The Acropolis

by R.K. Ryals

  Chapter 35

  Conor

  "Do you really want to fight them?" I ask Will quietly.

  He looks at me from the corner of his eye as we fly.

  "If they don't give us a choice, yes."

  It's easy for him to say this, and I envy him that.

  "We're gargoyles, Will. Do you realize we're turning our backs on everything we've ever known, everything we are?"

  Will is quiet a moment.

  "And you really believe that?" Will asks.

  I don't answer.

  "We're still gargoyles, Con. We just refuse to murder hybrids because of their parentage. If they don't see that, then it's a good thing we're leaving them."

  "Maybe you're right," I murmur.

  Will flies into a copse of trees and motions me into them. I follow. There is a group of gargoyles behind us, their wings darkening the sky, but it's impossible to see who they are.

  "How much money you wanna bet Roach is among them?" I ask as Will leans forward.

  "I'm not making that bet. You're guaranteed to win. Look."

  He's pointing now, and I see another smaller group of gargoyles slinking along the tree line. They are shifters, and the serpentine head is most definitely Roach.

  "If it comes down to it, he's mine. Got that?" I tell Will as my eyes narrow.

  Will pats me on the back.

  "I wouldn't want that fight anyway. We've got to narrow down our field of combatants."

  We glance around the area. There aren't a lot of options when fighting one of our own. With the exception of the shifters, most of us share the same powers. Shifters have invisibility but only with humans. They can't use this power on anything supernatural. But they are fast.

  "Water won't work here," I mumble.

  "Or stone," Will adds.

  Or maybe it would! Will and I both pause, our eyes meeting.

  "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask.

  Will nods.

  "I'm pretty sure I am."

  The gargoyles coming our way are not part of the Council. I recognize none of them other than Roach, and while this can hurt us, it is also a relief. It means they are not as powerful as the Council members who sent them. Some of them may not even be Guardians. Even better.

  Will leaves me, slinking into the trees' darkness, and I move higher, climbing the limbs quietly.

  The gargoyles are nearing, and I lift my hand. I don't have to look to know Will is doing the same. The first gargoyle moves beneath me.

  "Now," I whisper through gritted teeth.

  I call upon the rocks in the dirt below me, the stone in the surrounding area, and I shove it toward the twelve gargoyles in the open. My eyes are focused on their wings.

  My chest tightens as the first stone rips through one of the gargoyle's bat-like appendages. He screams, and I let myself feel his pain. We are taught from the moment we come into our power to protect our wings. If destroyed, they are useless. Healing, if possible, is slow and painful. Those grounded can no longer serve.

  Three more gargoyles go down before they start to figure out our strategy. Attacking a gargoyle's wings is sacrilegious because protecting them is inbred. We are gaining the upper hand, but not without guilt, remorse, and heartache.

  Will flags me from a nearby tree, and I nod before swinging through the foliage. The shifters will be searching the trees now. I hear two more gargoyles go down behind me as I move toward the ocean. Time for plan B.

  Emma has miscalculated. We are facing sixteen gargoyles, and we have downed six. Ten left, at least three of them shifters. Will joins me again, and I look at him askance.

  "You realize this may do more than ground them? What we do now may kill them?"

  Will nods

  "It's them or us, Conor."

  "And yet, we will be the ones left with the nightmares," I say softly.

  Will's eyes meet mine.

  "Nightmares I can live with."

  "You say that now," I grumble as we dive toward the sea.

  We've angered the gargoyles, and they are moving in fast. Will lifts his hands, and I feel the pull as he summons rocks from the shore and boulders from the ocean floor. The gargoyles following us feel it to, and they pause a moment. When I look back, two of them are turning away. They are leaving, retreating. We're down to eight.

  Rocks form around us, and I use my own power to throw them at the gargoyles. I move above the rock field. On cue, two of the gargoyles turn into stone, deflecting the rocks heading in their direction, and I move in quickly, diving until I am just over their heads.

  Will sends a boulder in my direction and I force it down on top of them. I am straining, my power screaming. The gargoyles are fighting back, and their power hits me directly as the boulder is forced back up. Will is suddenly beside me, and we are shoving the boulder back down. The first gargoyle hits the water.

  I clench my jaw as he screams. No matter how much affinity we have for water, rocks sink. We never turn to stone in water.

  The other gargoyle goes down, and Will and I break away. There are six gargoyles in front of us, their faces hard. Roach is among them.

  "You would kill your own? You traitors!" Roach yells.

  Will moves toward him, and I stop him.

  "Who are the traitors, Roach?" I shout in return. "You plan to kill innocent people, some of them children."

  "They aren't human!" Roach argues. I stare at him.

  "Aren't they? I've met some of their mortal parents, seen them cry, and you say they're not human."

  The gargoyles next to Roach are looking uncomfortable.

  "They are powerful, ruled by their Demonic blood," Roach says.

  Will and I call up rocks, surrounding ourselves with a force field of stone. It's a smart move, and a foolhardy one. We can call stone, but so can they. Our own weapons can be used against us. Our confidence in our own abilities in unwavering, and we do it anyway.

  "Keep telling yourself that, Roach. I swore to protect my mark, and I will die doing just that," I yell.

  Roach growls.

  "Then you'll die!"

  I am ready for the attack, and when the first rock moves toward me, I repel it, sending it into the closest gargoyle's wings. I hear her scream. It's an easy strike, but the others know what they're facing now, and Will and I both furl our wings and dive as rocks fly at us.

  I hit the water hard, slicing through the sea as I curve back toward the surface. I see Will beneath the waves, and he nods at me. We fly from the sea together surrounded by a geyser of water. Rocks are ripped from the sky.

  I am water, I am land, and I am rock. I am steadfast. I am steady. The training has been bled into me, and I hit the first gargoyle head on, my body throwing him back toward the shore. He lands in the trees, and I hear one of his wings break. I cringe. Down to four gargoyles.

  I let the water go, and the geyser disappears.

  "I'm not doing this," a female gargoyle says.

  She is petite with blonde hair and brown eyes. Roach sneers at her.

  "Are you a coward, Rowan?"

  She shakes her head.

  "They are protecting a mark, Roach. This isn't right."

  "They've killed their own!" Roach yells in return.

  The girls looks conflicted, but she finally shakes her head.

  "I can't do this," she says before turning away. The other two gargoyles turn with her.

  "You'll be demoted!" Roach threatens.

  Rowan looks over her shoulder.

  "I'll earn my rank back."

  And with that, they are gone. Only Roach remains.

  "Leave, Roach," I say quietly. "It's over."

  Roach laughs.

  "Do you know what Demons did to my family?" he asks.

  I nod.

  "We've all had something taken away from us by the enemy. I won't punish the innocent for it."

  Roach narrows his eyes.

  "I'm not above ve
ngeance, Reinhardt. I've seen the way you look at that dirty hybrid. You don't think I know you've developed feelings for her. She's using you, you idiot. They do that, you know."

  "Leave it be, Roach," I warn.

  But Roach is insensible now, and he moves toward me, his eyes bright with anger. Will flies in next to me, but I wave him away.

  "I'll kill her, Reinhardt. I won't let any of you get away with this. She'll die. They'll all die. And I'll make her feel pain. She'll suffer everything my sister suffered. Understand?"

  My heart is beating fast within my chest.

  "You won't go near her," I say through gritted teeth.

  "Try me," Roach says as he throws himself at me.

  His head hits me in the chest, and I fly backwards, my wings furling as I sink into the water. I call on the ocean, using the pressure beneath the waves to punch Roach hard as he enters the sea. He flies backward, but regains his stride quickly. He's underwater, and he's in serpent form. He has the advantage, and he knows it.

  I swim toward shore, breaking the surface just as Roach glides onto the waves. He's practically skipping on the sea's surface, his fangs dripping salt water.

  "This is my ballgame now, Reinhardt. Let's play truth or dare, shall we? Truth first. How loud do you think Emma can scream?" Roach asks as he glides toward me.

  My anger is out of control. I can feel my body begin to shift, and I calm myself. I won't turn into stone in water. I won't give Roach the satisfaction of seeing me sink.

  I fly out of the waves, my body hovering over Roach.

  "Dare, Roach. I dare you to kill me first," I yell as I dive at his head. The two of us collide, and we flip through the air. I furl my wings as his teeth sink into my arm, and I scream as I call on the land. Rocks are pulled from the earth, and the shore shudders as a small mountain materializes near the trees. I slam Roach into it. His eyes go wide, and I grin, my arm under his slimy reptilian neck.

  "My ballgame now."

  And with that, the mountain claims Roach, pulling him into the rock before sinking back into the shore. Will is beside me immediately.

  "You didn't kill him."

  I look at him.

  "No, I didn't, but he'll have a helluva time getting out of there. Let's go."

  I am weak as we fly away, and I hold my arm where Roach's fangs have left their mark. We have won the fight, but at what cost? The gargoyles' screams leave with me.