Free Stackpole, Michael A - Shadowrun by Raven, Wolf Page B

sluggish and it appeared to lose its balance at one point, but it recovered before it could pitch over backward into the bay.
    Hasan reappeared on the ship's bridge and glared at me. "You leave us no choice. Kill him."
    As the sphinx got up on all four paws and stalked toward me, I realized where I must have gone wrong.
    Shapeshifters and vampires might have some natural aversion to silver—an allergy to it, if you like. But the sphinx was neither. It was a summoned spirit, which meant I needed something else to kill it. Being plumb out of sphinx leukemia virus, and suddenly regretting the loss of the flamethrower to the bay, I tried to remember if I had life insurance and if whoever I'd named as beneficiary really deserved the money.
    "No matter," I muttered to myself as I tossed the Viper aside and backed up slowly. "The Mr. Johnsons at Kyoto-Prudential will figure my tackling this to be suicide." To kill this thing would require attacks on both the material and metaphysical planes. I toyed with the idea of letting the Old One have his way with me, but I knew I'd end up like that grunge and Kid Stealth. It had to be something magical and physical, but with a creature this size, it also had to be big.
    Really big.
    In fact, it had to be as big as the black coyote that materialized out of the shadows above and around me. For a half-second I thought the Old One had managed to manifest outside my body, but his howl of outrage at being seen in the form of a coyote quickly disabused me of that notion. The canine beast sheltering me growled in a low voice, then lunged forward at the sphinx, its ebon teeth gleaming with the light of the fire the Redwings had started.
    As the two titans nipped and swatted at each other, I dove over to where the woman lay. A second or two later Zig and Zag joined me. Zig grabbed my shoulder. "Raven's here—he got Stealth's message. He said to get her out as fast as possible. Says he can't be sure how long he can hold the sphinx back!"
    I lifted the girl into Zag's arms, then gave Zig the ignition sequence for the Fenris. "Get her home or to a Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    hospital. Go, go—the car's back at the cannery."
    Zig hesitated. "Raven said to get you out of here, too. He said there's something very wrong here."
    "He's got that right. Go on. I'll catch up with you later." I massaged my left leg for a second, and I saw them both shudder as they recalled the last time I'd sent them away.
    The pair of street samurai vanished into the shadows and I turned back to find Raven. With the Old One's help—he let me see Raven through his eyes—I spotted the Doctor up on top of one of the crates near the first boat house. Wreathed in the golden nimbus of a defensive spell, he looked magnificent.
    Incredibly tall, even for an elf, he looked very much a human because of his powerful build. His coppery skin and high cheekbones bespoke the Amerind heritage he was likewise heir to, and the sea breezes lifted his long black hair back from his well-muscled shoulders. Fists thrust into the air so he could channel more energy into the coyote he had created, he looked every bit a god.
    Opposite him, now standing on the yacht's bridge, Hasan came into view. The Old One showed me a purple glow surrounding Hasan. Sweat beaded up on the mage's forehead and pasted his black hair against his pate. He also held his fists aloft, but I noted a tremble in his limbs that I had not seen in Raven.
    Hasan, powerful though he might be, was not Raven's equal in skill or magical energy. The battle would not last long.
    The sphinx jumped back on its hind feet and slashed with a paw at the shadow coyote. The golden claws sliced through the canine's snout like sunlight streaking through boarded-up windows, but the wounds sealed themselves quickly enough. The coyote responded by lunging in and catching the sphinx by the throat. The attack bowled the feline over, but it managed to