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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 3223703" data-attributes="member: 812">And here begins the next adventure of our fair heroines! Thrill to the chills of And Madness Followed!CHAPTER ONEFour figures paused on the road, looking up between the straggling mountain pines at the cluster of houses and shops that formed the remote village of Hu-shih-tai. On all sides tall peaks rose into the clear sky, as disinterested as stone idols of some forgotten religion. Thin trails of smoke rose from a couple of houses, evidence of habitation, but otherwise there was no sign of life.The tallest of the four, lanky Muen Wei-Yong in her hunter's furs, shook her head. A lean, nervous wolf pushed its muzzle against her hip"I don't like this. That's a quiet village."The shortest among them, Zheng Ming-Wa, pulled the furred collar of her modest robe tight around her throat and set her small mouth in a stern expression."Maybe they're praying to the Goddess."Tong Shan snorted. She was a broad-shouldered, heavy-set woman wearing battle-beaten armour with intense dark eyes set deeply in a good-humoured face. Her sword leapt into her hands."Or maybe they've been eaten by some horrible demon monster that's going to jump out at us any second."Wei-Yong grinned, unfazed by her friend's suggestion."You're just in a bad mood because you're hung over. And that boy in Leng-tzu-po liked me better than you.""He did not. Shut up. I say monsters.""Yeah, probably monsters."The fourth woman, who hadn't yet spoken, turned her grave face to her friends. This was Li Fa, whose simple grey robe belied her status as the leader of the group. She gestured up the road."Whatever has happened, it is our duty to investigate. Wan-Chen, the merchant, may be here somewhere, and without his information, we will not know our next move against Sung Li-Ling."Shan sulked."Let Wei-Yong go first, she's so popular."Slowly, still four abreast, the women moved up the road into the village. As they passed the outlying houses, evidence of trouble began to appear: doors torn off their hinges, bloodstains and furniture thrown into the streets. It appeared as though a battle had been fought here, but there were no bodies lying strewn about, no wailing injured or dazed survivors. The village lay empty.Ming-Wa stepped delicately around a drying pool of gore."Where are we supposed to meet Wan-Chen?"Fa pointed to a wide, two-story establishment with latticed windows all around, open on the ground floor and set with tables and chairs."The teahouse there."She frowned."I think I see people in there."Wei-Yong had been studying some tracks and stood at Fa's comment, turning to peer at the teahouse several blocks up the street."You're right. It's packed in there."Shan whirled her sword a few times."Anyone alive or are they all dead already?""Well, they're moving.""That doesn't tell us much."Ming-Wa started up the street."I could use a cup of tea. Maybe we can sit on the verandah and see if this Wan-Chen is around."All four women started when a voice suddenly called out to them, honeyed and smirking."Come join us, friends. Come. Join us."Ming-Wa stopped and looked back at her friends. Shan nodded at her."Monsters. I don't think you're going to get any tea.""Come and join us..."Without further words the women lined up once again and began their slow way up the street, the early morning sun casting long shadows ahead of them. Shan made a few more passes with her sword. Wei-Yong laid an arrow across her bow, another long shaft gripped between the fingers of her drawing hand, ready to leap onto the string once the first had flown. Ming-Wa touched the tiny amulet she wore, praying to the Goddess in a constant whispering stream. Fa stalked in silence, observing the village around her as they walked up the low rise towards the teahouse.Fa spoke quietly, her heavy voice confident and assured."Shan, Wei-Yong, be ready for their assault. Ming-Wa and I will keep an eye out for the ringleaders."Shan observed the figures within the dark confines of the teahouse shift and rise, and slid her gaze sideways to Wei-Yong."He only gave you that bracelet because he thought you were starving. You're too skinny, you know. Boys don't like that bony look.""Focus, Shan. Monsters, remember?"The big woman grumbled but turned her attention back to the teahouse. Just in time, it turned out, for just at that moment the building suddenly exploded in activity. Half-a-dozen figures leapt out at them, some over tables on the verandah, some crashing through the lattices above and plunging down to the street, all laughing with confident bloodthirsty glee.Shan shrugged. She heard Wei-Yong's bow buzz once, twice, three times, and three of the figures leaping from above crashed limply to the street and lay still. The swordswoman, unsurprised by this display of her friend's skill and speed, simply rumbled into the midst of the attackers still approaching.Fa drew back at the sight of their assailants. They were terrible to behold, foul twisted figures with strangely gnarled limbs, their skin blistered and pocked, their eyes rolling yellow and wild in their heads. Teeth like ill-fitted tusks and greasy hair in thick ropes completed their unnatural appearance, and yet they wore tatters of tunics and robes like ordinary villagers.Four circled Shan and leapt at her, grinning madly.Shan struck once, then twice. Each arc of her sword cut brutal slashing tears across two of her opponents, and they all fell backwards in gurgling sprays of blood. Fa, seeing the situation here well in hand, rushed forwards into the teahouse to see who remained.She stopped in the high-ceilinged building, looking up at the balcony overhead. Figures crowded the rails, and yet more emerged from the gloom of the teahouse's depths, surrounding her."Oh."Her retreat blocked, Fa whirled, but before she could take action, one of the figures around her charged forward and caught her arm with the tines of a pitchfork. Fa yelled in pain and tried to pull away, but another grabbed her and she felt weight closing in on her from all sides. Every time she tried to concentrate to begin a spell, a fist would land on her or a booted foot would kick her and she'd stumble aside, throwing aside tables and chairs as she reeled, desperate to avoid reaching hands, and now, she saw, claws and talons as voices chittered and rose up high, too high and savage for human throats. Fa felt panic burgeoning in her heart and cried out, flailing.Then came an all-too-human series of oaths and the weight fell back from her, blood splashing on her face and a familiar bulky shape pushing up beside her."...crush you under Her Round Little Behind, you worthless freaks!"Shan grabbed Fa and shook her once."That's what you get with your fancy magic. No need for that here."Fa, still shaking with panic, tore herself free."That's enough, Shan. I know what I'm doing."She felt Shadow's dark kiss begin to rise up in her, and forced herself to calm down. Sorcery provided a constant temptation to rage and violence, and she knew that if she did not maintain control of her temper, she might easily slay her friends in her black fury. And things weren't that bad here; Shan and Wei-Yong could easily deal with the blood-crazed but apparently ineffectual creatures that had taken over the teahouse. There was no need to get worried.She looked up at a sudden movement overhead; and then a giant worm ate her.</blockquote>

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