Myths and Gargoyles by Jamie Hawke (interesting books to read in english txt) 📕

This was clearly a Shade, in the brief moment I saw it while the thing charged me and I cleaved half its arm off with my sword. Gray skin that drooped, shadows moving around it as if alive, and then those black eyes. Like the onyx of my aunt’s necklace, but less heart-warming. Hands grappled for me, catching me off guard. It took a moment to find myself, to bring my elbow up and then kick it off so that I had room to come in with the sword and finish him off. Another came, then one leaping out of the mist from above—where I assumed must’ve been a concealed ledge.

By the time the third fell, I had my groove back and was taking them down left and right, glad to finally be doing what I’d come here for. My prana levels were skyrocketing as I found a whole group of Shades, throwing out my group shot skill over and over, and using my magic shield when needed.

When the first group had all fallen, but another was coming from my right, I pulled up my stats and amped them up with new upgrades, seeing then that I still had a skill point from before. I’d totally forgotten about that. I decided to wait again, to see where I’d need it after my grinding, as what I had so far should’ve been plenty for this.

But for the moment, I upgraded strength, speed. When I did, I realized there was more to this than I’d seen before. Maybe it had to do with the level, or my new connection to the spirit world? Strength was now at two-hundred and thirty percent of where I’d started at, speed at one-hundred and ninety. Not bad!

A roar sounded and the Shades were upon me, the first two meeting my sword in the form of a thrust to a gut and then a slice to a neck. A head went rolling, more prana in my system.

On some level, I started to wonder if I should feel bad about this slaughter. After all, back on Earth they’d appeared as basically shadows, not these living creatures. Then again, they were trying to kill me, so there wasn’t any real reason why I should care.

This was grinding at its best, and because it wasn’t just like in the video games, it didn’t get to the point where their deaths started to decrease in value. Every upgrade of mine made them easier to kill, but I didn’t get diminishing returns of prana. That meant my motivation level didn’t falter, the only thing slowing me being stamina.

Seeing as I could upgrade stamina whenever I had a downbeat, as long as I had the prana to do so, I didn’t have much to worry about in terms of staying in the game. More fighting, more slicing, more running through the mists and shouting at them to come back and fight me as they ran.

And run they did. New groups of Shades would show up, but soon I’d either killed all those in the vicinity, or they’d run off. It had been such a relief compared to the lack of action before.

When a pause came, I noticed the chill was gone, and the voice returned. “Ooh, and he’s good with a sword, too. We like that.”

Another spin, eyes searching, and I stopped as the mist parted to show the glass statue. Had it just moved, or was it the mists around it moving? Both, according to my eyes, but vision could easily play tricks on someone in this situation, so I started moving back in that direction to be sure.

The mist was heavy again and I kept walking, but was certain I’d been going in the right direction. There was no statue, only the river. Even as the fog cleared around me, all I saw was open air.

Strange, but then I heard a thud, looking into the water to see a face looking up at me, something in the water pounding on it as if on ice, but the water was flowing freely. She had no strong features and was transparent, like glass, so that I barely noticed her, then she was gone, swept away with the water.

I reached, too late, then stood and ran along the river bank.

More Shades appeared, but I cut through easily enough, not giving up on the lady in the river. Prana flowed into me and I focused on my mission, adding points to speed as I ran so that I was able to pick up the pace, and then, at a point where the river bent, I leaped in, grabbing for her.

My hand went through the water and she vanished, the mists suddenly swirling in and twisting around me, laughter carried on the wind.

“Oh, he is so chivalrous,” a voice whispered, a giggle following.

I spun, scouring the mist for any sign of something, even a shade or ghost. Nothing. “Who’s there?” I asked, pulling myself out of the river.

Instead of an answer, a Shade appeared, knocking me back into the river so that Excalibur was knocked from my hands. The water was freezing, my lungs seizing up in the cold, and I thrashed about as the Shade took me, pushing me down.

What struck me more than the cold, though, was the look of this thing in the water. On Earth they had appeared as mostly shadows and in the Fae world as strange, almost alien creatures. Not here though. Here they looked like men, men that maybe they had once been… but with pure, black eyes.

I’d lost my sword, but pulled up my arm in defense as he came in for a strike—it hit as I rolled, pinning him to the rocks at the bottom, shield at his neck. A good yank and then I released it as he vanished, giving up the green prana.

Turning, searching for Excalibur, the green light caught on its reflection. There was that transparent woman again, dragging my sword away from me