SEVEN

The crystal glowed for several seconds and then a thin beam of energy shot

out from it. It struck Piper and bathed her in light. A few seconds later a

second beam of energy shot out striking Craggen. He also glowed in the light.

The beams continued for several seconds and then ceased. As they did, two

figures orbed into the basement. Leo and Paige stood near the table.

"It's about time you two showed up," said Cole to Leo and Paige. "I

thought you were never going to get here."

"It's finished," said Craggen, looking over at the two new arrivals. "I

see we have visitors. All the better. It will save me the trouble of going

after them."

"You said you'd let her go," said Piper.

"I lied," said Craggen, smiling. "Do you think I would actually allow the

descendents of the witch who imprisoned me for three centuries to escape my

vengeance? I may not be able to punish her for what she did to me but you shall

suffer her punishment for her."

"I don't think so," said Cole.

"You fool," said Craggen. "Did you honestly think I would give you power?

You're are a demon. Once I take over the underworld warlocks will rule over all

demons."

"Oh, that's not going to happen either," said Cole. "And, no, I didn't

think you'd keep your word to me. You're a warlock. As I told you, your kind

isn't exactly known for its trustworthiness. And especially not with a demon.

Or a former demon. I knew you'd pull something like this."

"You are a fool," said Craggen. "I have the Power of Three. The greatest

power in all history. No one can stand against me, least of all a former demon

with no powers and three witches with no powers. And the White Lighter is of

less a threat than...."

Craggen suddenly stopped speaking and had the strangest look on his face.

The look suggested that he was in pain. He put his hand to his chest. He tried

to speak again but again the look of pain crossed his face.

"Oh, that would probably be the power of the spell reversing itself," said

Cole. "Unfortunately, it won't have anywhere to go."

Cole suddenly moved over to the table with the crystal on it. He picked

up the crystal and threw it in the air.

"Piper, get rid of this, please," Cole said.

Not sure what was going on Piper brought up her hands. She activated her

explosive power and the crystal shattered into a thousands shards. Craggen

looked at Cole in shock.

"Bye bye," said Cole.

Before any of the people gathered in the room could move, Craggen cried

out in pain. Then he suddenly burst in to flames and was vanquished in

seconds. Corlin looked at the scorched mark on the floor that used to be his

master. He then looked up at the girls, Leo, and Cole.

"They aren't real crazy about warlocks," Cole said to Corlin. "I would

suggest you get out of here while you still can."

Outnumbered and out powered, Corlin decided that Cole was right. He

suddenly blinked and was gone. Cole moved over and began to release Phoebe.

"Sorry about all this," said Cole. "And Piper I know you're pretty pissed

at me right now. Not to mention how angry Phoebe probably is. Just give me a

chance to explain."

"I think you'd better," said Piper. "I am this close to blowing you up

for what you did to us. Unless you have a very good reason for what you

did...."

"Let's just get back to the manor," said Cole. "I promise I'll explain

everything."

"Okay, Leo, Paige," said Piper, "you'd better orb us back."

"Just a minute," said Cole.

He walked over and picked up the paper with the spell written on it that

Craggen had used. He looked at it and then walked back over to the others.

"Okay, I'm ready," he announced.

Leo and Paige then orbed them all out of the basement back to the manor.

"Okay, Turner," said Piper back in the living room of the manor, "you'd

better start with the explanations."

"First, I just want to say that none of you were ever in any real danger,"

said Cole.

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe asked. "I was tied up, gagged, and

chained to a wall. You call that not in any danger?"

"It was necessary, honey," said Cole. "Craggen wasn't about to hurt you.

He needed you to get Piper here."

"So he could steal my power," said Piper.

"Yes," said Cole. "But not only yours. All three of your powers. That's

what this spell was designed to do."

"That's crazy," said Paige. "I never heard of a spell that could do

something like that."

"This one can," said Cole. "It's the Succession Spell."

"That's impossible," said Leo. "That spell doesn't exist. It's a myth, a

legend."

"That's what I always thought," said Cole. "Yet here it is. And from what

I've been able to determine, it's genuine."

"What does this Succession Spell do?" Piper asked.

"According to legend," said Leo, "the spell could be used to drain the

magic from an entire witch family at one time. If it were used against the

oldest witch in a family the spell would affect all of that witches siblings and

descendents. The magic would be channeled through the crystal and redirected

into the caster."

"Well, something like that," said Cole. "It's written in a dialect of

Latin so it had to be cast in that language. But to make sure they had the

right spell, Corlin and his brother translated it into English."

"That's why you brushed up on your Latin," said Phoebe.

"Yes," said Cole. "They showed me the spell when they first contacted me.

I was able to read part of it but wasn't sure if what I had read was correct.

So I brushed up my Latin and translated what I could remember from the spell."

"And you were convinced they had the original spell?" questioned Piper.

"Yes," said Cole. "First, this isn't paper it's written on. It's

actually human skin. And the ink is not ink. It's blood. It was written long

ago by a race of warlocks that is now extinct. It was just one of a lot of

powerful magic they came up with. Magic that eventually destroyed them."

"And Corlin and his brother found the spell?" Paige asked.

"Apparently," said Cole. "And they planned to use it to give Craggen the

ability to restore the power he lost when Melinda Warren defeated him."

"He mentioned Melinda," said Piper. "Did Melinda Warren actually seal him

in a prison for three hundred years."

"Yes," said Leo. "It's what led to her being burned as a witch."