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

of candles and what looked like lines of blood on the ground. Shisa walked up to me and stared with large eyes, so I knelt and patted his back. Shisa blinked, then nuzzled my leg in a way that seemed to tell me I wasn’t doing so bad. Megha had her ‘Bob’ creature out, her finger wrapped up in its tail, watching me.

“What’re you doing?” I asked Megha.

She held a finger to her lips. It was Steph who came to my side and whispered, “Summoning.”

139

Watching Megha perform a summoning spell, the candles around her flaring, I turned back to Steph, voice low.

“Summoning what?”

“We found a trace to Yenifer’s magic and the one controlling her, and will summon the witch here to find out why.” Steph put a hand on my lower back. “And you…?”

“Wait, trace? Related to the map stuff?”

“Yes, and she worked with Riland to be able to trace it to the witch controlling Yenifer. We hope, also the one responsible for her not being herself, so that we can counter that. We’re all ready.”

A glance around showed she was right. The gargoyles each had a section of the roof covered, crouched, ready to cast spells and attack. Riland as well.

“That won’t be necessary,” I pointed out.

“What do you mean?”

“First, she didn’t attack us before. No reason now… second, I feel the trace now,” I said the words even as they became true, even as the image came to me. “She’s not a threat.”

Steph blinked in confusion, but I turned to the summoning circle, watching as the image of Mizoa appeared there as it had to my mind.

She glared, pissed, looking like she might attack. A split-second later, a crunch of stone sounded and then a loud thud as a gargoyle appeared out of the night.

Yenifer.

“What is the meaning of this?” Mizoa demanded, eyes landing on me and softening slightly, but still on guard. As she turned, her eyes lit up and Yenifer took a step toward Megha, clearly on the offensive.

“No!” I shouted, and Mizoa hesitated, eyes meeting mine.

“Release Yenifer,” Ebrill demanded, while Megha knelt, hands moving about her to keep the magic of the summoning strong.

“Did you know they were doing this to me?” Mizoa asked, eyes still on me, narrowed with a sense of betrayal.

“No, I didn’t know it would be you. But if you’re controlling Yenifer, please…” I stepped toward the circle, hands out to show I wasn’t a threat. “Let her go.”

“Don’t you understand? She’s our best hope of finding everything from the research that Gertrude did on the whereabouts of the others. Of finding the rest of the statue, the stones…”

“What is she talking about?” Steph asked.

“Ancient magic,” Megha answered, eyes moving from me to Ebrill. “If she’s right—”

“No!” Aerona cut her off. “We will not sacrifice one of our own. No matter the cost.”

“Agreed,” Ebrill said.

Kordelia nodded with a grunt.

“I know this is important.” I took another step forward, hand now held out to Mizoa. “Please. We can work together. But Yenifer must be her own person.”

“Person…” Mizoa scoffed. “Have you seen her?”

I turned my attention to the massive gargoyle, very aware of how loosely the term ‘person’ had to be when applied to her. She did look more monster than woman at this point, and there was something fierce within that I found both scary and significant. The concept of not fitting in your skin was one not foreign to me in the slightest. She still had her hair, her womanly figure—womanly and buff as hell. Large breasts that were completely exposed… I couldn’t help but notice those. Even with the semi-rocky style of her skin, though, and the taut muscles, I could still see she had an inner gentleness about her.

Then there were her eyes. Underneath the ferocity, the confusion… there was a comforting strength there.

“She’s beautiful,” I said,

“You’re twisted,” Mizoa spat, and then thrust out a hand so that magic grabbed hold and thrust me towards her. “How about a trade, everyone? Yenifer for your new lover, here?”

Everyone glared. No answers.

“Mizoa,” I said. “Look at us. We’re not the enemy, here. We can help.”

“You can’t help me,” she said, and then pointed at each of them. “None of you ca…” She had stopped, her finger aimed at Aerona, and her mouth actually fell open. “I stand corrected.”

We all turned to Aerona, equally confused.

“The dreams,” Megha said, and something passed between the two, like sparkling particles of dust on a summer afternoon. Only, these sparkles were moving between the two ladies, and I had to imagine they were communicating or maybe even they were off in some mental place like where I had been when I formed my runes.

“Should we do something?” Steph asked, but Ebrill held up a hand to keep us in place.

After a moment of this, Mizoa blinked, the connection gone, and smiled. “Deal. We’ll work together.”

Aerona, however, fell to the ground, fists slamming into the roof so hard that the stone shattered. Her wings flailed for a moment, then she wrapped them around herself so that she was in her own little tent.

I swear I heard a sob.

“Can someone fill me in, here?” Steph asked.

Kordelia and Ebrill looked equally lost, but Megha, who had broken the summoning spell, stood and wasn’t paying attention to all that drama. Instead, she was approaching Yenifer, the large gargoyle who was now standing, dazed, one hand to her head. The short Asian witch walked up to this beast who was three times her size, eyed her up and down, and then cursed as one of the gargoyle fists flew out and smashed into her chest. Megha fell, landing on her back, feet in the air.

“Fuck, Yenifer!” Megha wheezed, as Ebrill and Kordelia charged to her defense.

“Contain her!” Ebrill shouted, coming up from the other direction.

“You’re with her?” Yenifer growled, turning on them too. But they froze, and I realized why—Yenifer had spoken in her own voice.

“She’s with us,” I said, stepping over, glancing back to ensure Shisa was following,