26. Stuck Between a Rock and a Gargoyle #2
“This wing is for our nesting mothers or …um, what’s the word that you would use for your fledglings?" Blessing asks, looking back at our group.
“Nursery,” Knots provides.
“Thank you.” Blessing continues down the hall.
“This hall is our nursery. When our young hatch, they normally stay here with their mothers or wet nurses. Once they are old enough, they are sent to the Clan Elders and paired for training. But unfortunately, we have met our match against a foe we can not beat and cannot keep our young in our nursery anymore.”
“What kind of foe?” Ryker asks, his interest piqued.
Blessing stops, turns, and looks at our group, assessing us as if we are to be trusted.
“The kind we cannot defeat,” he says simply, but my stomach drops out from the look he gives us.
“What I am about to tell you will bind you to our clan as allies and our existence together. If you need help, you can call on us and vice versa. Do you wish to know more about our foe and us gargoyles?”
“I’m not sure I want to be a walking, talking genie,” Lynx speaks up. “I mean, I am pretty priceless. There’s a lot that comes with this baggage.”
“There is a reason the rest of the Supe world does not know of us,” Blessing reminds us. “There is a price, yet we give as much as we demand, and there is a war upon our door that is waiting to burst open.”
“How do you know that?” Levi narrows his eyes as he takes in our new friend.
“The trees aren’t the only things that have eyes and ears.” Blessing gives us a toothy grin, sending a chill down my spine. He looks ferocious at times.
“I’m down,” Rez throws her hand up, and the boys groan around her. “What? You don’t have to, you know.”
“Yeah, we do,” Ryker grumbles.
“We can’t let you do it alone. What kind of mates would that make us?” Knox explains.
With everyone in agreement, I easily raise my hand. “I’m with my bestie,” I agree, and Chester raises his without complaint, so Blessing nods.
“We have a lot of good qualities and have, for the longest time, been used for the ultimate guards. Our skin is made of stone, so it’s impenetrable to all man-made weapons.
We are strong and can carry fifty times our weight, and live extremely long lives.
Some would say we’re immortal, but that is not the case.
We just live for hundreds of years until our stones start to weaken.
We were mostly used as good luck for believers of faith or as protectors and guardians. ”
“That’s why you’re allowed on Earth and perched on buildings, correct?” Rez interrupts.
“Yes, but most of us who go to Earth long-term do so to work for N.I.T.R.A. in a special branch.” There’s that notra-dumbass name again. “Now, we gargoyles act more as enforcers or informants than living as our true purpose,” Blessing confesses with a growl undertone.
“And why is that?” Knox picks up on the tension in our host.
“It’s safer, and it’s the reason I decided to bring you here.
” He makes eye contact with every one of us.
His deep obsidian eyes reach into my soul, seeking out my coffee gauge and finding it full and pure with the Nectar of Life.
“Come,” he states and continues walking to the last room at the end of the hall.
As we reach his destination, I notice the temperature getting a little cooler.
“Why is it so cold? I would think for a nursery, you would want it warm for the babies. But then I don’t know much about Gargoyles,” Rez sheepishly asks, while rubbing her arms, getting blood to flow back into them.
“We normally would, but as I said before, no man-made weapon can harm us. That doesn’t mean we can’t be hurt by something else,” Blessing says cryptically, leading us into a massive room.
The immense circular room is so big I can’t see the back of it, but that could also be because of a huge pillar standing smack dab in the middle of the room, leading up to an opening where the moonlight filters through.
From here, it looks like there’s snow at the top, clinging for its life.
That’s why it’s cooler in here. We’re deep in the mountains where it’s snowing!
Fireplaces full of firewood line the bottom of the column, facing out to the Whispering Death Vines. Wait…what?
“Are those alive?” JP whispers in horror.
“No, those have been dead for centuries. But they are natural bassinets for the eggs,” Blessing announces, looking like a proud father.
“Do those fireplaces work?” I ask, wondering why they aren’t on, giving off the heat or more light that the room desperately needs in here.
“Let me guess, heat makes your balls shrink,” Lynx groans. “That has to be the reason it’s chilly in here, so Bert and Ernie won’t want to take a hike.”
“Bert and Ernie? Who are they? Did I miss an introduction when I passed out in the past or something?” I ask, looking around my friends for someone to give me answers. Chester gives me a look of horror, and I blanche.
“What?”
“Moni, Bert and Ernie—” Chester starts.
“Are my balls. My nuts. My berries,” Lynx intercedes. “Jollyranchers, family jewels, ballocks, sack of joy, dangly bits, the twins, the bunny bags.”
“Bunny bags?” I perk up. “Oh, I have those!” I reach into my S.I.N. box and pull out the little bags I always carry, just in case. “See.” I hold up the colorful bags proudly and watch everyone’s face try—and fail—to hide their reaction.
“Moni, are those your bunny bags?” Rez snickers.
I double-check to make sure I pulled the right item. “Yep, aren’t they cute? Just big enough to hold baby bunnies and carry them around.” I hold it over each of my shoulders to demonstrate, and Chester goes pale as he tries to stop me.
“No, Moni. Baby, stop. Just stop.”
“What’s wrong?” I demand with a stomp of my foot, and even the stoic Blessing finally bursts out into a deep laugh.
“She’s adorable,” he rumbles. “Even with them being colored, I can even tell those are jock straps!” he hollers before clutching his sides as his laughter takes over. His chuffing sound would be funny if he weren’t laughing at my bedazzled bunny bags.
“You mean these aren’t bunny bags?” I hold up my bags and my family snickers, but it’s JP who comes up to me first.
“Sis, I think whoever came up with jockstraps got it wrong. I think they would work better as bunny bags.” He hugs me.
Clearing his throat and wiping loose gravel from his eyes, Blessing composes himself.
“I am sorry for hurting your feelings. That was not my intention. It has been a few centuries since someone has made me laugh that heartily, so thank you for that pleasure.” He bows to me, and I know I’m sporting a pastel yellow to show how proud I am.
“You are most welcome,” I say, shoving my bags away since Bert and Ernie don’t need them now.
“Can we get back on the subject of what’s the threat here?” Knots asks through gritted teeth.
Someone obviously doesn’t like us messing around right now.
“Yes, sorry. I forgot Angels don’t have a sense of humor,” Blessing throws shade before pointing up the column to where on one side I can see through to stars, and to the other side, I see the snow from before.
“Why is one side see-through to the sky and the other is white?” Chester asks. “Am I that blind?” he asks, pushing up his glasses.
“No, you are seeing correctly,” Blessing admits. “The white isn’t our cave ceiling. That’s webbing covering our flight door.”
“Um. You mean that’s not snow?” I sputter.
“No, it’s definitely not,” Blessing admits. “I wish it were.”
“What kind of creature makes webbing that thick to anchor a door?” Lynx cocks his head.
“Darkstar Spiders.”
“I thought those were extinct,” I point out.
“Nope,” Blessing corrects me. “They migrated to the mountains, but it’s their venom that’s toxic to us and dissolves our defenses, killing us.”
Oh my!
“What’s causing them to attack?” Knots asks, observing the webbing above.
“We don’t know. I’ve been here for centuries, but the attacks started a few months ago.
We lost our leader, Goshen, during our second fight when he was trying to close the latch,” Blessing explains, pointing up.
Embedded in the webbing, there’s a latch that looks like it just needs to be cleared and pulled down. What’s the big deal?
“They coated the webbing and the stone around it with their toxins. We can’t get close,” Blessing answers my unspoken question.
“Um, am I missing something? What kind of spiders are we talking about here? I doubt those webs came from a daddy long-legs.” Rez cocks her head to the side.
“I don’t know why those dads have long legs, but these guys only have eight,” I tell her.
“It’s a type of spider on Earth,” Blessing explains.
“And no. These spiders are nothing like those on Earth. These stand at least five feet tall and have suckers on their abdomen that they use to carry their food back to their lairs. Lately, though, that’s how they have been taking our eggs.
They have a humanoid torso with two arms that can wield weapons and fight like any warrior.
You might be able to picture them more clearly as Centaur Spiders. ”
“Oh.” I swallow the lump in my throat, and before I can ask another question, a piercing shriek rings out through the room, making my ears buzz.
“Ahh! What is that?” I yell.
“Darkstars!” Blessing yells, running to the entrance and slamming his stone hand against a button I didn’t notice as we came in.
A stone slab slams shut in front of our exit, and my jaw drops at Blessing as he turns his pleading eyes onto our group.
“Our Fates are now tied. Please help save my clan.”
Awww Fuckle Nuts and Busy Bees. We’re gonna help, aren’t we?