The Rebirth

Full Circle.

Gargoyle smiled. “Well, that is all we need to see here for now; we must continue our patrol.”

With one swift motion, he was back in the air. Narita gave an annoyed gasp then took to the air with one push with her wings before flying up to her adopted father’s side. The two smiled at each other as they flew over the palace and the acres of majestic forest land that surrounded it.

“Remember to keep your breath.” Gargoyle gave this warning in a serious tone before diving down below Alpha Island.

Narita followed, making certain to avoid the numerous volcanoes that gave the islands lift. Neither found anything out of the ordinary and moved on to the north; to Beta Island, the second largest of the nine and their home. There, a large majority of the dragons lived in the shadow of the palace. Most of the homes were constructed of quarried stone and petrified wood, made to easily withstand a dragon’s fiery breath. Narita smiled as they flew around the edges of the island. “I can see our home from here, adfa.”

Gargoyle nodded with a smile as they glided over the rooftops and activity fields; their eyes sharp for anything that seemed out place. It was Gargoyle’s duty as captain of the guard to search for any signs of discord, including domestic disputes as they can all quickly escalate into feuds between dragon clans. Again, all seemed normal and they circled back, moving southeast to the next island.

Gargoyle pointed down at the next island, motioning Narita to pay attention. “Delta Island, east of Alpha, is the center of the entire kingdom’s technology.”

Narita nodded. “Everything that dragons use in their daily lives was invented there. All dragons with ideas to make lives easier go there to submit their inventions and gain permission to build them for sale to dragon kind.”

“Pay close attention as we make our patrol of this island and its many workshops, Adda.” Gargoyle’s command carried weight, causing Narita concern. “Tensions always rise high here; fights often break out.” His face softened. “Fortunately, they are rarely so serious as to disturb the peace everyone enjoys.”

Gargoyle and Narita made their patrol of Delta Island, keeping their eyes sharp for any signs of trouble and were relieved to find the atmosphere among the workshops to be relatively calm and free of any angry shouts from the many inventors, explorers, and scholars who work side by side. Satisfied everything was calm for the time being, Gargoyle led Narita west to the next island on his morning patrol.

Narita smiled, knowing the next island well. “Guardian Island is where dragons of age are taught how to fight with both their raw talent and weapons of choice.” There was a hint of excitement in her voice. “Maybe we will see Irec training this morning.”

Gargoyle did well to hide his smile. “All dragons were required to know how to fight but only a few were selected for the armed forces and few of those for the royal guard.” He chuckled seeing Narita pout then added. “Irec shows some promise but it is not my place to decide if he is worthy of the armed forces or the royal guard.”

Gargoyle flew over the training fields, casting a fearful shadow onto the younglings who all looked up at him. Narita cast quite a forbidding shadow of her own, though she did not realize or recognize it as such. Most all knew of Gargoyle’s reputation as a fierce fighter and that he was personally training Narita in the art of combat. Only one dragon, Irec, spit a small ball of fire at Narita as to blow her a kiss. A grin touched the corners of Gargoyle’s mouth; a flick of his tail was all that was required to deflect the small fiery blast. Startled, the young dragon jumped aside; the fire ball barely missed him. His peers and instructors laughed with Gargoyle as he continued on with his morning rounds.

Blushing, Narita complained, “Adfa…”

Gargoyle chuckled. “Patience, Adda. You and Irec can exchange affections later.”

He led Narita over the fifth and sixth islands, used for farming then the seventh and eighth islands, used for mining. No issues were detected so they circled around, waving to the farmers and miners before moving on to the ninth island. “All islands are crucial to our survival, thus they are a part of my patrol.”

Narita tilted her head to the side. “What is the purpose of Omega island?”

Gargoyle smiled. “It is used as battle arena.” He chuckled at Narita’s startled expression. “Like all other creatures with emotions, conflicts ignite. Those who must fight go there where no one but they will get hurt.”

Just as their patrol was near an end, an unfamiliar roar reached their ears. Gargoyle and Narita twirled around with a flick of their wings to find a most unusual sight. Flying towards them from Gaia below was a mechanical dragon! There was no doubt in either of their minds that the sight before him was a machine; it was too symmetrical to be a living being. Yet it flapped its bat like wings and flicked its double sickle clawed tail with such grace it seemed alive. She had odd but beautiful coloration with petruding crystal eyes and a long neck that turned back once or twice. Seeing no horns on its head, Gargoyle assumed the machine was made to resemble a female dragon. His curiosity was peaked; humans rarely see a real dragon to his knowledge. Making his decision to investigate further, he turned to Narita. “Omega island is deserted at this time. Go there and wait for me.”

Narita opened her mouth to protest but instead, she gasped. “Adfa, look out!”

From below, a more typical flying machine made an appearance; it spit tiny balls of fire at the mechanical creature. Gargoyle and Narita were forced to dive aside to avoid those that missed. “Narita, go to Omega island, now!”

Startled, Narita flew for Omega island as Gargoyle turned back to face the threat before them. The mechanical dragon turned its long neck in an almost nonchalant manner to look down at what was attacking her. The flying machine spat fire balls at the dragon as it passed her before circling back to continue its assault. Smoke and flames erupted from the nose of the dragon before a sizeable stream of fire spewed from it at the offending pursuer. The flying machine rolled out of the way then circled again. The mechanical dragon was more than a machine; it was a work of art. Whoever created it had to have knowledge of dragons and advanced skills in mechanics. It danced gracefully around the clumsy flying machine as if to toy with it. Only Gargoyle’s trained eyes knew better; she was desperately trying to escape.

It was more than his curiosity that moved Gargoyle into action, the flying machine was high enough to reach the nine islands of Mysteria and that constituted a potential threat. He knew that it had to be dealt with. After that, he could focus on forcing the mechanical dragon to access its threat to the kingdom. Omega Island, the smallest of the nine was the safest choice. At the present, only Narita was there; the perfect place for him and her to confront this machine and its pilot.

With a roar of battle, Gargoyle flew towards the flying machine. Fear and surprise were clear on the pilot’s face as he screamed in fright. Gargoyle punched a gaping hole in the tail with a single blow of his sickle claw as he passed. The man struggled with the clumsy controls as his machine spiraled down towards the ocean below. Gargoyle dove in for another pass. He spewed out a red hot sludge of rocks and soil in a stream onto the thin metal wings. They melted away in seconds, forcing the flying machine to crash dive into the water. The pilot was not killed but he would have a long swim home.

Satisfied the flying machine was no longer a threat, Gargoyle turned to deal with the mechanical dragon. Only he was surprised to see her land on Omega Island. She did not land like any other human flying machine with its ridiculous air filled wheels; it had metal legs. The metallic wings flapped vigorously, slowing its descent as it gently touched down several meters away from where Narita was waiting. The dragon slowly lowered its head to the ground before its two eyes slid back, revealing a lone pilot at the helm. Gargoyle landed next to Narita. “Stay behind me and approach with caution.”

As the two drew closer, they saw that the pilot was an elderly female. She was grasping her chest, breathing in an unnatural way; there was a large circle of blood there. Gargoyle sighed. “One of the fire shards from the flying machine must have made a lucky strike through the glass eye.”

He stepped closer and found that the old woman was very pale, gasping for each breath as she stared wide eyed at the two. She drew a long, labored breath and choked, “Please… Please take care of her; please…”

The old woman then stopped breathing and fell limp. Gargoyle and Narita bowed their heads. “There was nothing we could have done to avoid her demise. She was too old for a human and too badly injured to restore to health.”

Narita nodded but was curious and puzzled by the human’s last words. “She begged us to take care of her only who was she referring to?”

Suddenly, a sound that resembled a battle cry reached their ears and they jumped back, Gargoyle raising his tail, ready for what might soon face them. After seeing nothing that resembled any kind of threat, he searched for the source of the sound with Narita curiously following. What they found was lying in the passenger seat of the mechanical dragon, something they had never laid eyes upon before… a naked human infant!

Gargoyle found himself curiously mesmerized by this tiny being. She had fair skin, deep moon grey eyes, and a dim golden aura about her. It was magic; but an odd type he had never seen or sensed before. This tiny human girl was clearly different from any other of her kind. Turing to the deceased old woman, he and Narita were a witness to her body vanishing into a dim glowing cloud of sparking dust. The strange cloud flowed from where she once was to the infant. The child glowed herself for a moment before wailing once again.

Gargoyle sighed. “Witchcraft… The old woman was a Wiccan which explains how she was able to speak to my mind.” His stone like brows furrowed. “Only why was she flying for the islands and why was she running from her own kind?”

The tiny girl gave another wail, moving Gargoyle and Narita to turn back to her. He stared at her and she stared right back before she cooed, reaching her arms out at him, smiling. A small grin cracked upon Gargoyle’s face as he reached down to touch the little girl. She grabbed his finger and squeezed.

“Ow!” Gargoyle was very surprised by the strength of the tiny girl and pulled away. Narita giggled at the sight. “I think she likes you.”

Gargoyle scoffed at her words then turned back to the infant who as still making happy noises at him. It was clear that she was no ordinary human, Wiccan or not. “She is a strong one. I will honor her mother’s last request and care for her.”

Narita winced, uncertain. “I am not certain how admo will react when she sees her.”

Gargoyle sighed. “Nor am I.” With that, he gently lifted the human infant out of the machine and took to the skies with it in his arms as Narita followed close behind.