The Wizards' War The Chronicles of the Midlands Book Two

Chapter 16

They went down the path between the dunes and reached the house and Brandon knocked on the door and within moments, a young man about Brandon's age opened it. He was short with brown hair and brown eyes and wore a pair of black rimmed glasses and was dressed in normal clothing, wearing a black shirt and a black pair of pants and a comfortable pair of black loafers. "Are you the wizard, Darygin?"Brandon asked as a cat appeared at the man's feet and began yowling at Brandon and Celine.

"I am. What can I do for you?" he asked, eyeing Celine appreciatively as another cat appeared which also began yowling at them.

"We've lost our cat and need something to help us find her," Brandon told him with an anxious look on his face.

"Yes, she's been gone for nearly a week and we're worried about her," Celine explained, trying to look distressed.

"Well, come in! Come in!" Darygin said as he walked inside and motioned for them to follow him and when they entered, they saw that the room was occupied by a myriad of cats in various colors and they were each sitting on a chair and that Darygin had nearly filled the entire room with cats sitting on chairs so that there was no empty space left.

The two cats which had come to the door, hurried back to their chairs still yowling and as soon as the other cats realized that there were guests, they also began to mournfully yowl and the yowling was so loud that it was impossible to speak and be heard. So, Darygin motioned for them to follow him and he lead them through a doorway and into his work area, shutting the door behind him.

His work area was also similar to those of Merton and Falkyr as there were a lot of beakers and bottles on the shelves and on the worktable. But, where the other wizards' work areas had been messy and haphazard, Darygin's was neat and organized and even the books had been arranged in alphabetical order in a bookcase.

"So, you have a cat which has disappeared," Darygin stated as he sat down on a stool. "Was she mistreated?" he asked as he gave Celine an appraising look, his eyes resting on her iridescent braid which was catching the light that was streaming in through the window beside them.

"No, we love Fluffy! We would never mistreat her!" Brandon quickly answered as he put his arm around Celine's shoulders seeing how Darygin was looking at her.

"Then why has she left? Did you feed her and give her water? Or did you occasionally forget?" Darygin asked as he looked accusingly at Brandon.

"No, we never forgot to feed to her or give her water. She just disappeared," Celine answered sadly.

"Did you give her catnip toys and provide her with something to scratch on? Cats adore those things," Darygin explained as he continued to look at Celine.

"We did," Brandon said as he held Celine possessively.

"She would make a beautiful and unique cat with her unusual colored hair," Darygin commented as he got up and went over to a shelf and brought down a box which he opened and he took out what appeared to be a cat's toy shaped like a mouse which he set on the table before placing the box back up on the shelf.