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

something caught my eye in the water nearby. I dodged one of her diving strikes and, as she was flying back up to come in for another attack, I leaned out over the water.

Looking out from its depths, deep within and almost invisible, was Pucky. She could’ve merely been the dark bottom of the water, except for the glow of her horns. Her hand was reaching out to me, the glow reflecting on the sides of her fingers, and I knew what I had to do.

I reached, ready to take her hand. Only, as our fingers seemed about to touch, the reflection of my attacker showed and she was on me, claws digging into my flesh and wings flapping as she pulled me away, cursing and then shouting in an ancient language. Her full body was against me then and I was being pulled up and away from the water. Contact with her seemed to burn in the way prolonged contact with ice does.

“You’re in my head,” I said, imagining any power that worked this way was similar to the way fighting darkness worked. As I focused on the joy my ladies brought me and my dedication to my role of being the Protector, I added, “I won’t allow it.”

And then it was like the water was alive, rising to meet me as I reached for it, and I managed to twist and struggle, breaking the woman’s grasp so that I fell and was engulfed in those waters. Pucky was there, grabbing hold of my hand, and pulling me out and free from whatever insanity that place was.

I stumbled, realizing I was standing, and saw that the others were all staring at me with worry, the darkness gone.

“Is he back?” Elisa asked.

Pucky held my hand to hers, kissed it, and nodded as I said, “Yes.”

“You scared us there,” Red chimed in. “Eyes going all black, talking in an ancient tongue.”

I sighed, shaking my head to try and clear it of images of that woman, and then caught sight of her—not her, exactly, but a carving on a pillar. We were in a room with tall pillars, with images of skeleton warriors and the like.

A cat was looking at us with a slight, purple glow. Before I could point it out or ask if the others had noticed, two blades appeared in thin air in the center of the room. They burst into flames, held by the form of a woman—not the one from my vision—who leaped onto a ledge in front of us. No, not a ledge I saw, but a large sarcophagus.

“You can’t have him,” she hissed, lifting the blades in a defensive stance. Only then did I see that while her body was certainly that of a woman, her face was that of a lion. There was no doubt we were facing Sekhmet.

“We’re not here fo—” Hekate started, but Sekhmet roared and the shadows tore through the chamber, cutting her off and bringing me to my knees.

My head throbbed and my muscles were taut, veins bulging and fur sprouting.

“He calls upon you for help,” Sekhmet said, and pointed one of her fiery blades my way. “Your true self will be revealed this night.”

I let out a growl while my body transformed, my blade cluttering to the ground, and nearby Sharon was transforming too, while Hekate rose into the air, darkness enveloping her in a spiraling embrace.

“Fight it!” Elisa shouted, but her voice sounded distant, as if through water.

In an explosion of power that sent us off balance, Hekate threw herself at the sarcophagus, thrusting out with her hands so that the top budged slightly. Sharon was at her side a split-second later, in full werewolf form now and fighting, pushing Sekhmet back.

The rest of us were all in a state of confusion, not sure why these two had attacked. What was going on? We weren’t here for the being within that sarcophagus. Red was the first to act, tackling Hekate and shouting for her to stop.

Hekate rolled with it, throwing Red off with a burst of magic, then pulling out a blast of fire that Red rebuffed with a flap of her cloak. Now the two were moving around each other in bursts, while Pucky and Elisa went to pull Sharon back.

I wasn’t sure where I was needed, but knew that this wasn’t right. The confusion in my head was telling me to make five different moves at once, but my gut was saying only that Sekhmet needed to be won over, that the rest of this needed to stop.

Focusing on my inner peace, a clarity swept over me. I reached out and took hold of Excalibur, pushing myself to one knee.

A glow formed from Excalibur, blue and dull, but then I noticed it was coming from beneath my shirt as well. I stood and pulled off my shirt, hastily compressing it and shoving it in my pocket, surprised to see patterns like I’d seen from the sword before on my skin. They were runes and circles, strange designs that glowed stronger as I gained confidence, matching the radiance that was now coming from the sword.

“You’re embracing who you’re meant to be,” Elisa said, and even Sekhmet paused in her assault.

“The shadow was in you…” She growled. “How?”

“This is the newest Protector,” Elisa said, moving to throw a blast of white light to halt Hekate’s next attack. “Whatever shadow magic you’re using here, he’ll overcome it.”

“Me?” Sekhmet scoffed. “It’s the darkness that I’m fighting, that I’m here to protect you all from. And your lies won’t divert me from my duty.”

“Excalibur has accepted him,” Red said, her cloak flashing as she appeared at Sekhmet’s side. “You have to see that.”

Sekhmet spun, slicing, and Red had to pull back, then again as Hekate attempted an attack on Sekhmet that hit her as a wall of flame. The goddess’s eyes lit up and the flames seemed to enter her, emerging from her blades to burn brighter.

“Lies, illusions,” Sekhmet said. “It