Gargoyle heart

The Criminals

I winced and trembled with each step that I took. The pain in my body had not subdued, my wings were even worse and could not unfold properly. One of the gashes on my left wing had reopened and blood dripped every now and then. Grampa tried to keep his eye on it so he could stop us and paste the healing goo I had received from Ditan. Each time the wound would remind me of my seemingly foolish decision, but I would sneer back at it and remind myself of the queen waiting for me to save her.

I would sometimes stop and think to myself. Is this the right choice? Each time I doubted myself something churned in my stomach. Not even Grampa, who often noticed that something was on my head, could change my mind. But I knew it was far too late to turn back now, so I had to keep going.

Our plan was to head back to the castle walls, sneak inside without getting too much attention, grab as much supplies as we could carry and then head for the "hidden" entrance to the human world. Although getting to the castle would be a challenge since I had trouble even standing upright.

"We must have food, water, medical supplies, at least one weapon each, cloth for disguises and then... Grampa, stop that!"

Grampa stood by the castle wall and drew his claws along the embedded rocks, making a loud scratching sound that would attract the attention of the guards.

"Are you out of your mind?" I hissed at him. "We were supposed to be stealthy, unnoticed!"

"Better to knock guards out," Grampa said with his eyes focused on the two guards that were drawing closer.

"They are our people! We shouldn't have to harm them even for this reason!"

Grampa glanced around the yard once more before lunging at the guard. Quickly and surprisingly gracefully he landed a punch towards his neck, then caught him with his tail before he would fall to the ground. He then tripped the other guard and placed him in a chokehold, only letting go once he had stopped squirming but still alive.

"Can't take chances, not when Queen in danger," Grampa said with a glance over his shoulder at me, "guards maybe forgive, but we must hurry."

I sighed quietly. Somehow I knew he was right but I would have felt a lot easier if we could have evaded the option.

Grampa leaned the two soldiers against the wall, out of sight for other guards, and checked their vital signs before starting to move towards the eastern entrance, where the kitchen staff usually dwelled. In my head I prayed that we wouldn't have to knock anyone else out for a while, but was reminded that this was Grampa and that he probably would without a second's hesitation.

We made it into the kitchen, thankfully without anyone around, where we picked up a linen sack each and stuffed them with food until they were on the verge of bursting. I noticed that Grampa would every so often hold a hand to his chest as if in pain, but he never once complained. Gargoyles were rough like that - not even when they were sick would one, especially one as proud as Grampa, admit pain or illness. After hiding the sacks behind the cinder stove we used the smaller passageway to get into the guards quarters, and to our surprise it was as empty there as in the kitchen.

"Where is everyone?" I whispered.

"Must be out in town," Grampa whispered back. He walked over to the weapons cabinet and opened the doors, displaying a large variety of different weapons - blades, bows, war-hammers and spiked knuckles - and picked out one of each. "Which you want?"

I carefully inspected each of the weapons, thinking back to my years as a youngling and my training to become a guardian. No weapon they had given me had suited my taste... Or truthfully, I had somehow managed to hurt some of the instructors with my clumsiness. The only weapon in the midst I had the chance of attempting to handle and didn't leave someone heavily bruised was the one handed weapons, like the war hatchets or the maces.