They picked up a dry limb, which crumbled in their hand. “Ugh, I’ll have to use …” They dropped their bag and sorted through the branches. “Gotta be something in here that’s drying up.” 

Their outer jacket rustled and Bevel popped out. Sage grabbed it in midair and said, “You think you can handle it in this form?” 

There was a squeaky whistle from the figure of affirmation. Dan watched as the witch faced the rot and a thin stream of fire blew out from their red glowing hand. 

With the rot cleared, the duo raced to the top of the waterfall. 

Both recoiled at the sight of a dark, hyena-fox creature buried in the purple and black mass with only its head and shoulders above it. The mass flowed and throbbed as it spread. 

The creature opened its eyes and roared, bearing its teeth and snarling. 

“What is that!?” Dan gasped. 

“A daemon,” Sage answered simply. 

“What do we do?” 

“It’s caught in the protective dome.” Sage dropped their bag again and pulled out a thick scroll with a silk protective backing. They laid it out. “This one hasn’t been able to move on and is festering. It must be a Decay Daemon. I’m going to open a crack in the dome.” 

The creature snarled and its hackles raised. Sage placed Bevel on the scroll at the center of a circle and began whispering. The daemon barked and cackled it’s hyena laugh before the rot rushed forward. 

Instinct kicked in and Dan between the witch and the volatile gunk.

Ronnie sighed as he stood, clapped his paws together. He surveyed the work done so far - a raised garden and new fencing. Several other villagers worked on the roof. 

A young human approached with a clay cup of water. “Already done?” she said. 

He swayed a little as he took the cup. “Oh, I didn’t pace myself, I suppose.”

“Rest,” she urged and poured a ladle of water into another cup from the urn strapped to her side. She handed over the fresh cup to another worker. 

“You look unsteady! You worked too much!” the worker shouted and downed his water. 

Ronnie sat on a worn log and picked up a towel to wipe his brow free of dirt. “Are Dan and Sage back yet?” he asked. 

Something hit him across the chest and knocked him backwards off the log. “What!” was all he managed before he blinked and found Witch Soren kneeling over him. He felt drained, as if someone twisted his body and squeezed it like a wet sponge.

“Get up, lad,” Soren said as he helped Ronnie sit up. “We need to get to Sage and Daniel.” 

“Why? What’s happening?”

Soren waved Ronnie to the tortoise, which he climbed atop. “They’re in trouble. Seems your husband is attempting to use magic without you.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You two are both each other’s witch AND golem. I thought there’d be more time before we taught you.” Ron held on to the tortoise shell as the golem rushed out the village to the north. 

Dan opened his eyes and found half a faceted, glittering shell protecting him. His hands glowed and gave off glitter. The gunk slid down and began to spread on the ground. 

He shouted to the daemon, “We’re trying to help!” 

The black and purple hyena shook off the gunk bubbling over it to reveal the script written all over it’s body and legs. Dan could see a few that he recognized from Bevel’s chest. A few words glowed. Three spikes formed around it and soared through the air for him. They ricocheted off the shield, which shattered at the same time. Dan fell back, but a hand caught him. 

“Hey,” Ron said, his voice shaking, “made it.” 

“Ronnie!” Dan squeaked and hugged the huge puppet. “We can do magic! There’s a daemon! We gotta protect -” 

“I got the gist,” Ron said as he held up both his hands. “We gotta synchronize.” 

Witch Soren and the tortoise named Leifa stepped between the puppets and the daemon. “Go to Sage,” Soren ordered. “We’ll protect you.” 

Sage knelt over the scroll and whispered a chant, hands pressed on either side of Bevel. Words glowed on the scroll, gold and green, which resonated with Bevel’s glowing eyes. “What do we do?” Ron asked. 

Sage closed their eyes and said quickly, “Put hands on me and focus!” 

The pair joined Sage and put their hands on them. Dan focused like before, but into Sage. The witch shuddered and groaned. Dan almost recoiled when he saw Sage’s arm and hand letting off smoke. 

The two must have let up because Sage ordered, “Keep focusing!” The duo chanted the words louder.

Bevel turned into it’s usual size, it’s body glowing golds and greens. It strode forward, determined. The daemon stopped what it was doing and lowered to the ground at the sight of the golem. 

The golem leaned forward with both hands and pierced a hole in a wall of light and script that appeared at its touch. The wall pierced open like the membrane of a fruit - some resistance but it tore all the same. 

Bevel looked at the daemon still cowering and motioned to it to come through. The daemon lunged up and out the opening. 

Everyone relaxed. Dan and Ronnie fell over with a heavy sigh from both. “Wow,” Dan whispered and reached out to Ronnie. “We did magic.” 

Sage groaned and stood, legs trembling. Soren caught them and helped them lower to the ground. Sage yelled and wriggled, holding their arm. Dan and Ron watched. 

Steam billowed from the bandages. Soren ran a gold glowing hand over their arm and hummed a song. Sage’s body became limp.

“Well done, you two,” Soren sighed and let Bevel lift Sage into its arms. “Let’s go home. We’ll discuss your abilities once Sage is stable.”

“Wh-What about the soil and,” Dan paused to gesture to the nature around the group.

“The creature is gone. We need to let nature do what it needs to. We’ll fill in as needed.” He glanced where the dome was pierced. “And we need to make a better effort to patrol the border. A new dome is needed. Sage takes priority.” 

Soren wiped down Sage’s arm with witch hazel to cleanse it and covered it in aloe. Sage remained asleep, their face contorted in anguish. 

“What’s the dome for?” Ron asked as he placed the tray of hot tea on the table. “Protection, obviously.”

Soren wiped his hands on a towel and said, “There are witches out there that have taken their commitment to one god in particular a little too far. The past five years, they’ve been on a campaign to court a count and work their way up to an emperor.” 

“I don’t understand,” Dan said, pausing to sip his tea. “We don’t have kings and counts.”

Soren stared at the duo, mouth agape. “Well. They’re rulers within a hierarchy.” 

“Hierarchy,” Dan whispered, digesting the word.

“My god, you don’t know what that is? I’m jealous.” 

After a few minutes of explanation, Soren explained, “The cult we're dealing with is called the Black Cauldron and their followers are called the Fumers and Fume Knights.”

“Wow, that sounds neat,” Dan said. 

“They’re determined to eliminate all other cults to become the one and only. They’re power hungry.” 

“Oh, uh, not neat.”

Ronnie refilled their cups of tea, leaning over the coffee table to refill Soren’s as well. “And they’re going to attack the village?” Ron asked. 

“If they find us, yes. They’ll take Sage and me, likely kill us if they can’t convert us. With the dome like it is, we’re vulnerable to the North. Replacing the dome is going to make the village vulnerable for several days.” Soren dunked his tea bags as he thought.

Dan and Ron looked at each other. They whispered to each other in their backlang. “We could do some good,” Dan said. “We have magic.” 

“Dan and I can do what we can to help protect you,” Ron offered as the pair puffed up with determination. “All we need is the training.” 

Soren looked at the two with such severity that the pair shrank. “We can’t risk you two getting hurt.”

“Teacher,” Sage grimaced as they struggled to raise up. Soren rushed to their side. “We put them through the Mountain … Heart.” 

“That’s - that’s a last resort,” Soren said, his voice like stone now. 

“And what? Ugh, I can’t do shit for magic. You’re practically by yourself in this.” 

“You’re not useless,” Soren said.

“Soren! Look at me! I can’t perform anything beyond basic magic!” Sage’s voice crackled as they yelled. “We need them. They need us.”

Dan and Ron watched closely as Soren’s shoulders tensed. “Alright. We don’t have much time.” 

Sage fell back into the cot and sighed. “I think I should go through it as well. I … need to confront my hang-ups.” 

The old witch stood and turned to the puppets. “Tomorrow, I will walk you two through the basics of magic. Day after if you two are willing, you will undergo the hardest trial a witch can go through: The Mountain Heart Trial.”

Ron and Dan held hands and gave a reassuring squeeze. “We already want to.”