Part Four

Gast paced in front of the couch where the other three mages sat, he wrung his hands unconsciously and kept glancing at the clock. "The shaman is going to be here any minute, are you all positive you have everything in place?" Gast looked at each of the mages with a concern that bordered on paranoia.

One of them, a beardless dwarf with rings on each finger and a false eye made of a giant opal, scolded Gast with a click of his tongue. "Young one, we have all been in the game since before you were born." The dwarf gestured to another mage who looked as ancient and wizened as a sculpture from the time when men worshipped fire, sun, and earth. "Owain there has run the shadows since before I was born. We know our business, just focus on what your part is, not ours. We can handle one shaman, no matter who he is."

Gast turned away to stare out the wide, slatted window. All he saw was towering megacorp buildings and squares of light. The four of them currently inhabited an upscale penthouse that was three streets over from Matrix Systems, located in the 5th Rise district. It had been paid for by their employer, Drake. All of the mages had prepared for this night days in advance. They had each poured over old texts and scrolls, and they each communed with their own sources of power. Now, they were waiting for the fifth member of their party, the shaman called Panther-In-The-Sky. He was to be the second man they killed this night, right after they finished with the fledgling courier. The mages had clear orders from Drake himself, Panther-In-The-Sky was to be put down, and he had to be put down in a way that he could not return from. Their instructions were to flash incinerate the shaman and then the ashes had to be immediately placed in a sealed container with sanctified water. Drake had told them to do this exactly and to not deviate one iota from this procedure. To do so would mean their deaths.

A buzz from the penthouse intercom caused each mage's head to turn toward the door. The power in the air was palpable; all of them had the beginnings of a spell on the tips of their tongues. Gast, whose skin had turned a shade paler, walked over to the door and looked at the security screen. It was the shaman; he was staring directly at upward at the lobby camera. The mage reached out a slightly trembling finger and hit the button to unlock the outer door. Gast licked his lips and murmured, "He's coming up."

A few minutes later there was a quiet knock. Gast looked at the other mages, who made no effort to leave the couch. He swallowed down a newly dry throat and walked over to the door. He turned the knob and opened it. The shaman was there, waiting with his hands behind his back.

When Panther-In-The-Sky saw Gast, his beardless face split into a toothy grin. "Well, look who it is! I haven't seen you in quite some time. How long has it been?" The shaman walked into the room. "I would say it's been at least three years, hasn't it?"

Gast closed the door and looked at the shaman. Panther-In-The-Sky was not as tall as the young mage, who stood a few inches above six feet, but he was more solid. He was wearing work pants and a buttoned black shirt rolled up at the sleeves. A gray trench coat hung on his slight shoulders. "Yeah," Gast said, "It's been about three years." He tried to meet the shaman's dark eyes with his own.

Panther-In-The-Sky still smiled, but his gaze sizzled with controlled wrath. "I remember. I left you alive in a sniveling, sobbing heap even after you tried to double-cross me with the Jackal Gang. If memory serves, I believe you had pissed yourself."

Gast dropped his eyes, but amazingly he found the steel within himself to utter, "I was only sixteen then, Panther-In-The-Sky."

The shaman stepped closer to Gast until their chests nearly touched. Up close, the height difference seemed to disappear. "Look at me, boy." The young mage slowly brought his eyes back to bear on the shaman; they were glowing with false confidence and shame. "If you're going to try and talk to me like a man, at least try to act like one when you do it." Panther-In-The-Sky turned away from Gast and walked further into the penthouse. When he saw the other three mages, he laughed. "I didn't know we would need this many runners to take down one courier! Or is this a surprise party?"

The three mages stood and regarded the shaman with cat-like disdain and disinterest. Panther-In-The-Sky moved closer to them and flung his trench coat on the couch. It nearly hit the dwarf mage, who looked at the coat, and Panther-In-The-Sky, with derision. The shaman grinned, "Do you have a problem?"

The dwarf approached Panther-In-The-Sky, "Don't think you can scare or impress us like you do the boy."

"Is that a joke?" The shaman looked confused. "Why would I care if a bunch of second-rate hack magicians are scared or impressed with me?"

The dwarf bristled, the other two mages moved behind him. "Go ahead, shaman." The dwarf spoke through clenched teeth, "Call one of your demons and see what happens."

"I know what would happen, little man." Panther-In-The-Sky looked over the dwarf at the two mages. He addressed the old one, Owain. "I have heard of you. You used to work Logger Town with Spatter, didn't you?"

The ancient man nodded. "That I did. And I have heard of you too."

Panther-In-The-Sky took a step past the dwarf as if the small figure didn't exist. He stuck out his hand to the older mage, who shook it. "Tell me, Owain, do you still try and bed the little boys they send to the chapel on the east Docks?" The old man said nothing, but if looks could kill the shaman would have needed to resurrect on the spot. Panther-In-The-Sky ignored the old magic user's response and turned his attention on the third mage, a young-looking woman in her twenties. She wore a blue hood which covered the top half of her face. The exposed bottom half was painted in white and red symbols. Her lips were black and pierced with multiple rings. "And who are you, my dear?"

The woman gave the barest bow and said in a high-pitched voice, "I am sure you never heard of me, sir."

Panther-In-The-Sky looked at her for some time in silence, considering her with his dark burning eyes. Finally he responded, "You seem like the wisest one here, girl. Though I suspect you would be better suited for a pleasure-dome rather than running shadows." His insult did not carry the same threat it had carried with the other mages. In fact, it sounded a little hollow in comparison, as if some part of him didn't really mean it.

The woman remained silent, apparently she knew better than to bandy words with the shaman. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"Well, I think we are done with introductions!" Panther-In-The-Sky turned away from the three mages, grabbed his coat, and walked back toward Gast, "When do we leave? By my watch the courier from Matrix Systems should be on the move anytime."

Gast waved everyone to the door, "Yes. We should go now." His eyes flicked to a place behind Panther-In-The-Sky. "Is everyone ready?"

The shaman did not wait for a reply. He just chuckled to himself, shook his head and went out the door. He left it open behind him. The mages all exchanged glances, and a there was nervousness on a few faces where it hadn't been earlier. They followed Panther-In-The-Sky without saying anything. The woman was the last out the door, and it shut behind her without being touched.

The five shadowrunners were adept at keeping unseen, and they slithered through the narrow alleyways from the penthouse building to the tower of Matrix Systems as quickly and efficiently as contaminated water through a sewage drain. They watched the courier exit out the back entrance from hidden darkness and they dogged his steps every inch of the way. They let him get within sight of his destination, they let him think he had made it, and then they exposed themselves.

The courier was not a rookie, but he was completely blindsided by the seasoned mages and the powerful shaman. One moment, he was alone on the street. The next, he was surrounded.

"Hi Jake," Panther-In-The-Sky approached the courier, a man he once called a friend. But that probably wasn't going to last much longer, not the way Jake was staring daggers through the shaman. The mages stood behind Panther-In-The-Sky, he could feel them gathering strength to unleash upon the courier.

Jake's hands were inching toward his coat, "I can't believe you're the one doing this."

The shaman shrugged, "You still have a lot to learn, Jake."

Jake tried to grab his gun and say a spell at the same time, but he didn't have a chance. Panther-In-The-Sky somehow nullified the courier's magic so that he could not draw upon it at all. It was an incantation no one there had ever seen work so quickly and so powerfully. The other mages took this opening and blasted Jake with a bevy of fire orbs and lightning. It was too easy. He was burned to a smoking crisp in seconds. All that remained was blackened flesh on a near-visible skeleton, but somehow Jake was still alive. His exposed jaw bone worked itself open and shut, and his melted stump of a tongue flailed around on his cheek like a worm which had been cut in half. Panther-In-The-Sky advanced to the smoldering mound and pulled a small Berretta from his pocket. He pointed it at Jake and mouthed the words of an enchantment which the dog had told him to use. Then he put three bullets into the mass of gelatinous ooze which had once been Jake's head.

No sooner had the third shot been fired than the gun was ripped from the shaman's hand by an unseen force. Panther-In-The-Sky knew what was coming next. The same kind of magic-nullifying barrier he had used on Jake, albeit not as potent, fell over him like a lead blanket. Then, his body was levitated off the ground and frozen in place; he could not even open his mouth or shut his eyes. The mages encircled him like a pack of hyenas.

Owain pointed a bony finger at Panther-In-The-Sky, "Lookee-there at the big mouth on the little shaman. That big mouth isn't moving anymore is it?" He threw his head back and cackled. In that moment he looked and sounded exactly like the evil witch from that ancient film, The Wizard of Oz. Had Panther-In-The-Sky been able to, he would have had a good laugh at that.

Gast moved toward the shaman. His face had a smug, confident look on it. Panther-In-The-Sky remembered that the young mage had that same look when he thought he had the drop on the shaman three years ago. "Well, Panther-In-The-Sky, I hope you like my version of the silence spell. It is not as complex as yours, but I think it is just as effective." Gast frowned, "I felt bad about what I did three years ago, and if you had not pushed me I would have made this quick for you. But now I'm going to make this linger." Gast raised his hand in the air and made it into a claw; he spoke several words of power.

Pain flowed over Panther-In-The-Sky like a waterfall. He could not react to it because he was frozen, but if he could, he would have screamed his lungs to ribbons. Gast brought his hand down in a slicing motion, and the shaman felt his stomach burst open. He could not move his eyes, but he could see in his periphery that his guts were hanging from an explosive wound in his midsection. He felt his intestines brush his feet and heard them hit the pavement.

Gast chortled like a school-yard bully. He addressed the woman mage, "Calixta, this may sound a bit morbid, but I want to see this piece of shit's reactions to all this. I want to see his face as I do this to him."

The woman maintained her stony exterior, she was all business. "There is no way I'm letting him out of this freeze spell, Gast. Do what you need to do, but be quick."

Gast waved her advice away like it was a pesky fly. "I don't need to be quick, Lonestar has been bought off and the shaman is going nowhere any time soon." He regarded Panther-In-The-Sky with a humorous smirk and started to say, "I think I'm going to cut off…" But he stopped mid-sentence. There was a sound like someone dropping a hunk of raw hamburger on the floor and Gast flailed backward, his arms spinning. Half his head was gone; in fact most of it was splattered on his shoulders, back, and chest. He gurgled a cry for help and fell over. He was totally motionless except for his left leg, which shook a little from delayed nerve reactions.

The dwarf mage cried out, "Somebody throw up a goddamned shield! There is a sniper out there!" He drew a spell of illusion over the party to hide them, but he knew the right kind of sniper would be able to counter it quickly.

Calixta fell to her knees and uttered an invocation of defense, but in her haste and panic she let the freeze spell on the shaman crumble away. Panther-In-The-Sky flopped to the ground with a grunt. Blood seeped from his mouth and he gave several wet coughs which were half-screams. In a haze of agony, he used his arms to gather up his intestines and he pulled them toward his stomach and curled up in the fetal position. Then the shaman closed his eyes and shrieked an incantation of healing.

Meanwhile, the sniper kept firing. Whoever the shooter was had pierced the illusion spell in no time at all and had winged the dwarf mage on the shoulder. Calixta, who had retreated behind a parked car, was still working on a shield for the entire group. Owain, in a show of self-preservation, had drawn his own personal shield and was now readying a fatal doom spell for the shaman. He still viewed Panther-In-The-Sky as the primary threat. Owain barely got the first few syllables of the curse out of his parched lips when a winged shadow beast descended from the sky, grabbed both of the mage's arms, and ripped them off. The beast took Owain's head in its mouth, bit into the neck, and carried the old man up into the night. Blood rained down from the sky.

The shaman, fully healed, stood up. He saw that Calixta was about to finish her shield spell and pointed at her. The pavement beneath her buckled which caused her to stumble. The ground split at her feet and from the cracks brown tentacles emerged. They curled themselves around the woman's legs and pulled her downward so that she was buried in the street up to her chest. The shaman snapped his fingers. The tentacles disappeared and the ground closed like a vice, crushing Calixta's ribs, chest, and legs into a sliver as thin as tin foil. She vomited blood, put both hands to her head, and died immediately.

The dwarf was the only one left; he had seen what was happening and had tried to make an escape. He did not get far. Another bullet from the sniper had ripped through the small mage's knee, almost taking the leg off. He flopped to the ground and rolled back and forth, trying to finish a healing spell before another bullet, or the shaman, could reach him. Unfortunately for the dwarf, he was not successful. Another magic-nullifying barrier fell over him, instantly cutting him from the source of his magic. The shaman stood before him.

"You can go to hell!" The dwarf barked. "You can go straight to hell! You no-good…"

"Enough of your blubbering," Panther-In-The-Sky cut him off. The shaman made a fist in front of the dwarf and spoke several words of magic. He opened his fist. The dwarf folded in on himself as if he were an aluminum can which was being crushed by a compactor. He had no time to scream. Blood sprayed all over the sidewalk, some of it even hit the shaman's boots and lower pant-legs. Panther-In-The-Sky mumbled, "Son of a bitch," and leaped backward, but it was too late, the mess had already been made.

The shaman looked around. No one could be seen on the street, but he felt a presence nonetheless. Then, he saw two small golden eyes looking out of the shadows between two buildings. He could just make out the form of a fox. That would be Kitsune. As a shapeshifter, she could assume the form of a variety of animals. She was here because she was part of the plan. The dog had given Panther-In-The-Sky a very rare, very powerful form of resurrection spell, and the shaman in turn had given it to Kitsune. She was waiting for the shaman to leave and then she would attend to Jake. Panther-In-the-Sky nodded to the fox and quickly departed down an opposite alley. He walked for some time until he was sure he was far away from the scene of the massacre. At that point, he stopped and took a deep breath. He rubbed his belly where it had been injured. It was still a little sore. The shaman leaned against a brick wall and used his commlink to call Buzz.

The ork answered in his usual gruff manner, "Yeah boss?"

"Good shooting out there. Are you clear?"

"Yep. I called Lone Star as soon as you fled. Kitsune should be able to do her thing before they get there. Meet at the Jagged Nails?"

Panther-In-the-Sky nodded, "Yeah. I'm buying."

The ork grumbled, "I should damn well think so." He cut off the transmission.

The shaman smiled and rested his head against the brick. He had one more call to make. He brought Drake up on his commlink. The dragon took his call without even filtering it through his pretty human secretary.

"Panther-In-The-Sky! What happened out there? Is it done?" Drake was good at deceit; subterfuge was second-nature to dragon-kind. But the shaman knew Drake and he could sense the slightest twinge of fear beneath his question.

"It was a mess out there," Panther-In-The-Sky said. "Gast lost it and attacked me. I had to take him out. The courier proved tougher than expected too. He iced the other mages before I could get to him."

"I see." The dragon measured the shaman's words for a moment and then said, "Is the courier dead then?"

"Yes he is. Lonestar will be peeling him off the street right as we speak. Now, give me the rest of my money."

"One moment, old friend." Drake spoke to someone else and a few minutes of silence followed. When he got back on the line, he sounded jollier than he had been. "My sources confirm that Lonestar is on site. They found five dead bodies on arrival. Excellent! Just excellent Panther-In-The-Sky! I am wiring you the money now. Farewell, perhaps we can talk again sometime, just as two old acquaintances chatting shop, you know."

"I doubt that. Just make sure I get the money." The shaman hung up on Drake and called his bank, Unified Zero, straightaway. He confirmed that there was three million nuyen in his account. It was all there. He then moved every bit of his money to a new account in a new bank. It took maybe five minutes. Afterward, he smiled. He would have one last drink with Buzz, give him his cut of the money, and get the hell out of Seattle.

Panther-In-The-Sky used his commlink to call a taxi. When it came, he collapsed in the backseat and told the driver his destination. The driver, a fat old troll who smoked a thin foul-smelling cigar, took a look at the shaman and said, "You've got a spot of blood on your forehead. You hurt or something?"

Panther-In-The-Sky reached up and scratched the crusted clot off his face. "Nope, it's not my blood."

The troll chomped on his cigar, "One of those nights, huh?"

The shaman shut his eyes, "Yeah, and hopefully I never have another night like it."

"I hear ya," the troll said. Then, he peeled off into the darkness of the city.