True Love and Necromancy [Featured Story!]

Chapter VIII

IT WAS A LONG AND ARDUOUS JOURNEY.

"This is not very comfortable at all," Theo grumbled. The wind whipped past him, causing his eyes to tear up. His cheeks were wind-burnt and raw. His cloak flapped out rather majestically around him, so there was that, but his feet were dangling a hundred feet above the air. "But, then again, it certainly beats the metro."

He was traveling by broom. It was rather a scraggly thing and not as dignified as some of the methods of transport that were available to sorcerers, warlocks and mages these days, but traveling by broom was inexpensive, at least, and brooms were guaranteed (usually) not to bite.

Theo had obtained much of his lengthy list of materials for the invocation, which was scheduled to take place that evening.

The sorcerer gripped the broomstick with his knees and pulled a crinkly roll of parchment out of the breast pocket of his robe. "Let's see ... One large speckled egg, check. One eye of newt, check – sorry, newt. Three switches of birch, check check check. Golden hairs freely given from a maiden ... check? I hope. Troll's toenail, three grams Bavarian algae, sixteen mites from a phoenix's tail feather, check check check. A phial of baby's tears. Check. (Lollipop for Theo, check.) One gram Egyptian sand, check. These demons are real divas about all this nonsense. Three—hhheackch!"

Theo seized hold of the broom in panic with one hand, crumpling the list in his fist. He coughed and wretched into his other hand, grimacing in disgust. "... Four large mosquitoes. Check. Ugh."

He saw the city of Barenn in the distance. "I've plenty of black candles and salt of my own, and all the tools and implements, and ... oh, bother."

At the bottom of his list, scratched in bold letters, was: One black cat, intact.