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

because Fatiha’s showing me visions about thousands of their dead. Hundreds of thousands, maybe. Because this group comes to me without attacking, simply revealing themselves—why? I’ll tell you why. It’s because, for some reason, they believe I might be their guy, the guy who can make a difference. To change the way it was, to make a new way.”

“That’s preposterous—”

“They’re fucking right!” I was getting really worked up now, though I hadn’t meant to. “Tell me. Explain to me right now why they’re our enemy. Go on.”

“Because…” Galahad looked around for help.

“In my day, they allied with the enemy,” Ebrill stated. “But… that doesn’t mean they’re all bad.”

“No, it doesn’t.” I turned to the others, then back to Galahad. “This might be some corny bullshit, or it might be me at the height of my wisdom, I don’t know. All I know is what I saw. And I know that Fatiha is evil as shit now, but maybe she started in the right place. Maybe we can take what she started with, mold it in the right direction.”

“And her?” Steph asked.

“Her?” I laughed. “Oh, she has to die.”

“Good, because yeah, she definitely needs to die.”

A couple of laughs.

“We can give her the chance to change, tell her we’re willing to listen, but… at this point, I’d say she’s crossed over.” I shook my head, trying to imagine a scenario where she could continue to exist in our world. The image didn’t come easy. “Maybe if we took all her magic, put her in a prison…”

“She might as well be dead. I’m pretty sure she will see it that way.”

I nodded. “Agreed.”

“And Moronoe?” Galahad asked. “You want to go changing the way things are, don’t forget that she’s part of the equation.”

“Now that we kind of have one of the stones,” Mizoa interjected, “and know we do, the minute we start looking for others they’ll come after us.”

“Like they did with the house,” Ebrill added.

I cursed, folded my arms, and eyed Galahad. “So, we’re on the same page? Can I trust you to reach out to the Order, to let them know being different doesn’t automatically make them our enemies?”

“I will do so, and you can,” he replied, although uncertainty was still clear in his eyes. The fact that he was willing to take the chance, though, because I asked him to, made all the difference.

“Good. The rest of us… I think we need to set the bait.”

“Meaning?” Riland asked.

“Begin to look for the next stone, but really… to get this war out in the open.”

Everyone was silent, taking this in.

“So, this is it?” Ebrill asked. “If we make this move, this is the final showdown?”

“I’d like to think so,” I replied. Turning to Mizoa, I added, “I assume you know how to continue the search, now that you know we have one of the stones?”

She nodded, eyeing Aerona with a new fascination. “Where?”

“Where what?”

“This battle… where do we want it?” She gestured around. “Not here, surely. Too many casualties.”

My mind started working. If I were to have the ultimate battle, not so far from where we were, where would it be? With a smile, I said, “Get to the cars.”

146

“You’re sure about this?” Ebrill asked, looking out at the battlefield where we were going to setup. The fields where many men had died before. Gettysburg. “We won’t have time to do this and drive back.”

“This is the final battle,” I countered. She was right, we wouldn’t have time to do battle and drive the hour and a half or so back to Washington, D.C. But, it wouldn’t be necessary. “If they don’t stop us, we simply go for the next stone. They try to stop us, we have our fight, and it’s over.”

“Hopefully.”

“It had better work,” Aerona interjected. She opened the door to the van and stepped out.

“Fine, maybe part of this was that I’ve always wanted to see Gettysburg,” I admitted, and Steph glanced over and chuckled as she started to follow Aerona out. She knew it was true—something I had mentioned a few times before I had headed out to D.C, before all the magic had started. Gettysburg, the White House, and the Atlantic Ocean. Those had been the three things at the top of my wish list.

Since I was growing up fast, Gettysburg made more sense for now.

“I have a feeling this won’t be exactly like the tours,” Steph said, then took the final step out of the van and motioned for me to follow.

With a nod to admit she was almost certainly right, I followed. Stepping out onto a ledge that overlooked the battlefield at night was a truly unique experience. Dark fields, more stars above than I had ever seen in my life. Someday, I would return to see this place in the light of day, to read the plaques and find out what had happened and where. That is, if we didn’t totally destroy the place that night.

A tree in the distance had one of its main branches broken off. It was just hanging there, and I imagined a cannon shot tearing through it as men charged past, muskets at the ready. I closed my eyes and could almost hear their battle cries.

“Why here?” Kordelia asked.

I opened my eyes and smiled. “One of the most significant battles in the Civil War was fought here. A war that, among other things, helped free the slaves.”

“Isn’t that a bit on the nose?” She smirked.

“If you’re insinuating that I see myself as a General Lee or—”

“I don’t know who that is, and right now, I don’t care.” She indicated Mizoa and Aerona, already working their way to a high point along the hills near the field. “We have work to do.”

“Then why make the comment at all?”

“To have some fun.” She winked, walking on ahead.

“She makes a good point,” Steph said, stepping up next to me. “Didn’t you say you dressed as General Lee for Halloween once as a child?”

“That, you remember?” I laughed. “Come on,