Elisa squeezed her eyes shut. Despite what Goliath had saidshe found herself unable to face the raising sun, fear gripping her heart andmaking her tremble. She thought that, perhaps, it would be easier if she didn’tlook. Better to pretend that this was all a dream and when she awoke she wouldbe back to normal once more.
‘As much of a shame that would be,’ a small voice in theback of her head whispered. Elisa’s lip twitched in annoyance at that straythought. This was not the first time she’d been a gargoyle; long ago, when she’dfirst met the Clan, Demona had used Puck’s mirror in an attempt to get rid ofher. Puck, thankfully, had used the vagueness of Demona’s words to alter thewish so that rather than kill her, as Demona wanted, Elisa was merely turnedinto a gargoyle. It had been a confusing night, with her memories fuzzy andconfusion running rampant, but she’d never forgotten what it felt like. The Clanhad never asked her about it and Elisa was glad…
…because she didn’t like focusing on how wonderful it felt.
The strength that had flowed through her. The power thatseemed to hum in her veins. The primal drive that let her feel so utterly freeand wild. Days after that incident she had felt as if her natural form wasutterly lacking. She still woke up from dreams of flying and hunting, pantingand moaning, and looked down at her normal human form and, briefly, cursed herweak body.
But she did her best to hide those thoughts. To not focus onthem. To not dwell on the strange feelings that such thoughts brought out.Mostly because she knew it would never be (‘Ha! Yeah, right!’) but also becauseshe had the feeling that those thoughts, those dreams… were not quite what theClan dreamed.
The rays of the sun struck her face, chasing away thethoughts. She braced herself, her face screwed up… but as the seconds ticked byshe slowly opened one of her eyes, then the other. She looked out at thesun-bathed New York, burrow screwed up in confusion.
“Uh… am I doing something wrong?” she asked.
“You aren’t,” Goliath said, his voice startling her. Shelooked over and gasped, shocked to see him and the rest of the clan standingthere with befuddled looks on their faces, the sun beating down on them.
“We’re… not stone,” Lexington said.
Brooklyn nodded, holding out his hand and watching the sundance along his taloned hand. “How… how is this possible?”
“Witchcraft,” Hudson muttered to himself.
“The Eye,” Goliath stated. “It must have done more thansimply transform Elisa. We have been altered as well.” He got a strange look onhis face and stopped speaking.
“Goliath?”
“The sun… it is different than what I expected,” he stated.He flexed a bit, muscles bulging out as he rolled his shoulders. “It is… warmerthan I expected.”
“Yes,” Angela said. “I thought it’d be like candlelight orlike the light from a lightbulb…” Goliath’s daughter stretched like a cat, asmile blooming on her face. “But it is so… wonderful!”
Elisa looked at the sky, her eyes narrowing in thought. ‘Yeah…the sun does feel different.’ She’d been growing tired as the dawn hadapproached but now she felt oddly revitalized. The sun’s rays were making herfeel like she’d just downed 10 cups of coffee and was buzzing on the mother ofall caffeine highs. She looked down at her arms, flexing that and watching asthe muscles danced under her skin.
“We should explore!” Broadway said. “I’ve never seen NewYork in the light!”
“And that is exactly why we shouldn’t!” Hudson statedgruffly. “We’ll be easier to spot.”
“And we don’t know how long this will last,” Goliath statedfirmly. “If we suddenly turned to stone while flying-“ The rest of the Clanshuddered at the thought. “Let us stay inside, for now, and search for answers.”
“I bet Demona has an idea or two,” Brooklyn said darkly. “I’llgo talk to her.”
The rest of the clan began to head back inside the castlebut Elisa’s hand caught Goliath’s forearm, holding him back. He paused, watchingas the rest of the group left, before turning to face her. “What is it?”
“I…” Elisa bit her lip, squirming a bit. “Could we just…stay out here a bit?” Goliath looked at her and she smiled weakly. “I hadn’treally thought about it, what with everything that happened… but yesterdaycould have been the last day I ever saw the sun.”
“Elisa…” Goliath said, stepping closer to her. “Puck-“
“Is Puck,” Elisa said, her wings stretching out and catchingmore of the sun’s rays. “We have no idea when, if ever, he’ll undo this. Hell,this could all be part of a plan of his. The point is, big guy… can we just…stay out here a bit? Enjoy the sun?”
Goliath took a deep breath before nodding, taking her hand and guiding her tothe ledge. “Yes, I suppose so.”