Usually, at the sudden appearance of onrushing doom, Wei-Yong and Shan would react with immediate and unequivocal results.
This time, intoxicated as they were, their reactions, while immediate, were not quite as effective as usual.
Wei-Yong fumbled with her bow, dropped it, smacked her head on the railing and collapsed on the stairs in an ungainly tangle of limbs, groaning.
Shan looked around at the incoming assailants and put up her fists, ignoring the flashing knives in their hands.
Ming-Wa, unable to ignore the knives, grabbed her big friend and heaved with all her strength, trying to drag Shan backwards. And having no effect whatsoever. Shan, unaware that Ming-Wa was clinging to her armour, leaned forward, lifting the slender woman right off the ground. Ming-Wa's slippers dangled above the floorboards as she kicked, trying to get Shan to notice her.
Li Fa raced to the top of the stairs, trying to put some distance between her friends and herself before she called upon the dark hungry power that served her will. Whirling up on the balcony, she looked down into the large common area to see four assailants come leaping through the crowd towards the others. And two clambering up the pillars to where she stood, alone.
Ming-Wa dropped from her friend's shoulders and scrambled back as Shan lurched forward, shrugging her armoured shoulders and raising her arms to catch the slashing blades on the reinforced plates that protected her. The sudden din of metal on metal drowned out the cries of the crowd, which made the explosive grunt of the first fellow to receive one of Shan's fists in his gut all the more penetrating. He went down, unconscious, while Shan continued to fend off the other three.
Wei-Yong shook her addled head and saw the two climbing towards Fa.
"I'm coming, Li Fa!"
She staggered up the steps and leapt up onto the railing to get a better angle against the two men clinging below.
Her balance was not up to its usual standards, however, and her long legs flew out from under her and she crashed down on to the balcony planks, smacking her head hard again.
"Ow."
Seeing she was not about to be rescued, Li Fa set about smacking her would-be assailants with her oaken staff as they tried to climb over the balcony railing. Shouts of pain followed as her sturdy staff cracked sharply across hairy knuckles, and wailing, the two unfortunates plunged into the crowd below, demolishing tables and disappearing into a mass of drunken, angry patrons.
Wei-Yong got woozily to her feet, grinned at Li Fa, and then caught sight of her friend Shan with three knife-wielding bad guys around her.
"I'm coming, Shan!"
Fa watched as the lanky woman leapt from the balcony to snatch at a hanging banner.
"Try not to kick too much butt, girl."
Fa winced as her friend lost her grip and with a strangled yelp plummetted into the crowd.
But watched, bemused, as the drunken woman bounced to her feet, sprang over half-a-dozen brawling regulars, and swung a broken chair leg at one of Shan's attackers. The wood connected with the man's knife and sent it flying to embed itself in a pillar next to Shan's head. Startled, Shan appeared to notice for the first time that her opponents were armed, and with very little fuss, set about taking their knives away.
The surprised assassins had only a second or so to gape at their suddenly empty hands before Shan's fists began connecting sharply with their jaws. And, shortly thereafter, their skulls connected sharply with the floorboards.
Li Fa, standing up on the balcony, flicked a copper coin at a woozy thug as he tried to stand up.
"Go back to your mistress. Maybe she'll sell you some better clothes."
Shan grinned as she helped a reeling Wei-Yong to stay on her feet.
"This is the best job ever."
*****
"You seem taller in the sunlight."
"Not so loud, please."
Wei-Yong winced as her small admirer, Ho Sien Ku, kept up a stream of noisy compliments alongside her.
The four women (and one small man) had joined a massive procession as Tang Fei Liu and her bridal party made their way to the Temple of the Submissive Eye. Most of the town had come out to join the celebrations, and the long parade wound up through the steep streets of Hsiao-pei-ho from the Inn of the Fabled Stone, where less-energetic celebrants still remained, drinking what little of the landlord's stock had survived the night's debauchery.
Li Fa, taking pity on her hung-over friend, crossed to where Ho Sien Ku was. She addressed him gravely.
"Who was that woman last night? The tailor?"
Ming-Wa joined in, her face set in repressed fury.
"Is she an enemy of the Goddess?"
Sien Ku obviously didn't quite know how to take the very serious and intense queries addressed to him. He bowed, stumbling a little as he tried to keep up with the longer-legged women.
"Your ladyships. The tailor? Pao Hsien? I, I wouldn't know, your ladyships. She's very wealthy, I know. They say foreigners visit her sometimes."
"What kind of foreigners? What about?"
Li Fa put a restraining hand on her friend. Ming-Wa narrowed her eyes at the short Sien Ku, her anger at the notion that anyone could disregard her beloved Goddess apparent on her face.
"I don't know. I don't know. It's just, just what people say. I don't know."
Sien Ku looked longingly at where Wei-Yong walked with Tong Shan. Li Fa took pity on the man and asked a less accusatory question.
"What else have people been saying?"
She smiled. Li Fa smiled very rarely, her usual expression being one of stern patience. But she offered the trepidatious Sien Ku a warm smile that made her seem ten years younger than usual, and he relaxed a fair bit.
"Well, they say that Caedmonish bandits have been coming down from the mountain passes and kidnapping the children."
"What children?"
"The children who've been disappearing."
"Children have been disappearing?"
"Yes, for a while now."
"Who's been taking them?"
"Bandits from Caedmon."
"Hm."
The women slowed, along with the townspeople around them, as they came up over a rise in the street and caught sight of the temple, situated on a broad lawn of carefully-trimmed grass, overlooking the river where it tumbled along in its rocky bed. The Temple of the Submissive Eye stood a full three stories high, open on all sides, surrounding a massive statue of the Goddess in all her glory. The upper floors of the temple were open galleries running around all sides of the statue as it rose up to nearly touch the roof of the temple itself. Through arches the statue could be seen, blinding with gold and color. All along the eaves at each floor hung brightly coloured bells with long streamers that caught the wind and set the bells ringing in an unending musical chatter that rang out over the nearby streets.
Shan, Ming-Wa, Wei-Yong and Fa all bowed their heads and made an obeisance, breathing prayers to their cherished Goddess.
Half the city seemed to be pouring into the temple grounds, greeting the elderly Chief Sister with familiar waves. Yan Ting bowed and waved back, wrinkled face beaming. She caught sight of the Angels and hurried over, bowing incessantly.
"Ladies, ladies, ladies! Welcome! The Submissive Eye welcomes the blessed agents of Her Glorious Dedication."
Ming-Wa sank to her knees on the grass and bowed.
"The Bended Knee thanks the Submissive Eye. All praise to Her Infinite Beauty."
Li Fa did likewise.
"The Gentle Hand thanks the Submissive Eye. All praise to Her Endless Compassion."
Wei-Yong and Shan remained standing, but bowed. They mumbled in unison, "The Fierce Heart thanks the Submissive Eye. All praise to Her Unbounded Will."
All five women spoke in ritual.
"Body and Heart and Mind we serve thee, Goddess. Body and Heart and Mind."
Straightening up, Ming-Wa regarded the temple, rapidly filling up with townspeople, with satisfaction. She smiled.
"It's a beautiful temple, Sister Yan. You honour Her well."
The old lady bowed, pleased, and led the four women up the exterior steps and into the ground floor of the temple.
From here, the statue towered above, the Goddess' perfect face smiling down in serene grace on all the worshippers clustered around her feet. Overcome with religious fervour, Ming-Wa sank to her knees again and sang a prayer of thanksgiving. Wei-Yong and Shan and Fa looked around.
There were many Sisterhoods in service to the Goddess, each with its own traditions and means of expressing devotion. The Submissive Eye was one such, common in rural communities, usually building and tending temples much like this one, though none of the Angels had seen one quite so grandiose. The pillars and beams were decorated with intricate filigree, the railings bright and multi-colored and joyous. The floor where Ming-Wa knelt was formed of well-set marble blocks, polished to a mirror-like finish and inlaid with silver and gold in Tianese characters expressing love and thanks towards the Goddess.
Townspeople milled about, pressed together in their desire to watch the ceremony. Ming-Wa had to stand to avoid being crushed in the crowd. Above them, on the first balcony, facing the statue, knelt Tang Fei Liu and Xue Li. Beside them stood Uncle Tan, who would be performing the marriage ceremony itself. He opened his mouth to speak to the crowd below.
Before he could speak, the floor shook and with a sudden, splintering crack that seemed to shake even the massive statue of the Goddess, heavy marble blocks flew into the air, plunging earthward and crushing wedding guests before they could scream.
Once the demonic beasts, their clawed feet scraping on the stone and their long foreclaws dripping with foul ichor, pulled themselves out of the smoking hole in the floor, there was plenty of time of screaming.
