Chapter 15 – Elite Galena
ELITE GALENA
The moon’s bright tonight, and the sanctuary is silent. Tiny fairies flutter around me in the clearing, dancing from flower to flower. I wish I was at peace enough in this moment, enjoying the simplicity of this moment, but the future darkens my mood.
Being Seer, a healer, and an Elite is complicated. I see the future, but only in pieces. And the pieces I’ve seen… they’ve left me even more confused.
Before Medusa, life was simple. Monsters were bad. We were good.
But things have changed. Some of the Elites act as if this change occurred over night, but it didn’t. Like a wheel of fortune, our fate has been spinning and changing for a long time.
It began when our numbers started to dwindle.
Gargoyles were soldiers going out into the world.
Dying for our cause. At first their deaths seemed to mean little, but then fewer new soldiers were born.
Artists were no longer creating our kind with the love and care that’s required to give them a soul.
There were some statues still made, yes, but mostly manufactured somewhere without artists or souls—like empty bags of flesh. Stone objects never to awaken.
Edgar had made this sanctuary and we’d all worked together to search out as many gargoyles as possible and bring them here.
This was the only way we could see to preserve our numbers.
We no longer allowed the gargoyles to go out into the world, battling monsters without thought.
There simply wasn’t enough of them for that.
We sent Brotherhoods on carefully calculated tasks, the purpose of which was mostly to distract them. A town of warriors who can’t fight and don’t have women creates a volatile situation. So when we felt them becoming too restless, we sent them out.
With Medusa, collecting her had been a mixture of a favor and a necessity. When a human in charge of keeping the paranormal world secret from the humans contacted us about her existence, we saw it as Fate. The future showed me that she was a key to continuing our kind.
I thought it would be because of her ability to turn us back into gargoyles, being capable of shifting from a human-like form to stone, and being immortal. There was no way to predict she might save us all because of daughters she would give birth to.
Being her midwife, caring for her, it was impossible for me to continue to hate her. It was impossible to see her as just a monster, and not a woman. And then there was Keto.
Sighing, I turn and stare at a flower.
The fairy queen stares back at me.
Her voice comes soft and musical. “What is it that you see that has you here again?”
She settles down on the petal of a red flower, spreading her skirt made of lavender out around her. Her skin shimmers, as if dusted with glitter, and her eyes are a piercing gold.
“Your majesty,” I greet. We’ve grown to be friends over the years, but the fairies like formality.
She inclines her head in acknowledgement. “Speak freely.”
I smile, glad for her wisdom. I can’t speak to any of my own people about what’s on my mind.
“Our role is to hunt monsters.”
She nods, saying nothing.
“There is honor in killing a dangerous beast and protecting mankind.” I hesitate. “But are all monsters truly monsters?”
The questions hangs between us like something powerful. Like a storm that’s been building.
Her wise eyes gaze into mine. “No. Your entire society is founded on a lie. You created a common enemy and foolishly decided the world was black-and-white. Now you’re seeing the grey, and you’re afraid. And you should be.”
My heart races. “Edgar says that to acknowledge that possibility will destroy our society.”
“It might.” She raises a delicate brow. “But now that you know the truth, can you really pretend you don’t?”
I swallow hard. “Edgar finds the names of female monsters. He asks me to look into the future and see if they’ll add to our society or take away from it.
Depending on what I see, he dispatches a Brotherhood with the goal to either capture the women or kill them.
Those that are captured he hopes will fall in love with the Brotherhood I See as being a possible match for them.
And those that are killed he sees as a proper distraction for the men…
to keep them occupied so they don’t see what’s happening. ”
“And this bothers you?” the queen asks, studying me.
I stare down at my hands, feeling strangely young and confused. “I don’t want to help with this mission, but I’m scared that if I don’t, we’ll lose everything.”
The fairy doesn’t answer me for a long time before she rises slowly to her feet. “You must decide, gargoyle, if you will continue to help this man in a task you know is wrong, simply because you fear the destruction of the society you hold so dear.”
“I know,” I say, frustrated. She hasn’t helped me at all. “But what should I do?”
She smiles. “That’s for you to decide.”
I incline my head out of respect when she flutters away, but my thoughts continue to turn. If I keep helping Edgar to kill the women and kidnap them, am I really doing anything wrong? We’ve always killed monsters. This is no different.
Right?
I think of Medusa and her babies. I think of Keto and her big pregnant belly.
Damn it. Since when did gargoyles start feeling like monsters?