Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON ONE (Completed!)

Part 5.4

When I've managed to teleport many times without getting icecream thrown at me, Onyx hits me with my next assignment. He wants me to teleport to the Forest of Sorrows. I'll be disguised with charms, of course, in case any of the Mamauri catch a glimpse of me. I grumble and groan about returning to my least favourite of places, but Onyx basically tells me to suck it up and get on with it.

It all happens in a timeless blur. I hurtle past the Crystal Hills to Wyvern's Lake. The lake's energy is like a pool of peace that threatens to slow me down. I plough past, determined. Past Tyfyr House, a slab of tiredness and, surprisingly, hope. Past the warm, sighing energy of meadows.

Then there's the energy of wild horses, like wind whipping through mountain grass. I whizz past, excited by the omnipresent buzz of freedom in the air. In the distance is a patch of darkness and sorrow. I feel my way to that until it envelops my energy like a sobbing miasma.

As always, it's hard to draw my particles back together. Once I'm loose I feel free and natural, like I've returned to the way I'm meant to be. I pull them together anyway, though they fight me.

When the dark leaves of the rainforest slam into my vision, I tumble back, grabbing at a pile of moss.

It doesn't break my fall, in case you're wondering.

I sit there for a while, among a pile of damp rocks, rubbing my temples. When my lungs have had their fair share of rainforest air, I brace myself to dematerialise again, but something catches me off-guard.

It's a low agitated hum, punctuated with frantic mumbling. "He is not here, he is not here. Rikamu knows. Yes, she knows. He is not here."

Rikamu, the heart keeper, is a shadow moving through shadows, back and forth like a broken pendulum.

I could teleport back anyway. I wouldn't feel guilty about it. But if Rikamu was in trouble, I'd like to help her if I can. I didn't leave a very good impression last time, and when it comes down to it she really is just an old woman alone in the forest.

"Rikamu," I call.

Red eyes dart in my direction. "It is her," Rikamu mutters. "She has come back, and he is gone."

"Uh...lost something?"

Rikamu regards me, unblinking. Her arms are still in the air, like wayward branches. "The shadow is here, yes. The soul with many hearts." Her gaze is suddenly sharp. "He is gone," she says, "because of you."

Great. What have I done now?

"Who's escaped?" I demand. "One of your hearts?"

Rikamu shakes her head. Her eyes, like large wet stones, glint a deep red. "You must not go outdoors at night. When the moon blossoms, you must say a prayer to the Light One and hide. For he has returned, and his hunger is endless. Amitabh has returned."

*

You made it back, Onyx says, surprised.

"Ugh," I groan. I suppose he expected me to stuff it up somehow.

Addy reaches out to steady me. "How was it? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," I assure her. I flop down on my bed, exhausted. "I met Rikamu."

"What did she do?"

"Babbled a bit."

Onyx places himself in the most inconvenient spot, on top of my legs. He purrs, content.

"Do any of you know an Amitabh?" I ask.

Addy wrinkles her nose. "I haven't heard of anything like that."

"What about you?" I round on the cat, suspicious. "Who's Amitabh?"

Onyx blinks innocently. I truly do not know, Lily.

He'd better not be lying.

"Amitabh is "gone", according to Rikamu. I thought he was one of her hearts, but she implied he wasn't."

"Poor Rikamu." Addy, of course. "Losing things is so stressful. And to lose a companion! She must be so upset. I wish we could do something to help her."

"If we don't know who Amitabh is, there's nothing we can do," I say. "There is one weird thing. Before I left she gave me a warning. She said to hide at night, that Amitabh's hunger is endless."

"Wow," Addy says. "That doesn't sound good at all, Lily."

"She also said to pray to the Light One?"

I know that one, Onyx pipes up. When the First Witch and I came to this planet a thousand years ago, the people worshipped a god called the Light One. They also believed in his evil counterpart, the Dark One. The belief has waned over the centuries.

"Well, Rikamu is old," I say.

The heart keeper's words form a knot in my stomach. "Amitabh has returned," she'd said, "and his hunger is endless."

She was distressed in a way I've never seen her before. Even when I marched up to the Forbidden Place and threatened to burn it down if she didn't give Queen Irine's heart back, her emotions were measured.

This time she was scared. And if Rikamu was scared, there was something bad coming.