"NO! I can't believe it, I won't believe it!" she gasped, not accepting the fact. She had felt something in her mind, but it was when Cole died, so she thought it was him. No, when she thought about it, it could have been him. Oh, Great Warrior, what had she done? She hadn't even felt her own father die! She had nothing, not any more. She had to leave, get away from the room that stank of death. It was all she could do to stay sane. Now, she had to find her brothers and sister, help them, as they could later help her.
As she sailed out the window, Shanea made a promise to herself. Never, ever would she allow another creature into her heart like that. Never. There was safety by relying only on oneself. She was glad she had made it. She was almost feeling stronger, when she caught sight of patch on the river where had stayed with her brothers earlier. A scream ripped from her throat, one slightly of pain, but mostly of horror. It wasn't true. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. Not this, after all I've gone through, she thought.
As she watched the scene below, the trees burning far from the bank, blood soaking everything, Shanea stopped watching for anything else. The arrow that slashed through her wing brought a cry of agony to her lips. Before she could recover, a beast fell on her, slapping a burning piece of metal onto her back. Without thought, to dazed by her agony, the warrior princess flew onto her back, dropping the wingless creature into the raging river below. He cackled with glee as he fell, shouting, "You can't escape the mark, girl! You cannot escape....."He was cut off as the river grabbed him and pulled him to it's depths.
Shanea heard none of it. She was weak with shock, and the pain was beyond anything she had ever experienced. She began to sink lower, toward the river. She thought she heard vaguely, through the haze, a voice calling her.
"Shanea! Stop! Please!" She dismissed it as a wish, the voice being from a dead being.
Shanea hit the water with a dull splash. It caused the pain in her back to recede a little, and she saw something. It was actually someone. Shama ran along the bank, trying to reach his sister before she was gone. Shanea couldn't do anything. She was too dazed from the pain to move, and the current kept pulling her under and spitting her back up. She floundered for a minute at the edge, survival skills forcing her to grab the branch above her. She held on for a second, then a hand grabbed hers as she was forced to let go. Her head clearing, she looked up and saw, not Shama, but Daniel, holding her against the current. His jaw was clenched from the effort of holding her. Shanea reached up to grab the branch with her other hand, but the current snatched her away before she could do anything. Daniel started to jump into the water to save her. Shama and Shalanka stopped him from jumping, holding onto him with the help of others. Daniel roared his pain and frustration to the sky, watching Shanea fall over the edge of the waterfall. He roared her name. It was the last thing Shanea heard, as she hit her head on a rock, knocking her unconscious. She continued to fall, a lifeless rag, as the falls bore her down to depths, where no beast could survive.
Up above, Daniel watched it all, feeling his heart crack as he watched his beloved tumble down and be lost among the foam. He cried out once, his pain tearing him apart, and then he pulled free of the others. He tried to jump in, preferring to die with Shanea than live without her. The others, Shama, Shalanka, Donavon, even Anastacia, who had joined them, all followed, trying to save him. Shara remained, needing to stay and help. One by one, the current tore them away, taking them all down to the place where Shanea was, to the place between sleep and wakefulness, to the place between worlds. Only Daniel avoided the current, through no effort of his own. He watched as his best friends followed her, into a land unknown. They had no knowledge of their former selves, or of their duty. They lived as regular kids, not knowing themselves, not knowing her, on their own, until they met again. Of all the noble gargoyle race, only two more left the world, leaving their souls, and memories, locked away in a solid block of granite. The statues stayed, waiting for the day when their masters would return, giving them their lives and the lives of their stone clan.
