Thank to you few who bothered to review. It really helps to know that
someone likes my story.
Robyn
CHAPTER 2
"I have no idea who she was," repeated Phoebe. "She had awesome power – she even had Wyatt fooled into dropping his shield!" "I can't stand that she picked him up," said Piper, rocking the baby in her arms, "She could have done anything! Leo – do you have any idea? Would they have any idea what that was all about?" indicating the Elders with a toss of her head. Leo was lying on the lounge, still recovering from the darklighters' attacks. Paige was sitting next to Phoebe, holding her hand, and keeping an eye on Leo at the same time. Leo shook his head. "I don't recognize her from your description," he said to Phoebe. "You said – he wasn't the baby she was looking for?" Phoebe nodded. "She held him, cuddled him, then somehow read my thoughts – and gave him back to me. I was totally unable to move," she said, shuddering as she recalled her feeling of helplessness. "I think that maybe I wasn't the one she was after either." "I'll get the Book of Shadows," said Paige, getting up. "We'll have to put some serious magical blocks around this house – I'm sick of these other world beings that feel they can just drop in without calling first!"
Piper smiled at her indignant tone. Her heart rate was starting to return to normal – but just thinking of her precious baby in the arms of a demon was enough to make her really mad!
"Well she came with her own army –" said Phoebe, "I mean, she organized the darklighters. She got them to follow Leo, so she must have known about us."
"Yes, but was it a Charmed thing – or was it just Wyatt she was interested in?" asked Piper.
"Or as it turns out – not interested in." said Phoebe. "And does that mean that another witch's baby is in danger somewhere?"
"Leo, if you feel up to it, how about checking with the Elders? Phoebe and I will go upstairs to see if Paige has found anything. I'll keep Wyatt with me," and Piper headed towards the stairs, with Phoebe following behind.
Paige was flicking through the book, and she looked up as they entered, shaking her head. "I can't find anything that mentions that particular demon," she said.
"Nor anything that explains why the darklighters would attack. I mean, it's like they were organized."
Piper shifted Wyatt to her other side, and he clutched her hair, and began sucking on it. "No, baby, that's not nice," she said, pulling it free. "And you are not supposed to let strange women or demons pick you up either!" she told him, as she smiled down at him.
"Bub bub bub" he said, and she kissed his cheek.
"Don't think you can talk me round, young man," she whispered to him, "I don't want you in any danger."
Phoebe put her arms around Piper and Wyatt. "I don't want any of us in danger," she said shuddering as she recalled how easily their otherword visitor had beaten the magic barrier around the baby.
"From your description of her, she sounds like she could have been a seductress demon," said Paige, still flipping pages madly, "But she would have to be a very powerful one. I didn't think they had the sort of power to overcome ours. And what would a seductress want with a baby?"
"I don't know," said Phoebe, still shaken. "But I haven't felt such power for a long time."
Piper looked at her sister, in concern. "Are you all right sis?" she asked. "You said she read your mind – specifically what?"
"I can't really say," replied Phoebe. "It was a whirl – but I think, that most of what she got, was about Cole – and I have no idea why."
"Cole?" repeated Paige, - "Are you still thinking about him? I thought that was way over!"
"Well after last week, - running into that guy from the FBI – of course I was thinking about Cole!" said Phoebe, firing up suddenly. "Can you blame me? I mean, you were there, you saw him – how much like Cole he was!" And she shut her eyes against the sudden flare of pain mixed with fear that always seemed to accompany any mention of her demon ex.
Piper shook her head, and put Wyatt on the ground, and stood between her sisters.
"I'm sorry you are thinking about Cole again, Pheebs, but we have to work something out about these attacks on our house. Paige is right, we need to put some magical blocks on the house itself. Let's wait and see what Leo comes up with about the darklighters and the demon – and start searching the Book for magic ways to prevent intruders!"
*** **** ***** **** ***
Behind him, some loose rocks rolled together, with a clicking noise, and he swung around, gradually realizing he had been hearing unusual noises for a while. He scanned the brown outcrop on which he was perched; listening intently now, sure he could hear something. He wondered if the beast had learned to climb, - maybe even now it was creeping up behind him, ready to pounce...his heartbeat accelerated, perhaps he wasn't ready to die!
More rocks slid down. Cole eased back into the shadows of an overhanging rock, focused now on something other than his own misery! Gradually he could hear footsteps, hesitant, stumbling – and labored breathing.
He held his breath, and watched in amazement as someone he once knew came clambering into view. "Jael, what on earth are you doing here?" he exclaimed, stepping out from the shadows, and the half demon he knew as Jael, swung around, his feet slipping on the shale, and he sat down hard.
"Damn you Belthazor, you made me bite my tongue," Jael grumbled, then looking up at Cole in astonishment, "I could ask the same thing – what are you doing here?"
"I was vanquished by the Charmed Ones – again," said Cole. "It seems to be my fate to end up here. This is the second time."
"Well this is my first," grumbled Jael, "and I don't like it. There's a bloody great snake thing down there, it tried to eat me!"
"The beast," said Cole. "It devours any demonic remains – and absorbs the powers."
At that moment, the sky was rent by a flash of lightening, a flaming demonic form plunged screaming to the ground, and the beast was on top of it.
Jael scrambled away from the edge of the rock.
"Wow – did you see that?" he demanded, his eyes wild. "That's disgusting! How come you are still alive? And Me? I don't understand."
"I think it has to do with the fact that we are not fully demonic," said Cole slowly, "I think our human half prevents us from burning out. What do you remember about your vanquish?"
"I was sent after a statue, a small jade thing – supposedly it had great powers of protection. There was a coven of witches waiting – they had a potion which they threw at me – I remember the burning – the pain - especially the pain – then I was falling – falling - and I landed on this rock – down around there. The snake thing – the beast came close to where I was, and I decided to get higher – that's about it, till you appeared out of the shadows and scared what was left of the hell out of me!"
Jael paused to take a deep breath, wincing and ducking as another demon plummeted to earth in a fiery ball. "How long have you been here? I haven't heard anything about you for ages – there were stories going around that you were a traitor, that you married a witch! Then that changed and the rumour was that you were the Source? How did you end up here? And do you know how to get the hell out of here, which is a much more important thing!"
Cole sat down on the rock, next to Jael "I'm not sure if I can get back a second time," he said slowly. "I will try in a minute. First I want you to tell me what is going on in the Underworld. I haven't been back there since I was first vanquished – when I was possessed as the Source. Who is the leader, and what is the current mood like?"
"Zaytak is in charge, or trying to take charge I should say, at the moment. That's how I ended up here – he sent me to the Mortal Realm to get this statue – and he knew I had little or no knowledge of humans – they have not been my interest or my study. But he wanted me to go, because I was a half- breed, and we 'fit in better'. I think he just did it to get rid of me – all the half-breeds are having a hard time. In fact, I don't think there are too many of us left. Zaytak and his followers believe in purity of line – and let's face it you and I missed out there! And of course, since the whole Triad thing, and killing Raynor, you haven't been in good standing with the Brotherhood."
"You said Zaytak was trying to take charge," said Cole, "Who is he trying to take it from?"
"Well no one in particular," replied Jael – "But there were whispers of a fairly high level demon returning from the Continent to organize the Underworld properly, it's been really messy since you - err - the Seer should I say, exploded and took out a lot of the Upper Level. In fact, no one knows what really happened – was the Seer really pregnant with your baby?"
Cole smiled grimly, and studied the ground. 'Well I guess you could say so," he said, "But not how you think. She cast a spell, and transferred the baby out of my wife, and into her. I wasn't around when it happened; the witches had already vanquished me. For the first time, that is. But my wife told me that's what happened. The Seer couldn't handle the power that my son had, and exploded in a big way. Serves her right, the stupid cow. My son would have been the most powerful being in either Realm."
"Well, enough of this chatting," said Jael standing up, "I'd love to sit and catch up on the last 50 years or so, so lets do it, but somewhere else. Can you get us out of here? Somewhere not so hot, near a beach would be nice. A five star hotel would be even nicer. Or so I've heard."
Cole stood up as well, and holding out his hand to Jael, thought about his rooms in the Underworld, and then in a split second, blurred, taking the other half demon with him.
CHAPTER 2
"I have no idea who she was," repeated Phoebe. "She had awesome power – she even had Wyatt fooled into dropping his shield!" "I can't stand that she picked him up," said Piper, rocking the baby in her arms, "She could have done anything! Leo – do you have any idea? Would they have any idea what that was all about?" indicating the Elders with a toss of her head. Leo was lying on the lounge, still recovering from the darklighters' attacks. Paige was sitting next to Phoebe, holding her hand, and keeping an eye on Leo at the same time. Leo shook his head. "I don't recognize her from your description," he said to Phoebe. "You said – he wasn't the baby she was looking for?" Phoebe nodded. "She held him, cuddled him, then somehow read my thoughts – and gave him back to me. I was totally unable to move," she said, shuddering as she recalled her feeling of helplessness. "I think that maybe I wasn't the one she was after either." "I'll get the Book of Shadows," said Paige, getting up. "We'll have to put some serious magical blocks around this house – I'm sick of these other world beings that feel they can just drop in without calling first!"
Piper smiled at her indignant tone. Her heart rate was starting to return to normal – but just thinking of her precious baby in the arms of a demon was enough to make her really mad!
"Well she came with her own army –" said Phoebe, "I mean, she organized the darklighters. She got them to follow Leo, so she must have known about us."
"Yes, but was it a Charmed thing – or was it just Wyatt she was interested in?" asked Piper.
"Or as it turns out – not interested in." said Phoebe. "And does that mean that another witch's baby is in danger somewhere?"
"Leo, if you feel up to it, how about checking with the Elders? Phoebe and I will go upstairs to see if Paige has found anything. I'll keep Wyatt with me," and Piper headed towards the stairs, with Phoebe following behind.
Paige was flicking through the book, and she looked up as they entered, shaking her head. "I can't find anything that mentions that particular demon," she said.
"Nor anything that explains why the darklighters would attack. I mean, it's like they were organized."
Piper shifted Wyatt to her other side, and he clutched her hair, and began sucking on it. "No, baby, that's not nice," she said, pulling it free. "And you are not supposed to let strange women or demons pick you up either!" she told him, as she smiled down at him.
"Bub bub bub" he said, and she kissed his cheek.
"Don't think you can talk me round, young man," she whispered to him, "I don't want you in any danger."
Phoebe put her arms around Piper and Wyatt. "I don't want any of us in danger," she said shuddering as she recalled how easily their otherword visitor had beaten the magic barrier around the baby.
"From your description of her, she sounds like she could have been a seductress demon," said Paige, still flipping pages madly, "But she would have to be a very powerful one. I didn't think they had the sort of power to overcome ours. And what would a seductress want with a baby?"
"I don't know," said Phoebe, still shaken. "But I haven't felt such power for a long time."
Piper looked at her sister, in concern. "Are you all right sis?" she asked. "You said she read your mind – specifically what?"
"I can't really say," replied Phoebe. "It was a whirl – but I think, that most of what she got, was about Cole – and I have no idea why."
"Cole?" repeated Paige, - "Are you still thinking about him? I thought that was way over!"
"Well after last week, - running into that guy from the FBI – of course I was thinking about Cole!" said Phoebe, firing up suddenly. "Can you blame me? I mean, you were there, you saw him – how much like Cole he was!" And she shut her eyes against the sudden flare of pain mixed with fear that always seemed to accompany any mention of her demon ex.
Piper shook her head, and put Wyatt on the ground, and stood between her sisters.
"I'm sorry you are thinking about Cole again, Pheebs, but we have to work something out about these attacks on our house. Paige is right, we need to put some magical blocks on the house itself. Let's wait and see what Leo comes up with about the darklighters and the demon – and start searching the Book for magic ways to prevent intruders!"
*** **** ***** **** ***
Behind him, some loose rocks rolled together, with a clicking noise, and he swung around, gradually realizing he had been hearing unusual noises for a while. He scanned the brown outcrop on which he was perched; listening intently now, sure he could hear something. He wondered if the beast had learned to climb, - maybe even now it was creeping up behind him, ready to pounce...his heartbeat accelerated, perhaps he wasn't ready to die!
More rocks slid down. Cole eased back into the shadows of an overhanging rock, focused now on something other than his own misery! Gradually he could hear footsteps, hesitant, stumbling – and labored breathing.
He held his breath, and watched in amazement as someone he once knew came clambering into view. "Jael, what on earth are you doing here?" he exclaimed, stepping out from the shadows, and the half demon he knew as Jael, swung around, his feet slipping on the shale, and he sat down hard.
"Damn you Belthazor, you made me bite my tongue," Jael grumbled, then looking up at Cole in astonishment, "I could ask the same thing – what are you doing here?"
"I was vanquished by the Charmed Ones – again," said Cole. "It seems to be my fate to end up here. This is the second time."
"Well this is my first," grumbled Jael, "and I don't like it. There's a bloody great snake thing down there, it tried to eat me!"
"The beast," said Cole. "It devours any demonic remains – and absorbs the powers."
At that moment, the sky was rent by a flash of lightening, a flaming demonic form plunged screaming to the ground, and the beast was on top of it.
Jael scrambled away from the edge of the rock.
"Wow – did you see that?" he demanded, his eyes wild. "That's disgusting! How come you are still alive? And Me? I don't understand."
"I think it has to do with the fact that we are not fully demonic," said Cole slowly, "I think our human half prevents us from burning out. What do you remember about your vanquish?"
"I was sent after a statue, a small jade thing – supposedly it had great powers of protection. There was a coven of witches waiting – they had a potion which they threw at me – I remember the burning – the pain - especially the pain – then I was falling – falling - and I landed on this rock – down around there. The snake thing – the beast came close to where I was, and I decided to get higher – that's about it, till you appeared out of the shadows and scared what was left of the hell out of me!"
Jael paused to take a deep breath, wincing and ducking as another demon plummeted to earth in a fiery ball. "How long have you been here? I haven't heard anything about you for ages – there were stories going around that you were a traitor, that you married a witch! Then that changed and the rumour was that you were the Source? How did you end up here? And do you know how to get the hell out of here, which is a much more important thing!"
Cole sat down on the rock, next to Jael "I'm not sure if I can get back a second time," he said slowly. "I will try in a minute. First I want you to tell me what is going on in the Underworld. I haven't been back there since I was first vanquished – when I was possessed as the Source. Who is the leader, and what is the current mood like?"
"Zaytak is in charge, or trying to take charge I should say, at the moment. That's how I ended up here – he sent me to the Mortal Realm to get this statue – and he knew I had little or no knowledge of humans – they have not been my interest or my study. But he wanted me to go, because I was a half- breed, and we 'fit in better'. I think he just did it to get rid of me – all the half-breeds are having a hard time. In fact, I don't think there are too many of us left. Zaytak and his followers believe in purity of line – and let's face it you and I missed out there! And of course, since the whole Triad thing, and killing Raynor, you haven't been in good standing with the Brotherhood."
"You said Zaytak was trying to take charge," said Cole, "Who is he trying to take it from?"
"Well no one in particular," replied Jael – "But there were whispers of a fairly high level demon returning from the Continent to organize the Underworld properly, it's been really messy since you - err - the Seer should I say, exploded and took out a lot of the Upper Level. In fact, no one knows what really happened – was the Seer really pregnant with your baby?"
Cole smiled grimly, and studied the ground. 'Well I guess you could say so," he said, "But not how you think. She cast a spell, and transferred the baby out of my wife, and into her. I wasn't around when it happened; the witches had already vanquished me. For the first time, that is. But my wife told me that's what happened. The Seer couldn't handle the power that my son had, and exploded in a big way. Serves her right, the stupid cow. My son would have been the most powerful being in either Realm."
"Well, enough of this chatting," said Jael standing up, "I'd love to sit and catch up on the last 50 years or so, so lets do it, but somewhere else. Can you get us out of here? Somewhere not so hot, near a beach would be nice. A five star hotel would be even nicer. Or so I've heard."
Cole stood up as well, and holding out his hand to Jael, thought about his rooms in the Underworld, and then in a split second, blurred, taking the other half demon with him.