" Welcome, Talon, I've been looking forward to meeting you."
Lofwyr said. The dragon's mouth did not move, nor did Talon hear any sound. Instead, Lofwyr's voice spoke directly into his mind. It was similar to the way in which he and Aracos communicated, only that bond was deeper and more personal. Talon felt none of the same warmth or friendship in Lofwyr's thought-voice nor, he suspected, could he shut out the dragon's words, had he wanted to. He found the sensation profoundly disturbing, but did his best to suppress any outward sign of it.
"And I see you’ve brought the wayward Dr. Goronay. Greetings, Doctor. I've followed your career with some interest."
Goronay seemed to have come out of his stupor upon seeing Lofwyr and now shrank back from the dragon's glittering gaze. It occurred to Talon that when Lofwyr had awakened some fifty years ago, Goronay was only a child and Talon and his friends had yet to be born. How long had the great dragon slumbered before that time, and how long had he lived before entering his long sleep preceding the birth of the Sixth World? The sheer weight of Lofwyr's experience, all that the dragon had seen and done, was like a palpable aura surrounding him. Little wonder he commanded such respect, his fearsome physical qualities aside.
"You have also brought the crystal?"
the dragon said. Talon suddenly realized he'd been standing like an idiot with his mouth hanging open the entire time Lofwyr was speaking. He felt the dragon's attention on him as he recovered and nodded quickly.
"Yes." he said. "Yes, we have." He reached into the shoulder bag he carried and withdrew the rosy-colored crystal, which gleamed in the light.
"Excellent
." the dragon's thought-voice hissed through his mind.
"Brackhaus, guards, leave us."
Mr. Brackhaus gave a short bow, then he and the security guards silently withdrew, pulling the doors shut behind them. They closed with a thunk that echoed in the cavernous space.
"Bring the crystal to me."
Lofwyr said in Talon's mind. Talon found himself moving to obey before he even thought about it. He went forward until the great dragon towered overhead, only about three more paces away. He could see the armored scales ripple with every breath, every slight movement.
"Place it there."
Lofwyr said, and Talon carefully set the crystal heart on the marble floor, then backed away from it. Lofwyr's wedge-shaped head dipped down, hovering over the crystal. In the back of his mind, Talon heard strange, alien words whispering as the dragon shifted his neck to look at the crystal from different angles, the golden eyes narrowing, looking at things beyond the range of human vision. Lofwyr's features were completely unreadable, at least to anyone other than another dragon. Finally, he raised his head again and turned to look at his three visitors.
"Now then, Doctor,"
he said in a purring tone of thought, "
perhaps you would care to explain why you murdered one of your own students to remove this bauble?"
Goronay's face had gone ashen, and sweat broke out on his brow. Talon certainly didn't envy him at that moment.
"I . . . I . . ," he stammered, "I don't know . . . that is to say, I'm not completely sure, but . . ."
There was a mental sigh from Lofwyr as the doctor continued to stammer and stumble over his words. The poor man looked close to a collapse.
"Very well. I can see I shall have to follow a more expedient path."
Lofwyr's eyes narrowed and focused on Dr. Goronay. The old archeologist stood paralyzed, trapped in the dragon's gaze like a terrified sparrow confronting a cobra. His own eyes widened and his mouth opened, but only strangled, meaningless noises emerged. Both Talon and Boom flinched at the treatment Lofwyr was giving their prisoner. Part of Talon was tempted to use his astral senses to see what it was Lofwyr was doing, but his own good sense told him it was best not to interfere in the dragon's business.
Suddenly, Dr. Goronay threw his head back and gave a terrible cry, whether of pain or anger, Talon couldn't tell. The doctor grabbed his balding head with his right hand and pointed his left at Lofwyr, forefinger extended in accusation.
"Monster! Defiler!" he shouted. "You will not break me! I am a true servant of the gods! Death!" he cried. "Death to all tyrants!"
As Goronay spoke, the rosy crystal on the floor in front of Lofwyr began to glow brightly. Talon looked quickly from the crystal to the golden dragon looming overhead.
"Lofwyr . . ." he started to call out. Then, an arc of pinkish lightning exploded from the crystal, striking the great dragon in the chest. Caught off guard by the sudden energy surge, Lofwyr threw back his head and roared in pain, a sound that seemed to shake the entire room. Talon had never heard anything so terrible as the dragon's pain-laden roar. Lofwyr's entire body was awash in arcs of energy, from his head to the tips of his outstretched wings and tail. Goronay was still babbling and shouting taunts and insults at the dragon as Lofwyr began to thrash his head and tail in pain.
"Talon, look out!" Boom yelled. He grabbed Talon and pulled him back and down as the dragon slammed his tail into one of the macroglass windows, which were designed to withstand the impact of a rocket launcher. It shattered on impact, sending shards flying across the room.
Goronay was laughing like a madman, practically
gibbering
.
"Yes! Yes!" he shouted. "Now you will
pay! Now you will feel the suffering you have inflicted on others! The judgment of the gods is upon you, serpent! The twilight of the gods is upon us all!" The old archeologist was almost dancing with glee.
Gods, Talon thought, he's completely insane.
Lofwyr thrashed his head forward, opened his massive jaws with a roar and loosed a gout of flames that engulfed Goronay. The doctor's laughter turned into a scream that was quickly drowned out by the roar of the flames. The room began to fill with acrid smoke and the horrible smell of roasting flesh as Goronay was incinerated by the blast. Talon, lying some four meters away, could feel the terrible heat of the flames, like the backwash of a rocket, as Goronay's remains collapsed to the floor.
However, the death of the mad archeologist did nothing to stop the assault of the crystalline artifact on the great dragon. The crimson glow around Lofwyr intensified, bolts of energy coruscating over his scaly hide, a blinding beam of radiance arcing between his chest and the crystal on the floor. The dragon appeared helpless to strike out at the crystal, or to do anything else to end his torment. The glow was growing brighter and brighter, until it was painful to look at. Talon glanced up from the floor and, for a moment, locked eyes with the great dragon. The pain he saw reflected in Lofwyr's gaze was dizzying, as was the choking smoke and the heat of the lingering flames in the room. Talon felt almost faint and closed his eyes tightly against the sight of it. The sound of the dragon's cries echoed in his mind.
Aracos!
he called out with his thoughts.
Help!
Then, Lofwyr threw his great head back and roared again, a sound that tore through Talon like a blade. The crystal heart expended a final burst of
energy, filling the room with a blinding pinkish light.
When the glow faded, Lofwyr's body twitched, then slowly toppled toward the floor, landing with a crashing thud. Boom lifted his arm from where it had been protectively clasped over Talon and pushed himself up with the other, looking over at the dragon's body, stretched out on the marble floor, silent and motionless.
"Holy shit." he whispered. "I think we just killed Lofwyr."
Talon was still trying to get his bearings. His head was spinning. He started to push himself to his feet, swaying slightly. Then he felt a familiar presence and a voice spoke into his mind.
"Boss, what's . . . holy shit!"
Aracos said as he appeared in astral space nearby. "Is that . . . is that Lofwyr? What the hell happened?"
"I don't fragging know." Talon said. The inside of his head felt like it had been scrubbed out with sandpaper. He walked over to where the crystal rested on the floor and bent down to look at it. The stone had gone from a dusky rose to dull gray. He reached out and touched it gently. Despite the spectacular display of energy just moments before, it was cool.
"Talon, what the frag are you doing?" Boom asked. "That thing just took out fraggin'
Lofwyr.
Leave it alone! We've got to get out of here. Listen!"
Talon stopped and cocked his head. The room they were in was clearly soundproofed, but even the most sophisticated soundproofing couldn't block out the high whine that came from outside.
"Alarms." he said, somewhat absently. He picked up the crystal and looked over at Lofwyr's body, then back at the crystal, then over at Boom.
"This thing may have killed the most powerful being on Earth," Talon began, as though in a daze, "and we're standing here, holding the smoking gun."
"Right," Boom said, "so let's get the hell out of here!"
"I’m with him, boss."
Aracos said. "We
need to vamoose, right now!"
"Right." Talon said, getting his bearings at last. "Let's go." He only briefly considered staying and trying to explain what happened to Saeder-Krupp security. It hardly mattered that he and Boom weren't at fault. S-K would be out for blood, and a couple of shadowrunners made for excellent scapegoats. He and Boom would simply disappear until the corp decided to pin the attack against Lofwyr on them, at which point there would be a showy trial and an equally quick execution, assuming they weren't simply "killed while trying to escape." Talon wasn't about to let that happen.
He moved over to the macroglass window broken by Lofwyr's thrashing.
"Boom." he said, and the troll kicked the window hard, sending the remaining glass flying outward. Talon could hear pounding on the double doors: security forces trying to break in. He and Boom stepped out onto the landing platform outside the office. It was empty of any vehicles they could use to escape. The side of the arcology was sheer glass and steel rising up more than a dozen stories above them, with a sheer drop of nearly two hundred stories below. Peering over the edge, Talon briefly considered their chances of reaching the ground safely, then looked up at the rooftop helipad where they'd landed. Odds were that the Hughes Stallion that brought them was still there.
"Which way?" Boom asked.
"Neither one appeals to me." Talon replied.
Just then, the doors into Lofwyr's office opened with a dull boom, followed by Karen Montejac and a group of dark-uniformed Saeder-Krupp security men pouring into the room.
"Master!" Montejac cried out in alarm at the sight of Lofwyr's motionless body.
One of the guards immediately spotted the broken window and pointed toward the landing pad.
"There they are!" he shouted.
"We just ran out of options." Talon told Boom. "Jump!" He hopped up onto the edge of the platform and gestured to Boom as two of the guards rushed at the broken window, their submachine guns at the ready. Boom followed quickly and took Talon's hand, then the two of them leapt from the platform as the guards opened fire, rounds ricocheting and pinging off the ferrocrete.
"I fraggin' haaaaaate thiiiiiiiis." Boom yelled as they plunged through the air. Talon spoke arcane words, and a faint shimmer filled the air around them, slowing their fall and guiding them away from the sloped sides of the building.
As they fell Aracos materialized nearby in the form of a golden-feathered hawk, his voice speaking into Talon's mind.
"Boss, that chica with the guards is a wendigo, and a shaman. She's got some sort of illusion on her to make her look human. And she's starting to cast a spell!"
"Protect us."
Talon told his ally, as he focused on doing the same. Glancing up, he saw Karen Montejac leaning over the side of the landing platform, her long hair blowing in the wind. She was gesturing and her mouth moved, but the wind carried away all traces of the sound. The effects of her chant were felt, however, when her spell impacted against Talon's shielding. It was a fairly powerful one, but Talon's shields, combined with Aracos' own sorcerous abilities, were enough to protect them from its effects. Talon sincerely hoped Montejac wouldn't try something like that again. He angled their descent to use some of the lower landing platforms of the arcology as cover. If Montejac couldn't see them, then she couldn't use magic against them.
In a few moments, they touched down on the plaza surrounding the arcology. Saeder-Krupp security forces were already swarming out of the building. Talon spoke another mystic phrase and waved his hand over himself and Boom, creating the illusion that they looked like nondescript security guards in dark uniforms. Aracos vanished back into the astral plane, invisible and undetectable to the physical senses.
"Let's play this nice and easy." Talon said to Boom. "We just blend in and walk out of here." They headed for the perimeter of the plaza, hoping to blend in with the other guards on alert throughout the area. Talon only hoped that Saeder-Krupp's magical security resources were spread as thin as those of most megacorporations. He couldn't conceal the effects of his spell on the astral plane; any astral magician who spotted them would know something was up.
They made it almost to the perimeter gate before a security patrol van screeched to a halt in front of them. The doors opened and security guards spilled out, calling "Halt!" as they raised their weapons.