Myths and Gargoyles

by Jamie Hawke

  Kordelia looked at the point where I had gestured. “I wish I could see him. He’s there? Sees me?” When I nodded, she addressed him. “Riland, it will be an honor and a pleasure to serve with you again.”

  “And I, with each of you,” he replied, and I conveyed it.

  “Maybe…” Steph’s eyes lit up. “The runes!”

  “Might be the key to fully bringing him to us.” I turned to Riland. “You, I mean. Yes, brilliant, Steph.”

  “Wait, what about the senator and what happened at the Embassy?” Ebrill asked.

  “And the Order,” Aerona added.

  I glanced over at Riland, considering this. “A lot of it is likely tied together. Finding out how to summon Riland might relate to how they will summon Thiten, along with how we can find Megha.”

  “Going back in and talking with Megha might also help, in that regard,” Aerona pointed out.

  “True,” I agreed with a yawn.

  We took another moment to let our thoughts wash over us.

  Steph cleared her throat. “We need to bring food to Glitonea, right? Might as well get that done, then to the runes, followed by going back in to learn what we can from Megha.”

  “Understood,” Aerona said, and we all headed downstairs to go about it.

  115

  I stopped by to pass on Glitonea’s food and water by myself, figuring it would be best in case there was trouble. Moving the wall but forging some of the stone into thick glass, I saw her there, suspended in the air with the purple that sometimes acted as clothing now tied around her like a straight jacket. Her eyes seemed to glow blue, but when I looked closer I saw that it was runes flashing across her eyes in a way that reminded me of code from The Matrix.

  Had what I’d done to her with the runes below the house resulted in this?

  “Are you still in there?” I asked her.

  I am, her voice came back. But… trapped. You’ve done well for yourself. Maybe… maybe you’ll have a chance of winning this war after all.

  “One can dream.” Hesitating with the leftover chicken and glass of water, I asked. “Do you need food?”

  Her thoughts seemed to laugh, but it was more like I could sense it than hear the laughter. Me? I’ve survived long without humanly needs, boy. Thank you, but be on your way and leave me to my prison. Unless you have other intentions of coming?

  “I do not.”

  With that, I went to meet the others below. Steph was showing Aerona what I had accomplished so far, but when I asked if they knew anything that could be of value, they all gave me blank looks.

  “Sorry,” Aerona said. “Rune magic is something even Rianne wouldn’t be much help with. It’s an ancient form, one that makes sense for the likes of Glitonea to comprehend but long lost to the rest of us.”

  “I see.” Considering that, I walked among the runes, noting the shapes and wondering if this would have been anything like trying to understand the Chinese language if there had been no people to help translate. Early explorers might have dealt with a similar feeling. Of course, their curiosities would have come from places of expansion, imperialism, and other reasons for wanting to understand, not to stop an evil army from breaking through into our world.

  At times I found patterns, thanks to my sort-of codex that Glitonea’s body had provided. With one combination I felt a surge in my magical abilities, another that told me the house was temporarily invisible. That would raise too many questions, so I cancelled it. Without my powers of transmutation and the way I had used them to make my faux digital screens, I never would have gotten that far. With some adjustments, I wasn’t sure what happened, but was certain there had been a change. I was positive this was all here for a much larger purpose.

  After a bit, though, I needed a break, so I made my way up and out to one of many balconies. Footsteps sounded and I turned to see Riland there.

  “Did I make that happen?” I asked, eyeing him and seeing that he was no longer translucent. “It’s actually working?”

  “Apparently,” he replied, and leaned against the railing, armor clanging on the metal.

  “We’ll have to do something about your outfit.”

  He chuckled. “This world… it’s different.”

  “That, it is.”

  “And… Ebrill, the others, they’ve changed as well.”

  I looked at him, trying to work out what he was getting at. “Yeah?”

  “Makes me wonder… well, first, if the woman of my eye is even still alive. Second, if she’s different.”

  “She wasn’t made into a gargoyle, if that’s what you mean.”

  He shook his head. “‘Different’ can take on many forms in this world, I’m learning.”

  “And if she is?” I turned to face him. “If she’s… I don’t know… changed. What then?”

  “Wouldn’t matter, other than me trying to figure out how best to help her.”

  “The princess.” I laughed. “On one note, she wouldn’t exactly be a princess anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if her being royalty kept you apart in any way, you won’t have to worry about that. Those times are long gone.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” He smiled, nodded, and looked up at the moon. “We need to find her, but I believe Megha and the others will be the key. I need you to make this work.”

  “Trust me, I’m doing my best,” I replied, stifling a yawn.

  “The world where you found me.” He went to the door, opening it to reveal Ebrill waiting within. Her large form took up almost the entire hallway.

  Ebrill stood straight, head nearly touching the ceiling, and eyed me to see if I was ready. I nodded, clapped Riland on the shoulder, and said, “We’ll find her soon enough.”

  “Thank you,” he replied.

  I followed Ebrill, who took my hand to lead me along. When we entered the bedroom, she led me to the bed and said, “I’ll help you fall asleep,” while eyeing me with excitement.

  My response was a yawn, and I should have taken that as my first sign. She soon had me on the bed, hands cupping my balls, but before I could respond, sleep took me again.

  Damn.

  There was Megha, grabbing me by the lapels of the suit jacket I was apparently still wearing. She pulled me down on top of her and then to the side, finger to my mouth, and I was immediately reminded that she was nude.

  Her eyes were close to mine, narrowed, weighing me up. “Do you have what it takes to take me from this place?”

  “I think I might.”

  “Because… the timing couldn’t be more important.” With that, she nodded toward the rocks to our right.

  I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but when she sighed, pulled me up halfway and let me see, I got it. The army I had seen before had formed around us and was looking our way from below. Another glance around showed that we no longer in a ravine or anything like I had first thought, but were now on the city walls that I had seen before when I was with Riland.

  More than that, there was blood nearby. Shifting, I made out bodies… or body parts.

  “What’s happening?” I asked.

  “Since I saw you, I’ve been pushing back, trying to resist out there. But that brought their attention on me here. The worlds are certainly linked, or at least the magic of them is.” She was still on me, I realized, and now her breathing was heavy, her hand moving along the buttons of my dress shirt. “The others out there, those with you—they’ve claimed you?”

  “Nobody has ‘claimed me,’” I replied.

  She leaned in, sniffed my neck, and then licked my cheek. “Fuck that, you’ve been claimed.”

  “I don’t—”

  “By more than one?” She laughed. “You dirty slut.”

  “Hey.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I should be offended, but frowned and felt the need to defend myself. “We’re more than that—it’s a relationship.”

  “Hey, we have an army of dark magic users and beasts out there about
to try and kill us. Spend all the time justifying your sluttiness you want.”

  “You’re the one lying on me naked, licking me.”

  She grinned, wide. “I never said there was anything wrong with being a slut. But a relationship? Fuck that.”

  With a chuckle, she pushed up, standing over me—I got the full view as the dim light from the sky hit her. Petite but with full breasts, a thick bush with straight hair that still allowed for a view of her pussy. Damn, what was happening?

  “Come and get me, you motherfuckers!” she screamed over the wall, winking at me as she added, “now the clock is ticking, isn’t it? And your cock…” She nodded at where a bulge had formed in my pants. Not unexpectedly.

  “Shit,” I muttered, pushing myself up and taking her by the hand. I closed my eyes, focusing on getting us out of there.

  “Not going to work,” she said.

  I opened my eyes to see her kneeling at my side. She took my hand, placed it on one of her breasts, and blew me a kiss. “We need to find a portal point.”

  “But, before—”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m out there and in here. Different situations.”

  “Why are you…?” I gestured to her body.

  She frowned, glanced down at herself, and said, “Maybe the better question is why are you…?” and gestured at my clothes.

  “Clothed?”

  “Yeah.” She held up a finger, then ducked. At first, I was confused, until I heard what sounded like whistling. Her hand grabbed me and pulled me over so that I fell face-first into her breasts, and she laughed while the barrage of arrows landed all around us. Some burst with magic, a few even exploded into snakes of flames that flew at us. I turned in time to cast ice walls that did the trick of protecting us, while Megha ran her hand over my chest, apparently having managed to undo at least one of my buttons at some point.

  “You have an escape plan?” I asked.

  “Aren’t you the one here to rescue me?” She undid another button.

  “Stop that. Yes, I guess.”

  “You didn’t come with an exit strategy?” She clucked her tongue, running a hand along the curve of her breast. “Always come with an exit strategy.”

  “Shit, you’re batshit crazy, aren’t you?”

  Her wink said she wasn’t going to argue with that, but then she stood, turning away from me and bent over to retrieve an arrow—giving me a view I hadn’t asked for but certainly wasn’t complaining about. When she turned back, saw me staring, and held up the arrow, I was kind of distracted and lost.

  “Wait,” I said, catching on. “I’ve… I mean, an arrow like that before…”

  “Yes, with runes.” She nodded enthusiastically. “A portal key of sorts, right? Brought Glitonea to you that second time—I saw, was there.”

  “Great.” I smiled with relief, waiting for her to activate it.

  She tossed the arrow over. “It was an example. Use something from your world—connect it, then bring us to the other side.”

  “Oh? Right…” I ran my hands over my jacket and pockets, finding the card the senator had given me. A glance at Megha reminded me that I didn’t exactly want to show up in his house with her like this, but what other choice did I have?

  Before I had a chance to go for it, though, a screech sounded, a figure rising above us.

  “Fucking hell,” Megha growled, then stood and thrust her hands out, breasts bouncing. Sorry, I couldn’t help but notice.

  While I had expected her to shoot out fireballs or something of the sort, what followed was much more confusing and exciting. One second there was a horrid creature swooping in—I’m talking like half-harpy, half-dragon person—and the next, Megha ran and leaped, hands glowing. The creature flew at her but not of its own accord, and suddenly she was on its back, those glowing hands of hers dipping into its head. The thing’s head became see-through, Megha’s hands seemingly caressing its brain, and then she was controlling it as the thing turned and attacked its companions. Not just attacked, either, but obliterated them, its strength apparently amplified with her influence.

  Even with the magic I had seen lately, this caught me off guard. She was a flying, killing machine as long as she was on that thing. I did my part with stun and sleep spells, then a few ice claws and more.

  As a few of our opponents fell, I realized that I still hadn’t used the Frost Remnant spell I’d been so eager to try. Focusing now on the enemy, I gave it a try. Nothing, but then Megha went soaring past with her meat puppet, killing the thing I had been targeting. A blast of silvery light shot out from me, connecting with the corpse as it fell. The silver hit, held it in place, and then, as the remains of the corpse fell away, the silver morphed into a version of the monster.

  It was like I had created a ghost of it, or a replica of some sort. And without any sort of orders, it joined in the fight, turning on the others and helping Megha with her destruction.

  “You need to see,” Megha said, “then look!”

  I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, at first, but when my eyes rose to the army, the magic like a portal forming, a jolt hit me. Then again, and this time it was like my conscious was pulled through the monster I’d made into a remnant, using that connection to move out and through the portal.

  There I was, in a basement. Looking through someone else’s eyes, placing an item on a pedestal. A blade, it appeared, with runes glowing on it. As the figure turned, I took in more magical items, and it became clear to me—this was how they were opening the portal. Using magical items, likely stealing them, and I needed to stop it from happening further. But it was more than that, I realized, scanning the runes around the room. They were runes that I had come across before… runes that belonged to Glitonea. I’d seen them on the arrow, the one that had allowed her to reach me in the Dark Lands!

  The owner of the eyes I was seeing through seemed to sense me and pushed back, kicking me out. Before I went, though, I sensed more beings there, more magic. A coven.

  In a flash, I was back on the wall, watching Megha and my remnant fight. Another second and they had cleared the immediate air space of enemies. Megha came flying back toward me, eyes wild with excitement as she pulled her hands from the creature’s head—no gore or guck—and stood while the creature started to fall away.

  “Now!” Megha shouted and leaped, arms stretched out, and caught hold of my arm. As she fell, swinging toward the wall to slam against it, I grabbed the senator’s card and we were pulled out of that world.

  I woke to find Ebrill leaning over me, eyes focused on mine. She smiled when I woke, and then kissed me. Not in the senator’s house like I had expected, but back in the mansion where I had fallen asleep.

  “What was that for?” I asked.

  “To remind you that I still exist,” she replied. “After you kept saying her name over and over.” Pulling back, she glanced around. “Where is Megha?”

  “I thought for sure…” It hit me—and made total sense, but damn, this wasn’t good. “She’s still with Fatiha, of course. Only, now she’s on our side—freed, you could say. We have to get to her.”

  I was up, moving, buttoning my pants and finally throwing off that ridiculous suit jacket. I found my red one instead, then… froze.

  “Where do we start?” I asked.

  “Glitonea?” Ebrill didn’t look very confident in that answer. “She’s the only one who might know, right?”

  “Let’s find the others, then pay her a visit.”

  116

  Aerona was still insisting that this was a bad idea when we arrived at Glitonea’s prison. The lady was one of the Nine, and a captive. Not likely to help us. Still, they were all at my side this time, ready in case there was trouble. We didn’t know what might be necessary to get answers.

  Runes on my mind, ready to let her speak, I said, “I saw the arrow in that coven. The runes on it.”

  How can I properly respond like this?

  I considered my options, then set my jaw. Focu
sing on the runes below, I deactivated the ones that held her in place, mentally imprisoned. Her hands sprang out and I braced myself for an attack, but she was merely stretching.

  “Ah, that feels good,” she said. “Release me, we’ll pay them a visit.” Glitonea grinned, purple coating moving along her body like liquid metal. “Come, let’s play this game.”

  “No fucking way,” I said, but then had an idea. “Unless—”

  “Jericho, what’re you doing?” Steph hissed at my side.

  I squeezed her hand, hoping that would communicate that she needed to trust me on this. “Unless you swear an oath. Some sort that keeps you magically bound.”

  She looked at me, then at my companions, and laughed. “Sure, I can do that. Just… unleash me from this building.”

  “Agreed.” I stepped forward, made an adjustment, and then pulled up my screen to scan her. As soon as she made a move, my illusion of change was gone. No way was I letting her use an ounce of magic, but my little stunt had allowed me to trace her magic, to show me what she would have done.

  The first move that showed up was an attack spell, one that looked damn powerful. I was glad I’d been able to prevent that, and logged it into my digital memory for future use. The next was an escape spell—and since I knew her runes were in the coven, I had to hope that’s where the connection led. Checking it against my scan of the earlier one I had seen, it cleared. Good to go.

  “Well, Glitonea… enjoy your time in this fabulous home. You’ll be here for a while yet.”

  She charged us, but the wall was back in place, a thud audible from the other side, and then we were off, walking away. As we went, I reactivated the runes below, locking her in place with the mental prison.

  “I restored Megha—meaning, the version of her that was in there, and the version out here are now one, and she’s able to think for herself. Judging from what I saw of her, she’s not exactly… stable?”