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

and fun game from my youth, some great movies from my older years, they all came crashing down around me. “As in, he’s a Legend now?”

“A defeated one,” Red said. “We had Excalibur for a while, but then one of the Protectors sold out too. Crossed over with—”

“Red!” Pucky interrupted, giving her a stern glare.

“He needs to know, and he’ll find out eventually anyway. Already has, pretty much.”

“A promise of becoming a Legend?” I asked, and nodded. “Yeah, I caught onto that back there with Peter Pan.”

“See?” Red gave Pucky an ‘I win’ glance and then continued. “A Protector decided she wanted the power of the Evil Queen, but… they betrayed her, handing her over to the queen along with Excalibur. So we lost in two ways that day.”

“She was… my first Protector,” Pucky said, staring at her hands as she started to pick her nails. “Not my proudest moment.”

“And not in the least your fault,” Red said, then turned to me. “Our job is to help you, to guide you when we can, but ultimately you are your own person. You go dark, I’ll slit your throat as quickly as I did the Crooked Man.”

“I never would,” I said, kind of pissed she’d even say such a thing. “I’ve loved fairy tales since I was a kid, obsessed over all the Anderson and Grimm stuff. D&D and all that? Never even chaotic neutral—fucking paladin whenever I could be.”

“Yeah, we didn’t ask for your nerd resume,” Red said with a chuckle toward Pucky, who totally ignored her.

“I think it’s hot,” Pucky said.

“Of course you do.” Red leaned over to get a look outside, reminding me of my more recent, non-nerdy obsession—those tits. Damn, they looked good. Pucky noticed me looking and laughed, then moved over to sit closer.

“Thing is, some people say that you play your opposite,” she said. “Me? I went as evil as I could without being a dungeon monster. Kinda makes you think about everything from another angle.”

“Wait, fairy tales—er, Myths—playing D&D?” I couldn’t grin wider. “Damn, now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“More often Pathfinder,” Red said with a groan. “Sometimes Shadowrun. Can we… move on now? Back to the topic?”

“You too?”

“Shut up.” This time when she leaned forward and showed her cleavage, she raised her eyebrows, watching me and waiting. “There, do I have your attention? Good. So, long story short: we hope to find Excalibur, but other items that seem to give off some sort of magic aura are welcome too. And they don’t all look ancient—could be anything.”

“Got it.” I frowned. “But what I don’t get… Why turn? I mean… Peter Pan and now King Arthur?” I shook my head, leaning back. “My world is shattering around me.”

“They aren’t the only ones who’ll surprise you, I’m sure,” Red said.

“Don’t tell me… No, do. Maybe just one more—the one most surprising.”

“Snow White, for one. Betrayed the Snow Queen, took her power, and the dwarves followed her over. Loyal to a major fault.”

“Fuck me.”

“Now’s not the time,” Red said. “But yeah, soon enough.”

“Is someone going to make that joke every time I say that?”

“One of us, probably. Yeah.”

“For sure,” Pucky agreed with a chuckle. “That’s the price you pay—no quarter jar, just a horny teammate jar.”

“I can take it,” I replied. “So what’re we in for, exactly? What should I expect?”

“As for the location, not a clue,” Red said and Pucky nodded, still watching the sky in awe. “But as for the enemy? Here’s what we know.” She took her wrist computer again and hit a few buttons. A green glow came from her arm and then holographic images appeared, hovering off the screen. People—no, Legends. I recognized one as the wolf-woman who had bit me.

“The Big Bad Wolf,” I said, watching as the image of her transformed into a standing werewolf, then back again.

“Yes, Sharon. When she attacked you… a darkness was left behind. It’s going to try to come at you, especially in your down moments. If you’re in a morally questionable place, if your soul is conflicted, it’ll strike.”

“But I can fight it. I already did.”

“Peter Pan and his pirates wouldn’t have been coming here, not if they were taking off in a plane. So he won’t likely be in this fight, but… he’s one you need to worry about. With that shadow of his, he has the ability to reach into you, call on the darkness. Others as well, and if Sharon’s there, another shadow manipulator might be involved as well, taking us to Skyggen.” She indicated a dark form that was exactly that—a shadow. Not a Shade, I could tell—just a shadow. “A hostless shadow. He went dark long ago, after his host was executed. As they were separated at the time, he survived.”

“What the…?”

“I know.” She then indicated another that I recognized—the woman with the curved horns from in the car, earlier. “There’ll be others there for sure, but since Pucky tells me you already had a run in with her sister—”

“Er…” Pucky said, turning to her with a frown.

“Sister?” I said. “Yeah, someone left that tidbit out earlier.”

“Nobody else would’ve been able to break our bond back there when she did,” Pucky said. “Sorry. I just… I don’t know, I felt like it was my fault you were in that predicament.”

“Because it was your sister?” I asked, and when she nodded said, “No, that’s ridiculous. What bothers me, though, is the fact that you’d feel the need to hide it from me.”

“Is it such a big deal?”

“She’s—” Red started, but I held up a hand and kept going.

“Actually, it is,” I said. “Am I the Protector now? Yes, and per your words, that means I’ve given up practically everything to fight here at your side. That being the case, I expect to know these things, and to be able to trust that you’re telling me the truth and everything that’s relevant.”

Pucky opened her mouth as if to argue, but instead nodded. “Understood. Agreed.”

“Thank you.” I turned back to Red.