I woke early with the sun blaring in my eyes. I glanced at my alarm clock on my dresser and the face read 9:15. It was way past time for me to get up. I turned to my side to see how Sarrow was and saw the bed empty beside me. Now where had she gone? I jumped out of bed quickly and grabbed a shirt lying on the floor. I smelt it first to make sure it was clean then pulled it over my brown curls. Then I looked in my closet and found a pair of raggedy jeans. After getting dressed I zipped out my door and ran down the hall to the stairs. I had to find Sarrow. I went down a few steps and then heard a screech of protest. I looked down and noticed that I had stepped on Sarrow's tail. Watch it!! She screeched. It was to late. I had already moved my other foot and slipped. I skidded down the rest of the stairs and hit my head at the bottom with a hard clunk! Sarrow gracefully padded up to me on silent paws and made a sound that almost sounded like a laugh. Then I realized, it was a laugh! She was laughing at me! "What are you laughing at!?" I yelled at her. Well that was graceful. Next thing I know you will be in the national ballet for men! Hehe.
"Ha-ha. Very funny. You can stop laughing now! I never said I was graceful, now did I?"
No. You never said you were graceful. Although it helps in wielding a sword. I glared at her and then got my sore body up from the floor. I picked her up into my arms and walked into the kitchen. When I walked in, my mother, brother, and father, were all at the table and staring at me. "What's going on?" I asked.
My father stood up and walked over to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I just told your mother and brother about Sarrow and Magix."
"You did?"
"I did."
"How did you guys take it?" My brother jumped up from his chair and slapped me on the back. Then he looked me in the face with the biggest smile in the world.
"Dude we are magic! That's totally awesome! And, we get to help Sarrow with the battle in Magix. I so want to see you try to wield a sword! That will be a funny sight." Then he broke out in laughter. He stopped suddenly as Sarrow fixed her gold gaze on him. Don't make fun of him. Wielding a sword takes practice. Even I had to work on that.
"No offense, but I don't see you wielding a sword. Isn't that kind of a boy thing?" Justin asked.
When I am human again, then we shall see who is schooling whom.
"Oh yeah! That's right! We have to do that ceremony today don't we?" he said.
Yes we do. We will do it tonight at eleven, the sacred number of dimensions and galaxies. It will help in the magic needed to turn me back. Which reminds me. Since I will be using you two as well, and you have no control over your magic, that's what I will be teaching you today. I don't want something blowing up tonight just because you didn't use the proper amount of force.
"So you are going to teach us to use our magic today? In one day? Is that possible?" I asked. Sarrow turned her gaze to me. I will not be teaching you everything about your magic. Just what you need to know for tonight. Then from tonight on I will give you magic lessons to help broaden your knowledge of your power. You will also learn from life lessons. None are better than those. All right. Eat your breakfast and then meet me out in the garden. Lessons begin there. With that said, she jumped from my arms and padded out the door towards the garden.
"Wow." I said.
"What?" Justin asked me.
"She is amazing. She is so strong and calm. I don't think I ever could be that calm at all. I wonder how many battles she has seen and fought. Her soldiers must respect her."
"They do." my father said as he walked over and placed a bowl of porridge in front of Justin and me.
"Really?" both Justin and me asked at the same time. Dad nodded and replied, "Yes. They have the most respect for her. No soldier disobeys her. Or talks back to her. Even though she is the only girl in all history of Magix to become a captain. They still have respect for her. She worked hard for that role. Harder than most. Poor thing. She had a hard life before her army pursuit."
"What do you mean dad?" I asked. Justin had his mouth full and couldn't ask any questions.
"That isn't for me to answer. You must ask her when the time is right. All right. Hurry up. She doesn't like to be kept waiting. She is a captain. Has been for the past three years. Also, don't disobey her. She won't like it. She is used to her orders being followed." I ate as fast as I could and then got up and took my dish to the sink. My mother was there, cleaning the dishes from last night. I gave her my dish, kissed her on the cheek and chased after Justin who had already ran out the door. I wondered what my mother had to say about all of this?
Fairo pounded his fist on the table. He had just heard about Sarrow from one of his spies in the area. So she had been able to find the boy, huh? Well, getting back to Magix was not going to be as easy. He was going to make sure of that. He was watching her in his Mirror of Glances, a mirror that could find anyone anywhere and show you what they were doing at that precise moment. He saw her in a garden, still as a cat, with two young boys in front of her. Two boys? Which one was the chosen one? As he watched and pondered on what she was doing, he realized that she was teaching them magic. They both were horrible. At one point even, one of the boys with chocolate brown hair and green eyes, had set Sarrow's tail on fire! Fairo chuckled to himself. The determined look in her gold eyes though shut him up. She would never give up. He could tell.
With a wave of his hand, sound flooded his room with the images. He had been content before with just watching. Now he wanted to know what they were speaking about. Sarrow stared at the boy who had set her tail on fire. "I'm so sorry Sarrow!" the boy yelled at her. Stroking her tail to stop the sparks. He nodded as if she had spoken and then went back to the place where he had stood before. Then again, the boys responded to a unknown command. Sarrow hadn't spoken a single word, and yet they watched her intently. Then his eyes opened wide. She was using mind speech! She knew he would be watching her. Clever, captain. He still listened though to see if he could get anything out of it. An hour later, a woman walked in with a tray of pastries and some lemonade. The boys gulped down the lemonade fiercely and lounged in the chairs situated around the area.
"So Sarrow? When are we doing your national becoming human ceremony again?", the bigger boy with reddish brown hair and hazel eyes said. Fairo could immediately tell that this boy took after the mother and the other, after the father. Then he realized what the boy said exactly. This was exactly what he wanted to hear. So Sarrow was trying to become human again before returning. Well, he would have to stop her. It was time for his second plan to come into action a little early.
"I'm sorry Sarrow", I told Sarrow after I had nearly cindered her tail.
It's fine Caspian. My tail isn't that badly burnt. Anyway, I don't have a tail as a human. So this won't count. And Justin? Be quieter about the plans. I know I am being watched. I don't want to be discovered. All right?
"Yeah. All right. I'll keep quiet. Its hard though when you are being taught about magic!" Justin replied.
Yes, I'm sure it is hard, but you must keep quiet. Our lives are in jeopardy enough as it is. And to answer your first question, we will be performing it at 11:00 pm tonight.
"Cool. So I can wash up! Can we get a break? I'm beat! All this magic using has worn me out!" Justin said as he walked away toward the house.
Getting some rest isn't a bad idea Caspian. You will be worn out by the end of the night. This kind of energy will take up as much energy as you have to give and then more. So it's best if you are fully rested. At that precise moment a scream came from the bathroom. I recognized it as Justin's scream. What had happened? I was about to go check it out when I saw Sarrow's shoulders shaking. She was laughing!
"Why are you laughing?" I asked her.
Because. That prank was meant for you, but I took the risk. Still a good laugh though.
"For me? What was the…" I replied as Justin came storming out of the house with white baby powder smeared across his face and pushed into his hair. I couldn't help it. I started cracking up like Sarrow. "What happened?" I asked in between chuckles.
"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED! I turn on the shower and next thing I know I'm being pelted with baby powder! That's what happened. So which one of you did it? I know it was one of you. Although I do have my guess as to who did it."
"And that would be me wouldn't it?"
"Well you are the most logical answer."
Don't yell at your brother. Because actually I am the one who did it. It was meant for your brother. Not you.
"You did it?" he asked in surprise. "How?"
Magic. We just stared at her after that. How strong was her magic? I guess we would soon find out. Sarrow flicked her tail in gesture for us to follow and we walked to the house. Oh and Justin? she finally said.
"Yeah?"
It's just a hunch, but I think you may want to take a shower and wipe that stuff off. We all started laughing after this. Then we followed her into the house to get ready for tonight.
It was 10:40. Almost time for the ceremony. The sun had set long ago and the owls were out in the yard. The crickets were also chirping to the cool air. Filling the night with a soft cricket lullaby. All of us, except my mom, were in the guest bedroom where the bed had been pulled out into the hallway and a replica of the medallion was drawn on the floor with some paint my dad had found in the closet. My dad, Justin and I were setting candles around the outer circle when Sarrow padded up and asked are we ready? When my dad nodded she leapt over me and into the middle of the circle.
All right all of you. You must do as I tell you. Nothing else. We can't afford to mess up! Now each of you, take a position around the circle. When you do, make sure your shape you three create is a triangle. After that, clasp hands and close your eyes. When you have done this I shall give you your next orders.
We scrambled to do as she said. We each took a spot around the circle. I took a spot right in front while my dad and Justin sat in back. We made sure that we made a triangle and then clasped hands. Once our eyes were closed Sarrow gave her next orders as she promised.
Good. You are doing well so far. Now comes the hard part. I am going to call upon my magic and yours as well. In order for me to use your magic with out you fighting me you must send it out to me. So open your mind and relax. If you feel a tickle across your consciousness its just me. So don't panic. I will say the ancient words of transformation to myself, since it is against the law in my world for people that high ranked officials to know the spell. All right. We begin now!
At that exact moment, the bell struck eleven. Also, I did feel a tickle. I shocked up and blocked my mind. Then I remembered why I was here and opened it again. I could feel her drawing on my magic. It felt like she extracting it like they take blood. I was also glad that I had gotten some sleep. For Sarrow had been right again. I was starting to feel tired. After a few minutes, I felt her draw away and move to my dad next. I wondered how much magic I had given her.
You all are doing very well. I have the magic. You may open your eyes now.
When I did open my eyes I saw that the replica of the medallion we had painted was glowing. The light went unfaltering around the middle where the sun was but the outside ring with the constellations would blink on one for a few minutes and then change to the next symbol. I glanced at the clock and saw that the time read 11:45. It had been 45 minutes already?
Release your hands immediately when I say so. This will give the circle the last oomph. Then I am afraid all you can do is watch. In about 20 minutes time, I should be finished.
We all sat there and waited. We held onto each other's hands tightly. We didn't want anything to go wrong. I could feel my hand starting to sweat. I hoped it was soon that we let go. Then, as if she read my mind, she yelledLet go! In an instant, we all let go and I felt a blast from the power. The blast hit the circle and the radiant glow engulfed the room. Blinding us all. In the middle of it stood Sarrow still as a cat glowing like the sun itself. Now I knew what was next. We waited. I was on my way to go sit on the bed when an arrow zipped past me and imbedded itself in the ground next to my foot. I looked down at it in horror. Someone was shooting at us!
Get down all of you! I heard Sarrow yell. When I didn't do as she asked she flung herself at me, which knocked me over. She hissed at me and then left my side to go to the window.
Come out you devils!! I know you are there! Fairo! If you are out there show yourself!
She was still screeching at the window when the replica in the middle started glowing less and changing it seemed whatever was supposed to be in it. Which Sarrow was supposed to have been in there. My dad yelled at her to look. She hissed in between her teeth and jumped for the center. As she did so the light vanished and so did Sarrow with the replica. A new set of arrows fired on us and we didn't know where they were coming from. The light vanishing had taken the candles as well and so throwing us into black dark.
Then from the back corner of the room I heard a groan. I glanced that direction but couldn't see anything since my eyes had not yet adjusted to the light. I blinked a few times and willed my eyes to see more clearly in this dim light. Eventually, my eyes obeyed and I saw a collapsed figure in that corner. For a second I thought my dad or Justin had been shot by an arrow and needed help, until I saw the long hair. I was startled then. Had one of them made it in? I picked up one of the candles and hoped what I was about to do wasn't going to cinder the whole room. I thought about fire on the wick and instantly a spark shot up and there was light.
I walked carefully over to the stranger. As I looked at the person, I soon found that it was a girl. My heart leaped into my throat then. I knew who this person was. It was Sarrow. She had been transformed back into human form. I put the candle down off to the side and gently shook her. After the first shake her eyes popped open and her gold eyes blazed. She sat upright and stared at me as if she didn't know me. Then remembrance crossed her face and she said, "Are we still under attack?"
"Uh. Yeah. They are still firing on us."
"Shoot. They found me. Get your brother, your dad and yourself out of here. I will deal with this."
"Oh no you wont. We are in this together. If we are going to be captains together, we better start working together." As I said this a fresh stream of arrows flew in. In the back I heard my brother scream and saw an arrow in his shoulder. Sarrow raced to his side and quickly pulled it out. Then she placed her palm over the wound and whispered something I couldn't hear. Her palm glowed and the bleeding stopped. There was still a mark on him that looked like it hurt though.
" That's all I can do for now. I'm weak and so I cant heal right now."
"Sarrow look out!" I yelled to her as a new set of arrows set in. She turned around but not soon enough. An arrow wedged itself into her side and she crumpled with a gasp. After she didn't get back up.
Okay..so that was chapter 2. Sorry for taking so long. technical difficulties! review please!