Flying off, the sun was quick to set and the moon, quick to rise.

Flying under the twinkle of stars, I couldn’t help but let my wings carry me out into the horizon, but I was quick to remember what I had to do.

Finding a tall tree, I landed on one of its branches before opening the map.

It was hard to pry the parchment open with my sharp stone nails, but I managed it. Still, the wind so high up was strong and the flaps of the parchments wouldn’t stop blocking my view of the details. But I didn’t have a choice, well maybe it was more accurate to say I didn’t like the ground anymore.

I knew I was acting like a bird but I couldn’t help it. It also made me wonder if I’d ever be able to live in a house.

Right now, I felt much more at home than I could ever in a house. And although I had never lived in or near a mountain, the urge to fly atop the tallest peak and rest there for an eternity wasn’t small.

But I couldn’t think anymore of this right now. No, my first stop according to the map would be La Flèche.

#

From high above, La Flèche looked like a quaint village. Having seen the space a thousand-plus men occupied, it wasn’t hard to guess that this place didn’t have more than five hundred souls.

Slowly, I started to circle my way down. And halfway through my descent something tugged at my consciousness.

I had never felt this, but I immediately knew that this was the pull of another gargoyle. But I didn’t call on them immediately, I was curious about something.

Quietly as I could, I landed on the castle’s parapet. The gargoyle was sitting over the castle gate a little way down.

His mouth was wide open and his eyes were twisted in a furious rage; however, I could only imagine him as relaxed and comfortable.

Crouched on all fours, I crept across the wall and jumped down next to her. Again, I didn’t know how, but I knew that she was called Réel. I was careful to keep my mind going because I knew that if I let myself go I might fall into that ghoulish trance.

For a gargoyle, the feel of hard stone slabs in hand was like sitting in a soft bed after having worked all day. You wouldn’t fall asleep, but if you fell over you know that it wouldn’t be long before you drifted off.

Finally, I tapped her on her shoulder, “It’s time to wake up.”

“Ah!” A liquid so hot it distorted the air, jetted out of her mouth.

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“What is that?” I jumped back, almost falling off the parapet.

“Huh! Who are you!” Réel yelled in surprise and nearly fell over as well, but after her eyes met mine, her eyes opened even wider, before quickly bowing down. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know who you were. To think the king has appeared. No, that he came to see me personally!” Her voice squeaked. I didn’t think that was possible for a gargoyle. “What may I do for you, my king?”

This was certainly a different kind of gargoyle that their usual stoic or overbearing nature. “Do you know if there are any other gargoyles in the region?”

“No, it’s only ever been me here…” Réel kept glancing up, not sure if she could speak.

“I don’t care about that, just speak.”

“Ah!” Her head bolted up. “Then, can I ask why you’re asking that? Are you gathering the gargoyles? Is it finally time?”

“Time? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you know, time to make our kingdom. The craftsman said he would make enough gargoyles to cover the continent. Then, one day, someone would be able to use them to conquer whatever he so wished, and with that he told me to wait patiently until that day. That day is today, no! I don’t know how I could have waited any longer!” She laughed, and tiny droplets of that liquid sputtered out.

I couldn’t help but ask, “What’s coming out of your mouth?”

“Oh this!” She said emphatically before vomiting out another jet of hot liquid. Although I couldn’t feel it on my skin, it didn’t take much imagination to understand it could cook flesh in an instant. “Is it oil?” I asked.

“Oil?” She leaned over, inspecting the puddle below the wall. “I don’t know. It’s just my attack. I don’t know. I have a good amount of mana and there’s always enough rain so I never really run out or wonder about it.”

Was she the kind of gargoyle a magic gargoyle craftsmen could craft? If so, I really hoped her creator had a full line of gargoyles like her ready for me. And I suppose I wasn’t the only one who thought that we had enough power to found a kingdom. But why had no one before me tried it? It has been a century since our family has faded into irrelevancy as other classes have surpassed us. Well, it didn’t matter… Now I was the one with the class.

Why was I not doing that? Why was I following the duke?

No, I couldn’t form a kingdom just for the sake of it. Destruction and war for the sake of greed and pride was meaningless. Frederick was as good a ruler as you could find. Under him we would flourish. There is no reason for unnecessary suffering.

“Let’s go.” I turned to Réel. “Let’s go find your siblings.”

“Oh, Ok!” She jumped up. “Where are we going?”

“Not far, let’s go.” Dropping down from the wall, I opened my wings and let the wind carry me off. Réel was quick to jump after me as we Isa and Bale who had been waiting on the outskirts of town.

#

In total I managed to gather ten gargoyles. Ten. It wasn’t much, half of what I promised Frederick, but I had no doubt that they would me more than enough to delay the count’s march.

Just with Réel’s power we could panic any army, but now that we not only had her, but four more mana gargoyles; Einhart, capable of blowing out a paralyzing poison cloud; Yves, a chameleon-like gargoyle capable of changing his body's color; and Troy, a mole like gargoyle who can bury himself underground and collapse the ground above him. Just with these four it wasn’t hard to see how one could stale an army, but then I also had six other gargoyles as strong as Bale.

It wasn’t hard to see that talented members of my family had once lived in this region. Although I doubted that my father had the grand vision of his forefathers in mind when it came to him moving from Rouen to Bayeux. It worked out the same. He too, I suppose, did his part in spreading gargoyles around the kingdom of France.

But now it was time to move. Looking up, I found that the sun was rising.

And so, I spoke to my new followers, “Let’s not waste any more time. We need to go before the Count reaches Le Mans.”