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

I found my mind flooding with images of the enemy up there, breaking in and finding a way to collapse the whole house down on top of us.

“Tell me about the knights,” I said, reaching the bottom and crouching to rub Shisa’s ears. The lion-dog looked fine, with just a small chip out of its left ear and a crack on the curled tail.

As we stood and moved about in the darkness, my eyes started to adjust. We felt our way along the walls, in what was clearly once something more. For one, the room was cleared out in a way that didn’t make sense for a house’s foundations. Also, the stone of the walls was smooth, but in some places seemingly forming patterns.

“It was before I met you, of course,” Steph started. “Long before. And… I’d had a dream.”

That caught my attention. “You, too? With the dream travel stuff?”

She nodded. “Ironically, it only began when I started at your school. So… clearly connected. But, I thought they were only dreams at first. One day I was napping in the library, this guy sits next to me and I groggily wake up but am like, ‘fuck it,’ and go back to sleep. Something touched my arm, and then the dreams came. I was in a dark tunnel, taken over. Then…”

“Yes?”

“I… don’t want to talk about it. So much is a blur. So much… pain.”

Nodding, I took her hand and waited.

“They sacrificed themselves for me,” she finally said. “Every last one of them, all because this witch lady had said I was meant for greatness. That I had some role to play in their beliefs, and I think… relating to you.”

“That’s… intense.”

“It was. Is.” Shaking her head, she tried again to make the wraith knights appear, but nothing. “So, you can see why, I mean… it’s not like I was ever romantically involved with any of the knights, but knowing who they were and what they sacrificed for me…”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“They’re like my best friends. Friends I can’t really have conversations with, but… friends, anyway.”

More sounds of explosions outside, then a bunch at once, and I laughed.

“What?” Steph asked.

“Shit, what day is it?”

“I don’t…” Her eyes widened, and she laughed, too. “Fourth of July? No shit?”

“I mean, that doesn’t explain the magic not working, but at least those explosions probably aren’t us being attacked. Damn, what kind of American am I that I forgot the Fourth?”

“A shitty one, for sure.” She winked my way, gesturing around. “You are a bit distracted, though. I think that, considering what you have on your plate, Uncle Sam will let it slide.”

“That explains all the flags and hot dog carts and whatnot around earlier today.” I knelt, feeling a marking in the floor. “I mean, I thought it must be some presidential address the nation celebration or something.”

“For someone who was going off to college, you sure aren’t up to date with any of this D.C. stuff.”

“Well…” I shrugged. “Key word there is was, you know?”

“Bullshit. You’re thinking about not going?”

I looked up from the markings, waving her over. “Like you said, I have a lot on my plate.”

She pursed her lips, kneeling at my side and letting it go. “What do you have here?”

“Hard to see in this light, but…” I heaved.

“Can you…?” I asked, moving my hand as she would when doing her fire magic.

She held up her hand and moved her fingers, as she would when creating little flames to give us light. But that didn’t work—blocked. Frowning, I attempted it, watching the light of the room intensify with each blink. Sometimes my powers astounded me.

“Whoa,” we both said. Now that we could see the room, it was clear that this was much more than we had first realized. Pillars with stories carved into the stone, more runes carved along the ground in patterns like flowing water, and walls with rocks that seemed to shift in shape and hue before me.

And, for the first time, it at least made partial sense. There was so much more to do, more to experiment with down here, but for now, that would have to do.

“Come on,” I said, pulling her back toward the stairs. “Let’s see if there’re any more fireworks we can catch from the roof.”

“Wait.” She pulled me back, then in to kiss me passionately. “Okay, now we can go.”

I started off, but froze. Then laughed.

“What?” she asked.

“The magic, of course. Ebrill and the others should be awake now. We’ll take them up for the show.”

“Great idea.” She beamed, and we made our way back up, Shisa at my heels.

101

Fireworks continued, visible even from the bedroom window. Kordelia was already there watching as we came skidding into the room. Ebrill was transforming, stone glowing blue and cracking off her as she moaned, a final touch from the orgasm the night before. Aerona was the last of them, stone breaking apart as we turned her way.

She emerged from her hard cocoon with a golden burst of light and a roar. Her eyes met ours and for a moment she looked strong, defiant… but then stumbled back, hand going out and being caught by Kordelia.

“What’s happened?” Ebrill asked, sitting up and assessing them, eyes going to the fireworks show outside.

“It’s late,” Kordelia noted. “And… that?”

“If you can make it to the roof, I’ll explain on the way,” I replied, not sure if we should stick to the plan of going up there to watch the fireworks. Now that they were all up, though, and curious, I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

They came, Ebrill throwing on her armor as we went so that she was decent, and we emerged onto the roof as a crescendo of fireworks went off over the area by the Lincoln Memorial.

“First, those are fireworks,” I explained. “A celebration of our country’s freedom. Enjoy the moment.”

“And second?” Aerona asked.

“Why didn’t we wake with sunset?” Ebrill added.

“That… Well, we found out something interesting—a block on most magic, including, apparently, the type that