Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed. If I did, I would be publishing this and making money from it! This is purely a plot idea in my head and I do not intend to make any money from it.

AN: Okay. So now that I've made the lawyers happy…On with the story!! Please read and review! Lexi (my muse) really lives for getting reviews

Chapter 10.

Good VS Evil

The Source sat on this throne, listening to the reports from his demons who had taken the Daughter's loves. He smiled in triumph. "You mean to tell me that none of the Daughters have revealed to these humans that they are in fact witches? That certainly works in our favor…" He broke off as he saw Maliki walk into the room. "Maliki? You've been missing for several days. You had better have an adequate reason or your punishment will be very severe."

Maliki walked towards the Source and slowly bowed. "I do, My Lord. The reason I was unable to contact you was because the Daughters captured me."

The Source raised his eyebrows. "If that is so, then how did you get free? If they set you free, then this must be a trap."

"No, My Lord. I managed to break through the shields that one of the Daughters had set. From what I overheard, she is very young and unpracticed in setting shields like this up. But I do coming bearing a gift for you. Just as I broke the shield down, two of the witches walked past the room where they had me. They were talking about a potion that they had created to give them immunity to your powers by invoking the power of the Earth. I stole part of the potion and put some additional ingredients in the remaining to make it useless. Now you will have immunity to their powers and they will be vulnerable to your powers." Maliki finished his explanation with a gleam in his black eyes.

The Source nodded his head. "Very good. Where is this potion?"

Maliki withdrew a bottle from his robes. "Here you go, My Lord. I also know that the witches intend to draw you to Inyo National Forest for the final battle. Do you wish to attack them immediately?"

The Source shook his head. "No. Let them make their plans. Then we will surprise them. Prepare the hostages for transport. They will come with us in order to distract them."

Maliki bowed his head. "As you wish, My Lord." He then bowed out of the room and began to make his plans.

Keahi had followed Maliki around until she was sure he had left the house. Once he was gone, she strengthened the wards to prevent him from coming back. Then she muttered another set of words and she came back into focus of the rest of the room.

Piper saw Keahi reappear and let out a little yelp in surprise. "Holy…" She paused for a second to catch her breath. "Can you warn a girl when you're going to do that, Keahi? You scared the bejesus out of me! Although, since you are visible, now, that does mean that the demon is gone, right?"

Keahi smiled. "I'm sorry I startled you and yes he is gone. He did ruin the potion before leaving, so I really hope the Source drinks what he gives him."

Piper nodded. "I figured that he would do that, and I actually hid some away, so that if he didn't take the potion, we can force it down his throat before we kill him. In interest of preparing for the battle, I believe that we should go to bed early tonight. We are going to need to be fresh in order to defeat him."

Keahi nodded in agreement. "I agree. I'll let my sisters know. We should get out to the forest early tomorrow. You never know when he is going to show up. The earlier we get there, the better."

Piper nodded her agreement and without another word they both prepared to go to bed.

When Keahi awoke the following morning, she felt a little nagging at her sense. Confused, she shook herself awake to try to comprehend where the feeling was coming from.

Phoebe woke up when she heard Keahi moving around. She looked confused at the clock which read four a.m. "What's going on? Are we under attack?"

Keahi smiled in the dark. "No. I just have a feeling. It's like a prescience of…not doom, but of a great battle ahead of us. It's not as bad as the feeling that I had before I left Mother's fortress, but close to it. Why do I feel, with absolute certainty, that today is going to be a very long day?"

Phoebe sat quietly for a moment, trying to read her own emotions at what the day had in store for her. "I'm not sure, but I can tell you that I am feeling the same things. It's like the feeling I have is a portend of the future."

Keahi nodded, and then realized that Phoebe could not see her in the dark. "Exactly. Okay. I feel a bit better now, knowing that it's not just me with these feelings. We'd better go back to sleep and try to rest up as much as possible."

"I agree," said Phoebe. "We don't have to be up and moving around for another two hours, minimum. I'd like a chance to catch some more sleep."

Both women lay back down in their beds, but Keahi was unable to sleep. Finally, giving up on sleep itself, she decided to meditate and try to bring the calmness to her that she knew she was going to need. She did not bring herself out of the self induced trance until she heard someone else up and moving around in the house. Quietly, she got out of bed and made her way downstairs.

She walked into the kitchen, unsurprised to see that Piper was preparing breakfast. "Good morning. Is there anything that I can do to help you?"

Piper looked up. "No. Cooking helps me calm down and I've got a bit of nerves to work out before we leave today."

Keahi nodded her agreement. "I completely understand. I've been meditating for the last hour and a half trying to do the same thing. I have a sense of foreboding at today. What ever happens today, it's going to shift the balance of power between good and evil for many years to come."

Piper looked at her in concern. "What do you mean by 'shift the balance of power'? Does that mean that evil may finally become stronger than good?"

"No!" Keahi interjected. "I just mean that right now good and evil are fairly well balanced, as it should be. It means that there is a possibility that if we lose then evil will be able to overtake good, but if we win, evil is going to take a huge blow and it will take many years for them to recover."

"Oh. Okay, I feel better than. I'm not prepared to lose."

Keahi smiled at that. "Of course not, neither am I." She stopped in her musing as the rest of the group began to trickle in, one by one.

There was a general chorus of 'Good Morning' while the coffee mugs began to be filled up. They were all aware that they must eat a hardy breakfast before they left to go to the battle site.

Once they had finished breakfast and cleaned up the dishes, they all went to their rooms to change into what they would be wearing to fight in. All the women chose clothing that would allow for a free range of motion as well as would protect them from the elements if needed. Unconsciously, each Daughter dressed in the colors that her power reflected.

Kesia was the first to finish dressing. She walked around the house, knowing that it could be the last time that she had a chance to explore. She studied the pictures and smiled to herself at the display of loyalty and love that the pictures recorded. The Charmed Ones have a tight bond. I hope that I get a chance to discover that with my sisters. If things go horribly wrong, we won't have any mementos of each other except for our memories. She stopped her train of thought when she realized where it was going. Wow, I'm getting maudlin today. Damn you, Nen. You will pay for what you have done to my family. I will exact my revenge on you!

Kesia turned as she heard the rest of the group walking down the stairs. She turned and saw the looks of determination on their faces. She nodded to each one as they joined hands to await Leo orbing in.

There was a flash of white light as Leo entered the room. He nodded to the women, knowing, in his heart, that they would prevail over the Source. He joined the circle of women. "The message has been delivered, although we already know that it was not needed."

Piper smiled. "It's all a part of the ruse, dear. If we didn't do something to lure him there, then he would be suspicious of the potion and suspect a trap."

Leo nodded. "I know. I don't like it, but I know. I take it everyone is ready to go?" At the nods of agreement, he joined hands with the circle and along with Paige, brought everyone to the battle site. It was a clearing that was approximately five hundred feet wide in both the width and length.

The women looked around to make sure that the Source had not arrived. All was quiet. Piper smiled and looked at Leo. "You'd better go. If we need you, will call."

Leo nodded and bent his head to capture her lips in a sweet kiss. "Be careful. I love you."

Piper smiled. "I love you, too." She watched as he orbed away. Once he was gone, she turned to the women. "Okay. Everyone split up into your pairs. When the Source shows up, Phoebe and I will go after the hostages and make sure that they are protected. Once we get done with that, we will come rejoin the fight. If you get into any trouble, just yell. We'll find you and do our best to help. Got it?"

Everyone nodded and split up. Paige and Kesia walked to the east, to take their positions in the trees. Keahi and Kansas went to the south. Kai and Kim walked to the west and Phoebe and Piper walked to the north. They all hid in the forest and did not have wait long before the demons showed up.

Piper and Phoebe looked at each other when the demons began to shimmer in. They knew that they had to be extra quiet and look for the hostages. Slowly they crept closer to the demons, careful not to disturb any of the wildlife to announce their arrival. Both looked in opposite directions, scanning the group of people for the four helpless men.

Piper felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to the direction that Phoebe was pointing to. She could see a young, shaggy haired man surrounded by eight demons. "Geez," she whispered. "A little overkill on the protection around him!"

Phoebe fought down a laugh at Piper's dry comment. "Yeah. How are we going to get him away from them?"

Piper thought for a moment. "The only thing I can do is try to blow them up. It's going to be messy, but the quicker we move, the more likely we can rescue him before he gets hurt."

Phoebe looked at her. "Try freezing them first. Let's see if we can do this without fireworks."

Piper nodded and concentrated. She moved her hands to no avail. The demons kept moving. "Well, that solves it. They're upper level demons that are immune to my freezing power. That leaves the potions and blowing them up. You ready?"

Phoebe nodded and both women moved out of the shadows behind the demons. "Hey!" Phoebe yelled. The group of demons turned around and quickly two of them met their demise.

The other demons growled and began to throw energy balls at them. Phoebe and Piper dodged them deftly and Piper blew up another demon. The demons began to move towards them, leaving the man unattended for the time being.

Phoebe moved towards the demons and began to fight with one hand to hand. She dodged a punch that was aimed and her head and swept her leg along the ground, knocking the demon from his feet. Once he was down, she threw a potion at him and he quickly disintegrated. She didn't pause in her fighting, knowing that they were outnumbered.

Piper watched Phoebe fighting up close with the demons and smiled as she killed one. She noticed one creeping up on Phoebe and quickly blew him up. Her smile grew as she noticed the remaining demons try to shimmer out of harm's way, but they were unable to since the shields kept them in.

Phoebe noticed one of the demons making his way back towards the young man and threw a potion at him, to prevent him from reaching him. She looked at Piper and inclined her head towards the man. She began to walk towards him.

Piper quickly covered her back and blew up the remaining demons. She ran to Phoebe's side and looked over the stunned young man. He was badly beaten and not fully aware of what was going on.

"No. Don't hurt me. Please! I don't know anything about Kim…please," he pled in earnest.

Phoebe, who was better at deal with emotions than Piper was, laid her hand on his head. "Shush. It's alright. We are friends of Kim's. We are here to rescue you. You're safe now."

The man looked up and sighed when he saw two normal looking women looking at him with concern in their eyes. "Oh, thank God."

Piper looked at him. "Are you able to walk?"

The man nodded and slowly got to his feet. "Who are you?"

Piper looked at him. "I'm Piper. This is Phoebe. What's your name?"

"I'm Darren."

Phoebe nodded. "Darren, follow up and we'll get you to safety. Be quiet though. Do you know where the other men are?"

He shook his head. "No. They kept us in separate cells. What are these things?"

Phoebe sighed. "Demons…We'll explain later."

Their quiet conversation had taken them to the edge of the forest where Piper pointed to a tree. "Go stand there." She turned and looked up at the sky. Leo!"

Darren gasped as the man appeared out of nowhere.

Leo looked at him and nodded. "I'll get him to safety. Be careful."

Piper just smiled as Leo and Darren orbed out of danger. "Okay. One saved, three to go. Let's start the hunt."

Kai stood in awe as the demons kept appearing in the clearing. She knew, logically, that the Source would have assembled an army to fight them, but being faced with the reality of it was overwhelming. "Wow. I've never seen so many demons in one place before. Are you still keeping count?"

Kim shook her head. "No. I lost count at seventy-eight. This is more than I had anticipated. I hope there are enough minerals around here for me to control. I'm a little out of practice actually using the mineral of the Earth. In Dallas, I usually use metal trashcans. It's so much fun to make those into flying discs and fling them at the demons."

Kai made a small noise in the back of her throat. "I'm with you there. I'm used to having the ocean to draw my power from." She paused as she saw signs of destruction coming from the north. "I think that Phoebe and Piper have found one of the guys. I hear some explosions. We'd better distract the rest of them."

Kim nodded and drew a breath. She muttered under her breath and felt her power flowing out of her hands into the Earth, searching for minerals. She found a deposit of lead a couple of feet below the surface and quickly brought them to her. The minerals gathered around her, swirling in a tornado fashion. She muttered again and the minerals coalesced into sharp stars. With a fling of her arms, the stars flew at the demons, catching many of them by surprise. Most of the hits were not fatal, but out of the ten demons hit, there would be two less to fight them.

Kai watched in admiration as Kim made the stars. She used her water sense to seek out water and felt a stream a couple of hundred feet to her left. She took a deep breath and drew the water to her. She smiled as she felt it hurtling towards her. With a thought, she directed the water to the center point of the knot of demons. The water hit those who were stunned by Kim's attack and did not expect a different attack so soon. The water hit them like a ton of bricks. Many demons fell to their knees, in shock. Kai then sought out the water below the demons and forced it away from the area, making the ground unstable.

:Kim. I've removed all the ground water from the area. See if you force all of the demons into a circle. Then I'll reintroduce the water, causing a sink hole and trap them there.:

Kim smiled at her sister's plan. :Now where did you learn that trick, sister-mine? Brilliant idea!: Kim drew the lead to her again and began to swirl it around the demons, forcing them into a circle.

Kai saw what she was doing and as soon as the demons were close together, she flooded the ground with water again. This caused the earth to begin to buckle underneath them. She then drew all the water out again and the ground opened up in a gaping hole. The demons fell in as the water began to swirl over their heads. Some of the demons began to try to climb out, but Kim kept the lead flying at them, preventing them from escaping.

Both women spared a glance to each other and smiled with the same thought going through their heads. I wonder how everyone else is doing.

Piper began to walk back toward the clearing after Leo and Darren left. She was careful to stay in the trees, searching for clues of where the other men were being held. She carefully placed each of her steps so not to cause any sound. She felt a slight breeze as Phoebe moved behind her.

"Do you have any thought on where to find the others?" Phoebe asked.

Piper looked back at here. "I'm thinking that we should scout the edges. If they aren't with the rest of the demons, then we can begin a search of the woods."

"Good idea. Let's head east, towards Paige and Kesia."

Silently, the girls moved to the east, still being careful not to make any noise. Soon, they were halfway between where they had found Darren and where Paige and Kesia were busy fighting the group of demons that surrounded them. Piper stopped and motioned to Phoebe. Phoebe looked around Piper's shoulder and noticed a sandy haired man who was lying prone on the ground. He did not appear to be moving.

Piper turned to Phoebe and said, "Same plan as last time?"

Phoebe nodded her assent and soon the demons were fighting the two experienced witches. The man did not move as the demons were killed around him and once all the demons were gone, the two women moved towards him. Phoebe reached him first and bent down to feel his pulse. "He's alive. We'd better get Leo here."

Piper looked up and prepared to call for Leo when he suddenly appeared. "Holy…Leo? How did you know we needed you?"

Leo smiled sheepishly. "I've been monitoring you. I figured that the less you had to talk, the safer it would be."

"Oh. Good. Take are of him. He's alive, but I don't know how badly injured he is. He was unconscious when we arrived."

Leo nodded. "I'll take good care of him." Leo moved to the man and bent down. He made a quick assessment. "He's got some broken bones and likely a concussion. I don't think he is in serious condition, but I've got the take care of the broken ribs first. If I move him before I do, I could puncture a lung." He held his hands over him and the golden glow of his healing powers radiated from him to the man who groaned as he began to wake up.

"Who are you? Where am I?" he asked groggily.

Leo looked at him. "My name is Leo." He motioned to Piper and Phoebe. "That's Piper and Phoebe. You are in Inyo National Forest. What's your name?"

"Ben."

Leo thought for a moment. "You are Kai's boyfriend, aren't you?" At the man's nod in agreement he continued, "We are friends of Kai's. I'm going to take you to safety." He laid his hand on Ben and soon they were orbing away.

Phoebe looked at Piper. "Two left. Lead on and let's get this done so we can destroy the Source."

Paige and Kesia crouched silently in the forest. They wasted no energy on anything, trying to save it up. They knew that it was just a waiting game. When the demons began to shimmer in, they turned to each other, disbelief in their eyes at the sheer number of demons that were appearing.

Paige dared to whisper, "Oh, God. Look at how many there are! The Source is not playing around."

Kesia nodded in silent agreement. "We should give it a couple of minutes, then attack. This will hopefully distract them from Phoebe and Piper. They are going to need all the help they can get."

Paige drew in a breath and nodded her agreement. She held herself back from jumping into the battle. Finally, when she saw no more demons entering, she turned to Kesia. "Now."

Kesia nodded and closed her eyes in concentration. Suddenly tremors began to shake the leaves from the trees and cracks began to appear in the earth.

The demons stopped milling around and all turned with their backs to the center, searching for the source of the disruptions in the Earth. They assumed defensive postures, with energy balls at the ready.

Kesia opened her eyes and stood. Her eyes, normally a brilliant emerald green, had darkened to a deep sea green. She held her hands out a little from her sides, controlling her power through them. She began to walk towards the demons, the tremors growing stronger.

The demons noticed her walking towards them and grinned evilly. The closest part of the group of them threw a barrage of energy balls at her.

Paige saw the looks in their eyes and was beside Kesia before they threw the energy balls. She called out, "ENERGY BALLS!". In the blink of an eye, five balls flew to her and she threw them back at the demons, each one incinerating their originator.

Kesia also saw the energy balls coming towards her and suddenly and wall of earth appeared in front of her. The energy balls crashed into the wall, which withstood the punishment with ease.

Paige saw the Kesia was well defended and stepped around the obstruction. She quickly threw some potions at more of the demons. Quickly, a couple of more demons fell victim to the powerful potion that all of the witches were carrying.

Kesia, free from having to worry about the demons harming her with energy balls, quickly used her power to pick up some stray branches that had fallen onto the forest floor. She deftly carved them into points and sent a barrage of twenty flying spears at the demons. Each one hit a target, half of them were fatal.

Paige saw what Kesia had done and smiled. "Nice! Let's do this!" She threw herself back into the battle. Kesia grinned and did the same.

Piper and Phoebe continued to move towards the east, keeping quiet in the great trees of the forest. They were careful not to move in any straight lines, so they didn't attract any attention. They noticed a few stray demons patrolling the area and were being extra careful not to bring attention to themselves.

Finally, Piper stopped for a moment and turned towards Phoebe. "I think that there is a knot of demons ahead."

Phoebe looked at her. "How do you know this?"

"The birds are quiet. Let's start hiding behinds trees on our way to the next stop."

Phoebe agreed and quietly they slinked to the next tree. Phoebe pushed her hair away from her face, it wasn't hot, but all the strenuous physical activity was starting to wear her out. Soon, she was able to make out the faint mummers of talking. She looked at Piper and noticed that she had also picked up on the sound.

Quietly, they crept closer to the sound and found a group of demons surrounding a dark haired man. Phoebe didn't even wait to see if Piper could freeze the demons; she just threw some potions at them.

Though the demons were caught by surprise, they launched their own counterattack at the women. Phoebe deft dodged one energy ball, but another one clipped her shoulder. "Ow! Damn, that hurt."

"Phoebe!" Piper yelled. "You okay?"

Phoebe withdrew from the battle and propped herself up against a tree. "I'm fine. Come on, we've got to kill these things!"

Piper nodded and with her anger cresting she quickly blew up the remaining demons. "There, all done." She spared a glance at Phoebe and saw Leo orb in beside her. Leo nodded to her and Piper made her way to the prone man.

The man was moving groggily and attempting to move. "Who are you?"

"I'm Piper. What's your name?"

"Mark."

Piper thought for a moment. "Are you Kansas' boyfriend?"

The man nodded his head. "You know Kansas? Where is she? Is she alright?"

Piper touched his arm, lightly. "Yes, I know her. She's fine. We need to get you to safety, though." She turned around and looked over her shoulder. "Leo?" she called. "If you're done with Phoebe, perhaps you can take Mark to safety?"

Leo walked over. "Sure. The other two guys are doing okay. I'll take him back to the Manor, so we can keep them safe."

Piper nodded as watched Leo and Mark orb away. She walked over to where Phoebe was resting. "Are you sure you're okay?

Phoebe looked up at Piper. "I'm fine. Leo healed me. So which guy was that?"

"Mark. That just means that David is still being held by the demons. We'd better go and see if we can find him." Piper bent over and extended her hand to help Phoebe up.

"Thanks. Let's go. We've wasted enough time." Phoebe signed as they began to move between the trees again.

Keahi and Kansas waited impatiently while the demons shimmered in. :Kansas? Have you ever seen this many demons before?:

:No. There must be close to a hundred. The most that I've ever taken on was about fifteen. That was by myself. It's a little harder with controlling wind because I can't actually kill demons with the wind. All I can do is surround them and then throw a potion at them.:

Keahi pondered that thought for a moment. :What about if you wrap them in a tornado and then throw them into a tree? The wind will make them spin so fast that when they hit the tree, it should break bones if not a spine. As far as I know, a demon is similar to humans in that way. You break their spine, they can't move.:

:Huh. I hadn't thought of that. Great idea, sis!: Kansas broke off her thought when she saw that there were no more demons shimmering in. :I think it is time.: She looked at Keahi, who also nodded.

The two women moved out of hiding slowly, creeping up on the demons. Keahi saw Kansas look at her. She smiled and sent a thought at her sister. :How about a fire tornado? That should do a whole bunch of them in.: Kansas didn't answer, she just nodded, so Keahi created a fireball in front of her.

Kansas concentrated and slowly a funnel of air appeared. She slowly introduced it to the fire and soon there was a small tornado of fire spinning in front of her. With another thought, she pushed the tornado away from her, causing it to expand with every inch that it moved.

It reached the demons when it was about ten feet wide. The tornado enveloped one demon before the remaining demons noticed it's presence. They began to panic as they tried to get away from it.

When three demons ran out of the way, Keahi lobbed fireballs at them they caused them to turn to ash. She turned to Kansas and said, "Can you make the tornado bigger?"

Kansas nodded, not speaking so not to break her concentration. She took in a breath and then blew it out, causing the tornado to triple in size. With the sudden change in size, fifteen more demons were incinerated.

Keahi grinned in triumph as the dwindling numbers of the demons and quickly began to hurl fireballs at the fleeing demons. :I hope the others are doing as well as us, sister-mine.:

Kansas spared a grin. :So do I. So do I.:

Piper and Phoebe continued their trek through the forest. Phoebe knew by the forest sounds they the demons were not close, so she risked speaking. "Piper. Do you know where we are compared to the clearing? I'm completely turned around."

Piper stopped, glad for the small break to catch her breath. "I have a compass with me. We started out north of the clearing and we've been moving in pretty much a direct easterly direction. So pretty much, if we head west, will make it back to the battle. The only problem is that the demons were so spread out that we are out of earshot of the rest of the girls. I hope that they are doing okay on their own. If they were to call out in trouble then we won't be able to hear them."

Phoebe nodded. "Good. I'm glad that you are prepared. I didn't even think about that. I feel so stupid."

Piper laughed. "I'm just used to preparing more than you are! I'm a planner."

Phoebe laughed back. "You're right. You are. We'd better get going."

Piper nodded and resumed her stalking walk. Soon, she raised her hand in silence as the animal sounds stopped and a branch broke somewhere in the distance. Piper turned towards the sound and motioned for Phoebe to follow her. They walked for close to ten minutes before the sounds of a fight intruded on the peaceful silence of the forest. They could make out the sounds of a man yelling. Both looked at each other and sped up their walking.

"Come on you stupid oaf! You really want to pick on someone smaller than you? Fine. Let's go."

Both women almost ran into a small clearing and were amazed to see a blond man throwing punches at a large black demon. The demon was laughing as he took the punches with ease. The demon raised his hand punch the man when Phoebe decided to interfere. "Hey! Ugly!" she yelled. As the demon turned around to see who had dared to yell at him, the potion that she had thrown hit him in the back and he burst into flames.

The rest of the demons began to react, but Piper began to blow them up. Phoebe kept throwing potions and then closed for some hand to hand combat. She ducked an energy ball that one had thrown at her and saw it hit another demon. "Thanks for that, stupid." Then she levitated above one of the two remaining demons and kicked one towards Piper and she hit the other demon with her last vile of potion while Piper blew up the remaining demon.

Both women turned to the blond man who was slumped in the middle of the clearing. Phoebe cleared her throat. "You are David, right?"

He looked up at them in confusion. "Yes. Do I know you?"

Piper smiled. "We're friends of Kesia. I'm Piper."

"I'm Phoebe. We've got to get you to safety before any more demons come back."

"You mean I'm not hallucinating? Those things are real?"

Phoebe smiled. "No. You're not going crazy. Demons and witches are real. I'd love to go into more detail right now, but we are running short on time." She looked up as she saw Leo orb in. "Leo? Will you take him to the Manor with the rest of the guys?"

"Sure." He turned to David. "I'll explain a little more when we get you safe. Take my hand."

David looked at him and tentatively took his hand. Leo orbed both of them away.

Phoebe turned back to Piper. "We'd better get back to the clearing. It would have been nice if Leo could have orbed us there."

Piper shrugged her shoulders. "He has to keep the guys safe. He'll hear us if we need." Piper looked at her compass and pointed in a westerly direction. "We should go that way. We'd better either walk really fast or jog."

Phoebe nodded. "Let's jog for a little bit, then we can slow to a fast walk to regain our breath before we get to the clearing."

Kim and Kai were exhausted. They leaned on each other for support after they had struck down the last of the demons around them. The looked across the clearing and saw that Paige, Kesia, Kansas and Keahi were not in much better shape. With shaking legs, all the women met in the middle of where they were.

Kesia was the one who spoke first. "Okay," she said in between panting breaths. "We've taken out all of the demons here, but where in the nine hells is Nen?"

Paige shook her head. "I have no clue. I want to know where Piper and Phoebe are. We've been fighting for close to two hours and they haven't made it back?"

Kesia shook her head at that. "Paige, we enclosed a lot of area within these shields. They may have had to go a long way to reach the guys. I hope they are on their way back."

Kim spoke up. "We saw them at the beginning of the fight. They had moved east of the position they had taken in the north."

Kai nodded. "Right. That's why we started attacking the demons when we did. We wanted to distract them. They had already gone after one of the guys. I couldn't tell who it was, though. There were too many demons around them. Then I got a little distracted."

Kim smiled. "We were both a little distracted. When we had a moment to breathe, I looked back, but they were gone."

Kansas cleared her throat. "I trust that Leo would inform us if something had happened to them?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah. He can heal most wounds, though."

Keahi looked around. "It looks like we are getting a temporary reprieve here. I suggest that we put up a shield so that if the Source tries to assassinate us, nothing can get through. I have just enough energy to do it. It will also give us a true chance to rest and gather our strength."

Kesia smiled. "That's my youngest sister. Always thinking about defense. And I have more energy than you. I'll put up the shield."

Kim, Kansas and Kai laughed. Paige looked on in confusion.

Keahi took pity on her and explained. "When Mother was training all of us, I was…reluctant to learn any offensive techniques at first. I fully thought that the best offense was a good defense. I mean that is basically what the Earth has to do. It defends itself against interlopers. So Kesia used to try to get me mad enough to throw some offensive magic at her. She never made me mad enough, though."

Kesia sighed. "That's strange. I would have figured that with you controlling fire, you would have a short temper. But truth be told, you have a better hold on your temper than any of us."

"Well, I think having four older sisters has something to do with that," Keahi shot back in a playful jibe. "Let's sit down. No reason not to. We just have to wait for them to get back."

The others nodded and joined her on the ground.

The closer that Piper and Phoebe got to the main clearing, the slower they moved. They felt a sense of unease when they heard no sounds coming from the clearing. The crept cautiously, with a little trepidation in their heart. When they got the edge of the clearing, the felt relief course through their bodies at the sight of all of the women sitting in a circle in the middle of the field. They looked at each other and then broke into a tired job to join their sisters in arms.

Paige saw them first. "Phoebe! Piper!"

All the women stood up and Kesia eased the restrictions on the shield to allow them in before strengthening them again. They allowed the two to catch their breath before interrogating them.

"So?" Paige queried.

"We got all of them," Phoebe began. "I am really impressed with David, by the way. He was fighting the demons when we found him."

Kesia smiled. "That doesn't surprise me. He is a cop. It's in his nature."

Piper smiled. "You'd be proud of him. Minimal denial on the whole demon and witches thing."

"What about the others? What kind of shape were they in?" asked Paige.

"We rescued Darren first. He was in a lot of shock, but he's okay. Ben was next. He was badly beaten, but Leo healed him. Mark was mentally shaken up, but with minimum physical injuries. Leo took them all back to the Manor, where the shield will prevent demons from kidnapping them again." Piper explained.

All the Daughters breathed a sigh of relief. Keahi began to ask another question, when an energy ball bounced off the shield. All the women looked in the direction at the ball came from and saw the Source grinning evilly at them. Maliki was standing next to him.

"I trust I'm interrupting?" he said sarcastically.

Kesia growled in her anger. "Of course. Don't mind us, though. You're attacks can't surpass the shield."

"Oh. So you all are cowards. Unwilling to fight me on even terms? Pity."

Keahi saw red. "Look you stupid piece of horse shit. We are not cowards." She turned to Kesia. "Drop the shield."

Kesia looked at her in shock. "Now you choose to lose your legendary temper? You are certainly full of surprises today." She sighed. "I'm not dropping the shield yet. I will, but only when the time is right." She looked back at the Source and his minion. "I see that you got your minion back."

The Source laughed. "Oh, yes. I guess you are not as strong as you thought you were. He escaped and brought me the invulnerability potion." He held up a vile of potion and in a blink of the eye, swallowed it. "Now you are subject to my attacks and I am impervious to your attacks."

All the women laughed. Keahi got control of herself first. "Really? Do you really think that a lowly demon like that would be able to break through my shields? I really did not think you would be so stupid to fall for that!" She saw the look of confusion on the two demons faces and elaborated. "We let him go. That potion that you just swallowed, Nen, is to sever your tie with Mother before we kill you."

The Source looked confused for a moment. "What? What did you call me?"

Kai took up the thread. "She called you, Nen. That is your name. A water demon from Ancient Egypt that was pissed off because Aqua dumped you and you lost your chance to corrupt a Daughter of Gaia."

"How in the nine hells do you know that!" he shouted.

"We are the Daughters of Gaia. You really did think that we wouldn't learn about that? Really." Kim said as she rolled her eyes.

Kesia said, "We also learned about the spell and potion that you used to tie yourself to Mother, so that as long as she was alive, so you would also be. I bet you didn't figure that we would find the potion to reverse the bonding, did you?"

"And you didn't think that we would be crafty enough to engineer a plan to get you to drink it without knowing it? Really? How have you been able to stay in power all these years when you are so utterly stupid and you keep underestimating your opponents?" Kansas asked.

Nen growled in his anger and turned to Maliki. "You worthless piece of demon." He quickly threw an energy ball at him which made him disappear into a bunch of ashes. "Well, Daughters of Gaia," he sneered. "I give you credit for a well thought of plan." He tried to shimmer out of the area, but the shield threw him back to the ground.

Piper looked at him in disbelief. "You really did underestimate us, didn't you? Did you really think that once you are in this shield you could leave? Now why would we allow that?"

Phoebe looked at him in disgust. "I'll make you pay for what you did to Cole."

Paige took over from there. "This ends now," she said simply while she nodded to Kesia.

Kesia took the hint and quickly dropped the shield. The group split into their respective pairs and quickly moved to surround him. Once again they were split up by direction, the same direction that they had begun in. They were in position in a matter of seconds.

The group met each other's eyes and began to chant.

"The Power of Five and the Power of Three
Mother Gaia, Hear our plea.
To destroy the Source is what we seek
A demon named Nen who kills the meek.
Turn against him, land and sea.
As we will it, so mote it be."

The clearing was enveloped in a radiant green light and the earth trembled after they were done chanting. The Source did not risk being blindsided with an attack and went on the offensive. He conjured up four spinning fireballs, each the size of a car and launched them at the groups.

Kim brought up a shield of lead as Kai put the fireball out with water. Kansas sent a gust of wind at the one aimed at them and slowed it down enough for Keahi to gain control of the glowing orb. Kesia brought up a wall of earth, while Paige yelled, "Fireball!" Both Paige and Keahi threw the fireballs back at Nen, who reabsorbed the energy easily.

Out of nowhere, a shield sprang around Phoebe and Piper, protecting them from the impact. They watched in fascination as the fire disintegrated against the shield. "Huh," said Piper. "I guess the Earth will protect those that are helpless against his attacks. Nice spell."

Nen looked stunned at the turn of events. He growled again and then began to launch multiple attacks against the women. All of the attacks were using the elements. Fire, water, wind, earth or metal. It didn't matter what he sent against them. If they themselves were not able to protect themselves, the Earth protected them.

The Daughters of Gaia began another chant.

"Father Time hear our plea,
Strengthen the Power of Three.
To affect Nen is what we seek,
Slow a minute down to a week.
To destroy his evil is what we agree,
As we will it, so mote it be."

The Charmed Ones looked on in surprise as the Source's movements slowed to a crawl. They looked at the Daughters.

Keahi smiled as she saw that her spell worked. "Piper!" she yelled. "Freeze him! You should have the power to do that now!"

Piper didn't stop to question her; she just threw out her hands and the Source stopped moving altogether. This signaled all of them to walk up to the now motionless demon.

"Okay. So what do we do now?" asked Paige.

The Daughters looked at one another. "We have a potion that Mother gave us. All we have to do is add our blood to it," Keahi started. "I didn't know if this was going to work, so I didn't tell you guys." She reached into her pocket and withdrew eight vials of a clear liquid. She handed each of the other women a vial with a clear cap on it. "Prick your finger and add your blood. Then we must all throw the potion on him at the same time. It will destroy him."

Quickly, they complied. Keahi watched as the potion turned red then back to clear. "It's ready. On the count of three. One. Two. Three!" All the women threw the potion at Nen at the same time. He unfroze as the potion hit him. He motioned to throw an energy ball at them, but stopped when his face contorted in agony.

"What did you do to me?"

The Daughters just smiled as his body began to contort. He tried to control himself and then in a burst of energy, which knocked the women to the ground, he exploded. Keahi picked herself up. "Never mess with Mother Earth. She has more ways to harm you than you can ever contemplate," she quipped as she stretched.

Piper, Phoebe and Paige looked on in amazement. "Is it over? Is he truly gone?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes. If he ever returns to this plane of existence, it will be as a cloud of gnats," Kesia said.

"Oh. Good," said Piper. "I'm just going to lay here for a bit. I'm exhausted."

The rest of the women agreed and in the clearing all lay down to get some well deserved rest.

AN: Updated 9/18/07 for grammatical and spelling errors.