Something wasn’t right, she felt it in her bones. A sense of foreboding loomed within her like black clouds over a parade. Her heart ached and she wasn’t sure why. Paige held her breath, stilling herself to focus, and closed her eyes. Nothing came to her, only the sense that something was amiss. She sighed and looked at her bedside clock thinking that time should be irrelevant at five in the morning. She drudged her way out of the comfort only her bed could provide, and into the kitchen for the next best thing… coffee.

“Nothing like liquid energy to start the day.” She scoffed.

Artimus, her feline companion made a growling, gurgling sound and promptly fell back asleep.

“Good morning to you to Mr. grumpy pants.” She rolled her eyes at him and went back to her coffee.

Nothing happened. Ten hours later and it seemed like a mostly normal day. No one new came into her little jewelry shop, just the regulars who liked her homemade lotions and soaps. She didn’t really sell a lot of jewelry, though locals relied on her for every occasion. Her homemade goods were the real sellers. She continued to watch as people passed by and noticed a new face, one she didn’t fully recognize but that seemed strangely familiar.

Paige drifted, thinking about the man’s face. How do I know him? She wondered. Everything went quiet and she felt that familiar tug, the one that told her she was about to have a vision. The man she saw outside of her shop stood in front of her with his hand out, he said nothing, just stood there. Then she was back in her shop staring at a cooling mocha latte. Her friend, and employee, Anna was eyeing her suspiciously from across the counter.

“Anything you care to share?” Anna asked. “I know you just had a vision… spill.”

“It wasn’t much of one, just a man standing in front of me with his hand out.” Paige replied.

“Well, that’s a little dull. No crime to fight, no bad guys?” She was always upset when nothing really juicy happened in Paige’s visions.

“Nothing of the sort, sorry.” She went about her business and began cashing out the register, ready to lock up and go home.

On her way home Paige noticed the man again, he seemed to be looking for something… or someone perhaps. Paige realized that he was probably looking for her, and since she was tired of waiting to find out what he was doing there she decided to approach him first.

“You look lost. Is there something I can help you with?” Paige held her head high even though she felt half sick. He turned around and looked her straight in the eye. His eyes were dark blue and they glowed as if there were a candle behind each of them. She was instantly caught in them, she felt his power pulling at her mind and she couldn’t fight it.

“You’re the one I’m looking for. I need to speak with you about the lost stone.” His eyes still glowed, but Paige was able to see beyond them again in an instant.

“What do you know about the lost crystal? She asked.

“I know that you know where it is. I also know that there are certain people looking for it, people who will stop at nothing to find out where it is. To be frank, you need my help, and that’s why I’m here.” He seemed cocky but she knew it wasn’t a joke.

“Follow me back to my house, we can talk there.” She said.

They sat in the living room, the space seemed too cozy for the conversation at hand. Warm creamy colors surrounded them and here they were talking about the potential destruction of the world. Paige’s head spun with all of the information he was giving her, she felt like she might be sick.

“So you’re telling me that the Gryphons, a group of intergalactic thieves, are on their way here to Island Cove, and they plan on taking the crystal so they can destroy Dante.” Paige said suspiciously.

“Yes, and they plan on taking you out so you can’t run back to Dante and tell him what’s going on.” The man, Draco said.

“Well, what do we do? How do we defeat them?”

“I have spells just for this task, but I need help from you and your friends. There are five of them, we need just as many people or it won’t work.”

“That’s no problem, I’ll call my coven.”

Within an hour all four of Paige’s coven members had arrived, and it was time to get down to business. Paige and Draco had the potions ready to go, and they had a plan.

“They’ll show up on the beach outside of town, so we’ll meet them there. Each of you will have a potion, use it wisely. That potion will vanquish them so do not miss.” Draco gave the women the instructions in a very serious tone.

“Are you ladies ready to do this?” Paige asked charismatically.

“Let’s kick some Gryphon ass!” Anne cheered.

They made their way down to the beach laughing as Anne made up a song about taking the Gryphons out. In the night sky they saw a flash of light, then heard a loud pop. They ran to the beach looking around, trying to find the Gryphons. They spotted five men just down the beach, and began making their way to them.

The men all had thick black hair and slightly slanted eyes. They wore black pants with red jackets, and shiny leather shoes. Paige was amused by their matching outfits.

“Hey, where did you guys come from, a boy band album cover?” Paige jeered with a smirk on her face. The man in front snarled at her and pulled out his wand.

“You must be the one we’re looking for.” He said.

Yeah, pretty sure I am. Want to play?” Paige zapped him with her wand and watched him fly backward.

The other four men spread out, wands in hand, and began casting spells. Paige and her coven held them off using a protection spell, a white light expanded in front of them. Draco began casting spells at the men and Paige was able to join him. They stunned two of them, causing them to fall to the ground. Paige threw her potion first and watched the man burst into flames. Seconds later she saw the man that Draco had taken down burst into flames as well. Anne stunned another one and vanquished him, then the other two men were gone. Diane and Lydia sunk to the ground, drained from all of the energy they had used.

“Well, that’s done.” Paige said sounding tired. “Thank you all for your help. Especially you Draco. If it weren’t for you they probably would have won.”

“You’re welcome.” Draco said. “You ladies should be proud of yourselves. Paige, you’re an exceptional witch, and you have phenomenal friends.”

“Is anyone else starving?” Anne asked, they all laughed.

“I’m famished. Let’s go back to my house and order pizza.” Paige said.

The battle was over, it was time to enjoy the rest of the night and relax. Paige was very quiet, reflecting on what had just happened. She couldn’t believe that they defeated the Gryphons, she was dumbfounded. A thought hit her all of a sudden. What had happened to the last two men? She couldn’t remember them being vanquished. She wondered if they would come back for another try at getting the stone.