“Can we wait until tomorrow morning?” Said Edgar lazily. He yawned and leaned on the door frame, half asleep. He held his staff in his hand. Although he looked sleepy, he was always ready for a battle.

“I would have come tomorrow if this matter can wait. Unfortunately, this is very urgent.” Said Elena, there was a note of mild panic in her voice.

“Come in,” Edgar opened the door for Elena and pushed Mia towards the stair. Leaning closer to her ears, he whispered. “Go to bed. I don’t want my apprentice morphed like that.”

Mia giggled and ran upstairs, leaving Elena and Edgar behind.

“So, what brings you here?”

Mia heard a faint voice of Edgar and Elena talking downstairs.

Mia crept back to her warm bed and pulled her blanket. The owls hooted and the moonlight illuminated her bedroom. She tossed and turned, but she was no longer sleepy. Thirsty and in dire need to pee, she stood up and slogged down the stairs.

“How long are you going to delay this matter, Edgar? Something has to be done...Mia... She... She's sixteen now. The time has come for her... ”

Mia stopped at the stairs when her name was mentioned. Elena was talking about her. What was it?

She sat by the stairs and pried on their conversations, her heart pounding fast at the sound of her name.

“You can’t keep her forever, Edgar,” Elena said again. “She's never yours to keep. She has to fulfill her purpose. She's a sacrif-"

“Stop it, Elena. You don't need to remind me again and again. I knew it long before I found her. Back then, I thought I can do it. But now, the thought of her getting hurts,” Edgar muttered, his voice trembling. "It scared me. I cannot send her to death. I cannot send her away to die."

“You cannot delay this matter any longer, Edgar. We need to do something. Blood will be spilled, our kind will be killed unless you do something about this now. You have to make a choice. Our kind, or her…” Elena muttered. She was sobbing as she spoke. “Celeste, oh, poor Celeste."

She listened as Edgar comforted Elena who wept downstairs.

Outside, far in the enchanted forest, the werewolves howled, mourning for the loss of their friend.

Mia pondered at their conversation. She was sure Elena was about to blurt out the word 'sacrifice'. Her? A sacrifice? And Edgar... He knew it all along?

And Celeste... What happened to poor Celeste?

Celeste.

She knew that name. She visited her a few times. She was an old sorceress living alone at the foot of the mountain, an acquaintance of Edgar and Mia. She loved feeding Mia with sweets and cookies, and always knitted her scarf and socks.

“Go home and sleep first, Elena. Or you can sleep here by the fireplace too. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go and met the others, alright?” Said Edgar. He was rarely that kind to let anyone sleep in their cottage. It wasn't like Edgar at all. Perhaps, the matter was far more serious than it seemed.

Chill air rushed inside the cottage as the door creaked open. Mia ran up the stairs and buried herself inside the blanket. She couldn’t sleep the whole night. Her brain was thinking hard about the conversation she had heard. They were hiding something from her. Edgar was hiding something from her. All this time. But what? Should she ask Edgar?

“Mia… Wake up...” Edgar stood by the door, dressed in black and covered in a dark violet cloak.

He smiled at her with his charming smile. That was the smile that had drove the Queen madly in love with him and made the King furious.

As a result, Edgar earned the title of the kingdom’s most wanted wicked sorcerer.

“Edgar… Master… Morning..” Mia murmured, her eyes scrutinizing his clothes.

Edgar rarely wore black, only on a certain circumstance when he was certain his clothes would get stained by blood.

Only when he was going to kill someone.

“Master, where are you going?!” Mia shouted, shocked by the morning surprise. Supporting herself with her arm, she changed her posture and sat on the bed.

“Something bad happened last night, Mia. Celeste was dead. Murdered.”

“Who killed her? Oh, poor Celeste.”

“We’re not sure yet. Whoever it is, they’re not our ally. I’m going out to meet the others.” Edgar answered and walked over to her side.

“Are you going to kill someone, master?” Asked Mia.

“I’m not sure, Mia. I hope I don’t have to,” Edgar sighed. He patted her head and looked at his pocket watch and said to Mia. “I have to go now. I don’t know when I will be back. This may take a few days. You know what to do, right Mia? Don’t accept any visitors, except for our few friends. Don’t go to the town, don’t wander around. Stay inside the cottage and study your spells. Will you listen to me this time?”

“Yes, Master. You said it a thousand times. The gold is hidden under the floor in the kitchen if I ever need them. If an enemy comes, took Oyen and Baddie and ride the broom, fly as far as possible. Always wear my Charm necklace, so you can always find me when I’m lost. Never, ever, ever let my wand out of my sight.”

“Good girl, Mia. Now give me a hug before I go.” Edgar turned to Mia and gave her a long, warm hug.

Edgar was the only family she ever had, and Mia was the only person he ever warmed up to. All these years, he showered her with the love her father failed to give her.

Mia watched him disappeared into the thin air. Black smoke lingered in the spot where he stood. As if caught in a trance, she sat unmoved on her bed.

"Mia..." A black hand tugged her nightgown, pulling her back from her trance. It took her a few seconds to collect her thought before she grabbed her wand and ran downstairs.

Mia made breakfast and called the gondola back. After setting up layers of barriers around the cottage, she buried herself in the piles of books. She was still, after all, a diligent apprentice of the wicked Edgar Dendragon the Great Sorcerer in the Kingdom of Agrierd.

She must live up to his honor.

A rare dedication, indeed. Perhaps it was the sudden death of Celeste, or the words Edgar said that morning. It was a morning like no others. A morning filled with uneasiness and stretched throughout the next few days.

“It’s been seven days, Oyen. When do you think Master will come back?” Mia asked, caressing Oyen who slept next to her.

The Charm necklace glowed in the same radiance it always had. Wherever he was, Edgar was safe.

“He’ll be fine.” Said Oyen, purring next to her. “It had only been seven days since he left. The Charm necklace is still glowing as it always had. He was gone for a whole month before, right? He’s Edgar the Great. He’ll be alright.”

“Right, he’s my master, after all.” Said Mia, convincing herself. She grabbed a book on her left, Advance Potions – Why is my cauldron leaking?

As if sensing her uneasiness, the grandfather clock moved extra slow since the past few days. Time stretched double and Mia couldn’t help but yelled at the grandfather clock a few times a day. Finally losing her patience, she covered the grandfather clock with a blanket.

The pot and plate sensed her foul mood too. They didn’t dare to chime and clink. The whole cottage was silent, except her constant sighing and Oyen’s purring, and Baddie’s crying when Oyen pulled him out from under the bed.

At night, Mia stood by the front door. Anytime now, Edgar should be back anytime. She touched her Charm bracelet and caressed it with her fingers. Its still glowing radiantly.

“Mia, someone’s coming,” Oyen whispered to Mia.

They peered through the window. Dozens of armed men stood by the pier, some carrying fire torches, and the other weapons.

“Oyen, go get Baddie, we need to go now," Said Mia. She ran to the kitchen and took the gold hidden under the board, grabbed her wand, and get on the broom.

Mia conjured an invisibility spell around them, raised the broom, kicked the ground and fly up to the sky. Her cloak fluttered against the wind.

“Whe’e.. go…” Baddie tugged her clothes and asked.

“I have no idea, Baddie. Somewhere safe,” Said Mia, but she didn’t go anywhere. She stayed there up in the air, sitting on the broom with Baddie and Oyen as they watched the commotions down below.

“Fi’e… bu’n….” Baddie muttered again.

“Yes, Baddie…” Mia sobbed, her tears rolling down her cheek. “They burned our cottage.”

How did they go through her protective barrier? Of course, hers wasn’t strong enough, but who can break Edgar the Great Sorcerer’s protective barrier?

“Mia, look.” Oyen pointed to a woman among the crowd. “Isn’t she-“

“Yes, that’s her,” Mia said, her fingers trembled.