Chapter 247 Moving Night

"They're the wrong kind of wings," said Merle with a shake of his head. "Here, I'll fix them."

Aella turned her head to see huge swirling fairy wings flutter as she flexed her back muscles suddenly become giant gargoyle wings, similar to what Hunter had.

"I liked the wings she had!" pouted Sarah, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"These look better for her, though," said Donovan, squinting his eyes and tilting his head to look at her.

"I have wings," whispered Aella, a small glow of delight growing in her as she flapped them slowly.

"Well, they look good for you, I guess," said Elalar, with a shrug. "Why are you here?"

"I was hoping you didn't mind if I let the kids sleep here for the night? I have something I need to check on that's really important," said Aella, thinking about what the queen of the fairies might do to the podlings the world tree was growing.

"I don't really have a place for them to sleep," said Elalar, looking around at the forest that was still looking pretty sparce.

"I thought we were getting to see giant flying lions, like your Precious?" asked Donovan. "I want to go see them while you deal with things."

"I don't know that…" started Aella, then stopped. Why not? There wasn't much the kids should be able to get into with the lions. "Alright, let's go."

"Sorry, Aella," said the king of the elves.

"It's alright Elalar. I should have thought of that before asking," said Aella with a nod before teleporting the kids to the lions.

"Aella?" asked Amra, raising his massive head to look over her at the kids in the growing dusk.

"Do you mind if I leave these children with you for a short while? I need to check on something, and it might be a little dangerous."

"Are you sure this is the best place for them? Why not with some of the other people in this realm? They look human, so wouldn't humans be the best ones to watch them?" he asked in confusion.

"Yeah, about that. These are special kids who like to get into things. There's nothing they can get into here, since you guys live in a cave and hunt during the day. I just need a place for them to sleep while I deal with things. I'll get them back as soon as I can."

He yawned and shrugged. "If they only need a place to sleep, I suppose they can do that here."

The kids all looked at the giant lion and back at her.

"Go on, snuggle close to him for warmth. I'll be back before you wake," said Aella.

With a wide grin, Donovan was the first to rush over to Amra and snuggle into his side. Amra opened an eye to study him for a moment, then closed it back. Sarah joined him next with a look of interest on her face but Merle stood back with his arms closed.

"I want to voice an objection. You are supposed to be the one who watches us and you have actually done very little of that this entire week."

"When I asked your mom what I was supposed to do with you, she said to keep you alive. I'm doing that. Now sleep," grumbled Aella.

Merle deflated and picked his way over to his siblings to settle in to sleep. Aella waited a few moments before leaving, to make sure they didn't try and sneak away. Teleporting above the mushroom forest, she saw that the mushrooms gave off a faint glow in the night.

"You don't really think the fairy queen is going to hurt the baby gargoyles, do you?" asked Precious.

"I'm doubting the decision to have them be here. I never considered how chaotic the queen would be. I want to check on them to make sure they are safe before I ask the tree if it can move them somewhere else. The last thing I want is the fairy queen changing them with her magic so that they don't count as gargoyles anymore."

"Where are you going to move them?" asked Precious, joining her in searching the ground.

"I think I will move them closer to the gargoyles themselves, so they are all together. If Hunter knows how to train other gargoyles to fly, it would be good if he could train these when they hatch."

"They'll probably find it weird that these ones come from pods."

"Probably, but it can't be helped."

They searched the glowing fields for several hours, using the winds to move them faster, and finally found them shortly after midnight. A huge field spread out at the foot of a mountain covered in large vines and softly glowing fruits. As Aella landed next to one, she could see a baby gargoyle curled up inside the fruit, sleeping peacefully.

"I don't see any fairies around," whispered Precious.

"I don't sense any either," said Aella, looking over the vast field. Teleporting to the foot of the tree, she quickly asked, "Is there any way you could move the podlings to the continent with the gargoyles? I fear the fairy queen is too chaotic to allow them to grow up there safely."

"After the recent events, I am prone to agree with you, but moving them will make them vulnerable to any predators near the gargoyles," said the tree.

"I am willing to travel to the location in order to build a wall or something to protect them while they grow," said Aella.

"Very well, I will start moving them, while you prep the area they are to be moved to."

Aella nodded and teleported to the entrance of the gargoyle cave. Hunter was sleeping at the entrance, perched in a crouch overlooking the plains they hunted on. When she moved to approach him, he swirled in surprise, pulling a knife to defend himself with.

"Oh, Aella. It is only you. Forgive me, I was dreaming of being attacked when I heard your step."

"Your hearing must be really good if you heard me," said Aella. She hadn't been trying to be quiet, but she had always prided herself on her silence. Perhaps she should work on that more.

"It has been the only thing that kept me alive in my last home. What brings you here so late at night?"

"I am bringing several thousand baby gargoyles over to the field below before dawn. They are being grown by our world tree in pods, since we do not have enough women gargoyles to carry them. I plan to build a protective layer of rock around them, to keep most predators from harming them, but was hoping you would help keep an eye on them as well."

"If you fill the field below the cave with these pod plants, we will have to fly further to hunt. Besides, what will we do with so many new babies when they are born?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"They will be born fully grown, but unskilled. They will have basic knowledge, to survive, but I was hoping you and the others could teach them what they won't know. I can make homes for them in these cliffs, before they are ready to be born, but the location I had them started at ended up being too dangerous."

He turned to look over the field below them thoughtfully.

"Will the field return to this after they are born?" he asked, waving at the ground below them.

"I can return the land to this, and I imagine the world tree can return the plants. The animals are bound to follow the food, so yes."

He nodded after a moment of thought. "This is why you asked for samples of our blood, isn't it? Will we be able to mate with them, if such feelings arise?"

"I believe so. That was the hope, if they were born fully mature, that children could be conceived sooner."

"I will allow this, and inform the others in the morning. I am sure the women here will be interested in watching them grow."

Aella nodded her thanks and flew down to the ground to get started making walls to keep most of the predators out.

"He didn't comment about your wings," said Precious, turning his head to look back at them. "Oh, never mind. You don't have them anymore."

"I don't?" asked Aella, glancing back and flexing her back muscles. There was nothing there to flap. "Did the world tree remove them, or do you think the queens magic is temporary?"

"If Sarah still has her wings, then the world tree removed them. If she doesn't, then it must be temporary," mused Precious.

With a sigh of disappointment, Aella got busy making the walls. She had wanted to show her new wings to Frederik. The roots carrying the pods began to break through the dirt, snaking across the ground and vining out as they had been before. The baby gargoyles slept on, oblivious to their new home.