Siphon (A Touch of Power Book 1)

by Jay Boyce

  She was drawn out of her ruminations of the past when they arrived at a lower wall. It was only about eight feet tall, but it was a clear distinction of ‘you are now entering a restricted zone.’ She figured it was mostly so people didn’t wander in by accident. It was nothing compared to the giant wall she could see beyond. She wasn’t sure how tall that one was, maybe thirty or forty feet? Estimating heights wasn’t her forte; all she knew was that it was tall.

  Christopher led her through a smaller gate, where the two guards on duty nodded pleasantly to them, asking simply, “Who’ve you got there?”

  Deciding to take things into her own hands, Jade smiled brilliantly at them as she spoke cheerfully, “I’m Lady Jade, a healer. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Christopher grinned as he said, “This is Andrews and Cozzens.”

  Thankfully, he pointed as he introduced them, so she identified the light brown haired man with a scar on his cheek and twinkling brown eyes as Andrews, and the guy with black hair and a cheeky grin as Cozzens. “Pleased to meet you, miss.” Both of them had made little respectful bows. She was pretty sure in the hierarchy of things that she was actually supposed to be the low man on the totem pole amongst the guards, mostly due to the fact that she was only a lady while they were knights. However, her extra title of ‘healer’ made everyone much more respectful, she figured. It was the number one rule of life: never piss off the person who might be called to save you.

  Christopher pulled her through the gate as he explained, “We’d love to stay and chat, but Count Ammon is expecting her.” The other two looked curious, but nodded and let them pass. He guided her swiftly through the fairly empty area, and she absently wondered where all the people were. Her question was answered a moment later when she realized they were all standing in neat lines in the giant open courtyard in front of her. She felt Christopher straighten completely, his back ramrod straight as he guided her unerringly past all the lines of guards.

  She felt her own back straightening, the tension of the alert guards getting to her. When she glanced curiously at them, she found that although no one had moved, their eyes were following her progress as soon as she came into their line of vision. She was suddenly self-conscious of her messy bun. Oh well. Deciding that she wasn’t military, so she had no need to be as serious as they were, she grinned at them and saw a couple of them look shocked. She barely contained her laughter.

  She was still smiling as she turned back to the front and saw an extremely imposing older gentleman standing on a small platform there, staring down at her seriously. Oh. Oops? In for an inch, in for a mile! She smiled sunnily at him and saw his lips twitch as if he was trying to suppress a smirk. She was a little less confident when Christopher stopped at the base of the little platform, letting her walk up the stairs by herself to greet the count. Gee thanks, leave me alone at the important part! Glad that she’d at least gotten his name, she greeted him cheerfully with a tiny salute. “Lady Jade, reporting for duty!”

  She heard a bunch of low chuckles from the masses at her bright chirp, and even Count Ammon let out a tiny smile as he grasped her hand, bringing it up to his mouth so he could brush his rough lips against it briefly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Jade. I’m Count Ammon Whitaker.” She smiled as she studied him. His hair was a radiant silver gray, and he looked to be in his sixties. His hands were covered in the calluses of hard training, and though he was older, she didn’t doubt his capability in the slightest. His light green eyes–she wasn’t the only one who had green eyes here, yay!–were sharp as a tac, and she could feel the barely contained strength in his hands. He exuded the air of an experienced military general, which made sense, because she figured that was exactly what he was.

  Turning to the troops, er...guards? Did they call them troops? Anyway, he turned to the general populace of armed people as he boomed in his military voice, “Attention!” Everyone stood a little straighter, if that was even possible. “This is Lady Jade, a healer who has discovered a possible way to get rid of the mesmer taint.” There were a few gasps at that, and people were staring at her incredulously. He continued. “You will afford her the highest respect and help her if she needs anything.” Wow, that was pretty generous of him. He went on, taking care of some of what she figured were routine military announcements, and she took the opportunity to stare at the troops.

  Activating mana sense, she scanned the crowd, happy to notice quite a few auras. Yellow, blue, green, purple, red, some glowed a sparkly silver or a pretty cyan. There was one though… She barely managed to keep her face neutral as she scrutinized a man in the third row. His aura kept shifting colors, and her spidey senses were tingling. She needed to figure out a way to touch him and make sure.

  “Miss Jade, would you like to say anything?” Count Ammon drew her attention back; apparently he’d finished talking.

  She smiled and nodded, stepping forward. “I’d like to thank you all for your future cooperation. All those that have been attacked by the mesmer in the past, please come to the…”

  She paused and glanced at Count Ammon, who helpfully supplied, “The infirmary.”

  She smiled. “Right, please come to the infirmary after this. I would also like to conduct random health checks when I come. So…” and here she waved her hand, finally stopping on the right half of the third row as she pointed. “Why don’t we start with the third row there, the right side, so it’s not too much for now. Please come to the infirmary as well. I’d just like to start doing random routine checkups.”

  Count Ammon met her gaze as she turned to smile serenely at him. There was a question in his eyes, but she just smiled, and it disappeared as he turned back to the troops. “You heard the lady. Unit five and those affected, follow us to the infirmary immediately. Everyone else, dismissed.”

  The soldiers broke apart then, but unit five remained, much to her relief. The cacophony of chatter rang out in the air as Count Ammon offered her his arm. She took it with a graceful smile and turned as he whispered, “What was that about?”

  Keeping her lips as still as possible, she disguised her movements as adjusting something on her shirt as she whispered, “There’s something off about one of them. I might just be paranoid, but better safe than sorry.”

  He nodded thoughtfully, giving her a look of consideration. As they reached the bottom of the platform, she saw Christopher still standing there. Ammon seemed to expect this, as he curtly ordered, “Escort Lady Jade to the infirmary. I’ll follow shortly.” She was skillfully handed off and Christopher began to escort her away. The fifth unit, as she now knew them, and several others who’d broken off from the crowd were following behind her.

  She smiled as she whispered out of the side of her mouth, “Are you my personal guard now or something?” Christopher nodded almost imperceptibly. She smiled serenely at the guards around them, trying not to give her emotions away. The fact that they felt she needed a bodyguard in the middle of the compound said something about either her importance or her viability as a target. Maybe both.

  They walked sedately, perhaps because Christopher realized something was up and that she was buying time. She rather liked her quick-witted bodyguard. Smart people were much easier to work with.

  By the time they reached the infirmary, which was really just a large governmental building, she was happy to see more guards at the entrance where Count Ammon was waiting.

  One of the guards opened the door for them, and she, Christopher, and Count Ammon walked in as she said pleasantly, “That was quick.”

  Ammon chuckled. “The wall demands fast actions.” She supposed that made sense. Upon entering the building, she was rather pleased with what she saw. There was a large front desk, an open area filled with beds, tables, and medical supplies, and around the edge were individual rooms that would suit her purpose perfectly.

  Stopping in the entryway, Ammon and Christopher stopped with her a beat after as she turned around to grin at the guards coming in behind h
er. “I will try to make this as fast as possible so that you can get back to your daily life, but I’d like to meet you all first and then do things individually. So please, form a line. I’d like your names as you enter.”

  Obediently, they formed up, and she offered her hand to each man that entered, and each woman gave her the respectful brush of the cheek. Her smile remained serene as she took note of their names, greeting them and sending them off in sequential order to the individual rooms. As soon as the last one was sent off, she quickly clicked on the notification she wanted, her expression finally becoming grim now that they were all behind closed doors.

  You have touched a Doppelganger, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...

  Choose a stat to siphon: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Magic, Charisma, or Luck.

  Choose a skill to siphon: Aura Manipulation, Deception, Mimicry, Stealth, or Transformation.

  Silently, she clicked on her options, wondering how they would translate to non-species specific abilities.

  Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Constitution and Transformation from Doppelganger underway.

  Once that was done and she felt the itching start, she turned to Ammon and Christopher as she probed, “What can you tell me about monsters that appear to be human?”

  Christopher and Ammon now both looked extremely serious. “Are you saying there’s a monster among my men?” Ammon was now glaring suspiciously at all of the doors.

  “I’m telling you there’s someone who isn’t human among your men, yes. He looks and acts exactly like a human, but he’s not. Now, please tell me what the possibilities are.”

  Christopher was the one who answered this time. “There are a couple of monsters that can disguise themselves as humans. There are fairies who can take the form of a human, but they can’t change their appearance, and Nix are water spirits who have the same limitation. The Seelie are higher Fae who look like humans aside from having pointed ears, but they’ve also got a powerful glamor, so they could look like just about anything. The Djinn likewise have illusion magic that could disguise their skin color, which is their largest physical difference. There are vampires, but they’re nocturnal, so I think we can safely rule them out. Doppelgangers take on the appearance of their last victim. Mermaids have a human appearance out of water, but unless they came from the river, they’re also unlikely, since they can’t change their appearance otherwise either.”

  Jade studied them thoughtfully, processing the information. How was she supposed to say she knew exactly what it was without giving away her ability that literally told her? Finally, she said simply, “It wasn’t illusion magic, so most of those are ruled out. It was a very good mimicry of human biology, but it wasn’t human. Of the options you just gave me, that sounds the most like a doppelganger. Tell me. Has Phillip Dureau been acting strange recently?”

  Ammon looked grim, then walked over to the first door and opened it, calling the man inside out, who she recognized as the commander of the unit. Ammon brought him over to Jade before saying simply, “Tell us everything you know about Phillip Dureau.” Meanwhile, he also had guards move closer to “Phillip’s” room, as well as stationing them closer outside the window unobtrusively.

  It was time to see if they’d noticed anything fishy.

  Chapter Thirty-Four – Trap

  The unit commander, Baronet Anthony Hewett if she recalled correctly, looked a bit confused at their line of questioning. “Phillip? There’s not much to say, really. He’s a decent chap, rather quiet, keeps to himself mostly. He was sick and missed a muster the other day, but apart from that, he’s a reliable guard, if a bit average.” He saw the glances Ammon and Christopher were exchanging before he turned to Jade and asked quietly, “Is there something wrong with him?”

  She nodded. “In all likelihood, I’m guessing the real Phillip was killed the morning he didn’t show up for muster. There’s a monster in that room, probably a doppelganger.” Anthony blanched, his weathered skin becoming white, and Jade sighed. Ammon and Christopher were shifting, like they wanted to attack right now, but thinking back to the mesmer, she wanted the doppelganger kept alive a little bit longer, if possible. Selfish, but true.

  “Before you go trying to kill it, I’d like to clear the building of the other men, if possible. They’re expecting to be here a while, so it shouldn’t suspect anything. I’d like to do the rest of my rounds, send those men out, and then you can move in. It will also help with morale, since the unit he’s in won’t see you killing their ‘Phillip.’ I don’t want them to panic.”

  Ammon, who was practically chomping at the bit, ready to go attack the doppelganger himself, settled down with visible effort. He nodded, obviously restraining himself. “I understand. Go ahead and start then. The sooner this is over with, the better.”

  Jade smiled sedately at him, although her heart was pounding. It had been doing so ever since she’d touched the creature. What if it had realized she knew what it was and attacked? Still, it appeared her bluff and deception skills were useful, and she could at least pretend she was calm. Smiling at Anthony, she touched his wrist and spread her magic as she asked simply, “Have you been injured by a mesmer before?”

  It turned out Anthony and the next three men of his unit had never fought a mesmer, so her routine check didn’t turn out anything more than a few training bruises, which she took care of, feeling like it was at least a little compensation since she’d taken over their morning. At the fourth room she entered with Ammon and Christopher on her heels, she smiled as she asked, “Hello, Blake, was it?” He nodded and she smiled again. “Have you ever been injured by a mesmer before?”

  He nodded. “Yes, miss. I had my arm slashed up pretty good by one of the creatures about seven months ago.” She nodded as he indicated his left arm.

  “May I?” He held out his arm, and Jade touched him to spread her magic, seeing through her mind’s eye. On the surface, he seemed perfectly healthy. It wasn’t until she started searching more deeply for what she remembered, the sickly sweet viral infection she’d shoved out of her own body that she finally found it. What surprised her was that it hadn’t spread from his arm, instead staying in a contained area. It didn’t seem able to multiply, which was comforting, but strange. She likened it to a tiny homing beacon. It was there, but didn’t do anything unless the signal was nearby to bounce off of it.

  With a concentrated inspection, she nodded, then glanced around. “Give him something to bite on, a rag or something. This is going to hurt, and I don’t want you screaming and startling everyone else, biting your tongue off, or shattering your teeth.”

  He looked a little wary at her blunt analysis but took out a handkerchief from his jacket. She examined it briefly, determined that it was thick enough if he folded it a few times, then handed it back to him and commanded, “Bite.” He did so, and she glanced at Christopher as she muttered, “Maybe you should hold him down too.” Poor Blake was feeling fairly alarmed, as were Christopher and Ammon, but they obediently did as she asked.

  Once he was secured, she sighed, closing her eyes, and called to the blood. She could hear Blake grunt in pain as his muscles tensed. There was blood beading like sweat along his arms, and that sickly sweet scent was in the air again. She made sure she got every last bit of the virus, then called the blood so it drew away from his skin, forming a little ball of infected blood in the air above her hand. She pulled out the large glass jar Kaylee had passed her and stuck the blood inside with her own. Re-sealing the lid, the smell dissipated and she smiled at Blake, patting him on the shoulder.

  “We’re done. I’ve removed the taint.” He looked surprised, then glanced down at his arm, which despite hurting earlier, now seemed completely fine. She patted him gently again and advised, “Just eat some red meat, and it’ll replace the bit of blood I had to take with the virus.”

  “I’ll do that. Thank you, Lady Jade.” He bent over her hand, brushing it with his lips.

 
“It’s my pleasure. Now shoo, enjoy your day!” She grinned and ushered him out of the room, turning to her escorts as she motioned, “All right, go ahead and ask now.” She could tell they’d been barely holding in their questions.

  “You’re not just a healer, are you? You’re a blood mage.” Ammon’s voice was more statement than question, so she just nodded in confirmation. He shook his head. “No wonder you can do what the others can’t. I heard the report from last night. Mike said if he’d been the one to treat Dalton, he’d be dead. Is blood magic how you cleared his lungs?”

  She nodded, then shook her head as well. They gave her perplexed stares before she explained. “Yes, I did use blood magic to clear it from his lungs and the chest cavity, but I also used wind magic to pull the air that had leaked into his chest out. So really, it was a tri-combination of magic, so I’m not surprised others couldn’t do it. Punctured lungs are tricky.”

  Ammon was staring in awe at her. “No wonder the mesmer came for you. A tri-mage…”

  She laughed ruefully as she corrected him. “No. I’m not a tri-mage… So far, I’ve got ten different types of magic, and the number is still growing.” They looked dumbstruck, and she just smiled and shrugged. “Anyway, we’d better move on. Time’s a wastin’.”

  It took her another two hours to fully get through the rest of the guards; she’d had to take a short break to eat before she could finish. On the bright side, seventeen guards were now virus-free, and her jar of contaminated blood was pretty full. Now all that was left was…Phillip’s doppelganger.

  “So, how do you want to do this? Might I suggest just opening the door and turning him into an arrow pincushion?” She didn’t really want to get close.