Say a cult transformed injured party (8)
I believe the answer is:
casualty
'injured party' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'say a cult transformed' is the wordplay.
'transformed' is an anagram indicator.
'say'+'a'+'cult'='sayacult'
'sayacult' anagrammed gives 'CASUALTY'.
(Other definitions for casualty that I've seen before include "Distance across circle" , "Person killed in accident or war" , "One killed or hurt in accident or war" , "Hospital dept." , "Person injured or killed" .)