Guardians

Chapter 8: "A New Day"

Dawn found us dodging from shadow to shadow, trying to conceal ourselves from view. I knew that people were starting to awaken, however, and our phoenix friend would certainly attract attention. The phoenix was gradually getting more and more excited, though I had no idea why. I asked my friend about this; he told me that he had been wondering about this as well. I glanced towards the east, and the first pinks of morning were starting to color the skies. I was reminded of home and sighed. The first rays of sun started to pierce through the empty street, and the phoenix gave a sudden cry and met the new light in the middle of the street. I watched in awe, for as the phoenix bathed in the sunlight, tiny sparks of magic shot out from beneath her ruffled feathers. I could only stand and stare as the phoenix suddenly gave out a luminosity of her own. Brighter and brighter she became until I was forced to shield my eyes to keep from being blinded. Finally I could sense that the light coming from the phoenix had disappeared as quickly as it had come. I slowly opened my eyes.

"Wicked..." I heard myself exclaim slowly as my eyes met that of the phoenix: only she wasn't a phoenix any longer. She was human, a little older than me, with wavy brown hair and the familiar golden-brown eyes. The only evidence of her ever being a phoenix bird was two brilliant feathers that had fallen to her feet. She followed my eyes to the crimson feathers that shone golden, and she stooped down quickly and put them away from sight.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you," the girl who had been a phoenix apologized in an accent I recognized as American. "I didn't mean to scare you or something." I struggled dumbly to find a response.

"That's all right. I just..." Here I paused. I didn't want to offend her.

"Didn't know," my friend supplied for me. "Neither did I, even with the Othersight."

"My name's Kari," the phoenix girl said.

"How did you get here, Kari?" my friend asked curiously.

"Well, it's a long story, but I suppose I'll have to start at the beginning," she said, beginning her monologue. "I lived in Chicago. I didn't know I was any different from muggles or even wizards until I turned seven. It's kind of funny how it happened: I was just sitting at my desk (I was going to a muggle school), when I got an itchy feeling all over. I looked down to discover that I was actually sprouting feathers! My teacher, Mrs. Bottles, took one look at me and hurriedly told the class that I was having a severe case of the chicken pox!" We laughed, picturing the event in our minds. Suddenly we heard a crash behind us, and we froze in fear. It had luckily only been a stray cat, who had knocked over a garbage lid. We recognized the warning, however.

"Anyway," Kari said quietly, "I was taken to the nurse's office. I didn't know about magic, much less what was happening to me. The nurse called my parents, they picked me up, and I never went to that school again."

"What happened next?" my friend asked, caught up in the story. I was, too.

"Well, my parents explained to me that they were wizards, and they brought me to a local witch doctor. By this time, my parents told me that I looked like an ash gray bird, and I couldn't speak anymore. The doctor took one look at me and told my parents that I needed to go to the emergency room. Floating me on a stretcher, we were halfway there when I felt a burning sensation. I had burst into flames! My mom fainted and my dad tried to put me out, but I must have blacked out or something. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital, and my mom was feeding me with a spoon. I tried to talk to her, but only a tiny squeak came out. My dad told me that I had burned into ashes and then reborn into a baby bird."

"Wow," I replied in awe. That was all I could say; I was so taken aback. "What happened after that?"

"I grew quickly. Then one day, I suddenly heard a voice in my mind. It was my mom, but her lips weren't moving. She didn't know that she was talking to me through her mind until I tried to talk back. They told me that the doctors couldn't reverse my condition, but she said that turning into a phoenix 'happens' in our family. My grandmother and her grandmother had been phoenixes, I found out. We went to my grandma's house the next day. By this time I had grown into a fully grown, human-sized phoenix.

"My grandma taught me how to change back into human form, and soon I was shifting back and forth with ease. The only thing I needed to change was sunlight. The longer I stayed in darkness, the weaker I would become. That's why I wasn't able to change right away when you found me... Everything went well over the next couple years. I went to the Chicago Academy of Wizardry when I turned eleven, and no one knew I was really a phoenix until..." Kari paused, lost in thought. A tear had sprung unbidden to her eye, and I realized that this must have been when she was discovered and taken captive.

"Until the man came," Kari said again, hastily wiping away the tear. "He... he was doing a routine inspection, he said. He came up and told me that I needed to come with him, that it was about my parents. I didn't know any better; why would I? No one saw me leave in the carriage with him, and I never saw my family again." Now I could see a hint of blinding rage behind her eyes. I was angry as well; how could anyone be so cruel as to take a kid away from her parents just because she was different?

"Keep going, please?" I tried to reassure her.

"Well, there's really not much else to tell. I was sold numerous times to different wizards and even a muggle who wanted to use me in his circus! I was used to show off, haul heavy loads, and even fight in some cases. Then the Brethren purchased me, and I was locked in that cell ever since," she said and paused. "Thanks for rescuing me."

"You're welcome," I replied, and I glanced over at the sun. It had already extended above the horizon. A roar of an engine nearby caught my attention, and I realized that all three of us were still standing in the middle of the street.

"Sorry," my friend apologized to the driver, who commented "stupid capretti" darkly in Italian before driving away. I had a feeling I didn't need a translation to understand what the driver had said to us. "Yeah, you too," my friend mumbled.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked. Kari and my friend glanced at each other.

"Well, do you know anyone who lives in Rome?" Kari commented. I shrugged my shoulders.

"We could try the tourist center, although I doubt that it would be open this early," suggested my friend.

"Let's try to go to the wizarding section of Rome," I said. The others agreed.

"Then it's settled," finalized Kari. "We'll go to Gringotts and trade our money, and then we'll go somewhere to eat because I'm starved! The only problem is the Brethren..." She didn't need to continue; we all knew. It was only a matter of time before the Brethren would catch up with us, and we needed to be ready.