I'll Cover You

The evening had started out so peacefully. With the sunset, all the gargoyles shed their stone skin. Jophiel and Aindreas smiled at each other, having gone to sleep while holding hands. Angela gave a bracing roar as she awakened as did several others. Gabrielle picked up Boudicca and swooped down into the courtyard where the guardians were waiting with a breakfast of fruit for everyone. Uriel finished a joke he had been telling Zadkiel the previous night. "...So then the woodpecker says 'It's the best piece of ash I ever had!'" All of a sudden, the wall surrounding the courtyard crashed down.

Angela narrowly avoided being hit by the tumbling stone, Everyone, including the Guardians watched in mute terror as three robed witches began knocking more of the walls down with magical explosions, and vanished in a puff of green smoke. Before anyone had a chance to recover from this odd event, a gray bearded man and a blue female gargoyle with fiery red hair charged in, armed with the strangest metal weapons any of them had seen. "Who are you?" demanded Angela. "What do you want?" The gray bearded man responded by aiming his weapon at her. A bolt of lightning jumped at it. She just barely managed to leap out of the way, as did Gabriel. The ground smoked where the lightning struck.

As soon as the witches appeared, many of the gargoyles had run in search of weapons. Ophelia ran out onto a parapet, her trusty bow and arrows ready, and was about to show Gray Beard what happened to those who threatened her mate and best friend when the red haired gargoyle swooped up behind her. A red beam shot from the weapon this new gargoyle was holding and struck Ophelia across her back and wings. Ophelia gave a blood curdling scream of pain as she fell. Fortunately for her, Gabriel was ready to catch her.

Aindreas had no idea who this gargoyle was or what that thing she carried was. All he knew was he had to get that weapon away from her before she killed someone. He swooped at her and grabbed the metal object, trying to wrest it from her hands. She was stronger than he expected. And crueler. She clawed at Aindreas' wings. The sharp pain seared all through Aindreas' nervous system, causing him to let go and fall away.

Jophiel screamed in horror at what he saw. His beloved crashed to the ground, unmoving. Jophiel ran to his side. Why? Why had Aindreas gone after that demon? Why hadn't he been brave enough to fight her at his side, to protect him? Why hadn't he been fast enough to catch him before he fell? "Aindreas! Aindreas!" Jophiel yelled, kneeling by the limp green body. "Speak to me!" Explosions, screams and flashes of green light surrounded them.

"Jophiel..." Aindreas croaked out. "I...hurt...." The paper thin membrane of skin that made up a gargoyle's wing was very sensitive. Just as a light touch could cause sensual pleasure, injury was excruciatingly painful. His entire left side was scraped up from the fall and his head hurt. Something was wrong with his left leg. He must've landed on it wrong; it ached so deeply. An attempt to move it caused a jolt of of burning pain to shoot through his body. He looked down to see that his leg had been bent in a position no leg should bend. "Jophiel!" In Aindreas' pain drenched mind, all he could think of was reaching out to the one he loved. Another bolt of lightning hit nearby.

Jophiel threw his body over Aindreas', careful not to press his full weight on him. Jophiel spread his wings, covering Aindreas' whole body as their world exploded around them. /My wings make a lousy shield./ Jophiel mentally acknowledged. /But I'll protect Aindreas with everything I have! Oh God!/ Jophiel prayed for the first time in his life. /I don't know if You hear the prayers of gargoyles, but please, spare Aindreas! Let me die in his place if You must! Aindreas, Aindreas, I love you! I won't let anything happen to you!/ Soon, the explosions stopped and all was quiet.

"Regroup!" shouted Tom. "Here to me!"

"Aindreas," Jophiel whispered. "I'm going to try to move you, alright?" Aindreas answered with a grunt. Jophiel knelt by his side and tried to think of the best way to pick up Aindreas without hurting him more. He decided it would be best to pick up Aindreas from his right side, where the least injury was.

"Wait!" Raphaela was running up to him, a broken spear in one hand, her belt and one of Katherine's scarves in the other. "Before you move him, we have to immobilize his leg." She place the spear fragments on either side of the leg. "Bone fragments are very sharp and can cause him more damage." she explained as she ran a hand over Aindreas' shin. Aindreas gave a shout when her fingers found the break. "Don't put any pressure there." She pointed to the area and used the belt to secure the splints "Tie it up good and tight. I'll set it when we get inside." Jophiel used the scarf to splint Aindreas' leg. "I- I'm not very strong." Raphaela said apologeticly. "Can you lift him?"

"I think so." Jophiel replied.

"His thighs are alright, just bruised and scraped. You can hold him there. Support his back and shoulders. Aindreas, can you use your arm to help him?" Aindreas put an arm around Jophiel's neck to help. "Alright, lift from the knees. Here we go!" Jophiel stood with Aindreas in his arms. Raphaela led them to where Tom was standing with his sword drawn. Many injured or just scared gargoyles were limping to his side. Gabriel was helping an injured Ophelia walk.

"Thank you, Raphaela." said Jophiel. "I take back half of all the mean things I've said about you."

"Half?" Raphaela raised a brow. Suddenly, the face of a white bearded man with a jeweled eye on his forehead appeared in the sky, surrounded by a glowing blue halo.

"This is but a demonstration of my power!" the head announced. "I give you this night to make your peace. For at sunrise, I will return and destroy you all!" In a flash of blinding light, the head disappeared. Katherine embraced Tom in fear.

"Well," said Uriel. "It's been nice knowing all of you."

"Nay!" said Tom. "We'll not just sit here and let our home be destroyed!"

"What /can/ we do, Guardian?" asked Gabriel, helping his trembling mate stand.

Tom looked towards the sea, his face set in grim determination. "I was due to make another visit to the outside world soon anyway. Mayhap Goliath has awakened in the previous century. At any rate, Avalon will take me where I need to be, and where I need to be is somewhere where I can find some way to protect us all!"

"I'll go with you!" Angela volunteered.

"Nay, Angela." said Tom. "Tis too dangerous."

"I need you to help me with the wounded, Angela." said Katherine. "Please, help me make up some beds."

Anyone who was able bodied enough helped the injured. Magus got some water boiling and started making willow bark tea. There would be a great need for it. Raphaela ran about with various supplies in her arms, trying to help as many patients as she could and giving instructions to anyone able to help. She came to Jophiel, who had laid Aindreas on a pallet. "Give him something to bite on." Raphaela advised as she undid the splint. "I have to set the bone before sunrise."

Jophiel broke a piece off the spear that had been used as a splint. "The sun will heal him, right?"

"Yes." said Raphaela, positioning the leg as straight as she could. "But if the bone isn't set, it will heal crooked." She ran a hand over the leg. Aindreas hissed in pain as she found the break again. "Put that thing in his mouth." Raphaela advised, placing her hands on either side of the break. "We don't need a bitten tongue on top of his other injuries.

"This is gonna hurt!" Aindreas mumbled around the stick placed in his mouth. Jophiel took his hand and stroked it. He gave Aindreas a look that told him he was there for him. With a sickening crack, Raphaela forced the bones back in place. Aindreas' scream was barely muffled by the stick as his body arched in pain. Jophiel embraced him in an attempt to comfort him. Aindreas fell limp in Jophiel's arms.

"Give him some willow bark tea when he wakes up." Raphaela instructed as she retied the splint. "Keep his leg still and elevated." She put pillows under the broken leg. "Clean and dress his other wounds." She handed him some salve and bandages. "When is Camaela coming back with those fruits?" she muttered, walking away. Jophiel got to work tending Aindreas' wounds.

Ophelia groaned as she tried to sit up. "Lay still, love." Gabriel admonished. "You'll open your wounds again."

"Need to get out there!" she grunted. "When I get my hands on that red haired devil who did this....and that son of a bitch wizard!"

"Here's some more cool cloths." Angela offered Gabriel a damp rag. "Ophelia, please, hold still!" The two of them covered the burn marks on Ophelia's back and wings. "I'll see if Raphaela has anything to calm her down." she whispered to Gabriel.

When Aindreas came to, Jophiel was there, pressing a mug of tea into his hands. "Here, I'll help you sit up." Jophiel did so. "Go on, you need to drink it while it's still warm."

Aindreas took a sip. "It tastes awful!" he complained.

"Yeah." Jophiel gave him a smile. "Guess we shouldn't have wasted that honey." Aindreas gave him a smile and took another sip, grimacing at the bitter taste. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts." said Aindreas. "Even my hair hurts!" Jophiel gave him a sympathetic caress to the cheek. "Jophiel, I noticed something about that red haired gargoyle when I was fighting her. First, she had this glazed look in her eyes. I don't think she was fighting voluntarily."

"Could be that wizard's doing." Jophiel mused.

"Second," Aindreas, continued, taking a pull of the tea. He whispered "She looked a lot like Angela."

"No!" Jophiel protested. "That monster couldn't have a thing to do with our Angela."

"Their faces were very similar." said Aindreas. "Nose, lips, chin, cheekbones. Eyes the same shape, different color though."

"Hush, Aindreas." Jophiel whispered. "It's probably nothing. You imagined it. Now, relax. I'm here. I won't leave your side." Jophiel took Aindreas' hand. "Even if that wizard comes back, I won't leave you."

"No, Jophiel." Aindreas shook his head and downed the rest of the tea. "I'll be fine here with Katherine, Magus and Raphaela fussing over me. If that wizard comes back, you need to be out there with the others, fighting to defend our home."

"But, Aindreas!"

"Jophiel, why do you think I attacked that red haired devil? This is our home, our clan, it must be protected at all costs."

Jophiel nodded, seeing the reason in Aindreas' words. "I'll join the guard then." He helped Aindreas lay down and pulled the blanket over him. "Rest and keep your leg still." He kissed his lover's brow. "I love you."

Aindreas closed his eyes and smiled. "I love you too." He couldn't sleep. No gargoyle slept naturally. Still, he had to force himself to relax. It would be hours before the stone sleep would heal him. He was worried about what would happen if...when the wizard struck again. The only comfort he could find was that Jophiel loved him.
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The next night found a healed Aindreas on top of a rock overlooking the sea, holding hands with Jophiel as they waved good-bye to the departing skiff. "Well, there goes Angela." said Jophiel. "Off to have her adventure in the great wide somewhere."

"Do you think we'll ever see her again?" asked Aindreas.

"If Avalon wills it." Jophiel sighed. "Damn shame about Magus. I was hoping that that part of Sandy's prophesy wouldn't come true."

"I'll miss him." Aindreas said. "He was a quiet type. Never let anyone get too close. But still, you could tell that he cared."

"Sun will be up soon." Jophiel said. "Do you want to sleep here?"

Aindreas nodded. He caressed a bit of white hair that the breeze had blown into his beloved's face. "We've been through so much, haven't we, Jophiel?"

Jophiel nodded and stroked a lock of light brown hair. "Let us hope that the years we have to look forward to are both peaceful and numerous." They embraced, staying that way the whole day.

Author's notes
Well, I wasn't going to completely retell the whole Avalon saga! Hope you enjoyed this story. If inspiration hits, I might write more about Jophiel and Aindreas. For now, I'm going to concentrate on Lex and Amp.
Peace,
Cygna.