Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON ONE (Completed!)

Part 6.11

LILY

Though I slept under the stars, I feel like I've been buried deep in the earth. Tiredness clings to my skin like an old gown.

I splash water over my face. My green eyes are lukewarm, lacking their usual bite. It's obvious I'm not ready to bring the world to its knees. I hate doing nothing, but I have no choice. I need strength.

A twig cracks behind me. I raise my hand to swipe the woodland creature away, but my arm freezes in mid-air.

The black cat watches me warily. Its obsidian eyes are emotionless.

"Hello, Onyx," I say.

The cat cocks its head. Bethany?

"Take another guess."

He studies my appearance - the Dark Witch's appearance - and dips his head with understanding. So it is you, Lily.

"Where is she?" I demand, not bothering to use names.

Onyx understands me. Adamantine wanted to come, but a strong sleep charm took care of her. She will not be bothering us.

"Good," I tell him. "Why are you bothering me then?"

Onyx doesn't answer. Instead he looks around, taking in the trees with their star-speckled branches, and the rock that rises above them all, silent and dusk-stained. Do you remember coming here to talk and watch the stars? We learned day by day about this planet's people. Even the flora and fauna fascinated us, though you were more in awe than I was.

I do remember. Somewhere past the forest's edge was the village where I lived with Arti and his wife Marta. It's an abandoned plain of weeds and wildflowers now. There's nothing to say a village had once been there.

We used to reminisce about Phaedra, Onyx continues. You held out hope that it had survived somehow, at first. You dreamed that we would go home one day.

The memory stirs something inside me. I clench my fist. "I don't see what that has to do with anything," I clap back. "Why are you here?"

Onyx's gaze is solemn. I have come to take you to the Forest of Sorrows.

The laugh bursts out of my throat. I can't help it. This cat is hilarious. "You expect me," I wheeze, "to take your paw and let you walk me to my doom?"

Onyx blinks. You are laughing.

"Of course I'm laughing. What did you expect me to do about such a stupid offer?"

The Dark Witch did not laugh about such things.

I frown, suddenly irritated. The emeralds on my dress glint coldly, like lizard eyes. "I'm not letting you take me anywhere."

I did not think you would.

The energy around Onyx shimmers. Trees blur together as his cat form shifts and stretches.

I smile.

A large black panther stands before me. It's a few feet taller than me, with a sturdy build and muscled limbs. Serrated spikes made of sapphire run the length of its back, culminating in a diamond-shaped stone at the end of its tail. Its eyes are black and hollow, lit only by the flicker of pale blue ice-fire. Where its paws touch the ground, mist rises from the earth, coating its fur in a frozen twinkle.

"This brings back memories."

This is how he looked when I first found him on Phaedra, albeit slightly smaller and unsure of himself. I taught him everything he knew.