Darkness Rising: Book One of The Catmage Chronicles

Three: The Search Begins

"So how are we going to find this Nafshi, anyway?" Andy said, leaning back in the chair. He picked up a ball from the floor next to him and started tossing it up in the air and catching it.

"You're going to come with me today as I go to where we think Nafshi's been taken. I want to scout the area during the day. If we find anything, I'll go back tonight."

"I can't go tonight," Andy said. "It's Parents Night at the school. Anyway, I have a curfew on school nights. My mom wouldn't let me go."

"You weren't asked," Goldeneyes said. "I said I will go back tonight. Andrew, you need to pay close attention to what I say. And stop playing with that ball!" The gem on her collar glowed, and the ball flew across the room as if it had been hit with an invisible bat, bounced off the wall, and rolled into the corner.

"Sorry," Andy said sheepishly. "It helps me focus. I'm still trying to get used to talking to a cat." He sat on the edge of the chair and peered over at Goldeneyes. "What is that thing on your collar, anyway? You called it a Magelight? How come you're wearing a collar at all? You don't belong to anyone, so why do you need it?"

"The reason we wear collars dates all the way back to the first Catmage," Goldeneyes said. "And our history is entwined with yours."

"Mine?" Andy asked, surprised.

"Your people," she said.

"Oh. Um—could you tell me about it, or is it a big secret?"

"I will tell you," she said, pleased by Andy's interest. "Thousands of years ago," Goldeneyes continued, "your ancestors were strangers in a land not their own. At first, your people were simply escaping famine. They went where the One Above Us All sent them."

"Who's the One Above Us All? Do you mean God?"

"Yes. Your people went to Egypt. There they stayed, but they never became a part of that nation. But while they were there, your ancestors met my forebears, who lived among them as companions."

"You mean pets?" Andy asked.

"Companions," Goldeneyes said icily. "Many years after your ancestors first arrived in the country, the Egyptians made them slaves."

"I know that story!" Andy said, leaning forward. "It's the story of Passover. I've known about that since I was a little kid!"

"It is also the story of the Catmages." Her ears twitched. "If you will be silent, Andrew, I will tell you the tale as it was told to me as a kitten." She waited until he had settled back into the chair.

"If you know the story, then you know that the Hebrew slaves demanded their freedom of the Pharaoh of Egypt. You know the story of the plagues, and how Pharaoh refused Moses time and again. The last time he refused, God sent the Angel of Death to take the Egyptians' firstborn sons. The Hebrew slaves were all directed to mark their doors so that the angel would not take their sons."

"Yeah, they marked the doors with lamb's blood," Andy said.

"You do know the story," Goldeneyes said with approval. "But you don't know the whole tale. The ancestor of the Catmages lived with the woman we call the Great Mother, whom you know as Miriam, Moses' sister. On the night of the Passover, they say, most of the household spent the night awake together, fearing to sleep. Miriam's grandson, the firstborn in his family, was just a babe, not even walking yet. He fell asleep in a corner, and the family soon forgot about him. Some time later, the boy awoke. He started crawling towards the door. No one in the family noticed, but Miriam's cat saw him. The First started meowing. No one paid attention. She meowed again and again, louder and louder, running back and forth between the family and the baby, until finally Miriam looked over to see why the First was making such a fuss. Then Miriam saw the danger her grandson was in and hurried across the room. She stopped him just as he was about to reach the door, saving his life, for if he had left the protection of the sign over the lintel, the Angel of Death would have taken him, too.