A chilly breeze ruffled the collar of Ephanias 's shirt as he surveyed the night around him. He seemed somewhat out of place among the small foothills leading to the forest behind him. Several stones and charms hung from a cord around his neck, and they knocked together as he walked, creating a soft soundtrack to supplement his journey. Stars shimmered through a thin layer of clouds above his head, and the lights of downtown New York City banished them from the eastern skyline with smog. Ephanias stopped to study the sky for a moment. The Capricorn constellation was prominent, he noticed, so he deduced he should be extra careful not to make rash decisions. A twenty-six year-old witch using his magic to con people was not often on the side of luck, so he often had to supplement artificial luck to help him in his endeavors. The nearby university 's greenhouse was …show more content…
"Take the back door. Run until you drop and don 't look back, do you hear me?" Darian 's outrageously curly hair fell over his eyes as he nodded erratically and scrambled to his feet. In the next second, he was gone and Ephanias immediately forgot about him as the creature advanced on him, screaming and lunging with all eight of its hairy legs aimed to pierce his body. He sighed, drawing a runed dagger from his belt. He knew it would be a mother of a mess to clean up. It took seven cleaning spells and a couple replication charms to make the greenhouse look whole again, and the black stains would never wash out of his shirt. Ephanias was actually surprised to see Darian standing right outside the door, hugging his arms around himself to keep from shaking in the night air. Ephanias studied his face while it switched from fear, to naive wonder, then ultimately to disgust aimed at his dirtied shirt. The ward was still activated on his forehead, casting red highlights over his nose and cheekbones. He looked from the greenhouse, to Ehanias, and then back to the greenhouse again. "That thing, that woman...is