Chapter 2 – Kage
KAGE
Icrouch naked before the fire along the river. I’m irritated. Ever since my brothers and I awakened, expecting to fight and to defend our lands, and discovered all our masters dead and our home abandoned, we’ve felt lost. We were released from our perches and alive, yet we had no purpose.
I’d considered telling my brothers that we should return to stone and wait for another time when we would be needed.
Even though usually when gargoyles awaken it’s for a reason, we still weren’t sure what ours was.
But then we’d met some of our own kind and were told about a sanctuary for gargoyles. A place where we’d have a new purpose.
And a female of our own.
Those fucking liars.
Since arriving at this sanctuary months ago, we were still no closer to knowing what our purpose is. To kill monsters? But only if chosen to do so? To share a few females with the many other gargoyles… for a short period of time, if they happen to choose us?
Yes, this is nothing like we were promised.
And as the leader of my Brotherhood, the fault for this mistake lies solely on my shoulders.
So for now, we live a pointless existence. One that reminds me each and every day that I might have been mistaken to lead my Brotherhood here. Even if I still pretend otherwise. A leader can never let his Brotherhood know he doubts himself.
Even though I’m sure they know by now.
It’s not that the people here aren’t kind. They’ve tried to teach us their rules and ways. But we want none of it. We hunger for battle and purpose. We go mad in this quiet place with its rules and peace, and its lack of females.
We cannot survive here much longer.
Something changes in the air. My hand goes for my sword lying sheathed beside the fire. I am not alone. And yet, I can only imagine it’s another couple taken off to the woods to fornicate alone. Or a young woman gathering herbs.
Nothing of interest.
But I draw my sword and rise slowly to my feet. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I whirl around, leveling my sword at the danger.
I’m frozen. Unable to move. Magic, powerful and dark, washes over me. My sword is inches from the throat of a man. A god. I know it without question.
He raises a dark, arrogant brow. His hair is neatly styled. His clothes, a sleek black suit. And his eyes? They hold a hint of red.
“Gargoyle,” he purrs the word.
His gaze moves over me, and he tilts his head as he stares at my cock. “Why, you’re a big, wild thing, aren’t you?”
I cannot speak, so I simply glare.
For a second he moves forward, and I think he might touch my cock. If he does, I will find a way to sever his head, I swear it to myself. But instead, he curls his fingers into his palm just inches before he touches me.
“I, Hades, the great and powerful god of the Underworld, have need of a Brotherhood of gargoyles. You are experienced monster hunters, and I have a monster I need hunted.”
This man makes my flesh crawl, and yet, this is exactly what I need. Blood, death, a purpose. A creature to hunt and destroy.
He waves his hand, and while I still can’t move, my mouth can.
“What is it that you wish?”
“That’s a good gargoyle,” he coos at me, patting my lower belly in a way that makes me wish he’d unfrozen all of me, so I could kick his ass. “My hellhound, Cerberus, has escaped. I wish for you to find my little pet and return it to me. Can you do that?”
“Easily,” I say.
He laughs. “A cocky little gargoyle, I like that. But it won’t be so easy. My hellhound is fierce. Charged with guarding the Underworld for eternity. It knows how to kill, to hunt, and to avoid danger.”
“So do I.”
He laughs again. “A few rumors have caught my ear, of humans being attacked by a creature that could be my hellhound. The places these reports came from are human cities called Great Hollow, Blood Meadow, Shadow Valley, and Darkwood. I suspect that one of these places is where you’ll find Cerberus. ”
“And what do we get for the honor of helping you?”
He waves a hand. “What do you wish for?”
What do I wish for? The answer comes easily: a mate. What all gargoyles want. If we have her, then perhaps our new mundane life will be bearable.
“We wish for the mate of our choice. A woman we find to be our match.”
“A female mate?”
I glare at him. “Yes.”
“Too bad,” he says, glancing at my cock again. “But you have my unbreakable word that you will have any mate of your choosing, as long as you bring me Cerberus.”
“How much time do we have?”
He smiles slowly. “I can hide my hound’s disappearance for a time. Let’s say until three days after Thesmophoria. Just after the harvest festival, you will bring me my missing dog.”
A little over two months? That should be more than enough.
“It’s agreed,” I say.
And then, Hades is gone.
My sword drops, and I’m breathing hard. Was I actually just tasked with a job from a god? I don’t like Hades, but this is what I need. I simply can’t allow these old gargoyles to take this task from me.
Turning, I resheath my sword and start through the trees to the little gargoyle town. I pause as I pass our little cabin. Should I tell the rest of my Brotherhood?
Not yet, I decide.
I move past our house and keep going through the forest. It takes several minutes before I come out of the trees and move through the town. A woman on the path glances at me, then back. Her gaze goes to my cock, and a smile breaks on her face. She moves toward me, swaying her hips.
The other gargoyles fall over themselves to impress this female, but she does nothing for me. She’s soft. Unable to fight or care for herself. I don’t want a mate who is as useless as an infant.
“Hello, Kage,” she greets.
I huff at her and keep walking.
She frowns and scrambles after me. “Still not wearing clothes?”
I huff again. She has eyes, doesn’t she?
“I was thinking maybe I could stop by your… home, later on today?”
“No,” I tell her.
She steps into my path, and I’m forced to stop. “Surely you want the company of a woman, right? Soon I’ll be able to choose another Brotherhood to have my next child with, and I’d like to know you guys better.”
I answer without hesitation. “You do nothing to stir my cock.”
Her mouth drops open.
I move around her and keep heading for the largest building in the town.
Throwing open the doors, I barely glance at the towering roof, the pillars that line my path, or the big stained glass window.
I head straight for the thrones at the end of the room, raised slightly higher than the rest of the room.
The old gargoyles were talking, but they stop as I approach.
I don’t kneel before them. The others might see the Elites as their new masters, but I don’t.
“I’ve been given a task by a god.”
Edgar’s eyes widen. “And it is?”
“To retrieve Hades’s lost hellhound, Cerberus.”
The old man, and the leader of these gargoyles, looks worried. “You and your brothers don’t yet understand the modern world. You don’t have enough experience to not accidentally reveal yourselves as being from another time. I think it’d be better if we sent another Brotherhood who—“
“No,” I interrupt. “The deal has been forged between the god and I. He will give us a mate in exchange for our help.”
Every one of the Elites sits up straighter.
“Another female gargoyle? One old enough to produce young? That’s truly a blessing.
” He looks at the other Elites, a few of whom nod.
“Alright, Kage, you and your Brotherhood may go and retrieve the hellhound. We’ll supply you with all you need to find the monster. ”
I nod. “We leave at first light.”
They continue talking, but I turn and go.
I don’t care about their plans. Yes, I asked them, but it was not for permission.
It was because we don’t have human coin or their connections.
Having their help will make our hunt easier, and I want to be done as soon as possible, so we can claim our prize.
As I stomp through the town, I’m not embarrassed to feel my cock hardening. I imagine what our mate will be like. How her pussy will feel.
We need to hunt this dog quickly, return it to its master, and claim what is rightfully ours.
The sooner, the better.