Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON TWO (Ongoing)

Part 4.3

"Queen...Irine?"

No, that couldn't be right. Queen Irine is Addy's mother. Addy's mother couldn't have plotted with Scion to destroy the world.

I scowl at Onyx. "Why are you pointing your finger at that lunatic all of a sudden? She's a pain, and listening to her speak is like swallowing sharpened fire quartz, but she's human, Onyx. How would she even meet Scion? Why would she want her own planet destroyed?"

I do not think she wants the planet destroyed, Onyx answers. I believe her reasons to be more personal.

"You think she'd help destroy the world just to one-up me." I roll my eyes at the cat, who has the audacity to curl up into a little furry ball in response. "She hates me that much, huh? She really cares about the world that little."

Onyx fixes half-opened eyes on me. A world of black peers out at me from between his eyelashes. There is one thing she loves more than the world.

Addy, I realise. He's talking about Addy. My mind goes back to the conversation I overheard back at Witch Doctors Inc. Queen Irine wanted Addy away from me. She blamed me for Lima's death. That girl is the Dark Witch, she'd said.

But surely, she wouldn't go that far. Surely she wouldn't put the world at risk to save Addy. Addy was part of the world. Without it, there was no Addy, and no Irine. Surely she knew that.

Queen Irine blames you for much of her own troubles, Onyx says, and much of the world's troubles. She believes that Adamantine will only be safe once you are gone. Scion is her best chance of getting rid of you.

"With the demon - King Dionysus, or whatever his name is - out, the Ariadni will find us. Even if Irine knew the demon didn't want to destroy the planet, I'm sure she understands the threat an alien army poses to us. Without the world, there is no Addy."

Without Addy, there is no world.

His words sit heavy in my chest. Without Addy, there is no world. Is that what Queen Irine thought? Did she love Addy more than the world?

"This is crazy," I mutter. "How do I know you're not lying? You've been pretending to be a cat this whole time."

Onyx huffs. I am not pretending to be anything. I have been a cat for a thousand years. This is my preferred form now.

"Whatever. How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Onyx sighs. It is quite insulting, he says, that you find it harder to believe that Queen Irine is the traitor than that I am the traitor. If you want proof, switch to energy-sensing. Queen Irine is here in the Laran Valley.

My mouth falls open.

Direct your mind east, to the Laran village beside the large boulder. The boulder will feel like burning stone.

My mind flies over the forest, east towards the village Onyx mentioned. The human energy here is slow, stilted. Injured. Physically or emotionally, I can't tell. The energy moves like it wants to stop, but can't. And in the middle of it all is an energy signature I know all too well. I've sensed this energy, with an without a heart.

I yank myself back to the illyrite cave.

"She's injured," I say.

Onyx closes his eyes. Yes. A skreevar tore out the inside of her right arm.

"We have to tell Addy."

Onyx is silent.

"Onyx, we have to tell Addy! Her mother's injured, and it sounds bad. The Larans don't use fire quartz. If we don't get her to Zilitron, she could succumb to infection."