Chapter 2

I always knew that my kindness would lead me to trouble someday. I just didn't think that I would be put into this kind of trouble. It all started that one spring day after school. I had decided to take the back way home. It went through the center of town and cut strait to my house. While I was walking down one of the alleys I heard a screech of protest coming from further ahead. I started running down the alley hoping I could help the person in need of help. As I was running, a shimmer in the dirt caught my attention.

I stopped and stared at it for a while before I got the courage to pick it up. I reached down and grabbed it from the dirt. I could tell it was round from the feel of the shape in my palm. It wasn't very big, maybe twice the size of a quarter. I could see that engraved on the medallion type quarter were some symbols. I rubbed my thumb gently against the top of the medallion and some flecks of dirt fell off and I now could clearly see the engraving. I had never seen anything like it. In the center stood a sun with its rays outstretched.

Where the rays tips ended a circle held it in, and on the outside of the circle were all the symbols for all the constellations of stars. The stars such as Leo, Libra, Gemini, and all the rest were all there. Not one was left out. I was going to ponder on it more when I heard another screech of protest from up ahead. I shoved the medallion into my coat pocket and ran again toward the sound. When I reached the source I saw what was causing the racket. Some ten year old boys were teasing a cat by taking cans and tying them to its feet or tail. When the cat screeched and ran the boys would follow and throw stuff at it to make it stop. Then they would tie more cans to the poor cat and start the process over.

When I came up they were chasing it again and were now tying cans to its tail. I hated people being cruel to the alley cats. I actually left food outside my house for them. So when I saw them abusing this poor thing, I knew I had to help. I ran up to the boys and said in a firm voice " what are you doing to that cat?" The boys turned and were scared instantly, for they were ten, I was seventeen and a lot taller then them. I was five feet, eleven inches and they were what, maybe four feet. I chased them off down the alley and then turned my attention to the cat.

The creature was lying in the dust in a crumpled heap of fur. I was worried that the animal was hurt and went over to pick it up. The cat didn't protest when I lifted it up and cradled it in my arms. I was going to take it home and clean it up. Wash it in the tub and then feed it. Then maybe I could convince my mother to let us keep the scrap of fur. The cat was obviously friendly and I felt connected to this cat. Somehow I could tell that by saving this cat something had happened and I would find out what it had in store for me soon.
It didn't take me long to get to my shabby cottage. It was very old but mother kept it up in tip top shape. The lawn was green, there were ivy falling from the ceiling down to the porch, and of course flowers. My mother adored flowers. So there were flowers of every type in sight. There were roses, tulips, gardenias and many more. The air was always sweet from their perfume. I had come to know it as the smell of home.

I walked up to the porch, scraped my feet on the mat and walked in. "I'm home", I yelled. Instantly I was picked up in a bear hug by my brother Justin. The cat in my arms gave a squeal as the air was knocked from its lungs. I was feeling the same way. When Justin heard the squeal coming from my arms he let go and then looked at the cat at its level. The cat was turned away from him so it didn't take any notice of my older brother. "What you got there, Caspian?", my brother asked me.
"Its a cat. Some kids were torturing it in the alleys and I saved it. Thought I would clean it up a bit.", I replied.
"Really? Poor cat. Here I will start the tub water. Ill help you wash her."
"How do you know its a her?"
Justin winked and tapped his nose. In reply he said, "I just can tell."

I shrugged and stalked off towards my room. I opened my room door and dumped my stuff on my bed. I changed my shirt into one of my rag ones. If I was going to wash a cat, I was going to get wet. I didn't want to get some of my best clothes dirty. As I caught my reflection in the mirror I stopped to glance at myself. My chocolate brown hair was messy from the day and desperately needed a wash. My face was dusty from running in the alley after the boys and my upper arms had shallow cuts from ripping the sharp cans off the cats tail. At the moment, I needed a bath too.

Then, as I was glancing in the mirror I saw the cat sitting up on my bed and staring at my reflection as well. I gasped, even though the act of a cat looking at me wasn't very shocking. It was the color of the cats fur and eyes that startled me. I turned around and stared the cat straight in the eyes. The cat looked back at me with fierce gold eyes. I had never seen eyes that color on a cat before. I had seen green and yellow and brown but never gold. I was sure it was gold. This cat had gold eyes. Not just gold eyes, but bronze fur to go with it. Yes, you read right. Bronze fur. Or at least the fur that was clean enough to see the color from. Then, I swear the truth, the cat talked to me. In my mind I heard a clearly feminine voice say, I've found you at last.

At this point, I was so shocked that I jumped when my brother Justin came in. He looked at me and then at the cat. The cats gaze didn't falter. Even as I moved slowly from the mirror to my door. Justin sensing something wrong said to me, "What's wrong little bro?"
"The cat", I stammered. Not even caring that Justin used his pet name for me since I was his little brother. Only by a year I might add. Justin was eighteen at the time.
"What about the cat?", he asked me. Then he noticed the cats eye color and said, "Whoa. That cat has gold eyes. And bronze fur!" He didn't seem to surprised.
"This doesn't surprise you?", I asked in confusion.
"I didn't say it wasn't weird but, no it doesn't startle me. That's probably the reason the boys were making fun of the cat in the first place." Justin was most likely right. Then he asked, "Is it a tom or queen?" Using cat term for boy or girl.
"Queen.", I said.
"I knew it. I told you it was a girl. Maybe mom will let us keep her. You know she is a softy on cats. Also, if we give her a name, she cant refuse. What should we call her?"
At this the cat perked her ears up and then glanced me straight in the eye again. Once more I heard a girls voice in my head. My name is Sarrow. Don't call me anything else. The last part was so forced I swear I wanted to rip my head open. How had I deserved to get stuck with the cat that can talk?
"Sarrow. Lets call her Sarrow.", I said.
"Sarrow? Hmm. Sarrow. Sounds good. Sarrow it is. OK then Sarrow. Lets go give you a bath.", Justin replied. Sarrow, or Sarrowin, as I would later learn perked her ears up again and bounded off my bed and into my arms.
"She likes you." Justin said in a chuckle.
"I can tell.", I replied.

I walked down the hall with Sarrow in my arms and turned right into the bathroom. The tub was already filled as Justin said it was. I put Sarrow down on the tiled floor and closed the door after Justin came in. Sarrow wasted no time in rushing into the water and splashing around. I rolled up my sleeves and bent down to the tub level. Justin handed me the soap he had grabbed from under the sink and I rubbed it on her fur. Her fur soon became soapy and I used my fingers and nails to scrub the dirt from her fur. Sarrow had been very dirty, because when we were done the water was almost black. I had been right about her fur being bronze.

Now that it was clean it shone brightly and looked very beautiful. I grabbed Sarrow out of the tub and placed her on the counter next to the sink. I bent down and grabbed the blow dryer. I plugged it in and put the dryer on high. A sudden burst of hot air shot out and slammed into Sarrow. She flew backwards and almost fell off the counter. She didn't thanks to Justin. He had caught her in time. He was placing her back on the counter when she turned to me and slapped me with her long bushy tail. "Hey! What did you do that for!?" , I yelled at her. She smirked at me and I could see humor in her eyes. Then I heard her voice in my head again. You asked for it.

You should have known better than to put that stupid thing on high. Now will you please dry my fur?
I didn't hesitate. I turned the blow dryer back on but on low this time. Justin held Sarrow in place while I dried her. After ten minutes her fur was dry and brushed. She was a very pretty cat. Her fur looking like a new penny. I told Justin to go tell mom and then I went to my room. I had some questions to ask Sarrow and I wanted to ask her alone. Once in my room I placed Sarrow on my bed and I pulled up a chair after locking my door .I see you have some questions to ask me?, she said. "Yes I do actually. Will you answer them?", I said.
Depends on what the question is.
"All right then. First question. Why can I hear you in my head when you are a cat?"
That question is easy. That is because I am not a cat. I was turned into a cat. The reason why you can hear me is because you have magic in you. Marking you as the one I was looking for. Also, you probably have something of mine or something of Magix to connect you with that magic.
"Magix? What's Magix?"
Ahh. Magix. My home land. As well as yours. I was sent here by general Justice. I was changed into a cat by Fairo. The captain of Kaltags army.
"Kaltag? Who is Kaltag?"
Kaltag is our enemy. He wants nothing more than darkness in Magix. That is why we are locked in a battle with him. Also why I was sent here to retrieve you and bring you back with me. I need someone else to help me lead. I cant be in two places at once.
"What do you mean lead?"
As a captain. When we return to Magix your rank will be captain. Like me.
"Your a captain, but you are a girl."
Yea, and. Your point is. I trained hard to be a captain. If I was my true form you wouldn't be asking me why I am a captain. That's another thing I need your help with. I need you to help me change back into human form.
"How can I help you? If you couldn't change yourself back, what makes you think I can?"
I cant because Fairo put a spell on me to where I cant. Anyone in Magix cant break the spell. So that leaves you. A magic being outside of Magix. I need magic to change me back. If you don't help me, I will get your brother to. He is magic as well and will work just fine as a captain too.
"Justin! He has magic! No. You cant use him. You came to me first."
I could use you both. You both have magic and both could be very useful in Magix as a captain.
"All right. I will help you. First I have to tell Justin though. OK?"
That's fine. By the way. What are your parents names?
"My moms name is Susan Trio. My dads name is Deven Trio." I looked at Sarrows and saw a surprised look on her face. I was about to ask her what was wrong when Justin called up the stairway. "Hey Caspian! Dad is home! Dinner is on the table. Bring the cat with you. Mom wants to see her." So without notice I lifted Sarrow off my bed and headed down the stairs. I was excited that dad was home. He had been gone for a whole week on business. I was running down the stairs so fast that I almost ran into him. when I stopped I looked up into my fathers face. He looked almost like me. I took after dad, and Justin took after mom. My dad had the same chocolate brown hair and green eyes. "Hey. What you got there son?", he said.
"A cat dad."
"A cat huh? I'm guessing you want to keep it?" Then my dad did something very odd. Once he got a good look at Sarrow his eyes got big and he took a step back. "Good heavens! It cant be!", he yelled.
"Cant be what dad?" He looked at me and then back at Sarrow. Then back at me and replied, "Nothing. Do you have a name for her?"
"Yea. Sarrow."
"Sarrow? Perfect name for her. We keep her. Now lets go into the kitchen and eat dinner." With that he walked away. Once he was gone I turned to Sarrow and asked, "What was that about.?"
As he said. Nothing.

After dinner I went upstairs and changed into my night clothes. Which consisted of cotton bottoms and no shirt. Although tonight I found a rag shirt to put on thanks to my guest. She was sitting on the edge of my bed just watching me. I sat down next to her and then asked her where she wanted to sleep. Anywhere is fine. She replied to me. "All right. You can sleep up here with me. I don't move around a lot so I wont squish you."

She padded quietly up to my pillow and curled up into a ball. I snuggled into my bed as well and got comfortable. After a while a few more questions I wanted to ask came to mind and I opened my mouth to ask but before I could Sarrow lifted her head and said,You can ask questions later. Right now you need sleep. You will be no good to me in Magix if you are tired. Now sleep. Then she started gently stroking my hair with her tail. My mother used to do that when I was younger to help me fall asleep so it wasn't long before my eyelids closed and I fell into the blackness of dreams to come.

I woke in the middle of the night. I could tell that it was still night because a faint sliver of silver moon shining through my window. I turned to my side to make sure that I hadn't squished Sarrow and noticed that she wasn't on my pillow anymore. I glanced at my door and found it ajar. There was a faint glow coming from a light down the hall. I slowly got up and moved towards the door. I pushed the door open slowly so it wouldn't creak and give me away. Where had Sarrow gone? Once I was out of my room I slid down the hall towards the light coming from the guest room. Who was in the guest room? I reached the door and put my ear up to the frame. I could make out hushed whispers from inside. I soon realized one of the voices was Sarrow. The other was my dad.

I strained my hearing to understand them. I eventually did and could hear their conversation.
"What are you doing here Sarrow?", said my dad.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here.", replied Sarrow out loud.
"I told you that already. I couldn't take it any longer. So I left and found Susan. Then we had Justin and Caspian."
"Why did you not tell your family about Magix?"
"I didn't tell them because I was trying to protect them from the war. From going through what I went through."
"Well it didn't work. Justice sent me here to retrieve another captain. He said I would know when the one I was looking for found me. And it just so happens its your sons Deven."
"My sons? My sons have magic?"
"Yes. They do."
"I guess I couldn't keep the magic from my veins. It spread to my sons now."
"Yes it did. Caspian has the strongest amount of it. Justin has some but I am afraid he wont have enough if I choose him to come along. I need someone strong in magic. The both of them I am sure could turn me back. That is my first goal. A little help from you wont hurt either."
"Who turned you into a cat Sarrow. I have been gone for only 16 years and things have changed dramatically. How old are you now anyway? When I left your mother had just given birth to you. Right around the time Susan gave birth to Caspian. So that would make you around his age right?"
"Yes. I am seventeen as well. Within those 16 years of you being gone many things changed. The war got worse. The captain before me died and so did his sergeant. I was a lieutenant at the time. I was 14 when they made me captain of the entire army. The army has sense grown and I cant look after all of them. I need another captain."
"You still haven't answered who turned you into a cat."
"Fairo. The head captain of Kaltags army. That's who."
"Fairo? Isn't he only a year older than you? Why are all the captains so young.?"
"Because we can lead. My soldiers respect me. They don't disobey me. I worry about them now. I don't know how the war is going and who is leading my army in battles. I want to return. My army needs me."
"All right. I will help you Sarrow. I wont return to Magix but I will help you turn back into human form. Then you can take Caspian, but only for the time of the war. After the war, no matter what side wins, if he is still alive, you send him here. Send him back home. Only after a mind wipe though. I still want to keep this a secret as much as I can."
"But Deven. That will be a lot of memories gone. Its dangerous to erase that much."
"We will see when the time comes."
"All right Deven. When will you try to turn me back into human form?"
"Tomorrow night. I promise. But you tell Justin and Caspian. I don't want to have that trouble as well."
"OK, but I don't think I will have to tell Caspian since he has been listening. Isn't that right Caspian?" I was so startled that I fell backwards. I heard my dad coming to the door and I ran down the hall. Not caring about the amount of noise I made. I closed my door and jumped back into bed. I was breathing heavily when I heard my door creak open. I turned slowly to my side and saw gold eyes staring at me at the foot of my bed. Somehow Sarrow had opened my door again. She said nothing as she jumped up to my bed and sat on my pillow. "Your mad at me huh?", I said.
No. It actually saved me time explaining.
"How long did you know I was there?"
I could sense you stirring when you left your room. So I guess since then.
"Wow. Your senses are good. I have another question."
You want to know how I was talking out loud in the guest room.
"Yea. I do actually."
Its very simple. All residents in Magix get a gold medallion when they are born. This medallion brings out the persons magic inside them. Your father still had his and when he put it around my neck it took what I was trying to say and made it into English.
"A gold medallion?"
Yes. Its gold and has a sun in the middle. Then a circle encases the sun and symbols from all 28 constellations of the stars are around the edge.
"You said everyone gets one. Does that mean you as well?"
Yes of course.
"Then where is yours?"
I lost mine in the alleys some where. I will look for it later.
"No you don't have to look."
What do you mean? After Sarrow said this I got up out of bed and walked over to the chair by my nightstand. I had dumped my coat on the chair. I picked it up and rummaged through it until I found the item I was looking for in one of the pockets.
I heard Sarrow gasp as I pulled the gold medallion out and sat back on my bed. "Is this your medallion? I found it in the alley when I saved you."
Turn it over. If it is mine it will have SG on the back. I turned it over and sure enough there was a SG inscribed on the back.
Thank you Caspian. Now I don't need to worry about it being found by someone else.
"Your welcome. I will help dad tomorrow change you back. I promise."
Thanks Caspian. That makes me very happy.

After this Sarrow curled up into a ball again and started breathing evenly. I smiled. I wondered how she would look as a human. I guess I would figure that out tomorrow. My eyelids slowly dropped and I fell into a dream of oblivion.

Outside the house a cloaked figure stood leaning against the wood for support. He had found Sarrow. Fairos trick had worked. She had been turned into a cat but it didn't stall her. She still found the boy and now was going to be turned back into human form tomorrow night. He couldn't allow this. If she was turned back into human form then she could return to Magix with the boy. Then she could finish the battle. This could not happen before Fairos next plan. He had to stop her. After listening to the conversations in the house, he stalked off to report what he had seen and heard to Fairo.