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

“Heimdall,” Elisa shouted at the one with the sword, and then cursed, pushing back along with Hekate.

I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but understood that my power was rune based as well, so I figured maybe I could do some damage that way. Sword drawn, I charged the fast forming prison and started attacking it, so that on my third swing the first of the energy plates broke and caused their spell-caster to stumble back.

It was enough to allow Hekate to get in a blast that sent this Heimdall character staggering back.

“Close them off,” the Golden Goose shouted, indicating one of the many screens in this place.

“What?” I shouted, but Goldi was already on it, logging in entering commands, so that as Hekate sent a blast through, the door we’d opened earlier slid shut, cutting us off from the attacking gods.

“Holy balls,” Goldi said, still at the screen. “What is this place?”

“What do you mean?” Elisa asked, stepping up next to her.

“I thought it was a prison or something, but—”

“It’s so much more,” the Golden Goose said. “It’s… like a control room.”

“No shit,” Goldi replied, swiping her hand and then moving back. A full, three-dimensional display shot out in front of her. It showed the pyramid, levels with various blips moving about—most of them gold, and then the room we were in with the red dots that I took to symbolize us. “This is… amazing. It looks like, based on the commands I’m seeing… I can do all sorts of crazy shit.”

The Golden Goose took a cautious step toward her. “Be careful, they’re not the most forgiving.”

Goldi turned to her in shock, seemingly having forgotten she was even there. “Right, yes. And you… You’re really here. We need to get you out of this place.”

“Please. If you know a way.”

Goldi nodded, turning back to the screen. “I’m about to find out. First, to deal with these pests.”

The display zoomed in on the area outside our little room, showing the gold of the gods waiting there, as they took on the forms of men and women. With a swipe of her hand, what looked like a laser beam appeared, cutting across the room. She giggled as shrieks sounded from the other side of the door. They might be gods out there but apparently they were being subjected to incredible pain.

She then started rearranging the pyramid as she saw fit, moving traps and changing even the layout of the floors. Our own rumbled as it started to lower, then moved inward and up.

“What’re you doing?” I asked.

“Confusing them as much as I can,” she replied, and gave me a shrug. “Hell if I know.”

Finally she stopped, and then slid open the door as Elisa told us to make a run for it, guiding the Golden Goose as she ran behind.

We were charging out of there and past the maimed bodies of gods. Arms on the floor, one body cleaved in half, and it all smelled of burnt hair and flesh. Halfway back through, going the new route Goldi had cleared for us, we were almost to the center when the lights started appearing again. The gods we’d left behind were upon us.

Heimdall was pulling himself together, healing himself with bursts of light, as he lunged for me with his sword. In his weakened state and me in full health and strength, I was able to parry the strike with my own sword, though his power sent a shock wave through me.

We cleared the first route and started following the Golden Goose until she fell back, screaming, and a new line of gods appeared, unleashing Shades at us. I stepped up, with one hand swinging to take out a shade, with the other calling upon Roar. He burst out and went straight for the gods, while I spun and began hacking away at more Shades. Soon prana was flowing my way again and then a ball of red ichor as Roar tore off one of the gods heads. We were all fighting like trapped animals, but soon Hekate had taken out another of the gods and we at last had a clear path to make it into the next room where we could shut the door, leaving us with only a handful of Shades and one more god to deal with.

We tore through them, my sword ripping the god into three pieces that faded out. More prana and ichor flowed into me as we ran into the next passage, then we found a room.

“Get out of here!” I shouted, Roar and I working to push the door into place.

“I’ll get us a portal,” Hekate said, moving her hands in a circle to create the portal as I dismissed Roar. We all waited, explosions and shouts sounding like they were coming closer and closer. Only, nothing ever came.

“Hekate!” Elisa shouted, eyes moving to the door.

“It’s not working,” Hekate cried.

“We need to get off this pyramid, now” the Golden Goose begged. “I’m not going back to them.”

With that being said, I pointed to the opening below, past the many ledges leading to open air.

“We jump.”

Hekate shook her head. “We need to move faster. I’ll make a portal in the air… as long as everyone stays tight, it should work.”

“Fuck it,” Elisa said with a laugh. “Let them never say I wasn’t in for some adventure.”

“How far is the center?” Goldi asked.

The Golden Goose cocked her head in thought, then said, “I’m thinking it’s right on the other side of these walls. No other reason they haven’t come in from that direction yet.”

“Let’s go for it,” I said, and they nodded, all of us up and running, charging through the first door that, indeed, led to the ledge at the center with the massive drop off through the middle of the pyramid.

Elisa was the first up on the ledge, the Golden Goose following right behind with a flap of her wings to get herself into position—and let me say, a nude