THE HEALING HEART

by Zelda Clemens

  “Halu jo-eun sonyeon,” she said brightly in her best Korean. “Aleumdaun nai.”

  The one fumbled his candy. They both gaped at her. She smiled. They leapt away and leveled their weapons.

  “Jeongii!” candy man shouted. “Dangsin-i eodie seo!”

  She raised her hands and gave him a pouty look. The other was speaking rapidly into his radio. The beach came alive as soldiers rushed from both sides. In a moment, Fred was surrounded by twelve men, all pointing their guns at her. More were on their way.

  “Sonyeon, sonyeon,” she said shaking her head. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you about a circular firing-squad?”

  Someone shouted something that she couldn’t understand. When she didn’t move he repeated himself. Someone made a gesture and she understood. She raised her hands to the back of her head. A leader stepped forward. He slung his rifle and began to frisk her. She understood the need, but when he got to her breasts he lingered. He cupped them and grinned.

  “Dwaeji!” she cried slapping his face.

  He raised his fist and Fred made her move.

  She heard the first shot fire as she leapt high over their heads. Someone cried out in pain, and then her shield was riddled with ricocheting bullets. She could feel the little pings against her flesh. She heard someone bark a command as she somersaulted. The firing ceased. She landed twenty yards from the soldiers. They had taken a stance, some kneeling, some standing and all of them with their weapons trained on her. She saw one of them lying in the sand clutching his leg.

  “Hangbog!” the leader shouted.

  She flipped him off. He shouted, and the sand before her feet erupted with a short burst of gunfire. Fred pointed one arm at the sun and her other at the man who shot at her. With a flip of her wrist, the rifle flew into the sea. She looked at the leader dead in the eyes. He gave another shout and the guns blazed.

  They were careful, she thought as she strode toward them. They were aiming at her legs. They wanted her alive. She waded through the hail of bullets and one by one, using the power of the sun she neutralized them. There were four left before they stopped shooting. Fred paused and smiled. She pointed to the commander, but even as she did she saw him smile back. Then she heard the thrumming of a helicopter.

  She turned to see the monster bearing down at her, and thought that was a little too much. A rocket launched from its side. She rolled her eyes and vaulted out of its path. But even as she flew the nosecone burst open, and she suddenly saw a brilliant sparkling web fill the air before her. And for just a moment she was captivated by its glittering, multi-colored beauty.

  And then the net wrapped her. She was instantly tangled and as she thrashed in its clutches, she felt her powers drain. She began to plummet to the beach.

  “Pineapple,” she said breathlessly just before she was hit.

  *****

  When Fred leapt out from the surrounding soldiers, Scott felt that she had everything in control. He marveled at her grace under fire, and he marveled more as the bullets bounced off of her. He watched in wonder as she pointed her right arm to the sky. Streams of light flowed into her and through her and out of her left hand, and he watched in glee as her assailants were laid low.

  He saw her turn and grin as the chopper approached. She bound into the air and he was certain that somehow the helicopter would come crashing down. His heart froze when it was Fred who fell.

  Wrapped in some kind of mesh that had exploded from the missile, she simply caved, plummeted and hit the beach with a thud. The helicopter hovered. A line was lowered and the netting attached. Fred was hauled toward the aircraft even as it turned and sped away. There was a collective cheer from the soldiers.

  Scott’s frozen heart began to beat wildly. He turned and fled into the jungle. His brain was gripped in fear and he ran and ran until he ran into a tree. Dazed and confused he lay sprawled. From far off he heard the soldiers closing in. From farther off he heard the chopper fade away. Above him birds cried and cawed madly. He found his wits. He staggered to his feet, and clutching the jewel he began chanting over and over,

  “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” He found himself back on board the Sea-Esta.

  Erica had tended to the cut on his face. She had to slap him before he calmed his babbling and was able to give her a full account of what he saw.

  “A net,” Erica pondered.

  “Yeah,” Scott replied. “It was all sparkly and shiny and it followed her in the air. It was – it was like this weird--”— “

  “Web.”

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Okay then,” she said handing him a cup. “Drink this.”

  “What is it?”

  “Scotch.”

  “Oh.” He downed it. “Now what do we do? I mean, we’re going to rescue her, right? Right?”

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Erica!”

  “Oh, alright,” she sighed. “I managed to lose the frigate, so they’re probably headed back to the island to collect their prize.”

  “But why would they want her?”

  “They don’t want her,” Erica said. “They want the pomegranate. A witch would be a bonus. But why they would want either?”

  “That’s what Fred wanted to find out.”

  “Well,” she said. “If I am going to wander about on a tropical island, I should at least dress the part.”

  “Huh?”

  Erica paused. She looked at him.

  “Scott?” she said so charmingly. “How comfortable are you with your gender identity?”

  Fred woke in pain. Her head throbbed mercilessly. She was soaked in sweat, she shivered with an unearthly cold and her wrists burned. As her senses returned, she found that she was outside lying face down on the ground. She was still wrapped in that damned net, but she was also bound. Her hands were tied with rough hemp rope over her head, a pole ran between them. The pole lay across her back and threaded through her bound ankles. There were voices all around her speaking Korean.

  She moaned. A moment later a foot kicked her ass and she wailed.

  “Awake I see,” someone said. “Finally.”

  Fred opened her eyes and saw a pair of slim black jack-boots.

  “Jjong-eulo!” a woman’s voice snapped.

  Fred cried out. Her arms and legs were yanked up. The pole began to rise in short jerks, and with each new tug she wailed as her shoulders and thighs bore the weight of her body. She writhed, but that only brought more agony. Her back was arched backwards and as her breasts jutted forward, her blouse split open, buttons falling to the sand. They kept pulling her up and up until she was face to face with her captor.

  The woman was a fair skinned oriental woman in combat fatigues. Her face was delicate but stern, her thin eyebrows furrowed.

  “I am Commander Zhao,” she said in English.

  “So nice to meet you,” Fred said. “I am--”— “

  “I know who and what you are. Where is the jewel?”

  “What jewel—ahhhhhhhhh!”

  A riding crop whistled through the air and lashed her breast.

  “On the beach,” Fred said groaning. “Somewhere. But I don’t know where.”

  The woman raised her crop again.

  “You can torture me all you like,” Fred said. “I cannot tell you what I don’t know! Commander.”

  Zhao lowered her arm and smiled. She took Fred’s jaw in her fingernails.

  “You think me stupid,” she said. “Were I to torture you, wizards worldwide would hear your cries and flock to your rescue, and I have but one Lilith Web. But I know your kind. Your greatest flaw is your sympathetic nature. Observe, please.”

  Fred grunted as her legs were lowered some. From the new angle, she had a full view of the jungle encampment. There were a few low fires in the clearing and several soldiers grinning at her. Then she saw another woman. She was tan skinned and lovely. She wore a simple colorful wrap, and she was bound with her arm and legs spread betw
een two pillories, a look of terror in her eyes.

  “Who . . .” Fred began.

  “I’m not sure,” the commander said strolling to the helpless girl. “One of the locals my men gathered. Pretty, don’t you think?”

  “Commander,” Fred cried. “She is an innocent! She has nothing to do with--”— “

  “And she will remain innocent if you tell me what I want to know.”

  “Commander--”— “

  The girl screamed as the commander tore away the flimsy garb. The men laughed along with Zhao. The vile woman began tormenting the girl with little slaps here and there about her naked body.

  “If her misery doesn’t move you,” Zhao said smiling. “There are more like her.”

  *****

  “Alright,” Fred cried. “Let the girl go and I’ll help you.”

  “Promise?” Zhao asked.

  “Yes,” Fred said.

  “A witch’s word cannot be taken back.”

  “I promise, you bitch!”

  Zhao laughed long and hard. Fred heard something in the woman’s laughter. Then there was a slight stir of a breeze around the witch and even as Fred looked the woman’s hair started to fall from her bun. Fred gaped.

  “Wrong consonant,” she said with a sneer. “You stupid fool”.

  “Mia,” Fred said breathless. “Mia Elverelli.”

  “Charmed,” Mia smiled. “I’m sure.”

  “But – why?”

  “You have no idea the power of that jewel,” she sneered. “With that thing, my coven will rise and the world will tremble. I will travel to the Underworld, sweep Persephone aside and release my sisters. Once again the likes of Jenny Greenteeth, the Blair Witch and Morgan le Fay will walk the earth. And when I bring back Circe and Hecate, their gratitude will be boundless and I will reign by their sides.”

  “You are the fool,” Fred said seething. “Look to your own malevolent deceptions before you trust Hecate. You’ll turn on each other liked dogs.”

  “You don’t know from witches.”

  Fred just glared.

  “In the meantime . . .” Mia sang.

  She strolled to the girl. But rather than releasing her, the witch began to lick the innocent’s breast. The girl’s shriek rose with Fred’s.

  “Mia!” Fred shrieked. “You promised!”

  “I did nothing of the sort,” she chuckled. “You did.”

  “MIA!”

  “Oh shut up.”

  One of her men kicked Fred in the gut and she gasped as she lost her wind. She writhed in agony, straining at her bondage, but even as she struggled for breath, a shot rang out in the night and the sand before Mia’s feet exploded. The witch whirled. Another shot came from another direction and she danced back looking about in alarm. One of her men reached for his weapon and it flew from his hands.

  “You’re surrounded!” Erica called from the darkness.

  “Impossible,” Mia cried. “My patrols--”— “

  Several more rounds laced the sand and the witch’s men panicked and scattered.

  “So much for the Glorious People’s Marines,” Erica said.

  She and Scott stepped into the light. They both wore safari garb, complete with pith helmets. And they were both armed.

  “Release my sister,” Erica said leveling her gun at Mia.

  The witch glared, but obeyed. She unwrapped the net. Fred tried to speak to warn Rikki but she still struggled for air. Mia cut the ropes and Fred collapsed to the sand groaning. Scott had released the naked captive and the girl disappeared into the jungle.

  “What are you going to do with me?” Mia asked fingering the netting.

  “I don’t care a bit for you,” Erica said. “Just stay the hell out of my way.”

  “Happily. Oh and witch?”

  “Whaaaa . . .”

  Fred tried to cry out, but all in a deft motion Mia whirled the web. It sailed and dropped over Erica. Then Mia lunged at Scott. But the man was ready and quickly had her in a headlock.

  “You bitch!” Scott shouted trying to throttle the woman.

  But the witch was limber and wily. In a moment Scott was on his back. Mia tried to flee, but Scott managed to trip her by the ankle. The two grappled on the ground.

  “You used me!” Scott cried.

  “You were an idiot!”

  “You bewitched me!”

  “It’s what I do, jackass!”

  “You just wanted me for my boat!”

  “It’s a ship,” Erica cried firing a shot into the air.

  The Lilith Web lay at her feet in tatters, the frayed ends smoldering like embers. And then Fred understood.

  “Mio Dio,” the witch breathed.

  She kicked sand into Scott’s face and ran.

  “You’re mine bitch!” he shrieked as he took off after her.

  Erica raced to Fred.

  “We gotta get outta here,” she said. “Her troops will be back and--”

  “You were brilliant!” Fred said kissing her full on the lips.

  The woman stood stunned. Fred grabbed her arm and pulled her along into the night.

  “Fred,” the woman cried. “Fred I gotta tell you— “

  “I know,” Fred said.

  “But Fred – “

  “Scott you stupid twit, you don’t think I recognize my own sister?”

  He stopped her short.

  “Fred – Fred look at me!”

  “I know,” she smiled. “You are very cute.”

  “Fred!” he cried hefting his own breasts. “These are really real!”

  “I know. No other way to fool the witch. Now let’s go and save the world.”

  Scott still had the necklace and with it they found the spot. There were still guards there, but a volley of automatic fire scattered them. Using the stone, she found a place in the sand. They dug, and then Fred felt something warm and round.

  “Turtle eggs,” she said. “Be careful.”

  By the light of the moon they dug, and then Fred’s fingers touched it. She gingerly drew it from the nest and held it in the moonlight. The jewel was just slightly oblong and decorated with gleaming jasper flowers surrounded by thousands of emerald crystals. The precious pomegranate was crowned in gold with tufts of slender jade leaves.

  As she held it in the moonlight, Fred could feel its aura emanating the power reserved for the divine. And yet from its very touch, she knew that she could glean just a little bit for herself.

  *****

  Mai lay helpless on the bed in the stateroom of the North Korean frigate. She had been stripped to her banal military lingerie. Her hands were bound to the headboard above her head with leather, her thumbs cuffed. Her jaw ached from the rubber ball-gag. She could neither chant nor weave her spells.

  In the guise of that rich fool Scott, the wizard had so easily duped her. With her defenses down, Mia had fallen to the woman. After that, Mia’s troops were enchanted by the wizard and the real Commander Zhao had been ‘convinced’ to defect to the West. Now, enraged and humiliated Mia thrashed helplessly.

  “You’ve been naughty,” Erica said as she sat on the bed. “It’s time that you were shown the error of your witchy ways.”

  Mia shrieked as the woman slid her hand under the ugly bra.

  “But I don’t think that you understand,” Erica cooed. “I am not like you. No more tricks. No more magic. Just you and me, woman to woman.”

  Mia thrashed and cringed as the wizard’s fingers took her nipple.

  ***

  “Just you and me,” Frederica said. “Girl to girl.”

  Scott had never been afraid of a woman in his life – until that moment. He and Fred stood in his dim bedroom on his yacht. She was trying to seduce him. She was unbuttoning his blouse. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move to resist her, and that was no enchantment. He was simply terrified.

  The heavy cotton shirt parted and he gazed down at his own breasts in astonishment. He was so beautiful. The delicate lace edging of his bra
was tight against the flesh and the skin bulged slightly. Frederica sighed. Her finger traced the place where the flesh met the fabric, down along one breast, across the gap, up the other and then along his cleavage. The sensations were uncanny. He began to quiver inside, and as he quivered he felt an arousal inside the likes of which he could barely understand, but which sent throbbing thrills through him.

  Frederica peeled away the silken cup and the cool breeze wafted over his nipple. He was amazed at the chilling delight he felt as the little pebbles began to puff. Frederica giggled and caressed his mounds. Scott gasped as her tongue swirled around one areole and teased the little swollen point with wondrous delight.

  “Sooo pretty,” Frederica sighed as she stood back and gazed.

  Scott quaked in his confusion. He was torn. His body was alive with breathtaking new sensitivities, and yet there was something about those feelings that were . . .

  “Unnatural,” Fred said as if she had read his thoughts.

  She gently kissed one, then the other nipple, and then stood away. She made a motion with her arms. The air around Scott began to sparkle.

  ***

  Mia quivered. She felt like jelly inside. The wizard-woman used her mouth and tongue and hands and fingers to surprise and delight her breasts in ways that astounded. Mai was used to lovers who could be like animals with her delicate flesh, but this woman was near savage. It was as if she could tingle and delight every nerve ending on Mai’s breasts and belly and neck and thighs all at once. She wrapped and slathered her body with her tongue and her lips and fingers and tits until Mai felt as though she were enveloped in one long rapture of bliss.

  She strained at her bonds. She wanted, she needed to be a part of that bliss, but she was helpless. She was a delighted pawn in the hands of a queen who tortured and tormented her with her own delight.

  Erica writhed and wiggled along Mai’s quivering flesh, and Mai began panting as that wonderful, slimy worm of a tongue slid and slathered lower and lower and lower. Mai could feel the heat drawing nearer to her most sensitive flesh, and she thrust herself toward that promise of passion. The tongue tip traced the soft hair around her hood and Mai tensed. Her inner thighs locked as her heels dug into the bed forcing herself up toward joy. And when that slimy muscle flicked her clit she shrieked . . .