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

gargoyle in the upper right of the screen, along with what looked like a depleted mana bar.

What? I needed more magic, or more power, before I would be able to wake more gargoyles?

I grimaced and made eye contact with the first. Good thing this hadn’t happened before Steph left, or we might have been in trouble. As it was, the gargoyle growled, dodged an attack that came too close, and then ripped the witch’s arms off before bashing her head into the concrete at the side of the rooftop. Finally, she took the witch’s limp body and placed her against the side. With a swift strike from her tail, the spade was in the back of the head, severing something within, and then the gargoyle kicked. The head disconnected and fell over.

The body fell to the roof.

Turning to me, the gargoyle stomped over. “What’s the problem?”

“Apparently, I’m not powerful enough to wake two, yet.”

“Shit.”

“I know. This… isn’t good.”

“The demon lady will be back.” The gargoyle approached the other and crouched next to it to get a better look. “No, our situation isn’t good at all, but it would be better if we had Kordelia on our team. This, by the way, is Kordelia.”

“I see. And you are…?”

“Ebrill. And you?”

“Call me Jay. Short for Jericho, but I usually go by Jay.”

She analyzed me for a second, then shook her head. “I’ll call you Jericho. Has a nice ring to it. Does it mean anything?”

I frowned. “You’re… joking, right? I mean, it’s in the Bible, and…?” She was staring at me with a blank expression, so I shook my head. “Not important.”

“At any rate, we should set up wards then get inside. You do at least know how to set up wards, I hope.”

“Sorry.”

She scrunched her nose, then motioned me over. “It’s simple, really. Start like this,” she held her hand up, then waved it across and in a semi-circle at the end, “curve it like this, and say, ‘Ddiogelu.’ Try it.”

As she said the words, a blue line of light appeared in front of her, hovering there as if a flame had been dragged across and the image left behind captured on a camera. I nodded, figuring this was easy enough, and made the motion. “Dioglew.”

“Again,” she said, frowning. “Ddiogelu.”

This time I said it right, “Ddiogelu,” and the same light appeared. As it did, my screen flashed up and showed a new spell there, reading, Barrier Ward: Ddiogelu. It even showed a little motion that went along with the spell. Convenient, in case I forgot.

She saw me eyeing empty air—or so it appeared to her—and grunted. “Before, when you said you have no spells?”

“Ah, right.” I turned, preparing to cast another, but she put a hand on my arm.

“Not necessary, but we should cover all four sides of the building, to be safe.”

I nodded, walking with her to the next, as I explained, “I’ve always had this weird ability to sort of change things around me. Like once the air was all smoky at a campfire, so I sort of made it… not. Or when my buddy Devin was doing really badly in a PT test with me, wheezing and whatnot, I sort of touched his shoulder and gave him extra stamina and courage, I guess. It’s all confusing, really. Maybe in my head, or—”

“You’re a transmuter,” she said, voice betraying her awe.

“No, just… a what?”

“Transmuter. It means you’re a lot more powerful than you give yourself credit for. You need to learn to harness that, embrace it, and we’ll be golden.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, had me perform the ward spell, and then motioned for me to get the next side while she ran and jumped, gliding over to the far side to take care of that one. Once done, we moved for the trap door, glancing back once at the carnage we had left behind—mostly in the form of the witch’s bloodied body, as the death knights were gone.

“They won’t be able to get back in without an invitation,” she said as we climbed down. I glanced up to respond, quickly realizing that wasn’t the gentlemanly thing to do when descending steep stairs. She had her ass out as she lowered the hatch above, and basically, I had the full view of the way the cloth was tied underneath, hugging her mound.

“Good,” I said, my voice catching. “Great.”

I didn’t know if she caught on to my nervousness, because I looked away and quickly descended the stairs. When we reached the bottom, my aunt’s secret room was in a shambles—holes blown into the walls and shelves knocked over, my aunt lying dead on the floor. “And the bodies?”

“For now, leave it.” She strode past me, easily tossing aside a fallen shelf that should’ve taken the two of us to move. “Right now, I’m starving.”

“Oh, actually, there’s food already made.” I pushed ahead, opening the door for her and grinning like a horny teenage boy. She saw it right away and chuckled but nodded her appreciation for my move with the door.

“Lead the way, my lord.”

I laughed, then wondered if she was teasing me or thought I could be a lord. Considering my clothes and this house, it could be an easy mistake. Nothing that needed to be addressed at the moment, I figured, so led her down to the kitchen.

75

I couldn’t believe how much food Ebrill was devouring. As if she hadn’t eaten in days. Then again, she was a gargoyle. As far as I knew, she had always been a statue so had never eaten, or else she’d been a statue for a long time, but once been awake? The best way to find out, I decided, was to ask her.

“So, all of th—”

“No,” she said, mouth full, crumbs flying.

“Excuse me?”

“You want answers. I want to satiate my hunger. My want wins.” She glanced over, took a bite of a sausage that she held in her hand, and added, “When I’m done, I’ll explain to the best of my recollection. Wine.”

“I’m