Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
"How would you know that?" I whisper. Even seeing mentions of siphons in the book and hearing the instructors whisper about them hadn't quite convinced me. Somehow, the words coming from Raith finally make it hit home with an uncomfortable chill like a breeze carrying the stench of graves and rot on an otherwise clear and sunny day..
Siphons.
They're the things of children's tales. Stories to scare kids who try to sneak out of their house at night. Shapeshifting beasts who could suck their soul out through their ears, twisting it up and slurping it down like strands of spaghetti.
Surely the truth is less… that.
“Did you already know about this?” I ask Typhon.
“I know many things. Things you need not concern yourself with as you focus on your studies here in school. If relevant, I shall share them when the time is right.”
I decide that is a conversation I'll dig into with my prickly water dragon later, letting it drop for now.
Raith has been hesitating. Before he speaks, I can tell he's not going to tell me how he knows about Siphons. "Look… I just need you to know they're real. Okay? And most importantly, I need you to know there's at least one of them on campus right now. It's likely posing as a student or a member of the faculty. And it has already started killing. So I want you to make sure Typhon is always ready to protect you."
Typhon lets out a low, audible growl I know only I can hear. Right now he's pacing in circles around Raith, his long, serpentine body dragging as he forms a ring around us. He’s either not showing himself to Raith, or Raith is doing an inhuman job of not looking frightened.
"I think Typhon is ready to protect me at all times, whether I tell him to be or not."
"Good," Raith says. He seems to relax slightly, broad muscular shoulders slumping slightly as if he's letting out a great deal of tension. "Good," he says again more softly.
"I’d ask how you’re so sure, but I already know you won’t tell me. So can you at least teach me how to spot one of these siphons?
"They'll look and sound like normal people. In most ways, they are. But they're almost like… anti-primals. They can't channel their own magic, but they can feed on it. And their appetite is bottomless. A siphon can drain people and elementals down to nothing. You won't know you're looking at one until it's too late."
The only time I've ever seen Raith come close to looking scared was that first day when I made fire grow from my fingertips. But there's fear in his eyes as he talks about siphons. A deeper, more animal fear than anything I've seen on his face before.
It makes my blood run cold.
"What do they want?"
He shakes his head. "I don't know. They strike against both Empire and Red Kingdom. Whoever or whatever they're loyal to, it doesn't seem to follow political lines. But whatever it is they want, it leaves corpses in its wake. If the instructors were talking about bodies and siphons, it means they found a drained body. The affinity mark on the body would be burned out. Anyone who knew what they were looking for would know for certain. That means they're here, Nessa. So promise me you'll be careful."
“Why are you only telling me now?”
His expression hardens. “Because I had to do some digging to confirm it. And… now I’m sure. There’s one here at Confluence. So fucking promise you’ll be careful.”
"I will. But if these things are striking Empire and Red Kingdom, why doesn't everybody know they're real? I grew up thinking they were just children's stories."
"Better to let people think they're just fanciful things. Then those in power don’t have to admit there’s an enemy they can’t control. An enemy they can’t stop. Sometimes, the best way to maintain power is to create an illusion that it’s untouchable. They’re not. And the siphons are very real. So be careful, and trust no one.”
"What if I trust you?”
He licks his lips, eyes falling for a moment. “Then I’ve failed at keeping as much distance as I should.”
He looks like he's about to turn to leave, so I reach instinctively and touch his arm. That familiar tendril of flame flows from him and into my fingertips, swirling inside me like a pleasant summer breeze.
"Raith… there's something Voss told me. We're all going to have to participate in some kind of Crucible. Like a final test before we graduate the year."
He says nothing, but something in his expression makes me think he already knows. Once again, it's another layer of mystery. Another secret.
Everything about him screams danger, yet somehow that only makes the pull toward him stronger like a moth to flame, knowing it will burn but unable to resist the light.