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

She arched an eyebrow but then said, “Deal. Can I continue?”

“Actually, since it’s Pucky’s sister…” I turned to Pucky, waiting.

“Technically, my half-sister. Her name’s Riak,” Pucky said. “She came about by my father straying with a Shade Master, so she has a stronger connection to that world than many others, Myths and Legends alike.”

“But if she pulls me into that place again, you have the power to pull me out, like before?”

“I don’t think she will again.” Pucky leaned back, head against the seat and eyes focused on mine. “She’s not the type to try the same thing twice. Especially now that she recognizes she’ll need to put more energy into her powers if she hopes to take you down.”

“Which we won’t let happen,” Red promised.

“Fine. Okay.” I motioned to the holographic images, of which there were a few more, including what looked like a couple of Snow White’s dwarves. “Who do we have left?”

“Could be any of these,” Red replied, “or none at all. These are the ones that have been spotted in the area in the last year or so, but that doesn’t mean much. We have flying monkeys, some of the forty thieves, and even a rumor of Goldilocks.”

“She’s evil too?”

“Not all Legends are ‘evil,’” Pucky reminded me.

“Right,” Red agreed. “But she could be working for them. She goes for the deepest pockets, a sort of mercenary or assassin, known for her ability to sneak in and do the deed. Hence the real reason for her name—dealing with locks and lockpicking.” She pulled up an image. Sure enough, Goldilocks actually had raven-black hair and olive skin. Not exactly what the fairytales claimed.

“They’re gliding down,” the driver’s voice said through a speaker.

“Thank you,” Red said after pressing a button, then turned to me. “All leveled up, right? Ichor applied?”

“We took care of it,” Pucky said and then had me pull up the screen with my blue rock.

“Good, good,” Red said, looking it over. “Warrior?” She looked back to me with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not… I mean, no offense, but…”

“I’ll get there,” I said, very offended. Sure, I wasn’t buff, but wasn’t the point that they were going to train me and I’d get magic items?

“You can change the class,” she pointed out. “For now, anyway. But when you get to the subclasses, you’ll be locked in. Just want to make sure. I mean, Warrior does make sense, it’s just so vanilla.”

“What class would you’ve had him pick?” Pucky asked, irritation heavy in her voice.

“His frame, maybe Monk.”

“Most people who’ve gone Monk have been training in martial arts their whole lives,” Pucky countered. “It would’ve been a stretch.”

“Right, and Tempest… damn. Yeah, maybe Warrior then.”

“Don’t make it sound so much like the ‘last resort’ option,” I said. “Maybe I should go Sorcerer then?”

“With the darkness already in you?”

“Huh?” I turned to Pucky, who scrunched her face.

“I was glad you didn’t ask much about that option,” she said. “Because, yeah, you’ve been bitten, you’ve tasted the darkness. Sorcerers are the most likely to get cursed items, most often the ones likely to turn to darkness.”

“Damn,” I said, as in the back of my mind I was still kind of toying with that being one I’d switch to at a later point.

“We’re going to need to level you up as we go this time, because while this should help you survive in there, it’s not enough. Not to win. So have it ready, and be on your toes. Got it?”

“I’ll be a ballerina,” I said, trying to be funny. Neither laughed.

“Like… are you talking about the Red Shoes of Karen?” Pucky asked. “I don’t think they’d do you much good and—”

“Never mind,” I said, chuckling to myself. “Just… on my toes. It’s stupid. Yes, I’ll be ready.”

“Great, and one more thing.” Red turned and pointed to Pucky. “Motivation.”

It took me a second, but yeah, her shirt was hanging low again giving a nice titty shot. I laughed as she at first covered up but then flashed me.

“Hey, if it helps,” Pucky said then reached over and popped out one of Red’s tits.

“Dammit,” Red said, putting it back in. She laughed, winked at me, and said, “Work hard, play hard.”

I nodded, excited for both.

12

We pulled into an alley two down from a pizza joint. I looked around, wondering where we’d strike. The swans, however, settled right on top of the pizza place then faded in.

“There?” I asked, frowning. “What, the Legends make pizza in their spare time?”

“More likely they operate out of a hidden basement, tunnels, that sort of thing,” Red replied.

“Yeah, someone made up some bullshit about something like this on the East Coast,” Pucky said. “We’re thinking it was a cover for the actual evil comings and goings of Legends, but had nothing to do with that joint. Weird, how this stuff gets distorted. That one didn’t even have a basement… this one does.”

“Just… wow.” I followed them out of the car to the trunk, where a new stash of weapons and ammo was waiting.

This time Pucky grinned and pulled out a fancy bow and arrow, looked over, but then glanced back at the pizza place. “Probably not the best for confined spaces,” she said, placing it back with a mock pout.

“You should see her with that thing, though,” Red said.

“It’s not like it’s all me,” Pucky countered. Seeing my curious expression, she explained, “My accuracy increased tenfold when I had to take down Robin Hood.”

“Fuck, he went dark too?”

“Yeah, but… he wasn’t so far off to begin with, in reality. Helping the poor is great, but not all rich deserve what he was doing.”

“Damn straight,” Red said. “Rob from the rich… well, sometimes the church or temple are the rich. Sometimes it’s the organization of fairy tale Myths fighting to keep this world safe.”

“Crossed over when he sold some magical items during World War II. The biggest being the final pieces needed for, well… the bombs that ended it.”

“So… that wasn’t good?”

She tilted her head