They glided between the buildings like three sparrows
through a forest of steel and glass. An expression of
worry crossed Goliath's face. He shook his head.
"Save the rest until we get to Castle Wyvern; I think
the whole clan needs to hear this."
The tallest building in Manhattan rose before them,
stern and impressive. At its tip-Castle Wyvern.
Their feet struck ground again on the cobblestone
courtyard of the once mighty castle. Goliath cast
his gaze around the yard, and spotted Angela and
Broadway seated closely together beneath a tree,
talking earnestly. Angela raised her eyes, and then
waved to Goliath.
"I hope you three had an eventful evening," she said
as the others drew close.
"More than you know," replied Goliath simply.
"Where are the others?"
Angela peered up into his face speculatively. "In the
library. Why? What's wrong?"
"Come with us," he said as he turned swiftly and
marched in the direction of the library. "We should
all be together to hear this story."
As Goliath entered the library, a quick scan revealed
Lexington seated at the computer. Brooklyn was on the
second floor, scanning the shelves for a certain book.
Hudson was reclining comfortably in a chair, The
Lord of the Rings in his hands, with Bronx dozing
under his feet as an ottoman. All of them looked up
attentively when they saw the group enter. Goliath
signaled for them, his heavy gaze falling on Lexington.
"Would you mind getting Owen, Lexington? We'll wait
for you."
"Here you are, Goliath--as requested," Owen said as he
came in a moment later, trailed by Lexington. He
laid a small computer disk in Goliath's huge palm.
"Coldsteel's body schematics."
"When did you decide to bring these back to light,
brother?" asked Coldstone, curious. Goliath gave
him a flat, innocent look.
"When one goes against a formidable enemy, one must
learn all one can in order to fight and to win. When
you returned, I made an assumption--and had Owen find
these for us again. Perhaps on further study they may
reveal a weakness we can use." As he said this, he
slid the disk into the library computer and Owen moved
smoothly into the seat before the keyboard, opening
the files. With one long straight finger, Owen pushed
his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and got to
work. The blueprints for their ancient foe swam to
the top of the screen, and a three-dimensional frame
constructed itself for the eyes of all watching.
"Mr. Xanatos thought it would be prudent to have a
small, hidden weakness built into the bodies," said
Owen quietly, causing the image to rotate to the back.
"He believed that perhaps in the future such a
volatile and psychotic creature would need to have
an 'off' switch." He pointed to a small panel at the
base of the cyborg's back. Several arrows pointed to
it, with descriptions hovering all around. "Here,"
he said, and tapped the screen. "A small electrical
discharge from Coldstone's laser directed here should
disable him completely."
"Now we know how to hit him when we hit him," rumbled
Goliath. "Tell us, brother," he said, turning to
Coldstone, "what do we need to know now?"
Coldstone removed a rolled piece of parchment from
the waistband of his loincloth. He unfurled it at
waist level, and all gathered in to see it. In the
center of the page was the well-drawn sketch of what
appeared to be a crystal, and around it were strange
scribblings in a foreign language.
Lexington peered down at the writing. "Arabic," he
said suddenly into the quiet, and looked around in
amazement at the sharp glances of surprise he received.
"Yes, of course," replied Owen, who had been a split
second too slow in saying the same. A dead silence
fell in the ring of inquisitive stares.
"I translate materials from the Internet in foreign
languages for a hobby," Lexington said, half in defense
.
Broadway's brow furrowed. "We have GOT to get him a
girlfriend," he said to the others and his face relaxed
as his mouth split in a huge grin.
Goliath's majestic gaze held his. "Can you translate
it, Lex?"
Lexinton glanced up at Coldstone, who wordlessly handed
him the ancient text. Lex's brow wrinkled in
concentration as he scanned, the lockpick of his mind
pushing back the pins in the language, easing the
meaning open. After a moment of effort, everything
clicked into place. He walked over to the nearest
table, trailing the rest of the company behind him,
and laid the parchment down, covering the corners with
heavier books to hold it flat. Lex pointed around the
page, illustrating his words. "It reads here that
this is the Yrennoc crystal. Yrennoc was a powerful
Arabian wizard who, it says here, was trying to use
the crystal in order to defeat death...He waited for
Death to come for him, but...what he did not know was
that Death only comes to you after you are dead."
Goliath turned to the rest of the clan. "Why would
Coldsteel need to defeat death?" he rumbled. "His
body is robotic, therefore he is immortal."
A confused look crossed Angela's face. "How strange.
The way you read it, it sounds like they were
talking about death as a person."
"They were," said Owen smoothly, and waited. When he
had everyone's attention, he began. "For as far back
as history has recorded, nearly every culture of
people has had an embodiment of Death. The Ferryman,
the Grim Reaper, the Angel of Death. When so many
people believe in an idea as a physical figure for so
long, the idea takes on the form."
"I believe they are called...anthropomorphic beings,"
said Lexington.
"That is correct," replied Owen gravely. "The
phenomenon has helped to add to the population of
Avalon over the centuries."
Brooklyn looked distraught. "Great...just when I
started getting okay with ghosts and werewolves and
clones and mutants...and then I find out THIS guy's a
pixie," he said, jerking a thumb toward Owen, who
straightened even further, if possible, "and now Death
can literally come and knock on your door?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking," replied Owen, "and I
will attempt not to take offense at your statement."
Broadway looked smug. Owen looked cross. And
Lexington cleared his throat to continue reading.
"Here it says that one may defeat Death and other such
beings by holding this crystal while speaking the
incantation...and the powers of the anthropomorphic
being will be transferred to the bearer of the crystal
at that time."
Elisa strode in quickly, as if to leave a bad day
behind her as soon as possible. "Sorry I'm late,"
she commented in passing, making a beeline to the
nearest armchair. "The precinct was a mad house
tonight." She slid into the chair with typical grace,
leaned back, and covered her eyes with her hands,
pressing in slightly in an attempt to massage the
headache away.
"What happened?" ask Goliath, concerned.
"Oh," she groaned. "I hardly know where to begin.
First off, we got called in on a domestic disturbance
to find out it was a homicide--no suspect to be seen,
of course--and THEN to discover that the person killed
was none other than Maria RedCourt, THE premier arms
dealer worldwide." Her hands dropped limply. She
stared into space in front of her. "Then, as if that
wasn't enough, a rare artifact that had just been
brought in for exhibit in the Manhattan Museum of
Natural History was stolen during a break-in. The
curators have pestered us endlessly--" Elisa said, and
paused, for her eyes had fallen onto the parchment in
front of her--"to find the priceless crystal that
looks remarkably like the one on this piece of paper."
She craned her head to look piercingly at the whole
group. "Would someone like to explain this to me?"
Coldstone stepped forward and swept his gaze around
those assembled. "That is the point of my story.
The crystal came here and so did Coldsteel, to steal
it and gain near invincible powers."
The clan stood in silence, stunned over what they had
just learned.
Goliath shook his noble head. "It is too late for
action tonight. Dawn is nearly upon us. Come, we will
rest, and then we will search for Coldsteel when night
falls again."
The gargoyles trooped up the stone stairways and into
the interior of the tower, as Goliath filled Elisa in
on the story so far. By the time they reached their
customary perch, she was also convinced that Coldsteel
was the perpetrator of the theft.
"I'll have some people keep their eyes open for me
today," she said, laying a hand on Goliath's thick
forearm and looking up into his eyes. "When we wake up
tonight, I'll have a report ready for you, if anything
else has happened."
"Thank you," he said gently. He laid his hand briefly
over hers before climbing up on the parapet. The
others had taken their places as well.
"See you at dusk," she whispered.
"Of course," he replied, the faintest of smiles on his
lips. He turned to face the sun as it rose, spreading
his wings regally.
In a moment he was locked in sleep, and in stone.
Owen turned to the two cybernetic gargoyles. "You may
recharge yourselves during the day. I will show you
where."
"Certainly," agreed Coldstone, "but first we must see
Elisa home."
"Oh, no thank you," she said. "I've got my own ride
parked downstairs."
The four walked back downstairs and made their ways to
their own rests, leaving the waking day to the rest
of the world.
