Syphon: Guardians of the Fractured Realms

by Kunego, Chad

  “My patient needs to rest. He’s still recovering from whatever happened to him. Come back tomorrow.”

  Detective Blanchett started to open her mouth, closed it, then reached into her pocket as she stepped forward.

  “Here’s my card if you remember anything,” she said as she laid her business card on the table next to the pitcher, ”we’ll be in touch.”

  As she spun away, she glanced back over her shoulder at him as he reached for the cup of water. He gave a slight start as he noticed for the first time the large piece of jewelry on his left hand before regaining his composure. Grabbing the cup, he turned back to the detective as she spoke.

  “Since you can’t remember your name, do you mind if we call you John for the time being?”

  Taking a long sip of water, he nodded at her, noticing the thoughtful look she cast him as he replied.

  “At this point, that seems to be as good a name as any.”

  Glancing back at the doctor one final time, she nodded to herself and strode out of the room, her partner following closely behind her. Doctor Greene started walking toward the door, following the detectives before he stopped and looked back at him.

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure your memory will come back in short order. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to use the call button.”

  He waited a few minutes after everyone had left before he looked down and opened his hand. Staring back at him was the blood-covered bullet he’d coughed up.

  §§§§§§§§§§§§

  “Do you think we overdid the good cop/bad cop routine a bit?”

  Cora glanced over at her partner as the elevator doors closed.

  “Probably.”

  “So what was your impression of our John Doe?”

  Frank scratched the back of his head before looking back at her.

  “He’s hiding something, I can just feel it. I mean, look at how calm and collected he was… When was the last time you saw someone that relaxed looking after losing their memory?”

  “Yeah, I thought that was kinda strange as well. The other thing I thought was strange was the readings that were showing on the heart-rate monitor. Did you happen to notice how low they were?”

  “Nope, was trying to catch him in a lie, but I have to admit, if he’s faking it, he’s doing an impressive job of it.”

  “Yeah, it was weird. I’ve never seen someone in his circumstance so relaxed. When we came in, the monitor said his heart was beating at a steady forty-five beats a minute, so that along with his build makes him some sort of high level athlete. What caught my attention though was when we asked questions to try and get a rise out of him. For the most part, the only reaction I saw was maybe two or three beats that came faster, then it leveled back down to that unusually low pace. One of the times it spiked was when we asked him his name. Betcha he’d nail a lie detector test.”

  “Probably…”

  “What do you make of that jewelry he’s wearing? He kinda looked surprised to be wearing it.”

  Frank paused a second as they exited the elevator before continuing.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. It concerns me that they couldn’t figure out how to remove it. It also bothers me that they stopped trying after burning out that first blade trying to cut it off.”

  “I’m with you. I don’t like it when a suspect gets to keep something like that, but they did have a valid point. Their cutting blade didn’t even scratch it and they ran a risk of causing an injury if they continued trying. I wonder what it’s made out of.”

  “Don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s pretty tough. I’ve watched those cutting blades go through case-hardened metals before without a hitch, so whatever it is, it’s a lot harder than anything I’ve come across before.”

  Cora opened the car door and climbed inside.

  “Just another mystery to add to the pile I guess.”

  Frank nodded back.

  “Looks that way.”

  Chapter 2

  After the detectives and doctor left, he struggled to remember who he was. After several fruitless minutes of going around in circles, he flung the bullet across the room, angry with himself for not remembering anything. With a bit of a shock, he watched as it bounced off a couple walls before landing in the garbage can in the bathroom.

  What the? How the hell did I do that…

  Shaking his head, he tried taking stock of himself. He figured he was probably around six foot or so and apparently worked out pretty regularly based on how his six-pack looked. There wasn’t any mirror that he could look at, so he ran his hand over the smooth skin on his face.

  Guess I shaved recently.

  Reaching up, he ran his hand through his hair, which felt to be about shoulder-length and wavy. Bringing a lock of it forward to look at, he noticed his hair was black, like onyx, and shimmered under the harsh florescent lighting. Letting it go, he started examining the piece of jewelry on his left hand and arm.

  Turning his hand left and right, letting the light play over it, he blew out a silent whistle, marveling at it’s craftsmanship. The overall design was of a finely-wrought dragon, varying in color from cobalt to icy blue. The size of the piece itself was surprising since he didn’t even notice he was wearing it until he noticed it when reaching for the water.

  The head of the dragon covered most of the back of his hand while a sword appeared to be sticking out its mouth. Backing up the impression was what looked like a crossguard that spread across the back of his knuckles, giving the impression of a knuckle-duster. What would go for the hilt of the sword was a set of rings that traveled down his middle finger, ending just short of his fingertip, a blue gemstone covering the nail.

  In the opposite directly, the neck seemed shorter than what he expected a dragon’s neck to be, but he couldn’t see all of it since the wings covered a majority of the neck and body. The wings also covered the entire length of his forearm and wrapped slightly around it. The tail of it coiled gracefully around his upper arm several times, ending just short of his shoulder. Turning his arm over, he saw that the legs of the dragon gripped his arm, the clawed toes interlocking with each other to keep it from coming off. It was so lifelike that he could almost imagine it having walked down his arm before perching on his forearm to take a nap.

  As he examined it, the word vambrace popped into his head.

  How would I know what a vambrace is… Is my memory starting to come back?

  After fiddling with it for a few minutes, he realized he couldn’t figure out how to take it off. It was almost as if it had been crafted around his hand and arm instead of being slipped on.

  All of it was fully articulated, moving fluidly as he flexed his hand, wrist, and arm. He also realized after a few minutes that it was also completely silent. There wasn’t a hint of clicking joints or rattle of loose fittings. As he looked closer at it, he could almost make out the glistening of the blue-tinged iridescent scales on the body of the dragon. With that level of detail and quality, he came to the conclusion that it had to be worth a small fortune.

  Where would I get something like this. More importantly, how could I afford it? Am I rich?

  As he pondered the question, he noticed the eyes for the first time. As he looked at them, he felt that whoever the artist was had outdone themselves. As he stared, he almost felt like there was an intelligence behind the sparkling blue facets, glittering in the light. If he had to guess, he suspected they were sapphires. If that was the case, and based off the quality and detail of everything else, it wasn’t that hard to believe.

  As he stared at the eyes, he felt like they were drawing him in.

  “Time for your night meds.”

  The sudden voice snapped him out of his revere. Looking up, he noticed the nurse that had undid his restrains earlier entering his room. Cracking a smile, he nodded to her.

  “Thank you for unstrapping me earlier. It made me feel kinda helpless.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t any big bother. I honestly don’t
like it when any of the patients under my care have to be restrained. I mean, I understand if they’re a danger to themselves or others, but from the sounds of it, all you did wrong was have the misfortune of was being in the wrong place at the wrong time… Or at least that’s what I heard…”

  She trailed off as she focused on swapping out the empty bag of saline for a full one. Turning back to him, she handed him a small medicine cup with a few pills in it. As he took it from her, he raised an eyebrow.

  “Something to help you get some more rest. I can get you something for pain if you need it.”

  Fumbling slightly with the pills and the cup of water, he shook his head slightly.

  “Honestly, other than a slight headache, I feel fine.”

  “Well, if it gets worse, just hit the call button.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem, I’ll be back in a little while to check on you and refill your pitcher.”

  Smiling, he slipped his loose hand behind his head.

  “I guess I could hang out here a little longer then… I’ll see you later.”

  She chuckled slightly as she walked out the door.

  “See you then…” she said as she clicked off the room light.

  §§§§§§§§§§§§

  His eyes snapped open. He wasn’t sure why, but something was wrong, something that was causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He slowly glanced around the room, trying to figure out what had startled him awake. As he glanced around the room, he almost felt a magnetic pull drawing his eyes toward the corner of the room, the one farthest from the door and window. As he stared, he started to notice indistinct movements coming from the shadows, almost like an afterimage. At the same moment, he felt a chill travel up his left arm.

  “So Samuel, even after what happened to you, you can still sense me. I’m actually pretty impressed.”

  He jumped reflexively at the unexpected sound of the stranger’s voice, his right hand clenching around the rail of the bed. As the speaker continued, he kept getting the impression that something wasn’t quite right about the voice. He tried to put his finger on it, but couldn’t quite determine the source of his unease. As the sound played around him, he felt the corruption in the speaker’s voice, like something was rotting and decayed. The image that flashed through his head was of a midden under a hot summer sun.

  “Come now… No greeting for an old acquaintance? My, my… the manners are the first thing to go when you get shot in the face, aren’t they…”

  The voice trailed off as the outline of a person took shape from the shadows. As the outline became more distinct as the speaker approached him. Grabbing a chair, they dragging it with a metallic hiss closer to the bed.

  “Quite honestly, I’m a little disappointed. You see, my master had spent several months planning out that attack. They put quite a bit of effort into coming up with it. You honestly weren’t supposed to come out of that warehouse alive. But then that stupid bloodsucking mercenary just had to try and boost his reputation by being the one to finish you. I think you really did the world a favor when you tried ripping his heart out before his head exploded, but I’m getting off track here. Suffice it to say, if it wasn’t for him grabbing you and then expiring messily in your arms, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  “Who are you?” he asked, trying to make sense of what the other person was telling him. For some odd reason, he still couldn’t make out the other person’s features even though they were only a few feet away. He felt like he was looking through a foggy window.

  “You really don’t know, do you? Maybe we were closer to our goal than we realized. Let’s just say that it’s not really that important at this point. What is important, however, is where we go from here.”

  His thoughts raced wildly through his head.

  My name is Samuel? At least that’s something. This guy knows me, but from the sounds of it, he tried to have me killed. He said I was shot in the face…? So why aren’t I dead. Was that where the bullet I coughed up came from?

  “Excuse me,” the other person snapped, slamming his hand on the bed railing, “am I boring you? Really… some people…”

  Samuel jumped slightly at the noise, trying to focus again on what the other person was saying to him.

  “Sorry, just trying to come to grips with fact that you admitted trying to have me killed. Forgive me if I seem a little distracted.”

  “Ah… No worries. Happens more often than you’d think when talking to someone who survived an assassination attempt. Now where was I…?” he asked, trailing off while he tapped his finger on his chin.

  “You were going to tell me why you wanted to kill me…?”

  The sound of his abrasive laughter set Samuel’s teeth on edge.

  “Heh… Do you honestly think that, just by asking me, I’m just going to blurt out why my master wants you dead? What do you think this is… A movie? That you’re going to trick me into some long-winded villainous monologue whereby you learn our whole diabolical plan? Of course that’d mean that, through some unlikely happenstance, you’ll somehow escape, only to return at some critical juncture to ruin it. My dear boy… The only thing that’s going to happen is…”

  As he trailed off, he leaned forward, bringing his face to within inches of Samuel’s face. Samuel sucked in a shocked gasp before gagging at the stench. The other person’s face was a mass of writhing worms and other insects. The short whiff he got smelled of sulfur and decay. Trying to hold his breath, he attempted to press himself deeper into the mattress in a futile attempt to get away from the monster’s face.

  “Your death.”

  As the creature said it, Samuel felt an overpowering itchy sensation coming from his left finger. He absently started to reach over to scratch it before the handcuff stopped him.

  “Oh no you don’t!”

  The monster grabbed Samuel by his neck and hoisted him off the bed. As he was lifted, his right hand was yanked down by the handcuff still attached to the railing. Coming up short, the monster took a step back, quickly yanking Samuel with him. With a loud pop, the chain on the cuff snapped off.

  “Here’s the windup, and here’s the pitch!”

  Samuel felt his body start accelerating backward toward the window behind him. At the same time, he felt the world slow down to a crawl as he flew away from the creature, it’s evil-looking snarl etched in his mind.

  I guess you really do have time to see your life flash before your eyes when you’re getting ready to die. This’ll probably be pretty quick though since I don’t remember anything beyond a couple hours ago.

  Without warning, the itchy sensation on his left hand became unbearable. Instinctively reaching over to scratch his fingers, he felt something take shape in his hand. As he slowly drifted away through the air, he was startled to find a handle forming in his hand. Intuitively, he pulled his right hand forward as he pulled his left back. Suddenly, an ice-blue crystalline sword materialize out of what appeared to be the dragon’s mouth. Continuing the motion, he swung the blade around, connecting with the underside of the creature’s wrist with a sound like glass wind chimes. The edge of the blade slid through the creature’s wrist, lopping off the hand that he’d thrown Samuel with. Samuel was shocked that the sword sliced through it effortlessly. He had enough time to see the hand slowly start to drop toward the floor, encased in ice, before time snapped back into play.

  As he sailed out the window, glass exploded into the frigid night air. The sword caught the side of the window sill as he went through backward, slicing deeply into the frame and cinder blocks, again without any noticeable resistance. It slightly slowed his backward momentum, but not enough to keep him in the room.

  “OHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIT!!!!” he yelled as he sailed out the window.

  As he started to fall, the sound of the monster screaming echoed into the night after him.

  Chapter 3

  I’m gonna die!

  That statement echoe
d through his mind as he dropped toward the sidewalk. He instinctively reared his sword arm back and swung it forward. As he did, the sword’s blade segmented and elongated, almost appearing like a bunch of crystal fragments held together by twin lightning bolts.

  The sword stretched out toward the building, instantly embedding the tip and several fragments of the blade into the wall next to the window he had just flown out of. The blade continued to stretch, slowing his decent as it did. Finally, it brought him to a stop several floors above the ground, in the process slamming him into the wall and knocking the air out of him. Trying to catch his breath, he looked back up at the blade. The lightning bolts had dimmed down to a muted neon blue and the blade was segmented into so many fragments that he quickly lost count of how many were visible.

  Looking down, he estimated he was approximately six stories up based on how many windows were between him and the ground. Looking back up, he quickly determined that he had fallen about ten stories before coming to a stop.

  How the hell did I do that? Better yet, what the hell do I do now? If I climb back up, assuming I can figure out how, I’d most likely get thrown out the window again or worse. If I let go of the sword, I’ll probably break my legs or kill myself anyway. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

  Without warning, the sword swung him away from the wall before coiling up and yanking itself out of the wall, pulling several chunks out with it. The segments snapped back, forming into a solid blade again while he fell the remaining distance to the ground.

  He hit the sidewalk hard, pulverizing the sidewalk and sending small splintery cracks spider-webbing away from his feet. The blade of the sword chopped into the concrete next to him, leaving a huge gash where it came to a stop. Looking back up, he saw several softball sized chunks of wall dropping toward his head. He cringed as he swung his left arm over his head to try and protect it from the deadly chunks. He was suddenly buffeted by a blast of wind as the wings of the dragon flared out unexpectedly, causing the debris to bounce off the wings harmlessly.

  Slowly standing on shaky feet, the dragon shrank back down around his arm. He then felt a slight tug coming from his right hand. Looking down, he saw the blade segment again. The tip of the blade swung around, shrinking in the process as it heading toward his left hand. The dragon’s head lifted slightly as the tip of the blade approached, and with a sound reminiscent of chains spooling off a boat, the blade retracted back into the vambrace. Finally, the pommel shrank back down and encircled his finger, to all appearances resembling a very elaborate piece of jewelry again. He clutched at his finger, trying to pull the sword back out, but it appeared to be simple jewelry again.