Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #17 August 2015 | Page 52

Part Thirteen: Scars The past couple of weeks had been wildly different to anything Lucas has ever experienced. He felt freer than ever. The most jarring change for him was the fact he didn’t have to worry if he was in his demonic form or not. The first time that happened, he came out of his room apprehensive, only to find Margo had changed during sleep too, and was now eating cereal in front of the TV. Jake made two calls first thing in the morning. The first was to the Dean, who jumped at the chance to clear his debt. Lucas now had good news to share when he called his mother. He didn’t quite know how to mention Margo, so he just said he was staying with a friend. The second call was to Patrick’s cell, who went and picked up Lucas’s old wreck of a car on his way home. That was the day Lucas saw the garage. Malik had three classic cars and one jalopy, Jake two economic and fast cars, and Margo only had her electric motorbike, that charged from a power crystal embedded in the wall. None of them realized this was mind boggling for Lucas. Jake had to snicker when Lucas politely asked if he could take Malik’s Impala for a ride one day. He laughed at his expression when Margo said “You don’t need my permission, the keys are in the ignitions.” Training was brutal. Lucas had worked out heavily over the years, so he was already strong as a human. It helped him handle the sudden change his body went through when he turned demonic, so he at least didn’t faint all the time. But this was a completely new level. He found himself in a massive underground gym, its foundations reinforced with magical metal. He fought and weight lifted with Margo, and sparred and shot with Jake, who was a challenge even if he wasn’t as strong as a Vuur. But no matter how much his muscles ached, Lucas never complained. Mostly because he caught on early that Margo was going easy on him. She was stronger than him both as human and as a Vuur. At first Lucas thought it was because of the revival, so he asked Jake: “If that was a side effect of revival, a lot more demons would do it.” They had just taken a break from their training session. Jake handed Lucas a water bottle and grabbed a towel. “Then how? I mean I have to telekinetically enhance my punch to even rival hers.” Lucas’s voice was a little raspy from his lack of breath. “You forget.” Jake wiped the sweat of his forehead. “She was raised by Malik.” “Yeah, he had a ruthless reputation.” Lucas looked down at the floor. “Do you know what that was like?” “You’re gonna have to ask her. I don’t know 52