shadowrun 40 The Burning Time

by Stephen Kenson

  Rory fired a shot at Trouble, but his surprise and fear sent it wide of the mark, and the shot ricocheted off one of the walls. Before he could begin to take aim for another, the fiery woman was upon him, her hands seizing him. He screamed as Trouble’s touch seared his wrist and his throat like hot irons. In a moment, the room was full of the stench of burning skin, hair, and clothing.

  Trouble threw back her head and laughed as Rory struggled frantically to break her grip. She loosened it enough to let him slip free, and he stumbled back, falling to the ground, his charred wounds beginning to weep red. He fumbled for the gun he had dropped.

  Gallow never gave him the chance to use it. Trouble took a deep breath and huffed out a blast of fire that engulfed Rory, who screamed in anguish. The flames charred his exposed skin and set his clothing on fire, the heat so intense that, to Gallow’s regret, he didn’t live long enough to feel much more pain. The spirit turned to where Colleen was just getting up from the ground, having managed to put out her burning clothing. She was covered in raw, bleeding burns and dirt from the ground, with most of her hair burned away by the blast.

  "No, please. . .," she said, trying to scramble away on hands and knees as Gallow moved closer. ". . . Please don’t." She spied her gun on the ground nearby and made a grab for it. Gallow could have stopped her, but didn’t bother. As she picked up the gun and turned to point it at Trouble, Gallow gestured contemptuously with the flip of one hand. Suddenly, the gun in Colleen’s hands was red hot, and she dropped it as it scorched her hand.

  Then Trouble was upon her. The flame aura died away as she grabbed the girl’s throat with one hand, forcing her to her knees with incredible strength. Colleen clutched at the hand locked around her throat, but her struggles were feeble, no match for the inhuman creature inhabiting Trouble’s body. Tears of terror rolled down Colleen’s face as she looked up into Trouble’s eyes.

  "Please," she whispered one more time, helplessly, as Gallow gave a sigh of pleasure and tightened Trouble’s hand around Colleen’s throat. There was the hiss of burning flesh, then the flames flared around Trouble’s body once more. Colleen gave a gurgling scream that was cut off when Gallow snapped her neck like a dry twig, then dropped the smoldering body to the ground. Trouble turned to where Ian O’Donnel lay helpless, but still alive, paralyzed by the spirit’s power.

  "Poor, darling Ian," Gallow crooned in Trouble’s voice, bending down to look into his eyes. "So caught up in your little cause that you never dreamed you were just a pawn in an even bigger game, did you? You never thought your precious little Ariel would betray you."

  There was a gurgling sound as Ian tried to find his voice, but couldn’t. All he could do was look at Trouble with pleading, confused eyes. Gallow drank in the waves of fear and pain coming from O’Donnel as his heart ached at Trouble’s betrayal.

  "You’re never going to see a free Ireland, I’m afraid," Gallow continued, "but then, neither is anyone else. You and your kind need to learn an important lesson, Ian. This is the Sixth World. The time of you and yours has passed. This is our time, our world now. It is a world of magic, and it won’t be long before nobody remembers when it was otherwise. I’d gladly tell you all about it, but I have a few other things to do, so I’ll just leave you with that."

  Gallow reached down and gently caressed Ian’s cheek. He whimpered at the heat of Trouble’s touch.

  "Goodbye, my dear," Gallow said as the leader of the Knights of the Red Branch burst into flames. He recovered enough of his voice to scream, then he thrashed weakly before collapsing back onto the floor. A cloud of greasy black smoke billowed up toward the ceiling, filling the room with haze and the stink of burned flesh. Gallow watched the spectacle for a few moments before turning back to other business.

  It climbed up to where Ian had affixed the viral bomb and made a few adjustments. Then it reached into the bag Trouble always carried and drew out a small cylinder with the catalyst from Mama Iaga. In a matter of minutes, the catalyst was attached to the viral bomb, turning the otherwise harmless Pandora virus deadly. The visitors to the Dunkelzahn Institute would soon be dead, along with everyone in the immediate area.

  Gallow looked again at the faintly glowing thread in astral space, stretching from its aura out to wherever Talon was. Now, all it had to do was wait.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Hammer took the wheel of the van as they raced toward the Cambridge area, Talon’s spell guiding the way. Talon silently wished they had Val along. Hammer was right that some of her drones would have gone a long way toward evening the odds. He also wished they’d had a chance to engage some additional backup, but there wasn’t time. He could count on Hammer and Boom, but Kilaro had never fired a gun in his life. As always, Aracos would provide magical help, but Jase was an unknown quantity. Even Jase didn’t know what abilities he retained in his ghostly form.

  Talon hadn’t wanted him to come along, but Jase insisted. "What am I going to do?" he asked. "Hang around here and haunt the place?"

  Talon didn’t want Jase endangered, but when Jase pointed out that the feeling was mutual, Talon relented. Besides, it wasn’t like he could really keep Jase from following them. As a ghost, he could move faster than their van and keep up with them no matter where they went.

  Talon thanked the gods that traffic was relatively light as they made their way along Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. Then he spotted the distinctive flashing lights of Knight Errant patrol cars parked along the road in various spots.

  "They’ve got road blocks up," Hammer said, spotting it at the same time. "What the frag’s going on?"

  "Take a left up here," Talon said. "We’re going to have to ditch the van and go through the Catacombs. Gallow is definitely underground."

  Roy Kilaro was sitting in the back of the van, scanning a portable datapad. "The police are out in force," he said. "They’re even calling in help from local corp security. It looks like what’s been going down in DeeCee and all the commotion around the anniversary of the Awakening has got everyone edgy."

  "Maybe it’s got something to do with the Pandora virus," Boom said.

  Kilaro shook his head. "There’s no way Pandora could cause the symptoms they’re talking about. In its regular form, it’s like a nasty, fast-acting flu virus. Add the catalyst, and it becomes deadly. People would be dropping in the streets. They wouldn’t even make it to the hospitals."

  Hammer took the van along a side street and found a parking spot. They all got out, and Talon led the way through alleys and side streets to avoid attracting police attention. The last thing they needed was to be stopped and questioned.

  Talon led them down a dark cul-de-sac and stopped near the end of it. "There it is," he said, pointing at a small, blocky structure. The entrance was covered over with heavy sheets of construction plastic bonded into place, but the faded "T" logo of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority was still visible on the either side and over the door.

  Boom and Hammer quickly set to work peeling back one of the plastic panels, which broke with a snap loud enough to be heard around the block, but no one came to investigate. The runners slipped through the narrow opening, though Boom barely managed to squeeze through.

  Beyond the entrance, the old subway station was dark and covered in a thick layer of dust. Talon produced a flashlight to light the way as they descended the cracked concrete steps. Hammer and Boom didn’t really need the light; their metahuman eyes adjusted easily to the dimness. Neither did Aracos or Jase, with their astral senses, but Talon and Kilaro still did. They hopped over the rusting turnstiles to the platform, then continued on down through the well of the tunnel itself.

  "I thought these tunnels were sealed off after the earthquake," Kilaro said, noticing the many large cracks in the concrete walls.

  "They were," Talon said. "In fact, this one collapsed a few hundred meters that way." He gestured down the tunnel with the flashlight. "The metroplex government abandoned most of the old T system and built newer tunnel
s further down using more modern materials. But after the Awakening and Goblinization Day, a lot of squatters and metahumans took refuge down here and in other parts of the old subway system. They cleared out the debris in some areas and in others took over abandoned tunnels and stations. The collapse that blocked this tunnel has been mostly cleared."

  In fact, when they reached the area where the tunnel had fallen down, it was just as Talon said. Debris still choked most of it, but a path had been cleared through the pile of concrete, rock, and steel. The hole was just large enough for Boom to fit through, and he grunted a bit as he squeezed out the other side.

  Kilaro ran his hand along the side of the tunnel as he crawled through.. "It’s smooth," he said. "Like they used some kind of cutting torch. What did they use to cut through here?"

  "Magic," Talon said.

  Hammer and Boom took the lead now. Talon and Kilaro were next, and the spirits stayed close by in astral space. They were invisible to mundane sight, but Talon knew they were there through his link with Aracos. He still felt the old connection to Jase, too, the same ties that had bound them together from the moment they’d met.

  "Not far now," Talon said to his companions. "Watch out. There could be just about anything down here."

  Following Talon’s directions, they took a branch off the main tunnel. It sloped downward at a slight angle, then took a turn ahead that made it difficult to see what lay beyond. Talon kept the light aimed low, trying to minimize the chance that anyone, or anything, would see it. There was just enough for to show him what was just ahead as they went. It was more than likely that Gallow would know they were coming. If it had sensed Talon’s spell, it was probably lying in wait for them.

  Hammer gestured for them to stop as he took a single cautious step forward. He tilted his head, listening to something none of the others couldn’t hear.

  "Get ready," he said, taking a step back. "We’ve got company."

  Then Talon heard the sound Hammer’s enhanced hearing must have picked up. It was a faint squealing, skittering noise that steadily grew louder and louder.

  "Devil rats!" Boom cried as a living carpet of mottled flesh and glowing red eyes rounded the corner, squealing as they charged at the invaders of their underground domain. Devil rats were an Awakened variety of the common Norway rats that plagued cities all over the world. Unlike their mundane cousins, devil rats were virtually hairless, covered in wrinkled folds of loose, pinkish-gray skin. At a meter in length, they were much larger than normal rats, with a vicious and evil disposition.

  Hammer and Boom sprayed gunfire into the front ranks of the onrushing creatures, eliciting squeals and shrieks of pain as the 9mm rounds chewed up many of them. The rest simply climbed over the fallen bodies of their comrades in their frenzy. Talon spoke the words of a spell and pointed at the head of the surging mass of rats. A jet of flame shot from his outstretched palm, sweeping across the front ranks of the horde and burning several of the rats to a crisp. But still the devil rats kept coming.

  A pair of them broke through the line being held by Hammer and Boom, their charge aimed at Kilaro. He shot one of them as the other leapt onto his chest and barreled him over.

  "Help!" he screamed as the vicious rat tried to bite him with its razor teeth.

  "There’s too fraggin’ many of them!" Hammer yelled as he continued mowing down the things down.

  "Aracos, help me!" Talon sent to his familiar. Fighting the devil rats one-on-one was a losing proposition—there were dozens of them. He focused on the crystal claw pendant around his neck, feeling the cool pulse of its power, and then he felt the addition of Aracos’s strength as he worked another spell. Several devil rats rushed toward him as if drawn by the power of the focused magical energies.

  "Close your eyes!" he said to the others.

  He extended his arms, and a sphere of light appeared between his outstretched hands. The light was blinding, as bright as the sun, and it illuminated the whole tunnel. Squeaking and squealing in pain and fear, the rats immediately began to retreat from the source of the light, scattering down the tunnel and escaping through narrow holes and wider cracks in the walls. Talon lowered his hands, and the light dimmed.

  Boom helped Kilaro back to his feet. "Nice work," he said to Talon.

  "It won’t keep them away forever," Talon said. "We’ve got to keep moving."

  They hurried down the tunnel and around the bend. A faint, flickering light became visible on ahead. Talon glanced at Hammer and Boom, who nodded, and they all charged toward the light, weapons at the ready.

  The tunnel opened onto an old subway platform. When they reached it, a sheet of flame shot with a giant whooshing sound across the space above their heads.

  "Get down!" Talon cried out as the flames roared overhead. They were standing down on the rusted tracks, deep enough that Talon could stand upright without touching the fire above them. Boom and Hammer had to crouch down, and Kilaro ducked, covering his head with his hands. The heat from the flames was blistering, but not harmful. When the fire cleared a moment later, they looked up to see Trouble standing on the edge of the platform, smiling down at them. Talon shifted to astral sight and saw that the aura surrounding her body was not hers. It flickered with ghostly flames of triumphant hate and pulsed with mystic power.

  "Hello, Father," Gallow sneered. "It took you long enough to get here. Dear Trouble has been missing you."

  The spirit leapt off the edge of the platform and landed smoothly in the gravel some four meters from where they stood. Trouble wore a gun at her side, but Gallow had no need of weapons. It glanced past Talon, its astral senses aware of the spirits hovering nearby in astral space.

  "Interesting company you keep, Talon. That thing must be my replacement. It seems your conjuring skills have declined since you summoned me. And what have we here? A spirit in the form of the dear, departed Jason Vale or. . ."

  A slow smile spread across Trouble’s features. "Ah, the genuine article! How rich! Hello, Jason. A pleasure to meet you. I’m Gallow, the spirit Talon summoned to avenge your death. How fitting that I shall now have the opportunity to end your existence again."

  Jase’s eyes went wide as he looked from Gallow to Talon and back again in disbelief. Talon felt his face get hot with anger and shame.

  "You’re not threatening anyone," Talon said, stepping forward. "Let Trouble go."

  Gallow only laughed, a chill sound that echoed down the tunnel. "Why should I? I know you want to destroy me, Father. But if you try, you’ll only harm dear Ariel’s body. Don’t you already have enough blood on your hands?" It glanced back at Aracos and Jase. "Besides, if you try to attack me, what will become of your friend’s spirit, eh? Or them, for that matter?" it said, pointing toward the rest of the team. "Can you keep me from destroying them?"

  "What do you want?" Talon asked, gritting his teeth, already knowing the answer.

  "That’s simple: you. I want you to give yourself to me willingly, without resistance. Let me take your body, and I will free Trouble and the rest of these misfits you call friends."

  "Tal, don’t do it!" Jase said, becoming visible and audible to everyone. "It’s lying!"

  "Don’t trust it, Talon!" Aracos added, but Talon paid no attention.

  "Swear by your true name," Talon said.

  Gallow smiled in triumph. "I swear by my true name that I shall not attack your friends."

  "Or harm them in any way," Talon said.

  "Or harm them in any way." Gallow nodded inside Trouble’s form. "Are we agreed then?"

  Talon glanced at Jase, who returned the look with pleading eyes. Then he turned again to Trouble, his friend.

  "Yes," he said.

  "Yes!" Gallow roared.

  Instantly, Trouble was surrounded by an aura of fire that licked out at Talon. Something like a face appeared in the flames, and laughter echoed through the tunnels as Gallow reached out to claim what was his.

  "No!" Jase said. Moving with the speed possible only to a spir
it, he leapt at the surge of flames reaching for Talon, grappling with it in mid-air and pulling Gallow back from its prize.

  "Jase, don’t!" Talon screamed, but it was too late.

  Gallow roared in anger, rearing up as it struggled with the ghost of Jase. "The oath is broken!" it shrieked. "Kill them all, but leave him to me."

  The sounds of squealing and scrabbling feet came from all directions as devil rats poured down the tunnel and over the edges of the platform, diving down onto the tracks to attack the shadowrunners. Boom and Hammer opened fire, hosing down the oncoming rats with 9mm rounds, but as before, the next wave trampled over the bloody corpses of the dead ones and kept coming. Kilaro drew his gun and shot one of the rats in the throat as it leapt from the platform.

  Talon drew his enchanted dagger, while Aracos leapt into the fray to help Jase, who was clearly overwhelmed by Gallow’s power now that the spirit had recovered from its surprise.

  "How fitting," Gallow gloated. "I’ll be able to destroy these weaklings before claiming you for my own. Prepared to watch Jase die again, Talon?"

  Gallow’s flames encircled Jase like tendrils, catching his astral form in their grip. Jase struggled as Gallow squeezed, and he screamed in pain.

  "Leave him alone!" Talon shouted, stabbing at Gallow with his blade. The spirit danced aside, and Talonclaw sliced through empty air.

  Gallow had all the advantages on its home turf. In its true spirit form, it was a creature of quicksilver and shadow, incredibly fast, too fast for Talon to keep up with. But if Talon tried to confront it on the astral plane, he would leave his physical body at the mercy of the devil rats and anything else Gallow had up its sleeve.

  He slashed at Gallow again, but the spirit easily danced out of his reach, still holding the struggling Jase. Talon knew he had no choice but to go astral.