Free Fiction River: Fantasy Adrift by Fiction River

ground, knocking the copper vessel loose from her hands. The fury that she ’ d kept pent-up too long during the tenure of her bondage fueled her with a strength greater than human adrenaline. She pushed him away and rolled out from under his pin.
    The fishing boat rocked in the waves of its wake. “ Eh! ” a man ’ s voice shouted.
    She flashed herself to the pair of men on the boat, and when they saw her curvaceous form, they forgot about steering the boat. It bumped against a rock.
    Perhaps the jiniri form could be useful after all.
    “ Where ’ s the old man? ” said one of the men on the boat. “ We got the package for him. You were supposed to keep him here, waiting for us to deliver. ”
    “ I ’ ll take it to him, ” said the challenger, picking up the jiniri ’ s vessel. “ Give it to me. ”
    “ Give it back! ” The jiniri lunged at the challenger, but he jerked the copper container away from her.
    “ What the hell are you doing? ” said the boatman with a grunt of disapproval.
    The challenger laughed with the same malice as the vudu priest had shown. “ Being his assistant. ”
    “ Then give us proof of the spell he promised us. ”
    He tossed the copper vessel toward the boat, missed, and it plopped into the sea, floating there. “ Do you see any cops? You ’ re safe, man. ”
    “ What about her ? ” The boatman pointed at the jiniri.
    “ She doesn ’ t count. She ’ s a woman. ”
    Deep within, she felt the simmer of rage. She watched the last of her coppery prison sink under the waves. She no longer needed the vessel except as a symbol of her freedom. Without the symbol, she felt trapped.
    She would not be anchored here for eternity.
    “ Come and find out, ” she said. The well of her essence stirred, and the fire of her power seeped through her being, carried on her mango breath, tempting them in closer.
    “ Don ’ t worry, ” said the challenger. “ You can bring the coca ashore. Who ’ s going to stop you? No one here. Man, this is the new corridor. ”
    The boatmen snorted. “ What coca? We ’ ve got puff fish. For the old man ’ s poisons. ”
    “ Lying assholes. I know what you bring. ”
    “ We can ’ t get anymore of anything if the Haitian doesn ’ t protect us with his spells. The seas are too dangerous. ”
    “ I ’ m telling you. Everything ’ s good. Plenty of buyers here. Plenty of bribes. No one gets caught. ”
    The jiniri arranged her new body in a provocative stance as the boatmen tied up their boat and waded ashore. Already the shadows of dusk were advancing. She held out her arms to the boatmen. “ Come closer, ” she whispered with her mango breath. She didn ’ t need the poisons of the puff fish for power as the vudu priest needed for his. Her power came from the council of spirits that she accessed through the well of her essence, deep within her entity.
    The boatmen came closer, unable to resist her. Perhaps she would rethink the meaning of power. Jinn power surged from her body and smothered the humans with her charm.
    They froze, drained of all human movement.
    Perhaps if she were human she would feel guilty for the ease of overpowering them. She thought not. They succumbed to their own weakness. Three pillars of frozen humans stood idle before her, powerless as long as she breathed her jinn breath into them. They waited to be devoured by her own whims. She searched their bodies and stripped them of their knives, their guns, and their bags of powder. The net of puff fish she left to dry on the rocks. She ripped open the packet of powder and sprinkled it onto the rocks surrounding the fish. Already the waves were scouring the rocks clean, returning the bounty to the earth.
    Where it belonged. Not with humans.
    That was enough. She ’ d finished with these humans, but her work was not done. Today was the day that her wish would be granted, and the day was quickly slipping away.
    She turned away from the sea, away from the malécon, and headed