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

“Run,” Ebrill replied.

“Will that work?”

“We’re about to find out,” I chimed in, seeing the church from before, then the park. “We’re here.”

“Stay close,” Ebrill said, leaning back, arms off me now. “The protection spells are strongest the closer we are together.”

“And remember, we need to make this fast,” Kordelia added. “If we get stuck out here until sunrise, we’re fucked.”

“We make it out of here before that, we can be fucked, too,” Steph added. “But in a good way, right?”

In spite of her wink and the way they all nervously laughed, I was too distracted for the joke—or flirtation, if she was serious—to affect me at the moment. My focus was on the street outside, where shadows were taking the form of witches and demons.

“They’re coming in fast. We need to go now.”

“Agreed,” Ebrill muttered, then threw open the door and waved her hands as she shouted, “Ddiogelu!”

Protective barriers rose before us. We were out, then, the other two and the shisa running around the car to push forward toward the enemy line. I had my new spells at the ready, excited to have the chance to try them out. With the practiced motion and saying “Crafanc” as I thrust my hand, I sent out an ice claw. It formed blue light around my hand and then shot out, growing larger as it went until it was a hand of ice with long claws, tearing through the enemy and shattering behind them. Two witches fell, and the assault began. Other witches were casting spells that Ebrill was barely keeping off our backs, while Steph had her wraith knights on the attack and Kordelia was casting blasts of magic at the enemy. The shisa was growling with excitement, taking off in a blur to strike at the closest demon.

“Gotta love that dog!” Steph said as she stopped at my side and summoned wraith knights to tear into the enemy around the shisa. Not that it needed help, as already it was tearing into its second demon.

“Not really a dog,” I corrected, but was more focused on casting an ice claw to hit successive lines of the enemy, and then spinning to shout “Brathu” and hit others with frost bite. Gales of wind and frost burst forth to rip through our opponents.

If not for the fact that my magic was more ice-based, I’d say I was fucking on fire.

My team was doing their part, too. The shisa ripped through the enemy forces like a streak of light, pausing after each group of four. Most weren’t dead, but were left with one or both legs torn open. Some fell and received a second bite, their throats torn out. Kordelia and Ebrill were forces of magic and muscle, at one moment casting their spells as I had witnessed in the past, then using claws to rip their enemies to shreds. Each plowed through enemy fighters, knocking those aside that they didn’t take the time to destroy.

Steph ran past me, shooting fire and summoning back two of the wraith knights who had fallen. She paused long enough to say, “Badass fucking team you’ve chosen for yourself!”

“They kind of chose me,” I muttered, hitting a hellhound with the ice shot and watching as the fire went out and the beast shriveled up.

Screams registered, along with shouts from civilians, and it was only then that I realized they had likely been happening for some time. People were at their windows, pointing, and one house was already in flames. Sirens sounded in the distance.

I didn’t know if this would show up as some insane supernatural event in the news, or maybe there was a magic way to make it appear like a natural disaster, but I knew we needed to get out of there.

As I turned to say so, a tree cracked, the ground thudded, and in charged a man three times as large as me with skin that looked to be mostly covered in stone. He wielded two chains with scythes on the ends, swinging them at us and not caring if he hit those on his side if they got in the way. Some of his people turned on him, but he was focused, barreling in toward Ebrill and Kordelia.

“Gorlon,” Ebrill growled and then waved at us, pointing at the giant. “Hit him with everything you’ve got! Forget the rest!”

I complied, and as soon as I focused on the giant, the shisa homed in as well. Steph sent her wraith knights and bursts of flames, while I attempted the ice claw and shots. When nothing seemed to do any damage, my full arsenal went at him, at the same time that Kordelia and Ebrill went on the offensive. They took turns, leaping onto trees and houses and using ledges and branches as jump-off points to try and hit the giant higher, gliding on their wings in short bursts. Nothing we did left much of an impact, though, and when the giant saw that it couldn’t hit the quick-moving gargoyles, it came after me.

Having a giant charge at me with swinging scythes wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time, even with my amazing team doing their best to take him down. The rest of the enemies had pulled back, giving us room to see how this went down, only shooting the occasional spells when the opportunity arose. Luckily, with Ebrill’s defensive spells and my ice wall, none made it through.

The giant reached me in several large, lumbering steps, and I tried frost footing. His next step slid, but he caught the ground with one scythe, nearly catching me with the next. When his eyes rose to meet mine, I almost regretted causing him an inconvenience—those large, gray eyes sparkled with tiny specks of black throughout. Again, he swung. I threw myself back and cast an ice wall, then tried changing the ground to pull him in. He was too strong, breaking through the wall and then