Page 61 of Stone Heart
Rhodack grunted in agreement.
“Well, we’ll see how he acts when the masters arrive. They’ll wipe out this realm, and he’ll be begging to take me up on my offer.” Geica shrugged and moved to allow Ol’gon to stand before him.
Rhodack latched his stare on to the large demon and willed a talon to move.
The sound of stone scraping filled the air. Rhodack grinned internally—the spell of the sun was wearing off his body. Soon, he’d break free of his stone prison and kill these two demons.
“You think that once you’re free, we’ll just let you fly off? Not happening.” Ol’gon opened his fist in front of Rhodack’s face and blew a powdery substance.
Rhodack coughed from inhaling the substance. His body transformed from stone to his gargoyle flesh. He fell to his knees, his body racked with more coughing.
“What the hell have you done to me?” he asked between coughs. The air wheezed through his lungs as he fought the cough. A tightness gripped his chest, and he spat out dark phlegm.
“Made you a better warrior. Now stand,” Ol’gon ordered, bracing his feet apart.
Rhodack roared, fighting the command, his body on autopilot. He stood from the ground.
“What have you done to me?” he repeated, snarling as he straightened, but his body wouldn’t follow any of his commands. He tried to reach his arm up to grasp Ol’gon by the neck but was unable to. His arm stayed by his side.
It was as if he were a puppet and Ol’gon controlled the strings.
“Necromancer magic is amazing. From this moment on, your body will be under our control.”
Rina walkedalongside Vikuth and his men. They escorted her through the lair. They had entered a part of the underground channels she’d never seen before.
“Where are we going?” she asked, keeping up the fast pace the larger gargoyles had set. As if sensing that her legs weren’t as long as theirs, Vikuth slowed up and glanced over at her.
“We’re going to the communications bank. With us not knowing how the necromancers knew that your parents were going to arrive here in the realm, we need to use the most secure communications to reach out to the other clans.”
“How many other clans are there?” she asked.
“There are six others spread out around the world. When those misted beings began showing up, three other cities had reported the same kind of breaches through their portals.”
“Will they help us in the fight against the necromancers?” Her question was met with growls from the other gargoyles behind her. She paused and turned to Vikuth.
His eyes zipped to his men. Even though they were all in their human forms, their powers brimmed just beneath the surface.
She didn’t see the problem with her question. “It’s a valid query. Someone is leaking information to the necromancers.”
“Gargoyles have long protected this realm. For as long as time has existed,” Vikuth hissed through clenched teeth.
“Not for as long as time has existed.” She shook her head and looked to him and the two men with them.
Shock registered on their faces, and they stared at her as if she’d grown another head.
“What do you mean?” he asked, his body becoming still. His eyes searched hers.
“There was a time that gargoyles lived in Faery. They were the protectors of the crown. It was the Faery King’s decision to put gargoyles here on Earth. This world was not strong enough to protect itself and needed a race of guardians who were strong enough to be their protection.”
“The gargoyle protectors,” Vikuth murmured.
She nodded, relieved he understood the purpose his race had played in Earth’s history.
“How do you know this?” one of the men asked.
Vikuth held up his hand to the guard. “Rina, where did you hear this?” he demanded.
She searched his eyes and knew she’d be able to trust him with her life if need be. He was friends with Rhodack and was his second-in-command. Hell, he’d saved her.
