{"sf1_id":585341,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Guns of Legend: Chapter Eight","author":"ThisAdamGuy","words":1685,"posted_at":"2013-09-04T01:32:00.000Z","tags":["Fantasy","Guns","Shotguns","Western","cowboy","furry","indian","pistols","rifles"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/585341-guns-of-legend-chapter-eight","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/585341","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=585341\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nChapter Eight\nAdlis could hear Za whimpering\nbehind her as the gargoyles roughly herded them across the desert.  She had lost track of time long ago, but\nfigured it was getting close to sunrise.\n\"It's okay, Za,\" she comforted her\nfriend.  \"I don't think they're going to\nhurt us.\"\n\"They won't even let me put water\non my eyes!\" he whined.  Adlis felt his\npain.  Without eyelids, a simmk could be\nput in a lot of pain if they could not flick water on their eyes, especially in\na hot, dry environment like the desert.\n\"Just hold on a little bit longer,\"\nshe urged him.\n\"Doesn't matter,\" Kilo butted\nin.  \"We won't be leaving them any time\nsoon.\"\n\"Don't say that!\" Adlis snapped\nwith more confidence than she really felt. \n\"They're not going to hurt us!\"\n\"I don't care if they do or not,\"\nthe fuaro snarled.  \"They're the ones\nthat did it, and I'm going to make them pay for it!\"\n\"They're the ones who did what?\"\nAdlis asked.\n\"They're the ones who stole my\nlittle Vikka,\" Kilo turned to the nearest gargoyle and demanded, \"Where's my\nson, rockbrain?\"\nThe gargoyle didn't even acknowledge\nthat she had spoken.  It kept walking,\nits eyes never straying left nor right.\n\"Hey, I'm talking to you!\" Kilo\nkicked out, striking the gray monster on his shin.  With a savage growl, the gargoyle whipped\naround and backhanded the fuaro so hard that she collapsed to the sandy ground.\nThe chief made an angry sound from\nthe front of the line, as if berating the gargoyle that had struck Kilo.  With an exasperating groan, the gargoyle bent\ndown and hoisted Kilo to her feet again, setting her roughly down in line once\nagain before continuing to march.\n\"Please, Ms. Kilo,\" Adlis begged,\n\"don't antagonize them!\"\n\"They're a bunch of rotten, lousy\nchild murderers!\" the angry woman shot back, her cheek already beginning to\nswell where it had been struck.  \"What do\nyou want me to do?  Invite them home for\na few drinks?\"\n\"If you keep acting like this, they\nwill kill us!\" Adlis insisted, eliciting\na frightened moan from Za behind her.\n\"They're gargoyles, stupid, not\nlawmen!\" the fuaro replied, her voice curt and spiteful.  \"They don't know the difference between life\nand death.  They'll stick a knife in our\nchests and then wonder why we don't wake up the next morning!\"\nAdlis glanced about, frightened\nthat their stony-faced captors would somehow understand them and take offense\nto Kilo's insults.  They remained as\nimpassive as ever, though, and continued marching through the desert.\nIn the near distance, the bluff\nAdlis had noticed earlier rose above them. \nAs they drew nearer, she began to spot more signs of gargoyle\ninhabitation.  A group of them stood at\nattention before the cliff, parting to allow the chief's scouting party access.  Gargoyles of every shape and size were\nscattered around the area, going about their nocturnal business.  Children played at the base of the cliff\nwhile, and adults did their various appointed jobs.  Two females were busy skinning a vallug while\na third boiled water to cook the meat in. \nA group of males chatted amongst themselves as they whittled away pieces\nof wood and bone to use as weapons. \nTowards the far end of the camp, an ancient looking gargoyle spoke to a\ngroup of children in their strange language, waving its hands around\ndramatically.  The children listened to\nthe old goyle, their eyes wide with amazement.\nThere was a hole in the side of the\ncliff, about twenty feet above the ground. \nAs the scouting party approached the stone wall, a rope ladder dropped\nout of it, and they began to climb.  A\ngargoyle came to the back of the line and slashed the ropes that bound the\ncaptives' hands and motioned for them towards the ladder with a grunt.\n\"I don't want to go up there!\" Za\nwhined, but another gargoyle kicked him roughly in the rear.\n\"Hey!\" Adlis shot at the culprit.\n\"Save it,\" Kilo advised her.  \"I'd say a kick in the backside is the least\nof our problems tonight.\"\nDespite her anger, Adlis forced\nherself to keep her tongue in check.  She\ngently took Za's hand and led him towards the ladder.\n\"It'll be all right,\" she promised.  \"I won't let anything happen to you.\"\nThe look Za gave her almost broke\nher heart.  It was one of complete trust\nand dedication.  He truly believed that\nshe wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. \nEven after getting kidnapped by a mad fuaro, just to be kidnapped again\nby a tribe of gargoyles.  Then again, if\nhe could trust her after the incident with his tail, there probably wasn't\nanything he wouldn't trust her about...\nWithout another word, the simmk\nbegan to climb the ladder.  Adlis\nfollowed after him, and Kilo came after her. \nWhen she reached the top, she was roughly herded further into the cave.  All three of them were seated on an\noutcropping of rock in the cave wall and their hands were bound once more.  The chief came by briefly to make sure they\nwere tied up good and tight, as well as give Adlis' ears one final inspection,\nbefore going back to the mouth of the cave. \nHe leaned his head back and let out a howl that chilled Adlis'\nbones.  Before she had time to wonder\nwhat that had meant, the gargoyles outside began to climb into the cave.\nOnce the entire tribe was inside,\nthe chief selected nine males from the tribe and gave them a gruff\ncommand.  With a solemn nod, they moved to\nthe mouth of the cave.  Three of them got\ndown on their knees and hunched over, and three more climbed on top of them and\ndid the same, followed by the final three. When they were all in position, they formed a\nwall of gargoyles, three wide and three tall.\n\"What are they doing?\" Adlis asked\nin genuine curiousity.\n\"No idea,\" Kilo huffed.\nHer question was answered, though,\nwhen the sun began to peak over the horizon. \nThough Adlis could only glimpse peaks of it between the gargoyles, it\nslowly began to creep through the opening and into the cave.  The chief barked a command, and the tribe\nbacked away from the entrance until they were clear of where the light touched\nthe cave floor.  A strange crackling\nfilled the air, and Adlis turned to look.\nTo her horror, the gargoyles at the\nentrance were slowly turning to stone! \nTheir skin lightened from their dark scaly gray to that of weathered and\nbeaten rock, and then hardened until there were nine statues stacked on top of\neach other at the mouth of the cave.  She\nstifled a gasp, trying not to further frighten Za.\n\"What just happened?\" she asked,\nher voice timid.\n\"They are protecting the cave,\" an\nold raspy voice answered.\nAs one, all three of the captives\nturned to see the old gargoyle from before shambling towards them.  His body was haggard, but he was clothed in a\nshawl that wrapped around his entire body like a blanket.  Behind him stood a far younger gargoyle.\n\"Who are you?\" Kilo demanded.\n\"The Great Fire is the enemy to the\nStone Children,\" the old gargoyle went on. \n\"A single touch of its light will return us to our elemental forms until\nthe gentle touch of the Stone Mother finds us once again.\"\n\"What's he talking about?\" Za\nasked, trying to scoot further away from the ancient goyle.\n\"He means that if a gargoyle gets\ntouched by sunlight, they turn to stone,\" Kilo answered.  \"And they stay that way until night falls.\"\n\"But why would they do that?\" Adlis\nasked, looking back towards the nine statues that blocked the entrance to the\ncave.\n\"To protect us, just as I said,\"\nthe old gargoyle repeated.  \"During the\nday, we are unprotected.  We cannot\nventure forth into the world until the Great Fire sinks, but we have many\nenemies who can.  By blocking the\nentrance to our cave, they are preventing these enemies from reaching us until\nwe are able to defend ourselves once more.\"\nWith a groan, the old gargoyle sat\ndown across from them and smiled, \"My name is Gukkalunk.  This is Fusk,\" he motioned towards the young\ngargoyle.  \"I am storyteller to the In\nMountain Gargoyles.\"\n\"What do you want with us?\" Kilo\ndemanded.\n\"We want nothing to do with you nor\nthe masked one,\" Gukkalunk answered.  \"We\nonly have business with the Magic Ears.\"\nAdlis' eyes widened in horror and\nher ears turned white.  Gukkalunk smiled\nand pointed at them, \"It is as Chief Hakka said!\" he declared.  \"You have magic in your ears!\"\nAdlis remained silent, and tried\nnot to look at the old gargoyle.\n\"Leave her alone!\" Za\ndemanded.  \"She doesn't like it when you\ntalk about them!\"\nA perplexed look came over\nGukkalunk's face, \"But why?\" he asked.  \"Such\na gift must be told about in stories! \nYou do not keep something like this silent!\"\n\"It's not a gift,\" Adlis\nwhispered.  \"It's a curse.\"\n\"Curse?\" Gukkalunk asked, \"I do not\nknow this word,\"\n\"It means that I didn't ask for it,\"\nAdlis explained.  \"It was given to me\nagainst my will.\"\n\"Of course you did not ask for it,\"\nGukkalunk declared.  \"One does not ask\nfor gifts!  They are given by others out\nof kindness!\"\n\"This wasn't given to me out of\nkindness,\" Adlis insisted.  \"She gave me\nthis curse so that she could escape justice.\"\nGukkalunk's eyes narrowed, \"What do\nyou mean by this?\"\n\"The woman who gave me these ears\nwas a Cursecaster.  She cursed my ears to\navoid being tried for her crimes.  And\nnow my family has turned their backs on me unless I can get rid of it!\"\nAdlis clenched her eyes shut and\ntears poured down her cheeks in humiliation. \nSobs threatened to burst out of her chest.  When she finally looked back at the storyteller,\nseveral minutes later, he was looking at her with a solemn expression.\n\"Tell me this story,\" he said\nsoftly.\n"}