Ragnarock Read Free Page B

ensure that Dr. Grace's trip didn't go entirely as planned.
    As they made their way toward the city, Talon could see the flashing yellow lights in the street ahead. Orange-and white-striped plastic sawhorses stretched across the road, and a hulking troll wearing a black jacket and pants with reflective white stripes along the sleeves and legs stood, directing traffic. The Knight Errant corporate logo gleamed on his shoulder and chest. Cars were already starting to back up, even at this late hour, as the big troll officer slowly waved them through, one by one.
    The limo pulled up to the roadblock, and the troll raised one massive hand. The car slowed to a stop and the officer made his way over to the driver's side window, tapping on it with one blunt finger. Talon pulled in close behind the car as the troll leaned over and exchanged words with the driver, gesturing toward the side of the road. The driver said something Talon couldn't quite make out, and the troll gestured toward the side of the road again, this time more forcefully. The limo slowly pulled over as Talon glanced back over his shoulder to see an ork dressed in overalls and a hard hat pull a "ROAD CLOSED" sign across the end of the road about two hundred meters back, blocking off any more incoming traffic, and making sure there wouldn't be any witnesses for the next few minutes.
    Talon smiled and pulled his bike up behind the limo.
    "Keep an eye out for any astral trouble, Aracos." he thought.
    "Don't I always?" the voice in his mind responded, with a touch of reproach. Talon patted the motorcycle as he dismounted behind the car, drawing a gun made of flat black plastic from under his jacket. The troll officer removed a massive pistol from under his jacket and leveled it at the driver's side of the car.
    "Don't move." he said flatly. The driver's side window was still down, and Talon could see the limo driver put his hands on the steering wheel, keeping them in sight. He was hired muscle. According to the profile Trouble had put together, he was pretty good, too, and smart enough not to try anything stupid. Not until he got some sort of opportunity.
    The passenger in the back of the limo nearly gave it to him. The car's windows were tinted and nearly impossible to see into, but it was quite possible to see out. That was all Dr. Grace needed to try and use magic against the troll leveling a gun at his driver.
    Talon felt more than saw a surge of magical power as Grace cast a spell intended to reduce Boom's brain to slag. Fortunately, although Talon couldn't see Grace, he could see Boom, and he'd already extended his own magical shielding to protect the big troll. Grace's manabolt splattered against the shield like water striking a dam. Boom barely felt a thing.
    As Boom moved to secure the driver, Talon was already in action. He stepped around to the rear door of the limo and drew a blade from under his jacket. Not the golden, rune-etched dagger at his hip, but a modern combat knife, edged with a monofilament cord. The blade sliced right through the lock on the door, sending small parts scattering to the pavement. Talon felt another surge of mystic power gathering in the air above the limo.
    "Aracos!" he called out.
    "I'm on it, boss!" came the response. Suddenly, Talon's motorcycle dissolved like mist, replaced by a shimmering falcon with golden feathers that soared above the limousine as a misty shape materialized there. It looked like a dark thundercloud with faintly humanoid features and glowing pits of electric blue light for eyes. An air elemental, and a fairly powerful one at that.
    The falcon tore into it with a piercing shriek, razor talons rending the misty form as the elemental buffeted the bird with its powerful winds. The falcon flapped its wings and remained steady against the onslaught.
    Talon yanked open the back door of the limo. There was a bang and something struck him squarely in the chest. His jacket's ballistic armor lining protected him, but