Instinctively, Prue raised her hands to attack the demon. Before she could, Piper stopped her.
"It hasn't attacked," said Piper. "Maybe it wants something else."
"What do you want?" Prue asked the demon.
"My master sends me with a message for the Charmed Ones," said the demon. "He does not come for battle. He seeks only to talk."
"That's new," said Phoebe, "a demon asking for a truce."
"What about?" asked Piper.
"It concerns the human currently in your care," said the demon.
"Maybe we can learn why they want him dead," said Leo.
"Tell your master if he only wishes to talk," said Piper, "he can come talk. But if he tries anything, he'll get a lot more than that."
"Talk only," said the demon. "I will inform my master."
The demon then shimmered away.
"We'd better be on guard," said Prue. "This may be a trick to get at Hobart."
"I'll get him out of here at the first sign of trouble," said Leo, stepping next to Hobart.
Seconds later another demon shimmered into the manor. It stood seven feet tall and its skin was the same shade of purple as the first demon. It looked like a larger version of the first demon.
"I am Mal Nosh," announced the demon as if the mention of its name would strike fear in the sisters.
"He's a very high level demon," whispered Leo. "If he's after Hobart he'll have a very good reason."
"Your messenger boy said you wanted to talk," said Prue. "So talk."
"You meddle in affairs that do not concern you," said Mal Nosh.
"Lets see," said Piper. "An innocent with no powers is being attacked by demons. I'd say that was our business."
"He's no innocent," said Mal Nosh. "He will possess powers that will destroy my kind. Demonic powers. Your protection of him is misplaced."
"Powers?" questioned Hobart. "I don't have any powers."
"Some one with the power to destroy demons?" questioned Phoebe. "Why doesn't that bother me?"
"What do you mean he will possess powers?" asked Prue.
"When the human reaches his thirtieth birthday," said Mal Nosh, "his powers will come to him. He will use those powers to destroy my kind. I cannot allow it."
"How do you know this?" asked Piper.
"The Oracle has foreseen it," said Mal Nosh.
"Oracle?" questioned Prue.
"A demon who can see the future," explained Leo. "Similar to Phoebe."
"Oh okay," said Piper. "I'm with Phoebe on this one. I'm not really seeing a problem here. Not from our perspective anyway."
"Are you such a fool you cannot see what will happen?" asked Mal Nosh. "He is a human. The powers he will gain will rob him of his mind. He will be plunged into madness. A madness from which he cannot escape."
"So say you," said Phoebe. "Or maybe you just want us to believe that. So we won't fight you and protect him."
"I speak the truth," said Mal Nosh. "I come here to protect, not only my kind, but yours as well."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Prue.
"His power will be great enough to decimate the underworld," said Mal Nosh. "And when he has finished there, he will not stop. He will turn his power against your kind. Witches and Whitelighters alike will fall before him. His madness will have no bounds. Not until the last is gone. The Oracle has foreseen all this."