“Gargorètti, Madame.”
He blinked at me as the words left his mouth in a garbled whisper.
Holy. Burning.Stars.
“You’re a... but that can’t be. Edenael doesn’t have any...”
I tried to find my words as I shifted on my backside. The skin around my wrists chafed beneath the shackles that held them. I tried to sit straighter and look the creature in the eye. The sheer power, intelligence, andknowingI saw in them left me dumbfounded.
“You’re...” I swallowed, unable to keep from stuttering. “You’re agargoyle?”
Chapter 4
Nahomie
I couldn’t believemy words even as they left my mouth. Something like curious excitement flitted across my chest as I shuffled to a better sitting position, watching the Gargorètti with fresh eyes. I looked at the creature with rapt fascination. To my pleasant surprise, with the same curiosity, he looked back at me.
Frigid air made me shiver as I searched my mind, remembering the shreds of knowledge I’d been taught about this species. Papi had sparsely told me the legends surrounding the Gargorètti when I was a youngling. They lived in such obscurity that it was rare to spot them. Rarer still to study them. The researchers of the Chronophim rank had few tomes about the species, which made them more myth than anything, though they were real. When I was small, I loved snuggling deep into my comforter, curling up on my bedcloud, as Papi told me the tales of the Gargorètti migrating from distant worlds across the Sorellien Islands.
Several of them had settled across Mortevain, Sainterrain and Toussaint. I almost snorted at the irony. All of those islands were in outright rebellion against the Empyrean. The gargoyles had made homes among the opposing islands and hidden themselves away after the Farasee Order had them hunted tonear extinction. Edenael housed no Gargorètti. So how did this creature end up here?
“Awoui, Madame.”
The Gargorètti bowed his head. The gesture looked almost silly because of his gargantuan size. I bit back my childishness and refused to laugh, tickled as I was.
“I am a...” He scrunched his stony nose, stumbling over the word. “Gargoyle.”
I tried to smile. Our circumstances only afforded me a warm grimace.
“There’s no need to call me Madame. Nahomie will do just fine.”
The gargoyle smiled at me.
Burning stars, if that wasn’t the most terrifying sight I had ever seen in my life.
Still though. The beast was kind of... cute. In a dreadful way.
“What should I call you?”
I tilted my head to keep from hitting it against the bars as the cage jostled from side to side. Wherever we were flying, the ride was bumpy and turbulent. The gargoyle looked at me for a long time. His expression became neutral, but his eyes blazed. As if I’d committed a great offense. There wasn’t anything I could do to express my innocent intentions, so I kept my mouth shut and waited. After some time had passed, he seemed to judge me worthy. The gargoyle finally blinked. And he smiled again.
“I am Obsidian,” he said plainly.
“Obsidian,” I echoed. “It’s nice to meet you. Even if we’re both shackled like dewlambs being led to their slaughter.”
Obsidian chuckled, low and quiet, but the sound still rumbled the cage. Several of the Ivory Rain turned their heads, gilded faceplates tilting in our direction. I pressed a dirty finger to my lips. Obsidian blinked in response, an insignificant gesture of understanding. I looked closer at him in the dark as the cagecontinued its flight through the clouds. Wherever we were, I was positive Edenael was long behind us. My hearts withered at the thought. Distracting myself, I looked at the Gargorètti’s body.
“The Ivory Rain hurt you,” I whispered to him.
Obsidian’s face crumpled. He dropped his head. I silently cursed myself for being so forward. I opened my mouth to apologize when I noticed his head moving. The gargoyle was nodding.
“They captured you?”
More nodding.
“From where?”
“My home,” he responded without lifting his head. “On Mortevain Island.”
