My dark lover, a bizarre magician and stone killer

That evening Rita lay collapsed and exhausted in her dank cell. Her
body ached and her mind was confused. She lay with her eyes shut and
tried to make some sense of it all. This process was not developing to
her liking however. Soon, her head started to throb with the effort.

"Rita, do you feel like talking?"

"No Dupagi...I would rather just lay here and die if you don't mind."

"Oh," Dupagi replied. "Could you please just answer one tiny little
question for me first...then you can die...OK?"

Rita massaged her throbbing temples. "You're gonna ask me any
fucking way so just go for it Dupagi."

"Why was that guard shouting at you today. He's the good looking one
that has been giving food to people. Why did you have to go and make
him mad. I was hoping he might give me another apple...I was even
thinking about letting him feel me up if he wanted...anyhow, why all the
drama out there today?"

Rita moaned and wished that Dupagi would just shut the fuck up. "You
don't understand girlfriend. I know that guy, I think he was shouting at
me to cover up the fact that we recognized each other. The other jerks
guarding us might have been watching you know."

"You know him?! Tell me more...please Rita...I'm so bored."

"Well, if you're that bored why don't you eat me then."

"Don't be a bitch Rita...don't forget I shared my apple with you."

Rita groaned and sat up. She turned her head side to side hoping to
loosen up her stiff neck. It was obvious Dupagi wasn't going to let her
rest until Rita had been thoroughly grilled."

"I met him awhile back. His name is Pissin. I thought like a fool that we
might have something going but he turned out to be an asshole just like
every other shitty man that I've known in my life."

"Oh, I don't believe all that Rita...I'm sure he is very nice and I seriously
doubt that you haven't ever known any other nice men. Anyhow, tell me
more...I'm dying to hear details!"

Rita rolled her pretty eyes. "Well, my grandpa was nice...although I did
catch him trying to fuck my dog once. Look, Pissin isn't totally bad, its
just that he is so weird and utterly hopeless. I doubt he has ever seen
one single sober day in his entire life and furthermore he can't conceive
of the notion that there might be other ways to pass the time. He just
doesn't have the ability to be serious about anything."

"Pissin is sure a weird name...I bet he came here looking for you?"

"Actually no, he said that he was tramping through the wastelands when
he got picked up by some other bozos who were headed this way to
ask for work as guards. He had ....err...just lost his horse and didn't
have a lot of options so he kind of just joined up with them out of sheer
boredoom and desperation. He's pretty damned good with a sword so
he got the job. End of story."

"Oh," Dupagi said, sounding a bit disappointed. She didn't say much
for a while and Rita went back to the business of trying to go to sleep.
Far away, at some other location in Minnow Flower she could here
some poor unfortunate girl screaming. No doubt she was being raped,
beaten, or maybe even killed. Rita fought back the tears. Knowing that
Pissin had now become one of her torturers was really just to much. He
had asked for the location of her cell and like a fool she had given it to
him. Like as not he was getting good and drunk and pretty soon he and
a couple of his new pals were gonna show up and fuck her raw, and
they wouldn't care when she started screaming in agony just like that
other poor girl was doing.

"Rita?"

"What now Dupagi?"

"Did you really catch your grandpa trying to fuck your dog?"

Rita groaned and gave Dupagi the finger before turning her face to the
hard mortar wall and sobbing herself quietly to sleep.

There was an odd noise that woke the desperate girl. She had no idea
what time it was or what she was hearing. It almost sounded like a
choking or gurgling sound coming from outside her cell. Maybe the
guard stationed in the corridor had gotten to drunk before coming on
duty and was now compelled to puke his guts out?

"Rita, are you in there...can you hear me...Rita?"

"What do you want?"

"Its me...Pissin...wake up." There was the sound of jangling keys and
muted cursing. Suddenly the door to the cell swung open and there her
former companion stood. "Get up, we're getting the fuck out of here."

The girl struggled to lose her drowsiness, she wasn't quite sure that it
all wasn't just another of those horrible nightmares she'd had night after
night in this dungeon hellhole. "What are you talking about Pissin, I
can't just walk out of here. They'll kill me to make an example. What
happened to the guard anyhow? He'll be back any second and you'll
be in trouble too."

The boy gave her an annoyed frown. You've been in here way to long
sweet cheeks. But that's all history, we're getting the fuck out of here
right now and don't worry about your guard. I strangled that dumb fuck
until his eyeballs popped out of his head. Seriously, look for yourself
if you don't believe me."

Suddenly the spark that was left of the old Rita re-ignited. "Hell yeah,
I'm ready to go...but do you think we have a chance...a real chance?"

"Damn right we do!" Pissin whispered excitedly. "I stole two good
horses and got them tied up just outside. All we got to do is pretend
that I'm taking you somewhere for...special treatment. Besides, if any
asshole acts suspicious I'll slice the mutherfucker into meatloaf. Now
get that pretty little ass of yours in gear."

The girl was helped to her feet by the soon to be ex security guard.
They were just slipping into the torch lit corridor when a pleading voice
cut through the stillness. "Hey guys, please take me with you...please."

"Who the fuck is that?"

"Its my roommate Dupagi....we can't just leave her behind to a life of
misery and slavery."

"Ok, give me a second and I'll kill her and put her out of her misery,"
Pissin said.

"You horrible monster!" Rita nearly shouted as Dupagi shrank back into
the far corner of the cell.

"I'm just kidding...dammit" Pissin replied. "But I only have two horses
and we got to ride fast. She'll just slow us down. I would like to help
but I don't see how?"

Tears came to Dupagi's pretty eyes. "I only weight 104 pounds. I can
ride double with Rita...can't I Rita?"

"Of course you can sweetie...Pissin you jerk, don't be a gutless pig for
once in your life!" The boy gave Rita a look but quickly realized that
she had that dangerous glint in her eyes.

"If she wants to come...fine...but if she slows us down one tiny bit I'm
kicking her hot little ass off to the curb. Whatever happens after that is
the least of my worries...let's get going..dammit!!!"

The trio crept into the corridor where Dupagi almost tripped over the dead
guard. Blood gushed from the man's wound and one eyeball had
been unseated and lay on his chest. "Ewwww..." Dupagi whispered.
"I hope he wasn't married with kids."

"Shut the fuck up you retarded bitch!" Pissin whispered indignantly.
"This is serious shit we're dealing with here...do you think I want to get
caught and then get my nose and nuts whacked off for nothing?"

They proceeded on in total silence. Rita and Dupagi went first but
followed Pissin's directions. He carried his sword out and from time
to time pricked Dupagi's ass with the point...apparently just for the hell
of it. "Ow," the girl protested and glared dubiously at her benefactor.

"Keep moving honeybuns," Pissin growled with muted speech.

"Four eyed jerk," Dupagi mumbled under her breath.

Twice they passed guards who were asleep. One big fat freak who
appeared half drunk recognized Pissin. "Where are you taking those
two bitches?" He asked with a mostly disinterested voice.

"Party in section four," Pissin replied. "Captain Reeh's wife is visiting
again and she wants to watch a few of the boys have anal sex with
some hotties."

Fatso smiled and shook his head. "Damn, those officers sure now how
to have a good time."

"No shit man," Pissin replied before pricking Dupagi to continued.

"Owww!"

Fatso laughed and waved them on. "Hey, Pissin, try to steal a bottle
while you're over there. Its hot as fuck tonight and I got a helluva
thirst. Plus, I wanna know which one of these ladies likes it that way...
might want to make my own party plans tomorrow night...if you know
what I mean."

"No problem Earl, when everybody starts watching the show I'll try to
lift a pint for both of us."

"Damn Pissin, you're the nicest asshole around here."

"Thanks Earl, see you in a few."

Shortly after the encounter with Earl the little group finally made it out of
the confines of the slave dungeon. Pissin took the lead, "quick, this way
....the horses are right over there in those trees." He pointed to a dense
thicket less than a hundred yards to the right. Rita couldn't see shit but
she and Dupagi both wasted no time matching the boy's accelerated
pace.

"Halt, who goes there?" The voice was demanding and belonged to a
big burly man carrying a long spear. "Identify yourself at once or I run
you through!"

"I'm ...err...escorting these slaves to a special location. They...err...need
to have additional training that can't be accomplished here...Captain
Reeh's orders."

"Bullshit, you lying bastard. You're trying to steal these girls and sell
them yourself. Then you're gonna run off somewhere and stay drunk
for a month. I warned the boss about you Pissin, you fucking loser
piece of shit." The big man edged closer, his spear pointed towards the dark clad boy's chest.

"Look asshole, I got the papers right here...see for yourself jerkwad."

Pissin held up something white in his hand. The guard squinted in the
dark to see what it was exactly, he moved in closer and reached for the
white object. Just before the exchange was made Pissin appeared to
drop whatever was in his hand. The guard shot a quick look down at
the ground and that was his fatal mistake. Pissin's sword flashed like
a sliver of icy rain beneath the thin moonlight and the guard dropped
to his knees...minus his head which rolled in the dust with eyes staring
wide in startled amazement.

"Shit," Dupagi uttered. "That was fast."

"Don't step in that blood Dupagi," Rita warned. "It will get all swishy
in between your toes and there's no telling when we'll get a chance to
wash our feet."

Dupagi watched as Pissin kicked the head out of their path. Then he
reached down to retrieve the white thing he'd dropped. "What is that?"
Rita asked.

"Just a change of underwear...I hate going on a trip without some fresh
ones."

"That's smart planning Pissin," Dupagi said before turning to Rita. "You
know girlfriend. The first thing I'm gonna buy me when I get back to
civilization is a nice new pair of drawers....and some shoes."

"Just keep moving milkweed," Pissin said urgently. " We got a long way
to go yet...its a damn good thing dumbass there didn't yell for more
assistance. That's what happens when you try to be a hero all by
yourself. Anyhow, its a huge break for us...might as well haul ass now."

They broke into a run and made the trees in seconds. Sure enough
two good horses loaded with water skins and full wine bottles awaited.
Rita pulled Dupagi up behind her on one of the mounts and they
thundered away into the darkness. Minnow Flower was the one place
in the world that none of them ever wanted to see again, especially Rita.
She had seen a lot of things in here life but thank the gods she didn't
have to spend the rest of her days as a slave. Anything had to be better
than that. She urged her horse onwards and struggled to keep the
figure of her mysterious ex boyfriend in sight, all the while noticing how
he never so much as glanced back to see how she was doing. She
wanted to think that he was simply concentrating on finding their way in
the near pitch darkness but how was one to know? Then Rita realized
that she was worried if Pissin still cared and that thought made her
angry with herself...damned angry.

They rode hard all through the night and long after daybreak despite
Dupagi's pitiful protests that her ass and back were breaking. Rita was
hurting too but she knew better than to ask for a break. When you ran
with Pissin you didn't take a rest, slow down, or even apparently look
back. "Shut up Dupagi and hang on or Pissin will dump you right here
and don't think he won't."

"You friend is brutal," Dupagi croaked, her throat clogged with trail dust.

"Now you're catching on sister," Rita replied to her riding mate.

At some point during the hard ride Dupagi uncorked one of the wine
bottles and starting working on it. Shortly the girl complained less and
they rode on in silence. Then they rode some more, followed by more
riding.

At last, a few hourse before dark Pissin called a halt when they came
upon a beautiful country stream. "There's water here for the horses, I
think we should stop for a couple of hours."

"Do ya think?" Dupagi groaned, her breath reeking with the odor of
cheap wine.

Pissin hobbled the horses and let them graze. He didn't allow them to
drink very long at the stream because he feared they would take in to
much water and become sick and useless. "Do you think we are being
followed Pissin?" Rita asked quietly, apprehension in her voice.

"I've been thinking about that," The boy replied between deep swallows
from the wine bottle he had forcibly pried from Dupagi's drunken fingers.
"I'm kinda doubting that they have even made an effort to find us. There
are hundreds of slave girls back at Minnow Flower. If the bosses lose
one or two what's the big deal? And those guards I took down...hell, I'm
sure the big dudes care even less about them. I seriously doubt anyone
would take the time and waste the effort to find us. Also, today was
supposed to be a big market day. Everyone is gonna be concentrating
on making a haul and getting paid. Small fish like us are most likely
little more than an afterthought. Besides, I wanna get drunk now and
if I don't get started your friend is gonna drink it all by herself."

With that Pissin slumped down in the shade of a tree, farted, and made
it look like he didn't have a care in the world other than seeing to his
next good buzz.

Rita felt suddenly exasperated. "If you felt that way, why did we ride all
this fucking way without rest?"

Pissin shrugged, "well, I don't think so good when I hadn't had a drink
for a while. Anyhow, putting some distance between us and Minnow
Flower shouldn't piss you guys off I wouldn't think. Now why don't you
and Du whatever her name is gather some wood and get a fire going.
It's gonna be cold tonight and besides I'm hungry. There is some bacon
and beans in one of my saddle bags. Give me a holler when its ready."

Rita shook her head, he was an even larger asshole than she'd
remembered. And to think that for a moment.....

Her body ached to much to rest anyhow so it wasn't long before a fire
was going and bacon was sizzling in the pan. A decent meal couldn't
hurt anyone Rita decided. She had forgotten the last time she'd enjoyed
her own cooking. Just thinking about that prison slop made her want to
hurl. She went about her business while her companions competed
to see who could snore the loudest. When the meal was ready she
woke the others before walking off and eating by herself. She needed
to do some thinking. Some real hard thinking. Later Rita found a nice
mossy place to curl up and go to sleep. The cold didn't bother her
because she had gotten used to it an Minnow Flower. The last thing
she remembered was the sound of Pissin and Dupagi popping the
corks on a couple more bottles of wine.

Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*Y*

It was several hours after daylight when Rita woke. As she sat up her
muscles protested with a myriad of aches, throbs, stiff joints, and saddle
blisters. She struggled to her feet expecting to find Pissin and Dupagi
out dead from partying. Strangely, neither was anywhere around. At
first Rita was alarmed at this unexpected development, then she heard
two faint voices coming from further downstream. What in heck were
those two up to now she wondered. Curious, she went to the stream to
splash some cold water on her face and hands before following the
course of the bubbling creek in the direction dictated by the sound of her friend's
voices. Rita tried to do something with her unruly long hair
despite having nothing to work with except her long slender fingers. It
didn't take long for her to give it up as a hopeless chore. She wondered
what she might look like in a mirror at the moment. The thought was just
a tiny bit disconcerting. What utter nonsense she decided.

The voices, especially Dupagi's, grew more audible as Rita followed
upstream. She was forced to detour around a large fallen tree before
coming upon her two companions and their new found playground.
There was a waterfall there...a small but lovely waterfall. The water was
especially sparkling as it sprayed and fell with exquisite natural rhythm.
For someone who'd been confined to a dungeon for weeks it was near
in appearance to a rustic paradise. The others had already taken full
advantage of the cool, chrystal clear waters. The day was turning hot
and the steamy sweat on her neck reminded Rita of that fact. Pissin
was sitting fully clothed in the swirling waters. He waved at Rita before
taking another swig of wine. He was obviously dead drunk. It was not
altogether impossible that he'd been up drinking most of the night. The
thick dark stubble on his chin was more gnarly looking than ever.

"Hi Rita!"

The girl turned to find Dupagi taking a dive from atop the waterfall right
into a deep pool of water waiting just beneath. She was completely
naked. Her breasts were largish for her build and they jiggled and
quivered as the girl splashed and frolicked. For some reason this was
not something that Rita found to her liking. She glared at Pissin who
only smiled and shrugged. "So what have you two been up to all this
fine morning...fucking no doubt?"

"Not yet Rita dear, I was waiting for you to get here and hold my hand
while I nailed her."

Be cool, be very cool she told herself. Then Rita surprised everyone.
She pulled her ragged prison dress over her head and deftly yanked
off her panties before diving underneath the beautiful cold water. She
swam for a few minutes, enjoying the first real bath she'd had in a very
long time. Then, feeling much refreshed, Rita washed her clothing
before getting out of the water nude and walking back towards camp.
Pissin stared after her with his mouth agape. She couldn't resist stealing
a glance over her shoulder and giving the boys her sweetest smile.

Rita's clothing quickly dried in the hot sun and she then busied herself
with cooking up what was left of their scant supply of food. It wasn't long
before her companions joined her there. Pissin was a bit unsteady on
his feet and Dupagi was acting downright coy. "Have fun guys?" Rita
asked.

"Yeah."

"yeah."

"Good, lets eat."

The three of them ate silently. At last Dupagi was the one who broke
the silence. "So what do we do now? Where do we go from here...and
where is here by the way?"

"I don't know," Pissin replied. "I think we're somewhere in the middle of
nowhere...I think. What do yo think we should do Rita...you aren't
thinking about running off by yourself again are you?"

"Again?" Dupagi inquired.

"Actually I have been thinking, been thinking quite a bit. I'm pretty damn
sure that I know exactly what I want to do now. Of course you two can
do whatever you wish to do...I'm not your mother and I'm damned sure
not married to anybody here."

Dupagi's eyebrows raised noticeably..."so what have you decided to
do then...what's this big secret thing that's on your mind?"

"OK," Rita replied before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.
Pissin stared at her as if what she said next was going to be the most
important thing in the entire universe.

"I want to go and find my baby," Rita said soberly. "I know he's out
there somewhere and he needs his mother. That's it, so now you
know. One has to grow up sometime and do the right thing....and that's
precisely what I'm going to do...even if I die in the process."

"Rita, please don't talk about dying," Pissin whispered.

.