Syphon: Guardians of the Fractured Realms Read Online Free Page A

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.
    He noticed the dragon’s eyes were glowing as the sword finished returning to its original shape. As he examined the unusual glow, he was startled when it winked at him before the glow slowly faded out.
    Who or what the hell am I?
    Glancing around, he noticed the blanket from the bed he was in lying on the ground near him.
    “Must have gotten tangled around my foot or something when that thing threw me,” he muttered to himself absently as he picked it up and wrapped it around his shoulders.
    I need to get out of here. I have no shoes, no shirt, a monster that’s trying to kill me, and some bad-ass jewelry that winked at me. About the only thing going for me is I have hospital pants on instead of a hospital gown and a blanket to wrap up in. What more could go wrong?
    Gradually, he could hear sirens in the distance getting closer.
    I had to ask, didn’t I?
    Readjusting the blanket tighter, he took off at a slow jog. He wasn’t sure where he was heading, but trying to explain to the police what had happened would generate more suspicions, including his level of sanity. The likelihood of them believing that, not only had he been chucked out a window that was fifteen stories up, by a monster, and landed without a scratch was going to be a pretty hard sell. At this point, all he knew was that the questions were piling up faster than the answers, and staying put wasn’t an option if he wanted to get the chance to balance out the equation.
    As he disappeared into the night, several thoughts kept looping through his head.
    Who the hell am I, what did I get myself into, and how am I going to live through it?
    §§§§§§§§§§§§
    “What the hell happened in here, and what is that horrible stench!”
    Detective Blanchett covered her nose with her arm, trying to block out the overpowering smell of sulfur and decay that permeated the room.
    “It looks like a bomb went off!”
    Glancing up, a janitor shrugged his shoulders.
    “Not really sure miss.”
    The janitor trailed off as Dr Greene entered the room. Cora turned toward him as he approached.
    “What happened in here, and where’s our suspect?”
    “We’re still trying to piece that together. From the reports I’m hearing, about a half hour ago, loud noises erupted from this room, followed by breaking glass and a scream that raised the hair on everyone’s head. By the time a nurse got in here, the room was in the condition you see it in now and empty.”
    “You,” she said, pointing at the janitor. “Out, now. This is an active crime scene. Leave everything as you found it. Nothing leaves this room unless the CSI team clears it.”
    She started to turn away, but then looked back.
    “Actually, can we get something to kill that smell though? It smells like hell in here, literally.”
    “I’ll see what I can find,” he said over his shoulder as he walked out.
    Turning back to the doctor, she continued.
    “I wanna know what happened in here, and I wanna know now. How’d our John Doe get the handcuffs off, and how’d he get out of the room with nobody noticing?”
    As she turned back toward the room, she looked back over her