There were heavy clouds hovering over London, covering the sky with a curtain of darkness. The smell of ozone filled the air, and I watched the moon vanish beneath the thick canopy of the storm. The great clock beneath my perch chimed and the heavens opened, their tears littering the earth beneath them.
I’ve always rather disliked the rain; it left a weird feeling on my scales that made me shiver as it travelled down my back in the space between my large, leathered wings. Normally, on a stormy night such as this, I would be wearing a long cloak and hood to cover myself but, foolishly, I had assumed that there would be no rain tonight when I left the Refuge for my patrol of the tower. That was stupid, it was London after all, why wouldn’t it rain? Now, in this downpour, all I had was a short leather kilt and my bronze staves secured to its belt.
Now drenched, cold and irritated, I slowly climbed down past Big Ben’s face and onto a small ledge, my long tail dangling over the side. I raised one of my wings to shield me from the remainder of falling water while I perched.
“Brother, what are you doing in there?”
I looked up to see Gabriel, another gargoyle like myself, hovering over me, wings flapping in slow strokes. Unlike me, his body was covered in grey stone-like skin instead of scales, a trait that set me apart from most of my brethren, at least we all shared the same bat-like wings. Gabriel was wearing standard battle gear, a thick chest plate with steel bands on his forearm that were pointed at the elbow joint and a barbute-style helmet with a gap made on both sides for the frills that outlined his ears. Gabriel was also wearing an armoured kilt over his lower body with long greaves over his legs and two enchanted bronze cutlasses on his belt. Under one arm he held my own helmet, which was nearly identical to his own, only lacking the frill-gap on either side.
“Admiring the rain,” I replied sarcastically.
“Liar,” said Gabriel as he tossed me my helmet, “come on, we're needed.”
I stood up, one arm in a death grip on the railings for support said, “What for?”
“Harpies are loose above the clocktower. Some scouts reported that there are hundreds of the things circling overhead, maybe even thousands. They want as many gargoyles over there as we can spare, even those on patrol here. None of them need live this night.”
I hated it when he talked like that, but he was excited for the battle, meaning that he was going to talk like we were in the medieval ages.
“Art thou prepared for battle, Gecko?” he asked, backing up a bit.
“Thanks for the bad Shakespeare,” I said as I stood, “and didn't I ask you to stop calling me that?”
“I don’t recall, I barely listen to half the words you speak.”
Growling under my breath, l donned my helmet. To moment it was secured, small sheets of metal magically began to expand and unfold across my body as my own battle gear covered my body. I then then spread out my wings and shot into the sky, joining formation with my brother and some of the other gargoyles that were with me on tower patrol. All of us wore variations of the same battle equipment that Gabriel had, with the main difference being in the weapons we were wielding. For example, I kept two enchanted bronze short staffs on my belt, both had one side ending in a sharp point. Another difference was that I had darker armour to blend in with the night sky and less armour on my tail.
Together, we soared towards the storm clouds above the palace, catching a thermal updraft to lift ourselves higher into the air in a tight formation. With a cue from the front, we activated our Blood Marks, causing dark, tribal markings to snake across our bodies as we drew our weapons and shot into the clouds.
Our vision was momentarily obscured, with only the sounds of battle to guide us. Suddenly, we emerged from the vapour and found ourselves in the middle of a fierce battle zone, with magic and lightning flashing across this small opening in the clouds. The harpy commanders and their fellow monsters from the pits of hell fought against our fellow gargoyles. Weapons and claws clashed against each other, filling the night with sounds akin to thunder, all the while fire and lightning flashed all around us. We were severely outnumbered but that was to be expected with our forces spread so thin. Without a word our small force quicky separated into smaller teams before heading to reinforce different units around us, with myself and Gabriel heading to a group close to the base of the cloud.
Gabriel shot towards a cluster of the monsters like a bullet, his swords slicing cleanly through the air, forcing every monster he destroyed to return to the Abyss, leaving nothing but ash behind.
I stabbed and bludgeoned every foe that came my way, my weapons now blurs of death and pain to these ash-spawned creatures of the Abyss, and yet, no matter how many I fell, their ranks did not seem to decrease. Even with the Blood Mark enhancing our strength, I knew this was not going to be an easy fight for our clan.
I spied a lone harpy dive towards my brother, who was preoccupied with a giant bat like creature and had his back turned. On instinct, I threw one my staffs at it and the weapon stuck itself into the daemon's head, smashing it into ashes in an instant and drawing Gabriel’s attention. Acting swiftly, my brother caught the weapon with his tail as it fell from the ashes then used it to stab the bat in the throat. As his foe scattered into ashes Gabriel passed the rod back to me before two flying snake demons, each armed with broadswords, came charging towards me.
Moments before we clashed, I brought the flat ends of my short staffs together, generating a small burst of energy to fuse them to each other. My magic travelled across both ends of the combined staffs, extending them as the mystic energies passed through the many runes carved into the bronze weapon. They now formed a single quarterstaff, both ends now tipped with iron spikes, which I used to whack both demons into one another before stabbing them both with the following strike.
“AHHH!” I roared as a harpy came from behind and slashed my back, ripping through the steel plating and tearing off a few scales in the process. For a few moments I struggled to stay aloft, the pain spiking each time I flapped my wings. Two more attacks tore at my arms and legs, but I was soon able right myself again, just in time to see the beast hovering a short distance away, ready for another flyby.
As it dived towards me once more, I swung my quarter staff at its neck at the last second, turning it to ash moments before it could get another claw through my armour. I could feel my armour covering the back wound when it mended itself, just as it was designed to do for all gargoyles during battle, slowing down the bleeding considerably.
I managed to focus on the battle at hand, trying to ignore the pain that seared across my back, and saw a gigantic harpy descend from the swarm, the armour she wore shone with the silver blood of all the gargoyles it had murdered. The creature was so large that she would be able to use Big Ben's hour hand as a dagger.
“Young brother,” said another gargoyle named Thorne, hovering beside me with his mace covered in daemon ash, “one of the harpy's top generals is here. We need to find a way to destroy her then all the others should follow.”
I looked at him, noticing all the scratches, dents, and cuts across his armour with some blood leaking through the cracks. The armour was beginning to mend itself, but the process was slow, giving the damage it had sustained so far.
“You cannot take her on like you are,” I said, “your armour is too damaged-”
“It has always surprised me how yours rarely is, despite the length of a battle, Scaled One,” he said sharply, “The damage you have received here is nought compared to the rest of us, nor has the blood you’ve shed tonight matched that of our fallen brethren.”
“I only meant that perhaps we should-”
“You have not yet seen enough battle to give me advice, boy.”
I stayed quiet after that and followed his lead into battle, slashing through the demons that barred our path to the giant harpy. Thorne was a kind ally at times, but his mood could change in a heartbeat, it was sometimes best to leave things as they were, least he decided to turn his mace upon me.
We dove behind the General's head and struck at both her wings with our weapons, but they bounced off as if they were steel. The General turned to look at us, a gruesome smile on her face.
“I am far stronger than any of you stone lizards will ever know.” she screamed, heaving her spear, and using one end to whack us away from her. I was able block with my staff, deflecting the worst of the blow, and soon I was hovering in the air again, but Thorne, with his wounds, wasn't so quick to counter and crashed into several other gargoyles, who were all engaged in their own fights, before regaining his balance. Several harpies were trying to get through to their leader, but Thorne intercepted, blocking the daemon warriors from the fight.
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Unfortunately, that meant that, at least for the moment, I was on my own against this general. While I was distracted, the daemon quickly slashed her claws at me but suddenly Gabriel came out of nowhere and blocked with his blades.
“I block,” he said in a strained voice, “you strike. Let us give our allies a chance to gather themselves.”
Gabriel's wings were flapping heavily, he was barely staying aloft from the force of the strike and his Blood Mark was starting to fray but he was still fighting despite that risk.
“No,” I said, using my staff to help him push back the General's weapon, “you can do more damage with your blades than I can with my staff, let me take the hits. You’ll collapse at this rate.”
“Heh,” he said with a grin and, thankfully, dropping the bad Shakespeare, “Fine then. On your mark.”
“Let’s go!”
He rushed in, quickly slashing at the General several times near her head before I blocked her next attack then, while Gabriel stabbed at one of her wings, I detached my weapons from each other and blocked her spear with Gabriel. Other gargoyles tried to help but harpies would engage them before hand, cutting off our reinforcements. Gabriel and I continued our assault for a while more, but the general's blows were taking their toll on both of us, especially Gabriel. His speed was decreasing and so was his strength, but I knew that his pride would not allow him to reveal how much pain he was in.
“Gabriel,” I called out as I deflected another strike, “this is getting us nowhere. We need a new strategy. Now!”
“Then Link Up,” he yelled back and threw one of his swords to me while I did the same with one of my truncheons. We caught each other's weapons at the same time and, moving in unison, we brought the blade and staff that we both held together using our magical power to join them. We spoke as one and our Blood Mark swirled, taking on new shapes as our weapons transformed, with mine becoming spirals of gust while my brother’s mark now resembled fish scales.
A bright light enveloped our weapons as they changed form, forging new weapons using aspects of our own. Now Gabriel wielded a two-handed enchanted broadsword, and I now wielded a Halberd. Our Blood Marks now glowed a fierce white against the night sky as our powers swelled under this temporary spell.
I spun my halberd over my head and the wind around us picked up speed, forcing the rain to batter us and the giant daemon like hail, throwing her off balance from the sudden wind shift. At the same time, Gabriel held his blade in one hand and moved his free hand in circular motion in front of him before closing it in a tight fist.
The rain started to collect into a sphere above him then, with another gesture from Gabriel's hand, sharp icicles shot from the sphere and headed towards the general. Some of the larger pieces of ice imbedded itself into her wings and she roared in pain. Gabriel then commanded the water to flow in from of him then he sliced his weapon through the air, every swipe with the sword sent a thin blade of ice towards the daemon. While the general was distracted, I struck her with my own blade, wearing her down until either me or Gabriel could finish her off. The strategy we were using was turning the tide, but it was quickly depleting both of our magical reserves so drawing this out was not an option.
Using the small command that I held over the storm I summoned a bolt of lightning, channelled it through my weapon and sent it at the harpy, knocking her back but the spell drained me too quickly. As I blinked the spots from my eyes, her swiping claw came out of nowhere and sent me flying backwards, allowing her to focus on Gabriel.
“Die Gargoyle!”
The harpy's spear hurtled through the air towards Gabriel. He summoned a wall of ice to block the spear but, with him being as drained as I was, it shattered, and the spear struck him in the chest, flying straight through his body. As he fell the bloodied shaft returned to its master, but I was too concerned about my brother to pay it much notice.
“NO!”
My scream cut through the cold air but before I could do more, the general attacked. When she sent her spear at me, I tried blocking it with my weapon, but it shattered upon impact. A wave of raw power tore through the air as my weapon was destroyed, the backlash turning every harpy solider around me to ash as well as sending the General and I spinning in opposite directions. When I was able to gather my bearings, I dived towards my brother, catching him in the air, but our combined weight was too much for my wings and we had a rough landing on a rooftop. We crashed through a small chimney and were separated as we went sliding across the slates.
I was dazed and, for a few moments, all I could hear was a loud ringing in my ear slits and the feeling of cold rain on my scales. After taking a deep breath in, I force myself to my knees and manage to crawl across the uneven rooftop towards my brother, who was barely moving. His breathing was ragged and the Blood Mark on his arms and legs were already fading away, their magic unable to keep up with the damage. The spear wound had left a large hole through his torso, and I knew that there was a low chance of him being healed from this.
“Dammit,” he said, his voice hoarse, “I wasn't fast enough-”
“No, no! It's okay, it’s…okay,” I gasped, trying to keep the tears in my eyes at bay, “I'll take you back to the Refuge. We can find a healer.”
“I’m not stupid Gecko, I know that there’s no time for that-”
He grimaced as another wave of pain seemed to envelope him and he coughed up more silver blood. I placed my hand over his chest tried to heal him, picturing the wound in my mind a calling on the magic from my Mark. My remaining magical power flowed out from my palm as I commanded the wound to close and, for a moment, I thought could feel the tissue start to pull itself together, but in my mind’s eye it was painfully slow. My remaining power quickly dissipated, and I collapsed next to Gabriel, my energy completely drained. As my own Blood Mark faded the soul crushing realisation hit me. There was nothing I could do to save him.
Above us, the sounds of fighting continued, and even from this distance I could hear the General’s laughter as she jeered our allies struggled to hold off her forces.
Suddenly a hot, boiling sense of loathing rose within me as I watched Gabriel suffer. This anger, this burning rage, it gave me the strength to rise to my feet again. Gabriel's sword lay not too far off and, as if on instinct, I raised my open hand towards it. The blade flew into my left hand, which began to throb with a dull pain as unfamiliar energies pulsed through it. Red lightning started to arc across the engraved runes on the blade, transforming the broadsword into a long, single-edged serrated blade, its point curved slightly inward and its bronze metal burning black. The handle had darkened too, now outlined with a deep crimson red and from the corner of my eye I could see odd runes begin to take shape across the blade. I could feel the same runes creep their way onto my Blood Mark, now burning red, almost as if they were forcing it back into existence.
“I’ll be back brother,” I promised Gabriel then I took off into the sky heading once again towards the storm.
Lightning flashed across the sky, and I saw demons of all kinds appear from the dark clouds but whenever one came near, I would slice through them like paper and carry on, barely noticing that the ash they became was swallowed by my new blade, as if it was drinking in their strength. The rain and ash hissed against the corrupted blade in my claw, and I flew, harder and faster than ever before, into the depths of the battlefield.
Before long, I had reached the place where we had fought the giantess but the sight I found was not as I expected.
At least six gargoyles now surrounded the daemon, but none could do more than slightly irritate her because of her now due to her now rapidly growing form, as if she was drawing power from the increasing storm around us. Already, in the short time I was gone, she had nearly grown twice her original size. When she saw me, the daemon laughed and tried to swipe at me with her spear, but I quickly blocked it using my sword.
The blade's handle suddenly burnt my hands, and I roared in pain. I backed away from the general and looked at the sword's handle, which had now cooled, and I saw more runes engraving themselves into the blade. Small burns in the shape of those runes had appeared on my hands and steam rose from them as the rain fell onto my palms.
“Your magic has made the blade unstable,” said Thorne as he tried to pull me backward, but I brushed him off, “the weapon now carries the energies that were stored both in your staff and in brother Gabriel's swords. If you don’t quell your rage and undo the Link, we could all die!”
“Not before she does!” I roared, the sound carrying through the thunder, and I shot through the air. The sword was now wreathed in flames and, as I approached the daemon, they glowed brighter and burned more ferociously. We clashed, claw and spear against my burning blade and, in the distance the great clock began to chime, with my opponent seemingly radiating more power each time it did. She thrust her spear towards me again and, in my fury, I was too distracted to deflect it. It struck me in the centre of my chest, piercing through my armour with ease.
For a few moments, I felt numb, shocked by my own stupidity, then I felt pain and my sword slowly begin to fall from my hands. An unbearable, agonising wave of pain hit me like a horse, and, for a while, that was all that I could think about. I saw the daemon’s bright red eyes start to glow with power and she gave out a loud laugh in triumph, jeering at me as I lay slumped over her weapon, my blood dripping down its shaft with the rain.
The daemon’s biggest mistake was thinking that she had won.
My grip on my own blade tightened and I grabbed the spear with my free hand, forcing all my strength on the point where the bronze shaft and the metal blade were connected. As my vision blurred, I thought I saw my dripping blood burst into flame, burning through the metal. I roared an unearthly sound then tightened my grip on the spear and the shaft splintered like a twig. I tore the jagged blade from my chest, dropping it into the foggy city below just before I wretched the bronze shaft from the stunned daemon's grasp.
“Im-Impossible,” she stammered, staring at her broken weapon, “you couldn't have-”
My tore the broken weapon from her grip with ease and swung the bronze shaft at her head, breaking it against her jaw and drawing blood. Her black daemonic blood ran from one eye then down the side of her face as she tried to back away, all bravado gone now that her weapon was destroyed. I dropped the broken shaft as I drew my blade once more, the flames from my weapon now a deep maroon and the runes’ white-hot glow were vibrant against the blade’s dark surface. I swung the hellish blade down in a deadly arc, the flames leaving a burning trail behind it, just as I heard Thorne yell out a warning.
One of the last moments I can recall of this night, was her torso was sliced through by my burning blade, her face petrified into a silent scream. The flames cauterised the severed flesh as my blade cleaved through, leaving large smouldering wounds on the General’s divided body.
Then the sword exploded, its fractured power released into the sky, flooding it with raw, ferocious bursts of fire and wind. The energy left streaks of red across the sky, creating a great wave of destruction and magic, just as the clock’s chimes ended. I barely had time to defend myself when several shards of the weapon hit my exposed forearm and the explosion sent me tumbling out of the sky.
A dark fog across my vision as I lost the strength to even scream from the pain, the blood loss from my wound was beginning to take its toll. As my consciousness slipped away, I remember feeling the cold embrace of the river as I fell into nothingness…