"You can't do it! I won't let you!"
"But I'm ready for it!"
"We don't know that. It could kill you."
"I say it won't. I'm ready."
It was a lover's quarrel at the Cologne Cathedral. It might have been a warm August night, but it was pretty chilly between Dominick and Thomas. They were fighting about having children. Dominick was totally ready to do IT with Thomas, but her husband wasn't sure. He wanted children, too, but he didn't want to lose Dominick if, during the birth process, she died but the child lived. He didn't want just one of them, he wanted both.
"Why don't we ask other gargoyles?" Dominick shouted angrily.
"How do you know if there are other gargoyles?" Thomas retorted.
"There are other gargoyles," a child-like voice said. Both gargoyles turned around, their argument temporarily forgotten. In the doorway was their child friend and sorceress, Alice.
"There are other gargoyles!?" Dominick exclaimed. "Where!?"
"In France."
"Let's go to France. Right now. Cover some distance before dawn." The two gargoyles walked out to the parapets, spread their wings, and glided off.
Alice watched her friends walk outside, when an important bit of information struck her. She ran after them and called, "Wait." But she was too late. They had already glided off. Alice sighed. She didn't even tell her friends exactly where the gargoyle clan lived in France: Paris.
&&&&
Meanwhile in Paris, the clan was doing their nightly routines. Having dinner together, the gargoyles and Matthew going on patrol while Peter and Barbara made love with each other. It was a typical, normal night.
&&&&
Dawn arrived. Dominick and Thomas poised on a building in Metz, France. They had searched for a hundred miles and found no gargoyle clan. How far did they have to search? How long would it take? Days? Weeks? Years? Neither of them knew, but they hoped it was soon.
Sunset. In two French cities, stone statues were cracking and roaring to life. Dominick and Thomas stretched their limbs and smoothly glided off the roof and continued their search. It wasn't long before a thought struck Dominick.
"Thomas, wouldn't gargoyles live in cities where crime rates are big?"
"You have a point, dear. And I think Paris would be a good place to look."
The two of them adjusted their wings in a westerly direction. In Cologne, Alice smiled with satisfaction.
&&&&
Matthew glided hand in hand with Mary. He couldn't help but feel regret about not hiding from Tracy's point in time. If he had, he wouldn't be stuck with gargoyle wings for the rest of his life. On the other hand, it was great to glide on his own and not have Mary carry him. Next to him, Mary let out a sigh.
"Mary?" He looked at her curiously. "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about how your wings can support you. Gargoyle bones are hollow like a bird’s."
Matthew's eyes widened as he looked down at Paris below him. Mary had a point. Hollow bones is what helped birds fly, so how was he able to glide?
Mary giggled at Matthew's look of surprise. Just then, something caught her eyes. Looking ahead of her in the dark night, she saw two familiar shapes. She recognized them to be gargoyles shapes. But the rest of the clan was back at the cathedral, so who were the gargoyles? Could they be...Pierre and Tracy?
"Matthew, look!" Mary pointed out to her mate the two dark figures heading in their direction.
"Could it be Tracy?"
"Pierre, too. He might have met Tracy on his way to our home. We have to stop them."
&&&&
Dominick and Thomas were awed by the sights of Paris. And the dark alleyways were perfect for muggers to grab unsuspecting citizens. Yes, they might definitely find some gargoyles here, in fact, Dominick caught sight of a pair not too far away from them. She pointed them out to Thomas, who nodded and followed her toward the two gargoyles.
&&&&
Mary and Matthew prepared themselves as the dark forms drew closer. Matthew knew he couldn't fight like Mary, but he wasn't a bad fighter either. He did tackle Pierre once before. He could do it again. But he had to be careful of Tracy's pointer claw. She might decide to change him completely into a gargoyle. Or knock them unconscious with a single bolt.
As the figures came into the half moon's light, Matthew saw that it wasn't Pierre and Tracy. It was two different gargoyles. Indeed, they didn't look like they were of French, Scottish, or even English origin. Yet, they were of some European origin.
&&&&
Thomas looked at the pair before them. A female gargoyle and...a winged human! This was highly unusual. Humans didn't grow gargoyle wings, at least the last time he checked, they didn't. Well, he could soon get introductions and their business done and over with. "Hello. My name's Thomas and this is my wife, Dominick."
The female smiled. "I'm Mary and this is Matthew. Welcome to Paris, Thomas and Dominick."
"Odd names for gargoyles," the human commented.
The wedded pair flushed with embarrassment. "Actually we were human, but an evil sorcerer changed us into gargoyles," Dominick explained.
"An evil scientist changed me and an evil witch tried to change Matthew, but he escaped with only wings."
Ah, so that explained why Matthew had wings. They also found out that Mary had been born human, so she couldn't possibly answer their questions.
"What country are you from?" Mary asked.
"Germany. Cologne, Germany."
"Would you like to meet the rest of our clan?" the human asked.
"Sure."
"Follow us," Mary instructed. Dominick and Thomas followed the French pair across the city, across the Seine River, and up to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
"You live here?" exclaimed an awestruck Dominick as they landed in the bell tower.
"Yes, we do," a new voice said. Spinning around, the German gargoyles saw a male gargoyle with the same blue gray skin as Thomas. Only the extra half a foot on the male and his black hair made him different from Thomas.
"I am Michel, the leader of the clan."
"I'm Thomas and this is my wife Dominick."
Michel's eyes narrowed. "Don't you mean mate?"
"We were human until a sorcerer changed us into gargoyles."
"Oh. That explains it. Allow me to introduce the rest of the clan." Michel led them to a section of the tower where there was a large and spacious area between the bells. There, with Mary and Matthew, were four more gargoyles as well as two humans.
"Meet Esmeralda, Brian, Leslie, Patrick, and our human friends, Barbara and Peter. Everyone, these are our guests Thomas and Dominick."
For the next several hours, the French clan told the German pair about their adventures (See the French clan stories.) and the German gargoyles told them about becoming gargoyles and meeting Alice (Read the German stories.). The only thing left for Thomas and Dominick to ask was the birth process, which they wanted to ask in a casual way.
"Since we haven't met any other gargoyles, could you tell us about a gargoyle's special abilities?" asked Dominick. She knew the answer, yet maybe there were some that weren't mentioned in the book she found.
"Well," began Esmeralda. "We age at one half the speed of humans, all injuries will heal in stone sleep unless a limb is lost, and female gargoyles lay eggs in ten years after being pregnant, then ten years later the egg is laid, it hatches."
"How old does the female have to be?" Thomas blurted out. He blushed at his outburst. Great. What would Esmeralda say? To his relief, she just smiled.
"The female can lay eggs at least 18 years old or older. Any younger than 18 then there's no guarantee that the female will survive. At least that's what I've heard from Michel. Remember, I lived alone. Michel had a book of his clan's history and how certain things worked."
Dominick mentally kicked herself. She should have read the rest of that book back at home. It might have told her about the sex cycle of gargoyles. Oh well, at least they got their answer.
"I think Thomas and I should go. Alice might be worrying about us. And besides, it's a long way back home."
"Okay. It was nice meeting you. We might come to visit you in Cologne," Brian called.
"Sure. Look for us in the Cologne Cathedral," called the pair as they started winging their way back home."
