2/3/21:
Patchwork Gargoyle
The shadows were lengthening. The sun was low in the West. Birds silhouetted against the setting sun, flitting their way to nighttime nests. On the tallest buildings, gargoyles were showing the first signs of waking.
The setting rays caressed a brow here, tapped a shoulder there, setting a rustle of moving stone across the casements. Gargoyles peaked from sleep masks, squinting at the not quite gone sun. Some snuggled down for “just five more minutes”.
As the sun continued sinking lower, more and more gargoyles came to wakefulness. The initial bleary-eyed awakening was being replaced by a growing intensity and focus. The sun kissed the Western horizon. All of the gargoyles jostled for a perch along the sun-facing edges of the tall buildings.
The Earth continued its inexorable turn, slowly stripping the sky of the flaming ball of gas, until there was just one red ember perched on the line between dirt and sky. Then, even that one ember was extinguished, replaced briefly by a green spark.
As soon as the green flashed, the gargoyles leapt into the air. En masse they soared up and twisted towards the darkened East, peeling off eye shields, throwing protective skin covers over sleeping areas, scrambling towards the darkest part of the night.
Every night would be a mad scramble towards the dark horizon. For just at the edge of dusk was where the gargoyle enhancing assignments were kept. All day the Stone-Mason Carver carved beautiful images that fit over a gargoyle. When a gargoyle put one of them on, it melded with its natural form giving it whatever special gift it was imbued with. Gargoyles could add a special accoutrement that would enhance their ability to guardian the humans.
This had been happening as long as there were humans. The humans’ unprotected skin, soft bellies, and tasty innards made them desired targets of all manner of untoward beings. The Flesh-Bone Artisan who designed them was relatively new to the position and hadn’t realized the vulnerability of the design until they were complete. The Other Creators—with their saber-toothed cats, and cave bears, and dire-wolves, and crocodiles, and dragons, and raptors, and all other sorts of meat-hungry creatures—chuckled and joked that their personal creations wouldn’t go hungry now that there were humans on the scene. They said things like, “Don’t forget to kiss the cook!” or “I don’t think there will be leftovers!” and “My compliments to the chef!”
The Artisan was distraught. Humans wiped out before they even had a chance? Stone-Mason watched all of this without saying anything. She usually spent her time carving lovely cliffs and outcroppings for the Others to put in their habitats. She walked up to Artisan, holding out her hand. Artisan placed one of the human models in her hand. She examined it, poking the soft belly, turning the head this way and that. She shook her head, handed the model back, and walked away, just shaking her head.
The next day, Stone-Mason walked up to Artisan and handed him a craggy stone figurine. It had all of the nooks and crannies that she loved to carve into hillsides, and snarly teeth, and wings, and scales. Artisan looked at it, not quite sure what to make of it.
Stone-Mason smiled and pulled out an entire bag of these stone creatures. She set them on a ledge. Then she gestured for the incomplete human model. Mystified, Artisan handed it to her. She took the clay figure, began chanting, and tapping the human gently against each of the stone figures. Each time she tapped, a single, crystal clear note rang throughout the heavens.
She handed the human back to Artisan and indicated that he should continue to enliven the creature and set it in the clearing.
He did.
The human sat up, looking a little disoriented and dazed. Stone-Mason let out a piercing whistle and a huge dire-wolf came hurtling from the nearby forest. It zeroed in on the defenseless human and decided its next meal would be an easy one. As it got within 10 lengths of the human, the stone creatures suddenly burst out of their reverie. They swarmed towards the human. Not in attack mode, but in defend mode, turning towards the dire-wolf. The wolf continued on, thinking that surely it could run around these rocks and get dinner! But the stone creatures suddenly charged the wolf, snarling and screeching and creating all sorts of din. The wolf slid to a stop, not completely sure what was happening. The stone creature at the front of the charge bopped the wolf on the nose, pulling a startled yelp from it. It turned, tucked its tail between its legs, and ran as fast as it could back to the forest. The stone creatures gave small chase, but mostly just strutted back and forth in front of the human, looking like proud boulders.
Stone-Mason snapped her fingers and all of the creatures returned to the ledge and stood or crouched unmoving, looking like simple stone carvings again. She pointed at them and said, "Protectors. Gargoyles." Then scooped them into the bag and handed them to the Artisan.
He took the bag gingerly, half expecting the gargoyles to explode out of the bag. As he began placing the humans in the world, he always placed several gargoyles nearby. He had them perched in areas that they could watch the activities of the humans and come to their aid when needed. He tried to use just a few so he wouldn’t ever run out. But he needn’t have worried about that. Stone-Mason discovered she really enjoyed carving these creatures and spent much of her time carving new ones.
Artisan was grateful for the protection of his creations. He was discovering that he didn’t want to make long-fanged, multi-clawed creatures. He liked the soft, vulnerable clay-humans, so continued making them the way he liked. He was grateful for the gargoyles. He didn’t particularly like them, though. They made him uncomfortable and oftentimes plagued his dreams. He did his best to not have to interact with them. So much so that he asked Stone-Mason to make them not be active during the daytime, when he was much more likely to be around.
Stone-Mason agreed, and adjusted the design to make the gargoyles sleep during the day and come out and protect at night. She designed special eye protections to keep the sun from hurting their eyes; special skin coverings to keep their skin from blistering in the daylight as they perched sleeping above the human activities.
She began to also create special enhancements to assist in their protection duties. She would spend all day carving them, and then place them for the gargoyles to find and use as darkness fell.
There were pieces that would give them enhanced sight at night, or silent flight, or extra-long teeth or claws to fight and defend. Gargoyles would find ones that they especially liked and would keep those ones, adding similar effigies each night to enhance the current defense. Some would try different ones each night, playing with a different power every time.
During the ensuing scuffle, there were inevitable bits and pieces that got knocked off. Most of them would be too small to be any good. The Stone-Mason would sweep them up, crush them to powder, and then reform them into new rock clothing for the next night. Every once in a while, though, there would be a hunk that still had some powers.
There was one gargoyle in particular—smaller than the rest—that often didn’t get to the cache before all of the pieces were gone. It would look through the scraps and find ones that still had some use, and use it for the night. Often the pieces were small and insignificant enough that they were good for only one use. So, every night, it had to find a new bit.
Once, it had the bright idea of sleeping through the day closer to where Stone-Mason would deliver the goods. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel the dusky stirrings and slept through the green flash. It woke to the sound of rumbling of gargoyle stampede and barely had time to rock-tumble out of the way.
After that, the small gargoyle decided it was fine with just getting the scraps and using them to the best of its ability. It was a valiant protector! It used the small bits of enhancements more efficiently than the larger, better provisioned gargoyles. It scurried through human fields, routing out all manner of creepy-crawly pests and demons, out for human downfall.
Then, it had the idea of collecting more than one a night, and starting its own cache. One night, it found a chunk of the outfit that helped with night vision. It tucked that one away for later. Another night, a piece of haunch that let the user leap from the ground to the treetops in a single bound. Still another, bits and pieces of the claws and fangs attires.
As time passed, it became even more proficient with the slivers and bits. And each night it added to its growing hoard. During the early twilight dawn, when the rest of the gargoyles were settling down for a good day’s sleep, the little gargoyle would go through the odds and ends. It tried fitting different pieces together to see how they fit, what they looked like together. It puzzle-pieced them together, making a suit that would be specific to its needs. When the sun would raise above the Eastern horizon, the gargoyle would gather the pieces together, stack them carefully in the leeward side of a tree, then curl up to catch some sleep before the next night’s guardianship.
Each night, it observed what the larger gargoyles were taking. It would keep track of what Stone-Mason was supplying. It would watch for ones that would fit with its stockpile. And when one just made sense, it would scurry in, grab it, along with whatever random one it was going to use that night.
After even more time passed, it laid out its puzzle of leftovers. It stood back, tipped its head and thought, “I just need one more piece, and then…well, THEN…” It scurried about piling the bits into a cairn, filled with excitement. It would put them all together and would be the best guardian gargoyle of all time! It would have an enhancement made expressly for itself which would mean it could do its job with much more efficiency.
It decided to set its sleeping quarters once more near the cache drop. Awakening seconds before the green flash, it scuttled to the melee point. Sure enough, the larger gargoyles scuffled, grabbed, snatched, fought their way to the most desirable powers. And sure enough, pieces broke off and fell all around, littering the ground, and making piles of hoodoos and windswept piles.
The little gargoyle darted among the discards, searching, picking pieces up, setting them down, working to not be frustrated. There was one power it needed to complete the pattern it had developed. Suddenly! It saw it! A tiny edge, sticking out from under an enormous heap of rock, had the very thing it was looking for.
It dove into the pile, digging through pieces, throwing, shoving, pushing things aside, until it reached the piece. It held it up to the almostfull moon. This! This was the finishing touch! It tied it to its back, snatched up another fallen piece, put that one on and set out into the night to protect the humans.
Now, gargoyles are already amazing creatures of the night. All of these pieces that they added on heightened the skills and powers they already had. And tonight, that was going to be a good thing.
The random bit that the gargoyle had grabbed helped enhance its hearing. It scampered through shadows, listening for places to protect. It fought off gross squishy things, furry fanged things, multi-legged things, protecting the human habitations from these things entering and wreaking havoc.
Suddenly, at the very edge of its hearing, it heard a plaintive wail. It stopped and looked at the various other gargoyles who were fighting off the larger creatures. None of them seemed to hear anything, besides, they were a bit preoccupied. It thought it was nothing, so went back to slaying the creepy creature it had been tussling with.
But the cry came again.
It was definitely a human cry. It turned its head, zeroing in on where the sound came from. As soon as it had located it, it bolted towards the fields. It rushed through growing crops, past just plowed ground, willing itself to move faster than it ever had before. In the middle of one of the fields crouched a small child, whimpering and terrified. Standing over him was young girl. She held a farming tool in a defensive manner. The gargoyle saw a large dark shape coalesce into a sneaverskal, a snarling and giant scaly creature with claws as long as the child. The scaled monster charged towards the children. The girl whirled the implement and cracked the enormous creature between the eyes. The beast staggered a bit, let out a growl, circled around to try another tactic.
Before the girl could recover from her swing, the beast launched itself towards the girl’s unprotected side. The little gargoyle hurled itself between the beast and the children. The beast hit the gargoyle and came up short. Even though the gargoyle was small, it was sturdy, and knew how to use its rock-like nature. Even though it momentarily stopped the creature, it was knocked backwards into the girl. The girl let out a startled scream. She could deal with one creature. But two?
The gargoyle didn’t have time to make sure the girl was all right. The beast was coming around for another attack. The gargoyle snarled and leapt towards the beast. They both fell into a swirling heap of teeth, and fangs, and fangs, and teeth, and roars, and grunts, and growls. The beast slowly lost ground to the fierce gargoyle and began a slow retreat.
As the beast backed to the edge of the field, the gargoyle turned to check on the children. The girl knelt next to the small child, comforting him as best as she could. But she had not lost her grip on her defensive tool. The gargoyle crossed to them and sat, hunched, its head tipped in its thinking manner. It tried to communicate the best that it could that the children were safe and should get home. The children only heard growls and snarls and stared in uncomprehending fear at the fierce rock creature that had great gouges taken out of it, was missing several claws, sharp teeth and large ears. They were sure that this creature that defeated the beast was going to eat them next!
Then, the gargoyle heard something that made a shiver of fear course through its body. From the edge of the field was a massive rending sound, like a piece of metal unexpectedly splitting down the middle. They all looked to where the beast was. They saw the creature dividing itself into two identical creatures. Slightly smaller than the one enormous one, but only slightly. The gargoyle placed itself between the children and the beast. The girl suddenly realized that this fearsome little creature was there to help her. She ran her hand along the smaller child’s face and stood next to the gargoyle.
The gargoyle looked at the space where it no longer had claws. It sighed. If only it had time to get all of the pieces it had been saving. If only it had been alright with the one missing piece and put the enhancement pieces together tonight. It would have had a fairly good chance of beating these two creatures! But the pieces were too far away to run and get and return. By the time it did that, the children would be a tasty dinner for these creatures. It knew that if the children were going to survive it was going to have to use the special piece that would complete its suit. That’s all that it had available.
It pulled on the piece, bringing to gargoyle life, retractable claws. It grinned at the girl. The girl’s eyes got big, still a little afraid of it, but she blinked and then grinned back.
This attack was even more intense. The creatures circled and struck and howled and hissed and swiped. The gargoyle was all teeth and claws and hissing, making a mini-dust devil that roiled over the entire scene. The girl fought as best as she could, swinging the pole, striking the beasts, poking at them, going for the eyes, swinging and pounding and hitting the beasts at every opportunity.
The beasts suddenly turned all of their attention to the gargoyle, as if they realized if it was gone, they would have full access to the children.
As the gargoyle engaged one beast, the other beast left the girl and circled around to the other. It slid around, encircling the two combatants, silently, stealthily. When the beast saw an opening, it opened its mouth and struck with its fangs and claws. The girl saw at the last minute what was happening and cried out a warning. The gargoyle heard a split second two late. The creatures each had an arm and pulled the little gargoyle between them. One of the beasts reached out and knocked the ear enhancements off the gargoyle.
The beasts laughed as the gargoyle struggled. They were going to enjoy taking down this creature that was delaying their dinner. One held the struggling gargoyle in its grasp as the other easily brushed the retractable claw enhancements from its hands. Then, they proceeded to smash each of the claws that were a normal part of the gargoyle. The gargoyle snarled and thrashed, trying to disengage. The enhancements getting taken away didn’t hurt. But the things that were a normal part of it…that most definitely hurt as they were crushed and smashed and removed from its body.
The only thing that gave it hope, was seeing a thin line of light on the Eastern horizon. If they could hold on until the sun rose, the beasts would be blasted to nothingness! Granted, the gargoyle would not fare well…it didn’t have its protective skin covering that all gargoyles wore during the day. But, if it could keep the beasts occupied until then, the children would be safe.
As the horizon grew brighter and brighter, the other gargoyles began checking in with each other, seeing how the night’s hunt had gone. One of them mentioned the little gargoyle that was always underfoot at this time of night with stories of fighting off rodents and mini-nuisances always making the larger gargoyles laugh and turn back to their own stories. It was a little annoying gargoyle, but, well, they had gotten used to its silliness. And now they did not know where it was.
They checked where it usually slept. They found the pile of discards, carefully arranged in a manner that showed that it was planning on making its own personal enhanced suit. They all chuckled at the uneven patchwork-ness of the design, wondering how in the world these pieces would actually work together.
Then, in the distance, they heard the snarls of one of the larger type of scaled creepy-crawlies. It was one of the kinds that none of them enjoyed going up against alone if they could help it. And in an accent to the snarls and screeches coming from it, was the voice of the little gargoyle.
Alarm rippled through them all. Was that little gargoyle trying to go up against one of those sneaverskals all alone to try and prove that it was really as good as they were? Part of the code of the gargoyles was to help each other protect humans. They didn’t just go out and look for a fight with beasts for fun or to prove their strength. Two of the gargoyles sped towards where the Stone-Mason lived. She would need to know of this right away.
Half of the gargoyles stayed on guardian watch while the rest raced to where the sounds of gargoyle torture continued. As they stored along the fields, they suddenly saw the children. The small one huddled behind the girl, still brandishing her field tool. Their hearts dropped as they saw the damage that had been done to the gargoyle. All of its claws lay crushed or strewn about the field. There was just two fangs left in its mouth, one ear on its head, one leg missing completely. All of the gargoyles let out a roar. But the beast just growled a triumphant growl. It was almost done with the pesky gargoyle and would still have time to devour the children and vanish into the darkness of the woods before the sun came up. The other gargoyles would not make it to them in time.
One creature lifted its claws over its head, ready to smash the little gargoyle into nothing more than rock-dust. At that moment, the girl rushed up behind the beast, thrust the end of the pole as hard as she could at the small soft point just behind its ear. It popped through the skin, skewered the brains and protruded out one of its eyes. It writhed in astonished pain, wrenching the pole from her hands.
At the same time, the little gargoyle arched its body and plunged the remaining fang into the scaly creature holding it. The beast shrieked and loosened its grip. It saw the girl no longer had her weapon and turned snarling towards her. The little gargoyle gave another leap, and sunk its teeth into the beast again. But the beast was determined to eat and still moved forward. The girl picked up a rock and stood in front of the little boy. The gargoyle limped forward, trying to get in between the children and the beast. The beast leapt forward as the gargoyle used the last ounce of its being to jump in front and protect the children.
Just as the beast made impact with the gargoyle, one beam of the sun slipped above the horizon and impaled the beast with its light. It exploded into a cloud of ash that rained down all around the gargoyle and the girl. The gargoyle crashed into the children and lay still and silent. Its unprotected skin began to blacken as the sun continued its climb into the sky. The girl gave a cry and threw herself on the gargoyle, trying to protect its rapidly burning skin.
Shadows suddenly surrounded them. The girl looked up. The larger gargoyles had encircled them with their own bodies, absorbing the rays, burning in the sun, and protecting the little gargoyle.
The Stone-Mason appeared. She tapped one of the gargoyles, they made space for her in the center. The other gargoyles who had stayed behind to continue the night guardianship now appeared, carrying extra eye protectors and skin covers. They circled the ones already in the circle, closing off all light.
Inside the darkened circle, the Stone-Mason approached the little group in the middle. She knelt. She saw the mutilation done. Stone-Mason reached towards them to pick up the gargoyle.
The girl shouted, “No! You can’t take it! My brother and I would not be here if it wasn’t for this creature!” Tears flowed down the face of the little girl.
Stone-Mason held up one finger. She blinked once. The little girl hiccupped and cried and hugged the gargoyle all the more. Stone-Mason tipped her head to the side, all the world like the little gargoyle. Then, in a voice that carried all the weight of the materials with which she worked, she said, “It is the way. I must honor this gargoyle in a manner that is befitting a great warrior.”
The little girl rocked the gargoyle body to her, letting her tears thank it in ways she just didn’t have words to. Then, she sat back, reached for her brother and hid her face in his hair.
Stone-Mason gently picked up the little gargoyle. She gave directions for some of the gargoyles to make sure the children made it home safely. The rest she directed to get some rest, they would all still have guardian duties tonight, after all. The two who had come to notify her of the little gargoyle, she sent to get the cairn of odds and ends. Then, she made sure they all knew there would be a gathering in one week’s time and they would honor this gargoyle.
The week passed mostly uneventfully. All of the gargoyles were more attentive. Whispered descriptions of the battle were carried on the wind until all of the creatures knew of the brave gargoyle who had protected humans at a cost to itself.
A week later, just before sunrise, all of the gargoyles gathered in the field where the battle had taken place. The children were there as well. They stood with the Stone-Mason next to all of the odds and ends of the little gargoyle. Next to that, a beautiful stone box glowed softly in the moonlight.
Each gargoyle passed between the box and the pieces. Reverently touching, and whispering apologies and impressed things.
Stone-Mason held up her hand. Everyone payed attention to hear what she would say. Her voice carried through the earth they all stood on, and they heard her through the soles of their feet, to the tops of their heads.
“This gargoyle showed exactly why you were brought into existence. It fought valiantly with what it had. It gathered resources and planned on a way to use cast-offs in a manner that would be even more ingenious than my designs. In honor of this, from this night forward, each gargoyle, who uses its powers to an exemplary manner, will be able to keep those gifts for all time.”
She lifted the lid of the box, and took out the little gargoyle, re-carved and as still and cold as the night it had fought the sneaverskals. She laid the gargoyle on top of the box and began placing all of the bits and pieces it had collected onto its body. All the gathered gargoyles watched silently. When the last piece was in place, Stone-Mason pulled one more piece from her pouch. It was a fully formed piece like the one it had used the night of its battle, the retractable claws.
Then, she began to stomp on the ground. The gargoyles picked it up and the rumble filled the fields and pushed all the way to the core of the Earth.
Then, Stone-Mason began to chant:
Under the gaze of the moon
With the witness of stone and flesh
No more will you have to hide from the searing sun
No more will you have to protect your eyes from its burning rays
You will be able to walk among those you protect
They will work with you to build friendship
And love
And laughter
The box began to glow. The light encircled the gargoyle. The light grew brighter and brighter, almost as bright as the soon rising sun. The other gargoyles began placing eye protectors and skin covers as the sun continued to rise, but Stone-Mason didn’t cover the little gargoyle. The girl had a worried look on her face. But Stone-Mason held up her finger.
The light faded.
Sitting on the box, a lean, fierce looking creature sat fierce and alert, squinting its eyes against the rising sun, but definitely not burning and not needing any type of eye protection.
The girl looked at the creature and at Stone-Mason, perplexed.
Stone-Mason picked up the creature and placed it in the arms of the girl. The creature’s tail curled around its body and a soft growly sound emanated from its body. The girl looked a little alarmed. But Stone-Mason rubbed the creature’s ears, cheeks and jaw.
Then she looked at the girl and said, "Protector. Cat.” The gargoyles all intoned, “Cat.” And the rocks resonated and rumbled with the name of the newest creature to join the world.
The girl smiled and hugged the “cat” to her. The cat’s claws extended and retracted, a reminder of the little gargoyle. Then it leapt from her arms and circled the Stone-Mason’s legs. Stone-Mason smiled and rubbed the cat's head one more time. Then she pointed to the girl.
The girl and her new cat skipped through the fields to home, looking forward to getting to know each other better.
The sun shone on the emptying fields as the gargoyles each went to its perch, to sleep through the day to be ready to protect the humans at night.
The little gargoyle, able to actually be out and about during the day, stayed diligent and continued to protect humans even during the day. Eventually, other gargoyles were able to achieve the status of the little gargoyle and also become guardian animals of the humans. But the ones that hold the most special part in the hearts of humans are the ones who became cats.
