Burn into ashes.

Eunbi couldn’t help but remember the suffocating smoke that clouded her mind, screams of agony resounding from every part of the burning village. Charred bodies that were scattered everywhere with the heat searing her, but all she could think of then was finding her.

Her gaze fell onto Yerin who looked as impassive as ever. Eunbi wondered if she was thinking of their past as well at the mention of burning villages. The day she lost her humanity because of Eunbi’s desperateness to hold onto her.

“I didn’t ask for this, Eunbi. I don’t want to be alive as this creature!”

She swallowed dryly as the echoes of Yerin’s anguished words faded away, returning her attention to Eunha.

“A single cult wouldn’t be able to get a whole village to join them in their worshipping,” Yuna spoke dubiously. “How is this conversion supposed to take place?”

“It differs from village to village,” Eunha took another look at the parchment, scanning through the scribbled words. “I don’t have enough details to go off here, but the Crescent cult usually first weakens the minds of the villagers to become more influenceable and then slowly force their beliefs onto them. But this process is delicate. The moment one person snaps out of their spell. it could ruin the whole indoctrination.”

“So they just decide to kill a whole village just because they failed to get everyone to join?” Sojung questioned.

“To cover up their tracks, yes. It’s why you have never heard of the Crescent cult before.”

“That’s insane,” Yewon shook her head, appalled.

“It sounds exactly like what a cult would do,” Eunbi grimaced. Cults reminded her of witches that belonged to covens desperately seeking for familiars for their own gain. Irrational, hateful, and delusional. People who were blind to the truth. She had her fair share of encounters with them. “And you were part of this cult? Because of your bond with the Red Witch?”

“Not by choice,” Eunha quietly admitted. “It’s why I’m running. I want to make things right.”

“Running wouldn’t fix the problems this cult is causing,” Sojung’s blunt words drew everyone’s attention. Eunbi frowned. She could feel Sojung’s emotions thanks to their bond and she couldn’t understand why she felt guilt and sympathy from her. “It won’t save the lives of those people.”

Eunha flinched, her eyes narrowing. “Trust me, that cult won’t be able to do much without me.”

“Say that’s true. They’re still going after people, are they not?”

“What’s your point?” The wolf familiar jerked her head up, her whole posture defensive. Eunbi wanted to know too. Sojung was being oddly confrontational towards her, her tone biting rather than her typical aloofness.

“Stay and fight against them,” Sojung said even as all of them looked at her in surprise. “Stop them from taking over that village.”

“I...You want me to stay?” Eunha asked incredulously.

“You want her to stay?” Yuna echoed with the same disbelief.

“I’m not going to stand here and just watch as they take over all the villages in this land,” Eunbi quickly realised how serious Sojung was about this. Truth to be told, it wasn’t out of character for her to decide to stand up against the cult. She may be aloof and someone who preferred isolation, but she never ignored people who genuinely needed help. Case in point, her helping Eunha. “You know about them. I want you to stay and help get rid of them.”

“I agree with Sojung as well,” Yewon, who had been observing the whole conversation, finally voiced her thoughts. “They have already set their sights on the merchant village. Sooner or later, this Crescent cult would encroach upon all the villages here"

"Like a pest," Yuna scowled, displeased with the idea of those humans corrupting the peace they had for past years.

"I...I can't go back to that cult, no matter what," Eunha crossed her arms and she looked so much smaller and afraid. The confident stature she bore earlier was long gone, replaced by her uncertainness. "I don't know if I can go against them."

"We can protect you from them," Sojung declared. "As we said earlier, Yuna's forest is impenetrable and safe. The likes of them aren't coming in here anytime soon. Besides, helping us to destroy that cult benefits you, doesn't it? You don't have to keep running with them gone."

"You'll have to kill their leader to fully dismantle the Crescent cult," Eunha bit her lip in apprehension. "My witch."

"You still haven't told us who she is."

"I can't."

Eunbi paused, realising what exactly was holding the other familiar back. "Because of your contract?"

The familiar bond that tied them to a witch was like a magical contract of sorts, an unbreakable oath sworn by both parties. The terms set would have to be followed strictly by both the witch and familiar involved, with devastating consequences should it be broken. The typical consequence would be death should one of them go against an agreed rule.

This contract also stipulated the length of time a familiar would be bonded to the witch. Most familiars would push for a shorter bond period unless they were confident they wanted to be bonded to that particular witch.

A nod. "I can't reveal who she is, not even a hint, or it would be against my contract."

"That's...restrictive," Eunbi mumbled. "And you agreed to that?"

Eunha smiled bitterly. "It was a desperate time back then."

Again with her mysterious past. Eunbi was intrigued. She hadn't met many other familiars apart from a select few from Sojung's connections and frankly speaking she was dying to know more about Eunha's life.

"I need some time to think about this," Eunha sighed. "I'll stay till I can give you my answer to whether I'll help you or not...if you would let me."

All heads turned to Yuna, who blinked at the sudden focus on her. She straightened her posture and glared at Eunha. "I'm not happy about this, but as long as someone keeps watch over her, she can stay."

"That's settled then," Sojung concluded. "Eunbi can keep an eye on her. Yerin too, since she still needs to rest in the healing chamber."

"I'm fine now though," The vampire who had remained silent for almost the whole conversation spoke from the bed. Her previous paleness had diminished and her skin was back to its usual healthy fairness. It was like she never got stabbed by a cursed dagger in the first place.

"It would be better if you could stay here for observation until I'm sure that all complications are gone," Yewon gently requested of Yerin, who was disgruntled but acceded to her.

Staying to watch over Eunha wasn't an issue to Eunbi. She saw it as an opportunity to bond with the other familiar and learn of her deeply-veiled secrets. And it definitely wasn't also because Yerin would be in the same room.

"And this is the dining room."

Eunha wondered how she ended up here, in an obnoxiously large mansion filled with three witches, a cat familiar who followed her around almost 24/7, a vampire whose presence was like a ghost and given a tour by one of the said witches. It had been two days since Eunha was offered to stay with them, and she was finally deemed healthy enough by Yewon to leave the healing chamber.

Sojung had offered to give her a tour of their place then, and when Eunha asked why, the witch merely said it was to let her be more familiar and comfortable with their land if she chose to stay.

She stared at the long dining table that stretched across the length of the entire room with a fancy chandelier hanging above. "Exactly how many people live here?" She couldn't help but ask. She only met five inhabitants thus far, but surely there should be more if they needed such a huge dining space.

Sojung waved a dismissive hand. "It's just us five. This wasn't placed here by us, the previous occupants did."

"Previous occupants?" Eunha echoed. "I assumed that you guys were the ones who built this place."

"It was established by a group of witches a long time ago and abandoned because of well, some complications," The black-haired witch led her out of their dining room back into the hallways. "Demon complications. We cleared the mansion and made it our home."

She hummed in understanding, following Sojung down the stairs to the first floor. It wasn't common, but witches who dabbled too much into dark magic often lost themselves and inevitably ended up consumed in corruption, transforming into grotesque dark-magic fueled creatures called Ghouls that roamed the lands. Eunha was glad she hadn't encountered one before, merely overhearing stories of these abominations.

"You, Yewon, and Yuna...were you all from the same coven?" She was intrigued by the group. Eunha's own experience of covens thus far was that they were a highly regulated hierarchy of witches, where there was a leader followed by her seconds and so on with the lowest being witches with low magical power.

Some were traditional and allowed only family into the coven, while others took in anyone with potential and loyalty. In a world where humans sought to rid the existence of magical beings, strength in numbers was crucial.

Sojung had the aura of a coven leader, yet it was strange how it seemed to consist of only two other witches, one bonded familiar and a vampire who didn't seem to follow anyone.

Vampires were turned by witches in a ritual that breathed back life into their bodies, living on stolen time. In return, they were bound to serve the witch that turned them without the luxury of contract terms like familiars had. Yerin, however, seemed to not be restrained by the so-called unbreakable ritual's compulsion. Eunha had seen firsthand how she had argued and went against all three witches about whether she could leave the healing chamber.

"No, none of us came from the same coven," Sojung threw open the doors and stepped out into the courtyard, finally letting Eunha see how the exterior of their house looked like. "To put it simply, Yewon and Yuna practically grew up together and came to this forest. I met Eunbi and subsequently Yerin, stumbled upon Yewon and Yuna, and we decided to live together here."

"We aren't exactly a coven, but we stick together," Sojung was being vague, but Eunha wasn't surprised. She hardly expected the witch to spill her entire life story in one go.

Eunha took in the wide spacious area, relaxing at the sight of densely packed trees and the echoes of forest wildlife. She itched to run in the vast greenery, to feel the moist soil against her skin and the warmth of the sun.

Her longing eyes must have given herself away to Sojung, who tilted her head questioningly at her.

"Would you like to shift? It's near impossible for me to give you a tour of the whole forest, but I could show you some notable areas and you could explore around in your wolf form," she offered, "Eunbi gets pent up when she doesn't get to shift often. I guess you feel the same way."

"I would appreciate that," Eunha shyly agreed. It would be her first time shifting around them and it felt strange to do so. Shifting to wolves wasn't common even among familiars. The more common types were cats, dogs, birds, and even rabbit forms with the rarer ones being "stronger" creatures like wolves or panthers or even a dragon. Familiars who could shift to rarer forms were often sought by witches, but usually, it was unwanted attention that brought more harm than good.

With Sojung's go ahead, Eunha allowed herself to shift to her wolf counterpart, the familiar magic encompassing her warmly as she changed. The soles of her paws touched the solid ground, feeling the rough surface much more keenly without the barriers of her clothing. A sense of rightness settled within her as she took tentative steps, giddy at the prospect of being able to run. This was still an unfamiliar territory and she was a guest, thus she first looked at Sojung to gauge her reaction.

"White...just like...," The witch mumbled under her breath but her sharp hearing as a wolf caught it easily. Eunha knew she was referring to her white coat of fur that probably stood out like a sore thumb anywhere she went. She didn't quite get who Sojung was likening her to for she never finished her sentence.

"Let's go, I'll show you more of what's outside the house before we head into the forest," Sojung recomposed herself, briskly walking away. Eunha caught up to her within a few steps, her heightened senses taking in the variety of sounds, scents, and sights she could reach.

Sojung first brought her to the stables, which wasn't a wise idea considering how her threatening large wolf form traumatised all but one strange horse. Eunha could still hear the ringing of the horses' shrill neighing in her ears as they left the enclosure hurriedly.

"That was a mistake," Sojung grumbled in annoyance, leading her away from the ruckus. "Should have known the horses would have reacted that way. Eunbi almost scared them to death as well."

'Your horses got scared by a cat?' Eunha thought, wanting to ask but Sojung wouldn't be able to understand her words when she is in this form. Only Eunbi could.

She kept her question to herself and went on, going past the stables to head down a path that seemed to lead to the back of the mansion.

The sight that greeted her was enchanting. Rows of blooming flowers lined the entire space, a symphony of bright colours that was a stark contrast to the gloomy exterior of the mansion. The place was b with life and energy like a hub for magic, buzzing with wildlife such as butterflies.

Eunha admired the beautiful field of flowers for a moment, her mood lifting thanks to the sweet flowery scent and serenity. She caught onto a familiar scent, one that she had gotten accustomed to over the past few days.

Eunbi grinned cheekily at her from her spot on one of the tree branches, and the next thing she knew she had a cat clinging onto her.

"Eunbi!" Eunha tried to shake her off but the claws dug deeper into her skin, hurting just slightly. Seeing that Eunbi didn't want to get off, she resigned herself into becoming an impromptu cat carrier.

"What are you doing?" Sojung huffed but she didn't try to pry her off. "I thought you hate anything that resembles a dog."

"Familiars are different," Eunbi answered, sinking comfortably into her fur. "They don't act like slobbering fools, unlike that dog Yuna keeps around."

Sojung smirked. "Is that why you hate Ranger? I thought it was because Yerin always dotes on that do--ow, Eunbi, stop!"

The cat familiar had flung herself at Sojung to claw at her, mercilessly digging her sharp claws into Sojung's exposed arm. The witch winced and picked her up by the scruff of her neck, dropping the hissing cat unceremoniously onto the ground.

Eunha watched them bicker, amused by their childish banter. Their personalities were still an enigma to her but Eunha had realised that Eunbi and Sojung fought each other a lot, in a playful sense. It was certainly a refreshing witch-familiar dynamic that she couldn't help but envy.

The witch always seemed to lose her cool whenever Eunbi was around, teasing Eunbi or reacting to her antagonizing like a child. Eunha felt like it was just a glimpse of her true personality. She was curious about who Sojung was past her stoic and standoffish facade.

"Anyway, this area is Yuna's garden. She doesn't like it when we ruin her flowers so don’t trample on them," Sojung warned after they stopped their little fight, with Eunbi sulking off into the mansion.

Eunha heeded her warning and avoided stepping into the field of flowers, going around them instead. She already killed one of the forest witch's plants and she would rather not kill another.

They left the garden after she explored it enough. Sojung guided her to more areas like Yewon's greenhouse where she grew herbs and the likes for her potions and a field where they usually sparred against each other for training.

The last place to head to was the forest. The tall towering trees packed together were identical in appearance. Even as Sojung brought her deeper into the forest, Eunha swore she saw the same sight a few minutes ago.

She changed back to her human form. Sojung stopped in her tracks and gave her a curious look.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Am I under an illusion spell?" Eunha questioned, pressing her hand against the bark of one of the trees. The unnatural thrumming of energy pulsed under her palm which furthered her theory.

"No, you shouldn't be, the forest only deludes intruders..." Sojung trailed off, before coming to a realisation. "Ah. Yuna still doesn't trust you, so the forest doesn't either."

So that was how forest witches worked in tandem with their bonded forest. Eunha never encountered a witch of Yuna's calibre and was hence unfamiliar with their earthly magic. Forest witches were few in numbers and preferred to stay in seclusion ever since the complete wipeout of the Woods Coven.

"With the spell still in place, there's no point in this tour," Sojung sighed. "Let's head back."

As they walked back in mostly silence, Eunha's mind wandered to the offer Sojung gave. Stay and help them topple the Crescent cult.

It wasn't as if she didn't want to destroy that cursed group of fanatics once and for all. Nothing would satisfy her more than seeing the Crescent cult gone. No, it was her fear of getting caught by them, by her witch, that kept her running instead of fighting.

Eunha wasn't a typical familiar. Her species had the rare gift of magic manipulation, where she could drain magic into herself and transfer it away. It was how she removed Yerin's curse.

Siyeon was the name of her witch and the cult's figurehead. They had a long history together but it was only in the past decade they had a falling out when she began to amass followers that worshipped the ground she stepped on.

When she found out about Eunha's gift, she took away Eunha's freedom and will with a forbidden mind-controlling spell, using her gift to grant her human followers magic as well as elevate her power. These human followers who could now manipulate magic almost the same way witches did were known as Blessed Apostles. She managed to break out of this spell and ever since then she had been on the run.

Someone she treasured dearly sacrificed her life just to help her escape from the cult. The weight of her death pressured Eunha constantly, serving as a bleak reminder that she couldn't let that sacrifice be for naught.

No matter what, Eunha must never be near her witch ever again. She won't let Siyeon use her gift to further spread her lies and feed her followers magic stolen from innocent lives.

"Running wouldn't save the lives of those people."

However, Sojung's words kept replaying in her head like a broken recorder. The witch was right. Siyeon may not have the means to empower her worshippers with magic anymore, but she still had a sizable number of Blessed Apostles. Lives were still lost or manipulated into becoming a worshipper of a false god.

Wasn't saving innocent lives the very reason she tried so hard to escape? So why did she just keep running and running and not fight back? Her fear of being mind-controlled again into helping the cult was valid but also just an excuse she hid behind. To continue staying blind to the atrocities she helped build.

She may not have been willing, but it was her gift of transferring magic that allowed Siyeon to delude so many people into becoming her followers. It was still her that stole magic and passed them on to create humans that could manipulate magic.

It was time to stop running and right the wrongs she helped make. Siyeon was her witch, and as her familiar, it was her responsibility to stop her.

Eunha also didn't want to live her life in constant instability, never staying in one place too long and always looking over her shoulder for threats. She longed for the peace and freedom she experienced today, to just freely explore around places without having to worry.

"Eunha?"

She snapped out of her thoughts when her name was called, meeting Sojung's eyes. She didn't even realise they had already trekked back to the entrance of the mansion.

"Are you okay? You seemed distracted on the way back." The witch asked, giving her a quick lookover.

She wasn't alone in her fight against the Crescent cult and Siyeon anymore. Sojung and the others may have a more impersonal cause to go against them, but their goals aligned. To prevent more lives from being lost and stop the cult's spread. Even though Eunha had only known them for a few days now, Sojung's truthful eyes showed her sincerity to help.

She took in a deep breath, knowing her next words would throw her into a new and unfamiliar direction.

"I'll stay."

Sojung immediately understood what Eunha was referring to. quirked up into a minuscule of a smile. "You will?"

She nodded. "I think it's time I told all of you more about the Crescent Cult."

In a lively town, a woman arrived on foot, her cloak billowing behind her as she strode in confidently. Merchants and traders alike stopped to look at her, enchanted by her expressionless but beautiful face as they naturally parted ways for her.

"What a cold beauty," They whispered, but if only they knew this woman was anything but cold.

She barged into the only inn in the town, startling the innkeeper.

"H-Here for a room, Miss?" The man stuttered out at her sudden intimidating presence, gulping when her cloak shifted and revealed a sheathed sword by her waist.

"Tell me, what room does the three gentlemen in red who came in yesterday night reside in?" The woman drawled, leaning towards him and drumming her fingers on the wooden counter.

"Room Four, Miss," The innkeeper answered, the memory of those strange men fresh in his mind.

Without another word, the brown-haired woman marched up the stairs and headed straight to the mentioned room. She knocked rapidly on the door and plastered a fake smile on her face.

The door opened to reveal one of the three men, his hair unkempt and tousled from rousing from sleep. Upon seeing who knocked, his eyes widened and he backed off.

"The Fire Witch..." He murmured breathlessly, bowing in respect. "We didn't expect you here so soon."

The woman scoffed, entering the room and slamming the door so hard it shook the room. "Her Holiness sent me here after she heard of your recent pathetic failures."

"If you are here, are we to halt the conversion and proceed with the cleansing?"

Flames flickered from her hand, burning a furious red. "I'm not here for the cleansing," she grinned as she extinguished the flames with a clench of hand, "It's about time the stray returned home."