He’d awakened expecting to savor her warm presence, but instead the late morning sunshine shone upon the empty space beside him. “Lei-san?” he’d called softly a few times as he got dressed, stumbling over to the table. He’d glanced into the empty bathroom and out onto the porch before finally seeing the note under the vase of flowers on the table. He recognized the flowing handwriting as Lei-san’s.
Clem,
I’ve gone out to exercise Chanticlear and then I might
take a walk in the woods. I shall return shortly and fix
a nice lunch for us. Enjoy your breakfast.
All my love for you, dearest,
Lei-san
A plate of pancakes, sausage, and biscuits had been sitting beside the note; Clem ate quickly, glancing repeatedly at the door as he waited for her. He finished breakfast and washed the plate, puttering around in the bathroom and emerging, expecting Lei-san to be there. She wasn’t.
The hours passed, and still Lei-san did not return. By mid-afternoon Clem had quit his pacing and sat at the table, staring blindly out the windows. The cabin seemed so empty and cold without her—he didn’t want to do much of anything now that she was gone.
The shadows were already beginning to lengthen on the table when there came a knock on the door. “C’mon in,” Clem said listlessly.
The door opened and Nezi peeked in. “Clem?”
Clem managed a half-smile. “Hey.”
The dark-robed monk crossed the room in a few graceful strides and sat down across from his doppelganger. Though they both came from the same era in Michael Nesmith’s life, Nezi was a little sturdier, a little more confident and at ease than Clem. It stemmed, no doubt, from the fact that Nezi had been spared the more traumatic things that had happened to Clem, but Clem suspected that Nezi’s devotion to his faith and his natural calm had something to do with it. “Is something wrong?” Nezi asked. “You look . . . distracted.”
“She’s gone,” Clem said, uttering the words that were almost too painful to think about.
Nezi’s head cocked to the side. “She? She who?” He frowned. “Morgan?”
“No, Lei-san. She . . . we . . . I don’t know if somethin’s wrong . . . or if I did somethin’ . . . ”
“Whoa, wait a minute. Who’s Lei-san?”
Clem explained about the mysterious, beautiful woman who’d been sleeping in his bed when he’d returned—how he’d asked her to stay, how they’d spent time together, and how they’d fallen in love.
Nezi listened silently, nodding as Clem finished. “So she got up this morning and dumped you after making breakfast and saying she’d be back?”
Clem sighed. “I don’t know. I have no idea where t’start.”
Nezi idly picked up the note, his dark brown eyes moving across its surface several times before he spoke. “Clem, this doesn’t sound like a Dear John letter. I think . . . ” He paused, his gaze lifting to a spot on the wall and growing unfocused as he reached out with his mind. “I think something’s happened.”
A jolt surged through Clem and he stood up, swaying slightly. “Do y’know where?”
Nezi’s gaze focused once again on Clem. “No, not from here. But she hasn’t left the area; she’s still nearby.”
Clem nodded, slinging his jacket on and buckling his gunbelt with trembling hands. Nezi stood by, waiting. “Is she nice?” he asked.
“Very. She’s . . . amazin’.”
Nezi’s solemn face creased into a wide smile. “I’m glad. My celibacy is . . . voluntary. Yours was . . . unfortunate. I’m happy you’ve found someone.”
Clem looked at Nezi. A strange bond had been formed between the pair, ever since Nezi had taken care of Clem following at attack by a succubus. Nezi perhaps understood Clem’s loneliness, living as he did at the Temple, with only a few other clones for companionship. He’d made it a point to visit Clem often, and so had been the one to separate Clem from his unearthly ‘wife,’ risking not only his safety, but the safety of the others at the Temple, to keep Clem safe and save him. He smiled at the monk. Nezi nodded and headed outside, his body tensing under his robes as he extended his powers to their limit.
“Which way?”
“North, I think,” Nezi replied finally. He turned, walking into the woods. Clem hopped off the porch and hurried to follow. “I hope I’m right,” Nezi said, his voice betraying a hint of worry. “My powers, such as they are, are really weak.”
“It’s okay,” Clem said, knowing that Nezi would do his best.
“When we find her, you’ll have to introduce us.”
Clem grinned. “Yeah. I think you’ll like her.”
“I’m sure I will. She’s already put herself in my good graces by being nice to you.”
They continued on through the trees until they were almost a mile from Clem’s cabin. The foliage was thick and wild, with fallen logs and overgrown bushes that forced hikers to make wide turns to go around them. They were just coming upon a clearing when Nezi suddenly grabbed Clem’s arm and pulled him aside. “There’s two people up ahead.”
Clem squinted between the trees Nezi had pulled him behind, trying to see. Nezi’s arm appeared in his field of vision. “See . . . right there.”
A distinctly male figure could be seen about twenty feet away, walking slowly to the left. He disappeared behind two trees, forcing Clem to lean to the side to keep sight of him. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” Nezi replied. “But he’s not alone, I don’t think . . . ”
Clem slowly moved closer, his hand sliding down to the handle of his gun. The man, whose tall form was bundled in thick, dark furs, moved to stand next to a shaggy, laden horse. A slumped figure, its body bound securely with rope, its bloody hands tied tight behind its back, lay stomach-down over the horse’s back behind the saddle. Clem took a few more steps forward, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. As he rounded the back of the horse—still keeping to the shadows—his eyes settled on the long sandy-brown hair of the man’s captive, and his heart gave a jagged leap. The head raised up slightly, and the man turned, viciously backhanding it. “Head down!” he snarled.
“Lei-san . . . ” Clem breathed at the sound of the feminine grunt that followed the blow. He lunged forward, drawing his pistol. The man turned, regarding the newcomer with a cautious, suspicious look. His pale yellow eyes, shining out from the depths of his hood, were framed by shaggy gray hair.
“Let her go!” Clem shouted, bringing his weapon to bear on the man. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of lavender and brown as Nezi leaped out from behind the trees, his lightsaber flaring to life. “You heard the man!” Nezi bellowed.
The man’s eyes narrowed. “By what authority?” he demanded.
“Ours!” Clem snarled. “Lei-san ain’t gonna be treated like that!”
“Who are you?” Nezi demanded.
“My name is Rohas. I’ve come to take her home. She should not have come here.”
“That’s her decision,” Clem said, taking another step forward. He never took his eyes off of Lei-san, who was lying very still.
“We do not mix with outsiders,” Rohas said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “They who would learn our secrets. She cannot stay.”
“She’s stayin’!” Clem shouted, rage surging through him. He was not going to let this . . . stranger waltz in and take her, no matter what. Lei-san wasn’t Morgan; letting Morgan go had been a matter of necessity, but losing Lei-san would kill him—of that he had no doubt.
“We won’t allow you to leave,” Nezi said calmly. “Release her now and you may go in peace. Otherwise . . . ” He raised his weapon, the beam giving his face a very stern, menacing cast.
“The safety of our people is more important than one cursed woman,” Rohas maintained, giving Lei-san a rough nudge that forced a hoarse moan from her throat.
Clem growled, the heat exploding into his chest. “Let . . . her . . go! She’s not cursed, and I’ll be damned if you’re gonna lay another hand on her!!”
“I will not,” Rohas growled. “I have come to complete a task and complete it I shall.” His hands closed over the pommel of the saddle and he moved to pull himself up. Clem raised his gun, bringing it to bear on the man’s back. Nezi lunged forward, inserting his lightsaber between Rohas and the horse, blocking him from the animal. “I don’t think so, my friend. Clem has you covered. If I don’t get you . . . he will.”
“Nezi,” Clem said, fighting to keep his voice calm, “get her down from there.”
“No!” Rohas roared, seizing Nezi by the front of his robes and wrenching him around, throwing the monk into Clem. Nezi snapped off his weapon as he hit Clem, tumbling to the ground. Clem’s gun went flying as he staggered, torn between helping Nezi and getting Lei-san. “Lei-san!” he screamed, charging for the horse. ((Whoa, boy . . . don’t go ANYWHERE . . . )) The horse snorted, his eyes going wide as the human spoke to him, and shifted away from Rohas.
Rohas turned, his eyes blazing with fury. He grabbed Clem, his fingers digging into the Mike clone’s shoulders. Clem returned the snarl, punching the man in the jaw with his right hand, a blow that sent shock waves all the way to his shoulder. Rohas’s head snapped around; he recovered, returning with a backhand. Clem staggered, almost falling before doubling his fists and lunging at Rohas again. He was going to attack and keep attacking until Rohas was dead or Lei-san was free, whichever came first.
Nezi, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, slowly sat up, his eyes unfocused as he stared at Rohas. Suddenly he screamed something in a foreign tongue; Rohas froze in his tracks, felled a second later by a furious punch from Clem. Nezi leaped to his feet. “Clem, wait!”
Clem wasn’t listening. He raised his fist again, his lips pulled back in a feral snarl. “You ain’t takin’ her from me!” he screamed. He didn’t even register Nezi’s firm hands on his arms until Nezi had pulled him backwards, his restraining grip becoming an embrace.
“Rohas’i, correct?” Nezi said to Rohas, who slowly dragged himself to his knees. He nodded.
“Clem, he’s from a fic! One of Mich’s!”
Clem shook. “So?” What, did Nezi expect him to figure out some kind of riddle now?
Nezi didn’t reply; instead he looked at Rohas, his face growing stern. “Your people’s secrets are already known to us. You gain nothing by taking away from here. She’s Clem’s nmi sorani—you can’t take her.”
Rohas frowned, obviously still suspicious. Clem shook his head, wondering when he’d wandered into The Twilight Zone. He pulled himself from Nezi’s grasp and headed for the only thing in the world that mattered to him. With a low growl Rohas lurched to his feet and pulled out his knife, quickly slitting the ropes that bound her. “Very well. Take her.” He grabbed her belt and roughly yanked her off the horse, letting her fall to the ground with a dull thud. “Let her curse be yours.”
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