Stone Guardian(11)

And almost…beautiful, in a rough-hewn, alien way.

He called her a guest and hadn’t yet tried to harm her. She owed him an acknowledgement of what he had done for her. “Thank you for saving my life.”

His eyes widened in surprise at her words, as if gratitude was the last thing he ever expected to receive. He inclined his head a fraction. “You are welcome,” he said in those deep tones that relaxed her almost against her will.

“You’re name is Terak?”

“Yes.”

“I assume from your conversation-” Larissa waved her hand toward the ceiling, “-with the others, you are the leader here?”

“I am.”

“So can you tell me what you are?”

His head tilted as he studied her. “You do not know?”

“I’m a human who lives in the human-only city. I know elves have pointy ears and dwarves are easy to trip over. Too much beyond that, I’m at a loss.”

The question unsettled him, if the way he broke her gaze and stared into the blazing fire was anything to go by. “I am a gargoyle,” he said at last, tension in the rigid set of his shoulders.

There was a time when Larissa had wanted to learn about the other races, before she realized why her father carried such tension at the mention of any creature that had appeared since the Great Collision and set aside any curiosity in favor of pleasing her father. She only knew the big ones – dwarves, elves, werewolves… vampires. Still, for the first time since she was little, Larissa wished she had snuck some books and spent a little more time learning about the new races. His tension had not abated, so he must be expecting a negative reaction. She could understand why. Gargoyles were a fearsome race if tonight was anything to go by. What human wouldn’t be terrified of them?

“What were you doing in the city?” And why didn’t the wards keep you out? she mentally added.

His body relaxed, maybe because she didn’t react to the gargoyle reveal screaming or something. He turned to face her fully. “My Clan is… friendless… in this world. We rely only on ourselves for survival. To that end, we patrol all areas to keep aware of the happenings of this world, even those places that are forbidden to us.”

It made sense. She could see Dad doing the exact same thing under similar circumstances. The whole “friendless” business though, not a good omen. Was it because they feared other races, or other races feared them? From tonight’s goings-on, she was a firm follower of the second camp. Still didn’t explain the wards, but she wasn’t stupid enough to bring that up to him. That was a question purely for when she was safe back at home.

“So why did you save me? Why did you bring me here?” The next question stuck in her throat. Swallowing a few times to work saliva in her mouth, she formed the question she dreaded asking. “Am I going to be allowed to go home?”

Her voice cracked on the last syllable. Terak made a brief move toward her before seeming to reconsider and hold himself still. “You will be returned home. I swear it.”

Damn tears. She didn’t want them to fall, not now, not when she wasn’t sure she could stop them once they started. Larissa scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. “Please take me home then.”

“Not yet. We have much to discuss.”

“Discuss what?” Her voice rose several decibels. Larissa stopped for a moment, taking several deep breaths. He said he was going to take her home, that didn’t mean she was home yet. Best to remember that. “Sorry. I don’t understand what we need to talk about. I thank you for saving me, but what else is there?”

Terak made a motion to one of the couches, an order to sit disguised as polite concern. Larissa obeyed.

He opened his mouth, then hesitated. “May I know your name?”

“Oh.” Surprise at his words lit through her, the normalcy of the question releasing some of the tension pitted in her stomach. “Larissa. Larissa Miller.”

“Larissa,” he said, and she wanted to close her eyes and listen to him repeat those three syllables on an endless loop. “Why were you attacked by the zombies?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

There wasn’t any disbelief in his voice – none that she could detect, anyway – but there was still something in the spacing of the words that made it clear he didn’t fully believe her. “No, I don’t know. It was probably some random occurrence, though they shouldn’t have been able to get into the city.” Like you was mentally added, but once again, self-preservation kept her from speaking those words aloud.