The Guard Changed at Dawn

by Swordstress

Brotherhood AU: The year is 2040 and Dean's Triad must work alongside the future Triad-to-be to stop a ancient evil before more innocent lives are lost. Learning to use their skills, knowledge and magic in news ways may lead to success, but can they learn those new strategies in time? This piece is based on the stories using SPN characterizations created by Ridley C James.

25. Chapter 25

The Guard Changed at Dawn

Chapter 25

"What's happening?" demanded Caleb, staring at Dean's white-eyed face.

"I don't know!" Onida yelled. Reaching out, she touched the canvas. No energy, nothing. She couldn't even find an essence of Dean. It was merely a painting now, she couldn't see anything. "It's empty."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked.

"It means the canvas isn't a portal anymore," Onida stated. "It's just a picture; canvas, frame, paint and minerals."

Dean heard the others nearby, but his attention was on trying to keep his breakfast in his stomach. All he could see was trees, and he realized he was somehow over the forest and in the forest at the same time. He wasn't floating, exactly, but the weightless feeling was close enough that his stomach lurched sickeningly and he bent over again, closing his eyes. "Ugh, I hate heights."

Sam leaned down and said, "Breath; deep, slow breaths. Can you see me?"

Dean tilted his head. "No."

"What are you seeing?"

"Lotsa trees," Dean murmured.

Onida frowned. "You're seeing trees? What else?"

"More trees," Dean replied vaguely. As he got used to the sensation of being everywhere and nowhere, he was starting to feel a little better … or at least not as nauseatingly sick. Slowly he stood upright.

"Can you tell us more?" Onida asked.

"Um, trees, branches, tons of leaves, the forest floor below, and some spots of blue light."

"That's the Triad portion of the medicine pouches," Caleb said. "James saw those too."

"Yeah, I know," Dean retorted testily. He put a hand to his stomach and swallowed again.

"He gets cranky when he doesn't feel well," Caleb remarked.

"Shuddup," Dean growled.

"Here," Onida said, pulling Dean over to a fallen tree. "Sit down until you get your sea legs."

"Tree legs," Dean muttered.

"Tree legs," Onida amended with a smile. "Watch for the barrier to go up. It will be a bright golden circle." Once Dean was seated, she walked over to Caleb and Sam.

"Do you know why his eyes are like that?" Caleb asked anxiously.

"I can speculate," Onida replied, pulling her gaze away from the Guardian. "When Dean saw the canvas at my place, he literally saw witches' hands pushing on the canvas. While I saw the canvas as energy and manipulated that energy, Dean saw it in a more metaphysically literal way." She turned to look at Dean again. "I think his essence has literally fused with the canvas. He is the canvas."

"Is he in danger?" Sam asked anxiously. "More importantly, can we un-fuse him?"

Caleb wondered the same thing, but instead of voicing it, he said, "Let's tackle that later. We've got a hunt ahead of us, and we need to take a page from Johnny's playbook."

"Meaning?" Sam asked.

"Dean is staying here and we're going in as a team."

"You want Dean to stay here without backup when he can't even see?"

"We can't exactly take him in," Caleb stated

Dean was paying half attention to what Caleb and Sam were talking about, but he was also focused on the entrapment. He knew the exact moment the barrier went up because it pretty much blinded him! A shimmering ring of gold suddenly spiraled around the forest in a tight circle, a sharp blue line pulsing at the center. Smiling, he thought; Triad magic. "Wow," he murmured. Watching all this from above; it was like he was literally in a virtual reality game. Vaguely he hoped he could get down, but right now they had a job to do.

Interrupting the conversation between Onida and his Triad, he said, "I can hear you, you know. The barrier just went up, so get your asses inside and kill some witches."

"What about you?" Sam asked.

"I'll be fine. If I can help you from…" Dean fumbled a bit before saying, "the canvas, I will."

Caleb and Sam exchanged glances and Sam nodded.

"Gear up," Caleb said. "We're heading inside the witches den."

.

JT, James and Max felt the moment the Triad barrier flared to life.

Max looked over at the other two and said, "We're on, boys."

Ryker climbed to his feet and swung his backpack over his shoulders. "Let's get to it."

Each man tied a bandana around their necks in case they needed to pull it over their mouths to protect them from the sleeping potion, should they need to use it.

JT looked at each member of his team. "Watch your backs, watch each other's backs, and let's kill some witches."

Together, they walked into the forest.

.

Joshua grunted as he climbed to his feet. At his side, Nayati placed his hand under Joshua's arm to help. Turning slightly, he scanned where the former barrier had stood. "Do you see anyone?" he asked.

Nayati shook his head. "No one."

Joshua stood, thoughtfully watching the damp trail and the surrounding bush. "I think I'll wait awhile," he said finally. "Maybe she's afraid to come out." Turning to Nayati, he said, "Stay back a little ways so we don't scare her. Be ready if I need you."

Nayati nodded. Moving away, he stopped a few yards away from Joshua and sat on the hard ground.

Joshua turned back to the forest and tried to see past the shadows and leaves. "Sarah…" he called softly. "Sarah…" Only birds and the rustle of leaves answered, so he waited.

.

Sam walked into the forest and headed to the left. Senses on alert, he was careful even though they had some ground to cover before they reached the new, more contained trap. While the witches were contained within the trap, not all the children were bound inside. He touched his pockets; sleeping potions, clips and grenades were ready for use, and his shotgun was loaded with explosive shells.

Caleb was hyper alert, striving to be aware of the witches long before they were visible. He was a bit nervous about Onida being in the field. He hadn't fought with her, hadn't trained her. She could fight, he knew that. But he hadn't seen her in action. He didn't want to lose her.

For Onida, this was all too real. It was one thing to push energy into the canvas, another entirely to walk through a forest ready to fight her enemy one on one. She pooled energy into her core, ready to pull it out to her hands, something she hadn't done in years. But her training was strong and thorough, and she had been a very good student. She would hold her own; she would protect what was hers. Her eyes went to Caleb.

As they neared the section where the new pouches had been placed, Caleb moved ahead, extending his senses. Stepping closer to Sam, he murmured, "Witches are on the grounds."

Sam focused through the barrier. "I can feel them. Can you tell how many?"

Tilting his head slightly in concentration, Caleb finally said, "Not sure; at least five."

"There should be seven witches left," Onida said.

"Good to have a solid count," Caleb stated.

Sam looked at Onida and smiled. "You ready?"

Onida merely held up her right hand, and a flaming ball of red energy appeared.

Caleb grinned. Looking from Onida to Sam, he said, "Let's do this," and they stepped past the new medicine pouches and into the arena.

.

The buzz on his radio had sounded a little more than ten minutes ago, and Chief Samuel Adcox checked his watch again. A few minutes and the team atop the ridge would toss the medicine pouches down as close to the trail JT and Max had walked as possible. If the witches left the caves according to plan, Joseph would raise the barrier and it would block them from getting back inside. They would be in the forest for Dean's people to kill. All down the ridgeline the children of the Yakama were waiting for their revenge; Andrew, Poloma, Etenia, Hinto, William and Cheyton, who would likely take over as the next Chief of the Yakama people. They were taking back the forest, taking back their lives.

From his place at the beginning of the ridgeline, Cheyton looked down the cliffs and saw William, then Etenia and Joseph. He knew the others were down further. It was almost time; time to reclaim the land, time to end the threat to their homes and families. He moved to the edge of the ridge and held on until a buzz sounded. Leaning over as far as he dared, Cheyton arched back his arm like a pro ball player and tossed his pouch over the edge. After a couple seconds, it disappeared into the tree cover below. Joseph would activate the barrier and they would join in the search of the caves. The fate of the witches was now in the hands of the hunters.

.

JT took lead as the four made their way through the old containment area.

Ryker glanced at his watch. "The wall in front of the caves should be up."

"Let's hope all the witches left and are out in the woods," Max commented. "You sense anything Jimmy?"

James focused on trying to sense any of the witches. "They know something's up," he murmured, as emotions like giddiness and anticipation blew through his senses. "They're excited."

"Can you get a feel on how many there are?" asked JT.

James shook his head. "I just sense that they're excited."

"Let's hope they're excited enough to come out and play," Max stated, his expression fierce and determined.

They walked for another five minutes, then stopped. Ryker looked up at the medicine pouch strapped up in the branches of a large oak tree. "This is it."

JT lifted his gun and shifted his pack slightly. "Let's get this done," and they stepped across the new barrier line into the field of battle.

.

Adam felt his cell vibrate at his waist and straightened his shoulders. It was time. On his back was a decent-sized pack of bandages, water and Joshua's spell pouches. In his left hand he held three bags of sleeping potions and in his right, a tranquilizer gun. Two of Joshua's spell bags were in his pockets. JT had advised he skirt close to the caves, so the trail Max and JT had used was off limits at the moment. That meant traipsing through a lot of bushes and underbrush. He touched the masking spell bag at his neck, then glanced down at his feet. The pouch would help hide him, but not hide the sound of his footfalls.

Frowning, he turned back and searched for Nayati. It was Odette who sensed his scrutiny and turned. He gestured to the young man, and immediately Odette went over to Nayati, touched his shoulder and pointed to Adam. Adam waved to Odette as Nayati jogged in his direction.

"Let me have your socks," Adam stated without preamble. He sat down on the ground and started pulling off his shoes.

"What?" Nayati stuttered.

"I need your socks."

Nayati frowned, then turned and jogged away.

"Hey!" Adam called, frustrated. Sighing, he figured his bare feet would have the insulation of only one layer. However, a minute later Nayati jogged back holding three pairs.

"From the ranger station," Nayati explained with a smile.

Adam nodded. "Thank you." He pulled one pair over his own socks, then another and the last. When he stood, his feet were covered and insulated against the leaves and twigs. He would still need to be careful or the soles of his feet would be cut and bloodied, but he could move quieter now.

"We could have gotten you a pair of moccasins," Nayati stated.

"I'm too tall and my feet are big," Adam stated. "Finding me a pair that fit in time would have been a challenge."

"Then this is a good plan," Nayati said with a smile.

"It is." Adam's eyes went to Joshua, who was sitting on a log near the barrier, keeping an eye out for Sarah. "Watch out for my friend."

Standing straighter, Nayati nodded and vowed, "I will." Turning, he jogged back to where he'd been sitting and resumed watching the older man's back.

Adam set his boots along the side of the pathway near the ranger station and straightened. Looking into the forest, he murmured, "Hold on, little ones. We're coming."

.

Dean was staring at trees and he was a canvas. If he thought it would do any good, he would have rolled his eyes. He felt odd standing at the edge of the woods with no one around. It was even more odd that he couldn't see he was standing at the edge of the woods with no one around.

As he adjusted to being above the forest and still able to see anywhere inside the forest, his stomach began to settled down. Suddenly the pouches along the north ridge flared to life, spreading a long bright gold wall in front of the caves. It took him a minute to realize the wall didn't have the blue core of Triad magic like the barrier in the forest. Frowning, he remembered Onida had said something about his needing to extend the Triad magic from the center circle along the wall. The moment he thought it, the blue from the main barrier surged to the right and threaded its way through the new section of wall. Brows raised in surprise, he considered again what Onida did as the canvas guardian. She used her energy to affect the barrier by directing it threw the canvas. If Onida was to be believed, now he was the canvas. So, what could he do?

.

JT and Max walked shoulder to shoulder to the left of James and Ryker, who were side by side and five feet to the rear. They'd traversed the forest from the old barrier edge and had stepped through the Triad barrier a few minutes ago. Their senses were on high alert.

"The witches should be heading for somewhere along the barrier now," Max murmured. "They'll have us in their sights. Stay sharp."

Ryker turned and walked backwards a few feet, scouting their sixes. There was a general stillness in the forest, as though animals and birds knew something was happening and had abandoned the battlefield. As a child he'd always had a keen sense of people around him, even if he couldn't see them. He'd further developed that skill in the military. Now he utilized that ability to search for any presence that threatened his own.

JT scanned the area, focused on seeing a witch or witches before they got too close. Each member walked with intensity, searching for any movement in the shadows or leaves shifting contrary to the wind flow. It was only by chance he was looking to the right when a large shape moved out from behind a tree. "They're masking!" he yelled.

The witch appeared suddenly at Max's side and slammed him away as she reached for JT. The Guardian-to-be fired three pyrite rounds into her body. Screaming, the witch shoved him back. He slammed hard into the tree directly behind him and dropped to the ground. Looking down at her middle, the bloody holes immediately filled in.

"They're healing," JT barked.

Ryker hefted the axe over his shoulder and shoved momentum into his swung. The head slammed into the witch's shoulder, severing her arm just above the deltoid muscle. Yanking the blade from her body, he stepped back and let James shoot her chest full of pyrite bullets. The witch howled, clawing at her chest with her remaining arm. Growling, she knocked first James away, then Ryker. Giving them a twisted caricature of a grin, she picked up her arm and held it to her shoulder, allowing the two pieces to fuse back together.

"I hate it when they do that," growled Ryker.

JT darted behind the witch and tossed one of Joshua's spell bags. The bag smacked into her back and split, sending black liquid crawling around her body and eating at her flesh. Screeching, she frantically wiped away the spell. Raising hands that were now bloodied and raw, she slammed a bout of energy and wind into JT, shoving him back into the tree. "Ugh," he grimaced on a groan.

Max picked himself up and raced around in front of her, cutting her off from going after JT. He tossed another of Joshua's spell pouches. This bag emitted the red, volatile mist with sparks of blackness and fire that swirled around the witch's head; Ryker's favorite face-melting spell. This time, the witch raised her arms and clapped, and the mist jumped into her hands. Balling it up, she tossed the spell into the bushes as though it wasn't worth her effort and energy.

"Witches got new skills," Max grumbled, diving over a fallen tree as the witch threw a large branch straight at him.

Ryker stepped out and fired six pyrite bullets in rapid succession. "That was my favorite spell," he complained.

Screeching in pain, the witch flicked out a hand and knocked Ryker back several feet. She started to whirl away, but Max scrambled to his feet and pulled a grenade from his pack even as JT did the same. James joined them and together, they each hurled a grenade at the witch, then turned and ran.

The explosion was massive, with three grenades doing the damage one couldn't. Ryker sat up and looked over the log where he'd landed, nodding with satisfaction at the smoking husk that was the witch. "Nice job."

Max walked up. "That black mist was a new potion from Dad."

"Not as flashy as the face melting one," Ryker commented.

"But she didn't bunch it up and throw it away, either," Max snarked.

Ryker ignored Max's dig and held up his gun. "These bullets aren't doing the damage they did before."

"We should have considered that," JT said.

Max shook his head. "We found something that worked and went with it. Now they've developed a counter."

"We couldn't have known they could counter our weapons that fast," James argued. "We tested them less than twenty-four hours ago."

"Then we need to make sure we don't waste a bullet or a grenade," JT stated. "And we'll need to double, triple tap on the contacts."

The others nodded their agreement.

Ryker doused the witch's remains in holy water and salt, and James flicked a lit match onto the corpse.

"Let's bag us another witch," Max declared.

.

Frustration pounded through him as Dean watched the witches toss Max and JT through the air. With everything in his being he wanted to race over there and fight beside them. He'd also observed how quickly the witch had healed from the pyrite bullets. Growling, he berated himself for not considering the witches would develop a counter to the bullets. They'd simply rushed to develop weapons that had proven effective without considering one important element: the witches had been trapped in these woods for more than a hundred and forty years. Of course they would be familiar with the minerals and elements available in the mountains.

He fought his feelings of uselessness and forced his attention back on how Onida worked with the canvas; she poured her energy through the canvas to fix the barrier, mend holes and burn trees. She had her energy; he had the silver. The base of all Guardian silver was water. Dean studied the forest, the trees, and his people in the field. If he was the canvas, that meant he was also the silver, right? How could he use that to help his team?

.

Caleb moved through the woods like a cat, Onida on his right and four feet behind. He kept his senses alert for witches. They'd been inside the entrapment area for fifteen minutes and had yet to see a one. Considering this containment was much smaller than the former trap, he'd expected to engage them sooner, especially with seven on the grounds.

Sam was about six feet to Caleb's left, searching left and right. The witches had to be coming for the barrier, and he was counting on all of them being in the field and out of the caves. At least one had to be nearby. Why hadn't they attacked?

Caleb suddenly stopped, his head tilted to the side.

Onida started to say something but Sam shook his head.

After standing for about fifty seconds, Caleb pointed to the right.

They headed to the north, toward the cave ridge. After walking for ten minutes, Caleb was beginning to think the witch he'd felt was gone. He stopped again and, while keeping his blocks in place, took a page from his South Dakota experience; he looked out the turret from his mental castle. That's when he realized just how close the witch was. Turning, he shouted, "They're wearing masking spells!" Swinging the battle axe, he was able to gain enough momentum from the swing to bury the axe in the witch's back before she knocked him twenty feet in the air.

Onida pulled energy from her body into her hands and hurled double red balls of fire at the witch. Startled, the witch turned to Onida and rushed her. But Sam's shotgun was already in his hands and he fired the explosive shells into the creature's mid-section. However, just as quick as her body shredded, it mended itself and she disappeared. When she appeared again, she was behind Onida.

Caleb grunted as he hit the ground, but he scrambled quickly to his feet. Seeing the witch appear behind Onida, he pulled the Dragon's Talon from his waistband and hurled it. Such was the power of his throw that the blade buried itself hilt-deep in the witch's forehead, knocking her head back and causing her to stumble. Screeching in agony, sparks crackled around the wound as the witch's face began to burn and blacken.

A small body darted out from a nearby tree and tackled Sam, shoving a crude knife into his side.

"Arrggghh!" Sam yelled, pushing the kid away. The boy fell to the ground but quickly scrambled back to his feet. Lifting a potion bag, the kid threw it in Sam's direction. Turning, Sam was about to run when a ball of fire torched the bag in mid-air, burning it to a cinder. Sam grinned at Onida's well-timed intervention and focused on the boy. Before the kid could get in another charge, Sam yanked the sleeping potion from his pocket and tossed it in the kid's face.

Startled and not knowing what exactly to do with that, the boy frowned and stared down at his feet. A screech from the witch had him flinching, and he ran at Sam again. However, the sleeping potion was already working, and he only got a couple of feet before his body started to shut down. Stumbling to the side, he dropped into a heap on a bed of leaves and lay still.

Caleb raced to the witch. Mindful that he had only a couple more pyrite bullets in his clip before he would need to reload, he grabbed a grenade and hurled it. The witch, however, had seen this trick before and she batted it to the side, where it hit a tree and exploded. "Shit!"

Onida pooled more energy into her hands and a long, blazing sword appeared. Racing forward, she shoved it in the witch's chest, burying it deep. "Caleb!"

Caleb grabbed another grenade and hurled it at the witch, whose knife-hilted head was bowed as she tried to get her fingers around the energy blade. The grenade exploded her chest into a gapping crater.

"Heal that," Caleb snarled.

The witch screamed again and Sam scooped up Caleb's battle axe, raced forward and lopped off her head.

The three walked over and stood over the witch's body, their breathing rapid. Finally, Sam went to the boy and pulled him further away. Caleb leaned down and jerked his knife from the witch's head. A shimmer of pure, cleansing light raced across the Dragon Talon's blade, burning away the witch's blood. Tucking the weapon back into his waistband, Caleb swung his pack around and pulled out a vial of holy water and salt. Dousing the witch, he nodded to Sam, who set her on fire.

"What about the child?" Sam asked.

Onida frowned and stepped forward. "What about that wound?" She leaned over to inspect the knife wound in Sam's side.

"Wound?" Caleb exclaimed, and came over.

"Its fine," Sam stated. "Just grazed the hip bone."

"It's not fine, it needs healing," Onida stated. "Stand still."

She closed her eyes and Sam felt warmth in his side. Soon the pain faded and disappeared all together. Stepping back, Onida smirked and walked away.

Sam looked down and checked out the new skin at his hipbone. "Wow, you're handy to have around."

"Keep your eyes to yourself," Caleb quipped as he walked by to get the child.

Sam grinned. "So, what are we going to do with the kid?"

Caleb lifted the child, took him to a nearby tree and laid him down. "Will he sleep till we're finished here?"

"Joshua said the potion was strong enough to keep the children under for a few hours," Sam said.

Caleb ejected his spent clip of pyrite bullets and reloaded. "How will we find him again?"

Onida walked up to the tree over the boy, put her palm on the trunk and focused. A small burning X appeared on the tree."

Sam walked forward. "Okay, that's good. But how will we find that?"

"I can find it," Onida said.

"Oh, good then." Sam turned to Caleb and said, "Did you see the witch heal from the pyrite bullets?"

Caleb nodded. "They've upped their protections. It took a lot more bullets to take her down than before."

Sam looked at Caleb but didn't say what they were both thinking; did they have enough ammunition to take all the witches down today? "Your knife did some damage. We can use that."

Caleb nodded. Jaw tightening, he looked around the forest. "Do you sense anything?"

Sam shook his head. "But if they're wearing something like a masking potion, we wouldn't. We're going to have to open ourselves up more."

Nodding, Caleb focused his abilities on finding another witch. "There's another witch further north."

"We're getting closer to the caves," Sam stated.

"I thought they would head for the barrier," Onida said, frowning.

"They want to use the children," Sam said, slinging his pack back over his shoulders.

"They should have run while they could," Caleb said, his eyes on the ridge.

"Wouldn't have helped," Sam stated, his eyes hard. "They're dead either way."

Caleb glanced at Sam, taking in the Advisor's fierce expression and nodded. "Then let's not keep them waiting."

.

Adam walked closely along the ridge base, stepping carefully. In his youth his mother had him spend time with the Mattaponi tribe in Virginia. One of the tribal elders had taken him under his wing and took him scouting in the forest several times. Coming from a single parent home, Adam enjoyed spending time in the company of the men. While the Indians of the Mattaponi tribe didn't speak a lot, they communicated much. He found the wisdom of speaking only when they had something meaningful to say a welcome trait in the cacophony of the outside world. It was why he'd never been uncomfortable with Odette's silence. When she did speak, it was worth waiting for.

He turned a corner and saw the darkness of a cave opening. Standing behind a nearby tree, he waited, listening. Three, five, eight minutes passed and there was no sound from either nearby or from inside the cave.

Moving away from the tree, he walked quietly to the cave opening and hovered outside. Still, there was no sound. He wished he had someone here to watch his back, but he couldn't stay outside all day. Pulling a small stone cup from his pocket, he peeled the plastic away and with one word lit the contents. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside.

Holding up the light, he walked carefully forward, searching the corners and the shadows for anything that might indicate something other than wildlife lived here. It took almost fifteen minutes before he conceded that no one had been inside this cave. Carefully he extinguished the small cup light, murmured a word to cool the ingredients and replaced the plastic cover. Slipping the cup back in his pocket, he walked out of this cave on his way to search another.

.

Samuel pulled into the dirt lot near the ranger station and parked. The side doors of the van opened and several jubilant young people climbed out, all talking and chattering about their adventure. Smiling, he pushed open the driver's door and climbed out.

"How did it go?" Joshua asked, walking over.

"Mission accomplished," Samuel said. "And you?"

Joshua looked back to where the barrier had been and shook his head. "She wasn't there."

Samuel followed Joshua's gaze. "Really? I felt certain she would be."

"As did I." After a moment, he turned back to Samuel and said, "Are you ready to head in?"

Samuel nodded. "We are. The kids are excited to help the children. They're inside the ranger station getting some water." He looked around. "Nayati?"

"He's in the triage tent folding bandages."

"I'll stop in before we go," Samuel smiled, and walked to the tent.

Odette walked up to Joshua and stood until Joshua said, "Yes?"

"I'm coming," she said.

"To search the caves?"

Odette nodded.

Joshua frowned. He wasn't remotely aware of Odette's stamina or hiking ability. But then, he didn't know anyone else's either. She was a very good doctor, and that might come in handy. Nodding, he said, "Thank you."

Samuel exited the tent followed by Nayati. As he approached Joshua, Nayati veered off and disappeared inside the ranger station. "We're ready to head in," Samuel said.

A minute later the young people spilled from the station house and gathered around Joshua.

Looking at all the young, eager faces, he said, "Even though we'll be behind the barrier, we don't know if all the witches left the caves. Be watchful, be careful. Also, some of the children may attack us out of fright." He nodded to Samuel, who handed each young person a bandana and two small bags. "These are sleeping potions," Joshua explained. "If a child gets past me, Adam, Odette or Samuel, use the potion on them. You don't need to open the bag; just throw it in their path. The child should soon fall asleep. Make sure your mouth and nose are covered with the bandana; we don't want you falling asleep as well."

There were smiles and a few laughs from the youths.

"Are we going into the caves?" Hinto asked.

Joshua shook his head. "No. You're the relay. Adam's already inside searching the caves. Odette and I will join him. When we find a child, we'll pass them out to Samuel, who will pass that child to…"

"Cheyton," Samuel said, "Cheyton will walk back along the ridge and hand the child to William, and come back to me. William will take that child to Hinto, who will pass the child to Andrew, then to Lonan. Poloma and Etenia will be at the end of the ridge here to help take the children to Doctor Etsitty and the other trauma volunteers." He looked to the kids before him. "If we find any children, most should be asleep when they come to you and you'll have to carry them to the next person on the relay. It will be exhausting work, but these kids have been through a traumatic experience, and we're going to get them out."

Joshua looked to each of the young people and said, "Are you ready?"

Everyone nodded.

"Then let's go," Joshua said, and he walked past the ranger station, leading the youngsters into the woods.

.

Caleb stepped into a small clearing and felt a shift in the breeze. He turned just as a witch darted past a tree heading straight for him. Running, he emptied his clip into her body, and was dismayed to see her chest heal as fast as the pyrite bullets tore her up. This witch was a faster healer than the other one. "Damn it," he muttered, trying to get out of her way. Instead, she swung a long arm and knocked him back ten feet to the forest ground. "Ugh," he groaned after tumbling through some very thorny bushes. Climbing to his feet, he muttered, "This is getting old."

Onida pummeled the witch with three fire balls in quick secession and Sam tossed a grenade. Those made more of an impact than the bullets, and the witch stumbled. Sam rushed her with the axe held high ready to take her head, but the witch grabbed his arm mid-swing. Snatching the blade away, she dragged Sam off his feet while tossing his axe into a nearby thicket.

Mindful of avoiding Sam, Onida hurled another dizzying array of yellow and red energy orbs at the witch, all of which connected. The reddish gold light spread rapidly, eating her flesh as it crawled across her body. The witch twisted and screeched, dropping Sam to the ground, where he scrambled to the side in enough time to dodge another blow.

Caleb was just about to reach into his pack for a grenade when he felt something cool in his hand. Frowning, he glanced down and was surprised to see a blob of silver lying in his palm. The silver broke into four parts, each of which twirled itself into a small ball. Smiling, Caleb thought, Deuce.

The witch stalked Onida as she kept hurling fire at the witch. Caleb knew Onida couldn't keep that up or she'd use all her energy. Jumping to his feet, he hurled one of the small balls of silver at the witch and watched as it splattered on her chest.

The shriek was deafening in its intensity, and the witch pawed at her chest in pain. Caleb slid two of the remaining balls in his pocket and hefted the other as he walked closer. Suddenly the ball in his hand stretched out into a long, thin rapier, and Caleb murmured, "Damn," as he shoved it through the witch's chest and yanked downward. Sam was on his heels and shoved a grenade into the bloody wound, and they all turned and ran.

The explosion knocked them off their feet.

After the backlash quieted, Sam twisted around and stared back at the witch parts while Caleb leaned back and started to laugh. "What was…? Did you use silver?" Sam asked.

Caleb nodded. "I'm ready to throw a grenade, and damn if a bunch of silver doesn't just appear in my hand and roll up into four neat little balls." He took one of the silver balls from his pocket and handed it to Sam.

"But that last thing wasn't a ball," Sam said.

"No. I was about to throw the second one, and the silver ball turned itself into a rapier."

Sam grinned and pocketed the small ball. "Dean.

.

Dean leaned over, breathing heavily. He'd managed to get some silver for Caleb to use, but damn, if that wasn't a chore. The witches were familiar with the minerals and elements of the areas, so they could develop counters to their weapons. One thing they couldn't do was develop a defense against the silver.

Through his years as Guardian, he'd become an expert at turning liquid into silver rings. This situation, however, posed several new challenges. First, he needed liquid to make the silver. Since he hadn't detected any ponds inside the woods, that meant using rain from wherever he could get it. Second, he needed to turn the water into silver without the ability to touch it. A couple nights before he had pictured the silver as branches and leaves, and without his touch, the silver had changed. That experience would be his guide. The last challenge was how to get the silver to his team. When the barrier fronting the caves had gone up, he'd been able to spread the Triad magic because the cave section was touching the Triad barrier. So, what would his team touch? Early morning rain had fallen on the forest, so trees, branches, leaves, bushes, and the ground were all wet; all were sources to move the silver.

When Caleb, Onida and Sam were fighting the witches, he'd waited until Caleb went down and his palm was wet from having come in contact with the damp ground. Focusing on the dampness, the moisture became silver and it had helped Sam, Caleb and Onida take out the witch. Smiling at this small success, he turned to watch JT and James, and his smile dropped away….

.

Adam approached the second cave and stopped outside again. He stood about five yards away facing the other direction until he got his breathing under control. Climbing along the hillside while trying to stay near the ridge edge and not get caught on bushes and trees was tiring. If he didn't get some help soon, this was going to take forever. He wished he could see exactly where the barrier Joshua talked about was located. If it was further out than Joshua and Samuel said, then maybe he could walk on the trail.

When his breathing eased, he turned and looked toward the cave, focusing his attention now on listening. This time he could detect a little scuffling, but it was indistinct. There was no way to tell if it was humans or animals. Frustrated, he was trying to figure out what to do when he felt someone behind him. Turning, he relaxed when he saw Joshua in the distance, followed by Odette. The relief he felt was immense. He raised a hand and waited.

Joshua moved along the ridge wall, his face wet with sweat. He hadn't realized how strenuous this would be, and he was concerned about moving children back to the parking area along this path. It was rugged and the footing unstable, especially if one was carrying a child. He looked down at the path Max and JT had probably climbed from the trail below. Where were the bags? Since they'd been tossed and weren't placed, was there was a way to find them?

A touch on his arm had him turning to see Odette directly behind him, her brows raised in question. Nodding, he climbed on until he was close to Adam.

Adam held up a hand for them to wait outside before he turned and stepped into the cave. Lifting his cup light around, he lit the crevices. This one was deeper than the last, and his heart was beating wildly as he carefully walked further inside. It was in a corner deep within that he found something; a small pink sneaker. His breath caught in his throat. Looking around, he didn't see anyone, but this cave had obviously held a child. With renewed concentration, he searched through every inch, looking for a back exit or a side tunnel. When he came up with nothing, he sighed and returned to the entrance where Joshua and Odette were waiting.

Holding up a pink shoe, he pointed to the next cave.

Joshua frowned and looked back the way they'd come, then down to the trail below. "We need to find the barrier," he whispered.

Adam's brows rose. How, he mouthed.

Joshua thought about that a moment, then abruptly reached into his pocket for one of the face-melting spell bags. The ingredients were of a malevolent nature rather than benign. Maybe they would stop at the barrier. Opening one of the bags, he pulled out a pinch of powder and granules and tossed them in the air. The ingredients drifted a bit, then toward the bottom of the hill they crackled red against something. The barrier.

Turning to Adam, Joshua motioned for them to step inside the cave. Once they were inside, he said, "We can't take the children back along the same path."

"You want to find the bags?" Adam said, incredulously. "How are you going to do that, and why wasn't this discussed before?"

Joshua felt stung by the criticism for Dean's sake. Dean's planning on this hunt had been outstanding, considering the numerous moving parts that needed accounting for, especially in such a short timeframe.

Like most hunts, they didn't have weeks to analyze, organize and execute their plan. Unlike other hunts, this one was exceptionally complicated with several pieces on the board. Led by Dean, they had been incredibly organized and detailed in figuring a plan to take out the witches. That there would be unexpected roadblocks was a given. What they did so well as hunters was to remove them. But then, Adam wasn't a hunter.

"The situation right now is getting the bags down the hill and positioning them so we can use the path to carry the children," Joshua stated in a low, quiet tone. "I'll take Cheyton and the others with me and we'll reposition the bags. You and Odette continue on and find the children. When you find them, we'll be ready to take them out."

Adam nodded slowly. Joshua was right, nearly every plan needed tweaks. He supposed that in a hunter's line of work, their tweaks needed to be in the moment. Lips quirking in a slight smile, he nodded.

Together they went back outside, and Joshua went down the line to explain the situation to Samuel. "The kids will stay on the hill till we repositioned the medicine pouches onto the path. Then you can start placing the guys down there. They'll be protected by the barrier."

Samuel stared down the hill, and sighed. He was uneasy taking the children closer to the barrier than absolutely necessary. He was responsible for these kids; responsible to their parents for their safety. Nodding once, he said, "I'll take Lonan and Andrew toward camp. They'll be at the end of the line. They're too young and have no fighting experience. Hinto, William and Cheyton have fighting and martial arts experience. They'll go with you."

Joshua nodded. "Thank you."

Samuel went to tell the others. Though Lonan and Andrew weren't happy about returning to the beginning of the trail, Samuel promised that once the bags were settled, they would reevaluate the situation. After a moment of conversation with Cheyton, Samuel and the other two teens turned and went back the way they'd come.

Cheyton came over to Joshua and murmured, "Give me your spell bag. I'll scout the pouches. Most of us threw them as close to the path as we could. It shouldn't take too long to reposition them."

Joshua sighed with relief and nodded. They would be prepared in short order

.

JT walked slowly, watching the shadows for any movement. Max kept five feet behind, keeping an eye on JT's back and on the bushes. He knew JT could see the witches, but it was strange that the hags didn't seem to be running for the barrier. They'd already gone in further than he imagined they would.

James frowned. He could sense the witch's excitement, but he couldn't see where they were. It was maddening. Opening himself up a bit further he reached out, trying to sense any witches in the area, or children, he supposed. He didn't like the idea of kids in the mix, but they needed to be prepared.

Ryker surveyed behind them, his tread nearly silent as he followed behind James and to the left of JT and Max. Thus he was the first to see three children running in their direction. "Incoming!" he called.

"James, Ryker," JT barked. He kept scanning ahead for the witches while Max eyed the rear. As Ryker and James took on the children, the witch came in from the left. One second JT was standing there, and next he was dangling in the air, several feet of space beneath his boots and the ground. "Crap!"

Max fired several rounds into the witch's stomach. While the chest was a more effective target, he was trying not to hit JT.

JT held his gun point blank and fired into the witch's throat. Oddly enough, as the bullets went in her skin healed over and over again. The witch dug her claws into his shoulders as he reached into his jacket pocket for a grenade. Yet, instead of a grenade, he felt a small, cool piece of metal.

Max darted around behind the witch and swung the battle axe, burying it deep in her back. Screaming, the witch slammed Max into a tree.

Pulling it out, JT barely registered a silver ball before he smashed it into the witch's throat. The orb cracked spilling silver down her neck and onto her chest. Screeching in pain, the witch dropped him and clawed at her own body, trying to escape the silver.

Two girls and one boy attacked James and Ryker, two with sticks sharpened to fine points, and one with a pouch in her hand.

"Potion!" James shouted. He tossed his sleeping potion at the girl just as she threw her own spell bag at them.

Before the girl's bag went even three feet a large, silver tree erupted from the wet ground directly in front of James. Her bag hit the tree, and the tree collapsed back into the forest floor, pulling the bag with it.

For a surreal moment, James, Ryker and all three children stood looking at the spot where the silver tree had gone. The kids looked up at the two men, their mouths hanging open in shock and surprise. James took the opportunity to toss another sleeping spell bag at the boy, who caught it and frowned. Then his eyes drooped and in another couple of seconds he dropped to the ground. The girls' eyes widened in shock and they turned to run. But Ryker tossed a bag in front of them, and soon they were both on the ground.

Max clamored to his feet and ran to JT, pulling him back away from the witch. Then he scooped up the battle axe and charged. Still screeching, the witch bared her teeth and raised her arm. Darting around her swipe, Max used an old log to gain momentum and leapt into the air, swinging the axe. The blade sliced through the witch's neck, severing her head.

Breathing hard, Max quickly doused the witch with holy water and salt, and set her on fire before jogging back to JT. Examining his friend's bloodied shoulder, he asked, "How's the pain?"

"Fine," JT said, gripping Max's hand and getting to his feet. "James! Ryker!"

"Clear!" Ryker called.

"Good!" James shouted.

Ryker walked over to the kids and retrieved the sleeping potions. "That tree…"

"Dad," James said, grinning. "It's was dad."

"Dean? How did he do that?"

"He's the Guardian," James chuckled.

"What did you toss at the witch that had her going mental?" Max asked, cleaning JT's shoulder with a wet wipe and covering it with antibiotic cream.

"Is JT all right?" James asked, running over to his brother followed by Ryker.

"He's fine," Max said, putting combat gauze on the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Can you hand me my pack?" JT asked James.

The younger man grabbed his brother's backpack off the wet ground and handed it over.

JT looked inside. Smiling, he pulled out five silver balls.

"What are those?" Ryker asked, coming over to stand behind James.

"Silver," JT said. "Dad put them there."

"When?" James asked, kneeling down and touching the cool orbs.

"I don't know," JT said. "They're weren't there when I packed the bag last night."

"Well, Dean grew a silver tree a couple minutes ago," Ryker stated. "The tree ate a spell bag and then went back into the ground."

"The tree ate a spell bag?" Max questioned incredulously.

James chuckled. "No one believed it, not even the kids. We put them to sleep while they were staring at the disappearing silver."

"They all right?" Max asked, looking up.

"They're fine," James said.

"What are we going to do with them?"

JT looked around. "Why don't we mark a tree with Triad magic so we can find them again."

"Can we do that without bringing the witches to them?" James asked.

JT ran a hand down his face. "I'm open to suggestions."

"I'll mark the tree with a locator spell," Ryker said.

"How will we see it, on a map?" Max asked.

Ryker nodded. He pulled his wand and walked up to a large tree. Carefully he made a symbol in the wood and murmured a couple words. The symbol glowed softly.

"Let's lay them under the tree and cover them with leaves," JT said.

James went over and picked up one of the girls and laid her at the base of the tree. "Hopefully the witches will leave them alone until we can take them out of the forest." Ryker and Max each brought a child over to the tree. Quickly they shoveled leaves and twigs over the children's legs.

JT picked up his backpack and slung it gingerly over his shoulders. He slipped one silver ball in his pocket, than handed each member of the team a silver ball. "Our weapons aren't as effective as they were before, but we've got the silver and dad watching over us." Meeting each man's eyes, he said, "Let's finish this."

.

Sam walked carefully. Glancing at his watch, he noted it had been almost an hour since the Triad barrier had gone up and they'd entered the forest. Moving closer to Caleb, he tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a tree.

The three of them moved toward a large red cedar and took cover near its massive trunk.

"It's almost time," Sam murmured.

Caleb nodded and pulled out his cell. Glancing around for a moment, he quickly texted JT; Two.

Sam kept his eyes on the woods, watching to the left of the cedar while Onida keep an eye on the right. A minute later there was a buzz.

Caleb looked down and saw; Two. "Four down, three to go."

"Then let's do it," Sam said.

"Can you sense one?" Onida asked quietly.

Caleb closed his eyes and checked out the area. After a moment, he frowned. In the direction of the caves, there was a darkness; more like a blank spot than a witch. Opening his eyes he stared northeast of their position. "There's something…" Turning, he glanced at Sam.

Sam nodded. Opening himself up, he felt the hole. Perplexed, he extended his psychic ability a little more and his eyes widened. "Directly ahead," he hissed.

Expanding his senses directly ahead, Caleb searched for the black hole of darkness. Even still, he was surprised when the witch appeared just three feet from his position and grabbed him up in her arms. This witch was massive, easily nine feet tall with enormous shoulders and elongated arms. She hissed in his face and Caleb unloaded his entire clip of pyrite bullets into her stomach. Holding him off to the side, she looked down at her already healed middle and literally, Caleb could hear her chest rumbling in a purr. Quickly he palmed a small silver ball and snarled, "Heal from this, bitch," shoving the ball into her neck.

Instantly Caleb was falling. Her screech loosened his knees and he collapsed, one hand covering his ear while the other tried desperately to hang on to his gun. "AARRHHHGG!" he screamed as blood dripped from his nose.

Sam stumbled at the sound emanating from the witch. He had maneuvered behind her while she'd been occupied with Caleb. But the lower decibel cadence of her screech had his heart racing and him struggling to retain his footing. When he heard the Knight's cry he readied to hurl the battle axe at her back. However, before he could complete the action, the witch casually reached behind and flicked him away. Sam sprawled face down on the forest ground. "Damn it," he growled and scrambled to his feet.

A wave of rage rose inside Onida when she saw Caleb bleeding on the ground and Sam tossed in the air. "Not on my watch," she growled. Energy flowed from her body into a massive flaming orb of red, pulsing power. "Arrgghh," she cried as she launched the mass at the witch, throwing the creature back and setting her body on fire.

Caleb scrambled closer to Onida, wiping the blood from his face. Frantically he searched for Sam, and he sagged in relief when he saw him through the smoke, already on his feet.

A massive cawing of pain and fury erupted from the witch as she slowly stood. Idly wiping flames from her arms and torso, she was a sight to behold as she stepped forward. Clothing and body blackened; flaming, smoldering patches of skin and fabric scattered across her frame and her throat a melted mess from the silver, she actually smiled. "Yaotlapializtli," she hissed, almost dancing toward Onida. "Ya'at'eeh. (Welcome)"

Onida kept her distance, watching the massive witch moved gracefully in her direction. "Philámayaye, (Thank you)" she replied sarcastically.

Sam didn't even try to get close this time; he merely hefted the axe over his shoulder and hurled it at the witch's back. Instead of hitting her, however, the weapon disintegrated in mid-air.

Without hesitation, Sam pulled the silver ball from his pocket and charged the witch. Before he got too close, he veered to the right, hurling the silver ball with all the strength he could manage at the witch's back. The silver hit the witch's back, causing her to arch and screech. The sound was deafening, and Sam staggered, covering his ears as best he could.

Onida smacked her hands together and pulled them slowly, vertically apart; left palm low and open upward, right hand rising above it, palm down. In the space between grew a helix cone of entwined yellow, red and pure white energy. Pulsing with power, Onida flipped the spiral on its side and thrust it with all her might at the witch.

The explosion generated a shock wave that spiraled out in all directions, knocking Caleb and Sam to the ground. Onida felt the energy backlash just as a small body tackled her and threw her down. Without a conscious thought, she had the sleeping potion in her hand and thrust it into the pre-teen boy's face. The child's eyes opened wide and he immediately dropped to the forest floor.

Amazingly enough, the witch was still on her feet after Onida's attack. Caleb growled and ran toward the witch. Ducking behind a fallen log, he pulled three grenades from his pack. "Down!" he shouted to Sam and Onida. Hurling all three grenades, he ducked behind a nearby cedar as a second blowback of concussive energy swept out from the detonation zone. When he looked around the tree, however, the witch remained. Damn, he knew what this was: an Alpha, the coven leader. His eyes went to Sam, who stared at the smoking, yet standing, witch. Maybe nothing short of the silver could end her.

Not knowing whether he'd be able to reach Dean, not knowing whether the witch would hear or not, he thought, Deuce, we need a big-ass silver cannonball to take down the Alpha bitch. Hoping Dean heard in his present state, he nodded to Sam hand held up four fingers, then held up his last two grenades. Sam also held up two, and together they tossed their pairs at the witch's feet.

The huge witch glanced down, then over at Caleb and smiled.

Caleb growled; the thing had smiled. This wasn't good.

When the grenades exploded, the witch merely disappeared and reappeared a few feet back. Onida gathered a large amount of her energy and formed seven flaming knives, and shoved them toward the witch at breakneck speed. Instead of running, the witch merely waved her hand and the knives veered to the side, two hitting Caleb; one in his shoulder and one his forearm.

"Caleb!" Onida shouted.

The witch flicked a hand and Onida went spinning ten feet away. Grunting, she climbed to her feet and started back to the witch when a flash of light flickered off to her right. Turning, her eyes widened and it was as though the world shuddered into a slow motion sequence. A young girl with long tangled hair and claw-tipped fingers formed a glowing ball in her hand and hurled it at Onida.

Onida dodged to the side and landed in a heap, her mind not fully comprehending what she'd just seen. Yaotlapializtli. The girl formed another ball and hurled it, but this time Onida was prepared. Reaching out, she caught the ball in her hand and absorbed the energy into her body.

The young girl's eyes widened in surprise. Frowning, she stalked closer and started to form another ball. But Onida waved a hand and doused it before the child had a chance to throw it.

Everyone was watching the strange duet playing itself out. Sam and Caleb's eyes met, and Caleb pointed to the witch, then looked upward. Sam's eyes shot upward. A silvery mist was forming over the witch's head. Dean was working.

The massive witch was unconcerned with either Caleb or Sam. Instead, she was completely fixated and amused at watching Onida deal with the young guardian.

Frustrated, the girl came closer, but when she tried to form more energy, Onida waved a hand and lifted the energy into the air and rolled it into a ball. She let it dance in front of the child for a moment, then abruptly hurled it at the witch.

Unprepared for the attack, the energy ball hit the witch directly in the face, causing her to scream in anger. Turning that anger on the girl, she reached out and threw a dark mist at the child. Onida raced over and stood in front of the girl, her hands up, a shield of startling blue between her palms. The blue net caught the dark mist, and Onida folded the energy around the darkness and shoved it into the ground.

The witch shrieked again, and Sam took advantage of her anger and slammed his knife, hilt deep, into her back. Caleb came at her from the front and emptied his clip of his pyrite rounds into her body before she psychically lifted him high and tossed him away.

Landing with a painful grunt, Caleb glanced above the witch and saw that the silvery mist had thickened into a dense cloud. He met eyes with Sam, and Sam nodded; they needed to keep the witch in place.

Onida had seen the cloud forming and shoved another energy ball at the witch all the while keeping her own body between the Alpha and the girl behind her.

The child seemed utterly confused by the entire situation. Frowning, she peeked around Onida's side and looked at the witch, who had shrieked and tossed Sam through the air. Looking up at Onida, she watched as the older woman caught another dark magic cloud thrown their way and shove it into a nearby tree. The tree buckled, and a large branch split away and hit the ground with a tremendous thud.

Sam fired more pyrite bullets into the witch's back, and he and Caleb kept up a relentless barrage of bullets and grenades, aided by Onida's energy fire until, in one felled swoop, the cloud above the witch sped downward and poured itself over her entire frame like a thick, silvery net.

Startled, the witch tried to shove at the wet silver, but it tightened across her body; the more she struggled the tighter it became. When she opened her mouth to scream, the silver immediately took the advantage and poured itself down her throat. Her eyes bulged as she gagged and choked.

"Damn, Deuce," Caleb murmured as he crawled once more off the forest floor.

The silver seemed to become a living thing seeking a place to crawl, and it did so through the witch's nose, her ears, it even crawled up and seeped into her eyes. The witch couldn't scream any longer as the silver tightened into a living shell.

Sam limped over to Caleb and checked him over for wounds.

"I'm fine," Caleb said. "Just tired of being tossed into everything; bushes, trees, the ground. You?"

"Same," Sam murmured. Pulling an antibiotic wipe from his pack, he pulled Caleb's shirt aside, and treated the knife wound from Onida's energy knife and slapped on a combat bandaged.

"Ow," Caleb complained.

"Serves you right," Sam grumbled. Moving to Caleb's side, they stood together and watched as Dean dealt with the witch.

The silver was slithering all over the witch's body, with more coming down from the damp cloud over her head and crawling up over her feet from the forest floor. It was a sight to behold. Then suddenly, the silver began to glow. Caleb and Sam both felt the heat emanating from the metal. Eyes widening, they rushed over to Onida and both children and hurriedly pulled them away.

When the metal became too hot, it abruptly shattered into a million scalding shards, scattering all over the forest floor. In seconds, there was only the crackling of hot metal on crisp, dry leaves.

Caleb, Sam, Onida and the child merely stared at the heated bits of metal everywhere.

"Think we need to salt and burn those?" Caleb asked.

Sam chuckled. "I think Dean already did that."

Onida smiled. Then suddenly, she turned to the children. The boy was still asleep. The girl was staring at the remains of the witch, her eyes wide and her mouth open in astonishment. Onida looked to Caleb. Someone else needed to approach the child. She'd used her hands to create the energy balls; she didn't want the child to think she was attacking her now.

Caleb stepped over and leaned down. "Hey." He pointed to his chest. "Caleb," he said, "Caleb."

The girl stared at him a moment, then her lip trembled and a trail of tears ran down her cheeks.

"Aww," Caleb murmured. Lifting his hand slowly, he cupped her cheek like he'd seen Dean do numerous times to his boys when they were small and upset. He ran his thumb back and forth across the wet surface saying, "Shhhh. It's all right, it's all right. There, now; it'll be okay. Shhhh."

Suddenly the child threw herself into Caleb's arms and began crying; deep, gut wrenching sobs that broke Caleb's heart.

Sam and Onida stood by watching, waiting for the child to calm. Just then, the forest went silent.

Caleb's head jerked up.

Onida looked around, bewildered at the sudden stillness. "What…?"

Sam frowned. "What happened? What's wrong?" He could hear birds and buzzing. Then he realized the Triad magic was gone. "It's not the forest, it's the magic."

Caleb cradled the child in his arms and held her close. Looking up at Onida, he said, "You know what's happening?"

Frowning, Onida said slowly, "I think Dean might be unconscious. The barrier just went down."

.

Dean groaned and opened his eyes. Frowning, all he saw a green blur. As his vision and mind cleared, he realized all the green above was leaves and branches. The canvas, he remembered. He was the canvas now. What he really wanted was just to be Dean again.

Moaning slightly, he rolled over onto his side and froze until the nausea he felt subsided, then he crawled to his knees. Taking out the Alpha witch had drained him of nearly all his strength, and his heart was still racing. Gulping, a hand to his stomach, Dean focused on the barrier … and nearly passed out again, this time from shock. No longer was the barrier a vibrant golden light with the blue center. It was hanging low and nearly gone.

Frantic, he stumbled to his feet. Okay, all right, focus, think. Onida said working with the canvas was like being in a dream; anything could happen in a dream. So, if he could imagine the barrier up, then it would be up, right? Focusing on the barrier, he imagined it vibrant and bright. The light flickered, then sagged again. Damn it! He tried once more and not even a flicker. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to remain calm. So, what did Onida use to repair or fix the barrier? She used her energy. What he had was the silver. The silver came from water; he'd tossed water on the canvas and shoved it in to take over as Guardian, therefore silver, or water, was his energy. But the forest was drying up as the morning wore on, and he'd pulled water from a lot of other areas in order to make a cloud big enough to kill the Alpha witch. Where could he get more?

An idea popped into his head, and Dean fumbled for the holy water in his pocket. Okay, he'd doused the canvas with water before. He could do that again and raise the barrier. Turning around, it suddenly it struck him that he had no idea where the canvas was! All he could see was the forest! Son of a… He couldn't waste the small flask of water by throwing it around the meadow hoping to hit the canvas. Suddenly, he frowned. Metaphysics, the canvas, he was fused with the canvas, he was the canvas…

Quickly he popped the top off the flask, took a deep breath and drank the holy water. Then he focused on bringing up the barrier. Suddenly the barrier went golden and bright with power, and the blue thread through the center pulsed with light. His shoulders sagged. Metaphysics were weird. How his drinking water translated to the woods was beyond him, and right now he didn't care. He was the canvas and he was the silver. He was also the Guardian of the Brotherhood. The barrier was back up.

Sweeping the forest with his canvas-vision, he could feel two more witches on the playing field, one a particularly large, black shadow stalking JT, James, Max and Ryker…

.

Caleb's psychic senses brightened, and he glanced over at Onida. She was smiling.

"He got the barrier back up," Onida said with relief, "he's fine."

Sam sighed and nodded, his heart finally calming its wild beating. Dean was fine. Stepping closer to Onida, he murmured, "What are we going to do with her?"

"Take her with us." Onida said, as though surprised Sam would ask.

Sam rolled his eyes. "We are going to take her out with us, but right now, we've got more witches to kill."

"She'll have to come with us," Caleb said. "We're deep in the woods. We can't take the time to take her to the forest edge."

Onida watched the girl. She was almost asleep in Caleb's arms, worn out from shock, terror and trauma. They couldn't take her with them; watching more death would only bring about more suffering. "I'll take her out of the forest."

Caleb's eyes went to Onida. "What?"

"I know where we came in; I'll take her out. I can also check on Dean, make sure he's all right."

Caleb ran his hand over the young girl's head, and finally nodded. Grunting, he tried to stand, and only got there with Sam's help. Setting the girl down, he tilted her head up to his and pointed to Onida. "Onida," he said. "Onida."

Onida smiled and held out her hand.

The girl tucked herself into Caleb's side and, with chin down, watched Onida carefully.

Onida thought for a moment, then came over and bent down a little. Holding out her hand, she pulled energy from her body and focused on making twinkling white lights in her hand. The lights swirled in a small tornado, sparkling and dancing on Onida's palm. Carefully, she reached out and took the girl's hand, pulled it to her and let the light dance onto the child's palm.

The girl's eyes widened with delight as the glimmering tornado picked up speed. Smiling, she looked at Onida, and Onida touched the top of the glimmering lights and blue swirled down with the glittering white. A small squeal came from the girl. Hesitantly, the child reached out and touched the top of the tornado, and yellow filtered down through the small column of swirling lights.

Onida nodded and grinned. "Well done," she praised. Slowly she reached out and scooped up the lights, lifted her hand and let them dance off into the forest. Looking back at the girl, she pointed to her chest and said, "Onida."

The girl cocked her head to the side, watching.

"Never mind," Onida said. "It's all right." She held out her hand and smiled.

Cautiously, the girl put her hand in Onida's.

"We'll meet you at the drop off site," Onida said to Caleb and Sam.

.

Adam approached the third cave and stood outside, Odette on his heels. This cave was circled on JT's map, so a witch had been inside. He hoped it wasn't there now. He looked down and saw Joshua walking on the trail below. He was coming back from up ahead, his eyes lifted up the hill. When he saw Adam, he raised a hand and nodded. If Adam found any children, they were ready.

Waiting and listening, Adam strained to hear something from inside the cave. With cup light in hand, he was prepared to enter when his head jerked up. He'd heard a small scuffling sound. Looking back at Odette, he nodded and stepped inside.

The darkness was thick and the air cold inside the cave. Adam kept his back to the wall as he walked silently in his socks. The roof was high overhead, and the walls wide. This cave was much larger than the other two he'd searched. When he saw a ring of stones surrounding a banked fire, he knew he was in the right place.

On high alert, he headed toward the back of the cave. There were a few straight forward turns before he reached what looked like a large cavern inside the cave. He halted outside, listening. There were shuffles and the occasional small sound, but that was it. There was nothing for it; he rounded the corner and stepped into a nightmare.

Several large cages were built along the walls, and inside were children of all ages and sizes, the eyes staring at him hollow with terror and emptiness. His heart lodged in his throat. Carefully, slowly, he moved toward the first cage and leaned down. All eyes watched as he tugged on the lock. Frowning, he focused his energy and touched the lock, and it popped open. Smiling, he slowly, very slowly, opened the cage door. The children backed up. Adam watched them, wondering what to do. He needed help.

Making a decision, he carefully pulled his radio from his pocket and said, "Joshua…"

A moment later Joshua answered. "Yes?"

The children's eyes went wide and they shrank back further into the darkness.

"I need help. Now."

"Coming."

Adam slid the radio back in his pocket. He didn't want to open the other cages until he'd secured these children, and he didn't want to put these kids to sleep and move on, because watching their fellow prisoners fall to the ground wouldn't be helpful to their terror levels. Slowly, he lowered himself down and sat cross-legged on the ground. Pointing to himself, he said, "Adam."

The children jerked at hearing his voice. One small boy tilted his head and frowned.

Adam pointed to himself again and said, "Adam. Adam." He watched them and the little boy for a second, then said, "It's going to be all right. We're bringing help. It will be all right."

The small boy crawled forward. He couldn't have been more than four. Watching Adam, he finally murmured, "Help."

Adam nodded. "Help."

The child studied him for a moment, then apparently decided to take a chance. He crawled forward until he reached Adam, then crawled straight into his lap.

Stunned, Adam's arms went around the boy and he held him close. Slowly, he started rocking the child back and forth, murmuring, "Shhh, it's all right. Shhhhh, you're going to be fine."

"Help," came the boy's plaintive plea again, and Adam knew he would be traumatized by this experience for a long time.

The other children slowly crawled forward, following the littlest one's example, and clustered around Adam, wanting to touch him, wanting to be near him.

Adam looked over at the other cages; children's hands were reaching out through the cages in an attempt to get to him.

When Joshua walked in, he halted in stunned surprised. Little hands still in the cages lifted and reached out for him. "Oh my…" he turned to Odette standing behind him and hissed, "Get help now."

Odette turned and jogged from the cave.

Adam turned and looked to Joshua, his eyes brimming with more painful emotion than Joshua had ever seen in his friend's eyes.

"Stay sitting," Joshua said, though speaking at all was difficult when his throat was tight with emotion. Slowly he moved to the second cage and fiddled with the lock. The children inside didn't move back this time. Instead, they were watching Joshua intently. He didn't want to frighten the children further by using magic, so he pulled a long, slender rod from his pocket and picked the lock. The distraction helped his friend too.

Adam's mouth dropped open. "You pick locks?"

Joshua smiled. "For awhile now. Dean said it was a useful skill and always came in handy, so he made sure I learned." Swinging open the cage, he said, "He was right."

Once the door was open, the children inside shrank back again the rear of the cage, suddenly wary now that there was nothing between them and the stranger. Joshua held out his hand and said, "Come," he motioned for them to come to him. "Come." He pointed at his chest and said, "Joshua."

Slowly the children moved forward, crawling from inside the dirty, filthy cage. Two little girls tried to crawl into Joshua's lap. But Joshua took their hands, stood, and said, "Come." He took the little blond girl's hand and placed it in a black-haired girl's hand and closed them together. Nodding to the other children, he took a small boy's hand and placed it in the black-haired girl's hand and closed them together. Soon the other children were copying Joshua's example until they were all linked up. Luckily, Odette returned then with Cheyton and Samuel behind. Joshua led the small line of five children over to Odette. Tucking the blond haired child's hand into Odette's, he closed them together. Leaning down, he pointed to the taller woman and said, "Odette. Odette." He looked at all the children and pointed again, "Odette."

Odette smiled and made a come with me motion, and very slowly walked out of the cave, trailed by the five children.

Samuel had tears running down his face as he watched the solemn procession.

Joshua gave the other man a comforting shoulder rub and said, "Let's get the rest and move on to the next cave."

Rubbing a hand over his face, Samuel nodded. "Let's take them all home."

.

JT, Max, Ryker and James walked through the forest, on high alert. They were getting closer to the caves and the ridge, and worried that a witch was behind them now.

JT stopped, frowning. Looking to James, he murmured, "You feel anything?"

James started to shake his head, then stopped. He needed to attempt to use his clairvoyant skills. Closing his eyes, he focused on a witch, the darkness of their spirit, the shrouds they wore, and their size. He wasn't used to tuning out other noises and movements to focus on one thing, and he was finding it a challenge. But when he suddenly felt a dark hole to the east, he wondered if he was seeing a witch or something different. Opening his eyes, he pointed to the right. "Something's there."

JT frowned. "Something?"

James nodded, his eyes going from JT to the forest. "It was like a black hole."

Ryker stepped forward. "Malevolent, like evil? Darkness?"

James thought about the hole he'd felt, and nodded. "Yeah."

"A very bad witch," Max stated.

For the next several minutes they made their way through the trees, JT and Max together, and Ryker and James about ten feet away. A branch twitched off to their right.

Ryker turned and stared, his eyes searching every shadow. "You see sense anything?" he asked James.

"Ryker?" Max asked, as he and JT stopped and looked back.

"Something's there," Ryker said.

James focused through the trees. "I keep getting darkness."

Suddenly from the front a witch materialized, grabbed JT and whirled off again.

"JT!" Max shouted. "James! Find him!"

James closed the distance and focused. "Just fifteen feet…"

Suddenly there was a barrage of gunfire and JT appeared running in their direction.

Max focused behind JT and saw the witch. Raising his gun, he yelled, "Down!" and when JT ducked to the left, he fired several rounds into her chest.

Ryker watched and kept his gun ready to intervene, but there was something still in the woods. He felt it. Looking at James, he saw the younger man frowning and staring in the same direction. So when a girl dropped from the branches above, he was taken by surprise. Reacting instinctively, Ryker flipped her off his back, reaching for a sleeping potion. He wasn't quick enough, and the girl darted off into the woods.

James stared into the trees and felt the pull of a presence. He walked over to Ryker and said, "There's something there."

Ryker nodded. "Yeah, there is."

Just then the witch returned, and Max fired several rounds into her chest and midsection. While she healed, the process wasn't nearly as fast as the previous witch they'd tackled. "They're healing slower!" he shouted.

The girl who'd attacked Ryker darted out from behind a tree and hurled a makeshift spear at JT, where it lodged in the back of his shoulder.

"JT!" James raced over and pulled the spear from his brother's shoulder while Ryker tossed one of Joshua's pouches at the witch's back. The green mist crawled around her body like little gnats, eating at her clothing and skin. Her scream was ear splitting.

JT lifted his gun to fire, but the girl was back. She knew which one the witches wanted. Jumping onto his back, they fell to the forest ground. Before he could react, the weight was suddenly gone. Turning, he saw Sarah dragging the girl away. The girl was kicking and grunting, obviously surprised. When she finally got to her feet, she smacked Sarah in the face. Immediately Sarah retaliated, backhanding the girl and causing her to sprawl, face down, on the ground.

The witch screamed in anger and started for Sarah, but Ryker pummeled her with several pyrite bullets, and James threw a grenade at her chest. The explosion knocked the witch back, and JT picked up the axe Ryker had lost when the girl attacked, and he lopped off the witch's head.

The girl stared at the witch, then turned and raced back into the forest.

Ryker poured holy water on the body while James salted the remains and set them on fire.

JT turned to Sarah and smiled. "Thanks…."

His eyes widened as a witch who stood easily ten feet tall appeared from out of nowhere and lifted Sarah off the ground. Roaring her displeasure in Sarah's face, she barred her teeth and tossed the young girl away. Then she roared down at JT, causing his ears to ring and his teeth to literally chatter. His gun was raised before a thought was in his head and he fired. Additional gunfire told him the others were firing too. The witch merely looked down at her bullet-riddled middle, sneered and disappeared.

"Damn," Max breathed, his eyes wide.

"Sarah!" JT called, and turned and raced through the woods until he saw her lying at the base of a tree, still and broken, blood running from the side of her mouth and nose. Leaning over, he felt for her pulse. It was slow and erratic. A moment later she opened her eyes and stared up into the trees overhead. Sunlight poked through the leaves, turning the green to wondrous light, hinting at the brilliance of the sun above. Slowly, she swallowed and shifted her gaze until she saw JT. For the first time, she smiled.

"Hey," JT said softly. "Thank you."

Sarah swallowed again, then let her gaze drift to the smoking remnants of the witch a short way away. Finally she looked back to JT and held out her hand.

JT grasped it firmly in his own hand and held on tight.

"Sa-rah," she whispered softly. Then her eyes sharpened and she lifted her head slightly and murmured fiercely, "Sarah," before laying back and letting her gaze go once more to the sunlit leaves overhead. Slowly her lids slid shut as the breath left her body and she was still.

JT felt the tears spring to his eyes. The strength of this girl, who had kept a tight hold on who she was for such a very long time. He wished he could have taken her home. Gently he placed her hand over her heart. "No more barrier, Sarah," he whispered. "You're free."

He felt James, Max and Ryker standing nearby. After a long moment, he stood. Squaring his shoulders, he looked at Ryker and said, "Mark the spot."

Ryker nodded solemnly and placed a mark on the tree, murmuring a couple words to activate the locator spell.

"We've got a huge badass witch to kill," JT stated. Turing to James, he said, "Jimmy, get a lock on her and let's take her down."

"You got it," James said.

.

Caleb didn't like where they were headed. It was too close to the caves. Though he wasn't afraid of the witch breaking through the double-strength barrier, he was concerned with traumatizing the kids who were being rescued. He glanced over at Sam, who was watching his back. "How's your ammo?"

"Half a mag and one clip of pyrite bullets left, two grenades, three of Joshua's spell bags. You?"

"My last clip is loaded, I'm out of grenades, I've got four spell pouches and one ball of silver."

Sam's eyes swept the area continuously. "We've got to consider that there may be another Alpha. There were two covens."

"Yeah, I know. It took a helluva lot of silver to take down the other Alpha." Caleb's gaze went up to the branches overhead, then back to the forest, his senses searching for anything.

"The rain is drying up," was all Sam said.

"I know."

Sam just nodded and they kept walking. If there wasn't any more rain, then there wasn't any more silver. They wouldn't be able to take down another Alpha witch armed as they were now.

Caleb suddenly stopped by a small oak tree. Deuce, he thought. We need more silver. Taking his knife, he carved into the tree until he reached a moist area. Nodding, he chipped away at the wood until a small trickle of water leaked from the tree center. He held his hand close to the trunk and let the water trickle slowly into his palm. Holding the water, he waited, hoping Dean had heard. After a very long minute, the water rolled itself up into two silver balls. Quickly Caleb threw Sam a grin, and let more water trickle into his hand. Another two balls of silver.

"How did you know that?" Sam asked, nodding to the tree.

"Getting water from a tree works better with a spile, but when you've gone through as many John Winchester survival maneuvers as me and Dean, you work with what you got." Grinning at Sam, he said, "I can almost get water from a stone."

Sam laughed and filled his hand with water.

When they'd collected six balls apiece, Caleb thought, Thanks. Hang tight, we're almost done here.

Before they went on, Caleb pulled out his cell and texted, three. A moment later an answering text said, three. Looking to Sam, he said, "Six down, one witch to go."

Sam gave one sharp nod and they continued walking, both men reaching out with their senses, trying to find a hint of the last witch. After twenty more minutes, Sam thought he heard something off to his left. Frowning, he stopped and stared into the forest.

Caleb knew the moment Sam had stopped walking, and he turned back. Seeing Sam's focus, he turned and lowered his blocks slightly. Then his eyes widened. "Alpha."

.

Dean could see the darkness in the forest, and it was huge. Caleb had identified the other huge witch as an Alpha, the coven leader. It would make sense that there were two Alphas as there were two covens. It had taken almost everything he had to pull enough silver from the forest to kill the first Alpha. In the mid-morning day, where was he going to get enough silver to kill the second?

.

Sam raised his gun, opened himself up and felt the black void of darkness. Firing, he unloaded several rounds into what looked like empty space. Blood appeared then disappeared just as rapidly.

Caleb grabbed two silver balls and threw them into the space. Silver hovered in midair, and the witch materialized around it. That's when she screamed. The sound was low and harsh, and both Sam and Caleb fell to their knees, their hearts racing.

"Low decibel sound again," Sam managed. Quickly he pulled a silver ball from his pocket and launched it at the witch, hitting her in the throat.

The sound stopped as the witch's scream rose higher with her pain. The sound continued to echo even when she disappeared.

Caleb walked forward, his gun ready to fire, his head swinging back and forth. "Where'd she go?"

"Don't know," Sam said, frowning. "I can't sense her anymore."

Caleb let down his blocks a little and felt the darkness off to their left. Whirling, he was just able to get a silver ball in his hand before the witch knocked him back twenty feet in the air. Landing heavily, the silver ball rolled from his grasp as the wind was knocked from his body. Groaning, he forced air into his lungs and grunted, "Shit!"

Sam fired the last of his pyrite bullets into the witch's back, but they did no damage at all. As the witch turned in his direction, he threw first the silver ball at her chest, then followed it with Joshua's face melting spell bag. The silver had the witch screaming and arching backward. Yet when the spell hit, she merely waved a hand and it disappeared.

"Damn it," Sam shouted. That meant their spell bags were probably useless. Throwing another silver ball, he waited until it hit before throwing his last two grenades. Turning, he raced over to Caleb and they took cover behind a tree when the grenades exploded. When the dust settled, the witch was still standing, brushing off the leaves and dirt that had landed on her with the force of the grenades, her throat a melted mess from the silver.

Deuce, Caleb thought. We need some help.

Suddenly several cracks sounded, and the witch stumbled forward. Behind her stood JT, Max, James and Ryker, all firing pyrite rounds into her body. Screeching, she turned and flung out her hand, sending all four young men flying backwards.

Caleb eyed the boys as they scrambled up and took refuge behind a cluster of Madrone trees, whose thick foliage gave them at least the illusion of protection.

"We need to break through her exterior," Sam hissed. "So we can get the potions inside."

In lieu of a reply, Caleb merely pulled one of his best hunting knives from his boot, stood and hurled it at the witch. The blade lodged in the side of her neck. Screeching, she turned and looked at Caleb, then the blade melted into nothing.

Sam looked up at Caleb and shrugged. "It was a good try."

Caleb growled and pulled the Dragon's Talon from his waistband. "This should be more effective." Holding the blade tip between his fingers, he hurled Merlin's magic blade at the witch. His knightly skill had the blade lodging, hilt deep, between the witch's breasts.

The screech nearly broke their eardrums. Red light burst from the wound as blood poured down the witch's front. The witch stared down at the weapon, but the blade held true; it neither melted nor crumbled.

"Told you it would hold," Caleb murmured.

Suddenly the witch disappeared and then returned a moment later dangling a teen girl from her talons. The child whimpered and cried in pain. Leaning in, the kid pulled the blade from the witch's chest and tossed it aside. The witch dropped the girl and actually grinned in Caleb and Sam's direction.

The child scampered away, terror on her face.

Ryker stepped out from behind the Madrone tree, caught the girl in his arms and pulled her over to where he and his team were crouched. As she cried and struggled, Max yanked up his and Ryker's bandanas and held a sleeping spell bag over her face. A moment later she went still.

JT nodded in Ryker's direction.

Sam looked at Caleb and said, "At least she didn't melt it."

Rolling his eyes, Caleb asked, "How much silver do you have left?"

"Four," Sam said, "You?"

"Three. I lost one when the witch tossed me."

Sam palmed his last four silver orbs and said, "I'm going to go around the back. Unload the rest of your clip and throw your last spell bags. Then we'll hit her with all the silver together, see if that will stop her. The boys will see what we're doing and join in."

Caleb nodded. Moving to Sam's left, he rounded toward the side of the witch and started firing. When his gun clicked on empty, he threw first one, two, then three spells bags, hoping the to overwhelm her powers.

The witch healed from the bullets wounds and, in a nonchalant manner, reached out and grabbed two of the spell bags, grinding them in her hands and tossing them away. The third hit her center-man, and split, spilling red fiery poison across her body. Instead of screaming and dropping like the last witch, however, the Alpha casually wiped the flames and darkness away.

"Crap," Caleb muttered. The witch smiled and was walking toward him when he saw Sam nod. Quickly he grabbed the last three silver balls and hurled them at the witch. Simultaneously, Sam threw his last four silver orbs, and they hit the witch on the back.

Screaming, the witch howled in anger as much as she did pain, and wiped at the silver as it ate through her flesh.

JT rose and lobbed one more silver ball, and the silver splattered against the witch's side, joining Sam's. Again the witch screamed, but she didn't go down. Instead, she reached out and pulled Caleb toward her with her psychic ability. Instead of using his turret, Caleb dropped his blocks and used all his considerable psychic skills to cut off her oxygen and crush her windpipe. Eyes widening, the witch gasped and choked. Eyeing Caleb, her round eyes narrowed and she shoved a huge amount of power his way.

Caleb gasped and stumbled back several feet, then dropped.

"Caleb!" Sam shouted, running to his side. Quickly he felt for a pulse, and found one.

Groaning, Caleb crawled to his knees and shook his head. "Bitch," he muttered, putting a hand to his head.

Sam clenched his teeth and stood facing the witch. Tapping into a portion of his abilities he hadn't touched since the battle over heaven and hell, power that frightened him to his very core, he focused his psychic abilities on crushing the witch.

Staggering, the witch eyed Sam and attempted to toss him away. Sam stumbled slightly, but stood true and focused on crushing her frame like he had Alistair's so long ago. But it had been years since he'd attempted using that part of his abilities, and the witch was desperate to escape. Whirling, she disappeared from view, and appeared a few feet from Sam, knocking him back against a tree, effectively shattering Sam's concentration. Screaming, the witch began to stalk toward him, and it was only the distraction of three knives in her back that had her turning her focus on Ryker, JT and Max. The roar she sent their way had them flying back to the thicket where James was crouched.

Caleb crawled over to Sam and said, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sam groaned, holding his head. "Remind me not to do that again."

"You're out of practice, young Skywalker," Caleb stated, harkening back to a nickname from a few decades ago.

"And I plan to stay that way," Sam moaned, wiping the blood from under his nose.

.

"Do you have any silver left?" JT asked the others.

Ryker, Max and James pulled the silver from their packs.

"But how are we going to use it?" Max asked. "Uncle Caleb and Uncle Sam threw more than four orbs at the witch, you threw one, and she's still standing."

"It's not enough silver," James said.

JT shook his head. "No, but I'm counting on dad." Lifting his head, he looked over to where Caleb and Sam were lying. He knew Caleb would hear him, and when Caleb turned, he held up three balls of silver. Caleb nodded.

Turning to Sam, Caleb said, "JT has three more balls of silver."

"It won't be enough," Sam said. "We already hit her with eight, and she barely stumbled."

The witch reached up to the sky and pulled down a column of wind, and tossed it at where JT, James, Max and Ryker were sheltered, effectively destroying their cover and sending them skidding away.

Caleb's eyes widened as glanced up at the sky, and smiled.

Sam watched him, frowning. "What are you thinking?"

"Use the force." Stepping out in plain view, he said, "A little wind. That's scary."

The witch's head tilted to the side, staring at Caleb. She reached up and threw a massive column of wind his way, and knocked him off his feet. Skidding backwards with the force, he was saved from going further by Sam grabbing his jacket and pulling him behind the trunk.

"Smart," Sam declared. "Two would be better."

"Two is always better than one," Caleb grinned. Climbing to his feet again, he walked around the tree and said, "Wow, that was scary."

Sam joined Caleb, taunting, "Thought you were powerful."

Caleb glanced over. "Good thing she probably doesn't understand that."

Reaching up again, the witch threw wind and lightening their way. Years of experience and skill had Caleb and Sam diving headlong to the left as the witch retaliated, saving them from becoming piles of ash on the ground.

Seeing Caleb was taking a bit longer to climb to his feet this time, JT rose and threw two silver orbs at the witch along with two spell bags.

The witch screamed and arched her back. Rounding quickly, she roared a cacophonous sound that had all four young men crouching and covering their ears in pain.

"That all you got!" Caleb shouted, standing once more in front of the witch. He opened his mind and focused all his power on crushing her neck.

"AACCCKKKK" the witch yelled, her hand going to her melted throat, which was visibly bowing inward with the force of Caleb's mind.

Sam stood up and added his power to Caleb's, his concentration on crushing the witch's windpipe.

Max and Ryker's eyes met, and without a word they rushed forward. Wands in hand, they ran a large circle around the witch. Before it was closed, they both dropped blood on the ends. With the witch still gasping for air, JT and James rushed over and dropped their blood on the ends too. Ryker closed the circle and sealed it with the Triad symbol. Blue light rushed around the circle.

Reaching upward, the witch drew down wind and lightening and rain onto Caleb and Sam. The wind was so powerful that it knocked both men off their feet and tossed them head over heels ten feet away.

Caleb groaned as he lay on his back, his legs on top of Sam. Deuce, you're on.

Moisture now on the newly wet ground rose around the witch like a silver mist, mysterious and otherworldly. The witch attempted to whirl away, but slammed into the trap. Roaring, she smacked at the wall strengthened with Triad magic. The mist swirled around the circle like smoke in a beaker, getting thicker and faster as it whirled. Screaming again, the witch disappeared, only to appear again when she was unable to get through the circle. She threw power at the Triad-enhanced wall, but the power bounced back against her; and the mist thickened and grew ever more dense.

JT, James, Max and Ryker scurried around the circle and jogged over to Caleb and Sam.

"You both all right?" JT asked, giving Caleb and Sam a hurried once-over.

"Nothing three weeks in a Jacuzzi won't cure," Caleb groaned, pushing himself into a sitting position.

"I'm with you on that," Sam stated, slowly leaning back into a tree. "I think we've gotten thrown around more times during this hunt than in all our other hunts combined."

Caleb let out a wry chuckle.

Another scream had them giving their full attention to the witch, who they could barely see through the mist. When it turned to silver, the witch howled to the heavens. The silver covered her from head to toe and squeezed. As it burned brighter and tighter, all the others leaned back involuntarily and shaded their eyes. Soon the silver became a molten column of translucent white, dazzling in its intensity. When it slowly lost luminescence, it melted downward until it became a pool of silver inside the protection circle. Then all of a sudden, it transformed back into water and sank into the ground.

For a moment, no one moved. They merely stared at the empty protection circle. Eventually they clamored slowly to their feet while finding it difficult to take their eyes off the wet spot that used to be a witch.

Finally, Caleb murmured, "It's good to be the Guardian."

TBC

---

Author's Note:

I know this chapter was particularly long, but I hope it was satisfying! Don't get too comfy; we've still got some road to travel before we're done. Thank you to all who've posted reviews of this story. I grin whenever I read one; they are very much appreciated.