Page 9 of Stone Cold

Burchard…save me.

Eight

Burchard’s POV

After dropping Nettie off on her balcony, I could feel my body shaking, weak and like it was crumbling. It felt like the stone I was made of, was trying to crack, trying to break and shatter. It felt like I was being torn apart. I crawled further up the roof, somewhere that I wouldn’t fall off, just in case I lost consciousness before the sun rose. I had heard the stories from other gargoyles, from the others as time wore on and we lost a few of them to lack of care at the various castles we were dragged to and from. Laying there, curled in a ball, I could hear the worry in her voice when she tried to talk to me, to call out to me from where she stood.

I used my telekinesis with what little strength I had, to call out to the others, all of them. I needed help. And I needed help urgently. Something, I don’t know what, but something told me I needed to get back to Master’s Apothecary. I couldn’t stay here, exposed on this rooftop, when I needed to be there. I wasn’t sure if it was to protect his eternal resting place, or if it was because of whatever was going on with my body, but I knew I needed to be there. We had reports from the gargoyles that had been stationed there since the day we buried Master. They watched over him, his tomb, and they had reported sightings of people. Students had wandered down there, looking for something, and they needed orders to either attack and defend their position, or to simply stand guard and watch. At this stage in whatever was going on with me, I couldn’t think properly to make a decision.

I just had to make it there. Help arrived within minutes of my plea. It took three other gargoyles to help fly me back to Master’s Apothecary. They took hold of my arms and legs, lettingme dangle between them, and I’m certain if people were awake, they would have seen us. It wasn’t hard to miss a giant hunk of marble being dangled and flown between three other hunks of marble. Thank Gods for the cover of darkness, right?

I don’t even know how long it took to get us back there as I was in and out of consciousness for most of the flight. I felt when they set me down on the stone floor. I could hear their wings fluttering as all three of them took up their spots near the apothecary. I knew these three would never leave me. They didn’t leave my side during battle and were probably the most blood thirsty out of all the gargoyles. I knew I would be safe, even when the sun rose shortly after they took up their spots. I could feel myself slipping into an early sleep as the sky began to shine with hues of pink and orange, even as the stars and moon still shined faintly in the sky.

When I felt myself waking, finally coming to like I had just fought a long battle and was gravely wounded, there was a warmth on me. It felt as if something was enveloping my whole stature in the heat you feel from a fire on a cold night. It felt like I was sleeping under the sun, but if that were true, there was no way I would have been able to open my eyes. Not during the daylight. But, I was. I was able to open my eyes, and the sun greeted me. Something I had not seen, even once in my life, other than in Master’s scientific books that showed what the universe supposedly looked like.

I looked down and felt myself flinch. Before my eyes was not the large marble body I had known for centuries. I held my hand up, turning it over and over, looking down at the rest of me, slowly moving each limb to be sure they really belonged to me. I touched my face and felt flesh instead of the cold marble stone I had always known.

I was in a human form.

My mind couldn’t comprehend what I was really seeing and feeling. There was no way I was human. I reached back behind me, my hand hitting my back instead of stone. My wings were gone. I began frantically searching for a mirror, a piece of glass, a window, anything to see what I looked like now. I was so frantic and clumsy in my movements, I almost missed it.

Above the altar, a broken mirror, only fragments left hanging, but it was more than enough for me to see what I looked like. I climbed on top of the altar, staying crouched for a few moments, not sure if I was ready to see what I looked like, but also curious. As I straightened, I stumbled again, clumsiness taking over what used to be solid, steady movements. I looked behind me to see if my tail had bumped something, but it was gone. That shocked me also. Something else that had been with me my entire existence, gone over the span of a short nap, judging by how high the sun was.

After I steadied myself atop the altar and had gathered my courage, I took a deep breath, stood straight, and looked into the mirror.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I clenched them shut, counting to ten, willing myself to wake up. When I opened my eyes, the reflection was the same.

I was human.

And I looked like a portrait of Master’s younger brother, whom he cherished, but passed away before he was fourteen. He had shown it to me when he was still alive. It was hanging where it always was in the apothecary, tattered and torn from the years of neglect and the elements it was exposed to over the years. I touched my face, not quite sure it was really me. I couldn’t believe that any of this was real.That I was real. That I was…human.

My astonishment was cut short when I felt someone watching me. I turned around, ready to take on whoever washere. I may have been naked and clumsier than I had been,ever, but I was ready to defend myself and my Master’s sanctuary.

It was him.

His Majesty, my Nettie’s father.

I gave him a slight bow, not taking my eyes off of him. I had no idea why he was here to see me when I had nothing to report to him. I kept my hands over top of my privates, before I flashed His Majesty. He kept his eyes on me. They looked cold, calculating, like he was assessing everything about me as he circled me, his hands behind his back. He stopped circling me when he came back to stand in front of me.

“What is your name?” His voice was full of authority. I lifted my head slightly, fully looking him in the eyes, not just watching him from my peripherals.

“Burchard, Your Majesty,” Hearing my voice for the first time in centuries, the first time ever, was…incredibly surreal. It was deep, like I thought it would be, like the voice in my head. Deep, rumbling, like the ocean. He motioned for me to stand straight, so I did after jumping down off of the altar. After I stood, I realized I was just as tall, at least seven foot, and felt just as big as I did when I was a gargoyle. I was almost eye level with His Majesty. He looked me up and down, walked around me again, this time in a somewhat stalking manner like a predator would stalk its prey. I stood stalk still, letting him size me up, to see if I was good enough.

He stopped in front of me for the second time.

“You’re incomplete.” I looked at him confused, while his eyes remained cold, “Your wings.You’re not complete until they fully come in. The magic hasn’t stabilized yet.”

He clicked his tongue before he started his search for something in the apothecary. To the best of my knowledge, he’d never been here before, and had no reason to help me. He only knew that I was the head gargoyle protecting this castle. He bentdown, picked up an old crystal, infused it with magic, and put it on an old leather strap, before holding it in his hand out to me. When I didn’t take it, he rolled his eyes and slipped the crystal around my neck. I stared down at it, resting, glowing, on my chest.

“This will help. Until the magic settles.” He straightened up putting his hands behind his back, as he started to pace back and forth in front of me. “Now. Burchard. I wish to speak with you about my daughter, Annette.” He paused before me, his eyes trained on me to see if I reacted.

“I stand before you, not as the King, but as a man worried about his child. She’s my only little girl, and she is very much like her mother,” he paused in his speech to resume his pacing, “Her mother was a human,andmy mate, my pair. She was what made me whole. You will live a great long time, and thankfully as Fae, we live a long life span. Though, hers will be greater than a normal human’s, it won’t last anywhere near as long as yours, unfortunately. She is much like my late wife.”

I stood there, hands at my sides, confused as to where this was coming from and not knowing what to say, so I waited. I had questions, but I would wait until His Majesty was finished speaking before asking. The silence between us wasn’t stifling, but rather, pregnant with emotion and things that were difficult to talk about.

“When a child of the Fae meets their mate, especially if they’re of royal blood, call it an instinct, but the parent usually can tell almost right away. There is a flower that sprouts the day a Fae is born, and blooms the day a Fae meets their pair. I knew the minute she stepped foot here that she would meethim, her pair. I did not,however, expect her mate to be a gargoyle that is Gods knows much older than my little girl.”

He put his thumb and middle fingers on either side of his face, rubbing his temples, his eyes closed, and face contemplating.