"Not far."
Chris leant forward to look at the map. He almost wanted to laugh. The demon was just around the corner of the street! It looked like the Jagron was simply waiting for the Charmed Ones to die so he could claim their bodies as a trophy to show off to the rest of the underworld. Chris grinned. The demon was in for a nasty surprise.
"I'll get the vials." he said.
Leo looked like he wanted to protest but said nothing. Chris orbed out and returned in a split second. Orbing was faster than walking given his current state. He was panting nonetheless, the disease was sapping at his strength. Leo seemed to realise this too.
"Let's go."
They orbed.
When they materialised Chris nearly fell over. He steadied himself and examined the surroundings. It was a local back alley he remembered well from his childhood. His family had always sought to protect him from demons as they had done with Wyatt but it was no easy task for such a source of magical power. Chris himself wasn't powerful, but demons did seem to delight in using him as bait. On his first kidnapping he'd been brought here. The place still hadn't lost its air of menace. He smiled grimly. Of course it was night time. This was just typical.
He stepped forwards. So far, there was no sign of the demon.
"Where is he?" Chris asked, glancing in Leo's direction.
But Leo was gone.
Chris whipped around but not even the demon was behind him.
"Great." he muttered. He raised his voice. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"
A throaty chuckle emerged from deeper into the alley. Sighing, Chris staggered forwards, grasping to the wall for support. He didn't have much time left and neither did the rest of his family.
"What have you done with him?" he asked, trying to inject a little courage into his voice.
There was a loud thump. Chris ran towards the source of the noise. He turned the corner to find Leo on the floor, blue markings etched across his face. He knelt next to the elder, but was afraid to touch him, in case the extra exposure sped up the infection.
"You don't have long, you know." said the deep voice conversationally.
"Where are you?" Chris asked, an edge of irritation leaking into his voice.
"Now, now, that would be telling."
He repressed a groan. The chatty demons were always the most dramatic. He didn't have time for this.
Chris stretched out a hand and closed his eyes.
"Hurry up get out of the dark, I don't have time for all this lark."
One of the things he had managed to beat Wyatt at was spontaneous spells. This particular one was supposed to boost his telekinetic powers. He clenched his fist and the demon was dragged towards him.
The creature was just as he remembered it, bulky, evil and spiky with a ferocious look ever-present on its face. Its body was covered in its trademark blue patterns. The markings decorated it from head to toe which made the plain baldness of the creature's head a stark contrast in comparison. Below its scalp lay a bushy monobrow, but one of its most noticeable characteristics were its clawed hands. They were not ordinary claws, they were spikes layered upon spikes; as were its feet.
When Chris first encountered the creature he had wondered how such a bulky beat could support itself through such unevenly splayed feet. However the spikes around its neck were far more mesmerising. These ones were more for decoration and reflected the moonlight in a hypnotic fashion.
He shook himself. He had to focus on the task at hand. Chris couldn't afford to waste a single second. He smirked. It was just as well the Jagron's glare had no magical properties.
"Bad idea." the creature snarled. "Using magic will only speed up the process."
Chris glanced at his hand, the markings were there. They were faint, but becoming clearer in colour. He had to act quickly. His hand went to the first vial and he threw the potion at the demon but it darted out of the way at an incredible speed and hurtled towards him. The vial smashed against the wall. This was not good.
Chris sidestepped and with an amount of unusual luck actually avoided the speeding demon. The Jagron skidded to a stop at the end of the alley and turned. Chris used this moment to throw the second vial but his arm fell short of the power needed. He was too weakened by the infection. He fell to his knees.
The demon laughed and slowly strode towards Chris, until he was towering over him.
"You know you're quite the surprise back home. Demons come after you thinking you're nothing but a pathetic whitelighter, out of his depth, and then you use your hands. We tend to think again after the first few lower level demons get their hearts plucked from their chests." There was an added hardness to the Jagron's conversational tone. "But look at you now, kneeling before me!"
"Sorry – to disappoint." Chris gasped.
His vision was clouding over. He could no longer see, but judging from the voice, the demon stood directly in front of him.
"I don't know why you even tried. The Charmed Ones will die along with their "super-child" and an elder. Plus there's the bonus of catching you off guard. It's my lucky day!" Chris' hand enclosed around the third and final vial as the demon spoke. "You know, personally I think you're a lot more dangerous than some baby but look at you now! Can't even save your precious adopted family can you? Phoebe, Paige, Pi-"
"Don't - say - her name." Chris growled, all too unnerved by how close to the truth this demon was striking.
"Why not? She's just as dead meat as the rest of them." chuckled the demon. "Do you know what I'm going to do with the eldest? After I kill you of course. Although, I must admit you are taking quite a while to die."
Chris could smell the stench of the demon's breath. He knew from instinct the Jagron was at the same eye level as him now.
"I'm going to stab you now," said the demon, leaning forward. Chris gasped as he felt a cold blade-like spike pierce his chest. He dimly wondered where the Jagron got its numerous spike supply from, did its hands regrow them? "and then I'm going to– "
"Die." Chris finished.
With all his remaining strength he flung the third and final vial at the demon, using his telekinesis to ensure the potion had the desired impact. As the glass smashed he heard an ear splitting roar and then silence. As the newfound pain in his chest took over, everything went black.
"Why's it taking so long?" Piper asked impatiently.
"His body is still weak from the infection, that plus a severe stab wound and it's a wonder he's still alive." Leo replied. "What puzzles me is how he managed to vanquish the Jagron."
"It killed his mother Leo," Phoebe reminded. "He's probably vanquished it before."
"With a stab wound and a deadly disease?" the elder questioned. "I just get the feeling he's not telling us something."
"When does he ever tell us something?" Piper sighed.
"Guys, he just saved all of our necks. Let's cut him some slack."
Chris smiled. Paige had always been his favourite aunt.
He made a show of his eyes fluttering open, as if he hadn't been playing possum for the past few minutes, and sat up.