"Elders are dying," Leo said. "They're just...dying, and nobody knows why."
"What do you mean?" asked Paige.
"Elders don't die by natural means. They can retire, pass on their powers to a newly-appointed Elder and then transcend, but they don't just die. But in the past three hours, three of them have suddenly dropped dead while they're Up There, and then vanished. Right in front of other Elders. Nothing like this has ever happened before," Leo said, in a broken voice. In his hands he held a piece of golden fabric, which he'd been mindlessly wrapping around his fingers as he spoke. Phoebe looked questioningly at it. "Oh - when the third Elder died, another Elder who was standing nearby grabbed hold of his robe, and when the body disappeared, he held on tightly enough that the robe tore." Leo set the torn shred on the stand that held the Book of Shadows.
Piper squeezed his hand, and said, "Well, let's see if the Book has anything on demons who kill Elders without being seen."
As she reached for the Book of Shadows, the pages started turning themselves. "Grams, thanks," Piper whispered, as the Book settled on a page titled "Benecaedus." Piper read from the entry, "Benecaedus: An upper-level demon who kills beings of good magic to create evil portals. Each time he is awakened, he kills five beings and summons their bodies to his lair, which is cloaked in dark magic, and arranges them in the shape of a pentagram. When the pentagram is completed, a portal opens, unleashing great evil on the world, including the last Ice Age, and most recently, the Spanish Inquisition. He has never been vanquished but was greatly weakened during the Inquisition by a powerful coven of witches who cursed him into his lair and then hid it from even dark magic so he could not be awakened again."
"Looks like someone managed to get him a wake-up call anyway," commented Paige. "No vanquish, huh?" Piper shook her head. "Alright, so he's killed three Elders in three hours, which optimistically gives us two hours before he unleashes...whatever on the world. Piper, you get started on the strongest generic vanquishing potion you can make without a piece of his flesh; Phoebe, you get started on a Power of Three spell; and I'll try to find a way to summon him here or get us there, wherever 'there' is."
Piper and Paige hurried out of the room; Piper was already mentally preparing the vanquish recipe as she walked toward the kitchen, and Paige retreated to her room to study previous summoning spells she'd written or come across.
Phoebe and Leo were still in the attic. Phoebe looking uncommonly solemn. "Are you okay, Leo?" she asked her brother-in-law.
He nodded, lips pursed tightly together. He closed his eyes briefly. "I'm going to go check on Wyatt and Andy," he said. He left the attic, and Phoebe stood alone in the middle of the room, looking around uncertainly. She walked over to the Book of Shadows and picked up the torn piece of the Elder's robe. She closed her eyes, willing a premonition with all her might.
Nothing happened. Sighing, she returned the piece of fabric to the stand and crossed the room to get to work on the vanquishing spell.
* * *
"Darn it!" Paige muttered as the tip of her pencil snapped off. She was sprawled out on her bed, writing in a notebook. She glanced at the cup of pens on her desk and grinned. "Let's see..." She turned, facing away from the desk, closed her eyes, and pictured a pen she'd seen in the cup. Without a word, she focused on calling the pen with her mind, and chuckled gleefully when she felt it orb into her hand. "Yes! I am so cool. Okay, then, one super summoning spell, coming right up."
She read over the first few rough lines she'd written, but stopped short when she realized that she was hearing the words in her mind, the way she heard the names of items she called for without speaking aloud.
"Not a good idea, Paige. Let's not summon the demon by ourself, especially without anything for a vanquish." She paused. "And while we're at it, let's stop talking to ourself in plural, shall we?" Rolling her eyes at herself, she absently twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she continued working on her summoning spell. Fully focused on the task at hand, she didn't realize that nearly half an hour had passed until she heard a muffled curse from upstairs.