The banter in the family was a common one and it wasn't anything new. 

When the time of morning arrived, Lady Fleurance woke up in haste and went down to the hall when she heard the sound of the carriage that arrived at the mansion. Quickly making her way, she saw the servant girl take something from the man. It was a small package. 

"Grace?" Lady Fleurance said hoping it was her daughter and her shoulder slumped with her lips set in a thin line in disappointment that it was her daughter, "Did Grace return back home?" asked the woman. 

The servant girl bowed her head, "No, milady. Lady Grace hasn't returned yet." 

Fleurance wasn't happy and she gave a look at the door. Grace was her daughter, her only child who was precious to her as much as her husband. It wasn't that the lady didn't take Damien and Maggie as her children but they were her step-children which made a difference to the lady. 

"Go prepare blood tea," she ordered the servant who gave her a nod. 

Before she could go back to her room, Lady Fleurance saw another servant bring the newsletter inside and handed it to her. The vampiress unrolled the paper to look at the heading of the paper that read,

'Councilwoman executed for treason along with another council member.' 

Far away from the lands of Bonelake after which Mythweald appeared if one moved to the south, in one of the cheapest inns of a village, both Penny and Damien were loading each other's trunk for the day. As they wouldn't be able to carry everything while they were out, both of them carried one trunk of a bag that made them look like a pair of a musician. 

With both of them headed out and away into the forest, they started to look for either a witch hunter or a black witch right now. Having already memorized some of the faces, they made their way into the dry forest with the sun that was s.h.i.+ning up in the sky. 

Unlike the weather of Bonelake that was constantly wet and muddy with rain falling from the sky, the land of Mythweald was nothing but full of suns.h.i.+ne, the rays pa.s.sing through the leaves of the trees that stood tall. 

"Do you think it is going to work?" Penny asked him, her eyes searching for any possible movement while her ears were trying to pick a sound where they were walking.

They were currently in search of the witches and if they found the witches it would lead them to the other witches who were in the lair. 

"Trust me, mouse. It should work," said Damien who didn't bother to hide the crossbow he carried with his hand that rested on his shoulder right now, "Why don't you try if the spells work in the meantime?" nodding her head Penny decided to use the simple spell which was the light.

As the atmosphere was already bright enough, she knew no one would be able to notice it. When the light appeared near the shadow, she said, "It works here," when something clicked she said, "Don't you think the magic is spilled only where the witches reside."

"We cannot be sure about it. It is not like the black witches know we are taking a white witch's help. The council is too prideful, or was to take the help of the witches though indirectly they do take because of the weapons and other elements," Damien replied back to her. 

"The council is filled with petty people," she muttered, making him grin.

"That is so true."

While they were still walking Damien stopped her from walking further when he found something glitter in front of him. For a moment he had thought it was the sun rays but when the thread-like s.h.i.+ned again, he said, "We have come to the right place."

"There are black witches in here?" Penny questioned him while her head moved left and right, turning around to not see anyone around them. 

Damien's eyes fell on the dried leaves that covered the ground right now, "Do you want to test?" he asked her, "Throw something there."

Penny didn't know what it was and she thought about throwing something in there until she stopped and raised her hand, "Let me test," her eyes sharpened at the empty s.p.a.ce in front of them and she swirled her hand that moved the leaves from the ground to show a hollow pit that was buried in front of them with loose soil as if, if one were to step into it, they would be buried instantly without being able to come out of it. 

"It is a trap," Penny muttered. She saw Damien pick up the stone and throw it ahead of them and they heard the string of wire make a sound and the next moment a series of knives and arrows started to pa.s.s through them that had both running in the opposite direction where they had come. 

"Much of a deadly automated trap. We need to find the witches," Damien shouted while they dodged the weapons. 

Penny, who was trying to move her head along with her limbs, noticed a black witch who was sitting at the top of the tree in the distance. She pulled the capsule from her pocket and threw at the tree to have it blast and drop-down not just one but two black witches. 

Damien used his crossbow while Penny used the ability of wind to push the black witches away from them but using the ability exhausted her quickly as if it were using the energy from her very soul. Dropping the trunk they had been carrying when the knives stopped attacking them, both Damien and Penny started to arrow the witches down. But there were a lot more in this forest and they pinned down every single one of them without needing to keep any alive. 

Penny leaned her back against the tree, "When are the council members coming here?"

"They should be here by tomorrow evening," Damien was still searching for any other witches and he said, "Come we need to keep moving."

She gave him a nod before pus.h.i.+ng herself from the tree and walking next to him. 

When they moved to the next village which was through this very forest, both Penny and Damien knew that what was set as a trap previously was only to block people from pa.s.sing through the forest which only meant the roads were not safe to take either. 

Reaching the village they noticed how quiet it was even during the time of day. 

"Why does it remind me that we have gone through this before," asked Damien when he noticed a man walking down one of the streets looking like a moving mannequin...