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

“She’s trapped,” Sekhmet said, returning to her humanoid form with the lion face. “That barrier will hold her… for now. She’s not strong enough to break out on her own.”

I turned, pulling up my screen to quickly assign my new prana, but just as I was finishing Elisa said, “We’re not done yet.”

Sure enough, more of those monsters—the men with dog faces, some wearing loincloths, others hanging out for the world to see—were approaching. I closed my screen and charged, no hesitation in this moment. The last thing I wanted was for Isis to somehow break out of there.

“Weaken them,” Hekate said, “but keep as many alive as possible.”

“You’re not making sense!” I shouted, already stabbing through a mummy with my sword and then kicking it off.

“Just do it!”

I growled, backing off and working on disarming them instead, making non-lethal strikes when possible, while the others worked their magic.

“Now!” Hekate said, and she stepped forward with hands extended. Green tendrils shot out into the surrounding throng of monsters.

“You fight for me now!” she declared, and then pulled. Sure enough, the green snapped back, hitting monsters on the way and leaving those of the undead variety with green, glowing eyes. “Attack your brothers and sisters! Destroy those who I have not claimed!”

The skeletons and mummies turned on the others, to the point that the winged beasts and other animals soon tucked tail and fled. We gave chase, Pucky shooting down a good number of them, my prana points coming in hot and fast to the point that I’d just leveled up to six, and Sharon was howling in victory.

It finally calmed down, and Hekate’s converted warriors trickled back over to us, where they stood, awaiting their next command.

“We have our army to keep this place under our control,” Hekate said. “They’ll guard the barrier from this side… at least as long as I’m alive. You’re welcome.”

“I’m impressed.” Elisa stared at her in awe, then turned to Sekhmet. “And you’re sure the barrier will hold Isis and… him?”

“I can answer regarding her, but he… let’s hope he’s not wakened.” Sekhmet turned to eye the scepter in Red’s hand. “You were saying, about the scepter? I’ll have it back… whatever the cost.”

“The cost,” Red replied, “is that you two help us track down a newly-reborn Legend. King Arthur, to be exact. And Morganna—though she’s been absorbed by Riak.”

“Mother of Shades,” Sekhmet said, sharing a look with the cat. “Yes, we can help you track these two, for the price named.”

“How do we know she’ll stick to her word?” I asked.

“She’s bound to it, for one,” Hekate said.

At my questioning look, Elisa explained, “There are certain deals you can’t undo without paying a great price. In this case, she’d be impacted by the darkness. It would change her—and while some people can handle a bit of darkness, I have a feeling she’s had enough in her life.”

The cat curled up around my leg, looking up at me and purring.

“I know,” Sekhmet said to the cat, then turned to me. “They’re all correct. Being down here as long as I have, and close to… to what was once my lover but is now the farthest thing from love I can think of, has changed me. I have no interest in joining the fight again, but I will not abide in the shadows.”

“You’ll help us track these two down, then be free to go,” Red said. “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Sekhmet said.

Red stepped forward, shook the goddess’s hand, and handed over the scepter. Sekhmet sheathed her blades at her back, took the scepter, and held it close as if reunited with a long-lost lover.

“It has a power?” I asked.

“Because of it, I’m able to go with you.” Sekhmet lifted the scepter and, as she did so, a shimmer of light passed over her face, transforming her so that—while she still had lioness-like features—she had a woman’s face now, and a damn beautiful one at that. Her jade-green eyes stood out even more with the way they were framed by dark eyelashes. This, combined with her smooth skin with high cheekbones made her the epitome of Egyptian goddess.

But she didn’t stop there. Turning to the hallway, she stretched out her arm with the scepter as if it was an extension of her arm, and a ray of light shot out, filling the hall until it was as if glowing stones paved the way.

“If anyone makes it past our little army out there, courtesy of the witch, well…” Sekhmet grinned, indicating her handiwork. “They’ll have to find a way through this, and that would take some powerful magic indeed.” She paused for a moment, glancing over. “You don’t happen to have my sun disk, do you?”

“Not yet,” Elisa said with a wink.

At the ‘yet’ part of it, Sekhmet looked very intrigued.

“Now what?” I asked.

“Now,” Sekhmet replied, turning to me and holding out an arm for the cat to leap into. “We track down some evil reborn Legends.”

The sparkle in her eyes told me that, as much as she’d been against fighting in this war, the thrill of the fight was alive within her.

“And put on your shirt already,” she added with a laugh. “I’m sure your ladies would hate if I tore off the rest of your clothes and took you right here, but I’m damn close to doing so. Damn close.”

She turned and started walking, leaving the rest of us to stand there awkwardly for a moment, processing that.

“Oh, right,” I stammered as I tugged my shirt out of my pocket and dressed as I ran to catch up.

36

Our first goal was to get out of Egypt, but only when we had a destination. Our first step on that journey was to find a town with a railway station and that meant trudging across the desert at night, freezing if not for the warmth of the light Sekhmet cast upon us with her scepter. If she had the disc, she told us, we wouldn’t