Thanx for the reviews ppl!!!

Karone Evertree: 'mo' is short for moment, sorry for any confusion!!

Sparkling Cherries: hope u are ok after your encounter with the force field!! and this chapter's quite a bit longer so hope u like it!

And thanx for your luvly reviews Nathy1000000 and mizunderstood writer!!

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Chapter 10: Fighting For His Life

As the Oracle's words hit Chris he instinctively tried to orb. Nothing happened.

"My sanctuary is protected form orbing." verified the Oracle, "I would have thought that would have been obvious, foolish boy." she continued condescendingly.

Considering, Chris supposed that it should have been obvious but he was only half concentrating on that. The other half of his mind was on what the Oracle had just said, on the questions swimming round in his head. Why would his death allow dark magic to flourish? How was Wyatt involved?

Swallowing nervously and trying to back away unnoticeably Chris asked, "Why do you want to kill me? Why would Wyatt want, or need, to kill me?"

"Your imminent death will make all your knowledge of this unnecessary." replied the Oracle calmly. Chris took this to mean that she wouldn't tell him, 'Why do Wyatt's demons all seem to go out of their way to annoy me?" he thought irritated, if irrelevantly.

He nodded apparently in acceptance of this, while his brain was thinking rapidly of a way to get out of here. His first instinct was to buy himself some time. 'Right.' he thought. 'Here we go.'

He lashed out his hand at the Oracle, meaning to send her flying into the cave wall, but the Oracle only staggered back slightly. "Great, just great." muttered Chris, "She's practically immune to my powers." Chris switched over to his back-up plan - running.

He turned and swiftly sprinted through the cave before the Oracle could completely recover, and out into a passage. He stumbled as he felt an energy ball of some kind graze his shoulder, but continued running, dodging the other energy balls sent after him.

Back in the cave, the Oracle glared maliciously after Chris's retreating footsteps. "You won't get far." she spat, "More than my powers protect this sanctuary." Turning to a roughly hewn stone table at the side of the cave, she waved her hand over a bowl of shadowy water. Almost immediately the mist cleared to reveal a figure crouching behind a large rock.

Chris raised a cautious eye above the rock then ducked quickly as an energy ball was sent flying at him. "She had to have guards." he groaned, irked by his recent run of bad luck. He glanced round the rock again and surprised a demon who was trying to sneak up on him. Chris waved his hand at the demon, sending it flying into the wall, but, by now, the other five demons were attacking him, leaving him no chance to get back to the relative safety of the rock.

He levitated above the first energy ball thrown at him, then used his telekinesis to direct the next one back at the demon who had produced it. The demon vanquished itself in a burst of flames, leaving a cloud of ash floating down to the ground. The first demon Chris had hit had now recovered and more were appearing from side passages. There were now about ten demons slowly surrounding him, grinning maliciously.

Looking around him Chris realised that he couldn't fight all ten demons at once. He tried to orb again but apparently the Oracle's magic extended out into the passage as well. As the demons conjured energy balls and prepared to throw them, Chris suddenly dived at one of the demons. They both crashed into the floor, but Chris had been prepared and as they both got to their feet Chris was behind the demon, being shielded from the energy balls. The energy balls slammed into the demon, vanquishing it instantly, but leaving Chris unharmed. He aimed a kick at the nearest demon sending it slamming into the ground, knocking it unconscious, and as a demon tried to grab him from behind, used it's momentum to throw the demon over his shoulder, onto the ground. Chris straightened, thankful his Aunt Phoebe had taught him some fighting skills before she had been killed.

However there were still seven more demons to contend with and the other would recover soon.

Chris ducked as a fireball was thrown at him and waved his hand again at the demon who had thrown it. However, instead of his telekinesis hurling the demon into the wall, it exploded with a scream of pain, which hung echoing throughout the cave even after the demon had been completely vanquished.

Chris looked at his hand in surprise. He had no idea where that had come from but he recognised the power. Molecular combustion, one of the powers that his mother had possessed. However, Chris had little time to speculate if he had a new power as the demons were still attacking. They, too, had been a little surprised by Chris blowing the demon up but were recovering from their surprise rapidly.

Instinctively Chris tried to blow up the next demon as it advanced on him but he missed, instead hitting the wall behind, causing shards of rock to fly through the passage way. Trying desperately to focus Chris aimed for the demon again, and this time managed to blow him up. "Yes" he hissed triumphantly, turning to face the rest of the demons. 'This would turn the tables a little.' he thought.

Watching from the scrying bowl in her cave, the Oracle cursed angrily as Chris used his new power combined with his telekinesis and levitation to vanquish the rest of the demons. "This only makes my mission more important." she hissed, striding over to the cave's entrance, aiming for where Chris was regaining his breath after the fight.

"Going somewhere?" a cold, harsh voice cut through the gloom.

The Oracle stopped abruptly, turning so she could see both Chris and the newcomer. Wyatt took a step forward, into the light from a flickering candle.

"How dare you betray me in this way?" he demanded coldly.

"My Lord, I seek only to serve you." replied the Oracle, desperately. "You will not do what has to be done, so I will do the deed instead."

"I decide what has to be done." spat Wyatt. He gestured to Chris, "Come with me."

"Why should I Wyatt?" demanded Chris, "So you can kill me instead?"

"No. I would never kill you Chris." replied Wyatt calmly. Reluctantly almost Chris raised his eyes to return Wyatt's gaze. "I never meant for this to happen." he continued.

While the two brothers were focused on each other, the Oracle saw her chance. She hastily conjured an energy ball and threw it at Chris, aiming for his heart.

Seeing the energy ball coming Chris tried to duck, but he was too late. He felt the energy ball burn into his shoulder and the force sent him slamming into the wall behind. He dimly saw the Oracle burn in a ring of flames and Wyatt stepping up behind her before the world slid into blackness.