Friday, October 28, 2005

Dark Angel of the Skies-Chp1


Started: 10-24-03 Completed: 01-13-04

CHAPTER 1: A FALLING ANGEL

She slumped and let the wind glide through her vast wings, guiding her through the starry night. The cold autumn wind of Manhattan bit through her frail body and her weak bones mercilessly but she knew that without it, she wasn’t going to go anywhere.

As the wind ceased, so did her height. She could feel herself getting lower and lower and was closing in onto the ground below her. Try as she might with whatever strength she has left, she simply couldn’t steer or make herself soar above and among the clouds. Her body just fell lower and lower and before she knew it she was heading towards the huge clock tower of Manhattan.

Before her body rammed onto the face of the clock, she bent the upper half of her body and guided her flight down towards the brick floor. She landed onto the solid ground with a loud thud and skidded until her back hit the face of the clock, cracking it a little. Her breathing became slower and fainter as she realized that she had finally stopped being in the air.

The beating of wings was the last thing she heard before she lost herself into unconsciousness.

The distant sound of beating wings signified that the gargoyles have returned. First it was our Terrific Trio Broadway, Lexington and Brooklyn and the only female of the herd, Angela. They have just returned from watching a movie entitled ‘The Defenders of Dynamation City 2’ and they sure had a blast watching it by sneaking in from the back door or the rooftop as usual. They were so engrossed in discussing the movie that they didn’t see immediately what was at their territory. It was only when Hudson came up to the tower with Bronx after watching his usual TV that they noticed it.

“Holy names of the gods,” Hudson exclaimed when he walked through the door on the face of the clock. “What in the world is that, lads?”

The trio and Angela turned to look at what Hudson was exclaiming about and were slightly shocked. They all moved towards the being that lay motionless near the face of the clock, staring curiously at it and not daring to touch in case it gets vicious and all. Goliath came back the last and was looking them quizzically.

“What is it, Hudson? What are you looking at?” Goliath asked.

“Aye, ‘tis one oddity we’re looking at, lad. Come and look for yerself,” Hudson replied in his familiar Scottish accent.

Goliath made his way through the gathering crowd of gargoyles around him and stepped closer to the being that was lying face down on the brick floor. He tentatively held out his hand and turned the being around to get a better look. Everyone gasped at the sight of it. It was a female gargoyle, but her features were not like one. She had protruding fangs in her slightly opened mouth and pointed ears, just like theirs, but she has no tail and she had no claws or gargoyle-like feet like they have. As Goliath looked closely, he noticed that her hands and feet were like humans’. In fact her face and her body were human all the way, including her skin which was almost as tan as Elisa’s. And yet, despite all this weirdness, she has a pair of wings just like theirs. A pair of large, vast and powerful wings.

“My goodness, what in the world is this?” Broadway asked, looking very befuddled.

“I have no idea,” Lexington replied. Even someone modern-minded and a genius as he was couldn’t figure out who or what this being is. Bronx crawled over and sniffed her for a while before he whined and licked her, trying to wake her up in vain.

“Could she be a hybrid? Like a mix breed or some kind?” Brooklyn asked.

“No,” Goliath replied in his rumbling low voice. “Besides us and Demona, there is no one else who could have created such a being. Besides, if Demona did have relationships with humans, with her body-shifting from stone to flesh, it would’ve killed the child. She has to be a pure gargoyle to be able to live to this age.”

“Could it be one of you, Broadway, Brooklyn? You have been showing interest on human girls lately!” Lexington immediately pointed fingers at his friends.

“What?! You gotta be kidding me! I’m with Angela, and I’m not hanging with anyone else!” Broadway said quickly, holding Angela’s hand. “And I assure you she has always been with me; there is no way she would’ve been with a human.”

“Well, don’t look at me!” Brooklyn protested. “It’s already frightening enough for humans to see me, let alone fall for me! You, on the other hand, Lex, might be something else!”

“Me?! I have never touched any human female in my entire life! Even if I did, I wouldn’t have such a grown-up kid! We’ve only been in this future world for about a couple of years!” Lexington replied gruffly, annoyed that he was the one accused.

“Let’s not fight over this,” Goliath came between the bickering trio solemnly. “It’s almost dawn and we need to have our rest. One of you go and put her somewhere safe inside the tower and we’ll talk to Elisa about this tomorrow night. She might be coming.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Brooklyn volunteered to carry her inside the tower. He carried her in his arms and walked into the tower, looking for the hay which was somewhere under the stairs. He found it and glided down towards it, careful not to drop her. As he lay her onto the hay, she stirred a little and muttered something gibberish. He couldn’t quite catch it though. When he was about to leave to join his brothers in their stone slumber, something caught one of his wings, stopping him from moving. He turned around and saw that the being’s hand was grasped tightly onto it.

“Hey, hey, lady, let go,” Brooklyn said, tugging at his wing. “I need to get my beauty sleep. Let go of me. Let go!”

But the being didn’t let go. She muttered something and this time it was much clearer, “Don’t…leave…me…Don’t leave…me…alone…”

Brooklyn stared at the being for a moment. They have just met and just found her in the middle of the tower and know nothing about each other and suddenly this being was trusting him? Her eyes were closed quite tight as if she was desperate for someone to be by her side and was afraid to be alone. After quite a long while and as the sun slowly rose from the horizon and seeped through the glass of the face of the clock, Brooklyn sighed and sat down beside the being. She slowly inched her way towards Brooklyn and rested her head on his lap.

“Oh boy,” Brooklyn sighed again in defeat. “Oh well, a change of place should be OK. Boy, you really got a strong grip, don’t you?”

Those were the last words that escaped out of Brooklyn’s mouth before his body slowly turned into stone.

No comments: