually did. Instead, he looked pensive and thoughtful.
"Id, what's wrong?" she asked. Dark Id brushed a white lock of hair out of his eyes.
"Aye, I was just thinking of my gift for ya! It's a doozy!" Dark Id said. And it was, considering he had to travel into a pocket universe just to open the Grimorum.
MacBeth waited to give Pen away, and Dark Id kissed her forehead, and took his place next to Broadway.
The other night, Pendragoness had begged and pleaded her best friend to be Broadway's best man, even getting on her knees clumsily, til Id told her to get up and stop endangering the egg. He had sighed and agreed.
Pen wondered what that kiss was for.
Then she and MacBeth were the only ones left to join in the ceremony. "Nervous, me ward?" MacBeth asked in his thick brogue.
"Incredibly," she gulped.
MacBeth laid a garland of flowers over her forehead, and extended his arm. "Whenever you are ready, Pendragoness," he said. Pen took his strong arm and the human and gargoyle marched to the altar. (Sans music, Pen realized in dismay) Dark Id was giggling as if he could read her mind, then the Star Wars theme music blared out of nowhere. Katherine, Magus and Tom all bolted up and looked around, and Angela was biting her lip. Broadway began to grin too. Pen was on the verge of collapse, but she kept a straight face and finished the march.
"Well, I wanted music and I got it!" Pen thought, then to Dark Id: "Ha, ha, Id!"
After MacBeth took Pen's talonned hands and laid them in Broadway's (no bouquet), he clipped Id on the shoulder whispering "May the force be with you!" and went to his seat.
Pen then noticed that Broadway was wearing a fine turquoise tunic that reached to his knees, the color matching his bluish-greenish skin somewhat. He looked so handsome at that moment, that Pen fought the sudden impulse to take his face in her hands and kiss him.
Broadway gulped as he took in her gown; her pregnancy only enhancing her beauty with a vibrant glow.
As Katherine began the ceremony, they clasped their hands tighter, realizing that Oberon never intended them to marry, and they were once again breaking his arrogant rules. "More's the pity for Oberon," Broadway thought.
The wedding ceremony continued. Katherine got to the vows. Angela stepped closer to Pen, holding Broadway's larger ring, and Id did the same, carrying the smaller set of the pair for Pen.
"With this ring, I thee wed," Broadway took the ring from Id and held Pen's left hand steady and slipped the ring onto her finger.
"With this ring I thee wed," Pen echoed, taking the ring of iron Angela held to her and set it on one of his talonned fingers.
"These things are made of iron, we could knock Oberon down with one punch!" Pen thought to herself, and Id snickered, having heard the thought.
"I pronounce you husband and wife, you may...." Katherine began but Id broke her off by saying:
"...Go ahead and kiss her, for you know you want to!" MacBeth cast Id a scowl, but Tom and Angela laughed out loud.
"Or to put it that way," Katherine finished, closing her Bible.
Broadway cupped Pen's face in his palms, the contrast of cool iron from his ring smooth on her cheek. She clutched his collar as they kissed.
They were wed.
"Take that, Oberon," Angela thought and grinned.
The rest of the evening was spent dancing, eating the marvelous wedding cake Broadway made (Dark Id casually mentioning how good it was that Pen hadn't gotten near it, and earned icing down his back from her and Angela), and congratulating the wedded couple.
Broadway cut the cake and he and Pen shared their piece, feeding each other as the human culture went, and then they had 3 pieces each. Both hungry; Broadway because of his shape, and Pen because of her pregnancy.
It was surprisingly MacBeth and not Id who started the cake war and what left of the dessert vanished into the confines of the cupboards, due to Avalon's magicks.
Dark Id decided that now was a good time as any to present his gift, and called everybody outside. Everyone was covered in cake and icing.
"I didn't know what to give to you guys," Id leered pleasantly," but then this came to mind. Pen, I know you'll enjoy this."
Dark id concentrated into the distance.
"What?..." Tom began, then MacBeth gasped.
"Oh, look!" Angela pointed. Dark Id knew by the gasps he heard that he'd conducted the silent summoning perfectly. He opened his eyes.
A unicorn was coming near them. Horn spiraling to the heavens, long silky mane flowing, it was the most beautiful creature Pen had seen. She clasped her mate's hand, her eyes glistening.
Dark Id went to his knees, and the unicorn went right to him. Angela remembered something about unicorns only coming to virgins, so she also knelt, Tom and then Katherine. Id's dark hands passed over the flowing mane and he seemed to whisper something in it's ear. THE unicorn blinked, then strolled to each person kneeling, allowing them to feel his mane. MacBeth, Satsana, Broadway and Pen watched in envy. Then the unicorn went to Pen, and seemed to *kneel* in front of her. Pen began to cry. It was so beautiful. And then it was gone.
"Thank you, Id, that was beautiful," she whispered, her eyes glazing with unshed tears.
Dark Id chuckled slightly as he walked through the palace garden, hands clasped behind his back beneath his midnight blue wings. The wedding was over, and it had proceeded...most satisfactorily. His gift had worked exactly as he had planned. Pendragoness had been awestruck, as had most of the others. But, like any gift Dark Id chose to give, this one had a barb, a double edge that tainted the sweet to bittersweet. Pen had seen the unicorn, but neither she nor her mate could touch it. The bright memory of that magnificent beast would be forever in their memory. But the dark side of that encounter, the remoteness of the unicorn, would forever accompany that bright memory. It was the way Dark Id liked it. Was he himself not proof enough that all things have a dark side?
"That was a wonderful thing you did for Pen and Broadway's wedding," a voice came from behind him. Angela. "One might almost think you were losing your mean streak."
"Oh?" Dark Id queried without turning. "I suppose I'll have to try harder next time."
Angela laughed softly, and said, "You can't fool me, Dark Id. I stand by what I once said: I don't think you're nearly as bad as you'd like people to think you are. Whatever Oberon did to you, he didn't cut out all the good in you. He didn't even come close."
Dark Id was silent.
The sorcerer felt Angela walk up behind him, and was suddenly surprised to feel soft lips brush his cheek. Id spun around, eyes wide with shock. "That was for being nice, for a change," Angela grinned, laughter dancing in her eyes. "And," she added, "for the look on your face!"
Chuckling, Angela turned away and climbed to the top of the garden wall a few yards away, leaving Dark Id standing quite still among the beautiful flowers of Avalon.
In her room, Satsana lay on her bed, gazing thoughtfully at the Phoenix Gate she held in her hands. It would not be long, now; only a few, short years remained until the seven of them would have to return to their own time. She and Dark Id had a battle plan ready, and it was a good one. But would it be enough? Satsana wasn't sure. If it failed, and Oberon learned of her involvement...it would not go well for her. Oberon was known for the...inventive punishments he devised for those who crossed him, and not even his lady wife could avoid a punishment for a transgression such as this. Satsana could, she supposed, use the Phoenix Gate to witness the outcome of the battle. But what if she arrived to witness failure, and her own humiliating sentence? To spend the next few years waiting for the unknown was not appealing. But to spend that time knowing that at its end waited a horrible fate--that was much worse. And so she waited in ignorance.
Was it absurd for an immortal to fear the future? Perhaps. But when the future bore the angry face of Oberon, it was, perhaps, not so absurd after all...