The Missing Tome (MagiCats #1)

Chapter 4: A Magical Meeting

"Silence!"

Four wet, unhappy mages had reluctantly followed Arion's order to move their disagreement indoors. So around a circular conference room in the heart of MagiCastle they sat, watching their leader pace back and forth in its center. They hated terribly the way their Head Mage just up and disappeared on them for weeks without a word. What happened next daresay? The spell book that contained the most powerful spells and secrets in Magi disappeared too. But they hated water-hated rain-hated it even moreso than a stolen spell book (though none would openly admit to it). It frizzed their fur and matted it into a tangle in some places. And frizzed fur was nothing next to listening furthermore to what a likely suspect had to say!

The MagiCats had no issues with openly admitting amongst each other how "coincidental" it had been for the Book of Magis to disappear along with Arion, however. Their mingled voices were like a buzz to his ears, growing louder by the minute. An ever-annoying hum. He needed peace and quiet for a moment, but they had begun to sound just like a locust army.

He hated locusts.

Arion again called for silence in the room. The conversations slowly came to a stop against their best wishes. It was a relief to Arion's ears! (And they couldn't have been more quiet than the portraits of their late Head Mages that hung on the walls if they tried, he thought.)

"We need to figure out a game plan," he said. He'd quit pacing now and turned to face them.

"This isn't a game!" stressed Beau from somewhere in the room.

"Yeah!" the others agreed without hesitation.

Arion sighed as he held up a paw. "I know, I know. We know. It's just a figure of speech-though we do need a plan." As he spoke, behind him a sparkling purple mist had appeared in thin air and was presently shaping itself into a map of their magical land to hover over the linoleum floor. "And I was hoping we could at least go over the best route to take-once we have set up the Location spell, of course. It should be strong enough to guide us to where we need to go, which is, naturally, wherever our thief is camping if she is still within our borders by the time we reach her. Or him," he added at the look Bonnie gave him at the assumption.

"And how do you presume we do this? Casting a Location spell? You forget we are without the Book of Magis, sir."

"Knox-you doubt me. It will work as long as we clear our minds and put aside our disagreements for the time being until it is cast."

"I do not doubt what I know, sir," he said. "I'm sure I speak for all o-"

"Now everyone form a circle around me and take the paws of your neighbors," interrupted Arion.

With a doubtful shrug did Knox follow his order, then soon the others did too. Again it was like they truly did believe Knox' exclamation that it was their Head Mage that had taken the most powerful book of magics for himself, so it wasn't he they listened to, but Knox instead.

Whatever it took to cast this particular spell, was fine by him.

As he watched them form a circle around him so that Arion stood in its center, they sought the paws of their neighbors and held on.

"Now clear your mind of everything except for finding this thief."

And as they did just that he began to meditate himself and after a brief moment, began to rise mere inches from the floor. His robes looked as if they were in a wind, fluttering about to and fro. It was similar to when he had returned from the West Winds, when he had come from the emblem at the statue of Sir Purr's feet. Except this time he wasn't coming up from the ground-he was merely hovering above it instead-and so were his fellow MagiCats-as the twinkling purple mist continued to take the shape of a large map of their lands behind them. Within another moment of meditation they finally lowered to land on their feet, when they then chanced to open their eyes to gaze on the glowing map that now stood before them in its completion.

And the magical staff in Arion's paws.

Bonnie and Regin looked upon this glowing staff and the shimmering paw print statue on its end enveloped in a magical circle with wonder as if they had never seen it before-easily awestruck.

Knox and Beau, however . . . were not so much.

As Arion turned and aimed the head of his glowing staff towards the magical map, it began to shimmer violet with a burst of twinkling white stars.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" inquired Beau skeptically.

Without reply a starry white path lit up on the map that wound through some of the most dangerous parts of Magi.

"It shows that this is the route our thief took-and we will follow it together."

"Wh-"

"Without question. Without doubt. Without hesitation."

Beau huffed. Bonnie giggled at his response.

"I'll go with you," Regin said quietly after some time. He was looking sadly into his MagiBall, still thinking about how much more faith the others had in Knox than himself.

"If Regin is going then so will I," joined Bonnie.

"And where my twin goes, I go," intoned Beau.

Everyone looked to Knox who had yet to speak on his decision.

Finally, he signed. "Fiiiine. I'll go. Just don't say I didn't tell you so."

"We will be taking the same path as our thief, and we will need nothing but the essentials."

"We'll need more magic," mumbled Knox.

"Snacks!" Regin chipped in, a little more cheerful now.

Bonnie and Beau were already wheeling over suitcases that no one knew had been sitting ready. No doubt both were for Bonnie.

"What we will need most importantly," Arion said thoughtfully, "is each other."

"Don't stray from the group or the path lest something terrible happens," Knox offered too happily with folded arms. "May Sir Purr help us."

"Purr purr purr!" Regin chanted.

"Just don't say I didn't tell you so." Knox shook his head at them all.

Arion nodded towards the map once more and held the staff higher in the air. "We will get back our Book of Magis for our predecessors, if not ourselves. We shall leave immediately-we have no more time to lose. It is the most we can do for now."

"For now," mused Knox.