An uneasy silence settled over the group. Juliana moved up to take her mother’s hand.
“We have further preparations.” Ylva turned, gave a nod at Nel, and walked straight through one of the sealed off walls.
“Well, as Lady Ylva said, I’m Nel.” She clapped her hands together and smiled an incredibly shaky smile.
“‘Lady Ylva?’ What is with the majestic plural anyway?”
Eva shrugged. “She’s the daughter of Hel. Granddaughter of Loki. If she wants to talk funny, let her.”
“A-anyway,” Nel said, “the tour?”
It took the group a moment to get moving, but eventually Nel managed to herd them around the pit.
Genoa had fallen to the back of the group and started a heated conversation in whispers with Zoe.
“First off, the most important place.” Nel walked open armed into one of the chambers. “The bath.”
The steam-covered pool before Eva was nearly as large as the entirety of the women’s ward building. Absolutely superfluous. And impractical. So much of the basin likely never saw use.
But that was the nature of domains. It didn’t cost Ylva anything.
“The statues serve as faucets and–”
“Gargoyles.”
Nel blinked at Carlos’ interruption. “Yeah,” she said with a blank look. “They’re activated by distance. Just walk close and water comes out.”
“Activated isn’t the right word. They’re living creatures. Gen, gargoyles!” Carlos had a stupid grin on his face as he ran up to the one standing over a shallower basin. He didn’t seem to notice getting soaked as the gargoyle opened its maw and started a shower.
“I can see them, dear,” Genoa said with a sigh.
“This one is pregnant!”
Eva blinked. The obsidian woman didn’t look pregnant. She had chiseled abs. Literally.
“They’re all pregnant, dear.”
Eva blinked again. None of them looked any different from the one whose pedestal Carlos was hugging.
“Technically,” he said, “but this one is close.”
“Are we missing something?” Shalise asked.
“Gargoyles are powerful hydroturges. Somewhere in the top five of all magical creatures that can manipulate water. But they’re incredibly rare. Almost extinct. I’ve never seen one before. And there’s four here?
“The reason they’re near extinct is because of an incredibly slow reproductive cycle combined with people hunting them. The stone has tons of magical properties that aren’t found elsewhere, especially relating to water magic.
“The pedestal,” he said, patting the gargoyle’s pedestal, “is this gargoyle’s young. The stone slowly absorbs ambient magic over the years. Not sure on how many years, exactly. It could be upwards of a thousand.
“The stone starts out the size of my fist and grows to this massive pillar. When it is ready, the gargoyle will hop off and use its sharp talons to carve out a new gargoyle–born completely adult. Both will take a shaving of the stone to raise as their new young.”
“Take a moment to breathe, dear.”
Despite her earlier hostility against Ylva, Genoa’s smile had grown to match Carlos’ grin.
“Um,” Nel said. She had started looking somewhat sick partway through Carlos’ deluge. “So, they’re living things?”
“Of course. I wonder if I can be here when… I mean, it could be decades away still.” His eyes slowly turned over towards Eva.
Eva gave him a shrug. “You need to ask Ylva about that. I don’t know when and I’m not in charge of this place.”
“Of course, of course. I’ll be sure to,” his eyes flicked over to his wife as he stumbled over a few words. “That is to say, I’ll just–”
Genoa let out a long sigh. “Do what you want.”
His smile returned to full brightness in the blink of an eye. “I’m sorry,” he said to Nel, “I interrupted your tour. Shall I stay here? I’m all wet and I’d love to talk–do they talk?–or examine them.”
“Um, sure.” Nel turned and half sprinted from the room. She led the remaining members of their group straight to the bedroom. “The sleeping quarters. I don’t think there are any secretly living statues in here,” she added with a nervous laugh.
Genoa raised an eyebrow. “One bed?”
“It’s gigantic,” Eva said. “I’ve seen large swimming pools before, but this is as big as the stupid bath. Have you ever seen a bed even half this size?”
Shalise just gaped open-mouthed.
“That’s a problem though,” Juliana said. “You sleep naked.”
“I do.”
“And Arachne will be sleeping next to you.”
“Most likely.”
“Nel will be here too?”
“Don’t ask me.”
“My mother?”
Eva shrugged and glanced at Genoa.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on Arachne. Ylva and Nel too.”
“Yes, Juliana,” Eva said, “your mother as well.”
The blond girl let out a long sigh. “Our little camp out got really awkward somewhere along the way.”
Uneasy Days
The clouds were unnatural.
Yesterday had been bright and sunny. Not a cloud for miles around. Eva wasn’t in the habit of watching the news, but she imagined the forecast would have been sunny for the next several days.
The sheer level of overcast hanging over the school’s campus–and only the school’s campus–had several students skipping school. It was far too ominous for their tastes.
