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bossymarmaladeTo say the rookie Bette was paired with was off-putting on first inspection, was a bit of an understatement. Her ring told her, as he spoke, that his speciez were called “Gʼargwyl”, but the similarities to the sound of that word and his appearance being close to a gargoyle’s wasn’t lost on her.
He had large, leathery wings, twice his armspan, that he no doubt used for natural flight but were made redundant by his green power ring. His face was dog-like, finishing in a muzzle that bared two long upper fangs. There was no hair on his head, no eyebrows to speak of - perhaps he didn’t even sweat - but his body was covered in a fine layer of short, slate-blue hair like a velveteen rabbit. It was an odd colour against the bright green of his uniform, which completely covered his torso, leaving his limbs exposed. Perhaps his species didn’t wear gloves or boots, she guessed.
For all this, he was only two-thirds her height, but the ferocity of his appearance made him look anything but “cute” or child-like. After they were briefed by Brother Warth and on their way to where there were reports of two parademons entrenched in their position on the side of a mountain, Bette made an attempt at conversation. It kept her mind off the fact she was flying next to something akin to a monster - a living statue like the ones all over the older buildings of Gotham City.
“So… Paranālā, am I saying that right? I hope the ring’s translating my words okay. How long have you been with the Corps?”
He looked at her with wide eyes, more curious than afraid despite what was happening around them. ”Three days. I’m the first Gʼargwyl to be chosen, that I know of.” His voice was rough, but a bit higher than Bette might’ve expected, a bit tinny sounding as if he was still growing into it. His ear twitched and he fired a bolt of green off to the right, sending an enemy scout fleeing. ”I’m still learning. Everything’s all so much…”
The bolt made her jump a bit, since she hadn’t even seen the scout Paranālā had targeted. “Oh, trust me, I know that feeling!” she said with a nervous laugh. She was about to reassure him that she was sympathetic by admitting she had been a Blue Lantern for all of three hours, as opposed to his three days, then caught herself. That would hardly be reassuring at all! Besides, she was there to give him encouragement, right? Hope?
“But I’d never have guessed unless you’d told me. Way to take out that scout! You make it look easy, you know.”
He gave a small, sheepish growl. ”I was always good at hunting. He was being loud…”
Suddenly, a giant figure came crashing through the trees and roared. Before them stood Kalibak, son of Darkseid, as bloodthirsty as ever. He grinned viciously at the two Lanterns. ”You think you can fight the power of Darkseid? Fools!” He raised his Beta Club and fired a powerful bolt at the Lanterns.
On instinct, Bette raised her protective shielding to maximum before the bolt hit, but while it saved her from annihilation, it didn’t stop the force itself, and she was knocked back. ”We have a better chance of fighting Darkseid’s power than you have beating the two of us together, Kalibak!” They were brave words, but made herself feel the conviction behind them. She looked to Paranālā, hoping he was doing the same.
Paranālā flew closer to Bette and half wrapped a wing around her to comfort both of them. He liked the way she’d shouted back at Kalibak, so forceful and strong, so he decided to try the same. ”Nothing can defeat the power of will! …And hope!” At the same time, he shot a blast of energy at Kalibak’s feet. As Kalibak jumped away to avoid the attack, Paranālā constructed a giant curved spear, launching it straight into Kalibak.
Kalibak roared in anger and pain and retreated into the trees. They would follow, he knew that. They were foolish enough to follow him straight to his new stronghold. Another fallen Lantern was another victory for Darkseid. And a victory for Darkseid by Kalibak meant one more step in obtaining his father’s approval.
Paranālā turned to Bette as Kalibak fled. ”We’re beating him! What do we do?”
Bette adopted a determined look, her jaw set. “We keep going, until we finish beating him. Come on!” she reached out and grabbed his thin arm to pull him along with her, no longer made uneasy at all by his appearance. He was warm-blooded, not stone, and his heart was also anything but that. With her free hand, she thrust out her ring and fired a blue bolt of energy after the retreating son of Darkseid.
Kalibak joined two of his Parademons in their place by the cliff. There may have been no place for them to run behind them, but there was also nowhere for the Lanterns to go. Another team of Parademons was closing in behind the pair using the forest as cover. Kalibak laughed. “The only will left for you two will be the will of Darkseid!”
“You’re quite the name-dropper, Kalibak! Darkside this, Darkside that. Can’t you do anything without Daddy looking over your shoulder?” Bette’s ring picked up on Kalibak’s thoughts and feelings in that instant, and she formed a construct that resembled Darkseid himself. Blue omega-like beams lanced out from the construct’s eyes, and struck Kalibak in the chest.
Kalibak’s screams of pain and confusion distracted the Parademons beside him. Paranālā smiled lopsidedly at Bette; he’d never seen what a Blue Lantern could do. Suddenly, a shock ran through him and he cried out in pain, falling towards the ground; he had been struck by one of two more Parademons who had flown up behind them, growling menacingly and blocking their escape.
“Para!” Bette screamed as she saw the Gʼargwyl plummet, and dove after him.
“Puny scum!” shouted Kalibak, recovering from the blast behind his Parademons. “You’re outnumbered. Kneel before me and your death may be swift.”
Paranālā’s ring caught him before he hit the ground and he flew back up to Bette, flapping his wings in anger. “How shall we fight five at once?” He glanced around at the thick trees surrounding them and the sheer cliff before them, abrupt and scorched as if the mountain had been sliced away. He frowned in thought, a small germ of a plan coming to him.
Bette hadn’t been trained to fight like this, with energy blasts and hovering off the ground. She applied to the situation what she DID know, and moved so she and Paranālā were back-to-back, raising her fists instinctively.
“I’m open to any ideas that don’t include kneeling!” she turned her head only slightly to speak to him over her shoulder, never taking her eyes off their enemies. She reinforced a protective shield around them both, and braced herself. Constructs seemed to come so much easier to the Green Lanterns. Hal and the others made this look so easy, but she was starting to appreciate how difficult it could be. “If I were in Gotham, I’d just use a grapple gun and…” she glanced upwards.
Paranālā caught on and nodded, growling at the Parademons he faced. He and Bette had come up with similar ideas. “Okay, then. Just hang on.” He constructed a giant twisted scythe and swung it at Kalibak and the Parademons, flinging them into each other. “Hold on!” He grabbed Bette in his arms and shot up into the sky above them, his strong wings pushing them up faster with the aid of his ring.
He tucked in his wings as they broke through the thick branches, their Lantern shields protecting them from the snapping splinters flying at them. Suddenly, they were above the trees, hovering in the air over the forest canopy. It seemed so quiet, even with the distant rumbles of fights around them.
Paranālā let go of Bette and stared down at where they’d just come from. “Give me as much a boost as you can.” As she obliged, his ring almost humming with energy, Paranālā aimed toward their path and fired a powerful beam down at all those following. Shouts and roars of Kalibak and his Parademons echoed up as they were forced back to the ground.
Below, the Parademons fled as quickly as they could, running on foot if their flight armor was too broken. Kalibak growled and blasted away one of the stragglers. His anger burned, but his wounds hurt. He’d go find a place to recover and regroup with his stronger fighters. But he’d remember those Lanterns; they would not go unpunished.
High above the trees, Paranālā listened for the sound of followers, his ears twitching to hone in on something. “They’re not coming. I think we beat them! We…” his voice trailed off, and he folded his wings and bowed his head against a wave of pain and dizziness.
“Para?” Bette grew instantly concerned and flew to him. Whatever had allowed him continue flying with his wings since the hit he took from one of the Parademons, perhaps the Gʼargwyl equivalent of adrenaline, had worn off. One of his leathery wings hung at an odd angle. “You’re hurt, aren’t you? Let me see…”
After a pause, he relented, and she eased aside his wing to see the back of his shoulder, the uniform torn away where his stone-coloured velvety skin was bloodied with something resembling liquid rose-coloured quartz. Warth had told her the Blue Lantern rings could heal, and she tried to focus on that. Nothing was happening.
“It… it really hurts, Bette Kane.” The rookie Green Lantern had an air of desperation about him. Not fear, exactly, but more like a great need for comfort. His eyes seemed larger on his face as they turned to her, and she was surprised to see tears there.
“I know, Paranālā. You’re going to be okay. I’m trying to heal you, but I’m having a little trouble making it work. Is there something your people do to ease pain?” She wanted to reassure him, but wanted to avoid smothering him or hurting his pride.
He wiped a wrist over his eyes, “My mother… she would pull me close and hold me to her.”
Bette looked at him, confused for a moment, and then it dawned on her. His higher-pitched, tinny voice, his small body and gangly limbs that seemed disproportionate to his head and wingspan, his looking to her for guidance… they all pointed to a startling conclusion. “Paranālā… how old are you? I mean, are you full grown?” It was only then she realized he wasn’t much bigger than Damian, not counting his wings.
It was difficult to tell from his expression, but his voice was translated through her ring as now having a defensive quality to it, even as it converted the reference of time to her. “I am but four years from the age of majority! Then I will be permitted to mate, but until then I dwell with my parents and siblings. When at last I am finished my training on Oa, then I will be able to return to them, finally.”
He was an adolescent, at best, and furthermore, he was homesick. Her heart went out to the youngster, and she stopped fretting about his pride - he needed comfort now. “Your mother will be very proud of you when she hears what you did today. You saved my life, Paranālā! I know I’m not your mother, but may I hug you?”
“Hug?”
“Hold you, like your mother does.” She slowly demonstrated, being careful of his wound. The Gʼargwyl was cautious at first, then she felt him relax into it, and his shaking from the pain eased. The tiny hairs that formed the velvet texture to his skin seemed to provide a tactile response of pain relief. “You were very brave, Para. Thank you. You’re going to make a wonderful Green Lantern, you know, and you will see your family soon.”
She felt a tingling sensation on her hand, and raised it behind the boy to examine it. Her ring glowed and pulsed in a different way than it had when she was using it to fight, and she was moved to place it over the back of Paranālā’s shoulder as she held him, still hovering above the treetops.
The wound was bathed in a blue healing light, and the boy sighed in relief and rested his head upon her shoulder as he tried to ride out the dizziness. “There,” she cooed softly, dragging out the word soothingly. “All will be well.”
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