Gargoyle Rising

by Meraki P. Lyhne

  Kevin flipped the meat and heated the bread, while David scurried around the picnic bench to sweep the snow off and place plastic coated cushions for them to sit on. Meino set the table in the meantime.

  Kevin would drive the rest of the trip, which was about three hours, so David and Meino had a beer with their food. According to Meino’s calculations, that would bring them to their destination just shy of sunset. He wondered whether Burkhart would need to stretch his wings after having sat cramped up in that box for so long.

  Feeling full, Meino decided to doze in the bunk for the remainder of the ride, because he wanted to be awake with Burkhart. He’d dozed off completely at some point. David stirred him, announcing they were at their destination after what only felt like an hour’s drive.

  Meino climbed out of the truck, gently rubbing the sleep from his still bruised face. The first thing he noticed was that the sun hadn’t ducked below the horizon yet. He then noticed two women, and behind them, a castle. A real castle. A really old castle built from granite, or at least it looked like granite.

  “Never seen a castle before?” David asked.

  “Yeah, just didn’t expect us to arrive at one.”

  “Look up there, my dear,” one of the women said and pointed. Meino followed her finger and saw Gargoyles perching on the edges. A huge one sat in the middle of the wide staircase leading to the front door. Or front gate. The place was enormous, and the Gargoyle guarding the stairs was at least twice the size of Burkhart.

  “They’re magnificent,” Meino whispered.

  “That they are. Not all of them are conscious, though, but we like them.”

  “The big one?” Meino looked at her, reminding himself he was actually very rude since he hadn’t even introduced himself. “I’m sorry, my name is Meino Ackermann.” He turned his attention from the huge sphinx-like dragon Gargoyle and extended his hand.

  “Hello Meino, my name is Ms. Theresa. I live here. This is Ms. Alvilda.”

  Meino shook the other woman’s hand, too.

  “And yes, the big one is conscious,” Ms. Theresa added.

  “We’re very much looking forward to meeting your Gargoyle,” Ms. Alvilda said.

  “We should open. Can we open? Is it safe here?” Meino asked.

  David chuckled. “Come on, Meino. Let’s bring Burkhart some peace of mind.”

  Meino hurried after them and into the back of the truck. He opened the refrigerator and found Burkhart in his stone form. Meino reached out and stroked Burkhart’s arm. “Hi. We arrived safely.”

  Hello, little one, did you enjoy your trip?

  “I slept a lot.”

  “Oh, he is beautiful,” Ms. Theresa said from beside him. “I hope you will share with us how you came to be guarded by him.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Meino looked at Burkhart again. “My trip was probably a lot more exciting than yours.”

  Yes. I don’t like this box.

  “The sun will be setting in about ten minutes,” David announced, then lowered the ramp with Ms. Theresa on it. She and Ms. Theresa both looked old, but Meino wouldn’t venture a guess at how old. Instead, he debated whether to stay with Burkhart or to join the others.

  “You wanna stretch your wings when the sun sets?”

  I would love that. Would you come up with me and see this magnificent castle from up high?

  Meino couldn’t stop a shudder from racing through his body, and he couldn’t even say how much he’d missed that warm and deep chuckle in his head.

  “Maybe. I should go stand with the others but—”

  Go, Meino. Now that the door is open, I can sense you on these grounds.

  Meino took his bag and left the truck to stand with the others.

  Both women kept their front to the back of the truck, excitement twinkling in their eyes. It was cold as the sun set, and the open landscape around the castle did nothing to break the wind. Meino was once again underdressed for his adventure, and he hoped the sun would set soon so Burkhart could come out and they could go inside where it was hopefully a lot warmer.

  Oh, this is going to feel good.

  “What, can you get cramps?” Meino asked, getting the attention of the human’s around him. “Sorry, I was talking to Burkhart.”

  The truck tipped, and heavy footfalls sounded before gravel gave way to something landing on it. Then a rush of wind sounded, and Burkhart shot to the sky, his impressive wingspan coaxing gasps of awe from the old women.

  Burkhart howled in triumph at being free again and rolled in the air, falling several meters before he extended his wings again and banked hard to rise into the night sky.

  “Wow, listen to the others,” David said, grinning.

  “The others?” Meino asked.

  “Yeah, every Gargoyle on the grounds is howling along with him.”

  Meino smiled and watched Burkhart frolic around in the sky, happy he wasn’t with him then. He was so caught up by the sight that for a minute or two he even forgot how cold he was.

  This is beautiful, Meino. Please, let me take you up. Not far, just for you to see the grounds and the scenery before the last rays of the sun disappear.

  “Okay, but only for a little while, because I’m cold.”

  Burkhart turned in the sky and descended. He landed a few meters from them, and Meino ran to him, extending his arms. Burkhart held him close and kicked off from the ground, taking Meino up higher than he liked, but once he saw what had caused Burkhart’s exclamation of awe, he forgot about it and just gasped at the beautiful landscape and the golden and purple streaks in the sky.

  “Oh, wow.”

  “Yes. I like this part of the world.”

  “I can definitely see why.” Meino snuggled closer and enjoyed the slow bob as Burkhart’s wings flapped to keep them airborne. Flying up to see the grounds wasn’t as bad as he’d feared. But the cold was still bone-chilling. “Will you take me up again sometime? Just... not higher than this.”

  “I would love to. We must descend now. The last of our entourage will arrive soon.” Burkhart turned them, and Meino could see two sets of headlights coming their way. It struck him that he’d seen no other homes or headlights. They were literally in the middle of nowhere.

  “How far can you see?”

  “From a home housing an allied of the Order? All the ground they marked. In this case, about six kilometers in every direction.”

  “So you’d see if anyone got close.”

  “Yes. You are safe now.” Burkhart smiled at Meino and lowered them to the ground. But Meino didn’t want to let go—Burkhart was nice and warm. “I think my human is turning into a meatcicle.”

  “Oh, we can’t have that,” Ms. Theresa said, laughing heartedly. “We are informed that your backup is underway.”

  “We saw them. A few minutes,” Meino said.

  “I’ll close up.” Kevin went to the back of the truck.

  The two women, Meino, and Burkhart made their way up the many steps, Burkhart stopping briefly to put a hand on the sphinx Gargoyle.

  “Do you see them as friends or brothers or coworkers?” Meino asked as they continued.

  “Brothers,” Burkhart said, looking around. He focused on a small Gargoyle crouching by the door. “Except that one. It’s dead.”

  They followed Ms. Alvilda and Ms. Theresa into the hall. Burkhart almost stepped on Meino when he stopped in surprise at the ancient feel to the place. Everything around him was huge and old and weathered. A feeling crept up his back.

  “Burk, if Gargoyles and magic are real... are there ghosts?”

  Burkhart laughed. “Yes.”

  “What?” Meino spun to face him. And why had he just shrieked?

  Ms. Theresa came over, looking upset. “Is something the matter, my dear?”

  “Burk says ghosts are real.”

  “Oh, they are, but... don’t fear them. They’re... the ones in this castle are strong memories left behind b
y souls who have been touched deeply by a happening in their lives. They cannot interact with you.”

  Meino gaped at her. He was so not cut out for ghosts. “Stay in my room. Please?” Meino looked at Burkhart imploringly.

  “If it makes you feel safer, then I will.”

  Voices carried through the door, and shortly after, David, Ms. Stephanie, Kevin, Hardy, and two more Meino hadn’t met yet came through the door.

  “Oh, man,” the unknown young woman muttered, staring at Burkhart. A wicked grin spread on her face before she playfully slapped the young man next to her in the stomach. “You’re not the only one with killer abs anymore.”

  “Meino, this is Jenny and Ethan,” Ms. Stephanie said. “Jenny has only been in the Order for a few years and is currently being trained here. I invited her along so that both you and she could learn something new.”

  “Hi.” Meino shook their hands.

  Burkhart went on to shake Jenny’s hand, then the man’s, staring inquisitively at them both. Enough to get Meino’s attention.

  “What are you?” Burkhart finally asked the man.

  “Cursed.” Ethan smiled, as if that was part of a polite introduction in the Order. Meino with the magic books, Burkhart the Gargoyle, and Ethan the cursed guy. It was going to take some getting used to.

  Burkhart seemed perfectly happy with that explanation, but all it did was ramp up Meino’s curiosity. Plus, he’d rather hear about curses than ghosts.

  “Shall we find a more comfortable place to chat?” Ms. Theresa asked, sweeping her hand toward the stairs. But as she led the way, she went around the huge staircase and took them through a corridor to a huge salon. There was a sense of history about everything in the castle, but since ghosts had just been confirmed as part of the castle’s history, Meino’s attention was spread out on everything that moved. He kept having a feeling of a... presence.

  They all took a seat in the expensive looking furniture—all but Burkhart, who crouched at the end of the table next to Meino.

  “Don’t you want a chair?” Meino whispered.

  “No, my legs were not made to sit at an angle like you. But thank you.”

  Meino once again took in a feature that really set Burkhart’s physique apart from human. He had sat oddly on the couch in the safe house. Meino hadn’t thought about it then, since they had both slumped or halfway sprawled on the couch while Burkhart power-zapped for an hour before finding a show.

  Plus, I’m afraid I’d ruin the fragile thing. Burkhart winked and poked what looked like silk upholstery and a hand carved frame. Meino held back a laugh, almost afraid to sit on it himself.

  “So, Meino.”

  Meino looked up, finding Ms. Stephanie smiling at him.

  “Would you mind telling your story again?”

  “Oh, sure.”

  “And Burkhart. We’d very much like your version, too,” Ms. Theresa said.

  “I’d like to hear about that curse, too.” Meino looked at Ethan, the cursed guy, who just nodded and glanced at Jenny. She was a scary individual and reminded Meino a lot of Ms. Stephanie.

  People turned their attention to him, so he told the tale again.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ms. Theresa and Ms. Alvilda rose from their seats.

  “We will retire now. Jenny, Meino, please stay up as long as you need to. We have a member of the staff up if you should need anything. She will also show you to your rooms when you are ready to retire.”

  Meino stood, because that was what men did in higher society. And he was in jeans and a t-shirt in a castle, which still made him feel odd and out of place. “Good night.”

  They smiled and left. Kevin, David, and Ms. Stephanie had retired an hour earlier, and only Jenny and Ethan, Meino and Burkhart were left. Meino took in the sight of the table. They were out of just about everything.

  Ethan and Jenny had shared their stories too, and Meino was absolutely flabbergasted at knowing that magic could do so much harm as to lock a man into shadow for the duration of the day. It seemed completely ludicrous or fantasy. Yet, there the guy was, marked by the shadow of a chain, while the girl was marked by the shadow of a bracelet. Suddenly it didn’t seem as farfetched that he sat next to a stone that talked, smiled, laughed, and had soft skin.

  “Jenny, can I ask—how long did it take you to get accustomed to all this?”

  She scoffed and grinned. “I’ll let you know when it happens.”

  Oh. That answer actually made Meino feel better after also finding out that Jenny was being trained to kill people and dust assets like himself and his books. If a badass woman like her had trouble settling, then he didn’t feel so bad that he hadn’t yet.

  “We all take it differently.” Jenny sat back, almost putting a foot up on the table, but she seemed to catch herself in doing so and placed her foot on the floor again. Okay, so Meino wasn’t the only one who felt out of place in a castle, either.

  “Do you know of anyone who took it well?”

  “My best friend Nathan did. He’s how I ended up here with Ethan.”

  “So people end up here by accident?” Meino asked.

  “No, Nathan had been steered toward the Order for many years without knowing it. They’re like a bunch of talent scouts. We all have some kind of talent to be kindled.”

  “Oh.” Other than fixing cars, Meino didn’t think he had any talents. He was there because he had a book that contained something they wanted.

  All he knew so far was that Ms. Alvilda was the one to talk to about the books that David and Kevin were going to get. And he knew their plan for him was to stay at the castle until all his belongings arrived. After that, they’d help make arrangements for a future that would secure both him and Burkhart.

  He still felt relief that they wouldn’t try to make him give up Burkhart. He was a Gargoyle of their Order, so could they claim him and tell Meino to go away? They probably could, and it scared him. The way they’d welcomed him calmed his worries, though.

  “Until you, I think I was the biggest accident in the Order,” Jenny said, grinning. Upon Meino’s confused expression, she continued. “No woman was ever considered to be a Shadow Master because of... possible sexual tension. Nathan just didn’t think about it and gave me a bracelet to protect.”

  “Why didn’t he?”

  “He’s gay and in love with his Shadow.”

  Meino’s stomach fluttered, and he couldn’t really identify why. He glanced at Burkhart. From what Jenny said, was it possible to feel attracted to someone who was supernatural? There was, of course, the huge difference to consider—the Shadows were basically human, and Burkhart had never been anything but stone.

  It irritated Meino that he kept thinking that way about Burkhart, but his mind was in a jumble whenever he tried to figure out just what Burkhart actually was. And it irritated him even more that he couldn’t stop thinking about it. The roughly thirty hours, when Burkhart had been locked away in the magic-hiding box had set so many new thoughts and feelings in perspective but thrown so much more into the mix.

  Meino had missed him. Felt alone without him. But what vexed him most was that Burkhart had made it into his dreams, and he’d replaced the Buick guy when Meino’s thoughts wandered. And the only person he had to talk to was Burkhart.

  A young woman in a maid uniform came in and cleared the table. “Would you like anything else?”

  “Could you wrangle up a beer?” Jenny asked.

  “I could.”

  “Two,” Ethan said.

  “Three,” Meino chimed in.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  “Oh, and if you want one with us, make it four,” Jenny said.

  The maid smiled and left.

  “Wonder if she can tell us anything about the ghosts,” Meino said.

  Jenny snapped her head around. “Why do you bring up ghosts? I hate ghosts.”

  “Ms. Theresa said there are three in this castle
.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Jenny groused.

  The maid returned and placed a tray with four beers and four glasses on the table.

  “Just the bottle,” Jenny said, letting the glass stay on the table. Ethan grinned and drank from his own bottle, and Meino felt at home with them. “Meino, you’re a mechanic, right?” Jenny asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Good, so let me tell you what’s hardest in regards to moving in with someone in the Order. That.” She pointed to the glass. “And three different sizes of forks.” She drank her beer. “Oh, and ghosts and stuff, but that really comes second, because I was a cleaning lady before Nathan and Lucien came running at me one day after training to ask me to protect Ethan. Two weeks later, we went shopping in a limousine.”

  “Yeah, I have trouble picturing my life like that,” Meino admitted.

  “Ghosts... sorry, what’s your name?” Jenny asked the maid.

  “Coira.”

  “Coira. Pretty. The ghosts Meino heard about?”

  “Oh, they’re real. I grew up in this castle. My dad was the butler here.”

  “Was?” Meino asked.

  “Yeah, he died last winter.”

  “Sorry,” they all mumbled.

  “I was ten when we got here, and it took me three years before I’d dare venture to all parts of the castle alone. Now I don’t mind anymore.”

  “What did Ms. Theresa mean by them being memories?” Meino asked.

  “It means they walk the same path, do the same stuff over and over again, and they say the same stuff.”

  Jenny pulled a face. “They talk?”

  “One does. She yells and slams a door.”

  “As in an actual door in true poltergeist style?” Ethan asked.

  “No, the door remains as is, but you can hear the slam once in a while.”

  “Perfect.” Jenny might have looked indifferent, but the shiver that raced through her gave her away.

  “Can you see the ghosts from here?” Meino asked Burkhart.

  “No. I think it might be because my soul is not like yours, and it is your soul’s connection with these souls that lets you witness their presence.”