My dark lover, a bizarre magician and stone killer

In a small dingy bar sat Rita, Dupagi, V, and V's strange new friends. The girl
called herself Senda Bess and the big ugly man was called Gott. V had lately
been keeping close company with the weird couple and Rita was not one to
pass judgement on anyone's friends.

"I'm ready to move on," Rita announced between sips of wine. "But what about
Piss?" Chirped Dupagi, her eyes opened with surprise.

"Actually I saw him a couple of days ago and we talked. He is going his own way
for reasons I would really prefer not to get into...at least not right now. The point
is, its way past time to be riding. We have money and horses. If you guys would
prefer to stay here I will be going on alone. I wouldn't blame anyone for staying,
I've lived in worse places...at least there is easy money to be made here."

"I'll go with you," V said suddenly. "It would be totally unhealthy for me to stay around
in one spot for very long."

"I'm going too," Dupagi added. "I'm getting bored here, there is nothing I like better
than a little excitment and Rita seems to be an expert at finding it. However, I think
I would feel a lot better if Pissin was going too. The dude can fight like nobody's
business for real."

Senda had kept quite but she managed to keep her silence no longer. "Who is
this Pissn? I admit you have made me curious."

"Oh, he is a fierce swordsman and a damned fine wizard too," Dupagi blurted.

"He is my brother," V muttered.

"I see," Senda almost whispered. "I have heard of this one. There are some in
high places that fear the brother of V. It is said that he is impossible to kill and
even harder to find."

"Well, he had one helluva time finding him for sure, and I don't think there is a man
alive that could best him in armed combat." Dupagi suddenly shut up when she
noticed the giant named Gott sat frowning at her. The man was downright scary
but the girl also found the big brute vaguely...sexy? The slight girl bit her lip and
looked down. It was a fact that big guys turned her on. Gott looked at her and
frowned again and Dupagi looked away but not before a hint of a smile stole
across her supple lips.

"When you leave here, we would very much like to ride with you...for a ways. I
have much that I need to discuss with my friend V. We are old friends and have
much catching up to do. However, I respectfully request permission to join you
party for awhile. Do consider that the roads are terribly dangerous. Gott is a good
man to have around when danger is near and I have been known to defend
myself well also." Senda seemed sincere with her request and Rita couldn't
help but wonder what kind of attachment she and V shared.

Dupagi was suddenly very talkative, "well, I must say that Mr Gott certainly looks
like he could chase away a bandit or two but we don't expect a little girl like
you Senda to wade into any road brawls. I say we take them with us Rita, what
say you?"

It was V's turn to join the conversation...the drink was flowing and even Rita had
relaxed a little. "I need to know about what happened with Pissin, he is my blood
brother you know, why all the secrecy Rita?"

Rita shrugged, she knew that sooner or later she'd have to tell. "Basically he
felt that he let us all down because he fell off the wagon and got himself tossed
into jail. The he was moved to some prison mine somewhere. That's why we
couldn't find him. He managed to escape and get his things back. I bought him
a horse and he is going who knows where." Rita looked directly at V, "he really
wasn't mad or anything...not really. He just said he was better off alone, being
a drunk with no responsibility. This may sound bizarre but he left town with a
rat. I think he may be a little mad because he kept talking to that horrible rodent."
Rita's eyes began to tear up, she put her hand over them and tried to change the
subject.

"Forget Pissin, he's history. I want to concentrate on finding my kid not some
drunken fair weather pal."

"I would have liked to have met him," Senda said. "It is good to have powerful
friends."

V looked annoyed, "Pour some cold water in your pants Senda. Pissin has one
goal in life...to avoid complications and women are the most complicated thing
of all."

Gott scowled at V, "do not talk to her like that you fool...if you would like to keep
your pretty head."

V shrugged, if he feared Gott, it was scarely evident.

Dupagi found herself more turned on than ever by Gott but she didn't like his
over protective attitude towards Senda. What's with that bitch anyhow,
Dupagi wondered. Why do some girls get two hot guys while I got nothing but
a bunch of drunks chasing me around? The girls thoughts returned to her
drink and she took a big guzzle. For awhile they were all silent and downing
booze like there was no tomorrow.

But tomorrow arrived soon enough.

The little band departed Moboggin a bit before noon. They had all slept late,
at least Rita assumed they had all slept late. Regardless, well laden with fresh
supplies they resumed their journey north. It felt good to be on the move
again. Rita suddenly realized that she had actually missed her nomadic life
on the road. Perhaps she'd been better off born to a family of traveling
minstrels she mused. V and Gott took the lead with Senda bess closed behind
Senda was well cloaked and didn't seem to want to expose her lovely white skin
to the bright sunlight. From somewhere she produced a rare pare of dark
glasses and put them over her eyes. Rita didn't like that because it reminded
her again of Pissin. She choked back a tear and wished she had a drink. It
was all so much easier when she was drunk. Maybe Pissin had the right
idea after all. That didn't explain his fetish for pecans though. Rita smiled
despite herself. Deep down she knew that somehow, somewhere they would
meet again. It was just one of those things a girl felt...or maybe wished?

On a steep ridge nearby a solitary rider looked down upon the little band. His
face was somber beneath his weird, dark glasses. He sat there for a long time
until the riders were out of sight at last. Pissin was not one to cry but a single
tear worked its way down his freshly shaven jaw. He had gambled away the
money that Rita had given him and now he hadn't enough cash to buy a fresh
bottle of wine. This situation was deeply depressing. He'd hoped to catch
Rita, or Dupagi, or V and bum enough for some booze before they left but he
had been to late. No way was he going to try to catch up to them now and
ask for money. He still had some pride left. He stroked Abner's furry back
and said, "I think we should go and say goodbye to Eylillia, I bet she would
get us good and drunk. Heck, we might even hang out with her some more.
It's not like we got any place else to go."

"She did have some tasty berries too," Abner suggested hopefully. "But what
about that monster thingy? You don't think he'll try to eat me do you?"

Pissin scratched his chin and his hand moved to the hilt of his magic dagger.
Soul had retrieved it for him and that was a damned good thing. A little doe
went dancing across the ridge a few yards from where the dark swordsman
sat his horse. "Go," Pissin grunted. The dagger swept from the boy's hand
and buried itself deep in the heart of the deer.

"I wonder how long its been since good old Zogdt had fresh deer meat to snack
on?" Pissin remarked to his rodent pal. "Let's ride dude," Abner clucked.

Eylillia was overjoyed when Pissin returned to her underground lair. She ran
to him and put her soft arms about his neck and squeezed. "OK, OK, Pissin
grunted, you're glad to see me, I get it. He untangled himself long enough to
toss the deer carcass to the snarling Zogdt why pounced on the fresh kill like
it was mana from heaven, which in his case it probably was. "I hope that
makes us pals now old buddy," Pissin remarked quizzically.

"Its a damned good start," growled Zogdt between chomps. "Maybe pathetic
human wizards aren't as worthless as I first thought."

"You hunt?" Eylillia asked with surprise in her voice.

"I hunt pussy," the swordsman replied and drew the pliant body of the vampire
closer to him. "But first, like man, I could sure used something to wet my
whistle."

"Me to," Abner squeaked.

Three ancient figures sat in a gloomy, candle lit room, in the topmost room
of a tall tower that sat near the summit of a very high mountain. These
three were not normal humans although their gray hair, wrinkled faces,
and long white beards gave them the aspects of kindly grandfathers. These
three were great wizards and it was a rare event indeed when they gathered
as now. They smoked from a long glass bong and nodded as they passed
it about. A young boy sat nearby playing a strange but melodic stringed
instrument.

"The child plays well," Ain commented. "Well enough," the host Gardin
replied. "Indeed," said the third wizard whose name was Aresten. The three
ancient figures were well acquainted with each other because they were
brothers. However, they didn't share the same mothers and they were so
old they couldn't even remember whose womb they had sprung from. Still,
they recalled well their father...the arch wizard Ranorraka.

"Our father trained him well, this one calling himself Pissin," said Gardin.

"Yes, well indeed I would think," replied Ain.

"Better than he trained us and we are powerful," added Aresten.

"Very powerful are we," Gardin spoke again.

"But our father obtained vast knowledge in the long years since we went our
own way and never returned."

Gardin nodded somberly and took more of the weird, pungent smoke. "Yes,
he learned much and that cannot be doubted."

"And he passed this on to this one called Pissin?" questioned Aresten.

"I once sent someone to spy on Ranorraka, just to see what he was about...
if perhaps he had entered his dotage for he was very old."

"Very old indeed," said Ain. "A wise move on your part."

"The spy could not gain entrance to our father. However, he claimed to have
sensed the presence of a great and powerful magic. In fact he felt two forces.
Naturally one was the essence of our father...and the other must have been
the essence of this one called Pissin."

"A great and natural wizard, no small wonder our father was fond of him,"
commented Aresten.

"Yes, yes..." replied Ain. "A great natural wizard with all the teaching of
Ranorraka...much teachings that even we have no knowledge off."

Aresten tugged on his long beard thoughtfully. "We should send someone
that could gain some knowledge of this Pissin. In time we might be able
to compell him to come here and share his thoughts with us."

Gardin sat silent and even slumped a bit. "The gods know that now is the
time when we could use a great and powerful young wizard. Perhaps with
his power and ours we could make war against the gathering storm of
evil that I sense is near at hand."

"Perhaps so," Aresten agreed.

"Yes, there is always hope," Ain said. "Of course it would be up to us to
strengthen him as only we can."

"Of course."

"Yes, naturally brothers."


Rita and her little group of cohorts had made camp for the night amonst the
ruins of an old monastary. It was a creepy place but V had declared it fit
for habitation...at least for the night. V was taking more of a leadership role
and that was fine with Rita. She was tired of making decisions. Still, she
couldn't help but be a little nervous as long, weird shadows played off their
little fire. The five companions were tired but to keyed up to sleep. Gott stood
guard as the others tried to make small talk.

Senda Bess lay with her head against V's chest. The two seemed to grow
closer with each passing moment and Rita wondered about the past history
between the two. Rita was in no way jealous. Her little escapade with V
had been nothing more than mutural lust that had overboiled. The way that
V looked at Senda reminded Rita of the way Pissin had sometimes looked at
her, at least she thought he had looked at her in that way. She had pretty
much resigned herself to enduring long painful memories of the dark swordsman
with the pretty boy looks and the soul of a hardened warrior.

"So Senda, how long have you and our boy V here known each other. I'm
guessing it has been awhile?"

Senda roused herself and her dark eyes seemed to gleam with mystery and
a strange fire. "Yes, V and I have known each other long enough. Long enough
that my father sent me here to kill him and I'm undecided as yet if I shall...or if
I will deny my father. My decision is compounded by the fact that I'm pregnant
and V is the father of my unbord child. It is a child that will be coming soon I
fear. I suppose that is the reason I am telling you two girls all of this. Its not like
I have anything to fear from you...and the truth is, I may soon need your aid. Have
you two any experience as nursemaids?"

Rita was to shocked to say anything.

"You got to be shitting us?" Dupagi managed to choke out the words.

"Defying my father is nothing to...shit about," Senda said firmly with a tinge of
fear evident in her tone.

"And who might your father be," blurted the ever curious Dupagi.

"The lord of all vampires...Xssurdinynexes."

Rita groaned audibly.

"That's some real cheery news there to sleep on and have sweet dreams,"
Dupagi quipped like a condemned court jester climbing the gibbet.