Myths and Gargoyles

by Jamie Hawke

  “Sure.” I glanced over as we came to a fork in the road. Her eyes flashed red, and she indicated the road to our right.

  “Going forward though, that’s all going to be different. In part, because I’m sharing you with Ebrill, apparently.”

  “That…”

  “That.”

  “So, it does bother you. Right?”

  “Honestly,” she gestured for another turn, “no.”

  “Why not?”

  She laughed. “You want me to be jealous, don’t you? Well, sorry. I’m the type of girl to get myself cursed in a search for more magic, to have a wraith knight army, in a sense. To be honest, Ebrill’s hot. I kind of like the idea.”

  “Damn. Nice?” I laughed. “This is all uncharted territory for me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to think.”

  “Shut the fuck up, then. You get two hotties licking your nuts, you cum and smile. No doubting or wondering what to think about it.”

  “True.” I was all grins, until a thought hit me. “Wait, you and the wraith knights aren’t…?”

  “God, no.” She hit me. “They’re basically ghosts, if even that. More like forces with no other purpose but to attack—as far as I know, they were never actually alive. They certainly weren’t my lovers, or aren’t, or anything like that if that’s what you were implying.”

  “Asking, not implying. And good.”

  She gestured for another turn. The houses were much larger and spread out here. She perked up, eyes searching, glowing a slight red.

  “We’re close?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “Oh, shit,” she said.

  “What?” I turned, looking for what she had spotted, and had to swerve when I nearly went right into oncoming traffic.

  “Nothing like that,” she said, then turned to me, frowning. “I just remembered… Beaverton. That night at your friend’s place.”

  I stiffened. Both my body, and below. Instant wood as I recalled that drunken evening. We had gone for my buddy’s birthday and crashed in his guest room, and for some reason that was the night she had let me stick it in her ass. The next day she had been sore as hell, although neither of us had even remembered it until the day after that. She had been mad at me for a week, and I felt like a jerk for letting it happen while we were both so toasted. Then again, I’d been just as drunk and out of it, so I had a hard time accepting the guilt.

  Still, now that I realized she had been cursed, the whole situation took on a new meaning. “Fuck.”

  “Yeah, I’d say.”

  “I mean, it’s hitting me that all of this—I mean, it’s horrible. In a sense, if you were cursed—isn’t that like I was fooling around with a drugged-up chick?”

  “First, you had no way of knowing,” she replied. “Second… you can make it up to me.”

  “Oh?”

  “You’re hot, and you seem nice. Everything I remember from our time was great, but I seem to remember myself being more giving than you were. At my insistence, I know, but…”

  “You’re hinting that you want me to go down on you?” I glanced over, then laughed when she didn’t respond. “Steph, you never wanted me to. I would fucking love it. Come on. You drive and I’ll do it right here, right now.”

  She hit me again. “Shut up, we’re almost there. But next time we’re fooling around, it’ll be the grand buffet for you.”

  A snort-laugh escaped, and we both laughed, then. I had to adjust my cock so my boner wouldn’t be so obvious. She reached over, though, massaging it for a second before saying, “Shit, we’re here.”

  I pursed my lips in a pout and pulled over to what looked like a large church. “No way.”

  She shook her head. “Not the church, but I remember passing it. One of these houses, for sure.”

  The heat and humidity hit me hard when we stepped out of the car, but not as hard as the sight of Fatiha in the park nearby. She sat on a bench, posture straight, staring at us with hands folded in her lap. Both hands, as she had somehow found a way to heal it back on, or grow another. Then again, this was all magic largely beyond my comprehension, so what did I know?

  She was waiting.

  “What brings you two so far from home?” Her voice carried, barely more than a whisper, but audible from far away.

  We approached, reaching the gate of the park, where we stopped. “You can still pull back,” I said. “Call it quits Nobody has to be hurt.”

  She laughed. “If your aunt had known how simple you were, I doubt she ever would have entrusted so much of her plan to you. Lucky me.”

  I glared, holding her gaze. After a few beats of this, I grunted. “Then we’re done. One thing, though—how is it that my aunt didn’t recognize you for who you are?”

  “She only ever knew me as the one with magic,” she replied. “When my magic was gone, or mostly gone, so was my imprint, the way she would have recognized me after so much time.”

  I scrunched my nose, processing this, then nodded. “And you… what, want your magic back?”

  “So much more than that,” Fatiha replied with an evil smile. “My powers, yours. All.”

  “For what ends?” Steph asked.

  “Magic should never be hidden. Never be stolen, certainly.” Her eyes penetrated my soul, boiling deep within.

  “And never, ever be used to hurt others,” I countered. “Unless they need to be stopped, unless they are the ones using it to commit evil.”

  Her lip twitched. She turned, waving me off. “You have until midnight to hand over the Liahona. We will come to collect.”

  We stood there for a while, watching her walk off. Cars passed, all oblivious to the fact that evil incarnate was hiding out so close to their homes. A breeze rustled the leaves above, as if none of the chaos mattered, as if peace could really exist in this world.

  Of course, the Virginia heat and humidity served as an annoying reminder of what was to come. My hand went to the inner pocket of my jacket where I had stored the Liahona. With our powers, safer to keep it close.

  “We’re still coming for her, right?” Steph asked, opening the gate and going in to sit on a bench. I followed and did the same.

  “You have a good idea where she’ll be?”

  Steph grinned. “One of my wraith knights is following her right now. If she still had her full magic, she would know—but she doesn’t.”

  “Sly dog.” I chuckled. “But, I thought your type of magic doesn’t work in the day?”

  “It works, but on a very reduced level. They could attack us right now and still prove to be a challenge, but with your transmutation spells, I can’t imagine they would have much chance of success.”

  “Speaking of which.” I pulled up my screen and focused on making transmutation spell options appear. “I’m hoping I can get more specific with that side of my magic. And…” Sure enough, a new page appeared. I gave Steph a satisfied nod.

  “What do you see?”

  “A few options, such as ones I already know. At my level—er, power level, I guess—there’s what I’ve done so far, like animating objects as I did with the house, kind of.”

  “Badass, I might add.”

  “Ooh, here’s a fun one. It looks like I can change the air to basically be poison, or even make it… solid?”

  “So, you can attack people by changing the air they breathe, nice.” She leaned back in thought. “I guess the latter can be used for shields?”

  “Or making a temporary prison.”

  “Nice.” She eyed me, waiting for more.

  “Aside from that, it’s mostly silly stuff, but… no way.” I stared at the words for a moment, then grinned. “Shape-shifting.”

  “As in… you can actually become a wolf and stuff like that?”

  I shrugged, glanced around, and tried it. My whole body was instantly wracked with pain, my skin feeling like it was being torn off. Blood formed in lines on my arms, and I stopped, staring in horror at what I had done.

  “Fuck me,” she s
aid, eyes wide.

  My mouth was dry, everything hurt, and I felt like an idiot. So much so, that all I could do was sit there and stare as the blood started to trail my skin, forming lines between hairs.

  “What… was that?” Steph asked.

  “A spell I’m never trying again,” I replied. “No way in fucking hell.”

  She nodded, slowly. “Maybe when you’re much more powerful? When you can heal? Speaking of… can you? Please, because this… is disgusting.”

  I almost laughed, but it was the sort of hysterical laugh that was almost a whimper. My screen was still up, and while I didn’t see anything about healing on there, I focused on my wounds and timidly pressed with my mind. Nothing. Licking my lips and thinking instead of it like an ‘undo,’ I tried again. This time, while the pain was still lingering and blood still on my skin, the wounds closed.

  “Undo,” I said, and shrugged. “As close to healing as I can get, for now anyway.”

  With a sigh, she said, “I’m glad I don’t have your magic. No offense, but… it’s too much.”

  “I’m right there with you, at the moment.”

  A shimmer of light appeared, and movement as if a shadow leaped up, and then Steph shuddered.

  “Your wraith knight?” I asked.

  She nodded. “We have their location.”

  “Good.” The pain was starting to subside, at least, so I stood and motioned back to the car. “Let’s prepare for tonight. You should drive now, though. I’m a bit… shook up.”

  “I’d imagine.” She caught the keys, moved to the driver’s side and got in.

  Once we were on the road, the AC blasting, I closed my eyes and relaxed, only noticing as sleep took me that the pain was finally gone. And this time, when I slept, there was no travel. Not even any dreams.

  Just sleep.

  94

  We arrived back at the house before sunset and had a quick snack, then checked the place, and gave the shisa an appreciative pat on the head. The guardian seemed to enjoy that, then kept on patrolling. I connected with him for a moment, sending my appreciation and feeling that several observers had been detected while we were gone, but nothing more.

  When my attention returned to my surroundings, I noticed Steph giving me a sideways glance. I was about to ask what that was about, when she ran her tongue along her lips and motioned toward the bedroom.

  “A shower before the fight sounds good, don’t you think?” Steph said.

  I nodded in eager anticipation. We made straight for the shower, undressing as we went. She had it turned on and was cleaning herself before I managed to remove my pants. I only paused long enough to check on the Liahona in my jacket. In a moment, I was back with her, kissing her neck and then her breasts as one hand moved between her legs. She put one leg up on the side of the bathtub so I could move to my knees. My kisses moved along her thigh, then to taste her pussy. It was wet from the shower but also naturally, I imagined. My nose nuzzled her pubes. My tongue lapped her up, moving around her opening and then finding her clit as my fingers ran along her ass. She angled her hips forward, giving me better access, and then I fingered her while eating her out, loving every second of it. Water cascaded down her body and over my face, making it hard to breathe. I kept going anyway, kissing and licking and moving my tongue around until she pulled my hair, pushed my head into her and let out a high-pitched squeal.

  “Now I…” She let my head free, so that I could take a big breath.

  “Yeah?”

  “Now I…” she managed between heavy breaths. “Now… I… owe you.”

  I laughed. “You’ll get to it, I’m sure.” A glance back out through the open door showed orange and purple streaks in the sky. “We don’t have much time.”

  She nodded, but as I stood, she still managed to bend and give my cock a nice lick, then kiss. “When it’s time, I’m going to suck you dry.”

  “I look forward to it,” I admitted, soaping up as she stepped out of the tub to find a towel. Soon, I was out, too, drying myself off and trying to ignore my raging boner and the way she kept glancing over at it.

  “Sure you don’t want me to…?” she asked.

  My eyes went to the window, the dark sky, and I let out a sigh. Of course, I wanted to, but even as I thought it, the blue glow returned to the gargoyles and their stone broke free. Ebrill and Kordelia turned to see us, both naked but covering ourselves somewhat with towels.

  “Really?” Kordelia scoffed. “Nothing better to do while we’re out than fuck?”

  “Actually,” Steph countered, “we found the hideout.”

  “And didn’t exactly fuck,” I added.

  Steph grinned.

  “Spare me the details.” Kordelia tossed me a shirt from my open suitcase. “And get dressed before you blind us all with your pale ass.”

  “I like that ass,” Ebrill noted, finding the whole situation quite humorous.

  Ignoring the comment, Kordelia strode to the window and looked out into the early night. “They’ll be here soon, I imagine.”

  “Then we need to get on with our attack,” Steph said.

  “Actually.” I held up a hand for attention. “I’ve been thinking. If we wait a bit, I can see about controlling the house from somewhere nearby, make it seem like we’re within and putting up a fight. Then, when they’re working to counter our barrier spells and break their way in, we’re on our way to their base.”

  “And you think Fatiha will have your aunt at their headquarters?” Ebrill asked.

  “She has to realize I know by now, and that I’ll be after the tree.”

  “Tree?” Kordelia asked.

  “It’s… a long story. Basically, what’s left of my aunt—er, Gertrude, is in some sort of magical tree. It’s small. Fatiha wants the Liahona so she’s pressing the attack, but if we get access to that tree and Gertrude, we open the gateway and gain access to the magic of Avalon. Of course, she’ll press the attack, but also guard that tree with a strong force.”

  “Let’s be ready for her, then,” Ebrill said. “And be ready to make our getaway.”

  We all agreed, finished dressing, and made our way out of there. Steph had demonstrated foresight by parking the car a couple of blocks away earlier, and now we slipped out the new back—set up since I had rearranged the place with my transmutation magic—and kept low. Ebrill used her cloaking spell now that the memory of it had come back to her. At this point, she explained as we went, she felt that most, if not all, of her memories had returned.

  We reached the perfect spot, hidden among the trees of a nearby house on a hill. From here, we could see my aunt’s house and the surrounding area. At the moment, all was calm. Not even a wind to sway the trees, or a dog’s bark to break the quiet. The purr of an electric car sounded. The car appeared down the street a moment later and drove by, but other than that, nothing.

  As we waited, I glanced up to see Kordelia watching me. Curiosity mixed with maybe a bit of seductive interest. I nodded her way, and she cocked her head, eyes not leaving mine.

  “What?” I asked.

  “For a small man, you’re… hot,” she whispered. “And pleasant to look at.”

  “He’s not so small,” Ebrill said from my left, earning a grin from Kordelia.

  “Not where it counts,” Kordelia agreed, causing me to blush.

  “I thought size wasn’t supposed to matter,” I interjected.

  Steph cleared her throat, holding up a finger. “To an extent.”

  “Says the tiny woman.” Kordelia licked her teeth, then shrugged. “Maybe to some it doesn’t. To me, it does.”

  “Me too,” Ebrill said. “I hate to be shallow, but… yeah. Good thing we’re not working with a shrimp here.” She cupped my package.

  I frowned. “Aren’t we supposed to be working, here?”

  “They’re giving you a compliment,” Steph said. “Take it and say thank you.”

  “Thanks,” I said but shook my head. “Now focus.”

 
; “Until they get here, does it matter?” Kordelia asked. “You focus on what you want to focus on, let me focus on you.”

  This time I turned in confusion. “Sorry, but… what? You left the room back there.”

  “Wondering if I made a mistake.”

  “Oh.” I glanced at Ebrill, trying to judge whether Kordelia was fucking with me, but she was smiling my way like she was ready for more.

  “There will be more opportunities,” I said.

  “Wait a second.” Ebrill moved close to me and crouched at my side, hand on my abs. “Isn’t it true that your powers kind of amplify when you’re in contact? Like we did before.”

  I gulped and eyed her and then Kordelia, nervously. “Yes.”

  “Then it’s settled. Kordelia, you can touch it.”

  “Hey,” I started to protest, but Ebrill was already undoing my pants.

  “It’s not like we have to fight, here, or run. Not at first, right? You’re going to connect to the building, make them believe we’re inside, and make them regret sending their forces. So, this,” she had my cock out—semi-flaccid, but clearly growing, “this will only help.”

  Kordelia looked to Steph first, who, smiling, gave her a nod to go ahead. Kordelia reached out. One cold finger found my tip, moved along the smooth skin, then traced it back toward the base as the rest of her fingers joined the first to wrap around it.

  By that point, I was fully grown and had my hand on a nearby tree trunk for balance. My eyes closed as she gave me a gentle stroke, and then I was there, spreading out from the house and nearby streets, able to sense the incoming danger.

  “They’re here,” I said, and felt her stroke me again. “Oh, my… Ohhh.” This time the flash came with a line of surging darkness that pushed through the ground, forcing its way up as it moved for the house. I mumbled something about not stopping, and then felt another hand, this one on my balls, then a mouth, although I didn’t know whose it was.

  “Not so much that I break focus,” I had to say, but hated those words at the moment. I wanted what they were giving me, but if we fucked up our attack, literally, everything could be ruined.