"You're not wrong." Hanako says. "Far as I can tell, the creatures are just extensions of the Witch's will. Automata, really-er, you know, mindless and set on one specific path."<em>And isn't it just our luck that they try to corrupt us while breaking everything else.</em>She said along the mental network. "Anyway, the sooner we can talk to the dragon, the sooner we can deal with the Witch and set things right. Maybe off the catgirl while we're at it-the less familiars running around, the better." Unlike Lily, she wasn't entirely confused-she had read enough books to mentally stack Candyland, Narnia, and Dragonriders of Pern all on top of each other to explain their location.