Myths and Gargoyles Jamie Hawke (i read a book .TXT) 📖

“Yes.”

She rolled over and pressed against me. The firm armor over her chest reminded me that we weren’t quite as close as maybe I would have liked in the moment, but she wrapped her arm over my chest and I felt like I was in heaven.

Even with my mind reeling with the idea , sleep took me again, only, this time it was different. Something other than Aerona was holding me—a hand, on my neck, choking me! The arm was gray and sinewy, leading up to a face with red eyes and slick, sharp teeth visible as the thing snarled.

I pulled away, spinning to see a creature with patches of white hair, dark skin, and those red eyes. It moved for me, but when I stood and growled, it turned and ran off. Only then did I see that it wore rusted armor and old robes that looked familiar, similar to the old days of Avalon.

My eyes took in the darkness, rock shelves and hanging trees starting to become visible, and the sound of a distant river. For a moment I even thought I could make out the Heart of the Mountain again, only it was as it had been before my actions. Then it was gone, and I seemed to have turned around, except every time I turned my head, I was looking at the same damn tree—a stump, really, with one lone arrow in its side.

Each step toward the tree echoed as if I were in a large, empty chamber. I knelt, inspecting the arrow. Intricate carvings filled the shaft, the type it didn’t make sense to work on unless you knew you would get your arrow back. Before my eyes, the carvings started to glow, forming runes. They drifted up and off the arrow, forming a misty face that hovered in front of me.

“Glitonea,” I said, recognizing her. “You’re locked in the house…”

“I am,” she said, voice distant. “But why? Don’t you know, Jericho, that you and I should be on the same side in this war?”

My silence was answer enough to cause her to snarl, but then she was pleasant again, even smiling.

“Jericho,” she continued, “I am one of the Nine Ladies. Ancient beings with power beyond your comprehension. I know much about this world, and much more than your gargoyle friends. They would have you believe I’m evil. Well, I’m not. I’m the one working to make the world a better place, but it so happens that my methods are beyond their comprehension.”

“And what methods would those be?” I asked.

Her smile widened, but before she could answer, the runes faded and she was whisked away, remnants of light moving through the darkness like fireflies, until they were gone completely.

In their place stood an army that I hadn’t previously noticed. Dark figures, white hair, similar to the first I had seen. Drow, no doubt. But they weren’t the same as they had once been. They were more decrepit, more… evil?

My internal voice said to get out of there, told my legs to run. Neither worked, and suddenly the Drow were on me, clawing and drawing glowing blue blades to strike. In a flash of light, I knelt and fell through the ground, mind trying to come up with answers, focusing back on the runes in my house and suddenly seeing patterns although not understanding them. One movement, and everything froze—I was in translucent rock, able to reach out and touch it, and yet not.

Knowing I had control now, I told myself to wake.

With a jolt, I was back in bed, Aerona stirring at my side.

“Where… was I?” I asked.

She shook her head, unable to answer me. “I’ve only seen glimpses of it once before, when a dark force tried to wake me, to pull me from my place of stone in Avalon. If the others were taken, not able to hold out as I was, they might be there.”

“Well… fuck.” I sat, hand to the back of my head where a dull pain had started. “I don’t want to go back there.”

“There’s a reason it’s connecting us to that place.” Aerona had her hand on my chest still, eyes focused on mine. “We need you to. Please. I need you to.”

My mind raced with the images I’d seen down there. Had it been down?

“Where was I?” I asked.

Aerona shifted, hand on mine. “You were with the enemy that you exiled when you used the Liahona and separated Avalon from this world, so long ago.”

“No.”

I stood, going to the window and staring out, watching as the light blue at the edge of the horizon signaled the coming sunrise. Soon they would be stone, and the idea that I had to go into that place again would be gone, at least until the next night.

106

Steph entered to find me staring at the statue of Aerona. This relatively petite gargoyle statue, standing at the edge of the bed with arms crossed, a scowl on her face. A scowl meant for me, while I stared out at the sunrise and waited for her to turn to stone. I felt like an ass, which was why I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off her.

“How did it go?” Steph asked.

“You knew?”

“We discussed it, but I don’t know anything other than what she told us.” Steph approached, but stopped a couple paces away, apparently sensing that I wasn’t myself.

“I want to know what she said,” I told her.

“Only that Rianne spoke of this. Someone arriving, and how Aerona would be able to harness the connection. That the dream magic was more powerful than the runes, and that this would be instrumental in helping us to defeat the enemy.”

“Maybe we go back to Rianne and get more answers. If she’s able to see so much, why do I feel like I’m grasping in the dark?”

“You know it doesn’t work like that.”

I nodded, eyeing the statue again, then her. “The others?”

“On the roof. They wanted to feel the