Page 96 of Forgotten Arcane

“I’m here,” Dare says, looking slightly nervous.

“Good job keeping everyone here,” River says. He then adds, “Could you please lead all of those that are able to walk back to the pack house.”

Dare grins, “Absolutely.”

“Everyone else, help load up anyone who can’t walk into the jeeps and take off. We will follow behind you, we’re going to take care of the dead here,” River continues.

Everyone does as they’re asked, and soon the only ones that are left in the clearing are the guys, me, Rana, Amari, Asher, and Logan.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Neith

“Ithink we should put the dead in the tunnels and seal off this entrance,” Van suggests.

Wolves can’t put themselves back together, so it’s a good plan, and one that doesn’t present any unnecessary risk, and we don’t have to dig. I hate digging graves. My arms ache for days after.

Griff nods in agreement, “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. Plus, there are so many offshoots of that main tunnel. If we didn’t have Neith, we would have never found the lost pack members.”

Asher shakes his head, “Especially not since the dirt and the dampness messes with our noses under there. So if we had used them, we would have most likely ended up heading in the wrong direction.”

“If any of the teenage pups decide to go down into the tunnels on a dare, they could die down there before anyone finds them,” Rana adds with a concerned frown.

With the plan agreed, we all work together gathering the dead wolves that were loyal to Derek, and throwing them down the entrance to the caves. Once we’re done, everyone looks at Ransom, just assuming that he’s going to be the one to close the caves, and he smiles.

“My magic is getting a little tired,” Ransom says. He looks at Griff, “This one is for you.”

I have absolutely no idea what Griff is going to do, but I am very intrigued.

Griff grins, “It’s been a while since I’ve moved rock, but it shouldn’t take me too long.”

“Move rock?” Amari asks.

“Yeah, I’m a gargoyle, and it’s one of my gifts,” he explains.

“So fucking cool,” I mutter, earning a smile from him.

Logan grins, “I’ve never seen a gargoyle in action before, this is exciting. Dare’s going to be pissed that he’s missed it.”

“Alright, can everyone take a step back, please? Like I’ve said, I haven’t done this for a while, and I don’t want to accidentally get one of you, or open up a new hole instead of closing this one, and have everyone fall into it,” he tells us.

All of us take several steps back, not needing to be told twice. I have absolutely no desire to be trapped underground.

Griff shifts so that he’s in his gargoyle form, and I grin. I love it when these guys show their supernatural sides.

We all stand there staring at him, which I have to admit is most likely not the most helpful thing to do. I’m sure it makes him more nervous, but I’m not really willing to not watch him, because I am extremely curious to see how he’s going to do it.

I don’t know enough about gargoyles to know what the norm is. I know what they look like and their basic skill set, but that’s pretty much it. I do know that they are guardians, like they were always portrayed as in humanliterature. They’re protectors, and although some of them protect buildings and take on the traditional roles of becoming stone while they do it, and working in shifts so they aren’t frozen as stone for years, it tends to be people that they protect.

It really doesn’t surprise me that Griff chose to become a SID agent, even if he did have a little push from Evander. The protection gene in them is so strong that it’s really a perfect job for a gargoyle.

They’re really strict with tradition though, and it’s only recently that they have started to move away from their clans, and do jobs like becoming a SID agent. I can imagine that it caused quite a stir when Griff announced that being an agent is what he had chosen to do.

He did say that we could go and visit his family at some point though, so his family must be one of the more relaxed clans.

“How are you going to close the hole?” Rana asks curiously, and Griff glances back at her with a smile.

“I’m going to get the loose rocks nearby and get them to fill in the hole, and then I’ll ask the earth to cover it so that it can’t be seen,” Griff explains.

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