Gargoyles Part III

Sebastian finally finds a Gargoyle. Nothing how he expected it would be. And he’s forced to fight for his life.

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30 feet tall, the size of a small house, the gargoyle stands before Sebastian. It’s body covered in rough stone armor. It shrieks like Godzilla and spreads its hundred foot wingspan across ready to pounce.

Sebastian finds himself caught between excitement and fear. He found exactly what he came to see. Events unfolding differently than he’d imagine them. He takes off dashing into the woods.

Again, the gargoyle shrieks. It stomps behind Sebastian crashing down the trees as it proceeds. It gains on the boy with each slow giant step.

The woods tear apart behind Sebastian with the roar of an earthquake. The ground beneath his feet shakes viciously. He can barely keep his footing. Noting the gargoyle closing in he opts to attack it instead. He turns around and unloads one beam of deep purple energy out from the palms of his hands. They're ineffective against the creature. The panic sends Sebastian running again.

“I didn’t even scratch it,” he says. “What am I going to do?”

He thinks back to whether or not he’d read about a weakness in Isaiah’s book, but only its armor was explained.

“If I can get rid of its armor I can attack that weak point,” Sebastian says out of breath, still running. “The nearby mountain!” As the thought crosses his mind he takes a sharp left darting in its direction.

The gargoyle, so large, takes a moment to readjust for the sudden turn and with the boy now increasing the gap between them the creature takes flight. It’s wings steady as they destroy the trees surrounding them. Its flight uninterrupted. It’s gaining on the boy twice as fast as it did walking.

Sebastian looks back with his adrenaline levels skyrocketing. This is the make it or break it moment. “That overgrown bird it catching up too quick,” he says. “I might not make it!”

Up ahead the woods get suddenly brighter and hint towards white. “The mountain,” Sebastian says. “That must be it!” He races right up to it and backs up against the mountain face awaiting the giant gargoyle to reach him. Not far behind, within seconds Sebastian is dodging and the creature is slamming headfirst into the mountain. It’s stone armor cracks and Sebastian has all the information he needs. “Bingo!” he says.

The creature picks itself off the ground and shakes off. An array of stones fly in every direction like bullets. Then it’s back on its legs.

Sebastian dodges nearly all of them. The one he doesn’t manage to dodge almost breaks his leg off on impact. With no time to feel pain, he prepares for the gargoyle’s next attack. He backs up, again against the mountain.

The creature swings its giant right fist and Sebastian dodges once more. The stone on the creature's fist now cracked too. And it swings again, and he dodges again. This continues, its stone armor slowly being picked away. Crumbling off without its awareness. Before long, thick black fur begins to poke out from underneath the stone on its hands.

“Now it’s my turn!” Sebastian says. He aims both of his palms at the incoming fist of the creature. At its black fur. And he fires. Starting at its hand a large crack shoots up its arm to its chest like a lightning bolt. Before the creature lands a hit it pulls its arm back and the stone around it crumbles to the ground exposing it up to its chest. Sebastian aims another shot at its chest.

The gargoyle begins to wobble backwards attempting to both brace itself from the attack and recoiling in pain. Its stone armor now shattering down to its waist. Its neck and head exposed. Sharp teeth, giant eyes, all surrounded by thick black fur.

Another blast is fired at the creatures head. And it topples to the ground motionless.

The woods dive into silence. The gargoyle is motionless. “AHH, THAT HURT!” he says finally able to react to the pain of his nearly broken leg. “That was close,” Sebastian says studying the gargoyle's gigantic body resting stiff before the mountainside. “I knew I could take one of these,” he says circling around it. “Right, I need to get back home,” he says leaving the corpse behind and heading to the bridge he made through the void.

Back at the arrival point. He sits to meditate. Crosses the gate to the void. Pictures the abandoned warehouse and the fractalization circle. Puts the warehouse in the smaller of the two circles and expands it over the bigger one. He opens his eyes inside the warehouse and scrambles to get home. As he’s reaching the front of the building he sees a portal rip open over the roof. Isaiah drops out of it onto the roof with Sarah.

Sebastian can’t limp up the steps fast enough. He races through the front door. Grabs a book and sits on the couch just as the front door opens.

Isaiah and Sarah step inside.

“Hey, kid,” Sarah says.

“Hey,” Sebastian responds hiding his bloodied leg underneath some cushions. Only the moonlight breaking in through the window to light his book, but he remains in the shadows.

“Did you do anything stupid while I was gone?” Isaiah asks.

“No,” Sebastian responds.

“Liar,” Isaiah tells him.

“The moon’s showing me the hole on your shirt, you little shit!”