Chapter 8

Barriers

Eve hit the attic floor, the impact knocking the wind out of her.

"What is it?"

Eve got up, breathing heavily, shoved the hair out of her face and turned to her addressee, Chris, who was bouncing on the balls of his sneakered feet.

"They blocked me! I do not believe it! The bitches have blocked me!"

"Which means?"

"It means they're using magic to prevent me shimmering into their lair."

"So how do we get there? Get to Kara?"

"I really don't know?"

Kara sat and waited and while she waited she focused on the the line of crystals forming the barrier across the front of her prison cavern.

She focused on the crystal at the far right of the line, the one on the edge. It shifted, not enough to break the barrier but to bend the field.

She was amazed but, on seeing this became quietly determined. She pushed her amazement aside and concentrated some more.

"This is hopeless. It's been thirty six hours!" Chris ranted.

"Actually" Eve said, her voice subdued "For her it's been ten days."

The others all turned and demanded in unison "What!"

"Time kinda works differently there. If I've been stuck here for a day and a half, then she's been there, alone, unprotected, for about ten days. If you've been looking for her up here for eight days, then she's been waiting for you to save her for about eight weeks.

Chris let out an anguished sound "She'll think..."

"... She doesn't think that you abandoned her, if that's what you're worried about. She knows you and she trusts that you wouldn't."

Piper butted in. "Wait, wait, wait, if time moves differently there, how come you look exactly the same age as Kara?"

"You're married to a guy who's real birth certificate says he's a hundred years older than you!"

"Hey!... Only seventy..."

"I'm a demon remember, or at least half a demon, I just don't age much. I suppose Kara and I might look the same age because we have ties. Kara is literally my blood, we share genes. Which is just another reason why I WILL NOT LEAVE HER DOWN THERE!"

Chris turned to his mother. "Mom, is the spell ready? I have to get to her, before she gives up!"

"She'll won't give up, I know she won't because I wouldn't" Eve said "If we can't rescue her, then she'll save herself!"

In an exhausting burst of concentration Kara shifted the far right crystal from the mouth of the cave, breaking the barrier.

She was free!

A minor issue was the legion of Tantrix demons who had sensed the change and were now blocking her way, but after a couple of months of this, Kara had just about enough.

"Sorry ladies, I just had an epiphany, and I discovered I don't want to do this any more."

A Tantrix lunged forward and grabbed Kara's arm, Kara shook her arm in an attempt to dislodge the demon. It did slightly more than that however, the demon flew across the cavern. Kara gaped for a second, amazed at her own strength, but she quashed the outward signs quickly.

"Okay, really wasn't expecting that!"

She threw her other arm and launched another astonished attacker across the cavern.

Elaina, the elder demon dashed behind her demons.

"What the hell?"

"Honestly, I have no idea! It appears I've picked up some new powers. Maybe you girls want to get out of my way until I learn how to use them, huh?"

Elaina piped up "I really don't think you understand, witch, you've sat around and ruminated. You've made us fight you every damn day to get that potion down your throat. You really think we'll let you go? I'd rather kill you now. And..." Elaina jerked her thumb over her shoulder to the jostling army of Tantrix demons forming behind their usurping leader.

Kara swallowed and attempted not to be so afraid that the demon would be able to smell it.

Kara made a slightly crazy attempt. She concentrated on a knot of Tantrix demons and raised her left hand. A beam of blue light out of her palm and the whole group fell, screaming, into dust. Kara flexed her fingers and looked wonderingly at her hand for a second before turning on the, now, rather lonely, Elaina.

"So that's why?"

Kara shut her eyes and flung out her arms. The columns of blue light and took out group after group of now terrified and floundering, Tantrix demons.

"Ya' know I hate to do this, what with you being almost family, admittedly the hated evil side, but nearly everyone has one of those right, but I am going to have to kill you when I've incinerated your entire army."

"Kara I..."

"This is what you wanted isn't it? Don't worry I know this power isn't mine, but it is the babies' isn't it? You wanted to harness their powers. Were you going to bother raising them or were you just going to bleed them or enchant them for their powers?"

"Actually, that wouldn't work..."

"All you need to know, whatever will or won't work, you and no other demon, warlock or sorcerer, will ever harm my children!"

"And all you need to know is that if you kill me, you'll never get out of here. Since the traitor in your sisters blood asserted itself, I've locked this place down tighter than a nuns underwear."

"See, I don't think I believe that, I've been hanging out with the Charmed One's these past few years and from what I've learned that if you kill the caster the spell dies too, and personally I don't trust nuns when the Mother Superior's back is turned. Shall we try it?"

Kara flexed her right hand and a now almost familiar beam of blue light hit Elaina in the chest, lifted her off her feet, and pinned her to a cavern wall. She screamed shrilly and turned to dust, burned up by a beam of pure white magic.

As she died there was a rushing sound and the light in the cavern seemed to change. Next there came a slapping sound and the noise of the air being knocked out of somebody's lungs.

Kara turned to the sound to see Chris scraping himself up off the floor of the cavern. Kara turned back and glared at the pile of dust that used to be Elaina.

"See told ya'" she turned again "Chris!" She jogged towards him and dropped to her knees next to him. He leaned up to her and pulled her close.

"Your safe, oh thank the Gods, your safe...I tried...I didn't know..."

"I never gave up on you. I trusted you not to give up on me and I'll never give up on you."

"You still want to marry me, even after..."

"Of course I do.. but, I... we... Chris we're going to be parents."

Yeah, eventually..."

"No...In about five months actually. It turns out that I was a couple of months pregnant when they took me, which I didn't know and what with the time shift down here and everything..."

"Kara, we're going to have a baby that's great!"

"Babies actually."

"Oh, my God... this is amazing!"

Chris laughed joyously and pulled Kara close again.

A new voice chimed in.

"Not to break the moment, but could someone help me up.. and then take me topside and get rid of my demonic powers...please!"

Wyatt pulled Eve up off the floor and the family looked around for a final time and then left, apocalyptic good versus evil battle to the death, averted by two tiny unborn children, floating safely in their mother's womb unaware of the power they had helped their mother wield and of the promises still to be kept.