It was rare that any of the kids ever went to the edge of the forest. Though it was lanky and lacking density, it spread out far and wide. Making it out of the forest took hours, maybe about half a day or more.

Yongguk followed the smoke the same way a more experienced traveler followed a star or a river. Whatever fire had caused it, had been put out for a good chunk of their journey and then towards the end, relit in the darkness. He had pinpointed its source and headed that way with doggedness.

One reason why Yongguk picked these boys as his back-up was the way they moved in silence. Not just with closed, focused mouths, but the balls of their feet pressed into the ground like the checking of a man’s pulse. The movement was slight, soft, almost non-existent.

Reaching the last bit of shadow, none of them took a step into the vast shrubland before them. The tuffs of plant life and dry, cracked soil stretched into the distance, cutting across a sheet of black sky.

“Someone’s there,” Mak whispered.

The others were slightly taken aback, simply for the reason that none of them had spoken for so long.

About 50 paces out stood a camp. Five figures had built a shelter of sticks and tied together animal skins. They burned a small fire while dancing, laughing, and singing.

“I think they’re our age,” Jongup said quietly with his voice lingering in between excitement and seriousness.

All the boys leaned forward, squinting their eyes to see the five other teens more clearly. If they held their breaths, they could vaguely hear them too.

“Another song, Sandeul!” The tallest boy at the camp requested.

The one named Sandeul nodded and began loudly singing, “When the breeze is warm

And the moon shines bright on a night quite like this

They say the stars are her eyes and the earth her palm

And the wind is Jigu’s kiss.”

The other four boys clapped. Sandeul bowed before tapping a pretty boy on the shoulder and saying, “You should bring out the instrument you have, big brother Jinyoung!”

“Unfortunately, I have broken it,” Jinyoung replied, pulling out a stringed wooden instrument from a pack. “I need a new string,” he explained, looking to a member of their troupe who appeared to be quite bothered.

“What’s wrong, Gongchan?” Sandeul asked, the merriment dying down.

“I smell something,” the bothered one said. “I think someone’s there.”

“Where?” the tallest boy inquired, lighting a fire in his hand with the flick of his fingers.

Sandeul followed suit but instead softly crackling strikes of lightning rippled between his palms.

“In the woods,” the fifth boy answered casually as he stood and looked towards the forest. “I can go check it out.”

After suggesting this, the boy raised his hand, a large chunk of Earth rising along with the movement.

“No, Baro, stay here. Our little brother will go,” Jinyoung said as he eyed the wooded area worriedly.

Gongchan nodded before running out towards the wilds. During his sprint his arms bent and legs cracked, becoming shorter, but leaner. His head flattened and stretched as his entire body grew a thick black fur. Eyes that were once big and dark had thinned out, becoming yellow and concentrated. He had completely and totally transformed into a powerful, rushing dog.

The dog tilted its head back to give a howl with an unknown purpose. Was it a warning or a call of freedom?

Through the foliage and their already blown cover, Yongguk pushed on his friends’ backs. He bellowed for them to run. These wandering boys were casters. They were dangerous. Dongwoo, Jongup, and Mak stood frozen - shocked. They had never seen the magic of a caster before and could hardly believe what they had just witnessed. Jeong and Himchan however, had already begun their sprint back to camp. Though neither of them had seen magic, they were more frightened than fascinated by someone who could command lightning in their hands or someone who could become a deadly animal will.

Eventually, they were all running with the youngest and quickest, Jeong in the lead.

“Not to the camp!” Yongguk shouted, resisting peeking back to see where the dog was in its pursuit. “Don’t lead it to the others!”

Jeong made a sharp turn left and Yongguk decidedly split from him, tearing right. With last second thinking, he grabbed onto a low branch and proceeded up the tree with experienced speed. Once he felt he had reached far enough into the tree’s relatively bare branches, he glanced around to see Himchan and Jongup had also made a climb, both squatting with unsheathed swords. Dongwoo shimmied up a weak-looking birch.

The swift Jeong was already out of sight, his placement marked by the faint rustling of far off plant life. Yongguk breathed heavily and wiped heavy, dirty sweat from his forehead.

A rapid crunching of leaves and loud panting signaled that the dog was in the forest and nearby. Yongguk spotted the mass of dark fur bobbling about on the ground in the distance. He held his breath. The dog could be heard sniffing and huffing before its head snapped in their direction. It bounded over in joyful leaps, stopping in front of Jongup and Himchan’s tree and barking. After putting its nose to the air, it hurried over to Dongwoo’s tree and bayed for its associates. Then, it froze in place with its tail rigid and ears at attention. Expertly silent, the dog pulled its shoulders taut while bringing down its head and lifting its bottom up.

Everything felt so incredibly still that Yongguk had to watch the rolling of his fingers to check that reality had not paused itself.

The dog then suddenly pounced into a bundle of bushes. It had easily cleared several feet in doing so, shocking all who had witnessed the action. Mak let out a cry of fear as the massive body landed atop of him.

“Please don’t eat me!” he begged. “Please don’t eat me!”

The dog seemed to be laughing as it Mak’s face happily and wagged its tail. Regardless of the friendly behavior, Mak continued to scream. Slowly becoming more aware of the situation, Dongwoo let himself slide down the trunk of the tree and observe the dog more closely.

He approached slowly yet was still noticed, earning an equally warm greeting from the dog. He hadn’t heard wrong. The animal was laughing.