BY CHUCK KIENZLE

Copyright is held by the author.

WHEN ANYONE in the town needed help, they called Rocky Germain. He hated that name. The surname was the closest humans could pronounce his most honourable family title. As for the nickname, gargoyles were made of rock.

Rocky rested on the roof of the church, the highest point in Lowland. He gazed over the couple of dozen buildings that lined its only road. A century ago, the residents petitioned for a gargoyle to rid them of a bunch of trolls. A few times since then, he had defended the humans from monsters. Mostly, he helped farmers move large rocks in their fields, assisted in the repair or building of houses, or helped retrieve cats from trees. He was bored.

He stared as the sun began to set behind the tall western peaks when a dot appeared in the radiant orb. It grew larger, and by nightfall, it closed enough for him to perceive the shape of another of his kind. Rocky’s stone heart stirred. Something new! He spread his wings and leapt into the sky.

He intercepted his counterpart high in the cloudless sky. Since his kind could see as well in the dark as in the light, he had no difficulty discerning the other gargoyle’s lack of horns. She was female and beautiful.

To human sight, all of his kind were grey, but he perceived her in a broader spectrum. Her wings shimmered like still waters that reflected moonlight. Her eyes blazed like diamonds. He glanced at her grey nether region, which would glow bright red with arousal.

Rocky brought his gaze to her eyes. “And who might you be?” His voice boomed. This was his territory, and he wanted her to recognize that.

Her wings beat slowly. “I am ‘unpronounceable name‘. Humans call me The Hard Lady. You may call me Lady.”

Rocky frowned. Why doesn’t she want me to address her by her proper name? “Very well. Lady, what has brought you to my domain?”

“You’ve heard of the great war against the southern wizards, which we won, at great cost.” Lady hovered.

Rocky nodded. “Traders had brought word of the conflict. I could not leave my post until ordered to do so. None came.”

Lady flew downward and settled on the dusty ground of the town’s road. “In truth, you were forgotten. After your assignment began, a fire in the records hall of our citadel destroyed many records. Word of your service reached us a brief time ago.”

He raised his stone eyebrow. “I wondered. Yet, it is not uncommon for decades to pass without word from the citadel or others of our kind.”

“Although victorious, the battles drained our numbers. We seek to replenish them.”

Rocky glanced at the buildings around him. They were all he had known for so long. The people here had accepted him. His chest ached at the thought of leaving them.

He stood up to his full height. “If ordered, I will go with you.”

She tilted her head. “In the morning, I will speak to the humans and learn of your importance to them. It would be unfair not to consider their desires in this matter.”

Rocky’s eyes narrowed. Why would she care? Shouldn’t the needs of the citadel take precedence?

The next morning, Rocky escorted Lady through the town and children flocked to them.

In the gargoyle’s guttural language, Lady said, “I am unused to the attention of human children. In my experience, they shy away from our kind in fear.”

Rocky nodded and replied in their speech, “Once I found that true, but no one alive remembers when I wasn’t a part of their lives. I am Rocky, their protector.”

They flew to an old farmhouse an hour from the town. Lady pointed to it. “I assume you helped maintain that place, too.”

Rocky cocked his head. “No. Two generations ago, I helped a man clear large rocks from a field and carry trees, which he had chopped down, so he could build the original home.”

She stopped and faced him. “You were sent here to protect the humans from monsters, not to make their lives easier.”

Rocky ground his stone teeth together, and he was sure the female could perceive the heat that built up in his face. “These are good people. This is a hard land. The summers are short and the winters long. They would survive without me but is it wrong to help them?”

He glanced around at the fields full of grain and vegetables. The sturdy fences, assembled by human hands, corralled the farmer’s few cows and pigs.

He lifted his large, grey hand and pointed at the red-hued barn. “As is their custom, the farmer’s neighbors gathered to help him construct it.”

She arched her eyebrow. “You didn’t help?”

“I was busy persuading a mountain lion to seek prey elsewhere.”

Late that evening, they flew back in silence to the town. He had shown her the extent of the lands the humans had settled, aside from a few hunting lodges in the mountains. He shook his head. She didn’t seem to be impressed.

When they landed, the town’s leader came out of his home and greeted them. “We wouldn’t know what to do without Rocky. We’ve been at peace since he came to us a century ago. My grandfather told me how he defeated the trolls who threatened us. Since then, his reputation has scared any monster away.”

A boy, out of breath, stumbled beside the leader, who said, “Natan, what’s the matter?”

The lad crouched and held his knees as he caught his breath. “Werewolves, they took my older brother.”

The gargoyles left the boy with the town’s leader and flew to the boy’s family farm, under the light of the full moon. They landed at the edge of the front porch, and a dog barked inside.

Rocky rapped on the door. “This is Rocky. I heard what happened to your son. Please open.”

“How do we know it’s you?” a man’s voice said from inside.

Rocky covered his face with his hand. “Juko, you’ve known me all your life. I took you into the air, on your sixth birthday, and you puked all over me.”

The door opened a crack, and Rocky saw one bloodshot eye. Then the door flew open, “Rocky! Thank the gods you’re here.” Juko froze for a moment. “You’ve a friend?”

Rocky glanced back at Lady. “Just visiting. Now, tell me what happened?”

Juko stepped onto the porch. The front door wasn’t tall or wide enough for a gargoyle to pass through. “A little before dark, my eldest son, Samte, was tending to the pigs. He screamed for help. I dashed out of the house and saw three wolfwomen, dragging him away. I ran toward them, but one bared her teeth and said, “We only want him. Get in our way, and all your family will die.”

The man shook his head. “At least, I think that’s what she said. She wasn’t easy to understand.”

“How did you tell they were female?” Lady said.

Juko slapped his chest. “I know tits when I see them, even ones covered by fur.”

She moved away and gestured to Rocky to follow. She stopped several human lengths away from the farmhouse. “Werewolf males are sterile. When their females go into heat, they require human men to father their pups.”

Rocky glanced back at the house. “When I first arrived in Lowland, I encountered an old, crippled man, who claimed a wolfwoman had taken him as a mate. They returned him with a broken arm and leg. The leg didn’t heal right.”

Lady nodded. “He was lucky. Werewolf mating is very vigorous, more than most human males can survive.”

Rocky slammed a fist into the palm of another. “We must find and free him before the female can have her way with him.”

“It may be too late for that. But within the same pack, werewolf females go into heat at the same time. If Samte survived the first encounter, they will give him a day to recover before the next mating.”

Rocky went over to the house and Juko. “We will find your son and return him to you.” Alive, I hope.

The two gargoyles leapt into the night sky and flew over the nearby forest.

Lady gestured towards the trees. “That’s where they will hide. If we confront them there, our size will limit our motion.” She tapped her left wing. “I’ve fought packs before, and their bite can pierce even our skin.”

Rocky pointed downward. “I see them. The trees can’t hide their heat. There’s a few in a clearing ahead.”

They hovered high over the open ground. Beneath a half dozen werewolves stood around the man who lay on the ground with a female, in human form, astride him.

“We must be careful. I sense a trap,” Lady said.

“Yes, but I have a responsibility to the man.” Rocky flapped his wings and settled to the ground. The other gargoyle followed.

When they landed, the female stood over Samte, and a male, in wolf form, who Rocky assumed was their pack leader, stalked over. “The man is alive and without any broken bones.”

“He’s moaning,” Rocky said.

The female who mated with Samte approached. Fur sprouted over her body. Her face stretched into a snout, and her ears went pointed. “I switch to human form to go easy on him.” She opened her mouth and swished her tongue around. “So, he wouldn’t be so hurt.”

 Rocky made his way over to the prone man. Two females stood over him. No bones were broken, but he was badly bruised. This was easy?

The gargoyle faced the two werewolves. I might take them out before they kill Samte, but their kind is fast. He glanced around and saw the heat of the other pack members in the surrounding trees. We’re surrounded.

The pack leader growled. “We need the man to service our other two females. He will be returned to his kind, assuming he survives.”

“That is a problem. I am charged with the protection of all humans in this land. Since you haven’t seriously injured Samte, I will allow you to leave in peace. But the man goes back to his people,” Rocky said.

The other werewolves emerged from the tree line. Rocky saw Lady’s fist glow, and her wings shimmered, in readiness to fight.

Rocky took a deep breath. “Two more men to satisfy your need. There are young, healthy ones in the town, who have complained about the lack of eligible women there. I’m sure, at least two, would be up to the challenge of mating with a werewolf.”

The pack leader shifted into human form. “Despite what others think of us, we do not want trouble. In this instance, we did what we had to do. Bring the men here by next nightfall and we will release this one, and the others by the next sunrise.”

Lady folded her hands. “We recognize your great bravery to assume the weak body of a human. We accept your offer.”

Rocky picked up Samte and cradled him in his arms. He and Lady flapped their wings and lifted into the darkness.

There was great consternation among the humans when Rocky explained the deal he had made with the werewolves. As he had expected, more than two men stepped forward to accept the challenge. The town leader selected two. Rocky chuckled. They were the town’s troublemakers.

Two days later, at noon, the two gargoyles rested on the roof of the church. Dark clouds filled the western sky.

“A storm approaches. We should leave,” Rocky said.

Lady took his hand. “Your place is here. I know no other of our kind who could have resolved the werewolf problem without bloodshed.”

Rocky nodded. “Even if we had escaped with Samte, the pack would have attacked the town. We would have had to kill them all.”

She squeezed his hand. “Or died trying.”

“But what of the need to replenish our ranks?”

Her nether region glowed bright red. “There are other ways to do that.”

***

Chuck Kienzle, a retired computer programmer, currently lives in western Pennsylvania with his wife, Judy, and her cat daughter Molly. Fifty years ago, he created the backstory for an epic fantasy, with maps, cultural breakdowns, a history, and gods. Then life got in the way. A decade ago, he started to write again. Now, he has four unpublished novels under his belt, and one, after three critique group run throughs, ready to be sent to agents and publishers. He writes urban fantasy and participated, with Janet Pierce and her twin sister, Janyce Brawn, in a talk on world building at the 2023 Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books. Does he wish he had kept going with his writing earlier? To paraphrase a former First Lady and Secretary of State; It takes a village to become a writer. Before he joined Pennwriters and two associated critique groups, his novels were full of imagination and technically inept. This may have come rather late in his life, but he has learned so much about the art of writing.