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

“And your education?” my aunt asked.

“What?”

“I want to know your plans for college.”

I looked at Fatiha and Ebrill for help here, but both were watching me with curiosity.

“Sorry, but all of this seems more important,” I pointed out. “Why is school even being discussed?”

“Your aunt has a good point,” Fatiha said. “This fighting, uncovering secrets, learning more about Ebrill and her friends might all be the priority, but it isn’t your entire life. It’s not going to take up all of your time.”

I frowned, then looked at Ebrill as my mind wandered to some different ways she could use up my time. Then again, maybe they had a point. Fighting and fucking sounded great, but I had to wonder if it would pay the bills.

“Wait a sec.” I turned to my aunt and Fatiha. “Aren’t we set for money? What exactly would be the point of college? Surely, I’m not going to go get some desk job, after.”

“You’ll be taken care of,” my aunt said. “But you have to be smart about it. Have a cover. Spend your time studying matters that will help, and that will keep you prepared to do great things during times of peace, as well. Assuming we have those at some point.”

“This war has been going on for far too long,” Ebrill said.

Fatiha nodded. “Although you have been out, so in fairness we should say the war portion of it only happens whenever one side is growing close to the Liahona.”

“Is that so?”

“On that note, is someone going to tell me more about this thing anytime soon?” I faced my aunt, waiting.

She nodded. “From what I’ve been able to learn… and Ebrill, you might have recalled more by this point?” At a shake of Ebrill’s head, my aunt continued. “Very well. From what I understand, it’s like a key. It opens an access point.”

“To where?”

“Not to where, exactly… To what. Like a vault, in a sense. A vault of power—magic we can’t dream of. Magic…”

“All speculation,” Ebrill interrupted.

“So, you do remember?” Fatiha asked.

Ebrill nodded, slowly. “Bits of it, yes. I remember someone wanted to get their hands on it, and that we couldn’t let them.” Her eyes narrowed, looking intently at each of us in turn, my aunt, then Fatiha. Finally, me. “How do I know you all… I mean—”

“That we’re on the right side of all this?” I asked. “Easy. You know me.”

“Not well.”

“Enough.

“Suffice it to say,” my aunt interjected, “that we’re not your enemy. Your enemy, whomever it was, likely died long ago.”

“Or maybe all sides are the enemy, now, and I’ve been brought back to put an end to it. To ensure nobody ever gets their hands on the Liahona.”

“Ebrill… that’s not the case.” I stepped toward her, hand up, but she pulled away. “I promise you, we’re in this together.”

She was crouched now, as if ready to pounce. As wrong as it was, the sound of an attack actually came as a relief. Nothing like having a common enemy to bring two sides together. An explosion rocked the side of the house, followed by a ball of fire tearing through our magical barriers and exploding on Kordelia’s statue.

One nod from Ebrill, and I knew we were good at least until this was over. Somehow, the enemy had broken through our wards. We needed to find out how, then stop them.

83

“Tell me how they got through the wards,” I shouted, already trying to cast new ones, indicating Kordelia’s statue.

My aunt moved her hands and spoke in what sounded like gibberish but in my head came through as, “Obliterate them.” Nothing happened, as I had figured would be the case. She wasn’t real, exactly, so her spells wouldn’t work. She had apparently forgotten that little fact.

“What worries me more is that this happened after the house absorbed the fallen witch,” Fatiha said, charging over to the hatch to head down. “Meaning something strong is out there, and we’d better get into hiding.”

I took a step to follow, but Ebrill’s eyes showed fright and worry as they darted between the way down and Kordelia’s statue. Clearly, she was torn about leaving it unprotected. This was, after all, a woman she greatly cared about, even if she was now made of stone. Here I was trying to earn her trust, so the last thing I could do was run and leave the statue—and therefore the woman she could in theory become—to be destroyed by whatever monsters were sending magic at us.

“Jericho, you’re not strong enough,” Fatiha said.

My aunt flittered to the edge of the roof and gasped. “They have a Drow.”

“A what?” I asked, racking my brain for what that meant. It hit, then, from some old game my friend had played. “A dark elf?”

“Those who were left behind,” she replied, nodding, a fireball passing through her to hit Kordelia again. “When the world changed, when magic left our lands—they went to live below the surface, uprooting evil and unleashing demons that had slept for millennia before their arrival. To think that they’re involved…” Her eyes went to Ebrill. “You’d better hope we wake Kordelia soon, or there won’t be a Kordelia to wake.”

“We can’t let that happen,” Ebrill said, moving toward the ledge, hand held up with a glowing light coming from it.

“You’d take them all on yourself?” My aunt appeared directly in her path. “We can’t lose you, and with what they likely have down there… I don’t think you’d make it.”

Ebrill bared her teeth, growling.

Another fireball was incoming, the worry from Ebrill palpable. If I could do anything for her, I would, and that included stopping this onslaught on her friend.

Digging deep, I was pretty sure I had found a way. I didn’t want to say anything and get their hopes up, plus, there was no time to spare. Eyes closed, going to that spot within where all of the crazy magic had come from over the years, I focused on the outside force,