“Love is the most powerful gift an amsirah can have; lightning is the second, and you possess both. I don’t doubt you and Ryker will both grow stronger as time passes,especiallyyou. To possess all five weathers is a feat that is simply unheard of, and I’ve been here since the beginning. Iknowwhat a phenomenon you are. You must use your gifts wisely.”
“What will you do to me if I don’t?”
“It would pain me to destroy one as exceptional as you, but we would be at odds if you tried to use your gifts for harm. I have faith you won’t.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know more of you than you think. You put the hope of a better future for the realm ahead of yourself when you freed me. I could have easily killed you upon my awakening.”
“Believe me, I know.”
Indon chuckled as he leaned closer. “But you still gave me my heart back, and I hope to return yours to you.”
There were those unexpected tears again, but this time, before I could blink them away, one slid free. Unwilling to release my branch again, I wiped it off on my shoulder.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked.
“We wanted to see the damage done to our land.”
When the other gargoyles shifted, I turned my attention to them. Though they weighed far more than any bird, they somehow managed to stay elegantly perched on top of the trees.
The gargoyle who’d been cradling her baby in the cavern now had it sitting on her shoulder as they looked over the land. I wondered if the child remembered anything of Tempest or if it was too young.
But then, for all I knew, it could be a hundred years old and they matured at a slower rate than amsirah. I doubted it, though.
“This land is precious to us,” Indon continued. “We’ve loved it our whole lives, and our ancestors before us did the same.”
Most would consider them hideous, twisted creations, but I was starting to see the beauty of their souls, and they were shining, magnificent things. I knew handsome and beautiful immortals whose souls were far uglier than the faces of these gargoyles.
“What do you think this duke will do once he learns of our existence?” Indon asked.
“Exactly what he wants to do to me.”
“Which is?”
“Control us.”
Indon rested his hand over his chest. I assumed the stone was somewhere inside him, but I saw no sign of its existence. “The amsirah who turned on us sought to control us too.”
“Do you still have the stone?”
“Weallpossess the stone.”
I looked at the others before focusing on him again. I didn’t know how it worked, and I decided against asking more about it.
They were entitled to their secrets, especially since the revelation of that secret could take everything away from them again. Amsirah betrayed them before; I wouldn’t ask them to reveal the key to doing that.
“Can you turn into stone or statues or whatever you were at will?” I asked.
“We can look like them. It is a great way to hide in plain sight, especially since you are the only one who knows we are here… so far.”
I grinned at him as I recalled the many buildings in Tempest with gargoyles perched on them. I doubted anyone would notice some additional ones. “That could come in very handy.”
“We will make good allies.”
“I think so too. But how do we stop them without an army and while the duke still has the children, Ryker, and the others?”
“To destroy the snake, we will take its tail, then its body, and finally its head. We’ll start with the tail.”
