Melinda and Josh reached the top of the stairs. She paused and pressed her hand against the door. Josh looked questioningly at her. She shook her head and put her finger to her lips. He shrugged and put his hand on the doorknob. She pulled it away and put her arms round him. Josh looked at her and she smiled. With a deep breath she orbed out, and then back to the same place. She looked angry and tried again. This time they reappeared in the attic. With a cry she ran to Piper while Josh checked on Clare. Melinda sighed in relief.
"At least they're still breathing."
"What happened? Shouldn't there be a demon or something?" Josh checked Clare's pulse and wiped a trickle of blood from a graze on her head. Melinda opened her mouth to answer she was interrupted by the demon, who had appeared as if on cue.
"This time you are mine child. Without your witches to protect you, I take you to the source." Melinda covered her mouth and orbed out, then she quickly reappeared. She took a step back and bumped into a cupboard. Her hand caught on a candlestick that was on its surface and she grasped it. With a shout she threw it at the demon. It hit him on the head with a dull thud. He spun round to face her with the serpentine athame in his hand.
"You are forgetting he has one witch left to protect him. Back off, you can't beat us. Haven't you learnt that already?" She trembled as the demon laughed.
"A child to protect a child. This shall be easy." He threw an energy ball and Melinda threw up her hands. It was covered in light and disappeared. The demon snarled and lifted his hand again. A fireball flew through the air and struck him in the back. With a shout of pain he staggered back and stumbled on the Book of Shadows podium. He threw out his hand for support and caught the edge of the podium. The Book glowed and shot away from him, landing near Melinda. He steadied himself and turned to stare at Josh.
"If I hadn't orders I would kill you where you stand boy!" Josh stood bristling with rage.
"You can try me demon. You took my sister and now you have done something to my mother. I swear that I won't go down without a fight." His eyes shone with flames and a white-hot fireball formed in his hands. He threw it at the demon. At the last second the demon dodged and the fireball hit the ground next to his feet. It exploded and he was covered in flames. Writhing with agony he screamed and Melinda hastily froze him. Josh ran to her and shouted.
"Why did you do that?! He was about to die! He needs to pay!" The fire glow died from his eyes and sank to the ground crying. She knelt to comfort him and explained.
"If he dies then we can't find anything useful out from him. He will know where Susanna is." Josh cried again as he smiled. Then he looked over at the frozen form of the demon, still encased in flame.
"He is on fire though. What's going to stop the fire burning him to death?" Melinda raised one eyebrow and tapped her finger on her chin.
"Maybe I can use my new power. I could try to 'push' the fire off of him and out of time, or wherever it goes." She sighed and stood up.
"I don't know if I can do it." Josh stood next to her and took her hand.
"Its either that or nothing. I know you can if you try." She squeezed his hand and let go. She took another breath and shut her eyes. For a few seconds she stood there focussing. Her eyes opened and she threw up her hands at the demon. The demon was covered in light and with a flash the fire disappeared. They both jumped and smiled. Melinda ran to a chest in the corner and pulled out a bag of crystals. She beckoned to Josh and they walked to the demon. She selected 5 white crystals from the bag and placed four of them around the demon.
"What are you going to do with the fifth?" ask Josh. Melinda polished the final crystal on her shirt and held it up to the light.
"When I put it in place it will create a sort of energy grid. It should keep the demon trapped." Josh nodded. She leaned forward and gently placed the crystal in formation with the others. The crystals shone with light and emitted a piercing chime and a wall of light surrounded the demon. The crystals chimed again and the wall disappeared.
"Did it work?" Josh looked confused and reached out to where the wall had been. His hand hit a solid invisible barrier. Clear ripples spread out from his touch. He laughed and turned to Melinda.
"I think it worked." She nodded and turned to look at the still unconscious bodies of her Aunts and Josh's mother. She took a sharp intake of breath and hit her forehead.
"Dad! Dad! Come here!" Leo orbed in and ran to Melinda.
"What's wrong honey? Are you hurt? Where's Piper?" His looked round the attic and saw the demon, still frozen in the invisible prison. Then he saw Piper and the others and ran over.
"Melinda what happened?" She told him about hearing the explosion and coming up to find everyone unconscious and then the demon attack. He knelt over Piper in disbelief as he healed her.
"Are you telling me that you and Josh took on that demon, beat him, and then caught him in that…that..thing?" She nodded. Piper groaned and coughed.
"Leo? What are you…the crystal! Get Mel and Josh! Oh no Paige and Clare!" She struggled to her feet and Leo gestured to the demon. She looked confused and then saw Melinda and Josh. They were both smiling. She looked from the demon to the children and back again.
"You did…that?" They nodded and Piper turned to Leo. He shrugged and finished healing Clare and Paige. They got to their feet and once they had been told what happened, they were as shocked as Piper and Leo. The energy ball Melinda had 'pushed' out earlier reappeared and hit the wall, leaving a smoky outline. Melinda orbed out and then back again with a sheepish smile. Piper hugged her and then looked at the demon again. He was starting to move slowly.
"What did you plan to do with it? Keep it as a pet?" Melinda rolled her eyes and Piper laughed.
"We can question it about where Susanna is." Clare stepped up to the invisible prison and looked at the demon. Hate burned in her eyes. She raised her fist tried to punch the demon, but it was repelled. Paige took her by the arm and led her away. Piper spoke.
"Mel, unfreeze the demon now. We might as well question it while we have the chance." Melinda unfroze the demon. He lunged towards her and fell to the ground and gasped in pain as he felt his burns pressing against the wall of the cage.
"Why have you done this witches?" Clare drew away from Paige and stepped up to the demon.
"We'll do the questioning round here you sonofabitch. Where the hell is my daughter?" The demon laughed and threw and energy ball at Clare. It rebounded off the wall and hit him on the leg. He howled in agony and fell against the back wall of the cage. Dark ripples spread from where he rested. Clare smiled callously at his pain.
"I'll ask you again. Where is my goddamn daughter?" The demon's body shook and his breath came out in short wheezes.
"I'll..never..tell..you.." he shut his eyes and sat rocking himself. Clare screamed in fury and raised her hand at the demon. It glowed and crackled as a bolt of electricity shot out. The bolt flew at the demon until it hit the magic screen, at which point it bounced off and flew into a chair. Clare muttered an apology to Piper and turned away from the demon.
"He isn't talking. I don't know what to do now." Piper walked to the Book Oh Shadows.
"There must be a vanquishing spell in here somewhere. I just hope it isn't a power of three one. Phoebe gets annoyed when they take her away from work." Paige nodded and as Piper turned the Pages of the book the air around the demon started to shine with light and the fire reappeared and set demon on fire again.
"Mom, I don't think that spell is gonna be necessary." The demon burned and then blew up into nothing. Piper shrugged and shut the book.
"I am glad that the demon is gone but we are still no closer to finding Susanna. Or what the serpents and the sword mean." Leo stepped up.
"The Elders told me what they mean."
* * *
Hakar circled Susanna with the serpentine dagger in his hand. He darted at her slicing the air above her head and next to her ears. She screamed and stumbled away from him. He switched the blade from hand to hand and slashed it towards her. She threw up her hand and it caught on her ring. It clashed with a spark and she screamed again. Hakar smiled maliciously and put the athame back into his belt.
"Why don't you use the magic, child? Imagine how easily you could make me stop if you used it." She set her lip and shook her head stubbornly. He hissed in annoyance and walked to a shelf of scrolls. He selected a parchment and read from it. Dust blew up from the floor and spun into the shape of her mother, Clare. She cried tears of happiness and ran at her with her arms outstretched. Hakar read from the scroll and the image of Clare turned back into a pile of dust. Susanna ran to it and fell to her knees, sifting through the dust as if she might find Clare. She turned to Hakar with a look of hatred.
"Where is my mom? What did you do to her?" He read from the scroll and the dust swirled back into the form of Clare. Susanna looked warily at it and Hakar muttered a few words. Clare's hair spun and turned into snakes and her tongue stuck out and forked, flicking through the air. Susanna got to her feet and ran to the corner. The false Clare walked after her.
"No kisssss for mommy?" She hissed as Susanna shut her eyes and whimpered. Clare flickered and turned into a snake that wound itself round Susanna's arm and raised its head to bite her, fangs dripping green poison onto the stone floor. Susanna screamed in terror and the Seer walked in. With a smile she waved her hand and the illusion fell to dust. Hakar bowed and put the parchment back on the shelf. The Seer bent and took the trembling Susanna by the hand. She brushed off the dust and led Susanna to the table.
"What's wrong Susanna? Was that nasty demon scaring you?" She brushed Susanna's hair as the child nodded. The Seer ignored Hakar's snort of contempt and stood up.
"Let me show you something." The Seer led Susanna over the cauldron and stirred the smoke with her hand. It took form and showed Clare and Josh with the Halliwells. Susanna reached for them and the smoke swirled to nothing. Susanna turned from the cauldron but the Seer caught her arm.
"Why don't you try? Wouldn't you like to see your mother and brother?" Susanna nodded and held her hand over the smoke and steam. She shut her eyes. The gases boiled and rose to meet her hand. They clung to her hand and smothered it. She opened her eyes and tried to shake it off. With a cry Susanna fell backwards and the smoke retreated back to the cauldron. The Seer looked thoughtfully at her.
"That was very good child, go and rest now." Susanna walked slowly away and Hakar came running into the room.
"The Tri-serpent-blade is about to be revealed to the Charmed Ones. We must stop this. The whitelighter is on the verge of telling them!" The Seer cursed and summoned a darklighter.
"Go kill the Charmed whitelighter, we must not let them find out. GO NOW!" The darklighter smoked out and the Seer turned back to the cauldron.
* * *
"Well don't just stand there honey, tell us what it means." Piper said.
"The mark is called the Tri-Serpent-Blade. It represents a faction that built up after The Seer took power from The Source. It's rumoured that the faction draw power from some kind of magical force." Paige stamped her foot.
"We need more than rumours Leo! Can't the Elders actually give us something to work with for once?" She exclaimed. Leo gasped and put his hand to his chest and then fell to the ground. The darklighter stood behind him with a smug expression on his face.
"Crossbow!" Paige called for the daklighter's crossbow and it appeared in her hand. She threw it to the side and Piper blew him up before running to Leo's side.
"Paige, Melinda! Heal him for gods sake!" Paige ran over with tears in her eyes as Leo slipped into unconsciousness. She held out her hands as Clare and Josh stood over them. Melinda did the same as Paige. A golden glow shone from their outstretched palms and Leo shuddered. Paige sat back and Piper grabbed her arm incredulously.
"Why did you stop?" Paige pushed Piper's hand away.
"The bolt. It's coated with the poison and keeps re-infecting him. Bolt!" The bolt orbed out of Leo and Paige directed it into a corner. Then she bent over again and started to heal him again. Piper looked panicked and stood up.
"Why isn't it working?"
Chapter…5? Done now. Woo! 'That demon' is finally dead. But we'll miss him. Won't we? Anyways review me if goddamn ff.net is working… tut tut, ff.net..sort yourselves out already.
"At least they're still breathing."
"What happened? Shouldn't there be a demon or something?" Josh checked Clare's pulse and wiped a trickle of blood from a graze on her head. Melinda opened her mouth to answer she was interrupted by the demon, who had appeared as if on cue.
"This time you are mine child. Without your witches to protect you, I take you to the source." Melinda covered her mouth and orbed out, then she quickly reappeared. She took a step back and bumped into a cupboard. Her hand caught on a candlestick that was on its surface and she grasped it. With a shout she threw it at the demon. It hit him on the head with a dull thud. He spun round to face her with the serpentine athame in his hand.
"You are forgetting he has one witch left to protect him. Back off, you can't beat us. Haven't you learnt that already?" She trembled as the demon laughed.
"A child to protect a child. This shall be easy." He threw an energy ball and Melinda threw up her hands. It was covered in light and disappeared. The demon snarled and lifted his hand again. A fireball flew through the air and struck him in the back. With a shout of pain he staggered back and stumbled on the Book of Shadows podium. He threw out his hand for support and caught the edge of the podium. The Book glowed and shot away from him, landing near Melinda. He steadied himself and turned to stare at Josh.
"If I hadn't orders I would kill you where you stand boy!" Josh stood bristling with rage.
"You can try me demon. You took my sister and now you have done something to my mother. I swear that I won't go down without a fight." His eyes shone with flames and a white-hot fireball formed in his hands. He threw it at the demon. At the last second the demon dodged and the fireball hit the ground next to his feet. It exploded and he was covered in flames. Writhing with agony he screamed and Melinda hastily froze him. Josh ran to her and shouted.
"Why did you do that?! He was about to die! He needs to pay!" The fire glow died from his eyes and sank to the ground crying. She knelt to comfort him and explained.
"If he dies then we can't find anything useful out from him. He will know where Susanna is." Josh cried again as he smiled. Then he looked over at the frozen form of the demon, still encased in flame.
"He is on fire though. What's going to stop the fire burning him to death?" Melinda raised one eyebrow and tapped her finger on her chin.
"Maybe I can use my new power. I could try to 'push' the fire off of him and out of time, or wherever it goes." She sighed and stood up.
"I don't know if I can do it." Josh stood next to her and took her hand.
"Its either that or nothing. I know you can if you try." She squeezed his hand and let go. She took another breath and shut her eyes. For a few seconds she stood there focussing. Her eyes opened and she threw up her hands at the demon. The demon was covered in light and with a flash the fire disappeared. They both jumped and smiled. Melinda ran to a chest in the corner and pulled out a bag of crystals. She beckoned to Josh and they walked to the demon. She selected 5 white crystals from the bag and placed four of them around the demon.
"What are you going to do with the fifth?" ask Josh. Melinda polished the final crystal on her shirt and held it up to the light.
"When I put it in place it will create a sort of energy grid. It should keep the demon trapped." Josh nodded. She leaned forward and gently placed the crystal in formation with the others. The crystals shone with light and emitted a piercing chime and a wall of light surrounded the demon. The crystals chimed again and the wall disappeared.
"Did it work?" Josh looked confused and reached out to where the wall had been. His hand hit a solid invisible barrier. Clear ripples spread out from his touch. He laughed and turned to Melinda.
"I think it worked." She nodded and turned to look at the still unconscious bodies of her Aunts and Josh's mother. She took a sharp intake of breath and hit her forehead.
"Dad! Dad! Come here!" Leo orbed in and ran to Melinda.
"What's wrong honey? Are you hurt? Where's Piper?" His looked round the attic and saw the demon, still frozen in the invisible prison. Then he saw Piper and the others and ran over.
"Melinda what happened?" She told him about hearing the explosion and coming up to find everyone unconscious and then the demon attack. He knelt over Piper in disbelief as he healed her.
"Are you telling me that you and Josh took on that demon, beat him, and then caught him in that…that..thing?" She nodded. Piper groaned and coughed.
"Leo? What are you…the crystal! Get Mel and Josh! Oh no Paige and Clare!" She struggled to her feet and Leo gestured to the demon. She looked confused and then saw Melinda and Josh. They were both smiling. She looked from the demon to the children and back again.
"You did…that?" They nodded and Piper turned to Leo. He shrugged and finished healing Clare and Paige. They got to their feet and once they had been told what happened, they were as shocked as Piper and Leo. The energy ball Melinda had 'pushed' out earlier reappeared and hit the wall, leaving a smoky outline. Melinda orbed out and then back again with a sheepish smile. Piper hugged her and then looked at the demon again. He was starting to move slowly.
"What did you plan to do with it? Keep it as a pet?" Melinda rolled her eyes and Piper laughed.
"We can question it about where Susanna is." Clare stepped up to the invisible prison and looked at the demon. Hate burned in her eyes. She raised her fist tried to punch the demon, but it was repelled. Paige took her by the arm and led her away. Piper spoke.
"Mel, unfreeze the demon now. We might as well question it while we have the chance." Melinda unfroze the demon. He lunged towards her and fell to the ground and gasped in pain as he felt his burns pressing against the wall of the cage.
"Why have you done this witches?" Clare drew away from Paige and stepped up to the demon.
"We'll do the questioning round here you sonofabitch. Where the hell is my daughter?" The demon laughed and threw and energy ball at Clare. It rebounded off the wall and hit him on the leg. He howled in agony and fell against the back wall of the cage. Dark ripples spread from where he rested. Clare smiled callously at his pain.
"I'll ask you again. Where is my goddamn daughter?" The demon's body shook and his breath came out in short wheezes.
"I'll..never..tell..you.." he shut his eyes and sat rocking himself. Clare screamed in fury and raised her hand at the demon. It glowed and crackled as a bolt of electricity shot out. The bolt flew at the demon until it hit the magic screen, at which point it bounced off and flew into a chair. Clare muttered an apology to Piper and turned away from the demon.
"He isn't talking. I don't know what to do now." Piper walked to the Book Oh Shadows.
"There must be a vanquishing spell in here somewhere. I just hope it isn't a power of three one. Phoebe gets annoyed when they take her away from work." Paige nodded and as Piper turned the Pages of the book the air around the demon started to shine with light and the fire reappeared and set demon on fire again.
"Mom, I don't think that spell is gonna be necessary." The demon burned and then blew up into nothing. Piper shrugged and shut the book.
"I am glad that the demon is gone but we are still no closer to finding Susanna. Or what the serpents and the sword mean." Leo stepped up.
"The Elders told me what they mean."
* * *
Hakar circled Susanna with the serpentine dagger in his hand. He darted at her slicing the air above her head and next to her ears. She screamed and stumbled away from him. He switched the blade from hand to hand and slashed it towards her. She threw up her hand and it caught on her ring. It clashed with a spark and she screamed again. Hakar smiled maliciously and put the athame back into his belt.
"Why don't you use the magic, child? Imagine how easily you could make me stop if you used it." She set her lip and shook her head stubbornly. He hissed in annoyance and walked to a shelf of scrolls. He selected a parchment and read from it. Dust blew up from the floor and spun into the shape of her mother, Clare. She cried tears of happiness and ran at her with her arms outstretched. Hakar read from the scroll and the image of Clare turned back into a pile of dust. Susanna ran to it and fell to her knees, sifting through the dust as if she might find Clare. She turned to Hakar with a look of hatred.
"Where is my mom? What did you do to her?" He read from the scroll and the dust swirled back into the form of Clare. Susanna looked warily at it and Hakar muttered a few words. Clare's hair spun and turned into snakes and her tongue stuck out and forked, flicking through the air. Susanna got to her feet and ran to the corner. The false Clare walked after her.
"No kisssss for mommy?" She hissed as Susanna shut her eyes and whimpered. Clare flickered and turned into a snake that wound itself round Susanna's arm and raised its head to bite her, fangs dripping green poison onto the stone floor. Susanna screamed in terror and the Seer walked in. With a smile she waved her hand and the illusion fell to dust. Hakar bowed and put the parchment back on the shelf. The Seer bent and took the trembling Susanna by the hand. She brushed off the dust and led Susanna to the table.
"What's wrong Susanna? Was that nasty demon scaring you?" She brushed Susanna's hair as the child nodded. The Seer ignored Hakar's snort of contempt and stood up.
"Let me show you something." The Seer led Susanna over the cauldron and stirred the smoke with her hand. It took form and showed Clare and Josh with the Halliwells. Susanna reached for them and the smoke swirled to nothing. Susanna turned from the cauldron but the Seer caught her arm.
"Why don't you try? Wouldn't you like to see your mother and brother?" Susanna nodded and held her hand over the smoke and steam. She shut her eyes. The gases boiled and rose to meet her hand. They clung to her hand and smothered it. She opened her eyes and tried to shake it off. With a cry Susanna fell backwards and the smoke retreated back to the cauldron. The Seer looked thoughtfully at her.
"That was very good child, go and rest now." Susanna walked slowly away and Hakar came running into the room.
"The Tri-serpent-blade is about to be revealed to the Charmed Ones. We must stop this. The whitelighter is on the verge of telling them!" The Seer cursed and summoned a darklighter.
"Go kill the Charmed whitelighter, we must not let them find out. GO NOW!" The darklighter smoked out and the Seer turned back to the cauldron.
* * *
"Well don't just stand there honey, tell us what it means." Piper said.
"The mark is called the Tri-Serpent-Blade. It represents a faction that built up after The Seer took power from The Source. It's rumoured that the faction draw power from some kind of magical force." Paige stamped her foot.
"We need more than rumours Leo! Can't the Elders actually give us something to work with for once?" She exclaimed. Leo gasped and put his hand to his chest and then fell to the ground. The darklighter stood behind him with a smug expression on his face.
"Crossbow!" Paige called for the daklighter's crossbow and it appeared in her hand. She threw it to the side and Piper blew him up before running to Leo's side.
"Paige, Melinda! Heal him for gods sake!" Paige ran over with tears in her eyes as Leo slipped into unconsciousness. She held out her hands as Clare and Josh stood over them. Melinda did the same as Paige. A golden glow shone from their outstretched palms and Leo shuddered. Paige sat back and Piper grabbed her arm incredulously.
"Why did you stop?" Paige pushed Piper's hand away.
"The bolt. It's coated with the poison and keeps re-infecting him. Bolt!" The bolt orbed out of Leo and Paige directed it into a corner. Then she bent over again and started to heal him again. Piper looked panicked and stood up.
"Why isn't it working?"
Chapter…5? Done now. Woo! 'That demon' is finally dead. But we'll miss him. Won't we? Anyways review me if goddamn ff.net is working… tut tut, ff.net..sort yourselves out already.
