Apologies for the delay in posting I have had real problems accessing the site and haven't been able to log in all week.

Just want to point out that the information about the pentagram was taken from a book on Wicca. Please note that the geographical locations of the famous landmarks do not really match the points on the pentagram, I just used them to add a little colour/detail to the story, call it artistic licence. I'm English and have never been to San Francisco, so I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies in this story. I have tried to gather information from guidebooks and the internet, but have also added a little of my own imagination.

Anyway, on with the story…

'But Paige aren't you forgetting one important thing? Cole's invincible' Piper said reasonably. 'Even if we wanted to vanquish him we can't.'

'Actually I'm not so sure about that' Paige argued. 'I've actually got a few ideas about how we might do it.' She grinned triumphantly. All that late night studying of the Book of Shadows had actually given her new ideas about a whole lot of things, even if she was still a little stuck when it came to her bigger project.

'What!' Phoebe yelled in disbelief, jumping up from her perch on the arm of the couch and facing Paige angrily. 'You've been working on a vanquishing potion for Cole and you didn't even bother to tell me!'

'I haven't been working on it' Paige explained carefully. 'I just said that I'd had a few ideas that's all.' She was real glad now that she hadn't told Phoebe about the other project. If this was the way Phoebe was gonna react every time she showed a little initiative it was better that she kept it to herself for now.

'When were you gonna tell me about this Paige, after you'd vanquished him?' Phoebe continued angrily. 'We're you just gonna drop it in to the conversation over breakfast -pass the Special K, and by the way Phoebe I vanquished your ex-husband yesterday.'

'No of course not' Paige said indignantly, a little hurt by Phoebe's tone. 'I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure it'd work. Geez I thought you'd be pleased, I mean you keep on saying how much you want Cole out of your life. I thought I was doing you a favour.' She eyed Phoebe suspiciously 'You are over him aren't you?'

'Of course I'm over him' Phoebe said defensively.

'Good' Paige nodded in satisfaction. 'So then what's the problem?'

'Well right now I'd say our problem is making sure that the other covens are safe wouldn't you?' Piper interrupted, deliberately breaking through the tension that had developed between her sisters. 'We can figure out what to do about Cole later.' She looked at them both meaningfully. 'So' she turned to Phoebe 'your premonition give you any idea where they might be?'

'I'm not sure.' Phoebe said closing her eyes and trying to recreate the mental picture. 'It was some kind of green house, and there were lots of flowers, all different kinds.'

'Well one of the covens is linked to the element earth, so it's likely they'd be based near an important body of earth of some kind, maybe a park or a garden' Leo suggested softly from his place on the couch, instantly grabbing their attention.

'What do you mean one of the covens is linked to earth?' Piper asked, surprised by the revelation. She eyed him suspiciously. 'How do you know that? Is that something else the Elders have been keeping from us?'

Inwardly Leo winced at the insinuation, but outwardly he chose to ignore it, he couldn't blame the girls for feeling a little resentment towards the Elders right now, especially Piper since the Elders had been keeping him away from her lately what with all the extra work he'd been assigned.

'I know because each of the points of a pentagram is aligned to a different Wiccan element' he said simply.

In response to their quizzical expressions, Leo grabbed paper and pen from the pad by the phone, and quickly drew a five-pointed star. 'Okay look, the single point at the top is traditionally associated with spirit, the point to the right is water, the two points at the bottom are fire and earth, and the one on the left is air.'

'Wait a minute' Paige said excitedly grabbing the paper off him, and looking at it more closely. 'I've seen that someplace before.' She held out her hand. 'Book of Shadows.' Obediently the book appeared in Paige's outstretched hand.

Piper opened her mouth to comment on Paige's use of magic for personal gain, but Paige cut her off 'I know you're right, personal gain, but we don't have a lot of time here. Now it's in here somewhere, I just can't remember where I saw it' she explained, taking a seat and resting the heavy book across her knees. Using both hands she leafed through the pages, until finally she found what she'd been looking for.

'I knew it' she grinned triumphantly. 'It's right here see.' She placed Leo's drawing next to an identical picture in the Book and held it out so that the others could see.

'Alright so we got a match, so what does it say?' Piper asked impatiently.

Paige read aloud from the book 'Okay, Pentagram, a Wiccan symbol for protection. To protect your home from dark magic, stand at your front door, and draw the sign of the pentagram on the ground. Place items associated with the appropriate element at each point of the star. A feather can be used to denote spirit, a small bowl of water to symbolise water, a candle for fire, for earth a small bowl of earth, and for air an empty bowl. Ensure that the pentagram is drawn with the single point at the top to signify good magic. The inverse pentagram is a sign of dark magic.'

'So' Piper said slowly, talking out her thought process 'if each of these covens is acting as a point on one gigantic pentagram, and we can identify which element that coven today was aligned with, then using that location as a start point, we should be able to figure out the general location of the other points…'

'And then all we have to do is identify the major landmarks that correspond to each of the remaining elements, and I'll betcha that's where we'll find our covens.' Paige finished for her excitedly.

'Right' Piper said, taking charge. 'So what we need is a map'.

'Map' Paige commanded holding out her hands, and ignoring Piper's frown. The large map that they used for scrying appeared in Paige's arms, and she placed it on the coffee table.

Piper leaned across the table studying the map 'Okay so here's the Manor.' Leo handed her his pen and she drew a circle around the location of the Manor.

'And this is where the coven was taken out last night' Paige said pointing to a location below and to the right of the Manor.

'Alright' Piper marked the location with her pen. ' So what element do you think that point corresponds to? Think. Did you notice anything when you were at the crime scene that might tell us?'

Paige closed her eyes for a moment trying to picture the crime scene. She tried hard to imagine it without all the cops and the yellow crime tape. 'It was in a clearing at the top of the hill, there were rocks and trees and the ground was all kinda messed up.' She frowned. 'I don't know, I mean I guess that could mean air or earth…'

'Fire. It was fire.' Phoebe said suddenly, surprising them.

'Are you sure?' Piper asked, looking a little sceptical. 'I mean from Paige's description it could be anything.'

Phoebe nodded. 'Yeah, but thinking back I'm sure I saw the remains of a fire near the centre of the clearing, and I don't mean the scorch marks, this was something different.'

'Okay then.' Piper wrote 'F' next to the circle that she had just drawn. 'So now we know roughly where the pentagram is, and the general location of each point, we just need to find the appropriate landmarks in each area.'

'Golden Gate Park, the conservatory at Golden Gate Park, that's what I saw in my premonition' Phoebe said excitedly. 'I thought it seemed odd all those different flowers.' She stabbed a finger at the map. 'It's in the right location and it's a pretty significant body of earth.'

Obediently Piper drew a circle where Phoebe was pointing, and wrote 'E' next to it. They all looked at the map in silence for a moment, thinking about the nameless Witches who had already lost their lives to help the Charmed Ones in the fight against evil.

'Wait a minute.' Paige said, suddenly remembering an earlier conversation. 'At the crime scene Darryl said that this was the second one of these incidents. That means that two covens have already been destroyed.' She looked worriedly at the others 'You know what that means?'

To be continued ….