Hi everyone! Here is chapter 22. I know I'm rubbish at updating but anyway the next chapter might be a while coming as I'm going away for a month. Really sorry and will try to get a new chapter up soon after I come home.
Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!
Chapter 22: Time Before Time
An early morning silence hung over San Francisco like a heavy drape covering a window. Occasionally, dark figures would march by, uttering no sounds bar the steady thumping of their feet; muffled footsteps that quickly trailed off, swallowed whole by the silence. Residents were sheltering inside their flimsy homes, praying that the shadows insidiously moving towards the outskirts would pass them by unscathed.
The burning sun hung low in the sky, shafts of light eerily illuminating the deserted streets rather than offering a comforting repose from the previous blackness.
Alone in his office Wyatt stood rigid at the window, surveying the city, his city. San Francisco was already in his grasp but he had not yet reached the dizzy heights of success. He had power, but he craved more. San Francisco was merely a starting point, the centre of a virus that would surely reach out and touch even the remotest parts of this world. Today was the day that the world would realise that one city was not enough for Wyatt Halliwell. No. He wanted the world in his grasp. And unlike others who had reached for this goal, he had the power to obtain it.
The tall blonde cast a quick glance at his watch. It would all begin in a little more than an hour. His demons would be in position and the pathetic human army would be unaware. It would all be so simple. Suddenly feeling in an exceptionally good mood, Wyatt opened his mouth and let the peals of laughter ring around the room. It would begin in an hour...
"It looks like almost every demon in the city is headed towards Wyatt's barrier." The scout informed the ragged, tired group clustered at Sanctuary's heart.
Chris nodded in acknowledgement. "We should get everyone in position to be transported out." The teen sighed, "I only wish we could have had more time."
Darryl placed a comforting hand on his godson's shoulder, "We've been working all night. We're as prepared as we can possibly be."
Chris blinked wearily, "It takes more than a night to train an army." he muttered.
The Elder, Mayer, shrugged his shoulders, "They're volunteers all. They know what rides on us winning today. If Wyatt can take and hold the whole of California it'll be almost impossible to unseat him. And then we'll probably all die anyway."
"I have faith that we can win this." Orion interrupted, raising his voice so that the rag-tag bunch of fighters could hear.
Chris tried to nod encouragingly, "We have the element of surprise. Just remember the plan and do your best to implement it. I won't pretend that it's going to be easy, or that we're all going to get through this unscathed. But we have two things that Wyatt and his demons don't have: we have the conviction that we're doing the right thing and we have nothing to lose. And they are both pretty powerful incentives."
One of the witches punched a fist in the air and shouted "Yeah!" starting a round of cheering and yelling amongst the fighters. All of their tiredness appeared to be forgotten.
A group of Elders made their way through the crowd, dividing the fighters into groups. These Elders were to participate primarily in the transportation of those unable to do so themselves, whether due to not having the ability to teleport or being injured. It had been decided that unless someone would die without immediate healing then all the injured would be transported back to Sanctuary to be healed. This would both save the strength of the Elders on the battlefield and prevent any demons from killing the Elders while their backs were turned. The few whitelighters lefts after Wyatt's earlier purge would also be participating.
The preparations were going smoothly apart from one little disturbance that Chris could see heading his way. He sighed and braced himself for the onslaught of his little cousin.
"They say I'm not allowed to fight." Prue seethed, waving vaguely at Darryl and Sheila. "Apparently I have to stay behind and help keep things organised at this end. That's what the Elders are for!"
"Prue, Wyatt is going to be looking for you. We have to keep you safe." Chris crossed his arms and met his cousin's defiant glare.
Prue scoffed, "Well Wyatt is looking for you too. And Darryl. And Darryl doesn't even have powers to fight with!"
"Prue, this isn't an argument, it's already been decided. You're staying here."
"No! I won't just sit here while you and everyone else risks their lives!"
Chris found himself shouting, "I can't watch you die, Prue! You're the only family I have left." Chris bit his lip and looked away. His gaze feel on Bianca, standing only a short distance away, and flushed, feeling embarrassed that she had probably witnessed his outburst.
He looked back at Prue, who had been uncharacteristically silent.
"I know," she said almost tearfully, "And as much as I love Sheila and Darryl, you're the only true family that I have left too. Don't you think I want you to stay behind too? But I know you can't, because you have to fight. Because it's Wyatt. And he's our family too. I just..." she trailed off and looked away uncertainly, "I just want to help."
Chris wrapped his arms around his younger cousin and held her tight. "I know and you are." he assured her, "You're leading the potion making effort here, because that's what you do best. We need ammunition out there and for all those without offensive powers potions are all we have."
Suddenly Orion was at their side, "It's time." he told them sombrely.
Chris nodded. "You'll stay here?" he asked Prue.
"I- Yes, ok." she agreed reluctantly.
"Good." Chris released her and tried to grin encouragingly. "I'll see you later."
A tension-filled silence had descended upon Sanctuary. Each battle group was clustered around an Elder with their faces set in grim expressions, hands tightly clenched.
"Okay, this is it!" Chris called out. He hesitated, unsure of what to say next, "Good luck." he finally settled for, despite feeling that this was somewhat inadequate.
Orion nodded to the nearest group. They all clasped hands and slowly disintegrated into a mass of blue-white orbs. The other groups quickly followed suit. Chris glanced to his left and his gaze met Bianca's. She flashed him a smile before her group was orbed out.
Suddenly feeling a lot more optimistic, Chris walked over to Darryl and grasped his godfathers shoulder. "Ready?" he asked.
Darryl nodded, "As I'll ever be."
The two orbed out, following the glowing orbs of the rest of the fighters, and leaving Sheila and Prue staring miserably at the roof.
"I hope they'll be ok." Prue whispered.
Sheila hugged the teen tightly, "They will."
Around the city clusters of orbs coalesced in pre-determined locations. If their luck had held then the demons would have already passed the areas by and were now trapped between the Resistance fighters and the magical barrier set up to mark the city's edges.
Chris and Darryl reformed near their group and hurriedly joined the other fighters in sheltering behind some overturned blocks of rubble. The barrier had decimated a wide strip of land on both sides, creating San Francisco's very own no-man's land. Chris and the others could see a line of demons not too far ahead of them standing at the very edge of the barren strip. The line was several demons thick and seemed to be part of a continuous circle around the city, although seeing as where they were, the southern side of the city, was the most accessible, Chris assumed that there was a higher concentration of demons here.
"We should attack them now, before the barrier comes down." One of the resistance, who Chris believed was called John, hissed.
Darryl checked his watch. It read 10 minutes to 9. "No, we have to act at the same time as the others. 5 minutes."
Chris nodded, "Our scouts overheard that Wyatt plans to lower the barrier at 9 exactly, we have to assume that he'll stick to that time."
"Ok, but I don't like it." John grumbled, "There's too much that can go wrong."
Chris stayed silent but inwardly agreed. The plan did involve a high element of chance but it was the best that they could come up with in the 12 hours provided to them. They just had to hope.
Alone in his office Wyatt was staring at the antique clock he had placed on his desk. The second hand was ticking so slowly that the twice-blessed witch was sure it had completely stopped at one point. But ever so slowly the second hand inched around and passed twelve, again and again.
There was eight minutes left. Eight minutes until nine o'clock. Eight minutes until he would lower the barrier and unleash his troops on the unknowing army that sought to stop him.
Seven minutes.
Wyatt sighed in impatience. He hated waiting. And the tick-tocking of the clock was driving him insane. Surely it wouldn't hurt for him to bump up the schedule a little bit. Just by a few minutes. After all he was the twice-blessed, the next King Arthur, the wielder of Excalibur. Why should he have to wait any longer? It was his plan and he could change it if he wanted to.
'They say time waits for no man,' Wyatt thought, 'but in this case it is I, Wyatt Halliwell, who will not wait for time.'
In a decisive movement Wyatt opened the glass case of the clock and wrenched the minute hand around until it reached nine o'clock exactly. A soft dong rang out followed by eight more as Wyatt strode to the door of his office and pulled the door open.
"It's time." he informed his guards. "Pass the message to my troops."
Chris refrained from checking his watch again. Last time he checked they still had three minutes to go and he was sure that no more than fifteen seconds had passed since then. The rest of the group was restless too. Shifting around, checking and re-checking they had their potions, their athames, their guns.
Chris peered out at the demons. In contrast they were standing stock still and in complete silence. Nevertheless they were waiting just as surely as the resistance were.
"Two minutes." Darryl whispered.
The fighters started to form a rough line and pulled out the explosive potions designed for the first attack. Time inexorably crept forwards. One and a half minutes to go.
A sudden flurry of movement from the demonic troops caught Chris's attention. He narrowed his eyes, what were they doing? There was still six and a half minutes before the barrier was to be raised.
But the resistance could only watch frozen in shock and the barrier flickered and failed and the demons started charging forwards, a cacophonous mixture of battle cries issuing from their mouths.
"They're early! What do we do?" John hissed from his position next to Chris.
Chris looked to his other side and met Darryl's gaze grimly. The two nodded simultaneously in unspoken agreement.
Chris stood up, in plain view on any demon that might turn around, and raised his potion.
"We fight."