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

I thrust out my hand, and my staff—wherever it had been—suddenly appeared in my grip. Light circled around the tip, then the Liahona appeared. “We’re done with this shit.”

With a sneer, Fatiha flew forward, flames trailing.

I wasn’t about to let her kill anyone else. Rage at the idea that she would try was boiling up inside of me. Megha began to summon a creature. Yenifer braced herself and roared. Steph summoned her wraith knights, and the others braced themselves for the onslaught. All the while I let my rage well up, and then turned it into a deep focus that pulled simultaneously on Avalon and the Dark Lands.

It was like all of my focus before had been a whisper, and now I was shouting. Energy poured into me, magic from those lands, mine for the taking. Deep legends and ancient rituals all flooded into me. In that moment, I pulled on the powers of past mages before me. So much so, that as I thrust my staff and the Liahona forward, the surrounding air lit up and I realized I was wearing robes that fluttered in the wind. A mask, too, had come to rest on my face. I wondered about its history, how much of that would come to light in the near future.

For the moment, all I cared about was kicking Fatiha’s ass.

As if on cue, both sides charged. Watching my newfound power sweep over them was like watching those old movies where the first wave of charging soldiers falls to a wave of arrows. Light shot out, almost like blue flames. Kobolds and the like were blasted away, one giant vanishing only to be called upon by Megha a second later. She had her hands in its head and was on its shoulders, whooping as she rode it down the steps to go berserk on the enemy.

My thought then, was that when we ‘killed’ the enemy, they were sent back to the Dark Lands. As long as that portal was open, they could repeatedly keep on coming.

I sent out another blast, aiming this one for Fatiha. She braced herself but was thrown back slightly, burn marks smoking on her skin. But she wasn’t defeated, not with the power of Thitis in her.

My power was great, but I couldn’t hold it long. Like trying to play a role, the minute I ‘broke character,’ the magic faded. I was back in my jeans and t-shirt, the remaining enemy still charging.

Yenifer and the two larger gargoyles swept through the sky, descending on the enemy with a barrage of strikes and spells, while Shisa stayed with me for defense and Ebrill kept toward the edge of the fighting in order to hit us with buffers. Steph’s wraith knights were giving the enemy hell, and the senator’s interns, to their credit, were holding their own.

I took off down the steps, finding it odd that most of the fallen had vanished into the other world. Not all, though, or not all yet. Those who were only injured, and the dying but not yet dead, stayed, clawing their way across the ground and trying to lash out when they could. I leaped over a two-headed bear, thrusting out with my Liahona power again as I landed so that I finished him and the snake-like lady next to him. Then I spun, aiming for Fatiha, but she was in the air. One second ahead, shooting around in bursts of flame the next.

“This is all you have to throw against me?” she said with an ugly laugh. “Come, Jericho… you’re not as pitiful as that… are you?”

She flashed into flames, appearing as a spiral of fire that came right for me. I threw an ice wall her way and dodged. The ice wall didn’t do anything to stop her but had at least blocked her vision so she couldn’t see that I had rolled out to the side and was now up. Two ice claw spells nearly caught her, and then I used my remnant spell. When they rose, I realized the creatures had that same blue-gray tint as the ones Megha called upon.

To be able to send the enemy right back at themselves felt great. Even better when half of their forces stared at their former companions in shock, right before being pummeled into the ground. My remnants could only take a hit or two, but it was enough when paired with a surge of flurries I threw at them. Each time we took down enemies, I summoned more remnants. Although, like Steph with her wraith knights, I began to feel the toll.

And, at the moment I stumbled, Fatiha was ready to strike. She hit me with a blast of flame. It didn’t kill me, thanks to Shisa nearby, but it hurt like hell and left me with a singed eyebrow, I was pretty sure.

Moving back to Shisa, I said “Carreg,” and kept moving as attacks and spells bounced off me. I didn’t have the energy for more, and felt the stone skin effect of the spell actually slow me down, draining me of energy. It was a good defensive spell if I didn’t need to charge in kicking ass two seconds later. Shisa’s protective spells took over right as the stone skin faded.

“Doing okay there, boss?” Riland pulled back to my side, sword at the ready. His powers seemed best suited here for sword fighting or a skill that allowed him to send creatures back to the Dark Lands. Since the sword did the same thing, it made more sense in combat of this nature.

Watching another troop emerge from the portal, I shook my head, but had a thought. “She’s sending them in waves. Why?”

“I don’t follow.”

My words were mostly for me to figure it out, anyway, so I continued, “Waves means surges of energy. Just like my energy is low, she must be recharging it… or recharging an item.”

Eyes scouring the battlefield, I noted Aerona going up against Fatiha on one side, Kordelia