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

to reach us from above. My XP was rising by the second, to the point that it was coming damn close to another level increase.

A roar sounded and the moon vanished. No, not vanished, but was blocked out by a large creature with a massive wing-span. A griffon!

The griffon charged right through the magic, seemingly impervious, and clawed at Kordelia. Next to that thing, she looked downright tiny. I struck with my elemental strike, but the magic attacks only seemed to fuel the beast. As Kordelia struggled to not be torn apart, Ebrill hit her with healing spells fast enough to at least keep her in one piece. Steph’s wraith knights charged the griffon, but they seemed to run right through it, vanishing on impact.

“What is that thing?” I shouted

Aerona turned to me with eyes full of worry. “Glitonea—one of the Nine.”

“Fuck,” I said, horrified as the griffon slammed Kordelia with a blow that sent her flying toward the edge of the roof, only to be attacked by a handful of those other winged creatures. A second later, the same happened to Ebrill.

I wasn’t about to let another strike land, so I summoned the Liahona, called every attack spell I knew that I thought would work, and aimed with all my power. As below, the barrage of ice claws and other attacks flowed out. This time, however, the target seemed to relish the attack! Even as the griffon grunted in pain, it seemed to grow and then… was laughing?

“No!” Aerona said as I prepared a second strike.

“I have to!”

“She’ll use the magic, target Avalon—you can’t!”

Damn. If she was right, of course I couldn’t. Instead, I turned and unleashed that power on some of the minions, frying a great many of them. That little outburst shot up my XP, bringing me to level eight. A popup screen read:

Level 8 MAGE

Statistics

Strength: 24

Speed: 20

Luck: 16

Charisma: 15

Mana: 720

New Spells

Gorffwys (sleep); Frost Footing; Ice Wall; Ice Claw; Frost Bite; Flurries; Frost Remnant

New Magic Type

Access to Avalon

“I have an idea,” I said, remembering that I wanted to try that Frost Remnant spell now that I’d unlocked it, but preferably when the enemy didn’t absorb magic. “Keep her off me.”

“You got it,” Steph said, summoning all of her wraith knights and sending out a barrage of fireballs while I knelt, my hand on the rooftop.

Before making my book move, I used another spell that I looked forward to trying. Using the Flurries spell, I watched with glee as a flash of snow shot out and became a snow storm that hit our enemies like a swarm of bees. Each little snowflake became active, attacking the enemy. Nothing too intense, but enough to distract the enemy long enough for my team to take the advantage and me to feel comfortable to make my move.

Hand on the stone of the roof, my attention moved down through the building, to the basement and below. Into the foundations where I’d left part of the building as a staircase. Finding a location based on feeling like this wasn’t the same as being there, but I managed to get a sense of where the rune was that had been blocked and repaired to fix the magic—now I wanted to do the opposite, though. Using the bit of the house that was acting as a stairwell, I maneuvered it over to the rune and created a blockage again.

A thud sounded and I looked up to see that Glitonea had crashed onto the rooftop. She was in human form, back arched in pain and eyes wild with confusion. She was an older, lanky woman with the sides of her otherwise purple hair shaved, the top long and pulled back into a braid. Her eyebrows arched in a fierce way that combined with the rune tattoos to give her an intimidating appearance. Purple moved along her in a way that resembled cloth rippling in the wind, only it was attached to her, almost part of her skin. Not much was left for the imagination.

My gargoyle team made quick work of the what little was left of the enemy, now turning to move in toward Glitonea. Apparently, it only took magic to wake the gargoyles, not keep them awake—since they were mobile, the blockade of magic didn’t put them back into stone. Steph didn’t have her magic or wraith knights at the moment, but the trade was clearly the right move.

Most of our magic was on pause, in exchange for Glitonea being helpless. She managed to get on all fours, then up to one knee, pointing a finger at me.

“It’s not going to work,” I said, and grinned. “You are ours now.”

Fear entered her eyes when, as I’d told her, the magic didn’t come. “H—How…?”

“My secret.” I strode over, catching her by the wrist as she sprang up and tried to strike me. “Now, we have some questions for you.”

105

Keeping the magic of this place turned off for the time being didn’t seem like such a bad idea, at least while Glitonea was present. We brought her to a room that I had turned into a prison cell during a pause on the way down. Actually, being able to transmorph the building meant that after we left, I could make it so there was no door at all—but that might scare the lady to death.

If that was possible. I wasn’t sure the Nine Ladies could die, or how the details of that would work.

“You can’t hold me here,” Glitonea growled as Kordelia dragged her into the room. “Do you realize the pain I will bring upon you when this trick you’ve managed has worn off? When my magic returns?”

“I realize that we’ve captured one of the Nine,” I said, “and that you won’t be the last.”

She was such a delicate thing in Kordelia’s grasp, struggling helplessly. Now, in the light, it was clear that the purple clothing was some sort of magical situation that kept her clothed and allowed for her to shift into