TheLepidopterists

They made a beeline to the wizard tower, Sylvia tried to enter as a student did, got underfoot and he magically burned down a tapestry when startled. Othello eavesdropped through some open windows and learned that some pranksters got another student expelled by framing him for a prank and interrupted an old man's spell causing him to accidentally blast her out of the sky with a torrent of water. Cawthorn made a cork notice board read itself aloud and heard some of the available classes, the honor roll and a notice about the expulsion.

They then fled the tower and went to the market to listen to some human gossip and heard some guys talking about how Steven had killed his first target and had eyes on another. They had weird symbols stitched into their cloaks which tipped the familiars off to them being cultists and of course they decided these guys were probably connected to the witch murderer.

They followed them to a farmhouse where they got confirmation of this so they used Create Fire to burn it down. They followed the fleeing cultists to the inn/tavern and the birds went down an unlit chimney but got soot in their eyes and became tangled up during the fall. The crow hid in the soot when the patrons came to investigate and the owl but someone's finger off when they tried to grab him. The cat used the resulting commotion to sneak in the back when someone ran into the kitchen from outside and the the familiars met up near the main room to kitchen doorway while everyone was trying to help the fingerless guy. Sylvia followed the cultist upstairs and listened through the door as he talked to gasp Steven! Steven explained that his friends at the school got another student expelled and he'd be killing him as well soon. He dropped a bit of info that the student was the cobblers grandfather (all wizard students are bearded old men). Around this time Othello decided this tavern needed to go also and caught some oily kitchen rags on fire.

At this point Cawthorn flies back to the witch's cottage and rips the spellbook page out explaining witch resurrection. Othello and Sylvia lurk near the market and try to listen to conversations to find out what a cobbler is. Eventually they do make out that it's a shoe repairperson and so when Cawthorn gets back they all head to the nearby building with a shoe painted on the sign out front and find the disgraced wizard student there. He's in tears and arguing with his cobbler grandson and they get his attention by making the spellbook page read itself. He quickly surmised that they're familiars and that the witch has been murdered and they scratch crude diagrams in the dirt implying that he's next.

Steven arrives at this point and Garamulus the not-quite-a-wizard flees into the wheatfields. Steven makes chase and Sylvia repeatedly trips him by getting underfoot. The birds claw at his eyes and throat until in a moment when he's particularly distracted, Othello bites his trachea out and watches as Steven dies in owl-terror, but not before accidentally injuring his wing with Steven's dropped knife in an attempt to stab Steven with it. In the distance, Garamulus can still be heard screaming and running away through the wheat. As required for the resurrection ritual Cawthorn takes Steven's eyes.

Sylvia carries the grounded Othello back to the cottage on her back while Cawthorn flies overhead. They do the resurrection and their beloved witch wakes up and heals Othello's wounded wing.