* Chapter Three: A Time of Great Change * * Lysander * Shagra looked out from on top the battlements that remained of the Castle, watching the others rebuild. It was quite a sight to see, thousands of gargoyles, more than the original clan, all working toward one purpose. Life. He smiled to himself, a silent victory. He had helped a lot on the first half of the night. It had been quite a sound to hear the multitude of gargoyles waking at once, and Gorebash had noted that it sent echoes out through east and west, facing the setting sun. He turned, and saw Necavi limping slightly from the door to his side. "What happened?" He said as he looked at her foot, which was bandaged in white linen which had a slight rose hue in the middle of the wrapping. "Oh, that. Just an incident in the kitchen. Was helping Justyne and Kai in the kitchen just a few minutes ago. Don't worry. I always survive." "Justyne, no wonder.......... stone sleep should heal it. Um, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. Have you seen Lysander?" It felt strange to call that name out loud. For while she was Eagle in body, he was still Lysander in mind and soul. "No, not since yesterday, when........" She trailed off, knowing that it was still a touchy spot for Eagle and Fox. They had argued earlier while working about it. Shagra sighed. There was no way to tell any of the others what had happened. Only he, Tigris, and Lex knew. He wanted so badly to speak with Tigris in his mind, but he knew she felt great pain at the moment, pain that could not be helped with a gentle word. She sat, by the water, and peered in. She was the only one who knew of this spot, this lake in the woods. She had come here often, and yet had not. Inside, Tigris was still Eagle, feeling things he knew were wrong. but outside, she was Lysander, a crying gargoyle who had hurt her one true love, and was in pain from doing so. He knew not what had made her come here, it was as if the body she was in still held a bit of it's true soul's memories. She had not known of this place, and had the feeling none of the others did either. It was her secret spot. A Lake by a cave. He remembered the nights when she had often run off alone, into the night when a human or other member of the clan had said something harsh to her, and how she would not return until ready, often staying away for hours, and sometimes even days. This was where she came. She had found the stone skin inside. Now, he felt worse, because this had been a secret place, but was no longer. She looked into the water, and looked away, seeing her face, instead of her own. She wondered, were these the same kind of tears that she cried now, that she had cried the day Terra had died? Were they the same as the day when the last Elders had passed on? She wondered also, were they the same as her own tears....... * Eagle of Arabia * The surface of the pool was still and clear. Tigris remained there, looking into the pool for hours without relief, as if somehow it might bring relief. She could not look at her reflection, yet stared blankly at it. The thought that shocked her the most was the idea that she might have to accept it -- this was her new truth. She was Lysander, desperately in love with the Mirror Fox. It was... so wrong! When the image changed, she was looking at it, but not seeing it. If she had realized it, she wouldn't have believed it. The image had shifted, her reflection changed. When her thoughts finally coalesced, she was astonished at the vision before her. She was older... leader of her clan... married to Mirror Fox... with a daughter.... ...Tigris shut her eyes suddenly, trying to force the picture out of her mind. No, don't think it! It's impossible. There is still time to repair things before that comes to pass! The image remained, as if burned into her eyes. She looked again at the pool, willing it to show her how to repair the damage before it became... permanent. The image shifted again. "Tigris, where have you BEEN?!!! Mirror Fox is making wedding plans, and you have either got to tell him the truth or *make him _STOP_*!" Shargra exclaimed. "I FOUND IT!" Tigris exclaimed, touching down to the parapet, slipping slightly in the heavy breeze (her wings were lighter than usual). "I've learned of a power that can reverse this... or at least set it right!" "How?" Shagra asked, dubiously. "I... scryed it in a pool of rainwater." she replied, embarrassed. Shagra nodded with an odd expression. "Alright... what did you learn?" "There is a valley far to the eastern north with a temple... where a Diviner can be found who has power to unmix us." "He would help us?" Shagra asked doubtfully. Tigris fumed angrily, her eyes glowing red. "What have *YOU* come up with?" Eagle pulled the heavy volume out of his satchel, flipped open to a page, and began to read. "...such a spell can be used to transfer, or copy segments of a person's personality. However this requires a strong magical base to work from, and a channel designed to carry such energies." "Does it *work*?" "*sigh* No." Tigris turned to the north, about to leap off into the night. She angrily turned back to Shangra. "*Coming?*" Shagra sighed, replaced the book into the satchel, and moved to follow. "LYSANDER!" Mirror Fox's voice echoed across the battlements. "There you are!" Tigris winced. * Eagle of Arabia * No! Not now! Shangra glanced sidelong at Tigris. She covered her eyes with her paws. With a sigh, she turned to face him. "Fox..." He sensed the tension in her voice. "Ly, what's the matter?" She couldn't say it, she didn't have the strength. "There's... something I have to do." Fox's paw touched her shoulder and Tigris realized she felt chills at his touch. "Alright," he smiled, whispering. "I'll see you soon." He turned and left. Tigris stood there for a moment, and turned back to Shangra. Her eyes were pleading and ready to burst. He sighed, and champed his beak. Taking her under wing, he led her out onto the wind. "It'll be alright... and thank you." Shangra sighed. "He's your fiance, not mine. I just understand how much... you love him." "And may you one day love the same way." "I... just have this bad feeling too. I thought it was because he's yours not mine, but now..." "We'll get it worked out." Tigris then, also sighed. * * * The moon was high several quiet nights later, as two gargoyles found themselves gliding over the remains of some kind of old grecian temple. "The humans would have a perilous time getting in here." Shangra observed. "It's been laid with traps." Tigris nodded, distracted. Shangra did not bother her further... it was understandable. They glided for a while longer, until it became obvious that they were closing in on some type of center. "Come... my children..." the voice said, echoing in their minds. The pair glanced at one another -- they had both heard it. the thought filtered between them, but neither knew who had thought it. There was a light below -- a blazing fire in the midst of a rotunda at the center of the ruined temple. Shangra and Tigris glanced at one another. Together, they slowed in to land. There was a white robed figure on the opposite side of the brazier, standing before the dais. The face in the robe was obscured by the shadows. The two warriors, standing shoulder to shoulder, approached the brazier and the figure beyond it. "I know the reason you have come..." Shangra's thoughts echoed clearly in Tigris's mind. "Who are you?" Tigris asked the figure, almost drawn to the sense of strong magic. The figure drew it's hands across the white cloak it wore, a drew off her hood... It was their rookery sister Demeter. "Demi!" Tigris exclaimed, clearly flat footed. "What are _you_ doing here?" Shangra asked, startled. "Filling in!" she replied chipperly. "For whom?" Shangra continued, bewildered. "The seeress who brought you here, of course -- she had the flu. Time of year for it, you know?" The two warrior companions glanced at each other. "You can help?" Shangra pushed. "You knew all along?" "Well, I would have tried to help if only you'd told me a little sooner..." * * * The wedding bells were ringing, the clan was cheering, and Mirror Fox had Lysander for himself. Shayde was busy with her air-propelled projectiles and the screaming was deafening as the pair ran down the aisles. Out through the doors, and off into the night sky they flew. Neither of them noted the lone figure hiding behind the rookery door watching them as they flew into the night, a tear on his cheek. * * * 2 years later * * * "You thrice cursed human bastard!" Fox shouted, and brought his claws down across the feathers of his face. Eagle was thrown backwards and around, down into the mud. His eyes burned angrily white, and there were lines of crimson on his cheek down to his beak. "Leave him alone!" Tigris snarled, eyes turned crimson, interposing herself between Eagle and Fox, bringing her short sword to bear on Fox. Fox's lips curled. "What kind of gargoyle are you? Why can't you use the weapons you were born with? Are you weak?" he snarled. "Are you afraid of my sword?" she spat back. "It increases my range, and prevents me from needing to soil my talons with such acid as your blood!" "Vile creature! Only the strongest of gargoyles will survive me!" "Let us see how weak I am, then!" Then the battle began. The blue colored warrior's feet braced the mud of the courtyard beneath her, and allowed Fox to five at her first. Instinctually, she lunged out with her sword... Eagle stumbled as he moved to get his paws under him. With one paw on his face, he bounded on three limbs across the courtyard. He stopped in front of the other figure, flaring his wings protectively around her. She shivered, clutching her egg. Kitsune Aurora. There was such a pain in Lysander's eyes, contrasted by the desperate fear for her in Eagle's eyes. A dark shadowy figure of Fox's clan dove at Tigris from the back, but was intercepted from the rear by the streaking forms of Madison and White Serpent, growling treachery and deceit as they came. Their rage was crimson, the blood color filled their eyes as the battles commenced on all sides. A dark robed gargoyle-like figure leapt for Lex and young Zack, but Kai was there in an instant. Hudson was on his back with another shadowy figure leaning heavily down upon the quarter staff in his paws and he was loosing his grip, until suddenly a burst of flame gave testament the Foxfire was looking out for her clan members. "Leave him alone, brother! I love him!" Lysander wailed, bursting into tears all over again. "Shangra have faith in your fellow clan member's judgement! You are not the leader any longer, and the clan believes in this decision. Trust us that the council knows what is right, now." Battle snarls erupted from the other side of the courtyard as Siren and Kim leapt into the fray with enthusiasm, unseating a human-like figure from a black stallion: Kim took the horse in hand, while Siren dealt blows with the human who had just pulled his sword from his sheath. Another of the dark minions decided to take a shot for glory, and ran at Eagle, who was busy looking out for Lysander and her egg. He heard the figure racing toward him, turned about, and roared. The dark figure took a swipe at him with his sword, but Eagle took it in hand, and the sword clanked on his talons. Startled the enemy figure watched his talons cut through the metal, and clatter to the ground in pieces. Snarling, Eagle leapt with all the ferocity that Lysander had once been known for. The figure feel back, trying to use his stub of a sword against him. Eagle took him over head, finding him very human like, and slung him into the stone wall, where he crumpled to the ground. The clearly visible forms of Drew, his faced bedecked with grey and red stripes of paint faced off against Shadow. Shadow was unprepared for the attack, and fell back. However, the snap of a bowstring and the sudden drawing of Drew's attention onto a counter-attacker was made by the appearance of Callabrantus, already nocking a second arrow on his bow. "The lord of this castle leaves on his honeymoon with his new bride, one of your very own rookery sisters as his bride, and you betray the lord of this castle with this? What kind of monster are you?" Tigris snarled, back swiping her tail under his legs, and backswiping with her sword at the same time. Unable to dodge both, Fox stumbled with Tigris's tail hit on them. You! One of a clan of feeble idiots far away, how DARE you pretend to present yourself as one of us!" He launched himself forward, trying to force Tigris back. She gave ground, bringing her sword again to bear. "You would now include Eagle a member of your clan? You've always hated him since Lex and the others chose to adopt him after he first came!" Fox did not have the chance to reply, as suddenly billowing flames filled the courtyard. The air rippled, and everyone's lungs filled with steam. Fox was forcefully thrown backwards against the castle wall with a crack. "MIRROR FOX! IS THIS WHAT YOUR LOYALTY MEANS?" thundered a booming voice that shook everyone there. The flames subsided, and the callosal form of Lord Gorebash and his new Lady, sister Satana appeared from the midst of the flames. "BETRAYAL? ANGST? YOU FOOT AS THOUGH YOU WERE NOTHING MORE THAN A DISGRUNTLED CHILD!" Fox picked himself up off the ground, and began to scale the castle wall. He reached the top, and from there glared at the dragon, and all the old and new clan members who had once called him "brother". "I have my own clan now, you overgrown lizard!" he turned to Eagle, now standing between Fox and his love. "Curse you, Eagle! I will enjoy the day you leave here as I do now! Outcast! Rejected! You will suffer! You will..." The only that saved Fox's eye from Callabrantus's arrow was the fact that he suddenly moved aside. With a scream of anger, he flared his wings and dove off the castle wall, heading out to the south. His dark companion fled, following. The clan chased them for a ways, then drew back into the castle. Chessovar was injured, and Klio was helping hold him up as the tried to get him quickly inside. From inside the Castle, Dana, Shade, and Lady Elf suddenly appeared, along side Necavi and Awakener. The gargoyles had been guarding the rookery, and the humans the passages inside the castle. The humans came to Lord Gorebash, as the gargoyles, joined by Jade and Obsidiana took and bound the prisoners. Lysander, who had been watching as her love dived away from the castle, squeezed her eyes closed, and wept anew. Tigris, who had ducked low when she had seen Lord Gorebash's decent, picked herself up from the mud which now covered a large portion of her skin, nodded to the Lord and Lady, and returned to the side of Eagle and Lysander. "You are injured." she observed, indicating Eagle's bleeding face. He relaxed, and leaned against her. "I'll heal in the morning. I've taken his beatings before. Are you hale?" With one fluid motion, she sheathed her sword. "Perfectly." Taking her hair in his paw, Eagle reached over and kissed her. With that, Lysander's tears lessened. Tigris took the woman in her arms, the egg nestled between them. Eagle too took them both in his arms. "Eagle brother! Will you see to Lysander? She must have been hurt the most by this." the clan leader, the blue gargoyle Deneb, asked Eagle. Eagle nodded. He felt Madison place an encouraging paw on his shoulder. "We shall give her of our roost, our love, and our lives milord." Eagle said, nodding. Deneb nodded to Gorebash, who, in turn, addressed the entire clan. "All clan council members assemble. I want to see you. Now." * * * "You know something, love?" Tigris's voice fluttered down the stairwell into the rookery. "We really ought to get ourselves one of these." With a tender paw, she carefully rubbed the click surface of Lysander's egg. She turned to Eagle and gave him that "I'm-cute,- adore-me." look. Eagle smiled in return, nodded in agreeance, but did not reply. Tigris, laughing inside still, was determined to lift this depressed mood that had seemed to cover over him. Upon reaching the base of the stonecut steps and passing through the doorway, she moved to the part of the wall where the straw filled basket bore the wooden name plate "Kitsune Aurora". Tigris, kissing the egg once and leaving it to rest in it's basket, as though it were her very own. Turning back to Eagle, and they stood opposite each other. Of the same height, Eagle seemed a bit small than Tigris's strange mix of feminine power, gargoyle instincts, and warrior ferocity. Wheras Tigris decidedly lesser in her feminine physique, no matter how scrawny Eagle's male makeup could be claimed to be. Unlike Lysander who seemed to radiate power and strength, Tigris seemed smaller in build, more drawn in a feminine than Lysander's warrior demeanor. Likewise, Eagle was certainly not the thick chest muscular type the other males of the clan appeared to be, like Awakener and Kai. No, he had a twinkle in his eyes that seemed to make up for it all. Eagle took her in his arms, and sighed. "I love you." Tigris smiled, feeling the touch of his beak on the back of her neck. "I know." she said. There was silence for a moment as though gathering from strength from their contact. Eagle seemed to want to stay there and hold her all day. Tigris, had she been more of a cat that a gargoyle, would have purred. However, duty called. "Lord Gorebash will be expecting us." Eagle loosened, and looked into her eyes. "True." he paused for a moment. Tigris looked down to notice Eagle's tail rubbing her leg, still caked with mud from the battle. "Mmm... we could both stand a wash." Tigris leaned her head to one side. "Why don't _you_ wash me?" Then the ice of his depression broke, and he smiled. "The roundtable with Gorebash first. Then before dinner we shall." Drawing away, Tigris touched his cheek once. "Let's let Lysander share our perch from now on." He nodded. "'Tis the most noble thing to do. I would give her anything if it would make her feel better... save you." "You'll never have to." Tigris said in a small whisper. Together, the took eachother's hands, and left the rookery. And the shadow, hidden deep within the precious contents of the rookery, watched them go. * * * The round table was surrounded by a large number of very concerned faces. The dragon Lord Gorebash and dark Lady Satana sat judiciously at the head, flanked on the left by the blue Deneb and small Lex. On the right, the Eagle-headed one sat, flanked by the towering presence of Shayde. Purple Angela sat beyond them, follow by the leaders of the leaders of clan that resided in the caves and labyrinths. Finally there sat Lysander, looking imploringly at Eagle. her thoughts pleaded with him. Eagle turned thoughtfully to Gorebash. "Can we excuse Lysander? She's already been through enough..." Gorebash nodded, turning back to the discussion. With that, Lysander slowly stood up from the table and walked out. The moment the door clicked shut, Deneb leapt from his chair, and pounded his fists on the marble table. "You can't possibly suggest that we allow Fox to have her! That is not the gargoyle way..." "I'm inclined to agree with Deneb." Gorebash suddenly cut in. The conversation about the kitchen was now lost. Shayde spoke up. "It's not like Fox can sue for the dog and the car." "A divorce, is that what you're saying?" "The gargoyles have never divorced each other." Deneb objected. "Well, gargoyles don't usually go psycho either." Angela noted dryly, folding her arms and leaning back in her chair, ruffling her wings. "You can't possibly ask them to stay together, I can't in any good sense ask that of Lysander." Gorebash said. Deneb sighed and sat back down. "I propose doing it the human way, unless anyone has any alternatives." "The Gargoyle way was a slap and to walk away." Deneb noted. "I'd certainly say they're divorced." Eagle, who had remained mutely silent most of the meeting spoke up. "And if Fox wants to be with Kit?" "Would we deny a father his child?" one of the labyrinth clan leaders spoke up. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. "No, of course not." Gorebash sighed, leaning his head down in defeat. "We can't cross that bridge until we come to it. For now I see an enemy command." "Step up the guard by day." Lex insisted, and Satana agreed. "I'll speak to the human and the fay leaders. However, this is a gargoyle problem, which gives them reason not to help." Eagle snarled then. "What would they do?" With a jerk he stood up, his wooden chair flying backwards. "Let the forces of darkness he's collecting destroy us as we sleep? Demeter's leg is broken, and Chessovar took a stab in the chest. Demi, Death Wing here, and myself are all crystal by day. One shot, that's all it takes!" Eagle, fuming, stomped off toward the door, his wings flared angrily. "You know, all Fox has to do is keep us fighting ourselves, and he's won!" With that the door closed. Lex glanced at Gorebash with a pleading look. Gorebash sighed as Death Wing took the chair and sat down. * * * The cavemouth was empty, as it had always been. In a rush, Lysander knelt down by the edge of her far-seeing pool, and passed her paw over it. The image flickered a moment as the water moved from the path of air her paw had made. Then the image crystallized, and she began to see dark figures... Fox was among them. One large figure Lysander could not see was talking to him. In turn, Fox gave orders to the dark-robed orders who followed them. They parted, and image flickered. Now Lysander saw a stake driven into the ground, with two figures tied to it. Wood had been piled about, and now Lysander's mate lit the wood into flames. Tigris and Eagle were asleep, and never woke up until it was too late. An egg Lysander saw next, in Fox's paws, grown large and green with blue spots, ready to hatch. Lysander watched as Fox slung it a ways until it shattered against a stone, and the small life inside was obliterated. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lysander screamed, dashing the image in the pool with her talons. But it was only water. Only one possibility. Somehow, her old companion and his mate fit into this critically. She had no hope of keeping them out of this now. It was time she went and spoke to them. But still, the image of her child being destroyed in it's egg kept replaying itself in her mind... * * * Tigris slung him back into the water. Eagle sighed, and picked himself up again. "No fair use of tail!" "Huh." Tigris snorted, and sprawled out in her wet linen tunic on the grass to dry. Eagle sloshed through the hot spring a moment longer, up to the edge where Tigris lay, but did not leave the water. "There's still dirt on your feet." he observed, smiling. Tigris huffed. "I'm too tired. You wash it off." He took her feet, and stuck them in the water, raising a slight squeal out of her. Eagle only smiled, and began rubbing the dirt off. He massaged them, gently, and then let her draw her feet back up onto the bank into to air. Eagle removed something from their satchel, dropped by the edge of the pool, a small vial filled with something brown and liquid. He removed the stopper, and poured some on his paws. Replacing the stopper, the level to the liquid refilled itself. Eagle rubbed the stuff onto his hands, and then began to massage her feet again. Tigris felt a warm tingling in her toe-talons, and her tail twitched excitedly. The scent of myrrh reached her lips, and she sighed. "Perfumed oils. He never ceases to amaze me." she thought with a slight smile. "Scent of local windflowers. What do you know?" Tigris laid back on the grass with a sigh of bliss. Eagle to smiled, enjoying himself. Once he'd moved past her fetlocks, her dashed some more on his paws, and began to work his way up her legs. "You know, Cassandra would never approve of this." Tigris pointed out. Eagle laughed. "Cassandra would never have wanted us married, let alone bathing together." Tigris felt a small smile cross her lips. "I don't see why, there isn't anything on you I didn't see as it grew there in the first place." Eagle paused, and Tigris felt his hands get a little hotter. Tigris was sure his face had just turned red under his feathers, and felt like a very young warrior again, giggling inside. "What about that egg we talked about?" Tigris asked. Eagle sighed. "It's been two years, I don't know if we're going to ever be better off than this." "Then now is the time." Tigris said. "The prayers are said, and the magic is laid out." "I'm only to your knees, hang on." This time, Tigris giggled aloud. Near one side of this particular glade came the rushing sounds of leaves, and the leather snap of wings. Looking up, Tigris and Eagle saw Lysander standing there, not nearly as startled to see them, as they were to see her. "Sister! Welcome! Come... it's still plenty warm." Eagle said. Lysander shook her head. "We may be more familiar with one another than Tigris is with you, but it is not my place. I must decline." Eagle smiled. "It's alright... we were just leaving." Lysander stared at him with a look that seemed to say "Do you really expect me to believe that?" Eagle put the stopped back on the vial of oil with a sudden flurry. Tigris could tell it was over for now, and pulled her legs back under her. Lysander put a hand out. "It's alright. I just wished to speak with you." Tigris sat back down, as did Lysander. Eagle pulled himself out of the water, shook the silk from his toes, and the three sat together. "Yet, that was still a long time ago." Lysander sighed, thinking back to her earlier remark. Eagle sifting through the satchel absently for a moment. "Not nearly as long as it was before Tigris and I had the chance to bath together once more?" "You bathed together before you were married?" Lysander asked with unmasked surprise. That wasn't Eagle's modest style! "No. Not until we got married." Tigris stated, matter-of- factly. "However, we were only six years old when Christine and Phantom chose to bathe us together, so she didn't have to do it twice." "We were young then, and didn't know it was wrong to do it past a certain age. Of course, we were seven -- two years later, when we were separated." Eagle sighed, remorsefully. Lysander's paw touched her shoulder. "Yes. Two years." Lysander also sighed. "Two wonderful years." "Yes." Tigris echoed. "Now Fox is gone." Eagle finished Lysander's thoughts. "Yes." Lysander echoed. There was a long silence. Lysander cut his thought off. Lysander could almost feel the heat in his face. Eagle returned the mental scolding. Lysander sighed. Eagle sighed, he couldn't deny that. Both Lysander and Eagle turned to see Tigris staring at them. Her face seemed to say "And...?" Tigris knew about Eagle's link with Lysander, and their immortality. About how sacrificing his life for Lex has linked them together as well. A very tender circle that Tigris was hesitant to invade. "Tigris?" Lysander asked. "How often does Eagle say he loves you?" Tigris glanced questioningly at them both. "Every night... it seems..." "He means it." Lysander cut it off. "Never doubt that." Tigris nodded. Eagle's voice was warning. Lysander's thought backed away, less pressing. Eagle reached over and hugged Lysander. "Thanks for watching over us." "If it's all that I can do." Lysander said. Neither of them noticed as Lysander picked up the vial of oil and slipped it into her robe as she stood up and left. Tigris and Eagle lay down side by side to look at the moon, as they had done many times. Lysander could only hope that their talk hadn't extinguished all the fire in his blood. Tigris turned back to Eagle. "So, would _you_ like to tell me what that was all about?" "Uh... which part?" * * * "I got it!" Mirror Fox declared triumphantly. "I don't know why you want it, it's just perfume." The large figure in the ruby encrusted robe took a small paper packet, and cautiously poured it's contents into Eagle's vial. "Not any more. How did you get it?" "My wife got it for me." "Lysander?" "They may say they can divorce us, but we still love each other. She would do anything I asked of her, with a little... persuasion." "You're wife does us credit then." "I told you she would." "Very well. Make her get this back to them without their noticing it, and may that pair's love be their bane." "Excellent!" Fox replied. "Consider it done, Saber." * Eagle of Arabia * Tigris was running her paws through Eagle's hair, as he lay crosswise against her stomache, as they lay sprawled out on the bed inside the castle, attempting to take a "cat nap" before the hunt closer to morning. Tigris appeared thoughtful. Eagle's eyelids were closed, but he did not seem to be asleep. "My love, did you feel Lysander meant more than just her age when she talked to us before?" His eyelids opened. He opened his maw widely, stretched, and yawned. "Well, I did get one other feeling from her..." "Yes?" "Guilt, actually. A lot of guilt." "Why?" "I don't know. Maybe she thought of the time she and I spend together, and felt guilty that it might make you think I'm too occupied." "Ridiculous." Eagle smiled, and leaned his head over to her. "I dunno." Tigris slid out from under him, and moved over to lay in front of him, facing him. Gently, she leaned forward and kissed him. Eagle drew a paw behind her head, and held out the moment. After that, they sort of lost track of time. When the maid came in, after dawn, and found them there, she just laid a blanket over them and left without making the bed, and left a note for Lysander when she woke up after the sun set again. Knock knock knock! "Oh, sigh." Tigris though to herself. The moon was already risen in the window, and it was probably already midday. Eagle was still sleeping peacefully, and as she arose neither the knocking nor her moving had disturbed him. There were blankets on the shelf, neatly folder. The maid! They'd forgotten all about the maid! Knock knock knock! Quickly, Tigris swirled one of these blanket around her body, clasped the top together over her, and answered the door. Lysander stood there, with a beaming expression. She seemed to notice Tigris only opened the door part way, and her hasty choice of apparel. Lysander smiled, her expression seeming to say "Well done!" Lysander drew something from her pocket, and handed it to her. "I found it... laying around." she said, handing the perfume vials to Tigris, who took it the other paw that was not holding the blanket around her. "Looks like something got into it." Tigris looked at it. Instead of a rich beige, it was now a very sickly green. "Hmmm... maybe it's gone bad. Throw it into the sea. We'll make another." "With pleasure." Lysander nodded. "Tell Eagle not to worry about me for a while. However, let him know that one of the human guests, Lady Daia has been asking for him." Tigris nodded. Lysander turned. "Good day, sister." she said amicably. Tigris closed the door behind her. Leaving the blanket atop the bedsheets, Tigris found her undertunic, and slipped it over her head. Then she reached over, and touched her mate's shoulder. "My love! Awake!" she whispered. He sighed out of his sleep, and opened his eyes. Seeing her, he moved up, pressed his beak against her forehead, and kissed her. Tigris smiled. "Enough already! It's been a half night, day, and half another night. We've been far too lax, 'tis time we arose." Pulled himself out of bed. "It's always easier getting up during the night, ever noticed that?" "Stone is an easier awakening than this, most certainly. The sleep lingers in your eyes like a drug. You cannot awaken fighting." "Especially on days when you do not wish to awaken." Eagle added with a sigh. "But to just lay there forever and dream in perfect comfort." With this, he pulled his his robe about him, and brisky tied it. Tigris pulled on her overtunic, decided to aid Eagle in his black tail-cut denim shorts, and assisted Tigris in lacing up her tunic. After making the bed, Eagle checked the satchel. "Where's the perfume." "Lysander found it -- gone bad. I told her to throw it out to sea. She also said one of the new travelers -- Lady Daia was looking for you." Eagle nodded. "I wonder what could have made it go bad?" There was a little loud talking between Jaws and Awakener in one corner, but the rest of the chatter was rather normal and low key that night. All of them seemed to be oblivious to it. Tigris felt, none the less, like she was being watched. Her skin itched, but she wasn't sure why. Something was wrong -- something was very wrong. Munching absently on the raw meat of a deer, Tigris nearly did not notice Lysander sit down on the bench beside her, take a bone, and begin chewing on it. "Tigris! Well met, sister." "Sister Lysander." she noted. "How are you?" "Those dratted humans are making too many demands again. I've spoken to Gorebash, and he's going to do something about them." Tigris nodded. "My mate has voiced the same complaint." "Yes, I know he doesn't like them. Do you know why?" "His human father was the one who shot me twenty years ago." Lysander sighed, and did not reply. Without a hint of the concern in her mind, Tigris asked "Lysander?" "Aye?" "Why do you encourage us to have an egg, my mate and I?" "Isn't it what you want?" "Well, yes, but I want to know why _you_ care." Lysander smiled, taking another bite of the bloodied hunk of meat. "Always the warriors, eh? Always suspicious." "I am a warrior." Lysander sighed, turned away, and looked very sad for some reason. "I've seen you and Eagle die in my foreseeings." Tigris straightened. "I've seen you both die, and your names forgotten. I... I want to see your names live on." Lysander ceeded. Tigris, taking in a deep breath, nodded. "You asked to see me?" "Eagle!" Daia's voice came from within the room. "Daia. I have no quarrel with you." "I know, I have no wish to fight you or anything." the slim and pale figure of the woman Daia appeared in the light within the room. Eagle closed the door behind him, and heard the iron door click shut. "Daia, please. My mate awaits me. What is it you need?" "I do not mean to torment you, milord. I just wish of you to do something for me. Could you do it for me please?" she asked with hopeful eyes. Eagle's face was dubious. "What is it you want?" "Make love to me." Daia replied. There was a stunned silence. "Ever since I got here, I had a bad feeling about you -- so I stayed away." Eagle said, scowling. "Stop playing hard to get! Everyone here knows you're the best lover here." "Unhh... no... there are better..." "Nervous talk." Daia said, sliding her bodice down. "You know you want to. Give in to what your _human_ instincts tell you." Smelling a rat bigger than a camel, Eagle turned immediately around, tried to open the door, but found it locked. He beat on it a few times, but it was no good. He was in no shape to go tearing down an iron door after the evening's previous activities. "Ah hem." Daia said, holding the key up. She snapped her fingers, and it vanished. Eagle snarled, crouched down on all fours, and his eyes turned blazing white. "What do you want?" Her bodice hit the floor, and she moved to touch him. Eagle squeezed his eyes shut, trying to avoid her. With a sprinkling motion, small powder dusted from her fingers into his heavily moving sinuses. "Give her up, Matthew. I..." she said, lounging out before him with her arms on his shoulders, pressing herself against his bare chest. "...am now your mate." His breathing became faster, more erratic. He shook his head furiously. "No. NO! This isn't right... this isn't right! Tigris... I love..." "Come to me, gargoyle. Yeild to me!" "Stop it! Whatever you're doing to me, stop it! Please! I don't want to!" Soft, warm, scented lips touch his beak, and his eyes went wide. He tried to pull back... Suddenly, something clicked. All the people laughing at him, the rude and disconsiderate humans... his mother and father... the memory of his young, human face from so long ago... Tigris... the bullet piercing her chest, leaving a mark that still remained on her chest... Daia screamed in pain, fell backwards, rolling to the floor in a pool of blood coming from the three slashes down her naked chest. There was crimson on Eagle's talons. The fire suddenly went from his eyes. "DAIA! Oh no oh no oh no oh NO! Daia!" As he rushed to her side, there was a choking sound, as Daia began to spit up blood. Placing his paws on her chest, he recited the healing spell. The wounds closed, leaving scars, and the blood stopped. She still was not breathing. "Oh great goddess, save her!" he pleaded, reaching over. Her pulse wasn't there. He gave two breaths, and began to pump on her chest. "One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Com'n Daia! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! COM'N!!! PLEASE!!!" There was a final hack of blood from her mouth, and she went limp. Eagle sank to the floor, looking at the blood on the floor, on his talons, and the scars on her skin. Suddenly the door burst down, and Gorebash was standing there. Eagle whipped around, startled, saw him, and bent down on the floor in a fit of tears. "What's going on here?!!! Why is this door locked? Eagle! What in heavens name is wrong... DAIA! What happened, Eagle..." he began. Then he saw it, and the Lord of the castle gasped. The pale human laying there... dead... the blood on his paws... "I submit myself for your justice, milord." Eagle wailed, groveling on the floor. "Make my end a quick one." * * * There were more tears. Not for Daia, no -- no one missed her. She had come with her coin purse empty, and had been ready to leave it, her purse filled once more. In the lower corners of the castle, there were murmurs that Eagle had done them all a favor. The tears were from Lysander and Tigris, hugging each other there, on the dais. Eagle was brought in before Lord Gorebash, where he and Lady Satana stood at attention on the dais. The casket with Daia's body lay at their feet. Eagle was laiden with chain, not that they were neccessary. He resembled multiple pictures of Christ figures, dragging his own chains with a face of total loss. Tigris tried to jump up from the dais and run to him, but Lysander struggled to hold her back. Eagle's face perked up with concern for her, but he was lost for anything to say. "Eagle, called also the Eagle of Arabia, you stand charged with taking a woman wrongly, as well as her life. How do you plead?" Gorebash said in a solemn tone that, none the less, warranted dignity. Eagle's eyes were on the floor, unwilling to face the eyes of the dragon he had looked up to for so long. "Guilty." Tigris's tears began anew. "My love... why do you _have_ to be so true..." "I'm sorry. It's all that I am." Gorebash looked over at his Lady. Her expression was contemplative. Sighing, as only a dragon could, Gorebash looked down at the captive gargoyle. "Make my end quickly, milord." "This throne is not without mercy or compassion. You may live, Eagle. However, you must be banished from here, even though the year is still but frozen winter. Neither is this clan without honor. We owe you debts which we may never repay. Your songs and tales have inspired us night upon night, something we may never forget. Therefore, we grant you a boon. We may not grant you that you may stay, but we give you the right to choose someone who would be willing to go with you." Lysander's eyes met Gorebash's. The one thing that would truly torture Eagle, she knew, was to make him leave utterly alone. A new light appeared in his eyes, and he looked up to the dais, and spoke only her name. "Tigris..." Tigris broke from Lysander and ran to him. Chains or no chains he took her in his arms. Gorebash ordered the chains removed. Before the assembly, Gorebash approached the fugitive pair, holding a round metal ring in his paws, which he snapped around his feathered neck. "This is your bane, Eagle. Your murder now hangs about your neck. Now go." With that, Gorebash turned his back and left before he could change his mind and call them back. Lysander and Lex stood side by side, watching from the east parapet as the two flew off over the channel in the direction the sun would rise, in a few hours. "What are you saying?" Gorebash asked with a confused expression. "Meaning there was temptation in her hands, that she took her own clothes off, and that it was not Eagle's talons that killed her." Demeter repeated succinctly. "How can you prove that?" Demeter produced two small bags and a vial. "This bag is dust. Fey dust. Put in any male's face and he falls madly in love with the first female he sees. In this bag, Daia's shirt. Everyone's body leaves traces on whatever he or she touches. I found traces of the ones who made this bit of cloth, the clothiers who cleaned it, and enough traces of Daia to wallpaper a room, but nothing of Eagle. Lastly, I found this in her blood when I did her autopsy before Daia was cremated." Gorebash scoweled at the small silver liquid. "What is it?" "With the consistency of liquid mercury, it is slow delay death. It kills when the blood is under enough pressure, but dormant while the blood is loose and faint. Daia pushed her own blood as she tried to make Eagle mate with her." Satana snarled in one corner. "It's not true! Daia..." "Daia was an obsessed fool. Did you not mark the way she acted around him? How she suddenly tried to rival even Tigris for his attention? He did not kill Daia, milord. Someone went to a lot of work to give her this powder, and place this spell inside her. They knew what she would do with it, and she did, and the _POISON_ killed her. We have all known Eagle since he came here in his youth! Shayde and the elders brought him into the clan! We all know him, he would never do what he's been accused of!" Gorebash sighed, leaning on a window ledge, looking out to the east sea. "If only you'd come to me an hour ago." "My lord?" "Eagle and Tigris were banished for his crimes with the hour past." Satana finished. Demeter's jaw fell. * * * "My love, so nice to see you tonight." Fox Morrigan said. "Please Fox, not tonight. I can't. Don't you know what's happened?" Lysander pleaded. "Yes, isn't it wonderful? The bird-headed fool is at last gone, proven by the only thing he ever was. Tigris... she is no more a gargoyle than he... just a human given gargoyle shape." Lysander wiped the tears from her face. Fox began to move towards her, but she backed away. "Come here, Lysander." "No... you can't! Not again!" "GET OVER HERE, LY YOU BITCH! COME HERE!" Lysander wailed. Fox started rushing toward her. Suddenly, out in the hall, there was a clatter. Both froze suddenly in their tracks. Silent as a fox, Mirror Fox slipped to the door, and slowly opened it and closed it again. "No one in sight." he whispered. "Do you think they were fooled?" Lysander inquired. "He'd have to be pretty stupid not to get it. Is your job done?" "Yes. Eagle and Tigris left her within the hour, heading east." "Drat. Too soon. We'll never make it back to camp before they're taken." "No matter, I can use magic." "Very well." Fox sighed. Lysander smirked. "I told you the plan would work." Tigris was silent as death for a long time. Finally, it was all Eagle could do but to say "I'm sorry". Tigris sighed. "It's alright. I would have gone anyway." Eagle sighed. "Can you forgive me?" "Why did you kill Daia?" Tigris asked. "She wanted me to break my oath to you." "Then you saved me from being banished for killing her instead." Tigris stated simply. "The humans were being a pain for us all. I would have done no less." Eagle smiled. "Thank you." Tigris's mouth quirked upward, as she averted her eyes to scan the horizon. Suddenly she called out. "Dark Clan! Seven O'clock high!" Looking behind him, he saw three dark shapes diving through the air at them. "Evasive! Split up!" Eagle called. The seperated in two directions, Eagle heading a little to the north, Tigris a little to the south. One of the shadows separated from the pack and dived after Eagle, while the other two dived after Tigris. Eagle tightened his flight, preparing to do battle, when suddenly he felt a stinging in his shoulder... Tigris snarled and doubled her course over atop itself. Drat! How had they taken him down so easily. There was a hissing sound by Tigris's ear, and she dodged again. Poison darts! Tigris swung down, but saw one of the dark shadows picking up Eagle in his grip. Tigris was about ready to plow the dark one holding him over, when suddenly one of the darts spat out by their blowtubes penetrated her skin in her wing. Crying out in consternation, Tigris tore it out... ...before she realised she was falling down, into their waiting hands... A sharp pain across the face brought Eagle back to realization. Dazed and foggy in the brain, he looked up. He was bound with chains around a large tree in the center of a glade. Tigris was also bound, on the opposite side of the tree. All around him were the shadowy figures of the Anti-Clan. Eagle looked around. Illuminated by the moonlight, his night vision easily distinguished Drew, Krypton, and Mirror Fox among them. Fox had kicked him across the face with his foot, and that had awakened him. "I take it that is your hello?" Eagle inquired. "Oh, don't get bitter on me, Eagle. I knew you too well to let you in on all this, so I had to let you and your mate alone. It's not my fault your nothing but a sniveling little human desguised in Gargoyle clothes." "Get to the point Fox." Tigris's voice was heard. She must already be up. "My point, Lady Tigris?" Fox said snidley. "Is just to make sure you know you failed. Miserably." "Your plan to do what?" Eagle added. "Abuse Lysander and the others of your rookery even further? You have accomplished nothing by taking us!" "Yes, Eagle. I arranged for your quite timely demise with the clan, just to give you a taste of how it felt." "You and your dark clan members live up to their name." "Yes, especially my Lysander." "_YOUR_ Lysander?" Eagle returned. "What does _she_ have to do with this?" "All the world it seems, Tigris midear." Lysander's voice came. Stepping from admist the Anti-Clan, she lowered her hood and let Tigris and Eagle see as she was now. "It was a brilliant plan, now wasn't it?" "Plan?" Tigris snarled. "It was all a ploy, wasn't it?" Eagle added. "More than you even realise." Lysander said in a defiant tone. "FOX! FOX! Fox, where are you?" A new, light baritone voice screamed throughout the forest glade camp. Fox bowed, as the leader entered the circle. "Saber..." Eagle breathed. "It's your fault! Daia went into it too early!" "By her own choice, not our medicinal coersions. I told you she would." Fox said. "I told you we should have used someone more reliable -- like Tigris." Tigris snarled at them. "Don't tell me what to do, Fox!" "Yeah, yeah." "We've collected all one hundred and thirty kegs of black asian powder, as you said. Now, what in bloody heck do we do with it?" "We leave them by the gargoyles during the day. Then I put this key into the fuse, and they explode." Fox said, demostrating the brass key in one hands. "Lysander uses the spell to let the gargoyles among us remain flesh by day, we take the castle by surprise, and then we destroy the others all at once." "Excellent. Now that we have this human/gargoyle shifter in chains, we can begin." Saber said, nodding at Eagle. Confused, Eagle looked to Lysander with pleading eyes that she had always understood. She put a talon to her lips. "Shh..." it said. Quickly, Eagle looked around to see if anyone had seen that. Fox had, but none of the others seemed to notice. Drat. What did that mean? Then, Eagle felt a soft touch against his paw. Glancing down, he saw a little blue touching his hand. Tigris. "Oh great goddess, my love. Look!" Tigris exclaimed. With three gargoyles carrying the lengths of chains that held them, Tigris and Eagle glided along through the morning air. Many of the gargoyles covored their eyes. "So brilliant and bright -- it's wonderful!" Tigris said. Eagle was smiling it was good to see again. He'd forgotten what bright lights of noon day even were. There was still some sword fighting going on below, but it was isolated, and the dark ones had begun placing the round wood kegs of black powder at Fox's strtegic points throughout the castle. Ironically, Eagle and Tigris both knew that there were far too few prisoners to be the full content of the castle. Although some of the humans were dead, there were still many missing. Especially Gorebash, who's mate stood in her usualy place on the central tower, was notably missing. Fox and Lysander *should* have realised this, but for some reason made no sign of it. However, Saber had not forgotten Gorebash, and had his dark serving minions scouring the castle for them. A tell-tale glance from Lysander revealed to them that she knew full well where they were. In the caves with the Labyrinth clan -- Saber didn't know about the secret entrance by the rookery. None of Saber's minions had touched the rookery -- the spells guarding it were still in power by daylight. Meantime, Fox was setting up his detonation device. As the two captives were flung down onto the ground in the courtyard and chained to the walls, Fox was preparing to detonate their castle over them. *SHANGRA! YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!* *True, brother. However, be comforted. Fox and I are perfectly in control -- so far.* *Forgive my lack of reassurance.* *Eagle, brother, what is the one thing that has made Saber a danger to us for so long?* *His undead minions, that's what.* *Exactly. So, what if we found a way to wrest that power from him?* *What do you mean?* *Watch, and learn.* Eagle's face was confused, but a stern glance from Lysander, at Fox's side, told him off. "There! Everything's set!" Saber announced. "Set it and let's go, Fox!" Fox turned the key in the fuse box, and it began to make a ticking sound. "Let's go!" he exclaimed. All the shadowy figures began to leave the castle, leaving the two captives behind. Fox and Lysander took to the air with them. There was a sound, and Eagle turned to Tigris. Slowly, so that the dark lords would not see, Tigris revealed the chains to Eagle. They were broken. "I don't understand. This morning made me feel so weak..." "You're a boy gargoyle, my love." Tigris said, as though that explained the world away. Eagle frowned with disapproval. Tigris cautiously reached over and broke on of his shackles. Suddenly, the ticking stopped. The key, in the fuse box suddenly cracked and turned to dust. "Fox! You idiot! What did you do?!!!" Saber exclaimed in fury. "Now Fox!" Lysander prompted. A sudden hissing noise brought the revelation Eagle had been expecting. A silver arrow suddenly had implanted itself in Saber's chest, fired from the bow Fox held. "Traitor..." Saber breathed once, before falling to the ground. All of Saber's undead minions vanished as he died, but it still left his loyal friends. Immediately Lysander was busy dispatching Krypton and three others with all the warrior ferocity she was known for. Tigris suddenly broke out of her chains, took a barrel of black powder, and dropped it atop all Fox's human allies in the woods below. She then pulled out her sword, and began chasing Drew. Eagle, meantime, was still exerting his strength, pulling the chains off his wrists. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he break them? Wait a moment, he thought. Try another way if you can't fight by hand. Taking a deep breath, Eagle began his chant. Lysander, hearing the words, grabbed her furred mate and took covor inside the castle after polishing off as many of the enemy as possible. Tigris soon followed. The enemy, lined up in the air above them, ready to attack, didn't realise it until it was too late. All at once, all the gargoyles turned to stone, as they should. Only, a number of dark ones fell to the ground and were shattered. There was cheering as Fox held up the mystical emblem that had marked Saber's power, and Lysander crushed it between her paws. Together, they rejoined the clan council, perfectly happy together. Eagle couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't spoken to Lysander all night. Tigris was off with the celebrants, and so Eagle was alone. Together he and Lysander had freed the Labyrinth clan from the forces of an evil sorceress. They'd been entrusted with the care of the castle, and saved it at least once now. He asked Tigris to explain what it meant by their mating making him so weak on that night, now a month ago. Always weak as a child for a day afterwards, she said the clan males always were. Had Lysander known that and intentionally tried to make it happen on the same night? If so, why had Daia's murder been staged the same day? There were still a lot of things he didn't understand. With a sigh, he resigned himself. Perhaps it didn't matter. he paused to try and rub the pain from his leg. Lex had gotten herself hurt in one leg earlier that night, and Eagle's shin still ached. He was linked to her by pains and physical sensations. Lysander and he were immortal, shared thoughts, and shared emotions. So many bonds, he could not easily have cut Lysander away if she had gone bad. However, he considered, could he if he ever had too. If Fox had gone bad, could she? Eagle hoped not. He hoped there would never be a need to find out. Because if anyone could turn on them, he certainly could, and the thought frightened him. "Eagle?" Eagle turned to see Fox standing there with a concerned look on his face. He was alone too, the others had all gone up to the great hall. Eagle stood, facing him with a beaten look on his face. Fox smiled. "It takes about three months, then it goes away." he said with encouragement. Eagle sighed. "I'm sorry, I've been really lethargic tonight, haven't I?" "That's okay, your so loud when you get excited -- I think the extra chaos is something Ly and I could do without right now. I figured you'd be out here, that's why I came out to see you." Fox said, sitting down on the balastraude as Eagle had been. Eagle sat back down, and side-by-side, they watched the castle in the night. "How did you know Tigris and I had finally mated?" "Everyone could tell by your sudden drop in strength. It's said that the father gives up all that energy to sustain the egg for it's nearly 11 years of growth." "How long until your first hatches?" "Only a year now. Not long." Eagle sighed. There was a long moment of silence. "Eagle?" "Hmmm?" "Look, brother, I know we didn't always get along together when were little. I did think about how I was smiting you when I fell in love with Lysander. I realised then, that spite for a rookery brother was the forebearer of hate, and hatred made the Anti-Clan in the first place. I'm not a hater, and neither are you. I'm sorry." Eagle sighed, his eyes becoming distant. "Love Lysander. Always. That's all I ask." "I shall." "She will live forever at this rate. It's a long time to love her." "And a long time for Tigris to love you." Fox pointed out. "I've never told anyone this, but I was also jealous of you when Tigris fell in love with you, just like you were jealous of me a long time ago. I saw how close you were, how much you missed eachother, and how strong your rookeryship was, that I learned something about my own love." Eagle looked up at him. Fox was looking down at the ground, introspectively. Eagle held out a paw. "Friends?" "Brothers." Fox corrected him. They shook. Fox stood up, and faced the castle. Eagle stood beside him for a minute. Fox turned to him, placing a paw on his shoulder. "What's this spell you and Demeter have that makes you turn to crystal by day instead of stone? I'd really love to figure out how that spell works..." Together they discussed it, as the went inside for the rest of the night. As he and Fox neared the Great Hall where Gorebash and all the other celebrants were, Eagle could feel rising anticipation in Lysander's feelings. She was excited. Curious, he found her accepting congratulations near the head of the room. She spent a close moment with Fox, and as he left again to go to his special work room for a while, Lysander turned to Eagle. *Did you hear?* *Sorry, no, I missed the announcement. Fox and I were talking.* *Yes, that's what he said. It's about time you two made up.* *Yes, Shangra.* Lysander smiled. From across the room, she looked at Eagle. A rising feeling of motherhood rose inside her. *Lex's baby Zack is going to get a new playmate.* Eagle's eyebrows went up. *Ah... so I take it Fox is under the same thing I am right now?* *Exactly. The same lethargic, crowd shy thing all you males seem to get.* *It's funny, humans never did.* *Humans don't come from eggs, either.* *True.* Eagle thought, with a playful touch of irony. Then Lysander's attention was turned away from their subconcious conversation, as Tigris stood up next to her before the crowd. Eagle's expression changed a little. What was Tigris doing up there on the dais? "Well, I can't say that Lysander's the only one. I think Zack is going to be the eldest of a _large_ rookery." she announced. A whole new wave of cheers went up. Two emotions suddenly passed through him. First, he remembered going through all the feelings Lex had every day though the delivery of Lex, and it dawned on him that _THIS_ was why Tigris had been ill every night after sunset, but supposedly fine a little while later. The second thought took a little more time to really settle into his mind. Tigris was pregnant. He was going to be... a father?