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