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

He chuckled, nodded, and sipped his port.

“What can I help you with?” I asked, getting to the point.

He looked me straight in the eye, then beckoned for Galahad to come nearer. The knight stepped forward, bowing slightly.

“As you’re aware, the Order is fractured. Our enemies would not have been able to infiltrate the French Embassy this night otherwise.

“You have the Liahona. It’s up to you to see that the Order is restored. To expel evil from this world, and bring the power of Avalon to its rightful place.”

I eyed him. “And that place would be with you?”

“You know I am going high places,” he replied. “I have… good friends. Friends you can trust.” He gestured to Galahad, who nodded again. “Would you not want to be at my right hand? Support me, to ensure that the job I am destined to do is done in the right way, with those who would do evil to our great nation behind bars?”

“Perhaps,” I said, really wishing I didn’t have to be there. In truth, anything to do with politics was about as far off my radar as possible. The idea of helping anyone either get to the White House or stay there felt like a job for someone else. Not me. And what else was he saying? He would want me to use the magic of Avalon and my own powers to fight his enemies? What, like declare magical wars on other countries, use it to hunt down terrorists?

I held my head, a sudden thudding making it feel as if I was hungover in a rave club. Not fun.

The senator eyed me again, finished off his port, and then gestured to the door. “Nothing has to be decided tonight. I know you are the man for the job, and together we will make this world what it was always meant to be. Together, friend.”

He set the glass aside, took my hand, and shook it firmly before turning and walking off to ascend the stairs. When I looked down, I realized that he had left a card in my hand, one with a magic-looking swirl under his name and number. A simple business card, maybe?

Given the dismissal, I nodded to Steph and we made for the door. Halfway there, Galahad shot around in a burst of light, reappearing at our sides to walk with us.

“He isn’t wrong,” Galahad said. “They need you.”

“But, do I need them? Does the world?” I nodded farewell and exited, determined to learn the answer to that question.

114

The driver took us from there. As we drove, my eyelids grew heavy. My body felt weak and confused with all the changes in sleep schedules lately. With that and the stress, I was spent.

My head rolled back and I startled awake the first time, but the next time, as we were passing the Trader Joe’s near George Washington University, my eyes refused to stay open a moment longer. In a flash, and this time without Aerona, I was back in that strange land where I had found Riland.

“We’re back,” his voice came, and then he stepped out in front of me. Not from my side or anything like that, but seemingly from within me.

“I don’t understand. Where were you?”

“Why, with you, of course.” He smiled as if that explained everything.

“No, I tried bringing you, tried summoning you and all that—”

“And it worked. To a degree. It was a haze, in parts, but seeing your world, being able to lay eyes on Ebrill, Kordelia, and Aerona… it was amazing. Albeit, confusing.”

“You were there.” I shook my head, wondering how it was. Had I simply brought him as a sort of spirit, more ghost-like than Steph’s wraiths? “Wait! I’m confused—you didn’t know about their new form.”

“I did not.”

With a solemn nod, I explained the curse and how that had turned them into gargoyles. He took it well enough, considering his predicament. Considering what he had to deal with already in this dark place, not much was likely to surprise him.

During the brief, I was able to take in our surroundings, noting a curve in the land below and what looked like the edge of some barely visible city walls. Finished talking, I stood there, staring, trying to get a better view with my enhanced focus.

“It’s a city,” he said. “One that very much mimics that of Norok in Avalon. Here, they call it ‘Koron,’ as it’s a bit of a backwards place.”

“And the armies? Where we were before?”

He eyed our surroundings, then gestured to a point where jagged rocks descended on the opposite side so that we couldn’t see beyond. “There, I believe.”

“I don’t get it.” I frowned, taking a step that way as if doing so would give me answers. “Why here, then? In the past, it was always that I would be brought close to a specific person, but if you were with me…?”

“Someone else, then,” he said.

The answer came to me immediately, a moment before the falling pebbles alerted me to someone nearby. Darkness didn’t reveal much on the hillside, but there was a figure there, to be sure.

“She’s not to be trusted,” Riland said taking a step back, dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. As I already suspected, when the faint light caught her face it revealed Megha.

“You…?” I braced myself, ready to hit her with everything I had.

The woman held her hands wide, bowed, and said, “I’m not going to hurt you.” Her voice was somewhat raspy, as if she hadn’t used it in a long time.

“You attacked me, before.”

“Out there, where they control me. Maybe. Not here.”

“I don’t understand.” A glance over to my buddy showed that he was frozen in place. In fact, everything around us was. “What’d you do to him?”

“Don’t worry. I simply wanted us to have a moment. I don’t want to hurt you, but out there, in the other world, I have no choice. Free me, and I’m yours.”

“Mine?”

She nodded. “As much as