"Bargaining with the Devil"
by Clan LeFemme ([email protected])
written by Skydancer ([email protected])
and Lisette ([email protected])
and Byrdie Fae ([email protected])
and Firedancer ([email protected])
and Shadow Gargoyle ([email protected])
and Pen ([email protected])
and Merlyn ([email protected])

with a cameo by Micro Hue ([email protected])

Authors' Note: Gargoyles and everything associated with them belong to Buena Vista and Disney.  They do not belong to Clan LeFemme and we make no claims to them.  This is done purely for fun.  The characters of Shaylyn, Storm, the egg, Sunshine, and Blake Adams do belong to Clan LeFemme and may not be used without express permission.  The characters of Skydancer, Lisette, Byrdie Fae, Firedancer, Shadow, Pen, and Merlyn belong to each of the authors respectively and may also not be used without permission.  The character of Hugh Michelson belongs to Micro Hue, with the same rules applying.  Feedback is welcomed, just please be constructive.  This is the next segment of the Clan LeFemme Series.  Enjoy!

Also, please visit the Clan's homepage to see pictures of some of the characters as well as the authors' own character descriptions, floor plans for Janua Caeli, and another peek at the Clan's stories at: http://www.geocities.com/clanlefemme/

Description:  This is a bargain that can truly only be made with the Devil himself.

Rating: PG-13 for content and language.

Previously...

    "They've got Byrd!!" Sky shouted above the high winds, not wanting to give in to their fierce onslaught.  "We've got to get her...."  Suddenly, Sky cut off what she was about to say as she spotted a fierce bolt of lightning forming in Storm's hand and being fired directly at her and the others.

    "NO!!!!" Sky screamed.  Before anyone knew what was happening, Sky spread her wings wide and threw herself at Lisette and Firedancer, tumbling into them.  Unbeknownst to the gargess, Blake had been standing behind the mage and was also thrown into the cave, clearing a rough patch of rock that laid at its entrance behind the tangled vines of the waterfall.  Fiery light crackled and snapped, then hit the ground upon which the cave stood.  The noise was tremendous; the blow shook the earth.  The whip of electricity sizzled and retreated, leaving a patch of blackened, scarred rock behind.

     Inside the cavern, the mountain heaved and the chamber walls collapsed.  Cracks widened in the narrow passageway and the rock faces inched closer and closer together.  The clap of granite grinding against granite and iron burst all around the four inside the cave.  Rock rained down all around them, closing them inside, sealing them within its entombed walls. The last thing Skydancer remembered as she hurtled herself towards the others was the loss of her precious home and all that it had meant to her.  And then there was silence.

    Lost in his own world, Blake brushed away the rock from the crack, widening it as his eyes focused on the dull golden gleam that had caught his eye in the flickering firelight.  Puzzled, he cleared more rocks away until he was able to slip his fingers into the crack, wrapping around smooth leather as he pulled the object from the wall.  "It's a book," he muttered, holding the thin, leather bound book in one hand as the other traced over the golden etchings.

    "Hey, would you guys listen to this," Blake broke in, finally tearing his eyes away from the book as he turned back to Lisette.  "It says:

    With each word that Blake spoke, Lisette felt the hairs on her covered arms begin to rise.  Turning her head very slowly, Lisette met Fire's dark eyes and slowly opened her mouth before closing it once again.  "Surely you do not think that.." she trailed off, her mind turning over the worlds slowly.

    Merlyn eyed the towering doors that stood in front of them.  She could feel a heartbeat radiating from beyond it.  The power source was here.  She could feel it.  Hesitantly, Merlyn reached out and wiggled the door handle.  Creaking rather loudly the door slowly opened up.  "Come on," she whispered, gesturing for Pen to follow her.

    "I don't know if we should be sneaking in like this," Pen muttered as she and Merlyn took a few tentative steps further into the foyer.  The twin staircases loomed on either side of the two mages, commanding entrance.

    Suddenly the two heard a noise resound and vibrate from deep inside the house.  "You are trespassing.  Who are you?  Why are you here?"  Through outward appearances, Shadow watched the two with slight annoyance playing across her features.  

    "We're mages -- Pendragoness and Merlyn... we sensed a power source here and came looking for it," Merlyn calmly explained, glancing briefly at Pen for her agreement.  "And you are...??"

    The mansion grew silent, but only for a moment, "Shadow."

* * * * * *

    Her vision was starting to get a little hazy.  Slowly, and none to surely, Byrdie cast her gaze up at the two evil ones -- they looked impatient.  What was the question again?  She felt sick... the Fae righted herself somewhat, now lying on her side and propping herself up on her elbows, then spat -- dark spots of blood appeared on the bottom of the cage and Shaylyn grinned a self-righteous little smile.  Flicking her tongue against her teeth once, Byrdie breathed out through her mouth: "... What book?"

    Byrdie squeaked, trying to scoot away as the black-eyed demon pushed the energy at her, the miasma gathered in the form of a huge ball.   She tried not to scream, an endeavor that didn't last for too long, as her body jumped off of the floor of the cage from the shock, everything burning and ringing like hell.  It felt like forever had come, passed, and left Byrdie for dead by the time it was over.  She felt like she was dying, no matter how... impossible... that may have seemed to her.  

     "At this rate, she will die anyway, so we have no use for her."

     "Beloved," Shaylyn started, "perhaps we do have a use.  If those stupid mortals have the book already, if would be an even trade... don't you think?"

* * * * * *

    "Hey, we broke through!" Pen called out.  She jumped through the opening and got her first real look at the four auras she sensed earlier.  "Oh man, someone really did a number on you guys," she chided gently, taking off her jacket and putting it around the human female who looked the most in need of dire help.  

    "Lisette needs to get to a hospital -- now," he instructed, nodding at the unconscious young woman lying before him.  

   "I believe I can do something about that," Pen said.  The mage raised her hand and began to cast a spell.  She, the mad mage, gargoyles and their wounded charges began to vanish in a growing green light.

    When the light cleared, Blake found he and the others standing beside the quiet entrance to the Emergency Room at Castellum General Hospital.  As relief flooded through him, he quickly nodded at the others, hidden in dark shadows, before darting towards the closed doors, Lisette settled limply in his arms as they slid open to allow him admittance.  "Somebody, help me out here!" he ground out hoarsely, surprising the night staff as he unceremoniously deposited Lisette's still form onto a waiting gurney.

* * * * * *

    "I think we'd better get back to Janua," the tan gargess gestured towards the skyline.  "Dawn is not too far away and there's nothing more that we can do here.  As concerned as I am for Lis, we need to heal ourselves as well."  

    Briefly the gargess looked up towards the two strangers and Shadow.  "Do you three think you could transport us back to the mansion?  We can talk more there before entering stone sleep," Skydancer said, making eye contact with the other three huddled next to her and Fire.

    Quickly standing up, the madmage drew close to the two wounded gargoyles.  Locking hands with her former pupil, the young witch-mage began the spell, "Earth, water, fire, and sky; help us up, help us fly..." she began, waiting for her pupil to finish.

    "Water, fire, sky and earth, take us to our new friend's hearth...." Pen answered as green light shone from between the mage's hands, surrounding them and the three gargoyles, leaving the night once more untouched and silent.

* * * * * *

   "What's wrong with her?" a nurse quickly barked as she took in the young woman's torn and bloodied clothing, an old and ragged army blanket sliding away to reveal dark and mottled bruises across her bared chest.  Quickly she reached forward and began to assess the damages, stethoscope in hand.

   "A cave-in at the mountain," Blake quickly explained, running a weary hand through his unruly hair, "she was trapped-" he broke off as the nurse cursed beneath her breath, her eyes growing wide as she glanced around the crowded hall.

   "She's stopped breathing!" she interrupted, her voice filled with urgency as Blake was pushed aside, the small gurney suddenly swarmed by medical personnel.  "Get her in a room!"

   Shaking his head slowly, Blake absently rubbed a throbbing muscle as his mind became numb.  Blinking his eyes, he turned wordlessly to the door that he just entered and stared out into the stillness of the dark night beyond.  And then, as the world began to swim around him, he sighed shakily and moved towards the window that divided the hall from the room beyond.  "Lisette," he whispered, his voice catching in his throat as the darkness that he had been fighting for so long, building both from weariness, cold, pain and shock, finally overwhelmed him and sent him to blessed release.

Janua Caeli

   As night faded into its last waning hour and the horizon began to lighten off into the east, Castellum DeGens started to stir.  While many had yet to rise, a small few sleepily rose to begin their day's tasks.  For some, the signaling of dawn meant a chance to go home and get some much needed sleep.  Two individuals in particular were looking forward to the ending of what ended up being an agonizingly long and exhausting night.

    In the blink of an eye these two creatures of the night found themselves transported from the sights and sounds of the city's hospital to the safe haven of their home at Janua Caeli.  A silence settled over the group as the newcomers were glanced over by the two battle-weary gargoyles.  Both swayed visibly as they fought to remain on their feet as blood stained their filthy, tattered clothing.  The darker one wore a makeshift sling and cradled an obviously broken arm protectively against her body, and the crimson one sported numerous cuts and scrapes along her trembling body, the smell of burnt skin attesting to why she was holding her hands away from everything.

    Fire finally cleared her throat and looked back over at Shadow.  "Thanks..... if it weren't for you or your friends here... Lisette wouldn't have had a chance."  A bout of nausea rolled through her again, though, cutting off her words as she forced herself to swallow down the rising bile once more.

    Skydancer nodded her agreement as she glanced over the two mages that stood near Shadow.  Her arm was throbbing mercilessly and the cut near her right ear had cracked open again, allowing a bit of blood to trickle down her neck.  Her concern for Lisette laid heavily in her mind as she lifted her hand to tenderly apply pressure to the cracked wound.  But, she knew her mage friend was in the best place possible.  

    Looking back over at the two strangers again, the tan gargess smiled her gratitude.  "Yes, thank you..... thanks to all of you," Sky emphasized to both of the new mages.  "I don't think we would have made it without you."

    The black-clad mage shifted weight from one foot to the other.  "Forget about it," Pen said, her features taking on a concerned look.  "You WILL be alright once the sun rises?"

   Skydancer flicked her weary green eyes over to the crimson gargess.  Firedancer looked as terrible as she did.  "I think so," Sky responded to Pen, cradling her arm against her as the throbbing continued.  "We both may look like hell but I don't think it's anything a good day of stone sleep won't cure.  Eh, Fire?"

   Fire snorted.  "I don't know about you but two days of solid sleep sounds about good right now," she remarked wryly.

    The mad mage watched the interplay between the two gargesses and her pupil.  Up until now she had been silent, but now she stepped forward with her blue eyes snapping.

   "I'm sure you'll both feel better in the morning," Merlyn said, smiling briefly to everyone as they stood at the base of the mansion she and Pen had stumbled upon earlier.  She could still feel the power source beating from within - but she'd get to that later.  "We've already been introduced to... Shadow...???" the mage nodded towards the dark gargess who blended in with the deep twilight of the house, "but we have yet to meet formally with the two of you or introduce ourselves."

    Merlyn stepped forward and made a deep bow that was customary in her homeland of ancient knights and kings.  "I am Merlyn, the Mad Mage of Camelot, and a direct descendent of the original Merlin, sorcerer to the King himself."

    Skydancer waited a moment while she digested what the foreign mage called Merlyn had just said.  "Mad Mage" of Camelot?? the gargess thought to herself.  That's an interesting name....I think I read about a place called Camelot in my library once....  Shaking her head to clear it of any random thoughts, the green eyed gargess stepped forward with a small smile upon her face.  "Welcome to Janua Caeli.... Merlyn.... I am Skydancer," said the tan gargess.  "Or you can just call me Sky, as my friends here tend to do," she added, her smile turning into a full grin despite the weariness and pain she was in.

    Fire also contemplated the name for a second and then mentally brushed it aside, too tired to care if it really meant something she should be concerned about.  Lifting a burned talon to her forehead, she nodded to the two newcomers.  "I'm Fire - short for Firedancer.  I'd show you why, but tonight's exertions have left me completely drained," she explained tiredly.

    Pen regarded the Firedancer with a small reserved smile.  "You use fire too, am I right, Firedancer?  Then you and I should get along famously I would think.  I like to think of fire as my element," the mage said, now grinning.  "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Pendragoness, Merlyn's pupil.  You can call me Pen for short," Pen bowed.

    "Well I guess that remains to be seen," Fire replied evenly.  She still had no idea how these two hooked up with Shadow, or who they really were.  Her instincts told her that they were no danger to the Clan here or the precious egg they protected.  But there really wasn't time to worry about such things further.  "Well I'd love to stay and chat, but the need to clean up before dawn is growing rather overwhelming.  If you're sticking around then I'll see you later."

    With a brief nod to the two and a half wave to Shadow and Sky, Fire turned and headed towards the cellar doors. Gingerly turning the knob with her talon tips, she paused and looked back at the others.  "Oh, if you are staying, do take care not to go poking around too much.  We all value our privacy a great deal here."  Though her tone held no hostility, the crimson gargoyle's eyes held a stern warning in them.  Then her lips twisted upwards into a crooked smile.  "Besides, if you end up in that thing Tinkerbell calls her room, there's no telling what might happen to you or where you'll end up."  Then she disappeared down into the depths of her domain, the door locking behind her.

    "Tinkerbell?" Pen inquired, raising her eyebrow.

    "Tinkerbell?" the mad mage echoed her pupil.  Clearly puzzled, Merlyn turned questioning eyes from the door that just closed behind Firedancer and turned towards Skydancer and Shadow.

    "Tinkerbell," Sky simply stated. "Fire means Byrdie Fae, our resident magician extraordinaire.  She was the one captured by Storm and Shaylyn before the cave-in."  

    Skydancer eyed the two strangers.  She hadn't been around them for very long, but for some reason added along with their actions so far, she felt she could trust them.  Glancing briefly at the coming dawn, the green-eyed gargess drew in a haggard breath.  "Sunrise approaches and I must rest."  Brushing some of the bloody tendrils of hair that were escaping from what was left of her braid behind one ear, Sky gestured to the grand expanse of the house.  "I hate to just up and run but from your actions earlier tonight I think we can trust you a bit.  There are several bedrooms free up on the second floor if you wish to rest.  Stay away from the small room in the middle.  It's locked.  The food's in the fridge, courtesy of Lisette.  Fire, Shadow and myself should awaken at sunset."  With a brief nod to their new companions, Skydancer caped her wings and turned towards the door on the left side of the foyer that rose up to the right tower and her perch for the day.  This was going to be one stone sleep that she would gladly welcome.  Shadow followed suit by going up the staircase towards her own room.

    Pen's mind was a whirl of thoughts all focused on one thing.. her hunch was right.  These auras DID know someone close to her.  Byrdie Fae.  And she was captured?  The mage didn't know who Storm and Shaylyn were, but they were on her blacklist already.  I hope she's alright!  It's been so long since..... k'sou.....  

   Merlyn glanced at her student as the gargoyles retreated to their perspective lairs.  A look of recognition had passed her pupil's face.  Pen knew this 'Byrdie Fae,' the mad mage could sense it!!  She would have to dig deeper after they had slept.  "I think we should follow suit, Pen," Merlyn said, "and follow these creatures with the coming dawn."

   The two mages began to climb the stairs of Janua Caeli.  A few minutes later, three gargoyles turned to stone and two mages fell into a deep sleep as the sun broke the horizon and cast its first blinding rays over the old mansion.

Castellum deGens General Hospital - that evening

   "Doctor, she seems to be coming around."

   Nodding to his nurse, the young man in the starch greens of the medical profession turned away from his chart and moved to his patient's bedside, a ready-made smile already plastered on his face.  "Miss DeBuschelle?" he prompted quietly, watching as the young woman who lay before him slowly began to stir.  Despite his age, he had already learned to hide shock and pity behind a false smile as his eyes skipped over her pale, white skin that was barely visible above the neck of the paper-thin hospital gown she wore - skipped over the mottling of dark bruises that accented her skin and darkened it around her eyes.  She looked horrible.  No, she looked worse than horrible.  His patient looked like shit. 

   He was sure that on a normal day, Miss Lisette DeBuschelle was probably very pretty, beautiful even, but this evening she didn't look the part and he just couldn't get past her lank blond hair, dyed red in places from blood, her pale and bruised skin, and the dark hollows of her face.  Not that he'd ever voice that opinion.  "Lisette?" he prompted again, patiently, as the girl's eyes slowly fluttered open, squinting groggily against the bright lights in the hospital room.

   "Où ... où .." the woman rasped, working up spittle in her dry mouth that was no doubt scratched and torn from the tube that had been removed only hours before.  "Où est mes amis?" she finally spit out, the effort taken evident by the fine lines that creased her pale forehead.

   "I'm sorry, Miss," the doctor quickly interrupted, shaking his head as he spoke very slowly, "but I don't understand."

   "Un hôpital?" she murmured as if not hearing him, looking past to focus on the sterile green walls of her room, surrounded by a myriad of beeping machines, tubes and wires attached to various parts of her body.  "Pourquoi est-ce que je suis dans un hôpital?  Je ne comprend pas," she whispered, her eyes fluttering heavily as she fought against the drugs that were being pumped into her system.

   Sighing, the doctor shook his head curtly before turning and nodding to the young man that stood a little off to the side.  After being released earlier in the afternoon with minor injuries - mainly shock and exposure, the man hadn't wanted to leave the girl's side, apparently calling his secretary at his business and asking her to bring him in fresh clothes so that he wouldn't have to leave - yet now he looked as though he wanted to be anywhere else but there.  Still, he took his cue, reluctantly, and moved beside the doctor.  For a moment, he did nothing but run a shaky hand through his spiked black hair before finally, hesitantly, reaching down and taking the patient's hand in his own, bringing her once more back to reality.

   "Lisette," Blake prompted gently, watching as her bright blue eyes slowly focused on him, clouding a bit and then becoming clear with recognition.  "Lisette, do you remember what happened?" he asked quietly, wishing that his secretary had stuck around after all.

   "The.. the cavern.. Sky's cavern," Lisette murmured, struggling to push the darkness away - and succeeding.  But with that victory came an assorted wave of pain that seemed to emanate from all portions of her body at once.  Biting her lips, Lisette felt tears come to her eyes as she tried to think past the pain.  "Mes amis.. are they... are they hurt?" she whispered, fear tightening against her heart and bringing clarity into her clouded thinking.

   "Others?" the doctor asked quickly, his brow creasing in confusion.  "But I thought you said that it was just you and the girl who were involved in the accident," he quickly argued, turning to Blake.

   "We were," Blake smoothly agreed while squeezing Lisette's hand gently, "but her friends were the ones who found us and were able to dig us out," he explained vaguely before turning his attention back to the girl that hadn't left his thoughts since he met her.  "And they're fine.  They went.. home, for the day," he explained absently, hoping that was indeed where they were.  Although why her friends had abandoned her like that during the day, no matter how... different, they were, still bothered him.  With friends like that, she wasn't much better off than the two that had attacked them.  But even as he said it, Blake felt a wave of shame wash through him.  He couldn't forget the fear and concern that both Skydancer and Firedancer had held for Lisette and how much they struggled to keep her alive... which made him worry all the more about why they had left her there alone at the hospital with him.  Sighing, Blake quickly shook his thoughts away and focused once more on Lisette's clear blue eyes.  "How ya feeling?"

   "I.. I hurt.. all over," Lisette whispered, as though in a daze.  "What is wrong with me?" she murmured, her question directed at the stranger that stood beside Blake.

    The doctor pursed his lips as he looked down at his clipboard and then back up to his patient.  "You suffered some major crush injuries to your entire torso, Lisette," he responded gravely, his eyes searching hers for understanding.  "It's a miracle you made it out alive like you did," he continued as an awkward silence fell over the room as both Blake and Lisette avoided his gaze.  Sighing, he looked back at his clipboard and ran through the list.  "You suffered several cracked ribs, some most likely resulting from the CPR your friends performed on you.  You have some of the typical injuries we see as a result of accidents like yours: liver lacerations, a ruptured spleen, ruptured vessels to the kidneys, damage to the intestines, and a fractured pelvis," he droned, watching as the girl's face became more and more blank with confused horror.  "Quite frankly," he continued, "you're lucky to be alive.  How you lasted so long with all that internal bleeding-" he broke off, shaking his head as he looked over this enigma of a patient in a little awe.  No normal person should have been able to survive hours with injuries that she had... and then there were the burns.

   "Internal bleeding?" Lisette asked, her eyes squinting in frightened wonder, her hand weakly lifting to run over the thin blanket that covered her - and over the thick padding of bandages that wrapped her stomach.

   "Yes, we had to operate-"

   "Op-operate?" Lisette quickly stuttered out, her face growing even more pale, if possible, as she seemed to shrink in the small hospital bed.

   "Lisette, you were dying," Blake interrupted as he gently squeezed her hand.  "If it weren't for your friends, you never even would have made it to the hospital."

    "And besides, we're confident that we were able to stop the bleeding," the doctor continued smoothly, his professional smile firm and encouraging.  He would leave the burns for later, perhaps when he could question Lisette alone without her close-mouthed boyfriend around.  "And while it may take a few months to heal from your injuries, we can have the stitches out in a few weeks, with a minimal of scarring, and I expect a full recovery by this time next year."

   "Next year?" Lisette whispered dimly, barely able to believe what she was hearing.  Storm and Shaylyn wouldn't be waiting a year for her to get back to full strength before attacking her Clan again.. and Byrdie couldn't wait a year in their clutches before she could be rescued.  No, she was a part of a Clan once more, and this clan depended on all of her members for strength.  They needed her and there was no way that she was going to be of any help like this.  "Thank you Doctor," she murmured quietly, her mind already working through the problem as he nodded briefly before heading out to check on other patients.  With a grim smile, she knew the solution.

   "Are you okay?" Blake asked again, his brow wrinkling in concern.

   "I shall live," Lisette responded dimly before turning away from her thoughts.  Smiling, she strengthened her words with a small squeeze of his hand before her eyes turned towards the late afternoon sunshine that filtered in through the window of her small room.  "But Blake, I need for you to do something for me," she murmured, her eyes turning once more back to the young lawyer.

   "If I can," Blake replied uneasily, wondering once more why he didn't just leave when he had the chance this morning, after being treated and released.  He could have escaped the madness that he had been thrust into, somehow forgetting all that he had seen.  But he hadn't.  Sighing, Blake gently squeezed Lisette's hand and realized once more why he hadn't fled the madness.

   "My friends.. my friends will be returning for me come nightfall," she murmured, feeling the drugs at work in her once again.  "They had to return.. return to our home for the day, but they will come back when night has fallen."

   "What what you like me to tell them?" he asked quietly, slowly reaching forward to gently rub a hand against her cheek, willing her to fight the pull of darkness and sleep for just a few moments more.

   "Bring them to this room and help them to bring me home," she whispered, her breaths becoming more even as the pain slowly began to disappear on a high wave of drug-induced calm and slumber.  "Bring me home..."

Janua Caeli - sunset

    Locked in the depths of Janua Caeli's windowless basement, one would never know just what time of day it was if they were deprived of a watch.  But for some of the aging mansion's residents, a clock was never really needed.  Nature had developed in them a sense of time that no mere human would have been able to duplicate.  For thousands of years, their race learned to seek shelter in the early hours of the morning.  And as the first rays of the sun would peek over the horizon, their bodies would bow to its will, locking them in their stone slumber for the day.  Then, whether the sun was visible or not from their resting spot, they would awaken to begin a new night of activity.

    So to the Firedancer, sleeping in her secured quarters in the "dungeon" of their home, as the others had dubbed it, the lack of sunlight made no difference to her as her stone skin began to crack, releasing her from its grip.  With a roar she broke free of her imprisonment, stretching her wings out as the roar turned into a massive yawn.

    Elsewhere, as the last rays of the setting sun disappeared from the stone figure of Skydancer, hundreds of tiny lines fractured the granite skin and went flying as the gargess roared to life.  The splint that had encased her left arm also went flying as she flexed her muscles and allowed her talons to wiggle and roll as she inspected her hand.  "Good as new," she proclaimed, her green eyes sparkling with satisfaction.  

    Turning and caping in her wings, the she-goyle re-entered her tower and went pouncing through her room, down the steps, and into the living room below.  Glancing around in the waning light she heard the familiar roars of her clan sisters and knew that Firedancer and Shadow, at least, were up.

    Brushing stone chips out of her hair, Fire glanced over at her panel of equipment, satisfying herself that no one had disturbed her secured area while she was sleeping during the day.  Thankfully, there had also been no sightings of Storm or Shaylyn's energy signatures.  Satisfied that everything seemed to be peaceful for now, she closed up her cabinet and locked it and then pushed the timed sun lamp back into its corner.  She normally didn't use it, but with the lack of direct sunlight and her injuries, she felt it was time to use it.

    As she paused in her cleaning up and willed a fireball to life in her palm, she smiled and nodded to herself.  She still felt somewhat drained, and there was no way she could go a round with the duo tonight - not on an elemental level.  But at least she was recovering.  Suddenly, the firewielder froze as the events of last night rushed back into her still waking mind and she remembered that one of her comrades had still been left battling for her life.  Swiftly redressing in fresh clothes, she clipped her belt on and walked up the stairs to emerge from her underground domain.

    Skydancer turned as she heard Fire rounding the corner as she came up from her cell in the basement.  Grinning, she flexed her hand.  "Nothing better than a stone sleep as a cure-all, eh?"

    As though hearing the Skydancer's words, the mage, Pendragoness, stirred and stretched from her position on the couch.  She hadn't gotten much sleep and had poked around the library until she was too tired to stand.  Though tired physically, Pen's mind was too active to allow true rest.  All her restlessness was caused by the knowledge that these people knew a companion of hers, and that she was not in the best of situations.

    Kidnapped and held for ransom..... how could that have happened?  Was Byrdie sleeping on the job or something? At sunrise Pen had been ready to bust Byrdie out herself, but she didn't even know how to get to this Storm and Shaylyn's house.  She could barely feel Byrd's faint aura, and that only after discovering the gargoyles knew her.  So all Pen could do was wait throughout the day, pacing around and around the first floor until she could sleep.  But now it was sunset and it was time to get down to business...  

    The madmage, Merlyn, walked down the hall and followed the sound of voices into what appeared to be the living room.  She, too, had heard the screeching cries of the waking gargoyles.  Two of them were in the room before her, one having come down from a side door that appeared to go up into one of the towers.  The other having come up from some dark stairwell off in the kitchen.  The one called Skydancer seemed to be none of the worse for wear giving that she was waving her arm around with a silly grin on her face.  Merlyn returned her smile.  "I'm glad to see that you are healed," the madmage said with her blue eyes twinkling.  "And you also, Firedancer," she added to the red gargoyle.

    Skydancer turned towards the two mages.  The only one missing now was Shadow.  Tuning her sharp ears to the sounds of the house, Sky heard the darker gargoyle moving around in the center of the upper floor around the egg's room.  Probably went to check on it, the tan gargess thought.  

    Turning back to the two newcomers, Skydancer smiled briefly at them.  "Yes, I'm feeling much better after stone sleep," she started out by saying.  "I also want to thank you both again for helping Shadow get us out of that cave-in.  I don't know how much longer we would have survived...... especially Lis..." the dancer of the Sky paused, dismayed at what had happened to her friend.  Concern and worry etched their troubled lines across her face.  "Speaking of whom, I am most anxious to find out how she is doing..."

    Pen entered the living room, stretching her arms over her head, hearing Skydancer's words. "The girl we took to the hospital, right?"

    The tan gargess nodded.  "Yes, one and the same.  She was injured very badly by the rockslide and I'm worried.... we're all very worried."  Skydancer sighed as she walked further into the room and cast a glance first at Fire and then at the ones called Pendragoness and Merlyn.  "And then, of course, there is the matter of Byrdie..... Great Mother Earth, we don't even know where they took her!!"

    Pen couldn't keep a scowl from her face at that mention.  "I'd like to know myself..." she muttered under her breath.

    Fire's brow furrowed and she tilted her head to one side in thought.  "Well they can't go far... takes too much energy to transport any great distance.  If these two are anything like the Fey, they're probably hiding on a different astral plane.  Maybe within the city limits since all their activity has been centering here for awhile." She absently tapped a talon to her chin as her eyes moved over the others, slowing on the two new arrivals.  "Finding her may be a little bit of a problem, but once we do I think now we have our means of getting there.  First though, we should get over to the hospital and check on Lisette, and then we can figure out a game plan."

    Skydancer nodded.  Their first priority was going to have to be Lisette, despite the worry they all also shared over Byrd.  "Agreed," she said evenly, casting her green eyes around at the group.  Brushing back a stray tendril from in front of her eyes, the tan she-goyle turned to both of the new mages.  "That trick you two pulled last night.... the one that got us back here..." Sky stated, eyeing the two.  "Do you think you could do it again to get us back to the hospital?"

    Merlyn looked over at Pen and met her pupil's eyes.  A smile went across her face.  "Oh, I think we can swing it," she stated, nodding at Pen.  "Right?"

    "Right," said her pupil, lifting her hands to summon her powers.

    Merlyn raised her hands to match that of Pendragoness.  "Fire, air, earth, and sky," the mages began in unison, "Raise us up, help us fly.... water, wind, fire, earth, help us to our new friend's berth."

    And with a flash of blinding light, the two mages and the two gargoyles were gone.

    As the deep night sounds settled over the city, Blake slowly made his way out of the bustling hospital.  A four car pile up on the other side of town was keeping the hospital staff busy and no one noticed as he slipped out of the ER and into the dark of night.  "They better be here," he grumbled to himself as he left the brightly lit area that surrounded the hospital and crept warily into the shadowed area of the alley beyond.  "Anybody out here?" he whispered, feeling like a fool.

    Skydancer glanced around with the others as they watched the human emerge from the hospital.  The strange group of two mages and two gargoyles had just arrived a moment before and were still trying to get their bearings.  Stepping to the edge of the shadows so that the man could barely see her, Sky gestured towards Blake to indicate where they were.  "Over here, Blake," the tan gargess called in a whisper, her green eyes darting around to make sure no one else was near.

    Following the sound of the familiar voice, Blake slowly crept along the grimy brick wall, his eyes adjusting to the dank darkness, and made his way into the narrow alley.  In a few seconds, the bright, halogen glare of the street lamps faded away to allow the natural brightness of the stars above to illuminate the quartet that stood waiting in the darkness.  "Hey," he greeted, his voice a low murmur as he once more took a moment to adjust to the bizarre and frightening sight of the creatures that stood before him.

    Sky stepped back against the wall of the hospital as the others gathered around Blake.  All were anxious for news of Lisette.  A worried line creased the Skydancer's browridge as she asked the one question that was on the tip of all their tongues.  "How's Lis, Blake?" she questioned, the worry very evident in her green eyes.

    Merlyn stepped forward as they hovered around the male human, eager for news.  Though she had just met this strange group the night before, with the exception of Pendragoness, she already felt a kindred spirit to them.  "Yes," she too said, "how is the young mage?  Were they able to repair her damage?"

    At the concerned words of Lisette's friends, Blake's expression flickered and dimmed for a moment.  "Pretty bad," he answered honestly, thinking back to the young woman's haggard appearance and the long list of ailments that her doctor had listed to the two, "but she'll live," he continued, focusing on the positive.  After all, as hard as it was for him to believe by looking at the girl, it could have been much worse: she could have died, and would have it it wasn't for her friends.  Sighing, he turned away from his dark thoughts and forced a grim smile.  "She asked me to ask for your help in bringing her home," he continued, hating himself for asking even as the words escaped his lips.  In his opinion, the only place that Lisette needed to be was tucked away safe in the hospital, healing.  Instead, here he was asking for the help of creatures that were never made to exist in order to break her out.  "So, will you?"

    Pen nodded, agreeing with the gargoyles and her mentor.  "Of course, if that is her wish."  Then we can be one step closer to taking action... she thought.  Granted the mage wanted to help Lisette as well, but she couldn't keep Byrdie from her mind.  Patience, you'll get to save her soon enough.... for now concentrate on the matter at hand. Removing Lisette from the hospital.

    Skydancer nodded, her thoughts turning inward for a moment.  "I think I know what she has planned...." the tan gargess commented to no one in particular.  A light breeze blew along side of the hospital as the she-goyle paused, brushing a stray tendril behind her ear.  "Lisette has the capability to turn into a gargoyle.... and that means she would heal faster in stone sleep," Sky added, totally aware that Blake probably didn't know all the rudiments that went along with being a member of the second race.

    "She probably wants us to help get her back to Janua so she can do the transformation.  The only problem would be - is she strong enough to cast the spell??" Sky questioned, casting her eyes upon each member of the group as she searched for an answer.

    For a moment, Blake merely blinked stupidly at the group of females that stood before him.  Then, with another shrug he refocused on the problem at hand.  After the last couple of days, anything was possible - or so he was quickly realizing.  "I don't know," he finally interjected, warily running a hand through his short, spiky black hair, "and personally I think we can worry about that when we get her back to Janus, or wherever in the hell you guys are planning on taking her," he finished with an impatient wave of his hand.  "We just have to hurry before things calm down again in there."

    Fire shifted from where she had been leaning against the wall, listening to the others.  "Maybe I should take care of this.  She's likely to be hooked up to fifty monitors, and some of those need to be removed carefully.  If you just start yanking them out, you'll have every doctor in her room in seconds, and she could start bleeding again.  I can get her out before they realize she's gone - all I need to know is which window is hers."

    Pen nodded, looking at the gargoyle.  "Sounds good to me," she said.

    Sky also nodded her agreement.  She knew if anyone knew how to unhook the complex machinery they'd likely find in the building, it'd be the crimson gargess.  "I agree with you, Fire,"  Sky said, "but I think the rest of us should be there also - perhaps outside the window to help get her home.  Depending on what kind of condition she's in, it may take a couple of us to fly her there."

    The tan gargess turned to Blake then, a question crossing her astute face.  "I also think we'll need a look-out and possible diversion.... which I believe should fall to you, Blake.  They recognize you in this place and you wouldn't be as suspicious as one of the others, perhaps."

    "That's a good idea, Skydancer," the blue eyed mad mage said in agreement with the emerald eyed gargoyle.  "With Blake keeping watch, Fire can unhook Lisette.  If someone comes, he can go out in the hallway and distract them.  And if you wait outside the window and help Firedancer bring her down here, I'm sure Pen and I can whisk us all back to your mansion."

    Merlyn turned back to her former pupil, "Right, Pen?"

    The mage nodded.  "Right.  Let's do this," she said, flashing a small grin.

    Nodding slowly, Blake pushed his doubts away and turned back towards the towering hospital.  He had thought ahead to this and had moved her lamp closer to the window, in order to better help pinpoint her location from outside.  Now, he traced his eyes along the building and then nodded in the hospital's general vicinity.  "She's located on the fourth floor, the large window with the lamp sitting beside it," he explained to the crimson gargess.  Then, once sure that she knew the room to go to, he quickly nodded at the others.  "I'll make sure you're not disturbed," he added before turning and making his way back to the ER entrance.

    Fire secretly knew she could do the job alone, but let it rest knowing it wouldn't be good to draw too much attention to herself.  Shrugging, she looked over at Sky and nodded upwards as she flexed her talons.  "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind a little climb to help work out some of last night's stiffness.  Shall we meet up with the rest of you on the roof?" she asked, turning back to the mages.

    Skydancer nodded in agreement with Fire.  "A little flexation is just fine with me," she stated simply as she too turned her green eyes to see what Pendragoness and Merlyn thought.

    Pen glanced at her mentor, and nodded at the gargoyles.  "We'll meet you there," she said, readying a spell.

    Glancing over at Fire, Skydancer nodded towards the red brick building that rose straight up into the night sky.  "I guess that's our queue," she said as she leaped up onto a nearby garbage can and started scaling the wall, her talons digging holes into the rough brick mortar.  Sky's eyes darted to her goal above them: the softly lit window of Lisette's hospital room.

    Pen stretched her arms over her head.  "We should get up there then, eh, mentor?" she asked, then poised her hands in a gesture to summon her magics.

    Merlyn glanced up as she watched the two gargesses make their way up the wall.  "No, we wait here, my pupil," the mad mage said with a slight shake of her head.  "They will need us to summon the light to whisk ourselves away from this place of sickness and death.  The young one's life force is very weak."  Merlyn added the last comment as a slight green glow filled her eyes.  

    As the two mages conversed below them, Sky began to scale the wall above her, certain that Firedancer wasn't far behind her.  The tan gargess knew that she probably wasn't going to much help to the crimson one since she wasn't that familiar yet with modern technology but she felt the need deep within herself to oversee the healing of the young woman who had been her first friend in this strange world.  A night wind blew a shiver of ice down her back as Sky continued to climb the red bricked building.  Somehow, the green-eyed gargess sensed the pain her friend was probably going through.

    Finally, Skydancer came alongside the dimly lit room that Blake had pointed out to them.  Stopping, the she-goyle waited for Fire to come up on the other side of the window before deciding what to do next.

    Fire snuck a peek into the room and then nodded over at Sky.  "All clear.  Give me a couple of minutes to get her unhooked and then I'll pass her out to you."  She glanced down to see the two mages still on the ground and shrugged.  "Guess they're staying down there.  You can glide down to them and then I'll meet you back down with Blake, okay?"  After Sky nodded, Fire pushed aside the drapes and slipped inside the dim room.

    As she approached Lisette's bedside and took in her battered appearance, Fire's talons itched with the desire to heal.  Emotion swirled inside her and she lifted her hands up only to see an angry crimson glow instead of the soft comforting blue from last night.  With a sigh, Fire accepted that whatever had happened last night would most likely never happen again - at least she had been able to make the most of that one last chance.  Reigning her control back in, the glow dissipated, and Fire focused on the task at hand.  It only took a moment to identify all the monitors she was hooked up to, and then the gargess began to deftly turn off the alarms, shut down the monitors, and remove the IVs.

    As she reached down to lift Lisette carefully into her arms the young mage stirred on the edges of consciousness, and a wince of pain etched itself across her lovely features.  "Sorry Lis," Fire muttered as she glance up to see Blake guarding the door.  Turning her back, she headed over to the window to hand Lisette off to the waiting Skydancer.

    Keeping her claws anchored firmly into the brick wall of the hospital, Sky let go of the wall and held out her arms to accept the mage as Firedancer handed her out through the window.  A quick glance at the paleness of her friend was all that was needed to warn the tan gargess of the hell Lisette must be feeling even in her unconsciousness.  Casting a dark look at Fire, Sky nodded towards the ground.  "We're going to have to do this one very gently but quickly," she commented as she spread her large wings and let go of the wall to begin a slow spiral down to the ground below.

    Pen looked up, shading her eyes with one hand.  "Here they come," she told her mentor.

    Mad Mage Merlyn watched as the giant tan gargess called Skydancer landed softly on the ground with the young mage, Lisette, in her hands.  Glancing up again, Merlyn waited for the other gargess to appear - Firedancer.  As she waited, Merlyn gestured for Pen to step closer to Sky.  As soon as Fire and Blake reappeared, the two of them would whisk them all back to  Janua Caeli and safety.  "Draw close my pupil," she whispered, "and be prepared."

    "Okay," Pen whispered back, stepping closer. She looked back up at the window to where Firedancer was perched.  Come on, come on.....

    Meanwhile, from above Blake watched the exchange with guarded eyes, his muscles stiff and a tick appearing in his tightly clenched jaw.  "Careful, careful," he whispered as he glanced furtively at the action that was going on within the darkened hospital room.

    "Mr. Adams," a voice interrupted from behind him, causing him to swivel around, trying his best to act nonchalant as he used his body to cover the glass pane in the hospital door.  Turning on an automatic smile, he found himself face to face with a green clothed orderly in the bustling hall.  "You can go in and visit her, if you'd like," the woman continued with a bright smile.

    Swallowing the lump in his throat, Blake nodded vaguely at the orderly as he risked a quick glance back in the window.  All that remained was the red gargoyle, perched expectantly by the open window.  "I think I will," he finally responded, throwing a hasty grin at the young woman before quickly backing into the room, closing the door tightly behind him.  Heaving a sigh of relief, he rested for a moment against the smooth wooden surface before turning and moving hesitantly across the room and to the red gargess' side.  "Let's get out of here," he muttered, locking eyes with her.

    Fire nodded and climbed out the window, gesturing for Blake to crawl up onto the sill.  After anchoring her talons firmly into the wall she looked over at him as he glanced nervously down at the ground several stories below.  "You know I've never tried this before so no sudden moves, okay?" she told him in a deadpanned voice. 

    Instantly Blake's eyes snapped up to meet hers, his concern jumping several notches as Fire chuckled.  That was not the thing that he wanted to hear.

    "Just kidding.  Hop onto my back and I'll have you on the ground safe and sound in no time at all," she reassured him.

    Sighing, Blake slowly straightened his shoulders as he climbed the rest of the way onto the windowsill.  With one last glance at the street so far below, he then quickly moved until he was perched on the gargess's back, holding onto her with a death grip.  "Let's get this over with," he muttered, wincing as the gargess shifted.

    "Ready?" she asked, turning her head a bit.  At his pained nod Fire leaned back, letting their weight pull her off the building.  They freefell for a second, and Fire heard Blake suck in his breath before her wings snapped open and caught an updraft that halted their decent.  Then with just the slightest adjustment they were floating to the ground until Blake's feet finally came to rest gently on the pavement.

    Instantly, he thanked whatever God there was for the hard pavement that supported his shaking legs as he took in the others that were hidden in darkness in the dark alley.  Together he and Fire joined the others in a small group, huddled around Skydancer and Lisette in her arms.  "Let's get out of here," he said quietly, nodding at the two mages from the previous night.

    Pen spread her hands and began to cast her spell, green witchlight sparking between her fingers.  "Hurry, take us away from here and back to the Gates of Heaven."  It was short, but Pen was sure the others would forgive her if it didn't rhyme.  She looked to Merlyn, her blue eyes slowly being absorbed by the green magic she held.

    Skydancer watched the interplay between the two mages as the green glow of their hands reflected the emerald of her eyes.   Gently holding her mage friend, the gargess prayed to the Earth Mother that Pen and Merlyn would move swiftly to get them all back to Janua Caeli.  And then, in a massive coalescence of light, the grimy walls of the darkened alley outside of the hospital disappeared behind mists of green.  In seconds, the alley was deserted once more.
    

Janua Caeli

    Wincing, Lisette adjusted herself on the large couch, a pale hand instinctively moving to her bandaged middle.  Catching Blake's worried glance, she quickly threw him a half-hearted smile before focusing back to her friends.  Ever since awakening after arriving back at the manor, Lisette and the others had settled into the large living room off of the foyer.  Their conversation slowly drifting to the inevitable: their nemesis and missing comrade.

    "I apologize," Lisette broke in hesitantly, drawing the attention of those in the room, "but there is one question that I have, before we further discuss Byrdie's ailment."  Sighing, she slowly allowed her attention to drift back and forth between Sky and Fire, questioning them with her gaze before turning to the two strangers.  "I understand now how much you, Merlyn, and you, Pen, have helped us these past few evenings," she murmured, "but I still have yet to understand why you are here and why you seem so willing to help us retrieve our friend.  I am not sure that you understand the danger that you face by staying here with us.  Our enemies are very powerful, as I am sure you have realized," she finished with a weak nod down at her own injured body.

    Skydancer observed the two newest members of their small group with interested green eyes.  With her main concerns over her two friends during the last two nights, the tan gargess had not turned her mind to wondering much about the two mages.  She had uncharacteristically just accepted them.  Wrinkling her browridges a bit as Sky gazed at Merlyn and Pen in a new light, the she-goyle honed her instincts towards the two.  Just as they had shown by their actions, Sky sensed no threat from them.  Both seemed to share the same green witch-light that Lisette possessed, but somehow Sky felt they had a different story to tell.

    "Yes," the Skydancer said encouragingly as she brushed back a stray lock of brown hair.  "How did you happen to come across Janua?"

    Pen looked to her mentor, eyes questioning, then cleared her throat.  "Um, well, it's all kinda strange, really," the mage began, grinning nervously.  "I've been separated from Merlyn and now just met up with her again on the way here.  The pull to come was that strong.  And well, I must say I'm glad I did....." Pen's eyes clouded a little in thought, then she smiled.  "Oh well, it's not like wandering was a good way to kill time anyway."

    Instantly, Lisette's distrust began to melt away at the girl's words.  She could understand the pull that seemed to have drawn the two strangers to Castellum deGens, for it was the same feeling that had brought her all the way from France to the United States, and then from Michigan to this city in the backwoods of Pennsylvania, and that pulled Skydancer from her mountain home to this city.  "And after all of the help that you have given to us, we too, are glad that you did," Lisette added, smiling warmly at the two.  "And perhaps you can be of an even greater help to us, for one of our sisters, Byrdie Fae, is depending on us to bring her home," she finished grimly, her thoughts straying to the impish fae.  "Have the others told you yet of Storm and his wife, Shaylyn?" she asked, directing the question to any and everyone in the room.

    Pen's smile melted away and she scowled at the mention of the husband and wife team.  "Yes, Shadow HAS
mentioned a Storm and Shaylyn."  She couldn't keep the venom from her voice when speaking their names.  "I haven't even met 'em yet and I don't like 'em.  If they did a real number on you guys, it makes me fear what they've done to Byrds."  The girl folded her arms across her chest, still looking angry.

    "Byrds?" Lisette mouthed to both Fire and Sky, her fine eyebrows raising at the use of the familiar name by the stranger.  "Pendragoness... you know Byrdie?" she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

    Skydancer met Lisette's gaze in surprise as she turned back to Pen.  She knows Byrdie?? Sky thought questioningly.  Taking a step closer, Sky look attentively towards short-haired mage.  This I have to hear! she thought to herself.

    Fire just quirked an eyebrow, taking everything in, but somehow not really surprised that these two magic-wielders knew Byrdie.

    "Hai, I know her," Pen answered simply, eyes still narrowed in thought.  She ran her hand through her short hair and turned her gaze to Lisette who had directed the question.  "Once you're on your feet again, what's the plan to freeing her?"  There, the question Pen had been dying to ask for awhile now. 

    Nodding grimly, Lisette pushed away her further questions as to Pen's relationship to Byrdie and focused on the question that had no doubt been plaguing all of her friends since first realizing that Byrdie had been taken.  "C'est un bon question, mon ami," she whispered, her eyes narrowing in thought as she turned her thoughtful gaze to her friends.  "All we know is that Storm and Shaylyn have her... we do not know where they took her or what they will do with her," she trailed off as she tapped a finger against her chin in thought.  

    "I still don't even understand how this mess all began in the first place," Blake interrupted, finally joining the conversation as he ran a weary hand through his spiked black hair.  "One minute Lisette and I were in the park with this friend of yours and the next all hell is breaking loose up on the mountain," he added, sharing a rueful grin with the young blond woman.

    Fire chuckled dryly, recalling her own introduction to the small clan.  "Welcome to the real world my friend. Everything you once believed about ghosts and goblins, fairies..."

    A smirk pulled at Pen's lips.

    "...And things that go bump in the night as being just bedtime stories.... you can forget.  Because it's all true, and sometimes the real things - like our pals Storm and Shaylyn - are much worse than the stories.  But your comment does bring up a point.  Up until now they've always attacked us or the mansion.  They went to Sky's mountain for a reason, and in all the confusion I think we left that reason back up there," she remarked flatly as she looked over at Sky for a confirmation.

    Sky slowly nodded at Firedancer's statement as she recalled the book that the crimson gargess had had with her when they made a dive for the back of her cave after freeing Lisette.  Closing her eyes briefly, a thought suddenly came to the tan gargess as she remembered something.  "You know..." the dancer remarked quietly, pausing as she gathered her thoughts in her mind.  "I've just realized something.  When Storm and Shaylyn first attacked on the mountain, before any of the rest of you arrived, they were babbling something about 'a book.'  Now that you mention it, Fire, I think you just hit the nail right on the head: they were after something in particular.  And it was that book."

    Looking over at where Lisette lay wounded on the sofa, Skydancer's green eyes narrowed in further thought.  "They've struck us a terrible blow the last two nights.  You almost died, Lis," Sky said, a touch of the fear she had felt for her friend showing in her voice.  "And Byrd's been captured."  Taking a deep breath as if she were preparing herself for a coming battle, Sky lifted her eyes and swept her gaze around the room.  "I think our focus should be on doing what is necessary to get our fae friend back.  And in order to do that our first priority is going to have to be retrieving that book."

    Fire's eyes roamed around the room and then settled back on Sky.  "I swore I wouldn't head back up to your mountain anytime soon Sky, but I think you and I need to risk a field trip back up there to get that book back... tonight," Fire sighed.  "If Storm and Shaylyn really do want that book, then we can't afford to let them get their hands on it."

    Though she had remained silent up until now, Merlyn stepped forward and nodded her head in agreement with the two gargoyle dancers.  "I think that sounds like an excellent plan.  Especially if we are going to rescue this... Byrdie?" she asked, cocking a mock eyebrow at her former pupil.  Apparently Pendragoness had been doing more in the last 1000 years then she had let on.  "Pen and I can stay with Lisette and help guard the house with.. Shadow?"  

    Receiving an affirmative nod from Skydancer, Merlyn continued on.  "Why don't you two go ahead and get that book?  In the meantime, Lisette, you can rest some more... though I don't know if you'd be ready for a battle so quickly in your present form...."

    "Oh, do not fear," Lisette murmured, her voice taking on an uncustomary edge as her eyes narrowed, her hands unconsciously clenching the blanket that was draped across her battered form as she slowly sat up, "I will be a part of this coming battle.  Not only do I owe Storm and Shaylyn some payback for my condition, but for all that they have troubled our Clan this past year," she murmured, her eyes turning far away as she recalled the body of Sunshine, long since buried beneath the Weeping Willow that proudly graced the back of the manor.  "Besides," she added as she focused once more on her friends, "our enemies are strong and we will require all of the strength that we can muster."

    "Then it's settled," Blake broke in, once more entering the conversation as he gently pushed Lisette back to the sofa's soft cushions.  "We'll wait here while you two get the book," he finished as he nodded to the two gargesses.  "Just hurry back and be careful," he muttered, almost too softly to be heard as Lisette's eyes met his own, sharing in his concern.

    Skydancer flew high in the blackening night sky against the backdrop of a pale silver moon.  Firedancer wasn't far behind her.  She was heading towards her mountain, or what remained of it.  As the two gargesses approached the tree line, the color of the night became a deep blue, almost black, but mystical and beautiful.  The trees rose from shadows toward the gem-scattered sky as little tails of mist drifted slowly up from the forest floor.  This was why she had loved this place so much, Sky thought to herself.  And now Shaylyn and Storm had destroyed it.

    Turning herself into the direction of the wind, she let her green eyes scan the forest below, searching for the hideaway that had been hers alone until the night before.  Sky looked over the beauty around her, resting her eyes finally on the beauty of nature that had hidden her home, but now somewhat tumbled over it in gales of running water.  Pools of the silver liquid shimmered in the light of the moon, glistening like a crystal and beckoning for Sky to join it.  Pointing out to the ruins of the cave directly behind it, Sky waved a hand out to the crimson gargess directly behind her.  "There!" she called out, caping in her wings as she went in for a soft landing beside the pool.  

    Glancing up at what was left of the cavern, Sky slowly hissed in her breath at the destruction to her home.   "Great Mother Earth....." she muttered, not having taken notice the night before of the chaos that had surrounded them.

    Fire landed behind Sky and glanced around at the aftermath they had all left behind last night.  Scorch marks, from both elemental and magical attacks, had been scarred into the landscape all around them.  And Sky's home.... Fire shook her head in amazement as she took a good look at just what they had survived last night.

    "Damn, we were lucky," she said somberly, her eyes drifting towards her darker companion.  Sky was looking at the ruins of her home with a growing sadness in her eyes and Fire felt a twinge of sympathy for her.  "I'm sorry that you had to lose all this Sky.  Maybe... perhaps in time it can be rebuilt."

    Skydancer shook her head, not quite knowing what to say.  The waterfall had originally covered most of the entrance to the cave.  Now it tumbled off to the side.  The pool of water that had sparkled like a drop of heaven's tears was much smaller than it had been, a landslide of rocks having cut the pool in half.  A big hole where Shadow and the mages had blasted through the rockslide covering the entrance stared at them like a giant mouth waiting to swallow them up.  Scorched earth and downed trees were everywhere.  The duo had done their destruction well.  "I don't know if it can be rebuilt, Fire," the emerald-eyed gargess said to her friend quietly.  "I don't know if I would want to."

    Sighing, Skydancer began walking carefully through the debris of blasted rock, trying to make her way up to what remained of the cave.  In order to rescue Byrdie Fae, they had to get a hold of the book that the duo had been babbling about, the book that Firedancer was sure Blake had found in the cave with a very strange prophecy in it.  The very book that even now, lay in her destroyed home.  Thinking of all of the destruction that it had caused, Sky's eyes narrowed.  All of this for a stupid book... they will pay for what they have done!!!

   Just then the peace of the evening was broken by the muffled ring of a phone.  Swearing, Fire backed away several feet, fumbling in her pouch for the device.  "Yeah, Fire here," she said quietly as she turned away from Sky who was looking back at her, puzzled.

    "Michael has been expecting your call all evening, Rachel.  Is there a problem?"

    Fire winced as her father-in-law used her given name.  "No... I've just been tied up all evening.  One of the others was hurt-"

    "Need I remind you of your priorities?"

    "No sir," Fire responded meekly.  She could hear the disappointment in his tone.

    "Fire, I may seem like I'm being cold, but I'm only trying to spare you.  You've been through a lot, and I'd hate to see you hurt again.  These people you are working with, they may be good at heart, but once they find out who you are-"

    "I know, I know," Fire sighed.  "The medallion will be on its way to you by morning.  But there really is more going on up here that does need my attention sir."

    "Fine.  But once the threat has been terminated you are to return here at once, is that understood?"

    "Yes sir."

    "Good."

    And then the line went dead.  With a sigh Fire shoved the phone back into her belt and silently berated herself for letting her guard down.  When she turned back towards Sky, who was watching her with a peculiar look, she faked a shrug.  "My family.  They're making arrangements to move the medallion to a safer location."

    Skydancer looked at the crimson gargess suspiciously.  Something wasn't right here, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.  That's not the first time she got an odd phone call like that, Sky thought, narrowing her green eyes a bit.  She got one the other night at the hospital too, come to think of it. The tan gargess had always had a strange feeling around Firedancer ever since they had come across her in the forest several months before.  Though Fire had since more than proven herself to be a friend and worthy ally, Sky just had this nagging feeling about her she just couldn't shake.  I think I'm going to start watching her more closely, she thought to herself.

    Deciding not to let on that she knew something more than what was obviously up, Skydancer turned and continued up the mountain.  "We'd better hurry if we're going to get that book before the coming dawn," she called back over her shoulder.

   "Yeah," especially if I'm going to get this medallion to Michael before sunrise. "I think I brought the book into the main chamber -- it should be right by where the rock fall was," Fire said as she followed Sky along the rocky surface around the entrance to her destroyed home.  She was trying to act casual, but inside Fire fumed silently that the phone call had to have come around Skydancer of all people.  She had been the most suspicious of her from the start, and now Fire could see it beginning to creep back into her eyes.

    Turning her attention back to the matter at hand, Sky carefully made her way into the destroyed cavern.  Rocks, splintered wood, and debris lay all across the ground.  The damage to the tan gargess' former lair was beyond belief.  Eyeing the damage, the Dancer of the Sky slowly made her way in toward the back of the chamber where the main rockslide had been.  Scanning the cavern floor, Sky kept her wide green eyes pealed for the ancient golden book the others had described.  "I don't..." Sky's voice trailed off for a moment as a groan came from deep within the mountain as it shifted, "see it."  As she finished, the she-goyle kept weary eyes on the ceiling of the cavern.  The last thing she wanted was to spend another night trapped inside.

    Fire glanced warily above her for a second and then turned her eyes back to their task.  She scanned the cavern, her mind trying to replay last night's events clearly enough to give her an idea of where she had last dropped the book.  Stepping back a few paces she realized she was where the mouth of the tunnel had led into the main cavern.  The rockslide had been here which meant the book had to be right around here somewhere.  There were several smaller piles of rock still scattered about, and Fire began digging through the one closest to where she stood.  Perhaps, when the others transported the larger boulders-

    "Yes!" Fire hissed, relieved as she tossed aside several stones and came across the half buried book.  "Sky, I found it!" she called out quietly, not wishing to disturb the unstable mountain any further by loud shouts.

    Hurrying over to where Firedancer stood with the dusty book in her hands, Sky breathed a sigh of relief that they had found it so quickly.  "So, that's the book that the witch and her husband want," she stated quietly, her green eyes narrowing.  "I wonder why they are so desperate to get it back?"  Shoving a loose tendril behind her left ear, Sky glanced up at Fire's face and met the red gargess's grim expression.  Whatever the reason, we're getting Byrd back, she thought.

    "I don't know, but if it's important to them, then he had better make damned sure they don't get their hands on this," Fire said with conviction as she stood.  Brushing some dust off the book, she admired the ornamental design on the front cover for a few seconds and then the mountain groaned again, reminding them of the peril they could still be in.  "We'd better get out of here while we still can.  Then we can take a better look at it back at the mansion with the others."  When Sky nodded in agreement Fire turned to make her way back out into the open.  In an effort to move quickly back through the debris without disturbing anything, she had unconsciously slipped into the stealth mode Marcus had been drilling her on the past six months.  In the span of a few breaths she had weaved her way outside, without a talon print left in the dirt to show her signs of passing.

    Once outside she looked back to see Sky making her way forward and hopped down from the entrance to the cave.  Off to one side something glinted in the charred underbrush, and Fire's brow drew together.  She approached the metallic object and then sighed deeply as she closed in upon it and realized what it was.  Reaching down, she picked up what was left of her axe.  The handle had been all but burnt away, and the heavy metal head had been cracked almost in half.  What was left had been warped by the impact of the magic it had sustained.  Fire stared down grimly at was once her most prized possession - a gift her father had given her years ago after she had officially become a firefighter.  He had commissioned it to be specially made for her, and it had endured the years extremely well.  Now it felt like a part of her was missing with its destruction.

    Skydancer had watched with curious interest at the way Fire had left the cave.  One could barely make out that anyone had been inside the destruction inside.  Unconsciously the crimson gargess was revealing sides of a hidden nature that seemed to be buried deep within her persona.  The revelation left Skydancer, however, as she noticed Fire pick something up from the brush nearby.  Coming up behind her, the green eyed gargess noticed the wistfulness that appeared on Firedancer's face - and the regret.  Looking at the warped piece of metal that Fire was absentmindedly caressing in her hands, Sky realized that it was what was left of Fire's axe.

    Reaching out, Sky laid a comforting hand on Fire's shoulder.  Glancing back at the destruction behind her, Sky knew exactly how the red gargoyle felt.  "I'm sorry, Fire," she said simply, the expression on her face conveying what she felt.

    Fire tossed away the remaining vestiges of her former life with a snort.  She shouldn't be so shaken up over the loss of a weapon.  That life was over with three years ago, and she had built herself a new one - with the Guild.  As the protégé of the Guild Master himself, mourning over a hunk of burnt wood and twisted metal just wouldn't do. He was right... she had been letting her guard down and had grown soft over the past couple of nights.  Her eyes hardening, she shook off the sympathetic gesture from the Skydancer.  "Nothing that can't be replaced.  I have to go deliver the Medallion to my family so they can see to its safekeeping.  Think you'll be okay heading back to JC alone?"

    The tan gargess narrowed her green eyes a bit as she looked at Firedancer.  Her suspicions were growing again and her instincts were on the alert.  Something was not quite right here, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  Sky knew, however, that it had something to do with the Medallion that Fire had been so anxious to retrieve.  "Alone?" Skydancer echoed.  "Do you really think it wise that either of us go in separate directions?  Wouldn't it make more sense for you to wait until after we rescue Byrdie Fae and then return the necklace?"  

    Sky watched Fire's face intensely, trying to decipher what she was up to as she added, "One of us could accompany you on the journey so you wouldn't be alone then."

    Fire shook her head as she palmed the Medallion, its polished surface glittering in the moonlight.  "No, we've had enough problems as it is lately.  The last thing we need is to have Mr. Psycho and his wife get their hands on this again.  My family is already making arrangements to have it transported to someplace safe, and I need to get it to them tonight."  That much was the truth, but she had sensed Sky's growing suspicions.  "Besides, you should get that book back to the mansion, and check in on Lisette.  The longer we stand around here, the more we risk running into Storm and Shaylyn looking for these," Fire reasoned nodding to the two magical items they had in their possessions at the moment.

    The crimson gargess forced her demeanor to be kept casual, as if making a simple, logical decision.  But inside she realized she was going to have to be careful around Sky.  She would have preferred to have dropped the Medallion off with the Guild at another time, when her actions would not raise so many questions.  But as luck would have it she couldn't, and she was forced to try and deceive the one Clan member that had been the most cautious around her from the start.  Fire hated to deceive someone that she herself had come to trust, and thus it still made the job all that much more difficult to pull off.

   Meanwhile, Sky wasn't fooled by Fire's calm face.  She knew a plastered facade when she saw one.  What really bothered the tan gargess, however, was the fact that she had come to like the Flame dancer, and despite her hidden agenda, Sky felt she could trust the red gargoyle with her life.  Sighing, Sky decided to let it go for now.  Fire was right about one thing -- she needed to get the book back to Janua and also to check up on Lisette.  The next night the clan was going to need every able body available to rescue Byrdie Fae.

    "Alright," Sky said, finally relenting.  "Just be careful.... and watch your back.  There's no telling if that she-witch and her sidekick will strike again."  A soft breeze stirred the tan gargess's long braid and ruffled the tendrils of hair framing her face.  Stepping back she uncurled her wings as she got ready to leap up into the black pool of the night sky.  "Hurry back, Firedancer.  We're going to need your help tomorrow night to rescue Byrdie," Sky said, pausing a moment before adding, "we'll be expecting you."

   Fire nodded, her face turning dark.  "You don't have to worry about me missing out on this party.  All of us owe those two a big dish of what they've been serving to us.  Tomorrow night I plan on paying them back big time.  If I don't make it back in time for dawn, I will be back at the mansion just after sunset."  With that Fire turned and climbed up a nearby tree and nodded once more to Sky before launching herself into the night.

    Sky brushed back her hair as she watched the Firedancer take flight, her gaze becoming that of the unseeing eye.  Her face cast a faraway expression with lines of strain clearly evident upon it.  Something wasn't quite right with the Flame-thrower, but the green-eyed she-goyle didn't know what it was.... yet.  

    With a shake of the head, Sky leaped up onto a nearby rock, the powerful muscles and superhuman strength that belonged to the gargoyle race alone, aiding her as she made her jump and launched herself into the night sky.  Spreading her wings wide, she caught an updraft and soared high into the black blanket above her, marveling in her flight.  She dipped, circled and swept across the night-time as she enjoyed the cool air brushing across her face.  In no time at all, the Skydancer cleared the forested mountain and soared above the twinkling lights of Castellum deGens far below as she headed back to her home - Janua Caeli.

    Fire watched from the ground as Skydancer launched into the night and headed back the mansion.  Just after taking off, the crimson gargess had kept low to the trees and then ducked back under their protective covering only a couple hundred meters away.  She had seen the suspicion alight back into Sky's eyes.  The same look of distrust that the darker gargess had given Fire after she had first arrived.  Fire would have to be careful around Sky from now on.

    After waiting for several minutes, she finally took to the air, and made her way to the outskirts of the city.  She landed in the alley next to what appeared to be a dilapidated old hotel and apartment complex.  After looking around she knocked three times on the back door and waited.  There was a replying rap from the other side, and Fire rapped back in the Guild's code.  The door was opened, and two beefy looking men confronted her.

    "Name and business," one stated gruffly.

    Fire smiled.  Their human eyes were having a hard time seeing exactly who she was in the darkness of the alley.  She extended a palm, ignited it and grinned at their surprised reaction.

    "Huh.... Firedancer.  Heard you was in town... just never got a chance to get down t' see you in action the other night," the second man stated as his stance relaxed and he acknowledged her reputation.

    "Hmmmm... well maybe sometime in the future Michael can set up for a rematch.  I don't recognize either of you guys, but from the looks of things, they were holding out on me."  Her compliment earned her an open door and free passage from the now smiling guards.

    "He's in the office... been expectin' you all evening."

    Fire nodded and then headed down the hall towards the door at the end.  She knocked politely on the closed door and when bid entrance walked in, an apology on her lips.  That apology died as her eyes froze on the TV screen before her.  It had only been last night that she had 'lifted' this very tape that bore her name on its label.  She had been curious as to what the tape contained.... now she wished she had never borrowed it.

    "Do you know what truly makes a good thief, Firedancer?" Michael asked, his back turned to her, as he lounged comfortably, cigar in hand, despite the horrible sounds and images playing out on the screen.

    "What?" Fire choked out.

    "One who can take something and then replace it without it ever being missed.  Good thing I had an extra copy of this.  It seems I 'misplaced' the original," he remarked nonchalantly.  Fire swallowed hard and watched as her talons sunk into Frank's chest and his screams ceased suddenly.  There was an unnatural tearing sound and then the man's heart was being held in her palm, a feral look on her blood spattered figure as the light slowly died in his eyes.  Suddenly that image froze and Michael swung around to stare at the gargoyle before him.

    "W- Why did you show me this?"

    "I knew you took the other tape... and I also knew that you most likely never finished watching the whole thing.  Tell me something, what do you see when you look at that screen?"

    "What?"

    "What do you see when you look at yourself."

    Fire glanced over at the screen looked away, and then finally lifted her eyes to really look.  "I see someone who is consumed by hatred and anger for the people who took everything away from her."

    "Are you that person anymore?"

    There was silence for a moment and then a heavy sigh.  "No.  I passed a death sentence on that man in the most gruesome way someone could probably imagine.  But that is not who I want to be."

    "Do you wish to remain with the Guild?"

    Fire looked Michael in the eye.  "Yes," she stated firmly.

    "Do you wish to continue your training - possibly to a very high level?"

    "Yes."

    "Then look at that screen and remember that while you may not ever take a man's life like that again - this is part of what you've become.  We are outside the law, Firedancer, we are a law unto ourselves.  That is why we stick together, and why we form friendships with no one on the outside.  It can become too... painful.  Is this understood?"

    Grounding her teeth, Fire nodded.  "Yessir."

    "Good.  Now you brought the Medallion?"

    Fire pulled out the recovered treasure and tossed it on the desk.  Michael picked it up and studied it before slipping it into a shielded box.  "This is being sent out to another stronghold where things of this nature are usually stored.  The Guild Master has informed me that you are remaining here for a while longer until the threat of those two creatures has been neutralized?"

    "Yessir.  It is still unclear as to what exactly their intentions may be.  And for as long as they are around, two beings with power like that could mean a lot more trouble if they aren't stopped as soon as possible."

    "Understood.  Then you will use the skills of those you have taken up residence with to find this couple and help destroy them."

    Fire noticed how he pointedly did not refer to the Clan as her friends.  "That may be easier said than done, sir. The two of them have taken one of the others captive - she may even be dead by now.  The rest of us were injured seriously last night in another battle.  One of the mages nearly died, but she should be able to recover soon.  Two more have joined our numbers, though, and we have come across a book that might help us."

    Michael took note of the fact that her brief summary lacked any revealing details.  Whether it was because she wasn't sure herself or she was holding something back - that he wasn't sure.  But he would let it slide this time and hopefully, she would give him a better report next time.  "Very well.  Continue with your assignment, Firedancer, and report back to me within the next three nights of your progress.  Dismissed."

    Fire blinked.  Just last night he had been so relaxed and easy around her.  Now tonight he was treating her as one of his subordinates.  And that's when it hit her... she really was.  It was yet another reminder that she was up here on a mission - not to try and find a new home with her own kind.  Swallowing her emotions, Firedancer nodded once curtly and turned to leave.

    "Fire," Michael called out just before she exited.  She looked back, and he was once again turned around in his chair, facing away from her.  "I know that you will probably have to learn the hard way this time around - because all of us have.  But I meant what I said about not being friends with anyone outside the Guild.  Probably every single man and woman in this Guild has tried it at least once - myself included.  All it will bring you is false hope and deep regrets.  Don't get too close."

    She only nodded and with a sigh closed the door and walked silently out of the building.  Michael's words swam through her head, and before she realized it, she was gliding over the soft lights of Janua Caeli.  Landing on the front porch, Fire took a deep breath and shook herself mentally.

    Okay Fire, it's time to do what you have been training for these past months.  These people are not your friends, just a means to help overcome a problem and finish your mission.  They are not my friends, and when this is all over, they'll go on with their merry little lives and I will be back in New Orleans with the Guild.  Don't act any differently though, because I need their trust.  They have to think I'm their friend - without letting myself get too close to them.  I can do this..... I think. With a frustrated growl, Fire wiped the scowl off her face and entered into the house.

Janua Caeli

    Grimacing as her stitches pulled painfully against her skin, Lisette shifted slowly on the large sofa, her eyes squeezing shut and forcing her tears at bay.  And then, as the wave of pain began to subside, she felt a warm hand wrap around her own, bringing her away from her troubled thoughts.

    "How ya doing?" Blake asked, concern creasing his tired brow as he took in her pale face, her bright blue eyes flanked by dark smudges of skin.

    "No worse, no better," she sighed in response as her eyes drifted around the empty living room.  "Where are the others?" she asked, her eyes turning back towards the young man that sat on the floor beside her.

    "I think that they're with Shadow in the kitchen," he responded lightly, the names now slipping easily from his lips.

    "I must have fallen asleep," Lisette murmured absently, wearily lifting a hand to brush at her sweaty forehead.

    "And about time, too," Blake quickly interjected, annoyance creeping into his voice.  Shaking his head, he watched as Lisette met his eyes innocently, obviously surprised by his tone.  "Lisette, how can you expect yourself to heal if you don't get any rest?"

    Shaking her head wearily, Lisette felt her eyes drift close before focusing once more on Blake.  "It does not matter, for as Craigen once told me, je vais dormir quand je suis morte," she murmured nonchalantly as she waved away his concern.

    "No, you won't sleep when you're dead," Blake interrupted, surprising her with his words.  "You'll be dead and then everything is a moot point."

    "Why do you care?" she quickly retorted before she could stop herself.  The look of hurt on his handsome face was enough to make her regret her quick words, but not enough to stop her next ones.  "Why are you even here right now?  Why did you not leave when you had the opportunity to do so?" she demanded, the questions that had burning in the back of her mind all evening finally spilling forth.  Yet when he remained silent, staring at her with his questioning blue eyes, she found that she couldn't stop.  "Blake, why would you stay after everything that happened last night?  Magic, evil, gargoyles, fairies-"

    "This," Blake broke in, interrupting her tirade as he gestured to the empty room around them.  But instinctively, Lisette knew that he was referring to all that she just mentioned.  "I don't care about this," he continued, his expression softening as he leaned forward and cupped her chin in his soft hands.  "This is all I care about."

    "But you don't even know me," Lisette murmured, her heart melting as she lifted a hand to cradle his own.

    "But from what I've seen, I know that I want to," he whispered as he gently leaned forward and placed his lips lightly against her forehead.  "And until your friends return with the book that we found, I want you to lay back and get some sleep," he ordered, his voice firm as a small smile pulled at Lisette's lips.

    How could she argue with that?  "Only if you stay with me until I am asleep," Lisette murmured, her pain medication already making her tired eyes even heavier.

    "I promise," Blake vowed, watching as her eyes slowly drifted shut once more.  "I promise."

    Swooping in low against the darkened night sky, the tan gargess glided close to the tree line as she skirted the city limits of Castellum deGens.  Skydancer was on her way back to Janua Caeli with the golden book of Prophecy clutched tightly in her hands, however, she was making the journey without Firedancer - against her better judgment.  Sky's browridges knitted tightly together as her thoughts brushed upon the red gargess.  Something was up with her, something the Flame-wielder was hiding, but Sky couldn't put a single talon upon what it was.  Unfortunately, I don't have the time to dwell on it now, Sky thought, shifting her concentration back to the matter at hand.

    Spreading her wings wide, the green-eyed gargoyle caught a downdraft and swooped in closer to the city, all the time keeping alert and watchful of anything that resembled the magiks of Storm and Shaylyn.  The twinkling lights of the city sparkled up at her in the moonlit night, and Sky thought briefly with regret of how she would have loved to stop and admire the view.  All too soon, however, the lights of the city vanished as she moved out over the remote country road that led to the mansion.  Like a sentinel stranger, Janua Caeli came into view with its welcoming glare greeting Skydancer as she arrived home.  Caping in her wings, the dancer landed lightly on the porch, the book firmly in her grasp.  Reaching out, she opened the giant oak doors and entered the darkened foyer, fully prepared to report to the others the outcome of the night's adventure.

    Walking into the living room where the others huddled around the warmth of the fireplace, Sky raised the book up into the air high above her.  "Found it!" she exclaimed with a grin, trying to cast some achievement into the ending of the night.

   Pen grinned.  "Good!" she exclaimed, then leaned forward to gaze at the book in question.  "So THAT'S what Bitch 1 and Bitch 2 wanted for the capture of Byrds?  They musta really wanted that thing badly," the mage's eartips pointed out of reflex of anger but then rounded again with her exhale of exasperated breath.

   "Where's Fire?" Lisette asked, ignoring the mage's outburst as she honed in on their missing comrade.  "Is she alright?" she asked, panic beginning to tighten like a vise on her heart.

    Moving closer to the sofa that the young woman was resting on, Sky put a hand on Lisette's shoulder.  "Calm down, Lis," the green-eyed gargess ordered as a soft smile crossed her mouth.  "Fire is fine.  She went off to deliver that medallion to her family for safe keeping.  She promised to be back by sunrise."  The dancer gave the mage's shoulder a slight squeeze, signaling to her that all was well.  The last thing the she-goyle wanted was for her friend to get all hyped up just when they were on the verge of getting her healed.

    Merlyn stepped forward then, pushing a stray lock of hair out of her slate blue eyes.  Her attention was drawn to the book in Skydancer's hand.  It had a metallic glow to it and spoke of ancient power.  "Is this the book of prophecy that all of you were speaking about?" she inquired.

    In response to Merlyn's question, the dancer nodded.  Slowly, she brought the book up so that it was level with her waist and let her hand brush over it briefly.  "Yes, this is the book," she said, glancing around briefly at each of them.  "And from the looks of things, they want it pretty badly.  They kept demanding to know where it was when I first encountered them on my mountain...."

    Skydancer paused here as a brief wave of sadness washed over her at the loss of her home.  Closing her green eyes with a small sigh, she gave herself a little shake, determined not to let the loss stop her from focusing on the matter at hand.

   Pen's gaze dropped to the book again, her gaze somber yet deadly.  "Then we shouldn't keep 'em waiting, should we?"  She paused.  "I assume they want a trade?  Byrds for this book."  The mage waved her hand at the book.  "What is exactly in this book?  I want Byrds out, but should we be giving it to them in the first place?"

   Sighing, Lisette slowly shook her head at the girl's questions.  "Pen, we don't know what they want.  Yes, at first they wanted the book that they thought we had, and after the fight, they took Byrdie and left us for dead in the cavern.  As far as we know, they could be anywhere with Byrdie for God only knows what reason," she explained patiently.  "Although if this really is the book that they were after, a trade is not a bad idea - if we can only figure out how to convey this idea to Storm and Shaylyn, ensure they do not double cross us, and somehow learn everything from that book that we can before we give it away.... and all of this needs to be done the sooner the better, for Byrdie's sake."

    Looking at the golden book in her taloned hands, Sky began to page through the book and noticed some ancient incantations inside.  "This mostly seems to be a book of prophecy... and it has some old spells in it.  Liberadad de veritas.... the truth shall set you free," the tan gargess translated as she continued her browsing.  
    Suddenly, the dancer paused.  An archaic passage had captured her interest.  "Curious..." she stated, and then began reading, ""The hope for the future lies within the heart of innocence.  The innocence shall destroy the evil, Yet it will take strangers from the past: The one who dances with blinding light..."  Sky's voice trailed off as she glanced over at Lisette and Blake.  "I take it this is the prophecy that you three were referring to while I was knocked out in the cavern?" Sky cast her green eyes back down at the words that lay just under her fingertips.  "Perhaps this is why our evil duo wanted the book so badly.  It spells out their downfall and what is to come."

    Merlyn nodded her head.  She was very familiar with ancient texts and was not at all surprised by the prophecy.  From the looks of things, neither was her new gargoyle friend.  "I think you are right, Skydancer," the Mad One said in agreement.  "And if that is the case, then it is even more important that we not allow it into this evil couple's hands."

    "The fact remains, however," Sky interjected, "that as important as this book may be, it seems to be the only thing of leverage we have to get back Byrdie.  And to me, a friend's life is more important than that of a book.... though I would hate to see us lose it."

   Pen cupped her chin in thought.  "Wait a minute..... we don't exactly HAVE to give them the book, do we?  We could make a decoy.... in hopes that they wouldn't sense it's not the real thing, that is."

   Skydancer's green eyes lit up at this suggestion.  Eagerly, she nodded.  "Great Mother Earth, why didn't I think of that?!" she exclaimed, grinning.  "What an excellent idea, Pen!"  Swinging around so that her long braid flopped over her shoulder, Sky began to pace the room.  "If we could somehow manufacture another book - a fake one - we could trade it for Byrd.  Question is - how do we go about creating such a item?"

   At this question, Lisette felt the first smile in what felt like forever lift her lips.  "With magic, anything is possible, mon ami, n'est-ce pas?" she asked, winking at the other two magic-users in the room.  "It should not take much energy to create a duplicate of this book - not perfect, by any means, but it should be just enough to convince Storm and Shaylyn until we get Byrdie back."

   Pen found herself laughing in agreement with Lisette's enthusiasm.  "Hai, this shouldn't be any problem at all!" she said, cracking her knuckles and grinning.  "Though in comparison to the real thing, it may be a VERY poor copy... it may come out looking like the real thing, but have blank pages inside.  We'll just have to hope our combined efforts make a passable copy, ne?" the mage grinned.

   Skydancer smiled in return as she glanced at the three mages.  "Well, with magic-users like you three, I'm sure we can pull something off," the gargess responded.

    "Yosh," Pen said, and nodded to her mentor.  "Are you ready, Merlyn?"

   "Wait, wait," Lisette interrupted, her eyes twinkling at the girl's enthusiasm.  "If you are serious about passing off a good copy of this book, then I suggest that we wait until tomorrow night.  By then I should be back to a liking of my normal self and will be able to help you both," she continued as she brushed a weary hand through her pale blond hair, grimacing slightly at the lank feeling of the strands.  "And after I've showered," she muttered under her breath as she threw an amused glance at Blake.

   Forcing a smile, Blake absently nodded his agreement before casting his eyes back to the others in the room.  "Well," he sighed, as he glanced at the clock on the mantle beside him, "this is all well and good, you've all figured out how to bargain the book for your friend - tomorrow, judging by the early hour, but you still haven't even covered the idea of how you're supposed to convey this idea to your opponents... or even if your friend is still alive."

   Wincing at the bluntness of his words, Lisette met her friends' eyes apologetically.  "And while I don't want to consider the idea that we may be too late, Blake does have a good point.  How can we set up this trade?  Do you think that they will return to Sky's cavern tomorrow night to continue the search for the book?  They did not get it the first time.. maybe they will try again," Lisette said as she shrugged her dainty shoulders.

    "I have an idea," Skydancer said slowly, as she pondered the situation that they were in.  "We need to draw these two out into the open.  And what better way to lure them than with the book of prophecy?  I think its safe to assume that these two have a window into this world.  Why don't I go up there and do something to spark their attention?" the she-goyle suggested, casting her green eyes around the room.

    "And," she added, seeing the hesitation in the faces of the others at the thought of her going up there alone against the duo, "one of you mages can come with me.  Once the witch and her husband from hell appear, we can wink back in a flash - hopefully with them following."

    Nodding her head thoughtfully, Lisette met the gargess's eyes.  "Under the circumstances, it seems that we have no choice," she agreed as she thought of their missing comrade.  "Pen," she continued, casting her blue eyes on the be-speckled mage, "why don't you accompany Skydancer tomorrow night to the cavern?  While you're gone Merlyn and I can see about putting a spell of protection on the manor, and then, should we fail in some way, Shadow can act as our final line of defense for the egg," she suggested, shifting on the couch to include all in her questioning gaze.

    The mage nodded to Lisette's statement.  "Ok.... now I get to see what these rogues look like and have some fun... getting their attention," Pen said, a slight feral grin crossing her features.  With a burning sensation her eartips became pointed and Pen made her eagerness fall back down with a mental command.  The time for fun will come soon, just not now, she thought.  Focus on getting Byrds back.  Pen turned to the Skydancer and nodded her head.  "We'll get their attention alright, won't we?" she asked, grinning.

    Skydancer smiled back, her green eyes dancing.  The two newest mages were hardly known to her, but already she could feel the excitement building.  Finally, they were doing something!  "By Great Mother Earth, you can count on it!" the dancer exclaimed, glancing out the window.  "We can leave at dusk after we awaken.  Speaking of which, is upon us.  Lis," the gargess said suddenly, "have you considered the notion of possibly turning into a gargess for the day?  Perhaps you would heal faster."

    From the shadows of the doorway, a figure stirred and moved forward from where she had been listening the past couple of minutes.  "Sounds like a good plan," Firedancer said, a bit on the loud side, startling several in the room who had been unaware of her presence.  She had entered the manor nearly fifteen minutes before, but had been hesitant to make her presence known to the group.  She had an assignment to complete and she could not do it without the help of the others.  But if Sky had come back to the manor and called her trustworthiness back into question with the rest of the Clan - Fire could find herself in a delicate situation.  For the several minutes she had been listening, though, there had been no mention of herself, and Sky had seemed - for the moment - to be focused purely on how to outsmart Storm and Shaylyn.

    Surprised, Lisette found her answer still in her throat at the entrance of her clan sister.  "Fire," she exclaimed, a wide smile pulling at her lips.  "There you are - I was beginning to worry!" she continued as she followed Sky's gaze to the lightening sky.  "But Skydancer is right, we haven't time to speak of your travels tonight - dawn is almost upon us," she said hurriedly as she quickly turned her attention to the young man who had stood beside her for so long - both figuratively and literally speaking.

    "Blake," she continued, firmly taking his hand within her own.  "I think it time that you return to your world for awhile."

    Sighing, Blake slowly met Lisette's eyes, questioning her decision with his own.  "Are you sure?  You're still so weak..."

    "Not for long," Lisette quickly responded with a small smile.  "My friends will see to me, and from the sounds of it, Janua Caeli should be the last place you should be when tomorrow comes round.  Please, return to Castellum before the sun rises and I shall call upon you again as soon as.. well, as soon as things are safe once more," she finished with a weak smile.

    Nodding his agreement, Blake inched forward and placed a soft kiss on Lisette's forehead.  "Take care of yourself and be careful," he said, directing the last to all who were gathered.  And then, without another word, Blake slipped through the archway to the foyer and in seconds the sound of the front door closing marked his departure.

    Sighing, Lisette smiled a shakily at her friends.  "And now, Skydancer is right - I need to change forms before the sun rises for otherwise I will be of no help to you all come tonight," she stated as she stared down at her grimy hands, feeling her magic surge weakly within her.  "But I'll need help if I am to do it," she continued as she cast her eyes at the two mages.  "Could you both please lend me some of your own power for a moment?" she asked with a shy smile.

    Pen smirked inwardly, and laughed a little.  "Sure thing, Lisette, but are you sure you'll be wanting some of my energy?  It's a little.... hyper," she finished lamely and skipped around the couch almost absently, as if to prove her point.  Pen stopped in front of the French mage.  "Of course I'll help you in any way you want, but don't say I didn't warn you!" she exclaimed cheekily.

    Biting back a grin, Lisette quickly waved away the mage's concern.  "Energy is energy in my book," she murmured as she gently placed one hand on the girl's arm.  "Merlyn?" she asked, turning towards the other mage.

    "Gladly, Lisette, would I lend my magicks for you," the blue eyed girl stepped forward and offered her hand.  "By all that is great and good, surely we can do this small thing for you - our new friend," Merlyn added with a smile.

    Nodding at the gesture, Lisette quickly grasped the girl's hand and then focused her wavering magic on the image set forth in her mind.  Hissing her breath between clenched teeth, Lisette squeezed her eyes shut as she concentrated on drawing strength from the two mages beside her.  In seconds, her efforts became apparent as a weak green haze settled over her tensed body.  Then, as the seconds passed, the mist slowly grew brighter and stronger until it obliterated all sight of the battered young woman.  When it cleared, a lone gargess sat in its place.  "Hmm, now that was a doozy," she muttered weakly, pulling her blue taloned hands away to rest them on her forehead.

    Pen smiled down at the gargoyle that appeared before them.  "That's quite a trick you have," she commented.

    Skydancer leaned against the sofa as she grinned at Pendragoness's statement.  Swinging her long braid over her shoulder, she chuckled at the amusement shared between the two mages.  "You ought to see some of the other things she can do," the green-eyed gargess commented to all in the room, "and as you can see, Lis' talents come in quite handy at times."

    Smiling softly at her friend, Lisette slowly reached over and used the tan gargess's hand to pull her aching body to her feet.  Even in this form she could feel her injuries as every move pulled at stitches and healing wounds.  "Well then, I do not know about the rest of you, but I think it high time for me to find a place to rest for the night.  Sleep well and I shall see you all come sunset."  Turning, she waved once more at her friends before disappearing into the darkened foyer.

    Merlyn nodded after the mage-turned-gargoyle as she left the room.  "I think that is an excellent suggestion.  Why don't we all turn in?  It's going to be a long night tomorrow."  And with that the group known as Clan LeFemme all turned to their respective posts and called it a night.

Janua Caeli

   As the sun swept over the darkening horizon, the shadows slowly crept closer and closer to the majestic towers of Janua Caeli.  Soon the darkness was all encompassing, filling the world with shadowed voids as faint lines began to appear on the four statues that stood frozen around the manor.  Then, in a moment of blinding light, the shells that bound the four mystical creatures burst with heated energy, sending the sharp stone fragments flying in all directions.

   It was time.

   Yawning, Lisette stretched out her long, pale blue wings, enjoying the strength that coursed through her loosening muscles.  As a sly grin pulled at her lips, she quickly cast her eyes across the darkened lawns of Janua from her vantage point from the attic balcony.  It was time.

   Grinning a feral smile that bared her sharp fangs, Lisette quickly looked down at herself and in a moment of blinding green light she was once more in her human form.  Nodding slightly, she felt her magic course strong and pure through her veins.  She was healed - a little tired, true, but a marked improvement from the night before.  And then, without another thought Lisette closed her eyes and willed herself away, pulling the other inhabitants of Janua into her magical web until they were all standing, as the night before, in the large living room of Janua.

    "Whoa!" Skydancer gasped as she suddenly found herself in the living room of the mansion.  Startled, the tan gargess ran her fingers through her long hair, pushing several tendrils behind her ears.  One moment she had been staring out at the night sky as she had awakened, and then in a flash of green light the dancer found herself standing inside of Janua.  "Wanna give a little warning next time you do that, Lis?" Sky asked with a small laugh.  "Almost had motion sickness for a moment there."

    Smiling apologetically at her friend, Lisette shifted impatiently on her slippered feet.  "I guess that I just wanted to demonstrate that I am indeed feeling more myself this evening..." she trailed off as she met the eyes of the others.  "And am feeling impatient to continue with our plans.  Where is the book of prophecies?"

    "Over by the fireplace," the Skydancer replied, moving past the others and heading towards the brick mortared mantle.  Reaching up behind a stack of books that she had used for a front, the tan gargess brought out the golden book from the night before.  It gleamed in the light, reflecting the brightness of the room and the goodness within.  "I figured what better hiding place than in plain sight yet never seen," the emerald eyed gargess explained as she turned to the group.  Meeting each of their gazes, Sky gave a small smile.  "Are we ready?"

    "As ready as we'll ever be," Lisette affirmed as she quickly accepted the large book from the gargess.  "Now, we just have to make the copy.  "Merlyn, Pen?" she asked, nodding towards the large coffee table.  As Sky and Fire moved the large sofa aside, she gently placed the book of prophecies on the polished wooden surface.  "Together?" she asked as she knelt on the soft oriental rug that covered the wooden floorboards.

    Pen knelt down on another side of the coffee table and looked expectedly at her mentor.  "Hai," she said to Lisette, resting her palms on the wooden surface.  She could feel tingles of energy dance through her palms already, preparing for the spell.

    Kneeling carefully next to Pen, Merlyn tentatively held out her tanned hand against the golden book.  Ancient energy poured out from its depths.  "This will not be easy," the mad mage commented, "especially if they can sense the power radiating from this book."

    Skydancer stood near Fire as she watched the three mages begin to join forces.  Overhearing Merlyn's comment, the dancer shook her head.  "That may be," she responded, acknowledging that the mad one had a point.  "But, we have to try.  Time is running out and we need to draw them out to rescue Byrd.  Do the best that you can."

    Hearing her friend's words, Lisette nodded her head curtly as her eyes drew shut.  Reaching forward, she added her hands to the cover of the old book of prophecies, feeling the energy of her friends surge against her own.  Turning slightly, she then lifted one hand and moved it until it was suspended over the empty part of the coffee table directly beside the book.  "Hear our pleas and bide by them," she murmured, calling her magic forth.

    Pen moved her hands to follow Lisette's movements, one over the book, the other over the empty part of the table, the slight hint of green energies beginning to course over her hands.  "Hear our request and answer."

    Skydancer drew in a sharp intake of breath as Lisette and Pen began the incantation.  Oh my stars, she thought to herself as she nervously pushed her bangs away from her brow ridges, I hope this works.  Fear and amazement flashed across the dancer's emerald green eyes as she watched the mages' draw forth their power.  It was up to them now. 

    Merlyn, too, extended her hand to overlay the other two mages as a green witchlight burst into her eyes.  "As we bring forth the requests of Clan Le'Femme," the mad mage finished as a glow leaped forth from the three hands and in a flash another book appeared, a carbon copy of the first.

    Sighing wearily, Lisette gently reached forward and lifted the large copy of the book of prophecies into her hands and then turned to Pendragoness.  "Then all is in your keeping," she murmured, passing the book to the mage as she nodded in turn to Skydancer.  "I hope that it will work - and be careful!  We shall be ready and waiting for your return," Lisette commented as she glanced at the ceiling above them.

    The Skydancer nodded and then turning her head towards Pendragoness, Sky pointed one taloned finger towards the golden book in the mage's hand.  "And I suggest we get moving in delivering our goods to its destination," she added with a sardonic grin.  "Would you like to do the honors, Pen?" Skydancer asked, indicating the mage could take the lead in transporting them to demolished cavern.

    Pen turned to the Skydancer, having to look up quite a ways.  "Well then.... we shall take our leave back to the cavern?" she agreed, grinning at her counterpart for the mission.  Pen laid a hand on the gargoyle's arm, green energies swirling over her body and clothing, skipping up the girl's arm to her hand from the point of contact with the Skydancer, and over the gargoyle as well.  Seconds later and they were gone.

    Nodding at the place where her friends once stood, Lisette once more wished them quietly good luck before turning to Merlyn and Firedancer.  "Well then, I suppose it's up to us to finish the preparations for the arrival of Storm and Shaylyn, should Sky and Pen be successful," she surmised as she flashed a tentative smile at the two.  "Merlyn, will you help me to cast a spell of protection on the manor?"

    "Gladly," the mad mage said, as she summoned up her magicks again, a fiery glow leaping into her eyes.  "All the powers of Camelot are at the disposal of Janua Caeli."  A green glow burst forth from the mage's hand and encircled Lisette's.  "Powers of Earth, Powers of Fire, I call forth all - our need is dire..." Merlyn began.

    Smiling softly as the unfamiliar power surged through her limbs to mingle with her own, Lisette pictured the manor in her mind's eye and then proceeded to focus her magic, mingled with Merlyn's, to form a large, invisible dome over its walls.  "Follow our guidance and protect these walls from all that dare threaten here," she murmured, sealing her wish in a powerful burst that made her vision true as the two magicks merged into one hard, invisible shell that encircled Janua Caeli.

    Fire watched the two mages for a moment and then turned to Shadow who was hovering in the corner of the room.  "I have a few preparations of my own to make... meet me upstairs in the egg's room, say in twenty minutes?" Shadow nodded and turned her attention back to the other two while Fire slipped out of the room.

    After descending down into her secured haven,  she knelt next to her bed and pulled out a large metallic case.  Inside were her weapons of last choice.  After her last experience with Storm and Shaylyn, Fire realized that sometimes backup plans were needed.  And this is definitely backup, she thought silently as she looked over the deadly contents within the case.  She reached into the case and pulled out a couple devices, her eyes glowing slightly as she inspected them closely.  "It's about time we kicked their asses," she growled out as she set the items back into the case and stripped down so she could be properly dressed for this battle.

    Not expecting what the Pendragoness had just begun to do, the tan she-goyle gave a yelp of fright as the green mist began to swirl around them.  The dancer was fully aware that Pen was a mage, but she had not expected her to move so swiftly.  Green fireflies surrounded them as an unearthly wind picked up the tempo, sending Sky's long hair flying out behind her.  "Whoaaa...." the gargess breathed as she watched the magic flowing around her.

    "Relax," the shorter girl said, looking up at Skydancer, her eyes seeping green energies... not too comforting a sight to go with her suggestion.  "And we should be there in two seconds."

    At the sound of her voice, Sky glanced down at the mage's face and gasped in surprise at the twin green hell-fire's that danced out of Pen's eyes.  The world around them continued to spin rapidly as Sky watched transfixed as the green glow encompassed them.  Is it my imagination, or is she getting smaller? Sky wondered suddenly as Pendragoness seemed to shrink before her eyes.  Breathing deeply, the gargess tried to calm herself, even though this whole turn of events was a bit unnerving.  "How much longer?" she cried out against the swirling storm, trying to be heard above its roar.

    "Almost there," Pen didn't have to raise her voice any as her smooth tone carried easily through the roar somehow.  The magics leaking from her very essence seemed to howl louder now, the green energies hellishly crackling out of her narrowed eyes.  Pen felt her glasses crack and then shatter, the shards surprisingly flying away from her eyes along with the rampaging energies.  The mage felt herself shrinking... her clothing hanging loosely on her, her ears pointing.

    Before Skydancer's astonished eyes, the girl had lost what seemed a foot of height, her thin features taking on more elven characteristics.

    "Here!"  Pen's voice lashed out like a whip and the roaring STOPPED.  As did the world around them, and both were once again at the site of the destroyed cavern in the Mountain.

    Skydancer turned to Pen, and her surprise couldn't be kept back... she was at her usual height once again, eartips rounded.  What was that?  Did she just imagine it?

    The girl grinned nonchalantly at the be-puzzled gargoyle, none too put off at what she may have seen.  "Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she snickered, patting Skydancer on the arm and then clasping her arms behind her back and skipping ahead.

    Exhaling a slow, deep breath, the Firedancer opened her eyes and looked back at the reflection in the mirror across from her.  All expression had been cleared from face leaving a cold and deadly mask.  Standing swiftly, she tucked her chain that held Alec's ring under the collar of her shirt and reached for the case.  Heading upstairs, she paused only to secure her door and then went in search of Shadow.

    The quiet gargess was already waiting for her and merely blinked at Fire's changed attire.  Fire guessed she understood the need for more firepower tonight, given what was about to happen, and the odds that were at stake.  Setting down the case, Fire pulled out three small metallic rods with small circular bases.  Walking around the egg, she placed them in a triangular position, a couple of feet away from the egg's shell.  Then she reached in and began to pull out with great care what looked like four strips of clay.

    Holding up the strips she looked at Shadow.  "Just one of these strips can blow out an entire wall.  I'm gonna place one on each wall in this room, and on the doorframe.  These little rods here are temporary shield generators.  They have enough juice in them to create a shield a couple of feet around the egg for five minutes - but I wouldn't count on more than two or three with the size of the blast these Nitro sticks will create."

    Fire could see the confusion in Shadow's eyes and pulled out a small control and tossed it to her.  "If worse comes to worse, they'll be coming for the egg - and the real book.  Hopefully by then they should be  knocked around by us.  If it comes down to just you and them you won't stand a chance by yourself.  It would be suicide.  I'm gonna rig this room to blow, because this is where they'll come, but I've made the shield big enough to accommodate you and the egg.  Hopefully, the blast will be big enough to kill them, but at the least it should buy you some time so you can run.  If you have to run, I suggest heading east to New York.  Your best chances will be with the Clan that resides in Castle Wyvern, atop the Xanatos Tower."

    Shadow nodded grimly and then looked down at the device in her hand.  "Green is the shield, red will detonate the sticks.  Try not to push that one accidentally," Fire chuckled nervously as she reached up and placed the first stick on the door frame and pressed it gently against the wood.  Shadow placed the detonator on the table, very, very carefully as she watched Firedancer handle her own dangerous load with experience.

    Shaking her head in wonderment, Sky started to follow Pen up the hillside so that they were standing more in front of her mountain lair.  "No, I suppose not," the she-goyle commented, "but I can definitely say that it was one of the strangest experiences I have had."

    Glancing around, the gargess took in the quiet atmosphere on the mountain, a bit reluctant to bring forth the forces that would destroy that solitude.  "Of course, they've already created havoc by destroying my home," the dancer whispered out loud to no one in particular.  "Well, I guess this place is as good as any," Sky said, glancing over at Pen.  "Shall we begin?"

    Pen grinned over at the Dancer.  "Let's," she said, taking a look around.  "Wonder where our evil duo is to be found here...."

    "I don't know," Sky answered, looking in between the darkening trees.  "But let's suppose we find out."  Turning, the she-goyle raised her hand to the sky and turned her face up to the heavens.  "LIGHTNING, COME FORTH!!" she commanded into the night.  Suddenly, the wind stirred up out of nowhere and hissed around her.  Brilliant white lightning streaked the sky, sending bolts of electrical charges down, encircling her wrist and traveling through the rest of her body, encasing Skydancer in an awe-striking light.  "Shaylyn!!  Storm!!" the gargess shouted into the winds, "show yourselves!!"

    Pen followed the dancer's lead, holding her arms down at her sides, feeling green fire ignite throughout her, creating a small wind force of its own that sent her short hair in violent disarray.  "We've got something you might want!" Pen called out to the trees.

    An eerie silence answered the mage and the gargoyle as the winds of their powers died down around the mountain.  Skydancer kept her eyes directed towards the tapestry of the night sky, however, not quite trusting the quiet that surrounded them.  The calm that was on the mountainside was too silent, too still.  Her senses were on heightened alert - something was amiss.

    Suddenly, yellow lightning flashed in the distance surrounded by a mystical green light.  Clouds of blackness began to form, moving at an inhuman speed towards Sky's mountain.  The lightning whipped across the sky in an angry, threatening way which caused the dancer's green eyes to narrow in a suspicious gaze.  That's no ordinary lightning, she thought to herself as a white pocket of energy began to form in the middle of the black cloud that was settling over them.  The white starburst began to resemble a gateway - a portal of sorts - that caused Skydancer to suspect just who was behind its doorway.  "I think we have our answer," she commented to Pen, as she gestured towards the blinding light.

    Pen shielded her eyes with one hand, staring at the opening portal, and nodded her agreement.  "Yeah, I'd say we have!" she said, tapping the fake book with her knuckles, waiting for their opponents to come out.

    Just as the mage spoke, Storm broke through the gate of light sending splintering shards of brightness streaking across the sky.  The evil man spread forth his huge wings and climbed high into the sky as his wife came out of the brightness, a glowing green power surrounding her.  "Who dares call us forth?!!" the witch called out, her eyes flashing purple lightning.

    "Oh great," Skydancer commented wryly, "here comes Dracula with Broom Hilda in tow!!"

    Pen cracked up laughing at Sky's comment, as she viewed Byrdie's kidnappers.  "I am ASSUMING that is Storm and Shaylyn," she said back wryly.  This could be really fun.  Taking the book in her hands, the girl waved it over her head tauntingly.  "Yoo-hoo, looky looky!  See this?"

    "Yes, that's them," Skydancer responded to Pen as she kept her wary eyes on the couple just above them.  Summoning the electricity that rested deep inside her, the dancer's hands took on a white glow as she prepared to counter the evil couple before her.   "Who do you think, witch?!!" she yelled out, echoing Pen's taunt with a glare that could have frozen anyone in their tracks.

    Hearing the familiar voice below her, Shaylyn glanced down until her eyes rested on the two figures in front of the ruined cavern.  One who resembled a pixie elf, she did not recognize at all.  The other, however, brought a red haze to her eyes.  "YOU!!!" the witch exclaimed, causing her husband to caste his attention below where he hovered in the sky as well.

    "So, gargess, you survived!" Storm thundered out, clearly as surprised as his wife.  "And you have the book as well!!" he stated, noticing the book in Pen's hands.  His eyes narrowed into an evil glare as he folded in his wings and began to dive towards the earth, yellow lightning clearly marking his trail.  "No matter.... GET THEM!!" the villain ordered, heading right for Pen and Skydancer with his wife not far behind.

    Quickly, Sky raised her arm and commanded her powers to react.  "Lightning!!!" she shouted, sending a white whip out towards the couple, creating a starburst effect that momentarily blinded them.  Reaching out, the dancer grab a hold of Pen's arm and turned to the smaller mage as an anxious look crossed her green eyes.  "Now, I believe, would be a very good time for us to leave," she suggested, indicating for Pen to whisk them back to the mansion.

    "Aw, I don't get to fireball them, yet?" Pen joked, but grabbed a hold of Sky's arm, letting the green hellfire surge forward, once more surrounding them.  As the roaring engulfed the two, Pen called out one more taunt to the couple: "Come catch us if you can!"  Then they were gone....

Janua Caeli

    Like a lover's caress, the night wind lifted the long, draping branches of the Weeping Willow that stood proud behind Janua Caeli.  Sighing, Lisette shifted slightly under the immense coverings, her eyes tracing the moon's light on Sunshine's unmarked grave.  It had been too long since she had visited the strange gargess's final resting place, and as a small pebble of guilt formed in her heart, she shifted her attention to the brightly lit manor that stood beyond.

    The preparations had been made - at least to the best of their ability, and now there was nothing to do but wait for their comrades' return.  It was time for the battle to begin and for their missing sister to return... if only Storm and Shaylyn fell for their ruse... if only Byrdie Fae was still their living prisoner.  If they hadn't already...

   Suddenly, Lisette's eyes narrowed as she quickly climbed to her feet and left the large tree's coverings.  "They're coming," she murmured, seconds before the dark night was brightened by the green fairy light of Pendragoness, mere feet before her.

   "Hiya," Pen greeted, dragging Skydancer forward by the arm.  The girl looked fairly excited and for good reason.  "We may all want to assemble ourselves, they're right behind us!"

    "Whoa, that was some ride," the green-eyed gargess commented as she followed Pen out of the witchlight. 

   Without even wasting time for a hello, Lisette did as asked and quickly drew her magic to her and in an instant their trio had been doubled as Fire and Merlyn joined their forces on the lawn.

    Pen turned around to survey the landscape, watching for Storm and Shaylyn's arrival with a mounting mixture of excitement, battle lust, anxiety, and yes, fear.  What if Byrds was dead?.... no, she would have felt her passing as vividly as her own.  But they'd been apart so many centuries, that maybe their link had lessened.... but still she'd been able to pick up Byrds' aura from the link to the Clan's.  Stepping closer to Lisette and Skydancer, Pen took solace in the faint ebbing of an aura linking to them that had to be Byrds.  She had to still be alive.  Maybe not the best of condition, but still there.  Then, Pen's eartips pointed slightly and her hold on the false book tightened.  They were coming.... 

   Sky turned with everyone else as a crash of thunder could be heard.  Casting her gaze heavenward, she stiffened as her eyes lit up, ready to do battle.  Storm and Shaylyn were definitely on their heels and the dancer had a feeling that it was going to be one heck of a battle to get Byrdie back.  "I think we're about to have company," she said to no one in particular.

   And the dancing gargoyle could not have been more right - this was company, just not the type you would want your family to have noon tea with.  Pendragoness couldn't help but let a low growling sound pass through her throat at the sight of a hole being ripped through the sky, perhaps large enough to fit Skydancer's tower inside.  Seeing past the surface, the space was murky with energy...

    Through that hole first stepped out the enchantress that the clan as a whole grew to scorn with acidic distaste - Shaylyn.  She took her time passing through, and hovered high in the air in front of the mansion and its clan, her sweeping dress hanging down low.  Gracefully, with that willowy hand that was yet so powerful, she pointed down at the rag-tag clan and issued a condescending smirk:  "Your summoning methods are less than worthy of us."

   "It's what someone like you deserves!" Pen snarled up at the witch, her eyes narrowing in anger.  "We want to make a trade.... after all we both have something the other wants," she said, waving the false book up at Shaylyn.

   Nodding solemnly, Lisette moved beside her mage sister and nodded up at the witch.  "Byrdie for the book," she called out, her eyes searching the skies for the husband that she knew would not be far behind his mistress.  "That is the deal."

   From the other side of the portal, the unseen Storm chuckled coldly as he yanked the iron chain in his hand.  "How quaint.  Your pathetic little mortal friends wish to bargain for your life," he mused to his battered captive.  An evil look filled his eyes.  "It is what makes your world weak and will lead to the ultimate demise of all your races."

   "Yes, such simplicity makes one wonder..." Shaylyn agreed with her husband, her own smile as malevolent as she met his eyes.  "The book... for Byr-die," she mused, having a nasty play on Lisette's accent.  "Well... that is to say.  I find nothing so special about this 'Byr-die' for you to give up such a worthy prize..." Shaylyn shrugged with indifference and reached her hand back to her husband, still in the portal.  "But if that is all you want... Storm, dear, would you care to bring forth the... barter?"

   Pen tried to keep her mounting anxiety from making her hop from foot to foot as Shaylyn held her hand out towards the portal, no doubt for Byrds.  Hurry it up! she thought, biting her lip, the useless copy clenched in her hands.

    From the darkened portal a thin hand reached out and clasped Shaylyn's.  With a look of pure malice and wicked enjoyment, Storm morphed into their reality with just one arm left immersed in the darkness.  The evil creature's hand slowly drew back out of the black hole, coming out with the end of a thick, black chain secured firmly in his hand.  Yanking hard on it, the clinks and 'shh' sounds echoed through the atmosphere and the next thing to come out was a pair of heavily manacled, grubby hands, followed by arms and then the rest of the body.

    It was the fey that the clan missed but... not, at the same time.  Dirty, injured and quieted was the Byrdie that filed out of the portal.  She looked burnt out and pale, head bent down partly into submission, the other part on account that she was too weak to do otherwise.  Skin had started to peel on her arms near her iron bindings and even along the rim of her forehead.

    In short, Byrdie was a mess.

    "Is this the... 'Byr-die' that you wanted to see so badly?" Shaylyn asked, feigning slight misunderstanding.  "She isn't much to look at anymore, is she?  I would, ah.... gladly... put her into your hands if you so deem it.  For the book, of course.  This is a good deal that you have... 'thought up'."

   "Glad you like it," Pen murmured, her eyes widening in horror at the sight of her bound companion.... it had been centuries since they'd seen each other last, and what a way to get back in touch.  Iron manacles..... those bastards!  Pen tried to keep her heart from her eyes with Byrdie's appearance, and steeled herself before Shaylyn and Storm.

    Skydancer's green eyes widened in shock at the sight of Byrd.  A deep anger rose within her as the green in her eyes took on a familiar white hot glow.  "Great Mother Earth!!!  What have they done to her?!!" the gargess exclaimed as an electrical charge began to form in her hand.

    Fire quickly laid a steadying hand on Sky's shoulder, not letting go until the seething gargess somewhat reigned in her gift.  "Easy, Sky, we need to trade first," Fire muttered in a voice so low that only Sky could hear.  Truth be told, Fire had half expected Byrdie to be dead.  The Fae's appearance was therefore not all that shocking to her - not to mention that she was all too familiar with the results of torture from her own first-hand experience.  But this moment was not the time for revenge.  They had to play their hand first and get Byrdie back and out of harm's way before they incurred the wrath of Storm and Shaylyn once more.

   Likewise, upon seeing their missing comrade, Lisette felt her eyes burn green with magical fury.  "How dare you," she hissed, her heart tearing at their friend's appearance - of seeing Byrdie so submissive.  She could still vividly recall Byrdie's crass attitude of only the few nights before when the little trickster had spoiled her first date with Blake... Lisette couldn't help but think how much she'd rather have that fae to this creature that was dangled before them now.

   Steeling her raging emotions, Lisette made eye contact with Skydancer, nodding her to follow her lead as she used her magic to join Shaylyn, hovering in the sky before her.  "Give her to me and your husband can reclaim your book from Pendragoness," she ordered, nodding her to indicate the bespeckled mage on the ground below.

    Shaylyn showed no emotion to the impertinent human other than a tight sneer as she pulled Byrdie's chain to her side, which in effect yanked the pathetic fey behind her.  "Such confidence..."  This was a tricky business that they all were engaging upon.  She looked over to her husband who was eyeing the group warily.  He met her gaze and then nodded once, silently.  "First the book - then your impudent friend," she finally stated to the frowning Pendragoness down below.

    Skydancer's eyes flashed an even brighter white glow as thick clouds began to form in the skies behind the clan.  Winds whipped around her, twirling her long braid in its strong grip around her as she hissed her anger at the witch above her.  A madness was threatening to consume her as the dancer wished more than anything that she could strike out at the two villains that had kidnapped Byrd and destroyed her home.  Taking a deep breath, Sky forced the glow to retreat from her eyes as she stayed in a tense alert.  "You'd better do what she says, witch!!" she exclaimed through clenched teeth as her emerald eyes narrowed.  Fire's grip tightened almost painfully on her shoulder once more, reminding her they had to play along for just a little while longer.

    "Hn," Shaylyn muttered without much thought to the seething gargoyle, responding, however, with aloof haughtiness.  "Or what?  I think you want to have your fey remain safe, so keep your wayward comments to yourself, she-goyle."

    "Or perhaps you do not wish to trade at all," Storm added in a deadly tone as his eyes flared in a brief demonstration of his power.

    Pen held a hand out to the furious Skydancer, worry tingeing her eyes.  "We don't want anymore harm done to Byrds!" she exclaimed.  I don't want anymore harm done to her...

   Skydancer took another calming breath to prevent the white glow from returning to her eyes.  Nodding her head grimly, she pursed her lips together.  "Agreed," the dancer whispered.  "Our fae friend has been through enough."

    Merlyn stepped from behind the others to get a good look at the two warlocks in the sky.  A sinister evil seemed to encircle them as the Mad Mage heard the conversation between the Skydancer and Pendragoness.  Her pupil clearly knew this fae and Merlyn sensed that it was very important to rescue her.  Mad Mage just hoped that the tan gargess could reign in her temper long enough to allow the trick with the books to work.  "Release her, Shaylyn!!  Storm!!  Or face our wrath!!" the blond mage called out.  "It's a fair exchange - the book for the fae!"

    Pen felt her mentor's thoughts, and was grateful for her them.  She nodded, flashing another dirty look up to the husband and wife floating above them, fingers clenching the false book.

    Storm merely chuckled at the weak threat and stretched out his hand.  Before any of the mortals could react, the book disappeared from Pen's hands and reappeared in his own.  He ran his fingers over the cover, feeling the familiar tingle of magic coursing along his skin.  The others shifted as he nodded absently for his wife to release their burden as he studied the book a bit further.

    Following Storm's cue, Lisette let her own magic loose as Byrdie disappeared in a flash of green light, only to reappear on the ground beside Pendragoness.  Turning, she moved beside the battered fey, grimacing as she struggled uselessly against the iron.  "Sky or Fire, please help to release her," she pleaded, he tone turning urgent as Storm perused their false book high above.

    Pen held Byrdie up against her and when she reached for the iron manacles on her companion's wrists there
were green sparks.  Pen yelped slightly, then turned to the others beside her.  "Looks like it will have to be one of you to do it,"  she said sheepishly, carefully supporting the battered fey, trying not to brush against the chains again.  "Byrds?....Can you hear me?"

    The tan gargess swooped down from the sky and landed softly next to Lisette.  Sky drew in a harsh breath as she took in Byrdie's ragged appearance as she lay unconscious in Pen's arms.  Slowly, Sky knelt down along side their fallen friend.  "Great Mother Earth!!" she swore, a white glow flashing in her emerald eyes as she reached out and picked up one of the fae's handcuffed wrists.  "Lightning!!" Sky commanded in a harsh whisper.  

    A small bolt of white electricity sprang forth from the dancer's hand and hit the cuffs square on the lock.  Instantly, the iron manacles sprang off of Byrd's wrist.  Reaching out, Sky picked up the cuffs with an angry grasp and hurled them into the dark foliage beyond them.  "Good riddance," the she-goyle stated, turning back to see how their friend was fairing.

    Fire's eyes flicked over to where Byrdie had collapsed and watched as Sky released her from her bonds.  Assured that the Fae would survive her encounter, she turned her full attention back to Storm and Shaylyn who were both now engrossed with the book.  Her hands drifted down, releasing the catch on her weapons.  "Heads up guys," she mumbled as a frown began to crease Storm's brow.

    "Hmm..." Shaylyn was musing to herself quietly, gazing at the book with a look of slight concern and touching the covers with her fingertips.  "Different... Storm, this energy feels... different than I imagined," she said in a low tone, lips pursing into a thin, disapproving line.  "Was it supposed to feel so..."  She couldn't find a real word for it, but it definitely wasn't 'powerful'.

    At Fire's warning, Skydancer turned her head towards the heavens to where Storm and Shaylyn pondered over the fake book.  A prickling of warning slowly crept up the gargess's back as the dancer slowly rose to her feet, making the hair on her head stand on edge.  "Uh oh," she whispered to the group, nodding her head towards the duo above them.  "Looks like they're about to figure out exactly what it is they have up there."

    The blue eyes of the mad mage followed the green gems of the Skydancer's as her line of vision took in Shaylyn and Storm.  Merlyn stepped closer to the group from where she had landed softly behind them.  She did not know them very well but she was determined to defend them nonetheless.  "Which means we'd better get ready to protect the young fae here," Merlyn agreed, glancing back down at the trickster in her pupil's arms.  Worry was etched across Pen's face as she stared down at the one called Byrdie.  I'll have to remember to ask how she knows this fae later, Merlyn thought.

    "I'm taking her into the house.  She'll be safer there," Pen stated, standing up with the limp fey in her arms.  Her eyes glared at the two that had dared hurt her Byrds before she turned back to the other women.  They could have sworn that Pen looked shorter now, but maybe it was their imagination.  In a swirl of green firelight, Pen was gone again, no doubt back inside the Manor.

    Feeling a slight sigh of relief escape her lips, Lisette watched the last trace of Pen's green magic fade away before turning her blue eyes to the heaven's above.  Feeling her eyes narrow as the couple's gaze shifted to her clan far below, Lisette quickly gathered her magicks to her.  "And so it begins," she murmured as she drew a magical shield around her and her friends.

    Pen reappeared at the base of the attic stairs deep inside the house, feeling Byrdie's energy signature ebbing from above.  So she stuck herself in the attic, Pen thought, and didn't have time to muse over it as she walked up the stairs.  Her need for her human shell was not a strong one this night with all the going-ons, and the climb up the stairs took longer than it would with longer legs.  Pen's height was diminishing rapidly again, ears pointing outward, but clothing wasn't getting in the way as it had the last time.  A small string of words made the clothing adjust and change color and style to the fey.  Pen skipped the rest of the stairs, zipping up in midair with Byrds in her arms.  She opened the door and entered into pitch darkness.

    "WHO ARE YOU?  YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THE OTHERS," a mechanical, monotonous voice called out.  Pen snapped her fingers and the lights came on, revealing the astral mess of Byrds' room.

    "A companion of your mistress, Ryouni," Pen stated, kneeling in midair, holding her koi with one arm and stretching the other out in a snapping gesture.  A rolled futon thrust out of her sleeve and unfurled before them. Better than pulling a rabbit out of a hat in Pen's book, for what use would a rabbit do in moments like this?  An image of a roasted hare turning on a spit came to Pen's mind and she licked her lip.

    "THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THE LESS THAN FORMAL MANNER YOU ARE DIRECTING TO HER," Byrdie's computer said uncompassionately and Pen rolled her eyes, laying her battered koi on the sheets.  

    "How caring, luv, you too, Ryouni-kun," she said, kneeling next to the futon and taking Byrds' hand in hers.  Pen's hands burned where she touched her wrists, burned from cold iron manacles.... 

    "Itai!... " Pen hissed at the sensation, but kept on.  Someone long ago had taught her that she could steal other's energies (stupid humans were her favorite target), so too could she give it back.  If she didn't act on impulse and hurt them by accident.

    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ryouni asked.  

    Pen growled, her eyes snapping green when she opened them.  Already Byrd's wrists were healing over, but she had a lot of damage to take.  "Do me a favor and shut up, or I'll take a wrench to you," she said sweetly as she could muster with her own wrists burning.  Is that how it felt, koi?

    The computer watched, disimpassioned, as Pen finally finished, slumping backwards and resting on air itself.  Byrds was healed, albeit still a wreck.  She could use rest and a good shower, but other than that she looked none the worse as before.

    "THAT WAS INTERESTING," Pen cracked one eye open and grinned weakly.  

    "What?  Haven't seen an energy transfer before?" she slurred, one pointed ear flicking, resting her head on her arms, and watching her love breathe deeply in sleep.

    Storm had his eyes closed now as he poured his full concentration into the book.  When they opened, they were full of burning anger.  His jaw clenched and he sucked in a deep and furious breath.  "It is different because it is not the real book," he grit out.  "The magic is a combination of theirs.  We have been tricked," he declared as he threw the phony book to the ground in disgust, turning his burning gaze towards the group.  "Something that will not go without... grave consequences," he threatened.

    There was a soft click and then a loud thunderclap of noise.  Storm blinked as he felt fire race through his shoulder and looked down to see his own blood beginning to stain his clothing.  He looked back up to see the crimson gargess still pointing her smoking weapon towards him. 

    "Grave for who, freak?" she taunted, her finger beginning to tighten on the trigger once more. 

    Storm quickly shielded himself so that the next bullet bounced off him harmlessly.  "It seems, thief, you have just volunteered to be first."  Even as his wound began to heal itself Storm began to draw up his energies, preparing to unleash his wrath upon these insolent creatures.  With a glance to his wife, Storm nodded and then unleashed his power.

   As the massive wave of dark energies poured from Storm's hand, Lisette gritted her teeth and strengthened the shield that she had erected between her friends and their enemies.  As the darkness hammered against it, a fine sheen appeared on Lisette's forehead, but the magic held.. for now.  "You must do better than that, mes petits," she called out mockingly, her eyes flaring green as she tried to hide how much the effort had cost her.

   "I think," stated the Skydancer as she raised her right talon towards the darkened sky, "that our party crashers need something to liven up their lives."  The bright glow of lightning flashed in Sky's green eyes as the heavens behind her suddenly flashed brightly with her own powers.  "Lightning!!!" she shouted, commanding the storm cloud to send a blue-white whip of electricity towards the duo, hitting them head on.

   Merlyn grinned as Skydancer's charge flashed in front of them.  "That'll teach them," she commented on both Firedancer's and Sky's attacks.  Raising her own hands, the mad mage decided she better help Lisette with the force field.  She was sure that the dancers' attacks on Storm and Shaylyn would not go unanswered for long. 

    "Skies above, hear my plea, and send more magic towards me!" she cried out, sending green fire towards Lisette's magical dome, helping to strengthen it.

   At the magical influx of power, Lisette turned a brief smile to the blond mage beside her and concentrated once more on maintaining the field as another hammer of energy slammed against their shield.  "Sky, Fire - we need to come up with a better plan than this," Lisette ground out as the flurry of attacks intensified.  "Merlyn and I can only keep their attacks at bay for so long and we are without both Shadow and Byrdie, as well as Pen for the moment.  We need a plan!"

    "Ward!" Shaylyn cried as she crossed her arms before her face, hands clamped in fists as a light bluish-purple shield appeared right in front of Storm just as Skydancer's assault came surging towards them.  The bright light quickly dissipated after its onslaught and Shaylyn has successfully protected her husband (whose concentration hadn't flinched in the slightest).  However, she herself had taken the blow in full force, knocking her backwards about twenty feet.  "Nn..." she grunted, wrinkling her nose, her eyes flashing in a way somewhat akin to a predatory cat.

    "You will pay for this injury, mark it..." she hissed and drew her strong willowy hands up perpendicular to her sides as if she were pushing away the air - another example of bluish-purple energy gathered at her chest and all around her body until a countless number of spheres about the size of basketballs shined all around her.  With another animal-like growl she drew her hands back together and pushed hard away from her and the spheres followed her gesture to attack the clan's poor shield down below like a glowing army.  "Phalanx!"

   As the bluish-purple spheres battered against the clan's shield, Lisette felt her body stiffen against the blows.  "I.. do not think so," she grunted in between clenched teeth, her eyes squeezing firmly shut as she willed the shield to hold against the brutal attack.  "Sky, Fire, hit them again!" she cried, throwing her friends a frantic glance.

    Nodding as she noted the strain on Lisette's peeked face, the Skydancer brought her fists together as a brilliant flash of white light grew out of her clenched talons into a long lightning rod of blue-white fire.  "Let's give the witch something to chomp that bite of hers on," she stated under heated breath.

    "I agree," muttered Fire as she holstered her firearms, her real weapon coming to life between her empty palms.  "Ready when you are, Sky."

    Leaning back a few steps with the bolt of electric thunder, Sky took a couple of running steps as she hoisted the charge like a javelin at the two evils in the sky.  Fire's eye crackled as she added her own power to the assault, a huge fireball chasing after Sky's lightening bolt.  A clap of thunder was suddenly heard as the bolt raced through the sky and exploded directly between the two villains, sending out a surge of electric heat with its explosion.  A split second later, Fire's sphere slammed into the impact zone, adding to the amazing display of fireworks above their protected group.  The resulting explosion sent shock waves through the air, rattling the very earth beneath the four standing on the ground beneath the magical dome of the force field.

   "By Camelot!!" Merlyn exclaimed, knocked almost to the ground by Skydancer's attack.  She had not known the gargess for long but she was nevertheless amazed with her power.  The blast had been damaging, almost causing her to lose her concentration in helping Lisette maintain the field around them. 

    "Heavens above, I summon thee, send more magic towards me!!" the blonde mage cried, commanding more magic to do her bidding as she glanced up in the dark skies above to see what kind of damage the dancer had caused, hoping against hope that she had destroyed the evil duo attacking them.

    The explosion had finally broken through the almost trance-like state that Storm had gone into as he continuously poured out his energies upon the magic-wielders.  Although unhurt, due to his wife's shielding, his concentration had been interrupted unexpectedly and he had nearly lost control of his power - something that could have been devastating to even his wife and himself. His mind reeling from the blast, he glared back at his wife, angry that she had allowed these pitiful creatures such an attack on them

    "Aaagh!!"  Hit once more, the blow being perhaps more vicious than the last, Shaylyn was blown backwards again by Skydancer's thunderbolt - also snuffing out her own attack for the moment.  What annoyed her more was that she couldn't do so much but protect Storm.  He would have to deal this time, because she was mad.  "You fools don't know when you've become aggravating, do you...?" the evil one snorted, face wrinkling up and looking absolutely hideous to the untrained (even trained) eye.  "PHALANX!" she screamed again, the spheres appearing instantaneously this time and dropping down to the clan in a heavier attack, but more scattered, hitting all over the ground and shield, sometimes flying too close to the mansion.

   The magical shield protecting the small group shimmered with the onslaught of Shaylyn's attack.  Her frenzy of attack globes shook the world around them, sparking as they glanced off the force field and towards Janua Caeli and the members inside.  "Oh crud....." Skydancer murmured, struggling to maintain her feet.  "That's a bit too close for comfort!!  You're right, Lis, we're going to have to come up with a better attack."  Knowing the two mages were at their wits end keeping the force field intact, Sky began to form another electric bolt.  "I suggest we blind side them and then scatter, try to get out of their direct line of fire and away from Janua!!" she stated, her green eyes taking on another white glow of electricity.

   Smiling grimly, Lisette nodded in agreement to Sky's plan of attack.  "Merlyn, go with Fire to the left and Sky and I will go right," she called out quickly as she withdrew her powerful shield and moved as one with the tanned gargess.  Then, even as they began to move, she concentrated her energies towards creating a shield over the two of them, providing them coverage from Shaylyn's onslaught even as they began to draw the fire power away from the house.  "To the sky!" she cried, knowing that the gargesses would be able to fight better in her natural environment as she allowed her magicks to lift her, finally drawing cover away from Skydancer as the fight was taken to the dark skies above Janua.

    Skydancer spread her wings wide as she took a running leap and followed Lisette quickly into the night sky.  The wrath of the two villains could be felt vibrating through the air and the dancer had no wish to continue fighting on the ground where she felt trapped.  "Lightning!!" she commanded into the darkened tapestry overhead, forming a white electric bolt to go crashing in front of Shaylyn and Storm, blinding them momentarily to allow the clan to gain higher altitude.

    The mad mage took flight with Firedancer right behind her.  A magical green glow surrounded her to protect against anything that Storm and Shaylyn threw out.  Her blue eyes focused with determination as she headed directly to the side of the villains when Sky threw out her blinding light.  "Earth, wind, water, sky, bind these two of the kwi!!" Merlyn exclaimed as green ice crystals headed towards the duo, ready to turn them into cold icicles to match their hearts.

   Fire quickly unholstered her guns, aware that an elemental attack of her own may only undo Merlyn's.  But if the attack did succeed, even for just a moment - a cruel grin spread across the crimson gargess's lips - ice shatters very easily.

    Storm had been trying to regroup himself when he realized too late that Shaylyn had left him to defend himself.  He was besieged with millions of icy crystals that clung to him and then seemed to grow before his eyes along the length of his stiffening body.  While his attention was focused on trying to reverse the affects of the attack, the thief took advantage of his momentary weakness.

    "Eat this you cold-blooded bastard," Fire smirked as she aimed and began pulling both triggers.  When the deafening gunfire was replaced by the clicks of empty clips, Fire lowered the smoking weapons, a cold grin spreading across her face.  Merlyn's brilliant attack had caught Storm completely off-guard, and had allowed Fire's attack to finally deliver a devastating blow to the creature.  Although not dead, he had been unable to rid himself of the ice before Fire's bullets had suffered him crippling injuries.

    "Nice work Merlyn," Fire complimented her companion, smiling for the first time during one of these fights as she watched Sky and Lisette take on Shaylyn.

    As Fire and Merlyn launched their assault on Storm, the green-eyed gargess circled above Shaylyn as she began to recover from the blinding light that flashed in front of her.  Thanks to the fireball and thunderbolt, Skydancer was able to glide past the villain and get behind her.  She knew that if they were ever going to defeat the duo, the clan had to strike now while they were blindsided.  The winds of earth's higher altitudes blew her long braid back behind her as Sky glanced around for Lisette.  The time to strike was now.  "Lis?!" the dancer whispered out fiercely, trying to signal to her friend where she was.

    "Right behind you, mon ami," Lisette whispered solemnly in response to her friend.  With the wind buffeting her slight form from every side, Lisette's face was a weary mask of grim concentration as she hovered behind and slightly above Shaylyn.  Feeling the magic thrum through her healing body, Lisette gathered her magicks towards her until she was bathed in an eerie green bubble of light.  She was nearly bursting with the powerful magic and all she needed now was the strength of her friend to hopefully rid themselves of this evil once and for all.  "Sky, channel your power through me," she ground out, holding out her hand to her friend.

    Skydancer nodded her agreement as she circled around behind the French mage.  "You've got it, Lis," the gargess said as her green eyes took on the white glow of electricity.  Black storm clouds rolled in behind the dancer as blue-white whips danced between the dark wisps.  "LIGHTNING!!" Skydancer shouted, sending a powerful charge from the clouds and towards Lisette's hand.

    Acting like a lightning rod, eyes glowing green, Lisette accepted her friend's power as it surged through her outstretched hand and coursed through her body.  Feeling no pain, only a strange burning sensation, Lisette then redirected the charge, fueling it and making it even stronger with her own magic, and sent it sailing towards Shaylyn's distracted form.

    Merlyn looked up as a brilliant white light lit the dark tapestry overhead.  Just as she and Firedancer had gone after Storm, Lisette and Sky were now attacking Shaylyn.  A laugh of pure glee escaped the Mad One of Camelot as excitement raced through her veins.  Her pale blue eyes lit up with green magic as she turned her attention back to the evil wizard in front of her and Fire.  "Black lightning, white storm, evil being, take another form!!" she shouted, sending out blinding green spectral light towards the uncouth Storm with every intent to turn him into something he was not.

    Storm was now completely unaware of anything else besides the pain.  So many times before he and his wife had faced these pathetic creatures and come away victorious.  Now, the tables had been turned.  The spell had caught him off guard, and he had not been quick enough to reverse its effects before the thief's projectiles had torn into his partially crystallized body.  Raising a blood covered hand, Storm gasped in pain and shock.

    No! he thought.  This is not possible!  Looking down at his body made his mind reel even further.  The bullets had torn through his form, the ice spell making the damage even worse.  Large chunks were missing from his torso and his limbs, and even though his body was beginning to repair itself, the process was unusually slow leaving him exposed to further attack.

    And attack they did.  Surprise had been their greatest weapon, and they did not relinquish their advantage.  While his mind was still trying to comprehend how they could rend such devastation upon him, the mage let loose with yet another volley, and as it wrapped about him like a searing blanket he let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground, his powers trying to combat the magic.  Somewhere he realized that the magic-wielder's crimson companion would quickly follow up the attack with one of her own, and just as he glimpsed her raising her palms up, he quickly formed a weak shield with what energy he could muster.  "SHAYLYN!" he bellowed as a blast of fire slammed into his shield nearly causing it to buckle as he struggled to call up more of his power.

    There wasn't much of a chance that Shaylyn had actually heard her husband's screams for her as he was being burned away.  In fact, there were only two senses that seemed to be functional at the moment in time: Vision and Touch - pressure, heat and pain.  She could only see the white and green jet stream of electricity, ripping through the air like an aggravated cobra, jaws gnashing in her slight daze.  She wasn't sure that she had done anything in defense save raising her arms and demanding her own energy to make a shield that was almost pitiful in comparison.  She had felt pressure as the snaking power from her enemies crashed into her forced shield and it cracked so easily she was struck dumb - heat as the lightning power built up around her.

    Pain - the blitz finally destroyed the shield, the green and white light surrounding her at first like that snake, torching and choking her, then she felt a final surge as it passed through her, soon to dissipate in the atmosphere once it had done its job.  The jet stream blitz swirled until it finally became a storm cloud in the night once again and Shaylyn laid on her side in the air, clutching her belly and her eyes blazing weakly at the Sky Dancer and European mage.  ".....nn..." she bristled.

    How.  That was the question.  This was no set of normal mortals, she knew that.  She was no one's fool.  But this... this had to be trickery.  For even abnormal mortals this was inconceivable, to the point where it made her sick.  "........ careful study."

    It was at this point where she saw the last flickers of flame that danced around Storm, his cries gurgling in his throat and she glared down at the Fire Dancer.  Wench.  Shaylyn floated through the air helter-skelter towards her husband, holding out her hand with a weak scowl.  "Come - the battle's unsalvageable..... don't be any more of a fool."

    Skydancer watched as the two began to retreat.  The attack of the four of them against the evil duo had proved to be too much for the witch and her husband.  Sky focused the energies of the night storm once more at the pair, wanting to make sure that they thought twice before ever coming back.  Raising her hands and summoning white lightning behind her, the tan gargess's green eyes flashed with an electrical flare as she sent a blue whip towards Storm and Shaylyn.  "Lightning strike!!" she cried out, sending her power at them with every fiber of her being.

   Spent, Lisette watched as Skydancer's lightning strike surged towards the battered figures of Storm and Shaylyn.  Just as the searing hot energy connected with their forms, the sky seemed to light up in a fantastic explosion, throwing everyone flying away from the duo.  Grunting, Lisette hit the ground hard, her body taking the bruises as she tumbled end over end on the hard, grassy lawn.  Finally rolling to a stop on her side, she slowly brushed a tangled web of blond from her face as she looked towards the place where the two had once rested... only to find an empty, darkened night sky. 

   "Gone," Lisette murmured, unsure as to whether or not Sky's final blow had been a terminal one for their enemies, or whether they had merely disappeared to lick their wounds and return to fight another day.  To be honest, she didn't know if she even really cared by this point.  The battle had gone on long enough and her body was screaming for a break.  "Is everyone alright?" she called out, slowly pulling herself to her feet.

   Having already rolled to her feet, Fire looked around the clearing, a triumphant grin slowing growing on her lips.  The only sign of Storm and Shaylyn had been a huge scorch mark on the Earth where the last assault on them had been.  Looking over her clanmates, Fire's smiled twisted wryly a bit.  For the first time, they had taken the fight to the couple, and they had done it with a quick and brutal all out attack.

    "Sometimes it pays to fight a little dirty," Fire chuckled as she reached a hand out to Merlyn, who was quickly shaking off the shockwave that had knocked them all back.

    Merlyn grasped the hand of the Firedancer and allowed the crimson gargess to pull her up.  "WHOA," the mage of Camelot commented, glancing around at the devastation around them but also the look of triumph that was beginning to creep onto all of their faces.  "That was some blast, Sky," she commented as she glanced over at Skydancer before turning her way to Lisette.  "I think we're all alright, Lis," Merlyn said breathing deeply, "it looks like we defeated them."

    "I don't know about that," the Skydancer said as she caped in her wings and walked into the middle of the group.  The tan gargess had a bit of a disheveled appearance about her with many errant strands of hair escaping her characteristic braid as it trailed down her back.  But she looked none the worse for wear.  The storm clouds above Janua had begun to roll back as their mistress was no longer commanding their power and the bright twinkling light of the stars in the tapestry above them were beginning to cast a softer glow on the group, setting the pace for the calm that was now beginning to surround them. 

    "Knowing that couple the way I do, I would not hedge to guess that they will be back," the green-eyed she-goyle stated, "but for now it does appear that they are gone...."  Sky's voice trailed off as she thought she heard a crackling sound behind them.  Turning, her emerald eyes narrowed as she looked into the surrounding darkness trying to discern where the noise had come from.  Were Storm and Shaylyn back?? she wondered, hurriedly searching the brush between them and the mansion.

   Instantly alert, Lisette felt her eyes flare the briefest of green before turning back to their normal dark blue shade.  "Qui," she murmured as she caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eye.  Swiveling quickly, Lisette directed her magic in the direction of the movement, quickly causing the bushes that hid their query to vanish in a fiery green spark.

   Finding his cover blown, the man that had been hidden behind slowly straightened, his brown eyes narrowing on the troupe of females before him.  "Who are you?" Lisette demanded, asking for everyone as she took in the stranger.  He stood at about her height, perhaps shorter, wiry and slim and definitely older than herself, probably late twenties, with dark brown to black hair brushed back over his pale olive skin.  Eyes narrowing on his jeans and quilted winter jacket, she couldn't help but notice that he didn't seem to be dressed for whatever had brought him out to their secluded property.

    "Wha...?" the man began, not quite knowing what to make of the creatures before him and what he had just seen.  He was silent for a moment as he took in the group around him - the gargoyles, the mages, and the two beings that just disappeared in a flash of blinding light.  "Who... are you?" he finally managed, he voice thick with an Australian accent.

    Sky stepped forward a bit, not quite sure what the man was doing here, but not sensing any danger.  Well, at least he's not beating around the bush, she thought to herself.  The tan gargess thought the best move would be to just to cut to the chase.  "I think the question is, mister," the dancer stated firmly as she brushed a stray hair behind her ear, "is WHO are YOU?"

To Be Continued...