Stolen One
The Gargoyles and all associated characters are the
property of Disney. With the exception of Stolen One,
whose mine, and all mythological and Shakespeare
Characters who belong to us all.
Scotland 994 AD
Dawn was quickly approaching and Goliath and Hudson
had yet to return. Stolen One began to despair of ever
seeing them again. He alone knew of Goliath's love's
plot, but his foolish and unrequited love for her
prevented him from telling anyone. He knew his love
for her was foolish. She loved only Goliath and she
hated humans, unlike Stolen One. Stolen One pitied
humans. They could not fly, they did not heal with the
sun, and they were not as strong. If only she could see
that these drawbacks made them creatures to be
protected, not held in contempt.
Dawn was only moments away, if he was to live, he
must escape now. His eyes brimmed with tears, knowing
that by protecting her secret he had condemned his
adoptive clan to death. As he flew away in the
brightening morning, he silently hoped, prayed that the
human commander would be able to keep his word and
protect the helpless Gargoyle statues. Sadly, he
realized that his love for Goliath's love was slowly
twisting, and changing into something else.
Stolen One found refuge during the day in a cave
not far from the castle. While in his stone sleep, he
dreamed of his past.
A hundred years ago, he had been stolen, as an egg,
by the Three Weird Sisters. It had been the unlikely
team of Puck and Goliath's love that had rescued his egg
from the Three Sisters. But not before they had
performed many spells on it. It was for this reason he
had been named Stolen One. While his clan was very
kind to him, he had left to be near the one who had
rescued him.
It was with this clan that Stolen One felt truly
happy. And not just because he was near the one he
loved. He felt a deep kinship with the members of that
clan that he did not feel with the Irish clan.
Scotland 992 AD
Two nights following his escape from Castle Wyvern,
Stolen One returned hoping to encounter his friends
alive and well. To his horror and dismay, he instead
found crumbled statues, and his closest friends and
Goliath frozen in stone at night. He let out an enraged
roar. The change in his feelings towards the one he had
loved was now complete. He solemnly swore she would pay
for what she had done. If he ever saw her again, he
would kill her.
Ireland 1005
"This way!" a voice shouted. "The demon is here!"
Stolen One fled the angry mob, terrified. He
clutched a tablet in his hand, one he had stolen from
the ruins near these humans' town. They had seen him
and thought to destroy him.
He fled into a deep cave, hoping to hide. But the
humans found him.
"Seal the cave!" the leader shouted. "Don't let it
escape!" Fearfully, Stolen one retreated further into
the cave. When the sounds of the humans finally died
away, he returned to the sealed entrance and tried to
dig his way out. But it was hopeless. There was only
one way he would survive. Forcing his eyes to glow, he
began to read the tablet aloud in the light his eyes
provided. When he had finished reading, he turned to
stone until such time as the tablet was read again.
Three bats on the ceiling watched in silence above
the frozen figure of Stolen One. One brown, one black,
one white.
"Now Sisters," the brown one said. "We can
continue our work."
Ireland 1996
The steamshovel took another chunk of dirt from the
hillside. The construction had been going on many days
in order to complete a new road to Dublin. The Foreman,
Thomas was the first to notice the opening in the hill.
"Stop the shovel!" he shouted. He went over to the
small opening in the hill. "Someone bring me a shovel!"
he called. Martin handed him one. Thomas began to
clear away the dirt from the cave and suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Martin asked. Then he looked where
Thomas was staring. There, crouched in the cave opening
was a beautifully crafted Gargle.
"Good lord, look at that." Thomas said.
"Aye, it's a beaut. I wager it's worth a pretty
penny."
"And I know just the buyer."
Dublin, Ireland
The Gargoyle statue sat in the woman's office as
she inspected the tablet. Inwardly, Demona smiled. He
was alive. Of all the deaths that she had mourned at
the fall of her clan, Stolen One's had hit her the most.
Next to Goliath's of course. She had always known of
Stolen One's love for her. And now that Goliath had
abandoned her, that love would be requited.
"You've done well Thomas." she purred at the man
standing nervously in front of her desk.
"Thank you maam." Thomas said. He was not used to
being in such a nice office. And the way the woman
looked at that statue, as if it were some long lost
friend. The woman was a nut for sure.
Demona quickly wrote the human a check. His boots
were dirtying her carpet.
Thomas' eyes brightened at the amount on the check.
"That's five thousand for each of us!" he said.
"And worth every penny." Demona smiled.
New York, three days later.
Demona paced the length of her office impatiently.
She had decided to wait until sunset to revive Stolen
One. For if he had seen the destruction at Castle
Wyvern then surely he would strike out at any human.
She smiled, now he must realize humans for what
they were, a threat to be eliminated.
Finally, the sun began to set, and Demona felt the
familiar pain of her transformation. Slowly, her human
form began to twist, distort. Wings sprung from her
back, and her skin turned a dark gray. Within moments,
the human was gone, replaced with a Gargoyle.
"And now my friend," she purred. "It's time to
rise and shine." She picked up the tablet, and began to
read. As the magical words left her mouth, the air
seemed to thicken, and she could have sworn she heard a
groan from somewhere deep within the Gargoyle statue.
When she had finished reading she waited expectantly.
At first nothing happened. Then, tiny hairline
cracks appeared. With a roar born of a thousand year
sleep, Stolen One burst from his captivity, eyes glowing
bright green.
Stolen One stretched and peered curiously around
the room. Then his eyes lit on the room's other
occupant.
"You!" To Demona's surprise, it was not a cry of
joy, but one of deep hatred.
Demona flung herself back as Stolen One leapt at
her. His eyes glowed bright green, a side effect of the
Weird Sisters' tampering.
Stolen One pinned her to the floor. "Murderer!
You betrayed the clan! Killed them!"
"No my love!" Demona cried in fear.
The battle glow faded slightly from Stolen One's
eyes. "Your love?" he murmured.
Demona took advantage of his hesitation. She freed
her hands and grabbed his head, kissing him as hard as
she could. She rolled over so that it was he, not her
who was pinned to the floor. She pressed herself
against him. "Yes, my love." she murmured in his
ear. "It was not I who betrayed out clan. It was
Goliath." She moved to kiss him again, but he clamped
his hand over her mouth.
"Mmmmphhhf!" she tried to mumble. The glow was
back in his eyes. "MMMMMMPHHF! MMMPHFFFFMMMMM!" She
tried to shout, but he was too strong. He had always
been stronger than the other Gargoyle's his age but
never this strong. The sisters had gotten to him again.
"Liar!" he cried. He stood, picking her up. "You
killed them! You hated the humans so much, you
sacrificed your own clan to kill them!"
He threw her across the room, but she managed to
stop her momentum with her wings. In a moment, she was
out the window.
"Run murderer! When I catch you, you will die!"
Stolen One leapt out the window to pursue her, but
stopped short at the sight of the city before him.
"Dear God!" he murmured. "What manner of place is
this?" Before him he saw strange rectangular buildings
that stretched to the very sky, below him were strange
creatures with glowing eyes.
He flew lower to the ground to get a better look
at them when bright lights were suddenly shone on him
from below.
"Goliath!" Hudson's voice echoed through the
castle. "I think ye'd best come see this!"
"What is it Hudson?" Goliath asked as he entered
the TV room. Then he saw what Hudson was watching."
"This is the third reported Gargoyle sighting in as
many days." the Anchor woman said. "One eyewitness was
able to take this picture of the creature." A
photograph appeared on the screen. A picture of a
frightened and confused...
"Stolen One!" Goliath and Hudson said at once.
to be continued...