The Lovers

"Help me baby! they have me!"

Her voice woke him out of a deep slumber. Panicked, he feverishly looked around. The cabin was ransacked. He was beaten up pretty badly, but he could still move. He clutched the locket in his hand, and when he did her voice whispered in his ear. "Come save me baby."

He concentrated for a few moments, and felt a place rise in his mind. He knew that was where she was. He began to move. The door was hanging off the hinges, and the ivy completely covered the porch. He paused for a moment, that didn't seem right. How long had he been laying there? Before he could think too much about it he heard her moan. Like a feverish rabbit he tore off running down the yard.

He hit the cobbled road at the foot of the property. Looking back at the river he remembered the first time they had come to this place. That was back before the trouble had begun. Back then the only thing that bothered them was time spent apart as they worked separate shifts trying to rebuild their lives. It had been idyllic. The summertime trips to the dam, and nights spent sipping wine under the stars. They had grown to be inseparable.

He was startled by how fast he was actually moving. He looked back and saw he had easy cleared over a mile in what seemed like a moment. Adrenaline he thought. This used to happen when he was in the service. That same focus and training induce reflex just taking over as his mind stayed with his beloved. He let it happen.

Flying through a field he saw her face in his mind as wheat whipped at him. He remembered how she had been so afraid when the trouble first began. "Are we going to make it? Are we going to be ok?" He had lovingly reassured her. Based on his limited tactical knowledge he knew it would be a long time before an invading army made it way deep into the hinterlands. He remembered how he laughed so hard when she asked how they were going to eat. They lived right on the Caney Ford, and that river was overrun with edible fish. Also, he had intentionally made their front yard a deer sanctuary. He knew at some point it might come in handy to have an ambulatory steak walk into your yard.

They had lived quite a while roughing it in the wilds. Year after year passed, and neither the invading armies or warlord gangs ever bothered them. They had a secret little life deep in their hideaway. Nightly walks through forest, and adventures along the river kept them entertained. It was so peaceful. No one would have ever known that meanwhile the global economy had collapsed, destroyed modern civilization, and launched the great war known as "the trouble."

He smashed through what seemed to have been a fortification at some point. It was rotted, and in an advanced state of decay. He asked himself how long they had been hiding away before they were finally found. He thought about that. He was going to have to keep one alive for interrogation.

How many people knew about their mountain escape? He had to know otherwise they would be right back with more. He might have to move locations anyway. Once discovered they would always have to worry about another gang of raiders. Unless this was an anomaly. He would find out. He felt a fresh wave of hatred at the thought of her sitting there being tormented by these Asian flunkies.

He felt himself getting closer. He figured he had to be approaching old Kentucky at this point. Man he had moved so fast. How on earth? It seemed like it had been just a few moments and he was a considerable distance away from where he had started. He clutched the locket, and heard her ask where he was. He forgot all about everything else, and plunged into the river.

It didn't even feel cold. He was across and moving again in what seemed like a fraction of a moment. Last summer, she had spent hours hiding away as he toiled at the garden. She said she just needed to have some time alone, and he respected that. Day after day she would disappear before daybreak only to reappear in the evening. She was so happy when she looked at him, so he never even dreamed of asking where she'd been. Some time near the end of that summer she called him aside.

She knelt down in front of the fire. The way she locked eyes with him stopped his heart. It was so intense. She told her story to him. He had heard it a thousand times before, but something about this time was different. She made it to the point where they were currently living. She took his hand.

"And that is when I knew I had found the man I will love for the rest of my life. And so I made this." At that point she produced a rabbit fur. It seemed like silk in her hands as she placed it in his, and unwrapped it. The most beautifully crafted heart laid bare before him. While he was still mesmerized she surprised him with the real work of art. She opened the locket.

Inside was the most amazing oil painting of them both. Tiny, but perfect in every way. He looked back at her. All the lives he had taken, all the pain he had caused, so he never believed he was entitled to this kind of love. And he burst into tears.

He was getting close. He could feel it in his bones. He clutched the locket, and heard her say, "you are almost here baby." They could feel each other. It had been that way since he took that locket. As she kissed him she whispered ever so softly, "As long as you have this, I will be right next to you."

That had been true from that moment on. Some kind of weird bond happened. He knew she was a little "witchy", but this seemed so extreme to him. But not uninvited. They could read each other's thoughts, and feel each other's feelings. He was amazed. He always thought she would be put off by his darker side, but she LOVED it. Her man was a true protector. A true predator if necessary. And she had an unbridled amorous side that felt so natural next to her beast once they no longer hid from one another.

He could see the campfire in the distance. He had to be in Indiana by now. How had they moved so fast? How had he caught up with them? He clutched the locket, and said "I'm here baby girl, and I'm about to rain hell on your tormentors."

He heard her squeal with delight. He knew for all of the bullshit she had put up with, for her it would be worth it to see her "beast" in action. He circled the camp with a huge perimeter. There were only three guards standing watch. How amateur are these clowns? He remembered the initial assault. If he had been aware and armed he could've handled them by himself. Obviously, following the collapse of the economy and world governments the invading armies had found themselves stranded wherever they were. And conditions and time had taken their toll on their discipline and skill.

He formulated a plan, and proceeded to invade the camp. The most estranged guard was his first target. He intentionally snapped a limb a hundred yards out. And as he expected the amateur set out to find out what was happening without informing anyone. Leaving his post wide open.

He reached out from his hide, and grabbed the guard by his knife equipped ankle. He launched up and hit his lower back with all of the force he could muster. Once down, he pulled the knife free and knelt on the guard's neck to keep him quiet. He probed until he found a place between his ribs, and stood up . He then forced the knife into his heart with all of his force. He pulled the body deep into the brush. The killing blow had been designed to minimize blood loss in so doing help hide the act.

He made his way to the next guard. He brought him down in a similar manner, but kept him alive. He pulled the twig trick again, and waited until the third guard was close enough to hear. He then allowed the restrained guard a brief moment to vocalize before smashing his neck again. That brought the other guard running. "Amateur.....should've gone for reinforcements.

He dispatched the guard beneath him before killing the oncoming guard. Once clear of eyes he studied the encampment. It would be a systematic operation of stealth and violence. There weren't many here. Considering that each tent could hold ten men he estimated he had to neutralize at best fifteen men.

He went through the work with brutal efficiency. In his mind a creeping fear began to sound over and over. "Where is she?" he had dispatched the entire camp within ten minutes. Where was she? He had the leader pinned to the ground, and tested his American English skills with the blade. He screamed that he had no idea about some white girl. After a few moments of inflicting pain he turned to the locket.

"KILL HIM!!" Startled, he almost fell off the officers back. She snarled again, "KILL HIM NOW!!' Without hesitation he did what he was ordered. Confused about what was happening he feverishly asked her where she was.

Nothing. A profound nothingness followed the act. He couldn't feel her, or hear her. What was going on? She had been right next to him since he woke up after the assault. Only now it was dead quiet. He panicked and screamed for her.

At that moment he felt a powerful light hit him from the east. It overcame everything else, and left him cowering with his eyes hidden.

"Relax baby you did what was necessary. And I am thankful. I need you to rest now, and I will come and get you in the morning. You did an amazing job, and you always do. Rest now baby I'll be coming soon."

He felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. And suddenly, he became very tired. "You promise you’re coming baby girl?"

"I'll be right there in the morning. You have the locket, and we are always going to be together. I love you my beast"

"I love you too baby girl." He slid into a bunk of a deceased soldier. He took a deep breath, and knew everything was going to be ok. She would be there in the morning.``

Epilogue

The necromancer closed the locket, and folded the rabbit fur back around it. He walked out of the private room into the foyer, and told the village elder that it was done.

“Are you certain?” the elder asked.

“As certain as any born into these times.”

“How does it work?”

“I was told centuries ago a couple who lived in former Tennessee were raided by the first of the warlords left behind after China's collapse. The lady was into the magick, and vowed that anybody who held the locket she crafted for her lover could extract retribution for what she and he suffered. It takes training, and a lot of discipline but I manage.”

“I've heard that in the west Tsu Lao is bringing all remaining kingdoms under his control as a new Imperium. And that everyone is so afraid of his warriors that there will be no more fighting. Maybe it will mean an end for your services.

“I feel, personally, It means just the opposite.” The necromancer broke eye contact, and headed for the door. He knew of Tsu Lao, and his legion of the Rapax. He also knew the real “great war” had just begun.