Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #12 March 2015 | Page 34

sounded harsh.
The voice, hearing the tone, made an effort to sound
serious, and failed. “Okey-dokey. I’ll be there in three
hours. I just need to pick up a big enough energy.”
“No need.” Jake looked at the Nexus. “I have one.”
“Then it’ll be an hour. That will give you enough time
to draw the squiggles.”
“Hurry.” Jake terminated the call and placed the phone
back in his coat pocket. He bent down, removed Margo’s coat and placed her flat on her back. He searched
for the daggers, but they must have vanished as well.
He pulled out a knife and started carving a pentagram
around Margo, then filled the inside with runes. He
was working feverishly, checking to see if the large
jagged figures were well done over and over again.
Guilt was rising up in him, making him murmur, “I
need to fix this,” over and over again. If he did it, if he
fixed it, he wouldn’t be the one that killed her when he
was trying to save her.
Jake was checking that everything was in order when
the door opened. A small man, looking as if he was
in his forties but was actually twenty-two, with a full,
black beard and matching hair came down the stairs.
He had a wide good-natured smile and was dressed in
a monk’s habit. He carried a heavy brown book.
“Howdy, Jake!” Vincent waved at Jake. His voice and
mannerisms were that of a small child.
“Hey, Vincent.” Jake smiled at him. Vincent was
one of a handfull of people in the known worlds that
could channel magic powerful enough to revive the
dead, if they had enough demonic blood in them. But
there was a price. His mind had reversed back into a
childlike state. Jake always treated him nicely, partly
because of situations like this, partly because of pity,
and partly because he considered him a friend.
“Oooh, pretty lady. This the one we have to bring
back!” Vincent pointed at Margo’s body and smiled.
He then looked at the Nexus. “Powerful god. Worshiped god.”

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“That will do right? I mean it has more than enough
energy to spare for her?”
Vincent stared for a moment, then turned to Jake.
“Yup.” He flashed a smile again, and opened the book,
placing it near Margo’s feet, carefully avoiding the
etchings on the floor. He then took out a small black
pot filled with viscous, muddy, red fluid. Vincent
paced around the pentagram and checked the runes.
He then dipped his index and middle fingers in the
pot and drew a long line on Margo’s left leg, where a
fireball had incinerated her jeans, while chanting:
“Cold and clear.” The fluid changed from the muddy
red to see-through. Vincent moved and drew a line on
her right leg.
“Arrives with blue.” The fluid changed to an inky
blue. Vincent moved and drew a line on her right arm.
“Prays to grey.” After the fluid changed colour, he
moved to her left arm.
“Screams in black.” He drew a circle on her chest
around the wound.
“Struck with silver.” He made a small vertical line on
Margo’s forehead. Her head straightened forward, her
face pointed at the ceiling.
Vincent knelt in front of his book and began to read in
an ancient language. The etchings on the floor started
to glow. The Nexus was getting restless.
Vincent’s voice was getting louder and louder. The
power streamed from the air through him and around
Margo in the form of lightning, making her corpse
shudder. Jake stared apprehensively. Vincent was
getting near the only phrase Jake knew the translation
of: Gift us your power. When Vincent uttered it, the
Nexus shook a little, and Jake flinched. Vincent said
it again; the Nexus stopped spinning. He said it once
more, and a light mist flew from the deity and touched
Margo. Jake closed his eyes. He had never been much
for praying, but right now, he was doing it with every