"Stay AWAY from me! HELLLP!!" Theesa backed away as December reached for her. She had just seen what those hands could do... and that was YEARS ago... who knows what pain they could inflict NOW.

"Tell me what you s-"

Theesa bolted. Though December was between her and the open door, Theesa was small and quick enough to sprint past him into the hallway. She ran for the stairs and then down... straight toward the front door. She knew it was locked and sealed, but her body would not stop. Fear and betrayal sent her hurtling onward despite what she already knew. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Theesa threw her small shoulder into the door.

"UUNNGHH!"

The jarring impact sent her flying backward... she stumbled, but managed to stay on her feet. Pain exploded in her shoulder and shot down her arm. Her head was throbbing... it was the injury that had brought her here in the first place. Her foolish attempt to run through solid matter had aggravated it.

She looked up, and saw December at the top of the stairs looking back down at her. She grasped frantically at the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. Theesa gave up and ran for the back door. Finding it just as impassable, she turned and ran...she didn't know where, she just ran. She was about to make the turn to the living room when December stepped off of the stairs directly into her path.

She ran straight into him. The last thing she remembered was flying backward, and then falling...

[December]

The tiny woman bounced off of him like a pebble off of half-inch plate mail. She stumbled back... For an instant, December looked into her eyes and saw the surprised, terrified expression on her face. Then she collapsed at his feet.

What a pity. thought December.

He had wanted to ask her about her vision before he eliminated her. Not that it would matter... what she had seen was not going to change her fate, and that information was most certainly not going to leave this house.

But he was curious.

He looked down at the woman as she lay there.

She looked like a child's doll. Her limbs were sprawled at odd, uncomfortable angles. A trickle of blood ran from her nose and joined the small pool of red that was spreading on the floor under her head. Her breathing was shallow and weak, her small chest barely moved as it drew air. At the very least she had a concussion. At worst, she could be dying. He looked down at her expressionless face. Her eyes fluttered beneath her eyelids.

There was much to be done... but he couldn't help but stare at her.

December noticed an odd feeling in the bottom of his neck. The edges of his eyes twitched involuntarily, as if irritated by some foreign substance. He blinked a few times, but it would not go away. Then skin of his cheeks began tingling slightly.

He ignored these strange, yet familiar sensations. He just watched. He tried to convince himself that he was waiting for Theesa to either awaken or pass on, but he wasn't. He just couldn't take his eyes off of her.

This wasn't his wife. She was dead. Just like this woman would be by now if she hadn't ran from him. He was going to kill her... he was actually going to reach out and...

December felt weak. Not physically, or even mentally... but in some other way that he couldn't explain. No... he could explain it. He just didn't want face it.

"Theesa," said December. His voice lacked the firm timbre of just a few moments ago. He felt ill, but he knew there was nothing wrong. Not physically. He swallowed and blinked... but his body betrayed him. It knew what his mind would not admit.

"W-What have I done?"

December gathered the motionless woman in his arms. He held her like a child, cradling her injured head in his hand. December turned and gently carried her up the stairs to her room.

------------

[Zade]

She made her way across town in her usual defiant march. Men stared at her... or, more precisely, at her smooth brown skin and firm, muscular body. Her leather 'armor' left very little to the imagination, and most of the men that saw her had to alter their stride for a few minutes following the encounter. She didn't mind. Deep inside, she liked being the center of attention. And if someone dared lay a hand on her, she was more than capable of separating the appendage from herself as well as its owner. She wouldn't mind THAT either.

Actually, fewer people accosted her now that she had signed on with the new 'big dog' in town. Though nothing had been stated explicitly, it was easy to assume that being in December's employ protected her from some of the minor annoyances that she would USUALLY deal with on a late-afternoon stroll.

Oh, well, she thought. Every job has its drawbacks.

Zade paused at the entrance to the Brewery. She never thought she would be returning to THIS place, not after what had happened last time. Her last visit had resulted in the maiming of one of her men, with two

more driven completely insane. Not to mention some nasty wounds and bad memories for herself. She would have liked to put the whole affair behind her, but for some reason her mind kept returning to the Inebridee Brewery and its enigmatic brewmaster. She couldn't explain it, but it was as if the place had left some kind of mark on her.

She wanted to say that she had returned here to find out exactly what was going on... and perhaps that was true to a certain extent. But the there was more to today's visit than revenge or information.

Tonight was the first night of the full moon. And she had an appointment.

[The Inebridee Brewery]

In the weeks since Zade had last seen the brewery, a great transformation had been wrought. With the return of spring, the Inebridee grounds had exploded with greenery that a month ago had been mere sprouts. A beautiful open fence made of large bamboo with oversized posts that were clad in Inebridee casks bound with polished stainless steel bands now bordered the brewery grounds and the many scenic paths.

Verdant greenery was everywhere. Zade could pick out several varieties of poppies, belladonna, cannabis, stramonium, nightshade, coca, black lotus, and many other botanicals. She knew both beneficial and lethal uses for each of them... and had used many of them for BOTH purposes in the past. Beneath the greenery an equally diverse profusion of fungi flourished as though the gods themselves had blessed the soil. A nearby creek had been diverted onto the brewery grounds and now fed a number of decorative pools from which the thousand-petaled golden lotus would surely bloom.

Presided over by the Ale stein Spire, the brewery buildings looked much the same, their fieldstone walls had been vitrified with glassy refinement by the mighty radiation of the false dawn. Their glossy red tile roofs reflected the warm glow of the sun making the brewery appear as some surreal utopia, a Brigadoon that would fade with the morrow's dawn. On the corner nearest the Coliseum a new building was going up. It appeared that Brewmaster Sottie would have his tavern at last, and what a tavern it would be!

[Zade]

She didn't know if Sottie Inebridee even remembered his invitation to take her hunting. She barely remembered it herself... it had just popped into her head the other night while she was on one of December's 'missions.' She never considered herself the hunting type before now, but Zade was actually looking forward to whatever it was that Sottie had planned. She hoped it involved killing something. Preferably something large.

Zade adjusted her form-fitting suit of black leather armor and ran her finger across the leather whip that was coiled at her side. An assortment of lethal bladed tips were arranged in the notches around her belt. The notches that usually held her silver throwing stars were mysteriously vacant. For some reason, she didn't feel like carrying them lately.

Zade strode into the Brewery and made her way to Sottie's office. She drew some odd looks from the late-afternoon workers, but her few hard looks sent them scurrying off to places unknown.

I wonder where Sottie keeps his dogs. she thought as she approached the office. If I see that one that bit me last time, I'm think I'm going to have to kill it...just for general principle.

[Amanda]

Amanda raised her head and just barely stifled a yip as she caught Zade's scent from the hallway. Yet the scent was much different than it had been the night the dark woman nearly choked the life out of her. Amanda smiled wickedly, then resumed her secretarial expression just as Zade entered the outer office.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" Amanda asked.

[Zade]

Zade remembered the secretary from a previous visit. But she seemed to recall her from somewhere else as well...

"I'm here to see Sottie. Tell him Zade is here."

[Amanda]

"I'll see if Mr. Inebridee wishes to see you." Amanda walked to the door of the inner office and opened it a crack. "There's a woman named Zade here who wishes to see you Master Inebridee. She doesn't have an appointment."

[Sottie]

"But of course she does, though not in the office book, Zade's a friend. Happy hour is upon us, Amanda. Go have a drink, the work day is over at last."

[Amanda]

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow morning, Master Inebridee. Amanda turned to Zade. "Go right in, the Brewmaster is expecting you."

Amanda locked her desk, quickly left the office, skipped down the stairs and headed for the brewery sample bar in the building's lobby. Although it would have been impossible for anyone else to know, the drink Amanda was about to take would make it quite easy for Swami Inebridee to communicate with her, and that was exactly why he'd told her to have one. Amanda knew the Brewmaster found Zade attractive, but given she was in the extortion business, the brewery could not be too careful. Amanda filled a small hand cask with draft, took a few quick swallows, corked the cask and ran for the wizard Rafe's building.

[Sottie]

Meanwhile, in the brewmaster's office...

"Zade!, it's pleasure to see you." Sottie's dark eyes twinkled as they caressed the curves of the striking young woman. "Can I get you something to drink?" Sottie motioned to his office bar which seemed to boast the same variety of alcoholic beverages as the famed cellars of the Dragon's Inn. In addition other more unusual substances were on hand. "I'm glad to see you looking as fit and shapely as ever."

[Zade]

"Thanks," she replied. "I think I'll take you up on that drink. Some of your Inebridee Gold, if you have any to spare."

[Sottie]

"But of course," Sottie said smiling at Zade, not looking at his hands while one opened the tap on a cask while the other spun an Inebridee stein in the air and caught it, lid open under the tap to catch the emerging stream of ale.

[ Zade]

"Me and you at the PanDemonica... I seem to remember an invitation to hunt. Does that invite still stand?"

[Sottie]

"Indeed it does, the full moon is the finest time for a hunt, and I could not hope for a better hunting companion," Sottie smiled, still looking at Zade while his hands filled a second stein with the same effortless showmanship.

The brewmaster handed Zade's mug to her with a flourish, "There you are. Please, have a seat, Sottie motioned to one of the two fine chairs in front of his carved stainless steel desk. "Let us talk of the evening's hunt."

Sottie sat down in the other chair in front of his desk rather than returning behind the desk. The ace of cups took a satisfying drought of ale, smiled at the ambrosial flavor and said, "I had heard you got hurt when Sinterbourne's luck went sour. I am sorry that happened, but glad to see you are not still suffering painful wounds."

[Zade]

Zade accepted her drink and sat down.

"I was lucky to get out alive," she said. "but it turns out that my injuries weren't as bad as they seemed. The whole thing was a fiasco... I did the best I could to fulfill my contract to keep Sinterbourne in one piece, but I can't help it if my employer was a fool."

Zade took a small sip of her brew, the wonderful taste burst across her lips and tongue. She wasn't surprised... she had noticed that her usual food and drink seemed to taste better since the Sinterbourne incident.

Zade followed the sip with three large gulps.

"By the way... I'm working for December now, in case you hadn't heard."

Two more gulps, and the stein was nearly drained.

"Now... let's talk about this hunt. What're we killing tonight?"

[Sottie]

"You drink well, on some future eve mayhap you would like to go out drinking. It would be a pleasure to become hopelessly intoxicated with you," Sottie smiled jovially. As for what we will hunt, that is a question we shall not be able to answer until we find our prey, though the area we hunt in will give us an idea of what we might encounter. Here near Montfort we have herd animals in the forests, deer, elk, even the occasional moose, that sort of thing. There are also bears and a few more unusual denizens."

"Recently, as you probably know, a beast master, I don't recall his name, lost his stock of creatures to some sort of mischief. One of them, Jag, wandered into town and nearly killed two important members of the Inebridee executive staff, but they were able to detain the beast and he's now part of the Inebridee family. In any case, unusual creatures are sometimes encountered in this area," Swami paused and took a drought of ale.

[Zade]

"That would be Simon Vendredi. Calls himself the great hunter. His little mishap with the animals caused me some inconvenience too..."

Zade remembered the fearsome Ursinor and how she had to rescue her former employer from it's claws. She smiled at the image, and wondered if there were any more beasts of that caliber out tonight.

"I'm not familiar with the Jag, though. I guess we won't be hunting it since it's part of your 'family.'"

Whatever THAT means...

Zade finished off the very last of her brew.

[Sottie]

"A good night hunt involves tracking, stalking, running down one's quarry and killing with a certain art. We humans have developed cheating methods bows, spears and other missiles because we are slow, and lights because our night vision is inferior. To one with extensive knowledge of herbs and fungi, such clumsy tools are unnecessary. With a little help from our natural allies, we can have a most auspicious hunt without such contrivances.

[Zade]

"Herbs and fungi?" Zade's nose wrinkled. "Anything beyond simple healing and night-vision I think I'll

leave to you. I'll keep my whip... It's not a hunting weapon, but it's something that I know and trust. Besides... we might run into some two-legged animals out there tonight. I'm handy with a bow and spear as well, although I didn't bring any with me."

[Sottie]

"I sometimes rely on a mushroom recipe for night vision, but No other aids are necessary for individuals such as you and I. The whip is certainly a sporting weapon for a night hunt, and you are unfortunately correct about the possibility of two-legged foes. On the other hand, I believe you will be pleasantly surprised that, even as a novice to the hunt, your natural qualities will see that you develop rapidly into a most excellent hunter," Sottie smiled confidently.

Sottie looked out the large French windows behind his desk.

"There are still a number of hours before moon rise. Would you prefer to have more ale and conversation, or would you like to have a meal or see the Inebridee gardens before we venture into the forest for the evening's adventure?"

[Zade]

"Why not both. A tour... with as much beer as we can carry. And I can carry a lot."

Zade smiled and was glad for the chance head outside. She hadn't been a big fan of nature since she was a little girl, but lately she found herself enjoying the outdoors more and more.

[Sottie]

Sottie's smile widened considerably at Zade's remark. "A strong, attractive, young woman who can hold her ale as well, truly, I am overwhelmed." Sottie deftly opened a cabinet behind the bar and fetched a couple of 12-pint ale skins that he filled with draft Inebridee gold. "Careful how much you drink," the

brew master intoned seriously; "...too much ale could render your belly far too cute for a man like me to resist patting it," Sottie winked as he handed Zade a skin.

[Zade]

"You can pat all you want... it's the rubbing and grabbing that gets people in trouble." Zade winked at her host. Perhaps after they got this hunting out of the way...

Zade took her container of ale and drank a quick sip. It was a good, strong brew, just the way she liked it.

She took another sip and raised a toast:

"My compliments to the brewmaster."

[Sottie]

Sottie raised his skin and took a drought. "It is such a pleasure to serve you, and all the ale drinkers of Ifreann." Sottie bowed and smiled blissfully. Through his oneness with ale he could feel the exquisite conjugation of ale and woman as Zade drank, a most sensual experience indeed.

"Let us tour the Inebridee gardens. It was such a disappointment when the false dawn rendered last year's gardens into smoke, though I feel sure that those near the brewery breathing the smoke felt no pain as they passed away from the radiations of the false dawn," Sottie chuckled.

Outside the brewery offices, Sottie strolled down the paths with his shapely companion... "and over there are three more varieties of opium poppy. The flowers will be magnificent. This plant with the pointy leaf tips is Datura. Good afternoon my dear, this is Zade," Sottie spoke to the plant as if it could answer him. "On this particular manifestation, Datura will have beautiful trumpet-shaped light purple flowers. I have some other plants of hers that have equally beautiful white flowers. She is a powerful hallucinogen used by many shamans.

As they passed through the beautiful Inebridee gardens, it soon became apparent that the brewmaster was on a first name basis with nearly every plant they passed. Often he complemented a bud or leaf, or left a word of praise for fine growth or healthiness.

"This little plant is called stelliafleur, she is a potent stimulant and analgesic, often used as a battle drug by certain groups of people in the far East. Her flowers are a pale yellow with orange markings. They are most delicate and beautiful, unfortunately, they last but a short time."

The duo rounded a bend in the path that opened into an area paved with multi-colored tiles. Beyond the tiled area was a pool where large gold fish swam. The area was bordered by numerous bushes. Sottie pointed to an evergreen bush, "Ariest is a relative of the tea tree, and he is an even more potent

stimulant. Below him the red toadstool there is a recent discovery, a very hypnotic hallucinogenic mushroom peculiar to the Montfort area. A most auspicious find. Next to him you see

moon-puff. She is so cute, don't you think? A fine, white puff-ball.

Sottie took a drought of ale to wet his perpetually dry throat.

"In some areas moon-puff is blamed as the cause of lycanthropy, in others she is lauded as its cure, but in truth, she is neither. She contributes to wholeness of the mind in cases of split personality, and the like, lycanthropy being an extreme example. Sottie pointed to a frog sitting on a lily pad. When boiled our little friend's skin is a potent hallucinogen that brings visions to sooth sayers. We have planted a few exotic varieties of the lotus flower in the pool, but the flowers will not form until later summer. Sottie walked on pointing out various plants and structures, walking over quaint little bridges, and explaining the significance of several little shrines and statues devoted to various gods of intoxication.

"Now let us go into the inner gardens. Sottie unlocked a gate and let Zade through. Back here the Inebridee wolves guard some of the more dangerous plants, thus protecting the public. Over there in the shade of those trees is a yellow musk creeper. The seedlings are said to enhance the intellect, but the plant is carnivorous and makes zombies of its prey. Over there behind that tall fence grows several black lotus plants. She is a fine plant, but the scent of her large, black flowers causes sleep, and if one succumbs to her under one of her blossoms, he will never awaken. She fertilizes herself with the corpses of those who dream beneath her blooms."

There were some lupine yips and barks as a number of large, healthy timber wolves came running up. When they saw Zade, they growled and came forward. The brewmaster growled and yipped and the wolves became suddenly docile, wagging their tails and sniffing Zade.

"Wolves are most intelligent, if one takes the time to learn a bit of their language. Sottie took a pull on his ale skin. Several of the wolves came up to him yipping and panting. Sottie chuckled. What? Have I raised a pack of drunkards?"

Three of the wolves opened their mouths and were rewarded by a squirt from Sottie's ale skin. "Canids are one of the few species whose members often enjoy the taste of ale, a most auspicious happenstance for the brewery."

[Zade]

The whirlwind tour of the Brewery had been like a fairy tale... until she saw the animals. She scowled at them as they sniffed in her direction.

Wolves. thought Zade. Her fingers twitched near her whip as she wondered which beast was the one that had bitten her a few weeks ago.

Fortunately, Sottie moved on before quickly.

[Sottie]

The duo next came upon a building with a large overhead door. Inside was a huge bridge-crane that spanned the building's width. Various metal mechanisms and objects of art were positioned hither and yon around the building.

"This is Rafe's building. He is in charge of the Montfort Armory and the Montfort Forge. Rendella, the Inebridee metals artisan also works in this building. It was she who carved my office desk."

As they entered the building through the huge, open overhead door, Zade could see a tallish, scrawny man putting together some sort of clock-work man-shaped thing towards the other end of the building. Next to him sat an enormous panting creature. It looked like a pony-sized wolf, but as they drew near, Zade could see that his thick matted hair was metal. The creature let out a deafening bark as they approached and many of his hairs stood on end, making his coat into an enormous bed of nails. Rafe looked up from his work and grrufffed at the creature. It stopped its barking and sniffed the air.

[Sottie]

"Zade, this is the wizard Rafe, one of my top administrators and a brilliant inventor and creator of mechanisms. Rafe, this is Zade. Rafe held out his hand a little shyly. "'Pleasure to meet you, Zade. I see you've noticed Jag. He is a razor worg. He was one of the creatures that escaped when that beast master Vendredi's menagerie got loose." Rafe waved his hand and the worg's spike coat settled down. The porcupine act is not really native to razor worgs, It's just a spell I'm trying out."

[Zade]

Zade stepped well away from the metal-haired creature. She had never encountered one in the flesh, but their reputation preceded them. The fact that Rafe had apparently tamed one of the infamous beasts spoke volumes about the man's skill and/or magic. This man could indeed be dangerous.

"What are those?" she asked. Zade was pointed to the mechanical human-shaped contraption. "Some type of golem?"

[Rafe]

The wizard nodded. "This is a prototype automaton I've been working on. Real golems are animated from solid iron, and they are very difficult and expensive to create, both in terms of magic and money. My quest here is to create something less costly and, once the glass and gold sheathing is on, nearly acid-proof. Rafe pointed at nearby pieces of blown glass that looked like they would fit onto the automaton he was assembling.

"It's a project for the Montfort Mine. The tunnels down there are plagued with acid-spitting beetles and other monsters. Our mining company looses a steady flow of miners and soldiers to the mine's denizens. You've probably heard, adventurers that go down the mine usually come back wealthy or not at all.

[Zade]

"I stay clear of mines and miners.... Plenty of monsters to be fought up here without digging around in the ground for more."

[Rafe]

"Our interest is not so much in fighting monsters and getting their treasure as it is in actually mining gold. I have another project for the mine, just over here." Rafe began pumping a lever on a steel cylinder up and down. "We've had a great deal of trouble with the acid-spitting hoard beetles in the mine. When they decide to pick on us, it can be very costly. The bulk of the beetles run in packs and we've found that fire bombs work well against the packs, but the beetles are clever and nimble creatures. They have learned to jump when fire bombs are thrown at them.

"Brewmaster Sottie showed me a trick he does spitting thunder spirits with a torch underneath to light it. This device does essentially the same thing, but it uses turpentine. I was not able to get the alcohol to flame up as well as the brewmaster does." Rafe made an arcane gesture and a tiny flame sprouted from his finger. He lit the wick of a tiny lantern mounted under a tube that stuck out of the device. "Would you like to try it? Hold the tube like so and give the lever under it a sharp squeeze and release."

[Zade]

Zade tried the mechanism

A lance of flame a dozen and a half feet long flared out of the tube. A patch of fire was left on the ground where the burst had ended. It slowly burned down. The air was heavy with the smell of pine resin. It tickled Zade's nose, making her face draw up into a frown.

[Rafe]

"The fumes are a problem I have not been able to solve. In the mine, such gases are potentially deadly. Magical devices and spells are safer, but too expensive to be used on any but the smallest scale."

[Sottie]

"It is a most unfortunate problem. I have been looking for a drug that affects the beetles, but so far the drugs I've found are either not quick enough, or they affect humans too strongly. The mine is a daunting project, but one that has great potential for profit."

Speaking of the mine, did Lysander help you procure those steam drills?

[Rafe]

Yes, I bought three of them for the mine. Their boilers are alcohol-fired.

[Sottie]

And did you not say that their cutting surfaces wore rather rapidly?

[Rafe]

Rafe nodded. I've experimented with a variety of materials to improve the drill-bit cutting tips, diamond is the best, but the only diamonds I can find here in town are gem-quality and not cost-effective.

[Sottie]

"Zade works for December, the proprietor of that large new jewelry store, perhaps he knows someone in the mining business."

[Rafe]

"I see," Rafe turned to Zade. I realize he probably works with gem merchants, but I would be grateful if you or December could put me in touch with someone who owns a diamond mine. There must be plenty of diamonds riddled with carbon spots and impurities that get thrown out as worthless. If they were inexpensive, I would be interested in buying them for use on implements for Montfort Mine.

[Zade]

"He owns his own mines... somewhere. I don't know what he does with his scrap, but I'm sure he's not

one to turn down more money."

[Sottie]

Sottie took a drought of ale from his skin and looked through the large door of the building. "I see the sun is beginning to sink. We'd best be on our way to the forest. Ridgeman has a wagon ready to take us out and to bring us and our kill back when we return. Thank you for taking the time to show us your work, Rafe. As usual, your projects are most interesting."

[Rafe]

Rafe smiled as one who found it refreshing to be praised for his talents. "You're welcome, master Sottie. It was good meeting you Zade. I hope your first hunt goes smoothly. Sottie is an excellent teacher, but if you have a question and he is unavailable, feel free to stop by. I'm not much of a hunter myself, but Rendella is a fine artisan and hunter. She is usually here, and I'm sure she would be happy to answer any questions. She is also one of the few women I know of who is a warrior like yourself."

[Zade]

Zade nodded. She generally viewed other female warriors with disdain, and was glad that this Rendella woman was absent. That way they could forgo the inevitable glaring, sneering, and flexing of muscles. It would probably be best to get to the hunt before this woman returned.

"Let's go and prepare. I'm beginning to get restless."

She winked at her guide and waited for him to lead the way.

[Sottie]

Sottie grinned jovially, put his arm around Zade and patted her ale-filled belly, "A woman with as beautiful a belly as this should never be kept waiting. Let us make haste to the residence building. After a quick change of clothes I will be ready to go."

[Zade]

Zade jerked slightly when Sottie touched her... it was a natural reaction, but the fact that her defensive reflexes didn't take his hand off meant that, at some level, she accepted the friendly pat and the man who had given it. She wondered if Sottie knew just how rarely that occurred.

Of course, it could also have been partially due to the delicious ale that had been warming her stomach for most of the evening.

[Sottie]

True to his word, Sottie took Zade on a rapid walk to his residence building.

"On the ground floor in the front I create recipes for new brews and other concoctions. Upstairs here is the residence hall where I and my family of top administrators live."

[Narration]

The residence hall was much more than the name might imply. There was a small parlor at the top of the stairs that opened into a great hall done up as a living room. It was carpeted in thick Persian rugs, and furnished with couches, throw pillows and a few coffee and end tables. Eastern and Western-style tapestries adorned some of the walls, though not all of the decorating seemed complete. The long wall opposite the door was dominated by a large hearth and numerous curtained picture windows, their lower portions done in stained glass depicting a variety of natural scenes both Eastern and Western.

[Zade]

"Nice place," she said.

The things she had seen on Sottie's tour contrasted sharply with the horrors she had experienced on her last

visit. Zade's mind had trouble reconciling the two... it was as if her previous encounter had happened in another life... or to someone else entirely. As she studied the place, Zade's hand moved to her neck, where her muscles were becoming stiff. She massaged the feeling way and continued taking in the sights.

[Sottie]

Sottie disappeared momentarily into a room South of the hall and reemerged dressed in a loose-fitting martial arts outfit made of raw silk and embroidered on the back with the image of an Inebridee ale stein. Other than the large skin of ale he'd procured at his office, he carried nothing more than was in the few pockets of his new clothes.

"There, I am ready. Shall we go to the wagon, or do you require something before we leave?"

[Zade]

"I'm fine; we can go. But...uh...That's it?" she said. She wiggled her finger at Sottie's clothes. "Gonna kill a few lions with your bare hands?"

[Sottie]

"But of course not, I had planned to use my teeth as well,"

Sottie chuckled, showing off his teeth which seemed perfectly normal.

"...Actually, I have a dagger hidden on my person, but It's only a back-up in case my teeth are feeling particularly dull this eve."

[Zade]

"Teeth. Yeah."

Zade couldn't help but chuckle at the image of the stately brewmaster swinging from a bear's neck by his

teeth. Then she realized that, for an experienced hunter, bringing large prey down bare-handed would probably be the last refuge of excitement... short of hunting armed humans. Zade had done the latter quite a few times.

[Sottie]

Sottie chuckled as he led the way to the brewery wagon.

"Zade, I'd like you to meet Ridgeman, one of the Inebridee Brewery's finest."

[Ridgeman]

Ridgeman nodded to Zade, "Good eve."

[Zade]

Zade nodded to the man and promptly ignored him. Her mind was suddenly drawn to the strange tightness in her muscles. She flexed her arms and shoulders, but the odd sensation remained.

Perhaps there was more kick to this Inebridee Brew than she expected. Either that or she had been drugged...

Zade frowned and decided to keep a close eye on Sottie. Did he want revenge for her earlier intrusion? She had done no damage to his property, though that had been her intention. However, she probably maimed or even killed one of his prize hounds. Was this entire hunt some kind of weird plan for vengeance for some mangy dog?

No... not likely. But I'd better be on guard when we get out there.

Zade straightened her whip and ran her fingers across her blades.

[Sottie]

Sottie got up onto the wagon and sat down. When Zade was situated he said, "To the forest Ridgeman, the sun is fast sinking, so let's trot."

[Narration]

The wagon, pulled by four of the Inebridee Clydesdales lurched forward and moved smartly down the avenues of Montfort and out of town to the North. The ride was brisk and bumpy, but the wagon made good time. Just as the sun was about to sink below the horizon the wagon lurched to a stop in a clearing just off the road.

[Dersh-wolf]

Once the wagon reached the forest, a lone wolf followed the sound of its passing.

[Zade]

As the ride progressed and the sun grew lower and lower in the sky, Zade's strange sensations increased. Now her skin felt tight, especially around the neck and face. She was hot. Her nose was burning.

She caught a strange scent, and turned to see the large wolf following them. It didn't seem fierce or dangerous, but the way it looked at her and Sottie made Zade uncomfortable. If it weren't for her gracious host, she would most certainly chase the animal off or kill it outright.

[Sottie]

"My thanks Ridgeman, we should be back by dawn."

"Your timing is magnificent! I believe if we hustle we can watch the last rays of light on the shore of a little lake I know. Shall we have a little run? Sottie smiled and took off into the forest."

[Zade]

Zade ran after him without even realizing it. The brisk run didn't alleviate any of her symptoms, but it did take her mind off of them, making them much more bearable. Her legs radiated soothing warmth as she followed the surprisingly lithe brewmaster.

A smile crossed her lips, and her muscles fluttered beneath her suddenly confining leather armor. She loosened a few of the straps and buckles as she ran onward into the dusk.

[Sottie]

A little later Sottie came up over a ridge and descended to the shore of a picturesque lake in the midst of the forest. The Brewmaster took a deep breath and let it out.

"Ahh, it's just as I remember it, a beautiful location, don't you think?"

Sottie pointed as the last rays of the sun slipped beneath the horizon.

[Zade]

"Beautiful." she said. Despite the run, she wasn't the slightest bit winded. She wanted to say more, but her thoughts were becoming muddled.

[Sottie]

"The day is now but the fiery memory of the sky."

As the sky darkened, the moon gradually brightened.

The brewmaster kept the beautiful young woman in view from the corner of his eye until he noticed the first subtle signs of the change. "This lake is so deep, clear and calm. Look, how perfectly it mirrors your beauty."

[Zade]

Zade beheld her reflection in the water. Her face looked odd... twisted and grotesque. Her nose was... *wrong* somehow, and was growing *more* wrong even as she watched!

She gasped suddenly. She tried to gulp down her surprise, but the attempt turned into a low growl from deep in her chest...

"P-poison!" she spat as she stumbled backwards. She reached for her whip, but her fingers were like useless stumps.

"You...You bastarrRRRRR!"

[To Be Continued]