Syphon: Guardians of the Fractured Realms (26 page)

Cora nodded to the people walking around in the other room.

“If you can believe it, we got rescued by that Sybil woman. Apparently she followed us with a small team and rescued our asses without even breaking a sweat.”

“Yes, indeed we did. You should both be thankful of that. Otherwise, you would probably have wound up in some horrid dinner party as the main course.”

Frank glanced up at the fiery redhead that entered the room.

“Where are we?” he asked, trying to prop himself up on an elbow.

“More importantly, who, or what, are you. We unloaded enough rounds to make hamburger out of a grizzly and it barely slowed them down. Yet your team shows up and makes short work of them. How?”

“Let’s just say that, while you might have been armed for bear, we’re armed for dragons. Or more aptly, armed with dragons, among other things.”

“Speaking of which, not that I’m not grateful or anything, but how exactly were you able to ride in on your white horse and rescue us right in the nick of time, anyway?”

Sybil gestured toward Cora.

“You can thank your partner. If she hadn’t been so stubborn, I might not have assigned a detail to follow her. As it was, once you arrived at the warehouse, they were able to detect high levels of aether radiating from the warehouse and called it in. We’ve actually been trying to track down that group since the incident with Samuel was reported.”

“What, you mean you were watching for something like this? This is the third one we’ve found this week. And what’s aether?”

“Third? Shit…”

Sybil sat down heavily, running her fingers through her hair before looking back up at them.

“Are you sure? We’ve been searching for something like this since we learned about Samuel’s arrival. As far as we knew, that was the only one so far. This doesn’t bode well… Not well at all.”

Cora stared at Sybil.

“Why, other than the fact that there’s three huge piles of dead bodies stacking up at different locations?”

Sybil glared at Cora before standing back up.

“Never mind. It’s no longer your concern. You’ll stay here until you’re healed, then we’ll get you out of the city and help set up a new life for you both. Until then, you’re not to leave this facility. For your own safety.”

Cora leapt up and started to stomp toward Sybil.

“Wait a damn minute. What the hell do you mean relocate. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying ri—”

Sybil snapped out her hand, placing one finger against Cora’s chest before walking toward her.

“Enough,” she snapped, effortlessly pushing Cora backwards toward the bed, “I’ve humored you long enough. I’ve had to save your life twice so far. When this is over, your department is going to ‘find’ your bodies, end of story.”

Cora grabbed the other woman’s finger with both hands, attempting to bend it backward. No matter how much force she applied, it was like trying to bend a steel bar. To emphasize her point, Sybil raised an eyebrow slightly before jabbing her with her finger, almost causing Cora to flip over the bed.

“How much clearer do I need to be? I can manhandle you with one finger,” she said, holding up the finger she had pushed Cora over with, “One finger… Let that sink in for a minute. The things we go up against? They’ve managed to kill our members in the past. Even with all our strength and abilities, we’re not impervious to injury and death, just look at Samuel…”

Sybil trailed off for a moment, her head hanging down, looking lost in thought. Shaking her head, she spun on her heel as she strode away.

“If you want to live through the remainder of the week, you’ll do well to stay put.”

Cora watched as she walked away. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Sybil angrily swipe at her eyes just before she disappeared through another door.

“Interesting…”

§§§§§§§§§§§§

“Are you insane!”

“Keep you your voice down Frank,” Cora hissed, looking around as she did, “they’ll hear you.”

“And that would be a bad thing how?” he asked, lowering his voice slightly. “The other option is to let you kill yourself.”

“I’m not going to get killed. If I see anything out of the ordinary, I’ll beat it.”

“What do you hope to accomplish then, huh? What makes you think Samuel’s gonna show up there?”

“Nothing, other than a gut feeling that he’s going to show up there sooner or later. It’s the only thing that ties back to him. All I know is that if I lost my memory, if someone told me I’d definitely been somewhere, I’d go there to see if it helped me remember something.”

“If you’re too stubborn to know when to quit, then I’m coming with you. Someone needs to cover your ass.”

As he attempted to get up, he groaned in pain before slumping back again, his face draining of color.

“You’re not going anywhere Frank. You’re too injured.”

Frank struggled to catch his breath before he spoke again.

“Then you’re not going anywhere either. How many times do you think you’re going to be able to cheat death?”

Cora sighed. She stared at Frank quietly for a moment before responding.

“I can’t just sit here, waiting for them to make us disappear. If I’m wrong, then I’ll be back before nightfall. Otherwise, we have a chance to tie this all together and maybe still have our own lives.”

He made one more attempt to sit up before collapsing back in exhaustion. Reaching a hand out, he rested it on her leg.

“At least wait until morning. Since I can’t stop you, then at least be safe and come back in one piece, partner.”

Cora placed her hand over his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I promise.”

“I still can’t believe it. It all sounds like some type of fantastic dream.”

Samuel looked at Blythe.

“It feels like it too. Since waking up in the hospital, I’ve gone from nobody special to being God’s chosen protector of at least two different worlds. I feel woefully inadequate.”

Blythe jumped slightly as Raguel spoke.

“Nonsense… You’re still a force to be reckoned with, just ask those trolls.”

“I think it’s going to take a bit to get used to that,” she said, gesturing toward the dragon on Samuel’s left arm.

“You think that takes getting used to, try imagining what it’s like having him talk in your head unexpectedly.”

Raguel glared at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Pick on the little dragon that’s been protecting your ass…”

“Sorry. It’s just been a really long day.”

The dragon’s expression softened.

“It’s fine. I suppose if I was in your shoes, assuming they’d fit, I’d probably be the same way.”

Samuel smiled down at him, giving him a pat before turning his attention back to Blythe.

“So what are your plans for tomorrow?”

“Well, apparently this magic stuff helps me heal faster. Raguel thinks the warehouse I was found at might have some residual traces left. Plus, he thinks the traumatic experience I had there might be strong enough to jog my memory. Maybe I’ll get lucky.”

“Do you think it’ll be dangerous? After all, that’s where you almost got killed.”

“Well, the thought did cross my mind,” he said before holding up both arms, “but I’m hoping that, between the two of them, I’ll be safe enough. Really, I don’t have a lot of options left. Now that I know they’re not actually jewelry and professor Waide is probably under arrest, the warehouse is all I’ve got left. Otherwise, I’d have to hide out for an unknown length of time before I have the possibility to talk to the professor again.”

Blythe stared into his eyes intently.

“Would that be so bad?”

He reached out and gently grabbed her hands. Squeezing them softly, he returned her gaze.

“No, it wouldn’t, but until I recover my memories, I’m putting you and everyone around me in danger. I don’t know how those creatures found me, so I don’t know if they can do it again. I probably shouldn’t even be here now, but I had nowhere else to go. So either I go and possibly recover my memories, or I leave the city to keep you safe.”

He gave her hands another squeeze as he finished.

“I’d rather see if I can get my memories back so I can stay…”

§§§§§§§§§§§§

Samuel snapped awake. It took him a moment to realize what had startled him awake. Glancing down, he heard very quiet snoring coming from Raguel. He smiled as he realized the little dragon hadn’t frozen himself before he fell asleep. He reflected on the conversation they’d had the night before. She’d wanted him to spend the night with her in case he didn’t come back, but he’d finally convinced her that it’d be safer if he stayed on the couch. That way, if something found him again, he’d be able to protect her better. For reasons he couldn’t put his finger on, he’d grown to feel incredibly close to her.

Maybe she reminds me of someone I loved before I lost my memory.

After a few minutes, he quietly slipped off the couch and headed toward the kitchen to get something to drink. He felt Raguel jerk awake and clench his arm before realizing he was still mobile. Slightly relaxing his grip, Samuel could feel him revert back to his metallic state. Getting a glass of water, he sat down at the kitchen table to discuss his plan. Blythe had given him a map of the city the night before that she’d picked up on the way home. He studied the layout of the city for a few minutes, but for some reason, he’d realized he’d memorized it with just a glance. Going by the legend, he figured it would take him a couple hours to walk to the warehouse “So how likely is it that going to the warehouse will help me get my memories back, anyway?”

Samuel felt Raguel move his head to look up at him.

“Honestly, it depends on how much residual energy was left behind. I absorbed a lot of it to channel into you to keep you alive, but there should be some left. Whether it’s enough to heal you the rest of the way remains to be seen.”

“That’s not very encouraging.”

“Did you want the truth or just something that sounded good? Who knows? The shock of being there might do more to help you remember than any residual energy would. There’s really no way to tell until we actually get there and see what happens.”

“What do we do if this doesn’t work?”

Samuel looked down at Raguel, noticing the concerned look on his face.

“I don’t know.”

§§§§§§§§§§§§

Samuel watched as the sun slowly rose above the horizon. Even though he couldn’t remember it, he found it comforting to just sit and watch as the world slowly came alive. As the sky went from nearly black, to slowly shifting through varying shades of red, then yellows, and finally the beginnings of blue, Samuel marveled at the beauty of such a simple event happening thousands of times throughout a person’s lifetime. He couldn’t help but wonder if his old self even noticed the Sun rise after having lived as long as he had.

“Good morning.”

Samuel glanced over and smiled at Blythe as she came out of the bedroom, her hair all mussed up from sleep.

“Good morning yourself. Did I wake you?”

Samuel watched as she raked her fingers through her hair, trying to untangle some of the knots that had formed while she slept.

“No… As much as I’d like to sleep in, as soon as the light hits my eyes, I wake up. The only way I ever get to sleep in is to wear a sleeping mask. I didn’t put it on last night. I didn’t want to miss my chance to say goodbye.”

“I wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye, unless I didn’t have a choice.

Blythe grabbed a bowl and poured some cereal before sitting down at the table with him.

“So how long do you think you’ll be gone for?”

Samuel turned the thought over in his head again. Once there, he had no idea how long he’d need to stay. It’d all depended on what happened when he arrived.

“I wish I knew. I really don’t want to be there past nightfall, but I also don’t want to leave too soon. The longer I stay, the better chance I have of at least remembering something.”

As she put her bowl in the sink, she cast a worried look at him.

“Be careful. I know you can take care of yourself, but without your memory…”

“I know. I promise I won’t do anything dangerous or stupid.”

Blythe glanced away from him. After a minute, she turned back to him with tears in her eyes.

“What if you do get your memories back? What if you already have a girlfriend? I don’t want you to go!”

Samuel walked over and held her in his arms. She shook in his arms for a few minutes before she grew quiet. Backing away slightly, he tilted her head up with his finger.

“I’ll come back to you, I promise.”

After a few minutes, he held her at arms length, looking into her eyes.

“I have to do this. If I don’t and something happens to you or other innocent people, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Wiping a tear away, she nodded.

“I know… That’s one of the reasons why I’m falling for you.”

§§§§§§§§§§§§

Samuel slowly approached the warehouse, watching for anything out of the ordinary. It had taken him a lot longer to get here than he’d originally estimated. He had had to change direction and hide several times as he kept coming across more and more of the people dressed in black. Because of them, the Sun was only a short distance above the horizon now. He thought back to how he’d decided to wait until after noon to depart.

Even though he knew it was important, he just couldn’t seem to bring himself to leave Blythe. Instead, they had spent the morning just enjoying each other’s company. Since he couldn’t really leave the apartment, Blythe had gone to the corner deli and brought back bagels, cream cheese, and jelly for an early lunch. He hadn’t really been hungry, but he enjoyed just spending the time with her quietly. Finally, he realized he was just putting off leaving. After giving her another hug, he headed toward the window. Glancing around outside to make sure nobody was watching, he blew her a kiss and slipped out the window.

Now that he was here, he was having second thoughts about going in. While he wanted to remember who he was, he worried that, if he did get his memories back, would he still go back to Blythe. Part of him kept trying to convince himself to turn around and head back, meeting her at the warehouse with her friends. The memory of sparring with Cliff brought a smile to his lips. He glanced down at Raguel.