Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON TWO (Ongoing)

Part 3.12

"Do you use fire quartz?" I ask Celine. I remember Addy's people preferred not to use the stone.

"We do not believe fire quartz was meant for us," Celine replies.

"It came to us the night of the meteor shower." Emrys's milky eyes find mine again. "it does not belong here. It belongs to someone else, someone far, far away." He pauses. "We have our own legends about the meteor shower. Our legends say that a girl with purple hair fell with the fire quartz. They say she returns to us over and over again, to punish us."

A chill sweeps through me. A night sewn with glittering stones, and a girl with a heart made of dreams. A punishment , lived and re-lived, with no end.

Nowadays there are black butterflies in that night, and that night is my day.

Maya watches my face with concern. I give her a thumbs-up sign to assure her I'm okay.

There's a sudden clattering of wood.

"I want to give it to them!"

"You did it last time - don't be greedy!"

Two white-haired children, a girl and a boy, pop up in front of us. They're holding a steaming cauldron each.

"Greedy people don't go to Illyria," the girl tells the boy.

"Where do greedy people go then?" Addy asks, as the girl hands her one of the cauldrons.

The boy shrugs. "I don't know. Not Illyria! But I'm not greedy. It was my turn last time, but Penlin ruined it by bumping into me. I spilled all the stew because of her!"

"A turn's a turn," the girl argues. Her velvet eyes flash with stubborn anger.

Celine takes the second cauldron, hands it to Ruby, then ruffles the children's hair. "Come now," she purrs. "There isn't any fighting in Illyria. You may as well practice for it."

Her affection turns the children sheepish. They scramble back to where a woman in coral headdress stirs a big black cauldron bubbling over a fire, and return to us with more little cauldrons of stew. Emrys takes his cauldron and sips from it slowly. Despite the warmth flooding his cheeks, his milky red eyes remain unsettled.

Celine addresses the rest of us. "This stew is brewed from the leaves of the kaira bush. I was tending to them when you arrived. As your noses have most likely told you, they have strong aromatic properties when boiled. Their taste is a s vigorous as their scent."

"I thought you didn't harm living things," Ruby accuses. She points down at her stew. "How many plants died for this?"

"We must nourish ourselves, but we only take what we need," Celine explains. "In return for their gifts, we nourish the kaira with water from the valley's streams, make sure that they are enjoying the perfect balance of sun and shade, and tend to them when they're injured."

"You're just fattening them up so you can eat them later," Ruby says.

Celine laughs merrily. "We sustain the kaira, and it sustains us. We make sure that they grow happily. We do not put buildings on top of them."

Did this smiley girl just take a swipe at us? Honestly, if she's managed to silence Ruby, she can keep the victory.

The stew isn't half bad. Every sip tickles my tongue with something that could be pepper, but there's also something fresh to it, like cucumber or mint.

Addy giggles as Onyx dunks his head into her cauldron, spraying stew everywhere. "Thank you for this, Celine, Emrys. Really, you didn't have to."

Celine beams. "Nonsense. It is our custom to feed all visitors. Our only regret was that we did not have appropriate food for the cattus...but I see he is not averse to human food."

"Onyx is a special cat," Addy tells her. She tickles him under the chin.

Onyx eventually pulls his head out of the cauldron. Licking the stew off his fur, he says, I am going outside for a moment. He glares at all of us. If anyone takes my cushion, I shall scratch them upon my return.

"Don't be bullying any ravleet," I grumble as he trots away.

When our stew is finished, Celine offers to show us around the settlement some more. Addy, Ruby and Maya take up the offer, but I make an excuse about being tired so I can stay behind.

Emrys's milky orbs watch me as I watch him. The peach squares of his robes shimmer into a brooding lilac. "You will enjoy the rainbow stew we are serving for dinner," he tells me. The lilac becomes mint. "The leaves of the rainbow cotton plant are very nutritious. There will be singing and dancing afterwards."

I lock onto those red eyes of his. "We can't stay that long."

He shifts on his shasha cushion. "You seek the forest tonight?"

"We're pressed for time."

Emrys holds my gaze. "You must not go into the forest tonight. Something is not right there."

My eyebrows knit into a frown. "One of the forest creatures attacked recently."

"That is correct. The skreevar do not attack unless they are disturbed."

If he's thinking that I have something to do with this disturbance, he's not wrong. An angry alien and his pet demon are enough to make anyone irritable.

"How is the victim?" I hope I'm coming across as sensitive. I don't want to "Ruby" this up.

Emrys sighs. "The skreevar left him alive, but his injuries are severe. He will depart for Illyria soon. The afterlife," he explains, seeing the question in my eyes.

Well, that isn't going to happen. No one else is going to die because of me. I've already caused Bronna's death. Hundreds of years ago, my past self set into motion the series of events that would lead to Lima's death. Queen Irine's words sit in my gut like a cold, hard stone. That girl is the Dark Witch.

I'll find the Laran victim and heal him. Because enough is enough.

"We'll stay for dinner," I say. "We won't go into the forest tonight. We can discuss things tomorrow morning."

Oh, it's a lie.

Maybe he knows that, and that's why his milky eyes sharpen for a split moment. Maybe it's why the smile he gives me is as cold as leftover stew. Maybe he doesn't trust the girl who fell from the sky. Maybe he shouldn't.

My lies are velvet, just like his eyes, and my fingers are forever stained.