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

was drop to my knees and morph our surroundings so that we were protected. The last of those inside fell with ease. I cast ice walls as well, and was vaguely aware of Ebrill casting booster spells to amplify our defense and speed, while Aerona and Kordelia added to my shields.

“We need more than this,” Steph said, taking a knee at my side.

“Megha,” Riland added.

“We failed,” I replied. “We have no idea where she is.”

“On that note, though, I have an idea.” Riland held out a hand. “Close your eyes, pretend to sleep. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“What?”

“Just… with our mental connection. Me to you, her to that place—I think it can work.”

Doing as he said, I listened to the sounds of attacks on our shields and walls, felt the magic as the enemy tried to barrage our position. And then, with a jolt, I wasn’t there at all but back in the land where I had met Riland and Megha.

To my surprise, a translucent version of her was there. Not nude, this time, but dressed as we had seen her with the coven—a thin, flowing black robe that fell low at the edges to reveal some nice side boob.

She eyed me, grinned, and said, “Knew you’d come looking for me here.”

“I thought I pulled you out of this place. Saved you.”

“You did—but my magic is the type that allows me to reconnect. This time, I’m not really here, but projecting myself. It’s quite convenient, especially since it allows me to do this.”

Reaching out her hand, she grabbed mine. We were instantly torn from that land and back in the tunnel beneath the Capitol. Only, now she was there with me, fully in the flesh but wearing her black robe.

The others gasped at the sight of her Shisa gave her a quick sniff and approving nod. Steph glanced down at our clasped hands, and when Megha saw her looking, she brought my hand up to her face, licked it, and tried to take one of my fingers into her mouth. I pulled my hand away, cleared my throat, and nodded at the surrounding walls—one was starting to crumble and was covered in cracks, clearly about to give.

“Care to help us out, here?” I waved my hands, hoping that conveyed magic. “And then we were thinking you might have a way of tracking down others from your group.”

“Like Yenifer,” Ebrill said as she moved in for an embrace. “It’s good to have you back.”

“You are back, right?” Aerona asked.

Megha smiled wide. “Same me, but new and improved. As I can say for all of you—fuck, Ebrill, your tits were never like that when you were a boring old elf.”

Ebrill looked down at her chest, considered, and smiled. “True. But, as Jericho pointed out—maybe we fight first, then discuss chest size?”

“I have no problem with that.” Megha admitted. She turned to me, then motioned at the walls. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Go…?” I asked.

“Pull the walls down. I’ll take care of them.”

“There’re a lot of those bastards out there,” Steph said.

“Who’s the old lady?” Megha asked, which was quite humorous considering the fact that all the others were much older. It just so happened, due to magical reasons, that Steph had white hair.

“Sorry,” I said, holding up a hand in my way of asking Steph to let it go. “But… you’re sure you can handle it?”

“Are you ready?” Megha winked, then said, “Get back, and prepare yourselves.”

She jumped, and as she did a form materialized beneath her. Large, growing larger, until she was sitting on the shoulders of a behemoth of a monster. Thick muscles braided beneath gray skin, no face other than a mouth full of sharp teeth, and her hands through its now-translucent head, massaging its brain.

“Rampage mode, motherfuckers!” Megha shouted, and then the creature she rode charged forward with fists swinging. It broke through my walls in a matter of seconds, spinning and jumping and starting to pound on the enemy beyond a moment later. Blood was flying, Megha riding it and cooing softly between giggles, as if this was her pet cat simply playing with a ball of yarn.

Shisa whimpered, which I could one hundred percent relate to, then joined the rest of us as we darted out to press the assault. We formed a convex semi-circle, fighting but staying clear of Megha, and working our way in the direction the senator had been leading us.

“Wait,” I said, and turned back to make the ground absorb the senator. Not the burial I was sure he deserved, but the best we could give him in the moment. Plus, we didn’t want his body showing up and questions being asked. “May he rest in peace.”

There was nothing else to be said for now, and my attention was drawn back toward my team as the night filled with the sound of screams.

121

We emerged in the Capitol and ran out onto the steps, looking across the National Mall and seeing the portal there. It rose in a massive beam of light, monster after monster emerging to cause havoc.

A crowd of them stood at the bottom of the steps, some with snake bodies, others with long horns. There were the dog-like things we had faced in the tunnels, and flying creatures like I had seen in the Dark Lands. It was actually happening—the army was coming, some of it already here on Earth.

Fatiha appeared in the crowd, smiling as she floated toward us, several of her retinue in tow.

“These games have carried on long enough.” She lifted her hand to attack, but in that instant, I felt a pulse go out from Megha.

A gust of wind tussled my hair and then Yenifer was there, landing so hard that she cracked the marble stair she had landed on. Wings spread, eyes glowing, she snarled at Fatiha. Still no recognition of us yet, but at least she was facing the enemy.

“I see you have new friends,” Fatiha said. “But it won’t matter.”

“You killed the senator.”