The Chronicles of Harold the Healer Ch. 01

"All right, you kids," Harold said loudly, projecting his voice for all to hear. "You have made a huge mess of yourselves and driven your poor parents crazy." There was a supportive murmur and expressions of interest from said parents. "So, we figured that they should have a little fun. Instead of us casting the Clean spells on you, they will. Don't worry," he added hastily as some of the kids started to get upset. "This will be fun for you too."

"What they will do is call out a body part that will get cleaned and then throw the spell at you. Arms, legs, body, head. I'll demonstrate on my dear mud princess." She said the words and made the passes with her hands and a glowing orange ball appeared in her left hand. "Marcie's left leg," she said, throwing the ball left-handed at said appendage. It hit her knee, spread out and engulfed the leg in an orange glow, then the glow shattered with a loud pop, a big poof of pale blue dust, and a small burst of water that sprayed out among the other kids.

"It tickles!" she shrieked and the other kids laughed. The next ten minutes was spent with the Healers generating Clean spells as quickly as they could and handing them off to parents, who gleefully flung them at their filthy offspring. No matter how bad the throw or how far away the target was, the spells always homed in on their target. Each spell generated a random colour of dust that drifted south in the gentle northerly breeze and plenty of water from the dehydrated mud. The air was filled with kids' shrieks and giggles, parents' laughter, and the pops, bangs, and crackles from the spells. By some miracle, the targets stayed mostly on the garden paths and only a few plants got trampled in the pandemonium. There was more noise and confusion as the kids then ran to their parents for enthusiastic hugs.

"Ms. Leila," said Jim Barker, who was Marcie's age and not quite as tall as she was, "Dad here kinda stinks and I think that Mom would be much happier if he came home clean."

"Now wait a minute," Sam Barker replied, "I can clean myself when we get home!" The parents, both moms and dads, started hastening towards the exit to the side of the house.

"Fair's fair, I suppose," said Harold with that mischievous look again, and he and Leila produced more spells that they handed to the kids, who charged after their fleeing parents with unrestrained glee. The air was filled with shouts, protests, bangs and crackles as everyone ran to their respective homes. He had even slipped Marcie a spell to use on Mama, but she had thrown it at him instead, much to his noisy outrage and Mama's approval.

"You are the best parents ever!" said a now clean and recognizable Marcie, giving them each a bone-creaking hug.

"I will quote you on that when you are a teenager," Leila warned her. "I don't know about you, but I am utterly famished!" It was nearly dinner time and the combined efforts of first the surgery and then the cleanup chaos had been very draining on both of them. The remainder of the beef in the fridge was divided up, potatoes, carrots, and part of a hated turnip were boiled up on the stove and served at the table in the corner farthest from the door. Harold ventured into the cellar, aided by a globe of bright light, and returned with a bottle of local red wine.

"Plonk de Provis," he said with a grin, uncorking it with a pop. He and Leila got a glass each, and Marcie got a small amount as well. "Too much will make you silly," he had said on a few occasions, "but a little bit helps with the digestion." After dinner was eaten and the dishes Cleaned and put away, they went outside to enjoy the evening.

Mama and Papa walked around the garden Healing the few herbs and flowers damaged during the near riot before dinner, then retreated to the picnic table by the door with a pile of papers and another glass of wine each. Mama cast the Mosquito Attractor spells over the yard and garden to draw the nasty little bloodsuckers to rooftop level where the bats could swoop in and get them. Without being asked, Marcie got the broom from the tool shed that was next to the privy by the house and carefully swept the multi-coloured dust off the paths and onto the garden soil, where she figured that it would help the plants grow.

The light was draining from the sky and the first stars were starting to appear when she put the broom back into the toolshed and closed its door. She visited the privy and washed her hands with the soap and water from the small pump in it. Mama said that the water came from a pipe that was hooked to the pump in the kitchen and was safe to use. Mama and Papa seemed to have finished what they were doing with the papers and were sitting in their chairs, finishing the wine, which wasn't as good as they said it was, and talking quietly. She could feel their love radiating warmth to her like a fire in the fireplace, and it felt really good and comforting.

"Will I be a Mage like you when I grow up?" she asked after sitting in the other chair next to Mama. "I want to heal and care for people the way you do."

"It's very likely, dear heart," Papa replied. "Your Mama and I are both strong with the Magic, and it is passed down to children. It usually starts showing by the time you turn fifteen."

"And I'll have to go away to school to learn how to use it?"

"Yes, Marcie," said Mama, looking a little sad. "Your Papa and I both went to the School in the Capitol, and it takes about ten years to learn what you need to know. We can start the training process and teach you a lot of what we know, but there are many, many things you can do with Magic and you may discover that you have an aptitude for something other than Healing." It was nearly full dark now, and the cheeping of crickets, the rustling of the breeze in the trees, and a burst of distant laughter filled the air. A small globe of dim mage light had been conjured over the table so that they could see. Marcie bent forward to look at Papa, who was partly hidden by Mama.

"It's going to rain tomorrow, starting about lunch time," she said. "I can feel it coming. The plants and trees are getting thirsty, and it will help them." They looked at each other in surprise, then closed their eyes and concentrated for a few moments.

"Quick test," he said with a smile, "will there be thunder and lightning, or just rain?"

"Just rain, with a bit of wind. More than we had last night."

"Very good," Papa replied with some surprise. "Weather sensing is one of the first skills a Mage learns, and usually automatically. We tend to have a strong connection with the world around us. But you look like your bed is calling."

"I think we all need to go to bed," said Mama, getting up and stretching a bit stiffly, while Papa looked at her like Marcie looked at a bowl of candy. Papa stood up with a jaw-cracking yawn that provoked yawns from the other two. First Mama and then he visited the privy, then he opened the door and held it for his ladies, but Marcie noticed that he didn't come in with them. Mama turned about, stuck her head out the open door and said "Get in here, you!" Marcie giggled as Mama reached out, grabbed, and pulled him inside, closing the door with a thump. "You are being very silly, Mister Moser! Both of you need to go to bed now." Marcie went into her room to change into her nightgown, and she could feel the love from her parents even more as she got into bed and burrowed under the covers. The fine metal mesh screen across her open window let in the cool air while keeping out the bugs, and it didn't take long for the sounds of the night to sing her to sleep. She was vaguely aware of their presence and their kisses on her forehead, and the closing door.

"We have been so blessed," Harold murmured into Leila's ear. "I have been so blessed."

"What are you doing?" she asked as he reached for the door of the guest bedroom.

"I'm a guest in your house, so I should be in the guest bedroom?"

"You are a special guest, so you get the special guest bedroom," she said with a sultry smile that could only be seen because they'd brought the light in with them, dragging him the few steps down the hall to her bedroom, pushing him in, and closing the door.

"This is a really nice room!" he pretended to marvel. "So tastefully decorated and - mmph!" He was unable to continue because her tongue was in his mouth and his in hers, and their arms were wrapped tightly around each other. A minute later, they finally had to break the kiss to get some air, but they continued to hold on to each other. "I missed you both so much. I wish that I could stay forever."

"This village doesn't need two Healers," Leila replied in his ear, giving it a gentle lick and a nibble. "On most days there's barely enough for me to do, let alone two. And you have your other interests that would pull you out of here sooner or later anyway."

"True enough," he sighed. "I have my hands in far too many different pies. Only rarely in my sweetie-pie," he said, moving a hand down to feel the heat coming from her crotch and gently probing it through her gray skirt.

"And my Mage lover has a magic wand that needs to come out," she half purred, half moaned as his fingers worked their magic on her pussy. She looked him in the eyes and gently kissed his lips as she unbuttoned his pants by touch and they fell to the floor, revealing a seriously tented set of underwear.

"I don't think that a lady needs to wear such a nice skirt to bed," he whispered, gently teasing and licking her lips with his tongue as he undid her belt, and her skirt joined his pants on the floor, revealing white cotton underwear.

"Sleeping on all those buttons would be uncomfortable," she replied softly, rapidly unbuttoning his shirt while he did the same with her blouse and they whispered their way to the floor.

"The girls really shouldn't be confined while you sleep. That would be cruel," he replied between long, wet kisses as he wrapped his arms around her and somehow managed to unhook her bra. He released his hold and her breasts fell a bit as the unwanted garment hit the floor. "I really should pay my respects to the girls," he continued, gently licking and sucking a nipple, this time with little sparks coming from his tongue, while squeezing the other, then trading to lick the other and squeeze the first one.

"Your little man shouldn't have to sleep in a wet tent," she moaned, eyeing the prominent wet spot at the peak of his underwear. As he stood up, she knelt down and yanked the garment to the floor in one pull, revealing his hard cock, throbbing gently with his heartbeat. She wrapped her fingers around its base and slowly pulled towards the tip, drawing out a large bead of fluid, which she licked off, adding a few sparks of her own to the tip. He groaned and shivered as she stroked his hairy scrotum. "Love that cherry flavour."

"And dampness will only chafe you in a sensitive spot," he concluded, pulling her up, then kneeling to pull down her underwear, which was more than damp. A long, lazy lick up her left inner thigh ended with his tongue in her pussy, where he helped himself to her moisture.

"That's enough of that, you!" she growled, yanking him to his feet and pushing him onto the bed, where his cock pointed to the ceiling. "You lie there and don't move!" she commanded, getting on the bed and positioning herself over him. Harold could see the lust in her eyes reflected in the mage light, and her large, soft breasts dangled so temptingly just out of reach of his questing tongue. She had his cock slowly penetrate into her hot, wet pussy, gradually sinking down on it as he groaned with pleasure. "Oh, you bastard!" she hissed as the sparks he'd been pushing into her clitoris had their desired effect. Leila moaned and shook as the orgasm rippled through her body. Ever the opportunist, Harold reached up to pull her body down so that her jiggling breasts were finally within reach and sucked on a rock-hard nipple, intensifying the effect. A small squirt of fluid trickled down the exposed top of his cock.

"Love that lemon-lime," he said scooping a sample into his mouth with a grin.

She looked him straight in the eyes. "Turnabout is fair play, mister." Balancing on one hand while clamping down on his now completely engulfed cock, she traced a glowing finger around his left nipple, sending little sparks into it. Jolts of fire seemed to shoot into his loins and brain at the same time, and then she shifted hands and did the same with the other nipple, nearly overloading him. "How did that feel, hmm?" His ragged breathing was the only answer she needed as she lowered herself to shove her tongue in his mouth.

Suddenly he rolled them over so that he was on top and he was sliding effortlessly in and out, joined at the hips and the lips. "I'm going to drive you over the edge," he whispered, giving her a little kiss on the lips, "and then I'll come if I feel like it."

"Liar. You're just on the brink of coming now," Leila purred. "You can't stop it, even if you want to." She clenched herself and his cock was suddenly feeling a lot more friction. He moaned at the sensation of his whole organ tingling rapidly. In desperation, he began thrusting hard and fast, pouring what little energy he could muster into her nearly overloaded clitoris. Their minds finally blew and she clamped down hard, letting out a wail that Harold had to hastily stifle with his mouth as he finally lost control and squirted what cum he had left deep into her with a moan of his own. They were both breathing hard as Harold slowly slid down so he was resting on her, and she rolled sideways so that he flopped onto the bed, his deflating cock still inside her.

"There is no better way to end a day," he murmured softly, "than lying in your arms after we make love like that."

"There is," she corrected. "When we're lying in each other's arms under the covers!" They shakily stood up, pulled the covers down, got in, and pulled them up over themselves, with Harold on the right side of the bed. "Mmm," she said sleepily as they snuggled in together. "Our bed is a boat, carrying us down the River of Sleep."

"And cuddled together we get a peaceful ride to our destination," he barely finished.

Though Marcie slept, she was aware of the intense waves and surges of love all around her, and when they finally faded away, her subconscious relaxed and let her slide into the depths of sleep. She rolled over, muttered something, and dreamed of dancing under the stars.