Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON TWO (Ongoing)

Part 3.8

The traffic thins as we move away from the central business district. The chatter of wheels on cement fades into the distance. As we exit Zilitron, the sun begins its slow transformation from a smoky golden ball to a blazing masterpiece. It stays that way while we weave through a smattering of small towns, then turns back into a smoky ball as we reach the city of Kazatron.

It's strange to see a city made of stone and glass. Nothing looks back at you here. Still, Kazatron is its own kind of beauty. Kazza trees brim with shimmering saffron fruits. Above us, flocks of ravleet - parrots native to the northern regions of Kadrea - paint the skyline with moving rainbows.

I've never seen so many ravleet in one place before. I spotted a couple in the Forest of Sorrows, but they were on their own.

"It's the kazza seeds," Maya explains to me when I enquire. "They can't get enough of them."

We hop out of the cart to get a bite to eat. Kazatron is every bit as busy as Zilitron. The honking of carts punctuates a steady background of mercantile chatter. Every shop seems to have given birth to at least two more baby shops that perch on the sidewalk, trying their best not to fall apart. And for every extra shop there is an extra merchant shouting about his wares.

"It's different to Zilitron," Addy observes. "There isn't as much traffic here, but there are definitely as many people."

"You get used to everyone yelling at you to buy something after a while," Maya says. "They don't expect every person who walks by to purchase something. It's a just a way to increase their chances of a sale."

A ravleet swoops from the top of a building and settles into the kazza tree next to us. "Doors close at five!" it shrieks down at us.

Addy gasps. "The birds here can speak?"

They can speak, Onyx sniffs. But they are not intelligent like me.

"They can mimic human speech due to their vocal cord alignment," Maya explains. "They like to repeat certain phrases. As for them not being clever...well, no one can quite match you when it comes to cleverness, Onyx."

"Not clever," the ravleet agrees.

Addy stifles a giggle.

We leave the ravleet squawking about sales and limited stocks. The calls of merchants follow us down the street. Every now and then, ravleets that look suspiciously like the first ravleet that shrieked at us peer at us from between kazza leaves.

There are so many places to eat that it becomes difficult to choose.

"Too many vegetables," Ruby says in response to the first option.

"I don't really feel like fried food," Maya says, eliminating the second option.

There is a bird in that shop, Onyx complains.

There goes our third option.

We finally settle on a cafe serving traditional Kazatron delicacies. I drink in the sight of steaming pies and saffron-coloured cakes. There are tables set with bright orange and pink flowers, baby kazza trees in pots, paintings of mini-hippopotamuses with odd orange markings on their snouts...and the same ravleet.

I narrow my eyes. "Is that ravleet following us?"

Maya spots it too. "They're known to follow humans, but it's usually only when we've fed them." She frowns. "Has anyone been feeding that bird?"

"Not me," Ruby says.

"I don't feed birds," I say.

Humph, says Onyx.

We all turn to look at Addy, who looks like she's about to confess to murder.

"He was hungry," she says.

"Oh Addy," Maya sighs.

"Oh Addy," the ravleet mocks.

The ravleet sticks with us the rest of the day, punctuating our journey with random sayings. Addy figures that now her guilt is out, she can openly feed it kazza seeds.

"Thank you for shopping with us," it tells her.

We're on our way back to the cart when Addy's communications monitor buzzes. It's Prince Marsi.

"Lady Addy," he booms, at a volume that sends several ravleet flapping into the sky. "What a sight for itching and irritated eyes! You are a sight to behold, even in casual wear. How has the journey treated you thus far?"

"It was a nice drive," Addy tells him. "I made friends with a very colourful bird. That's him there in the tree with the orangey-yellowey fruit. Did you know the birds here can talk? He's been following -"

"Hey Marsi," Ruby butts in, pushing Addy out of the way. "Do you know anything about skreevar?"

Prince Marsi winces. "Ah, hello Miss Ruby. No, I do not know anything about skeevo. Is that a Kadrean dessert?"

"Useless," Ruby mutters.

"Useless!" the ravleet cackles.

Maya takes the monitor from Ruby. "I'm sorry about that, Your Highness. Here, Addy."

Addy gets her monitor back.

"I have spoken to your mother," Prince Marsi begins.

Just like that, Addy, who had regained her bubble and bounce, deflates. "Oh," she says in a small voice.

Anger rears up within me. Queen Irine has sucked the happiness right out of her daughter. Who gave her the right to do that? Black butterflies paint my vision. I take a deep breath and let it out again. The butterflies linger a little longer, but eventually fade.

"She has suggested we take a trip to Snowman's Hill next week," Prince Marsi continues. "She knows how much you like the snow. It would be only the two of us, basking in the snowlight."

"That sounds great," Addy says weakly.

She is attempting to send Adamantine away, Onyx tells me.

I know, I respond. I don't see the point. She can't get Addy to stay in Snowman's Hill forever.

Onyx doesn't answer me. I figure he's decided to glare at the ravleet again, but he stills, charcoal eyes fixed on a world beyond ours.

Lily, he says quietly.

Maya has noticed Onyx's behaviour too. "What is it, Onyx? Are you still hungry?"

Onyx addresses all of us. It is the Orb of Phaedra. I can no longer sense its energy.

Maya frowns.

Addy looks worried.

I put my head in my hands.

"For the love of Zilitron," the ravleet moans.