*  Chapter Two  *
     "Oh, I doubt they lie, good elder." Gorebash stated to the
elder gargoyle who walked beside the dragon in the halls of the
castle. "Eagle and Lysander are the most honorable of their
rookery."
     "Aye." the elder sighed, "but magical weapon, fey folk, time
travel, hunters... it all sounds very fantastic to me. I believe
they had a great adventure, but I do not believe they speak
everything they know."
     Gorebash sighed. "Do not worry, old friend. It has been my
experience that knowledge withheld by a friend was either simply
mislaid, or is best unlearned."
     Reaching the top of the tower, the gargoyles gathered around
the great green dragons with deadly anxious faces.
                            (earlier)
     Eagle and Lysander dreamed.
     Together, their minds seemed to intertwine, ideas seeming to
grown and then wind up within the other, forming great feeling and
ideas within their dreaming eyes.
     They saw faces. Faces of gargoyles and humans.
     A human woman with great and mysterious eyes transformed in
their minds into a brilliant cherry colored gargoyle with double
butterfly wings. A male gargoyle appeared, with large insect-like
wings stretch with his blue leathery skin. These two gargoyles
seemed to merge together, and form the consciousness of Eagle.
     Two gargoyles, their faces unfamiliar to Lysander, merged in
their joint mind to form herself.
     Time was different here... it was almost as if the jump back
wards in time was happening again...

     Eagle and Lysander burst forth from their stone shells with a
high falcon shriek and a loud cat growl. Both immediately fell
backwards onto the parapet, fainting.
     The gargoyles of their clan rushed around madly for a few
moments, until a great plume of fire appeared over head as Gorebash
descended from the high tower with one of the elders on his back.
     Gorebash stopped letting out fire, and came to rest on the
parapet beside the gargoyles.
     They both lay at cocked angles, on top of one another.

     Lysander panicked for a moment. She was trapped! But then she
calmed herself. It's alright... you've been like this for a decade,
you can wait a little longer.
     She could sense the presence of the others gathering around
them.
     A part of Lysander said she HAD to get out. She moved slowly,
like from a dream, but she felt her paws hit the edge of her
prison.
     There was a cracking sound.
     That was it... just a little more! She could hear the other's
voices somewhere, cheering her efforts on with soft, crooning
voices.
     She pushed harder. The wall around her, closing her in, would
not give.
     Deep inside herself, she snarled. She extended her talons and
DUG.
     It cracked again. Lysander brought her feet to bear, and
suddenly pushed a hole in her encasement near her feet, her tail
rolling out with her legs.
     Lysander pushed again. Now it gave, and she meekly brushed the
bits of it aside.

     Lysander cried.

     Great paws reached down, and plucked Lysander from her
encasement. Softly, those large paws rubbed the slick juice from
her body, and wrapped her in a sheet so that she would be warm down
in the rookery.

     Lysander's eyes opened in three weeks, and she saw many faces.
The clan mother took turns with her, feeding her, and washing her.
     She recalled the humans. There were kind humans here. They
looked so strange... so white! But there was a nice one with soft
paws. This human held Lysander so softly near her blouse, and
carried her everywhere. Lysander would curl her tail around the
human's wrist and cling to her as she savored the scents of the
kitchen rolls in her gentle nap.
     She remembered the castle. As she learned to crawl about,
everyone let her come by. She would not let anyone carry her
anymore! She could do it herself now! It did not matter the length
of the hallway, she would make it no matter how long it took! It
was only when someone hurried by and accidentally stepped on her
tail of her paw, when she would curl up in a ball and cry until one
of the clan mother found her, and made the ache go away.

     When she was a decade old, she could stand on her own on the
balustrades when the sun rose. She was an older gargoyle now. She
didn't wear those baby sheets anymore, but her own small tunic.
     Her human, the woman Terra always loved the clingy gargoyle
child. Whenever Terra left the castle for a time, Terra would weep
for a while, then pace the battlements awaiting her return.
     However, the day came when Terra returned to the castle for
the last time. She was carried in by the large arms of her elders,
great gargoyle figures with sad faces.
     "We met with attackers on our quest, Lord Peter."
     "Attacked?!!! How many were slain?"
     "Seven of ours, four of yours." her elder sisters and brother
reported mournfully.
     "Oh, I am so sorry for yours..."
     The elder sisters and brothers looked down mournfully. "They
died protecting the rest of your subjects, my lord."
     Lysander climbed onto Terra's arms. They were cold. This was
strange! Her scent was old... she was never this cold! Was she
sick? When would she get better?
     The elders plucked Lysander from the body.
     Lysander wailed.

     She was left among the other remnants of Terra's caravan. As
she sat weeping in the back of the cart, a small hand touched her
shoulder.
     Lysander, surprised and shocked, stood up immediately. She was
strong! She didn't cry!
     A small gargoyle boy lay on the blankets laid out across the
floor. He was her age, with a deep blue skin color. His small, bony
wings were covered in a small layer of deep brown feathers like a
chick's. His face, head, and neck bore a beak and feathers, too.
     Lysander laughed aloud. He looked so silly!
     The small boy withdrew his paw, and quietly turned away from
the laughing gargoyle girl with a pained expression.
     "Does Terra have any known family?" came the large and
powerful voice of their green dragon leader.
     "No, Lord Gorebash. She was an orphan by birth."
     Gorebash sighed. "Give her honorable rest with the others."
     Lysander almost cried again. She sat down on the blankets next
to the boy, and rubbed her eyes. She WOULD NOT CRY, not again.
     The odd little gargoyle boy touched her wing as it draped on
her should again, shyly this time.
     Oddly, his warm touch comforted her. The little boy, seeing
his touch now made her feel better, forgot his previous
humiliation, and gave the little girl a tended childlike hug.
Lysander hugged him back.
     The elder mothers returned again. When they tried to pry the
two gargoyle children apart, Lysander began to bawl, and the other
mewled.
     "Oh, Lysander. Do you want to come with Eagle? Alright, come
with me." the elders said.

     The Gnomes attacked with sudden fury. Lysander snarled at the
ugly black creatures, deftly dodged the black fangs of the ugly
ebony colored creatures.
     Eagle and Lex had discovered these... things while Lysander
was gone on another quest. She was jealous of their adventure! She
would prove herself as good a warrior as any other!
     After the battle, the warriors celebrated atop the towers with
great jubilation. It had been a hard battle, but it had been won.
     Lysander touched down on the balustrade, and looked for her
wing companion. He was not here.
     She found him down on the battlements, looking mournfully out
at the bodies of dead Gnomes they would now have to take care of.
     "Lex tells me you gave your life for in the last battle."
     "Aye, as I would have done for any other warrior." he said
without turning, looking to the east where the sun was about to
crest above the great mountain tops.
     "Methinks you spend far too much time with her, my brother."
     "Nay." he sighed, "She chooses to spend her time with Kai. I
have been in the library, reading."
     Lysander nodded. "To read is good, but your skill needs work
still."
     Eagle sighed. "I know it. I am not strong enough to break my
opponent's grip in the thirteenth set."
     Lysander scowled. "Breaking the double grip, face, down, and
return?"
     Eagle nodded. "Yes, that is the one."
     Lysander crouched into her defensive crouch. "Kae!"
     Eagle pulled his purple belt around him, tying it in front.
"Kae!" He replied.
     Lysander grasped Eagle's left wrist in both her hands. Eagle
brought his opposite hand down to try and break her grip, but her
grip was like stone.
     "Nay, nay. Bring your knee up at the same time, Eagle. Kae!"
     Eagle tried again, using his knee to disjoint her grip. He
tore through her grip, swiped her forward with his fast, and back
with his elbow.
     "Shia!" Lysander announced. Eagle backed down, and they bowed
to one another. "You see, you were just forgetting the knee."
     Eagle struggled to readjust his Gi on his shoulders. "I was
only watching you."

     Eagle and Lysander stirred gently, tenderly, as Gorebash
nuzzled them. They stirred to life once again.
     "Brother? Sister? Are you quite alright?"
     "Aye." Eagle muttered.
     Lysander grumbled. "I am hale."
     Eagle and Lysander's eyes met, and comprehension dawned. They
had both seen the same dream.
                      *     Lysander     *
I AM TELLING YOU, YOU GOT A TALENT!!!1
I have shivers running through my body, Sib. Well, Here goes.
*turns radio off, slips on headphones, and turns on cd player,
programming it for replay*
                     ***********************
     She sat on the Battlement of the Castle, her spot, and hers
alone. She sat, looking at the fires that burned in the distance.
It had been several hours since she and Eagle had awakened. And she
was still thinking of her dream. 
     'Why?' She thought, ' why my birthing? why not........ and Why
Terra?' The Human girl who had raised her was still fresh in her
mind, even after all the decades.....  The loving smile, the warmth
in her hands.
     And how she had always been there.........
     A tear rolled down her face, and she smiled, thinking of
happier times, the Day she had climbed the tree ion the court yard,
and gotten stuck...
     They had to send Terra to get her, and then Terra got
stuck.... She laughed, as the look on the guard's face came to her
again.
     He had been amazed when, Finally, the Captain of the guard
himself had climbed up, and gotten them both down.

     Eagle watched her out on the Battlement. It had been her
place, her spot since the year the old Dragon, Gorebash, had come
to them.  None dared bother her when she sat there, for she was apt
to loose herself in thought, and it made it hard to bring her back.
Always best to let her think it out. He sighed. They had told the
leaders what had happened, and he had the feeling they had not
believed.  He turned back in time to see her jumping from the
battlement into flight, and he joined her.

     She was aware of his approach before he reached her.
     "Hullo, Eagle. Joining me in a flight? Good. I was hoping you
would come. Let us go to the cave......."
     She directioned her flight towards the cave where the Clan
often met.
     Soon, they landed, and found they were alone, in the clan cave
by the shore. 
     " Eagle, I have been thinking. What could the dream have
meant? I know we are....... Immortal, I guess, But....... Why?" She
sounded as if she was ready to cry, something he had seen only one
other time, the day they had met.
     " I don't know, Ly. It is a mystery. Must mean something
though. Com'n, Sister, Don't cry." He walked to her, and folded his
wings around her...... and she felt..... a difference. It was
different from Mirror Fox's touch, something she held dear, and
yet, it was better then the touch of a rookery sib. 
     " Well isn't this nice" they looked up to see a figure dark in
the entrance. She gasped, and growled. Then, the figure stepped
into the light, and they saw it was  Just Necavi.
     " Hullo, Sib. We were just speaking" Eagle said, and Lysander
flushed.
     " Eagle, I feel not well, Let us return to the Castle." She
said, giving him a look that clearly said Please do not start one
tonight.
     "Yes, all right, Ly. We will return" 
     "The Elder looks for you two" Necavi said.
     "I know not why"
               **********************************

I know i said it would be long, But i am in dire need of getting
off.
Enjoy
Lysander
                   *     Eagle of Arabia     *
CM=>I AM TELLING YOU, YOU GOT A TALENT!!!
CM=>I have shivers running through my body, Sib. Well, Here goes.
CM=>*turns radio off, slips on headphones, and turns on cd player,
CM=>programming it for replay*

     Dear sib, ye flatter me too much. Forsooth, I do love yer
praise! It makes my whole life brighter! Hmmm... I'm in the mood
for really mild today... *changes the CD*.
     I'm keeping a file of all this, can you believe this is the
top of page 23?!!! We're going to have to submit this to Gorebash!
                            *   *   *
     Eagle and Necavi exchanged glances. Necavi's expression was
like the little child gargoyle who had discovered the secret stash
of sweets.
     "Your thoughts?" Eagle inquired.
     "Simply nothing, Eagle. Of course not." she lied. Eagle
scowled. "Don't be so serious, Eagle."
     Eagle turned to Lysander, and side by side they climbed the
stone face of the mountainside, and dived off through the winds,
Necavi close behind.
     Although the flight was only a few minutes, it soon began to
pour rain heavily as the sun faded to night from the sky.
Gorebash's voice was heard from the tower, calling the gargoyles
inside to dinner. Upon their arrival, Necavi left for the meal.
     All the gargoyles had scampered inside, either for the meal,
or for a simple desire to stay dry.
     The sounds of the thunder rolled in an almost gentle way
across the sky. Lysander was not going to give it up.
     Eagle was still standing beside her, as he always had. "Do you
wish me to leave, sister?"
     "Nay sib. Rather, I would speak to you still. However, you...
you do not have to stay."
     Eagle nodded. "As you wish, sister."
     Lysander folded her wings, and with triple toed foot braced on
the balustrade, she leaned on her knee to debate the sounds of the
storm rolling in through the night. Both Greater moon and Lesser
moon were hidden from sight as large clouds, heavy with rain,
obscured the moons and the stars. For a moment she wondered if the
sun had power enough to cut through those heavy clouds. If so, how
could the humans bear to be in it's presence?
     The rain began to fall, thickly, pelted on the gargoyles. They
felt the rain's cold touch, but hardly seemed to notice it.
     Without even noticing, Eagle placed his paw on her wing, where
it rested on her shoulder. "A wet night for patrol, is it not?"
     Lysander only nodded.
     "What is it that troubles you, sister?"
     "Dreams, visions, prophesies... I've seen the future and the
past, but cannot live in the present."
     "We should go see what the Elder wishes of us."
     "In a moment."
     There was a long pause before Lysander returned the favor and
placed a friendly paw on Eagle's shoulder. "Could the dream have
had something to do with Destiny's spell?"
     "Undoubtably. However... I think there is more to even that,
than we are seeing..."
     The thunder rolled again, and drowned out his words.
     Lysander sighed. Mirror Fox understood, she was certain. He
would never mistake their relationship. Why did his touch make her
feel so different? Not even Mirror Fox ever made her feel that way.
In Fox's eyes there was love, in his words, in his actions. What
did Eagle seem to say to her? Friendship, companions, acceptance,
protection... life? Lysander could not say.
     Eagle was impartial to all the gargoyles, male and female
alike. He favored no female except his wing companion.  Lysander
always felt content to be with him, knowing he held no other in as
much esteem as she. Lysander was a marker to him, she felt. She
represented determination, strength, and independence -- all the
things Eagle could have ever wished for.
     Lysander touched her eyes again. How could she knew what Eagle
felt? That was impossible... was it?
     She turned to look at his profile, staring off into the trees
beyond the castle walls. He was feeling... peaceful. Serene.
Lysander could feel the inner calm inside him, and reach into it.
It was almost as if she could let his singular emotion fill her own
soul.
     Eagle's expression changed. A look of uncertainty filled his
eyes, the same expression Lysander had worn a moment before.
Lysander, calm and at peace, stared out across the landscape.
     "Did you feel that?" Lysander inquired.
     "I did. What... what was it that I felt, sister?"
     "I do not know... I just realized that I had felt you in my
mind..."
     Eagle's expression seemed to turn inward, as well as his
expression. He searched his own feelings. Yes... she was there...

     *Eagle?*

     *Lysander...*

     The thoughts echoed back and forth in their minds.
     "It's getting stronger." Eagle said aloud.
     Lysander almost laughed. "The elders will never believe us,
now!"
     However, the energy of the moment was lost, and they were
again quiet.
     Lysander sighed heavily, the thoughts of the dream returning.
Lysander looked away.
     Eagle turned to her, and with a gentle talon drew her cheek
back to face him. He was shorter than she, perhaps her lesser in
battle, but suddenly they were alike.
     Eagle looked deeply into her eyes, and opened his massive
feathery wings, and wrapped them around her to keep her dry.
Lysander embraced him as well, placing her arms around his
feathered neck.
     The rain continued to pour as they watched the night wax and
the thunder roll.
     Eagle leaned his head upon his companion's shoulder. Lysander
sighed, and leaned against his.

     * Sister? *
     * Yes? *
     * What am I feeling? *
     * I do not know, sib. I do not know. *

A pause.

     * Sister? *
     * How are you feeling? I've never felt any emotion like
feeling yours before. *
     * Sad, sib. *
     * Why? *
     * I do not know. *

Another pause.

     * Sister? *
     * Yes? *
     * I will feel the sadness for you. *
     * Thank you, sib. *

(Ummm... I'm not going to start anything unless you say it's okay!)
                      *     Lysander     *
*smiles* You know me well!!
Okay.It is fine with me if you wish to take it where i think you
want to. Quite all right. And I thank you for asking first. Here we
go!! * slips Headphones on, and his pause button to start music,
flexes talons, and begins*
                      ***************************
     They stood there for the longest time before they realized the
Elder wanted them. Soon, they stood before Junder side by side.
     "You wished to speak with us, elder?" Lysander asked. she
looked up, and could see there was something troubling the Elder.
     "Yes. I have heard your story over and over in my mind and
from the others in the clan. And...... I feel that it is true. But
the others do not. There must be some way to prove to them....." He
seemed very troubled now, as if he too did not believe them, and
was just asking for a reason not to. It was then that Lysander
realized, none of the clan believed them. Even Fox had disbelieved
until she showed him the rings. They had decided that she would
keep them, as it was natural for the females of the clan to
sometimes hoard jewelry. Lysander had never done so before, and it
was new to her. She had always found it hard to love things instead
of people. Things could not keep you warm, or safe, and there was
no way a things could tell interesting stories, like the ones she
often heard about from Lex after she and Eagle would patrol. She
realized then the elder was looking at her, and that she had lost
herself to thought again... something she seemed to do a lot of
lately.
     "Um, Yes elder?" She flushed a bit from her normal white
color, and her tail danced nervously.
     "Eagle said you have a pair of rings....... could you please
go get them." He smiled hard. They had all noticed her little
problem lately with the grasp on the real world. The world of
thoughts seemed to take her a lot.
     "Yes elder." She turned, shaken that she had just stood there
for who knows how long while the leader and Eagle waited patiently
for her to wake and answer.
     She walked to the small room in the castle that she held. the
castle was big enough, and so all the gargoyles had personal little
rooms to go to if they wished to be inside and alone. She moved her
little stone block in the wall, her hiding place. The only things
she had ever hoarded she kept there. Inside the were several small
stones of brilliant colors that she had found by the shore near the
cave when she was young. There was a small shell that shimmered
with the light. She had received it from Fox the night they met.
for some reason none of the humans could understand, this clan had
taken to the human ways of presenting gifts to those they loved.
The shell was his first gift, and she treasured it. Also there were
a few little knickknacks she had found on the shore. She spent a
lot of time on the shore, as she felt at one with the sea. There
was something about the churning movements and rolling waves that
soothed her.
     Also, in the little cache, there was a small jeweled ring. the
only other jewelry she had hoarded. It had been there since a day
long past, from in her childhood. She had taken it unseen from
Terra's belongings before they elders had cast them into the sea
with the belongings of all the others who had fallen. She thought
about each item in turn. No one knew of her treasures. Or so she
thought. As she picked through, she could not find the rings. They
were gone!!
     She replaced the stone, and raced to eagle.
     "Someone has been in my room!!! they are gone!!!" Eagle got a
horrified look on his face.
     "WHAT?!"
******************************
Have fun!!!!!
Lysander
                   *     Eagle of Arabia     *
CM=>Okay.It is fine with me if you wish to take it where i think
CM=>you want to. Quite all right. And I thank you for asking first.

     The thing I was worried about is if you or Mirror Fox would
take it wrong.
     However, some sexual tension might be just the ticket...
     (Here I go again...)
                            *   *   *
     There were some doubtful rumblings among the gargoyles and
humans alike. Lysander were standing at attention before Gorebash,
as though they were about to take a beating for a serious
infraction.
     "...and when I searched through the place in my room where I
keep them, they were not there!"
     "They had great magical power, milord." Eagle added.
     Gorebash flicked his wings contemplatively. When the two young
gargoyles fell silent, he drew in a breath, which hung in his
lungs. "This could be a very serious theft, children. I have seen
the rings when you presented them before, so I know they existed.
However..." he paused for a moment, his headed nodding to one side.
"I did not see anything magical in them."
     "Milord, I am learned in my magical studies enough to know the
level of power within any talisman, good or evil. This was good
magic, of a high level of power, and very complex. It greatly
resembled fey magic. I could give you the small details if it would
convince you, milord."
     "Nay, child." Gorebash said. "You took the rings into your
custody, so they are your responsibility."
     Stiffly, Eagle and Lysander bowed, and left.

     Atop the battlements, Mirror Fox and another were waiting for
them. They were wing companions, and as soon as Eagle and Lysander
arrived, the other bowed out and departed.
     Mirror Fox put his hands on his hips. "Magical talismans,
Eagle?
     Eagle suddenly realized how interesting the stones of the
parapet near his feet had become. Lysander sighed, placing an
affectionate paw on Mirror Fox's shoulder. "My love, please. I know
what I saw. Will you help us search for them?"
     Mirror Fox smiled. "Of course."

     They looked throughout Lysander's room. Very little was found.
Eagle has begun to pace in nervous anticipation, when Lex appeared.
     "Eagle! I found this near the gate a few minutes ago!" she
exclaimed.
     Lex handed Eagle a small glove, muddy with the rain. Eagle
wrung it in his hands to get the water out of it, and held it near
the torch on the wall for a moment. It began to steam, and Eagle
placed the steaming thing near his beak with mild disgust.
     "Ugh... a human was wearing it. Male, probably near two
decades and a few summers old."
     Lysander was impressed, as always, with her wing companion's
nose -- well, beak.
     "Will you help us?"
     Lex shrugged. "I've traveled stranger quests."
     Eagle laughed. "Where, exactly did you find this?"

     "The tracks are fresh. Lucky mud." Eagle reported.
     "They went off in that direction." Lex observed, following the
tracks. Mirror Fox found something else.
     "I think they were wearing cloaks... they dragged against the
ground over here... probably for the rain." he said.

     Lex shouldered Mirror Fox in the air, gesturing to the two
wing companions leading the flight.
     "Are you and Lysander still together?" she inquired.
     Mirror Fox nodded. "I thought so."
     They watched the two wing companions scan the ground below.
     "Could it be they made it all up to explain why they've been
so... friendly lately?"
     "Lex, I'm surprised at you. Lysander would never do that."
     Lex sighed. "You are right, of course."

     * They're whispering about us, sister. *
     * What are they saying? *
     * They are... suspicious we are spending our time together, as
though we had planned it. *
     * Fox said _that_? *
     * No, but I think he does not want to believe it. *
     * <sigh> *
     * Do you notice how wide the boot tracks are? *
     * Yes... I was wondering about that. What do you think it
means? *
     * No human has feet that wide. *
     * Should we have asked Fox to stay behind? *
     * Would they have let us go on alone? *
     * Hm. I suppose not. Well, let's split up. I want to know if
we can still think to one another like this over distances. *
     * Agreed, sister. *
     * You go with Fox, though. I want to concentrate on this. *

     "Mirror Fox?" Eagle inquired.
     "Yo."
     "Could we not go off to the north end of the wood, while
Lysander and Lex search the south part of the trail where it
divides?"
     "Of... course." Mirror Fox replied, with mild annoyance and a
bit of astonishment.
     Eagle groaned. Although Mirror Fox and he were good friend,
secretly Eagle wondered if his attention remained wholly on what a
gargoyle should. Lysander heard the momentary reservation in his
thoughts.
     Eagle and Mirror Fox swept up Northwind slightly. After a
time, Mirror Fox spoke.
     "What have you been doing?"
     "Patrolling... fighting together when necessary. She has saved
my life many times." Eagle replied crisply.
     "You like her?"
     "She is my best friend."
     "Am I your friend?"
     "Yes, Lex and Obsidiana are also."
     Mirror Fox nodded. Eagle could not even begin to guess at his
emotions.
     In a business like manner, Eagle dived. Mirror Fox followed.
     The sound of hoofbeats became apparent. Mirror Fox, faster,
caught up with the rider first. Eagle cried out his piercing yell,
and Mirror Fox gave his battle cry as well.
     Whoever it was, was pushing their stallion hard, but oddly he
did not react but mildly to the gargoyle's presence. Usually horses
bucked and skittered when they appeared. Eagle banked down neatly,
and picked the rider right out of her saddle.
     The rain soaked head fell back in the wind, and Eagle single
handed tore the cloak off the rider. Mirror Fox took the horse's
reigns -- no mean feat for any gargoyle from the air, and came to
a stop, as Eagle glided in.
     There was snarl in the air, a hiss, and Eagle's falcon-like
piercing cry. The rider moved in his grasp, there was the sound of
tearing cloth, and the gargoyle clawed her way from Eagle's grasp.
     She was black in color, and dived toward Mirror Fox.

     * Forget the blasted horse, already. *

     * What? *

     * Nothing... nevermind. *

     Eagle dived toward the dark gargoyle. As she dived, she
removed a small packet of light from her pouch. Eagle could smell
the magic before it hit him.
     Eagle cried out, flaring his arms about his head, and his
glide veered off into the trees. Mirror Fox climbed a nearby tree
and swooped up to meet their quarry. After throwing the magic spell
at Eagle, she veered away into the night.
     Mirror Fox growled. "Oh no, you don't!!!" Like a shot, he took
off after her.
                      *     Lysander     *
     I guess you know by now why i am sending the answer in a new
one. I say go ahead!! I bet they will like it. And I am listening
to the radio today, as my cousin Leo trashed my cd player last
night.
     Any way *spreads wings for a minute, then closes them* Here
goes!! * slips on headphones flexs Talons, and begins*
                      *****************************
     Lex and Lysander had found what they believed was the trail.
Lysander was tracking it, as she was the best at it. " Ly, do you
still love Fox?" Lex said, and Lysander stood shocked.
     " Of course I do!! He is all i ever wanted!!! It is just
that....... I mean...... You would not understand." She was
troubled that her good friend did not believe them. She remembered
again the day she and Eagle met, and she sighed. He was the only
thing that had taken the pain away. She had told no one, but she
still remembered that day. It had always been a low point.
     " Ly, I trust you.  It is just.... the others speak of you and
Eagle.... I and I have to wonder. I mean, Necavi said that-" she
was cut off as they heard a roar in the night. " FOX!!!!!" and
Lysander was gone, into the night. Lex could hardly keep up with
her. She ran like a gargoyle possesed.  She leapt out of the bush
to find them there, fighting. She immeadiatly rushed to thier aid.
     Fox leapt after the strange gargoyle. "Oh No you don't!" And
then she saw them stranger closer.
     " FOX!!! STOP!!" she growled, and tackled Fox, knocking him to
the ground. They watched the Black headed gargoyle fly into the
night.
     " Why did you let her escape!! We could have had her!!" He
roared, but her look silenced him.
     " I think we should return to the castle now. Forget the
Rings." She said, but Eagle could tell something was wrong.
     * Sister, what is going on?*
     * It was one we met!! She was probably doing it for someone!!*
     * All right. Let us leave it at that, but I want details
later.*
     Later, at the Castle, she sat once more on her battlement,
lost in thought.  'It was Ebony!! But why was she here? It looked
like Ebony...... Maybe it wasn't Ebony.... but it had to have
been!!!' Her tail hung behind her, dangling off the side. She had
never been more confused. She sighed. ' It must have been someone
else. Not ebony. Destiny said there were only two rings..... And
Besides, why would she send ebony to retreive them? It must have
been someone else.......'  Eagle watched her, as her tail switched
back and forth. She was thinking again. Always lately, thinking.
     Fox stepped up besides him. " She still out there? It's nearly
dawn...... should I leave her? I mean, she is vulnerable away from
the Clan." He sounded truly worried.  " I don't know what to do.
She'a been there since we returned. always thinking. And I dare not
disturb her, for the Last time almost got me Killed."
     Eagle remembered the night when He had wanted to play, and had
woken her from her thought. She had not been too pleased, and let
him know it. That had been the only day she had ever shown anger
twords him. Otherwise, he was her friend, and she was his Joy.
     " I will let Gorebash Know she is there then, and they can set
extra guard to her after the sun comes." He walked away, a strange
growl in his voice.  Dawn came, and extra guard was posted around
her. Gorebash did not want to loose her or eagle again, especially
if it was perminant. The guards left her side just before dusk, as
she had always been one to do things herself, and had once before
voiced her protest to guards around her, once back when the castle
had been at war, and she was yet to be full grown. She broke from
her stone Skin with a wild cat roar, and glided to the main castle.
She felt hungry, and knew thjat the kitchen was the best place to
be when one was as such. She reached the castle, and found the
others had already gone inside. She entered, and walked to the hall
before the kitchen, then Hearing Voices, Stopped.
     " Sir, they will not like this. Especially The Elders, and the
Dragon." " Hush, Man. Do you not see? This is our chance to be rid
of these beasts for good!!!"  She sidled carefully along the wall,
to get a better hearing. but as she neared the edge, her tail
knocked a painting from the wall, and it Clattered to the floor.
Suddenly, she was met face to face with one who looked familiar.
     " HA! The walls have ears!!" She turned to leave, and was
grabbed by the other, and suddenly darkness flooded in as the hilt
of his Sword colided with her head.  She awoke in the dark, not
knowing where she was.
                        ********************************
Have fun!!!
Lysander
                   *     Eagle of Arabia     *
CM=> I guess you know by now why i am sending the answer in a new
CM=>one. I say go ahead!! I bet they will like it. And I am
CM=>listening to the radio today, as my cousin Leo trashed my cd
CM=>player last night.

     I'm working on it.. JUNO is balking at it... I think it's
overloading on it... give me a few hours to get back to it.
     *after struggling with a broken CD door, he begins with...*
                            *   *   *
     Eagle and Fox were quarreling, albeit something they did
often.
     "You are the only one who knows where goes!" Fox accused the
eagle headed gargoyle.
     "Not always! I am not her master!" he rebuttled, "There are
nights one or both of us chooses to sleep apart from the other
during the day, that we might be allowed time alone to contemplate.
This is all that has happened this day past. As for what she is
now, I have not a clue."
     "This might be some indicator, Eagle." Obsidiana's voice came
from the inside hallways. She held the broken pieces of the
portrait of Sir George from the hall by the kitchen.
     Eagle grumbled under his breath, turned and raced down the
hall the opposite direction. Fox followed him.
     When Eagle reached the outer parapets, he leaped into the
space beyond, around, down to the courtyard, and into the rookery.
     "You can't run away from all your problems, Eagle." Fox said
after him.
     Eagle leaned against the stone wall of the stair well and shed
a single tear, remembering.

     The bag was tossed around from child to child in a sequence,
and whoever failed to catch it had to step from the circle. Young
Aslan caught it, and tossed it to Black Night, where it went on to
Satana, and then to Lysander. She tossed it lightly at the new
gargoyle, the eagle headed child she had befriended. Eagle moved to
try and catch it, tripped over his own tail, and fell down face
first into the mud.
     The assembled young rookery siblings laughed. Most calmed down
quickly when they saw that the small boned gargoyle would not stand
back up, but covered his eyes in humiliation. However, one of the
young gargoyles did not stop laughing, but lay down on a nearby
table, and rolled on it with hysterical burst of laughter every
time he so much as looked at the muddy gargoyle child. The eagle-
headed child's face muscles worked beneath his paws.
     "Oh, stop it." Lysander accosted Mirror Fox.
     "The eagle-child is strange and awkward." another human
commented.
     "He doesn't even know *how* to be a gargoyle!" Mirror Fox
laughed.
     "We all were awkward, once." Terra sighed, patting young
Lysander on the shoulder.
     "But how can you trip over your *own* tail? *I* never did
that!" Mirror Fox continued.
     The eagle-headed child burst from the courtyard and into the
rookery in tears.
     The gargoyle children, except Lysander, laughed again.
Lysander glowered at them all, and each other them, Mirror Fox
included, swallowed their grins.
     Above, on the parapet, Gorebash smiled, and turned to the
rookery door.

     The Eagle-headed child knew that the rookery was only a place
for disobedient young gargoyles to go to be humiliated and humbled.
He was beyond care at his own humiliation. He stumbled on the
steps, and sometimes tripped over his tail again and again, falling
down in frustration and anger onto the stone steps.
     In his mind, he cursed himself. Why wasn't he like all the
others? Why didn't he look just like they did? Why did they treat
his so differently?
     Deep down inside, he knew why. If he were not now a gargoyle
and impervious to the coolness of the rookery, he might have
shivered. He held his arms, and slid down against one wall,
allowing his wings to sit cockeyed around him.
     The memories were still clear in his mind. The incredible
white sorceress Fey who mixed her blood with his own to bring him
back to life even as he lay dead. He remembered the time when he
did not look strange. He had been a fair skinned young boy.
     A human boy.
     The child closed his eyes, and remembered their faces. Mirror
Fox, Obsidiana, Lex, Lysander, they were all such a strange
discovery to him... so like himself it seemed at first. Now he knew
he would never be like them. He was different.
     He remembered, for just a flash of a moment, his mother's
face. Terra Christine Kirkland Shelton, a face from another world,
so full of anguish upon hearing the news that her son was dead.
Michael Alexander Shelton, his father, a monument of strength, the
face that did not mourn, but the child could feel his broken heart.
     That was the price he had paid to keep his life. His family,
his life, even his own body. He bore an eagle's head and eagle's
wings to remind him of them, of the price he had paid to buy back
his life from the tail of the scorpion that had stung him as he
struggled to save her.
     Stumbling drunkenly, he completed the journey to the base of
the steps. Here, he tripped on a outgrown root, and fell again,
barely catching his own fall once more before he hit the rock.
     He stopped, and looked again. It wasn't a rock. Too smooth,
too white, too round.
     It was an egg.
     The entire cavern below was filled with eggs of all sizes.
Small white ones, to large green ones with blue splotches.
     Amazed, his humiliation forgotten, he explored the rookery
with anxious anticipation, curiosity ablaze.
     A blaze of flame brought the eagle-child's attention suddenly
about. Lord Gorebash stood at the base of the steps, watching him.
The eagle child was so startled, he fell to his knees, which dug
into the soft dirt floor.
     Gorebash nodded to the eggs. A bit of fire lit a small
brazier, and the eagle-child could see into the egg. Illuminated
from without, the eagle-child could make out a small winged figure,
moving slowly.
     The child gasped with wonder. Gargoyle eggs! Might he have
come from one of these, had he not been born of humans? What must
it be like to be born of an egg?
     Gorebash smiled, lowering his head beside him. "Pretty, aren't
they?"
     "Yeh... yes milord. Beautiful even." he stuttered nervously.
     "I often come here when I am troubled. The gargoyles believe
this is a holy place."
     "It must be."
     There was silence for a moment.
     "You miss them, don't you?"
     Images of the eagle-child's human parents danced before his
mind. Somehow, Gorebash spoke of them.
     "Yes." the eagle-child began to cry.
     Gorebash rested his large head near the small child. "Then
cry. It is good to cry for those we have lost."
     The eagle child looked at his four taloned paws. He grasped
them before his face, cried out in anger, and wept.
     Gorebash stayed with the little one until the dawn came.

     Eagle took in a deep breath of the dense rookery air.

     *Sister... where are you?*

     Only silence answered his waiting mind. The Eagle-headed
gargoyle, a decade older, sat down on the steps, and shed a tear
once more.

                            *   *   *

     The attack came without warning. Lex and Kai gave the first
warning, and the gargoyles scrambled madly. They attacked in a
single wave, like battle charge. The arrows were timed perfectly,
and the gargoyles were driven back beyond the castle walls.
     A single magical energy sparked in the air, and the gates of
Castle Gorebash exploded in brilliant fire. Gargoyles and humans
alike were thrown back from the walls, some to be thrown to the
courtyard below and buried with rubble.
     The archers and swordsmen entered slowly, and the rain of
their arrows was terrible.
     In minutes, what gargoyles could not take to the air were
surrounded, and human and gargoyle alike were forced to give their
surrender.
     Castle Gorebash had fallen in minutes, and it's inhabitants
taken prisoner.

     Mirror Fox coughed haggardly, kneeling down on the floor of
the gargoyle's secret cave to the north. Something still burned his
throat.
     "How many other were killed in the magical blast that took out
the gates?"
     "We lost Gain, Camille, and several others."
     "The humans lost more."
     "The castle has been taken?"
     "Who are these men?"
     "How can anyone have that kind of magic? The gate was
protected by sorcery as well as by gargoyles!"
     "How many of the enemy are outside of the castle."
     Mirror Fox stood, and addressed the crowd with a sullen
expression. "What about Lysander... or Eagle? Has anyone seen
them?"
     All the faces, some torn and bleeding, nodded with downcast
expressions.
     "The rings." Mirror Fox concluded. "The enemy has the rings."
     "A brilliant observation, my young hosts." gloated a new
voice. The gargoyles turned suddenly, to find themselves pinned
down by two black skinned gargoyles with red glowing eyes carrying
crossbows, one male and one female. "However, it will not save you
from us now."
     "Who are you?!!!" Lex demanded fiercely.
     "We are Macaren and Lisonja. We are here for the Eagle-child."
     "He is not among us."
     "Then we will dispose of you all before we kill him."
                      *     Lysander     *
     Another good one, Brother. Lex really wants to read it now. 
I wish to read hers as well. But anyway........ I like........
I like. 

* turns on walkman, and hums as she begins*
*************************************************************
     Her eyes Adjusted slowly. The blow to the head she had taken
had blurred her sight. Or maybe it was the slash across her face
from unseen claws. She placed her hand up to her face, and found
the blood. and then, lost, alone, and frightend by the words of her
captor, she cried out, trying to reach him, Eagle, Her friend

He sat for a while, wondering, when he heard her, finally, Crying
in his mind.
     * Brother, Help, Please....* 
     * SISTER!! Where are you? What is going on!! *
     * I know not!! I can't see. something slashed me, my face.....
Like the red streaks on the Mask Of the Hunter*
     * where are you?!* 
     * i don't know.... Somewhere dark. You have to Tell Gorebash!!
And Invasion!!*
     * invasion? From where? From who?*
     * They are.....*
     * sister? sister!!*

     He called, but could not reach her. something was wrong!! He
rushed as fast as he could out of the rookery....... To find
everything in Ruin.
     " What the devil..?" 
     " look!! there He is!! It Must be the one the Master wants!!
Get Him!"
     Eagle looked in time to see two dark headed Gargoyles coming
for him. he jumped up, Catching the wall with his talons, and
reaching a good hieght, took off for the Clan cave.

     She opened her eyes, and found herself in a brightly lit room.
The lights made her eyes hurt, and she cried out.
     " RRRRRAAAAACCCCCCCK!!!" The sound caused the one who sat at
the table to turn, and see her struggling against the chains that
bound her.
      " Ah. so the little Devil's spawn is awake. Now the fun
begins" He smiled, and rose, speaking into a strange contraption on
his Wrist. 
     " Yes. Selorn, she is awake. yes, I will. Right away, sir" He
pushed something on it, and smiled.
     " well, Little one, You are to meet my master. He wishes
to...... Speak with you" He pushed something on the wall, and two
gargoyles, Black in color, and very Burly compaired to the small
white Lysander, entered.
     " take her To Selorn."

     Eagle landed above the cave, and heard sounds below.
*******************************************************
Enjoy!
Lysander
                   *     Eagle of Arabia     *
     * Oh, bother. This on is *tough*. I've already written one
version and dumped it because it was too cheesy. Can you tell that
the author of this is in desperate need of a girlfriend? <GRIN!>
Okay... it's gonna be hard to show you up on this one... lemme
think this one through... * <snaps knuckles in his talons, puts on
a disc of Star Wars, flexes his talons, and then begins with...>
     Ever wonder how we type on plastic keys with talons that tear
steel? I sure have.... <grin>
                            *   *   *
     There were blood marks on the floor, splattered in a regular
pattern in the dirt. Selorn had marked several odd designs in the
cave floor with blood, chanting as she went. Lysander was shackled,
and being forced to kneel before the sorceress, as she pounded out
her designs on the floor.
     The chamber was filled with ebony-skinned Gargoyles. They were
Selorn's attendants, guards, slaves, and sorcerers. Every female
was tall, strong built, highly intelligent and beautiful. Each of
the males were muscular, and incredibly powerful. Not one of them
spoke without permission, and every single one looked like the next
one...
     Except for two, the ones called Macaren and Lisonja. The stood
with disdainful expressions, watching the sorceress hag pound out
her designs in the dirt with mild patience. Upon Selorn's
completion, they handed Selorn Lysander's two small jade rings, and
demanded payment for them. The hag gave the two a small vial of
liquid, and the two vanished in a plume of magic.
     The knarled hag motioned for Lysander to be placed within the
midst of her blood marked designs. Lysander knew better than to be
dragged into this, and struggled violently. The black gargoyles
lifted her off the ground, and they her forcefully back down in the
middle of the runes, spraining her ankle. She moaned for a moment
about her ankle, before realizing she was exactly where they wanted
her to be.

     Lysander returned from patrol with Mirror Fox to find the
castle in utter chaos. Human and gargoyle males were running about
shouting about weapons and defenses, while the females shouted
about gargoyle eggs and the rookery.
     The rookery? What about the rookery? Lysander wondered.
Curious, she descended the long steps with the bustling humans and
other gargoyles to find out what was happening. She stumbled onto
a very intriguing scene.
     Eagle and Lex stood side by side, directing the organization
of thousands upon thousands of gargoyle eggs of varying sizes and
ages into rows and pathways throughout the wide caverns of the
rookery. One small corner contained the eggs of this own rookery,
which some of the gargoyles were guarding vigilantly.
     Lysander approached her companions. "What goes on here, my
sibs?"
     "We discovered this large cache of gargoyle eggs in the caves
to the distant east. They were in danger there by gargoyle egg
eating Gnomes." Eagle reported.
     "Eagle's magic transported them here, and we are safely
stowing them before the attackers arrive."
     "Attackers? Gnomes?" Lysander inquired. Eagle nodded.
     "They have slaughtered Lex and I both this night past. Only a
sorcerous link kept us both alive. What one feels, the other
resounds."
     Lysander scowled. "Then any blows against either of you count
for you both?"
     Lex and Eagle nodded. "The spell was not by our choice."
     "Then there must be a way to break it." Lysander mused.
     "Enough time for that later." Eagle added. "For now, this
battle must be won."
     "From what gargoyles came these eggs?"
     "No one knows. There must be a great many clans to produce
this many!"
     Lysander watched the organization of the eggs, curiosity
flowing.

     Eagle swooped away from the mouth of the cave. There was not
a sign of life inside, and the tracks led away from Castle
Gorebash. He followed them stealthily, as not to be heard or seen.
     Suddenly, in midflight, he barreled over with a cry of pain.
"Aauugh!" he groaned. Suddenly, he recovered his flight. He was not
hurt.
     Lex.
     She was somewhere near. He and his rookery sister had been
linked in a magical battle long ago, that Eagle had begun in order
to save Lex's life.
     Ever since the clan had tolerated him, if not look up to him.
He had been ready to give his life in exchange for his sib's, and
came away with both.
     She must be near. Blows against them only counted against them
both at close range. Carefully, Eagle scanned the tracks he was
following. They vanished by a small roll in the hills.
     Eagle found a hidden cave under a cleft here.
     *Sister?*
     Her voice remained silent.
     What had happened to her?

     Lysander stood before her queen.
     "Destroy the eagle-headed child." Selorn commanded.
     In the midst of the dark runes, Lysander nodded, and turned.
She had been unshackled, and now departed unmolested to do her
queen's bidding. If you could see her by the bare torch light, one
could see her flesh turning dark as charcoal as her eyes hung empty
in their sockets...
                      *     Lysander     *
Ooooooo!!! I Like!!! I like!!! I am in the middle of reading the
one from you and Lex. But I like this new twist....... Always
wondered how it felt to be evil.
*Pushes Play button on Walkman, and starts humming along*
(*************************

     He entered the dark cave Crawling , calling her name.
     "Lex? Lex is that you?" He heard a moan, and crawled further.
the cave was small, and hard to fit in, unless, Like Lex, you were
small.
     " Eagle......?" She whispered quietly. " Eagle is it really
you?"
     " Yes, Sib. It's me. What happened?" He asked, and then he saw
the trailing blood.
     " LEX!!" He saw her then, curled up, wings around her......
Shivering. She was a mess. But Strangely, there was something about
the way she continued to breath that made him More at ease. He
picked her up, and crawling as carefully as he could, left the
Cave.

     Unseen to any in the night, she sniffed the air. She knew the
scent of the one she hunted, and She looked for it in the night.
But as she walked into the moonlight, one could see she was already
almost raven black. She looked the same, except for the blackening
skin, and the Strange look in her eyes. Almost as is she were of
the walking dead. She used the shadows, hiding silently in the,
walking carefully, so not to make a sound. Then, as she neared the
fallen castle, she caught it. Her tail twitched, and her eyes
gleamed in evil purity. but, still, in the back of her mind, the
voices kept speaking.
     ' He is your Brother!! And your only true friend!!! you should
not do this'
     ' the Queen wishes it. What the Queen says, I must do.'
     'NO!!! she is not your Queen!! She is an evil witch'
     She blocked out the lesser of the two voices. it had slowly
been growing quieter, this strange voice that asked her to disobay.
Then, in the night, she saw a form cross the moon. and she smiled
, her pointed canines showing. It was time for the Hunt!

     As Eagle flew Lex to the Castle for hiding, He looked down,
and though for a moment he caught a glimpse of a white gargoyle
covered in mud. 
     ' Lysander? But......'
     She looked strange, so he deciced to dodge thie gargoyle, as
she might be dangerous. If he had only known..........
************************************************
enjoy!
Lysander
                   *     Eagle of Arabia     *
CM=>Always wondered how it felt to be evil.

     So have I -- which is why I regretted Lex not letting me turn
evil in our little peice, but oh well -- another day's adventure,
perhaps.
     *He flips his stereo to TAPE with his middle talon, and puts
in the computer enhanced Ace of Base tape* Ah! Dancer in a
Daydream... (okay, I'm a weird mood)

     In your dream
          A girl is dancing
close to you
     Once a witch
          made her sleep
but the prince
     to wake her up
          is you.
                            *   *   *
     Eagle landed in a tree somewhat precariously. He gently laid
his sister down there. "Stay here for a minute."
     "What is it?"
     "See those two gargoyles down there?"
     "Yes... they are dark like our enemies."
     Eagle weighed that bit of information for a moment, before
continuing. "See the one with the muddy white wings?"
     "Yes."
     "I think that's Lysander. She may be captured, _stay here_."
     Eagle swooped down with a rush of his feathery wings.

     *SISTER! IS IT YOU?* A voice exclaimed in Lysander's mind. It
was a weak voice, and she could make any sense of it, so she
ignored it.
     With suddenly fury, Lysander's prey smashed her hunting
companion into the cliff wall. Stone crumbled where she hit the
wall. The Eagle headed gargoyle turned to her for a moment.
     Lysander snarled, prepared to attack.
     The Eagle-headed gargoyle's features twisted in surprise, then
horror.

     Her eyes were absolutely hollow -- there was NOTHING left in
her eye sockets. Her black companion looked much the same, except
the black color covoring Lysander had not finished it's work yet.
     *SISTER! IT IS I!*
     Lysander roared, and charged.
     Eagle tightened his Gi, and dropped to defensive posture. "I
*have* been practicing."
     Lysander only growled.
     Their paws met in midair. Eagle suddenly grabbed one of
Lysander's elbows. She attempted to resist, but with quick reflexes
Eagle took her elbow, and tossed her aside into the stone wall.

     Lysander was still capable of astonishment. She had never been
beaten! *ESPECIALLY* not by her quarry. She spread her wings and
roared again in fury, charging.
     Eagle stooped to one foot, and braced the other to Lysander.
Before Lysander could react, Eagle's foot was planted in her
abdomen, and Eagle once again threw her.
     "This is impossible." He muttered. "I've never beaten you
before."
     Lysander growled. SHE WAS NOT BEATEN YET! She picked herself
from the ground again.
     Eagle bounced back on one foot, and brought the other sharply
into Lysander's face. Eagle swung at her, but she caught his wrist
in both hands.
     Eagle cursed. Number thirteen again.
     With all the force he could, he swung down his other fist
against Lysander, while bringing up his knee as Lysander had before
instructed him.
     One of Lysander's paws lost it's grip. Eagle brought both
hands up suddenly, breaking her grip.
     Instincts that were not even his took over. Fast as lightning,
he bought his fist across Lysander's face and back again with his
barbed elbow leaving a streak of blood across her face. He bounced
again on the balls of his feet, and struck her mid stomache. When
she bent over, Eagle swung his arm around her neck, and locked that
arm with the other, and began to drag Lysander backwards.
Lysander's blood failed to reach her brain and she fainted.
     The other black gargoyle attacked again, and Eagle was thrown
to the ground again. Eagle screamed his high pitched cry, but it
was unneccessary.
     Her arms wide and her wings fluttering, Lex kicked the other
gargoyle across the head again from the air. When the black
gargoyle hit the cliff again, it stayed down.
     Eagle was looking at something else. In the brush there was a
massive heat signature. Eagle moved toward it, eyes aglow.
     The two hidden black warriors attacked. Lex intercepted one,
Eagle the other.
     "How many of these things are there?" Eagle shouted to Lex.
     "There could have been thousands that attacked us at the
castle!"
     Eagle quickly swiped his foot talons across the chest of one
before it swung viciously at Eagle. The punch hit Eagle across his
cheek, and Lex and Eagle both stumbled, holding their faces.
     Eagle snarled, and burst forward again. He swung as thought to
punch the one that had hit him, but instead Eagle's spiked knee
found the black male's soft spot. When it doubled over, Eagle
cuffed both paws and struck it across it's back.
     Lex doubled both her fists, and swung at the other remaining
gargoyle's face. It responded by nearly swiping Lex in the wings
with it's talons. Lex snapped her tail around fluidly, and the
black monstrosity fell and hit it's head on sharp rock that had
once been a part of the nearby rock cliffside.
     Eagle snagged Lex's hand. She was still battered, bruised,
bleeding, and sweating as it was. Eagle had not even broken a
sweat. "Let's grab Lysander and get out of here before anything
else happens."
                            *   *   *
     "I may one of the better fighters in the clan, sister. But
like that? I have to think through my attacks, but only Lysander
knows them all by heart. She's the one with the brown belt, you
know." Eagle contested.
     "I don't care. You always bested me. Don't be so modest, my
brother. You are the best in the clan next to Lysander herself."
she protested, adding in a somewhat annoyed tone. "You even bested
Kai at the last tourney."
     "But not like this." Eagle said, looking at the blood on his
talons. "The only one who could even do them so quickly without
thinking was Lysander. It's almost as if, for a moment, I was..."
     The two looked at the fallen gargoyle in Eagle's arms.
Lysander's head was propped up on Eagle's arm, as her wings and
tail hung down. For a moment, Eagle thought, and then held her
closer so that her slowly blackening face was against his Gi.
     *Sister? Can you hear me?*
     *YES! YES, I CAN SPEAK NOW! She has been silenced for the
moment.*
     *How is it you could not speak before?*
     *There is some sort of _presense_ in my mind -- something with
more will than I -- I cannot overpower it. It is... too strong. I
could not best it.*
     Her admission sounded almost like a deep confession.
     *The realm of the mind is a very different battle feild than
you are used to.*
     *Is there some way you could help me?*
     Eagle sighed. *I don't know how, but somehow I know it is
possible.*
     *THEN DO IT!*
     *Very well.* Eagle sighed again. He closed his eyes.

     The wind suddenly rose as they glided. Lex felt it happen,
deep inside her own heart. It was a very physical sensation.

     Eagle blinked his eyes open for a moment, and was so startled
he nearly dropped Lysander. He stared at Lysander's face in
complete bafflement. He suddenly dived, and touched down onto the
rocks below. Lex, furious, followed.
     Eagle set Lysander down, and looked at his talons. "What
sorcery is this?"
     Eagle, almost afraid of what he would find, felt his face. It
was covored with feathers, as always.

     Eagle screamed. "OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! What did you do?!!!"

     Lysander stirred, and snarled at the noise.

     Eagle ran his hands along his Gi and his legs in shock.
Lysander stood up again.

     Lysander screamed, and held her head in pain.

     *GET OUT OF MY MIND, CURSED DEMON-SPAWNED BOY!*

     Selorn's voice echoed in Eagle's mind. Lysander roared again.
     "Impossible!" Eagle breathed. Lex, anxiously watched him.
     "What? What is it?"
     "Eagle..." Eagle said, "he's fighting her in MY mind. I'm in
HIS mind!"

     Lex blinked, and touched Eagle on the shoulder. "Lysander?"
                      *     Lysander     *
OOOOOOO!!! I like. You have talent, My brother. And I think some of
it may be rubbing off on me!! OKay, i just spent Twenty minutes
studying what you sent me. I think I have it now.
* turns on Discman* Dad Fixed it. Then Leo broke  my walkman.*hums
wioth the music.
               ***********************************
     She looked at Lex...... And Almost Fainted. Eagle had
done...... Something, and she now found herself in HIS body. And he
was in hers....
     She looked at the Beast she had been, and almost started to
cry. But she could not let tears stain the feathers of her brother,
especially if they were not cried by him.

     Eagle was suddenly aware of what had happened when they had
lost her that night..... It replayed in the mind of the creature
who was inseide her with him..... The spell, the blood... they had
used HER blood to work the spell. It was the owning of the Blood
that bound the creature. It screamed again, it's shrill cry ringing
through him. And he smiled.

(This was gonna be a GOOD story someday.)

     Lex and Eagle.... But it was not Eagle... 
     Lex was now thuroughly confused. Eagle was fighting a .....
Thing in Lysander's body, and Lysander was....... In his? This was
getting to be too much!

     She felt again the Feathers..... and the Beak, and was in Awe
once again. He had done this somehow. And now he was in her body
fighting the thing that had kept her at bay, almost killing
him..... almost killing her. It screamed again.
     * YOU BLASTED DEVIL BOY!! GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!!*
     It sounded like a gargoyle child screaming for the touch of a
clan mother. 
     He stood, and growled.
     *COME OUT, AND FIGHT!!!!! *
     * WHY? I WILL JUST KILL YOU, AND THEN YOUR LITTL FRIENDS!!!*
     Eagle started to ponder that, then realized the diversion, and
growled again. 
     * WHY DO YOU NOT FIGHT!!!! COWARD!!* 
     And then, he could feel it, and the fighting began.
               **********************************
     I know it may not be the best, But...........
     You can werk with it, I know. You are soo good at that.
Lysander
                  *     Eagle of Arabia      *
     Always a pleasure, milady. I hope Lex is feeling better soon.
*Turns on his Ace of Base tape*
                           *    *    *
     A single beam of light shined inside of Lysander's mind. Out
of that light a gargoyle charged forward. Eagle flared his wings.
The dark form of Black-Lysander before him screamed with fury at
him.
     * WHY DO YOU NOT FIGHT!!!! COWARD!! * 
     Eagle snarled.
     * Then I fight. KAI! *
     With that one word of challenge, Eagle feigned a thrust with
his fist, but instead swung his tail under the legs of the figure.
     Why was he fighting Lysander?
     For that matter, Eagle thought, where was he?
     Only a moment ago he was standing atop a rocky hill with Lex.
Lysander... she had been trapped under spell inside her own mind,
as another had control of her.
     Now Eagle was in her place. He had known he could help. Now he
was fighting the battle. Battle for what? For control of Lysander's
mind...
     Before the figure could react, the skills Eagle had tried so
long to learn kicked in, and he took Lysander by the neck in a
lock. Lysander tried to fight him as he locked his arms around her
neck. He pulled back...
     She would not move. It was if she had suddenly grown larger...
     Lysander was expanding... growing larger... Eagle found
himself only knee high to her. Black Lysander made a fist, and
began to swing at Eagle. He made a quick dive for temporary safety.

     "Are you okay?" Lex inquired when she would not answer.
     Eagle shook his head, fighting back tears. "I'm... fine..."
     "Lysander?" Lex asked again.
     "Hm?" Eagle responded. "Yes... it's me... Lysander."
     Lex was agape. "Where is Eagle, then?"
     "He's not here..." Eagle turned to the convulsing figure of
Lysander. "He must be there... fighting the spell."
     Lex looked over at Lysander. "Great. How do we help him?"
     Eagle leaned his head back, against a rock, his beak opening
and closing with harsh breaths. "It's so different... in here..."
     Lex, concern welling up inside her, placed on paw on Eagle's
knee, and looked into his eyes. "How is it?"
     "It's fine... just different. I can't believe how different it
is. There's so many things in here..."
     Eagle closed his eyes, thinking, remembering. Occasionally he
winced at something.

     A woman with a smooth face and large green eyes. A fey with
her finger extended towards Lysander. A mirror with a very young
Eagle reflected in it, with a horrified expression.
     He... he used to be *human*! It was all here! Memories of
human parents, an old and younger sister, his mother's death.
     A small stone figure appeared before Lysander's mind's eye. It
was the day! He remembered the day! The sun... *oh, the sun!*...
The little gargoyle statue was about to be destroyed... Lysander
rushed forward and saved it, but stepped in a nest of Stingers, and
died...
     Eagle's memories! He remembered a clan he had joined after his
metamorphosis. How had he been changed? There was gargoyle girl
here... with blue hair...
     An image froze before her mind, as that girl absorbed the shot
Eagle's father was firing at Eagle, sacrificing herself for him.

     Eagle began to cry suddenly, grasping his face with his paws.
     "What is it?" Lex asked. 
     "It's so sad... no wonder... it all makes perfect sense... why
he did everything he ever did... he would never choose one member
of the clan to court... he still moured for her! Always remembering
that day... the day she died in his arms... my arms..." Lysander
rambled senselessly, tears rolling.
     Who's tears were these? Hers alone? Or the same ones Eagle had
shed every night for a thousand nights?

     There was a sudden roar from behind. Black Lysander tundered
about, as though swatting at a fly. He alighted on Black Lysander's
shoulder, diggin his claws into her flesh.
     She howled angrily, and swatted harder. With his talon, he
found the exact spot, the right nerve, grasped the black flesh in
his talon, and clamped down hard.
     Dizzily, Black Lysander began to stumble as she slapped at
Eagle forcefully. But her held on, firmly entrenched in her flesh.
Dizzily, the titanic figure collapsed.
     Then it decomposed to it's normal size. Eagle swatted it's
head once again, for good measure. It stayed down.
     She must be the spell -- the Black Lysander was the spell he
was fighting. He had to break the spell. He had to kill the Black
Lysander.
     But he held back. It was... it was Lysander none the less...
he couldn't bring himself to kill her.

     Lysander fell to the ground, and was still. Eagle was still,
almost unconcious, yet still audibly weeping. Lex sighed. What was
going on with these two?
     Lysander sighed. Her color was returning to normal! Lex dashed
over, and touched her shoulder cautiously. "Lysander?"
Lysander's eyes were unforcused as they opened, but they quickly
sharpened.
     "Lex?" she asked quietly.
     "Yes?"
     "I killed her."
     "What? Who?"
     "I killed Lysander. I... I couln't believe I did it. It broke
the spell."
     Lex blinked. "Eagle?"
     "What, sister?"
     "Lysander is over there."
     Lysander looked over at Eagle, where he sat hunched over,
crying, his wings sagging. Lysander gasped, and clasped her paws
over her mouth. She gasped, and felt her throat.
     "Mm... My voice! It's..."
     Lex watched Lysander's reactions carefully. Lysander touched
her face.
     It was smooth.
     She touched her hair.
     She _had_ hair.
     She ran her hands along her side from arm level down to her
waist, looking with an astonished look at herself. "Sweet stars!
I'm a... I'm... I'm..."
     "You are Lysander." Lex concluded.
     Lysander looked up at Lex dubiously. "We... must have traded
places with the other when I began to fight the spell for her."
     "Can you get back to yourself."
     Lysander shook her head. "I... I don't know how. It seemed so
clear before, but it was gone after I broke the spell."
     "The bridge." Eagle added.
     The two females looked at him.
     "The other spell must have been forming a portal in the spell
that bridges our minds together, a portal to let the spell control
myself, you had learned how to use the same portal to allow us to
slide through."
     "How do you know that?" Lysander asked. "I don't even know
that."
     "It's... in here. I remember everything you do, everything you
know, everything you think... I'm thinking."
     Lysander stuttered. "So... so am I. I remember..." she closed
her eyes. "Your birthing, your battles, your youth, your friends,
your times with Mirror Fox..."
     "How is *that* possible? You should have switched those things
as well!" Lex protested.
     "Perhaps it is only our sense of who we are, our own
indiviuals, our will power that the spell fought against, and so
that is what was switched." Eagle concluded.
     Lysander sighed. "This will have to wait. Castle Gorebash is
besieged, and there is sill that witch out there with her troops of
mindless gargoyles under her power."
     "Are you two really in any condition to fight?" Lex protested.
     "I... the things that you've been feeling since the spell was
cast on me, was Lysander's very skill, all her battle training,
starting to filter into my mind through the portal. Now the portal
is gone. I still have all my skills." Lysander said.
     "A part of it is still here." Eagle added. "I can tell,
because it feels like me."
     Lex growled and clasped the side of her head with frustration.
"ALRIGHT! I give up. Whatever you say. We've got to save the
castle. How do we do that?"
     Lysander looked at Eagle, who returned the gaze. It was like
looking in a mirror, or having a strange sense of deja vu, seeing
your own eyes.
     * Sister? *
     * I know... don't ask. I don't even know what to name myself
now. *
     * Nor do I. We will find a way to reverse this when we return.
*
     * Yes, but I'd be more comfortable if I had a name for myself
and yourself. I keep wanting to call you Eagle, but I should call
you by my own name, sib. *
     * Yes, sister. Although I do not wish to live within a form
that is not my own, for the minute I see no other alternative.
There are much more important things at hand. *
     * Agreed. If you wish. *
     * You shall be Tigris. That is the name of the old friend that
gave her life for you so long ago. *
     * I do not remember. *
     * Well, I do. *
     * Very well then. I am Eagle within Lysander, called Tigris.
What shall your name be... for now... for the impending battle? *
     * Hmmm... *
                      *     Lysander     *
     I Promised i would write before i went to bed. well, here
goes. it may not be the best, but then, i had a tiring day, and am
half awake as i type. also, i have a killer headache. but, i am a
Good little Trooper, and will get this done for you. *smiles*

     * Puts on soothing rainstorm tape, and takes a couple of
Advil, then begins writing*
                 ******************************
     *Hmmmm........*
     Lysander in Eagle stod silent for a moment, then, smiled. 
     * I will be Shagra, For I read in old books deep ion the
library that he was a Hero to the humans.*
     * Ah, So then that is it. I am Tigris, and you are Shagra. let
us Fight, Sister.*
     * yes, to the battle, and Welcome the victory.*

     Soon, Three forms slipped into the night. Lex was still
confused, but Eagle/Lysander and Lysander/Eagle had made up their
minds. they wanted to find the one who had cast the spell upon
Lysander. Selorn. And they wanted to be called new names, until
they were in their rightful bodies. Lysander/ Eagle wanted to be
called Tigris, and Eagle/Lysander wanted to be called Shagra. She
sighed, and loked ionto the night. they were heading tword the way
Lysander rememebred coming this way when she was under the spell. 
     " It was just over the rise that the dark place was......
Under ground.........." Shagra called in a whispering tone.
     " Allright, Sib" Tigris called back in the same whispering
tone. Lex was still quite confused.

     They flew over the hill, and saw it then. A Wide hole in the
side of a hill. they landed, and Shagra looked inside. 
     " It is dark, and I cannot see far. But I can smell...... FOX!
" He yelled, and tears came to his eyes. " They have our Clan
Members.... In there...... "
     " Then we must go in, and get then out." Tigris said, placing
a hand on Shagra's shoulder. 
     " Who Goes first?"
                    ************************
     Not much, but i am falling asleep at the Keys. I hope it is
enough for now, as I really wanna get a nap. G'night, Brother. and
MOON TO THINE BACK, AND WIND TO THINE WINGS!! Safe Journies!
Lysander
                   *     Eagle of Arabia     *
Ly=> I Promised i would write before i went to bed. well, here
Ly=>goes. it may not be the best, but then, i had a tiring day, and
Ly=>am half awake as i type. also, i have a killer headache. but,
Ly=>i am a Good little Trooper, and will get this done for you. 

     *laughs* that's okay -- I didn't want to slave drive you or
anything.

Ly=> * Puts on soothing rainstorm tape, and takes a couple of
Ly=>Advil, then begins writing*

     *laughs again* Gargs on advil *shudders* I could hardly
believe it -- I was dreaming about the Chat Room last night. Kai
and I were standing there talking about pens and controlled
substances. *shudders again* Are we using the same rainstorm tape?
*shrugs, changes the CD, and suddenly...*
                            *   *   *
     The black wraiths of gargoyles lay sprawled out on the floor.
If they had voices, they would probably be moaning.
     Selorn was in a tirade. "WHERE IS SHE? WHY HAS SHE NOT
RETURNED?!!!"

     "Okay. So to get through the gargoyles we have to take out the
sorceress. In order to take out the sorceress we have to get
through the gargoyles. I love this plan already." Lex muttered.
     Shagra's eyebrows furrowed, as she considered their options,
and Tigris preferred to stand guard over them both.
     "Tigris?" Shagra inquired. "Will you switch me for my belt?"
     With a puzzled expression, Tigris drew the brown belt that
marked her battle skill from about her waist, and handed it to
Shagra, who in turn handed Tigris his own purple belt to her.
     "What is the meaning of this action?"
     "When I last went in there, I was a brown belted warrior."
Shagra continued. "However, if I am no longer under their spell,
and a demoted to purple, it will cause confusion at the very least.
I simply want to create some chaos."
     "Are you planning on mowing through them all?" Lex asked, "are
you nuts?"
     "No. Tigris is going to go in ahead of us. She will act as
though still under the incantation."
     "She no longer has the black color -- they will notice."
     "But why then would she still be under their control? It will
confuse them enough that their attention will be on her. Then we
sneak in behind."
     Her eyes widening, Lex nodded with comprehension. Tigris took
a deep breath, and sprung up, to enter the cavern.
     She flared her wings, and her tail twitched viciously for a
moment, and then her countenance became dull and witless. She began
to walk inside. She was an excellent actor.
     Shagra's tail was curled around a rock, and Lex was curious if
the rock would shatter as she tightened around it nervously.
     The anxiety rose.

     The wraiths moved aside as Tigris entered the witch's lair.
Another question entered her mind, but she did allow the thought to
cross her features. Did she still have her magic?
     She had been changed once in the past, while still Eagle, and
his blood had been mixed with that of a fae -- giving him some
magical talents. Who was to say if he had or had not lost this.
     As Tigris moved forward, she happened to notice cracks in the
stone of this particular cavern. Despite the hardened layers of
sediment that had formed stalactites and stalagmites, cracks were
forming in their layers. It would not take much to bring this
cavern down.
     Tigris approached the erected dais where the sorceress, the
Wraith Queen sat. Blood had dried into elaborate patterns on the
cave floor.
     * Blood magic, Brother! I know you have knowledge of these
things. *
     * You knew that blood magic works by mixing inherent energies
and magic within a person's blood with dark powers. *
     Tigris did not enter the marked spaces, but stood before the
queen.
     * What else? I need to know my magic training. What was the
incantation for the single directed burst release?"
     * Fulminous Benite. *
     * I can't believe I forgot that. *
     * You didn't. I just never knew that. *
     The queen spoke. "So, my child. You have returned? What news
bring you?"
     Tigris did not answer.
     "Why is your coloring returned?"
     Tigris did not answer.
     "Have you completed your task?"
     Tigris nodded.
     The queen rose, walked through the blood marking, and struck
Tigris across the face. Tigris allowed herself to fall to one side.
"You foolish child! The link between the Eagle-child and the Arm-
Wing child is still in force! You must destroy both! Imbecile!"
     * No wonder she needs to have spells on them all to control
them. *
     * We're moving in now. *
     Tigris stood up, to face the queen. * Time to start making
waves. *
     "You would oppose me, child?" the witch asked suddenly.
     Tigris did not answer, still pretending to be under the spell.
     "Just look at your own kind, and try to oppose me."
     Tigris looked. To her left side, behind the erected dais, were
another group of wraith zombie gargoyles. These all looked
different. Suddenly, Tigris realized she was beginning to recognize
some of them.
     Kai? Satana? Klio? FOX?!!!!
     Tigris screamed, wrenching her wings apart, throwing the other
wraiths backwards.
     "FOX!" Tigris cried out, "My love!"
     With a sudden growl of fury, Tigris leapt across the room, and
took Fox in her arms.
     Fox raised his fist, and hit Tigris to the ground. His
coloring was black, and his eyes were hollow sockets. "No! This
cannot be!"
     * TIGRIS? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!! STOP IT!!! *
     Tigris turned to Selorn. "Cursed witch! I am free of your
powers now! Release them all, or I will kill you right now!"
     "Killing me will not release them, you fool! They are
creatures of darkness now. They belong to that which is evil."
     Lysander snapped her wings wide and roared. She dived for the
sorceress queen.
     "FULMINOUS BENITE!" came Eagle's voice. With eyes glowing with
white flame, a burst of fire shot from the tip of Shagra's talon,
bursting against the ceiling. There was a groan, and a crackling
noise, and then a dull roar as the entire ceiling began to come in.
     Tigris tackled the haggard woman with fury. "TURN THEM FREE,
OLD CRONE!"
     The old woman yelped as Tigris's talons found the bone. The
woman had no blood, and the flesh hung from her like ribbons.
     She used her own blood in her spells. She had used it all in
enchanting all these gargoyles. She was a creature of darkness now.
     * That makes no sense. How can she have any power to do
anything? Nothing dead can have power over anything living. You
have to find the source of her power, Tigris! Look for that!"
     Tigris snarled at the woman, who opposed her with her
sorceress rod. Tigris kicked forward and broke through the rod. As
the human stopped to look at the stick, Tigris spun around and
slashed the old witch to the ground, her foot talons scoring across
the witch's bloodless face.
     Tigris grabbed the crone's clothing. Suddenly, there was a
burst of energy, and a sparkling of magic. There, in side the
clothing were two small objects.
     Tigris balled her fist and took the direct approach, punching
through the rubbery bloodless chest of the old witch. There, two
rings with jade stones fell into Tigris's hands. She placed one
over her talon.
     Tigris remembered.
     She held her paw up to the old crone and began to chant.
     "Delivar morinchin yetrivae
          Telemar cun iriat
               marcum te obscruia!"
     With a burst of energy from her paw, she encompassed the old
crone within her power.
     "YOU WANTED ME, OLD WOMAN? WELL, HERE I AM!" Tigris exclaimed.
     The witch began to collapse before his powers. She stuttered,
"You? You are the eagle-headed child?"
     Tigris began to laugh. "I have freed her mind! I will now over
power you! Who are you? What do you want with me? How do I release
them."
     Within the vaporous cloud of magic, the witch hung. Tigris
made a fist and hit her as she hung within the magic. Her face
turned to dust and ashes, and blew away. Then the rest of her
followed, and the magic dissipated. All light in the cavern went
out.
     Her eyes blazing crimson, she almost did not see the other
gargoyle's eyes suddenly blare to life, as they raced at her. There
was a falcon-like battle cry, as another pair of white eyes dropped
from the ceiling, followed by a crimson pair. They stood beside
Tigris.
     Quickly, Tigris handed the other ring to her white-eyed
companion. Shagra put the ring on, and both simultaneously sparked
with energy.
     "Creatures of good! Creatures of evil! Harken you now to my
voice!" Shagra began to chant.
     "Oppose us not! Your queen is vanquished by our very hand!
Stand no longer against us!" Tigris continued the chant.
     "From small and good you arose, and under evil's power wane."
     "Now return to us, hand in hand!"

     The spell was then cast, and the dull glow of the cavern
returned. All of the black gargoyles had fallen to the floor.
Tigris approached their clan mates who had also fallen, taking up
Fox's limp hand.
     "The spell upon them is unbroken. However, they are no longer
under evil's command, but our own." Shagra observed, as Lex
examined the others of their clan with a saddened face.
     "There must be some way to return their free will." Tigris
said hopefully, caressing a black paw.
     "Or to return our own to the correct body." Shagra answered.
     "Who do you suppose they are?" Lex asked, gesturing to the
thousands of other black gargoyles in the cavern.
     "The eggs in the rookery," Shagra concluded. "Must have been
theirs, left behind after they were possessed by the evil queen's
magic."
     "And the gnomes we fought found the abandoned eggs not much
later." Lex concluded.
     "Aye."
     Shagra touched Tigris's shoulder, as she held Fox's hand. "Let
us return."
     Shagra did not know if he should feel vengeful of Fox for all
that Fox had done to him in his youth, or to forget that and love
him still like his brother. It felt so strange feeling like this --
without Fox, so dry. All love was barren in his heart -- torn from
it too many times in the past. Yet, there was so much room for it.
His heart ached to feel it, and it pained him to see the Other
aching from it.
     Tigris was confused. She was not the one who loved Fox? Yet,
she was very deeply in love with him. How could this be? What was
it about love that made it possible for her to now feel another's
love for someone? It was a good feeling -- something she had never
really felt just as powerful as this. Yet, she was sad -- Fox was
gone to her, she had to help him.
     * Sister? *
     * Shagra... I... I... I don't believe it... I... I feel how
much you love him... almost like I love... him... *
     * We'll get this straightened out sooner or later, I promise,
sister. *
     * Oh, I'm so sorry -- these are your thoughts, I should not be
thinking them... *
     Shagra sighed. What could they do.
     * Go ahead -- I don't see any way you can stop yourself from
thinking it forever. Besides, I've probably dug more out of your
mind by now than you ever would have dared tell any person. *
     Tigris blushed.
     * Go ahead, then. *
     * You too. *
     "Let us return to the Castle, then." Tigris muttered, as she
picked up the limp form of Mirror Fox in her arms. "ALL GARGOYLES
UNDER OUR COMMAND! HEAR MY VOICE AND OBEY MY WORD! WE ARE RETURNING
TO CASTLE GOREBASH, TO RECTIFY THE DAMAGE DONE THERE, AND TO FIND
THE WAY TO RETURN YOUR OWN MINDS." she commanded with her magic.
The gargoyles began to file out of the cave.
     Suddenly, Shagra's eyes lit up. "WAIT! That's it!"
     "Eh?"
     "That is how we break the spell! ALL GARGOYLES UNDER MY
COMMAND! HEARKEN NOW TO ME! ACT, SPEAK, AND DO AS YOU WILL, AS YOU
ALWAYS WOULD WERE YOU NO LONGER UNDER THIS SPELL! RETURN TO
YOURSELVES AND THROW OFF THE SPELL UPON YOU, AND RETURN TO YOUR
NORMAL STATE, AS THOUGH NO SPELLS BOUND YOU ANY LONGER!" Shagra
commanded.
     Tigris's eyes widened when she realized what he was doing, and
her expression changed to excitement, when Fox's color returned to
normal, his eyes appeared, and he began to stir in her arms.
     "Ly... Lysander?" he asked, standing up again.
     Tigris's smile fell away. She was not Lysander, but someone
else, an impostor, feeling something not right for her to feel.
Suddenly, she ran from the cave as fast as her feet would carry
her, and burst away into the night with a shrill cry of mourning
and loss.
     Fox watched her go, one paw in the air after her. What had
happened.
     Shagra hung her head. What were they ever going to do?

     The band of over a thousand gargoyles reached the castle only
an hour later. Shagra began to discover they had always lived
around here, living in caves. They had feared the gargoyles of the
castle, because they might have hated them. However, gargoyles of
Castle Gorebash had rescued them, and saved their eggs. They felt
a debt to the gargoyles of the Castle that they would never be able
repay -- they had given them their lives and their children, the
greatest gift they could possibly have given the gargoyles of the
caves.
     The Castle's gate was in ruins, but most of the rest was
relatively sound. Everything appeared to be intact, save for some
wounds and injuries sustained by the humans and gargoyles there
during the battle.
     Gorebash was hanging in the air, watching the clouds of
gargoyles of thousand of shapes, colors, and sizes pour in from all
directions, forming a wide camp around the castle.
     "Where all they coming from, captain? Are they are our
enemies? Our foes were black gargoyles!"
     "I du not know, milord Gorebash!" The captain of the guard
stuttered in bewilderment.
     Suddenly a falcon's cry filled the air, as Shagra banked in on
the wind. "HEY GOREBASH! HEADS UP!"
     With a sudden burst of magic, Shagra did what she'd always
wanted to. She created a whole bunch of it in one hand, and hurled
it at Gorebash. "SPAM ATTACK!"
     It splattered all over his big head, and Shagra roared with
laughter. "SPAMMED YOU!"
     Gorebash lowered his eyebrows, picked up the spam and began to
hurl it back. "Oh yeah, Eagle? Take that!" Gorebash laughed.
     The continued to spam each other in the air, as the gargoyles
of the caves, the gargoyles of the castle, and the humans of the
castle, watched and laughed.
     Shagra grinned.