I wrote this chapter ages ago, before I even started the section introducing the Rising Moon coven. Its been rewritten a bit since then but I knew Matt would want to get involved. That he was going to get hurt and vanquish his first demon. Since he is a reporter, he is one of those people who must know what is going on. It will help him make his mind up about if he is going to stay with Prue.
And we are getting close to the end. Coming soon we will find out fate of the various characters who are still alive. Matt's family are going to throw a major cog into the Halliwells life who will then return the favour. Darryl will also play a major role in helping the sisters find the Wolfen.
Revenge for the Rising Moon
Dominiss, the tribe's leader paced back and forth as his agitation grew. Standing quietly around the large cavern, some forty demons stood and waited for a decision to be made and orders given. Turning to his three most trusted advisors, Dominiss said "Do you think we can trust the Triad as following their orders has already cost us dearly?. They promised that the witches would be dealt with, now it looks like we might have the Charmed Ones after us. What will the Triad do to help us?".
None of the three advisors could or would attempt to offer any advice as the mood that Dominiss was in, would probably mean that if he didn't like the advice, he would kill the advisor. Waiting for him to unwind and slow his pacing, was the indicator that he would be more amenable to discussion. All three of his advisors were also now developing a distrust of the Triad's intentions and motivations.
Orbing into a passage, only a small distance from the cavern, the sisters almost landed on a demon who was the sentry. He stumbled back and turned, however Piper froze him just as he was opening his mouth to yell a warning. Leaving the demon solidly frozen, the group quietly moved closer to listen to what was being said in the cavern.
Sandwiched between Leo and Cole, Matt found his pulse rate slowing rapidly as he recovered from orbing for the first time. As a sick feeling of falling back into himself quickly faded, he looked around a dark and unpleasant underworld. A stony dirt covered floor met dark black or gray stone walls, roughly shaped. Irregular stone pillars held up the a sooty black roof and a erie light came from glowing holes in the floor and what looked like luminous fungus patches on the walls and ceiling.
As Matt turned and shifted his attention to what a demon was saying in the cavern, he was surprised to hear a clearly understandable voice speaking in a southern accent, alternatively asking questions and then making threats.
"don't fully trust those demons, they are using us to get to the Source and if they fail, the Source will vanquish us all. How did they know so much about the Wolfen?. They are late and I don't like that either, something is wrong".
Prue turned and in a quiet whisper said "We need to attack now, they are all together and if that demon is right and the Triad is coming, we need to get rid of this lot quickly. Piper, freeze the one doing the speaking, we will interrogate him later, then blow up any demon that the the rest of us miss. Phoebe, be ready with the spell. Matt, please just watch and stay safe. Everyone ready ?" and as everyone nodded, Prue replied "Ready, steady, go".
Led by Phoebe. all four sisters quietly walked into the cavern and stepped towards one side to attract the demon's attention. As Dominiss spun to see who they where, his eyes widened as he realised that the Charmed Ones had somehow penetrated the cavern's protection. Before he could say anything, Piper froze him where he stood.
Antiniss, however was faster on the uptake and yelled "kill them" as the other demons milled around uncertainly. Prue thrust her hands outwards and two demons flew off the floor and slammed into a rock pillar. Both burst into flames as they died. Three potion vials thrown by Phoebe, took out four more demons.
Aiming for the demons around the frozen leader, Piper used her combustion power to explode as many as she could, getting all three of the advisors. Prue moved to stand along side her, using her telekinesis to deflect the increasing number of fireballs that were thrown at her.
After Paige successfully called several of the thrown fireballs to her hand and threw them back, the remaining demons dived for cover. Paige's fireballs did little damage but it did convince many of the demons to stay low. Now all four sisters also took shelter, hiding behind several large rocks. Holding two potions in her right hand, Phoebe made a short rush from behind one rock to surprise three demons. Two demons died as she hit them with the potions before they could turn around and the third died as after a short exchange of blows, Phoebe used its own dagger to kill it.
Led by Cole, Leo and Matt entered the cavern while the sisters were fighting and so they remained unnoticed. Quickly all three took shelter behind a set of rock pillars. Cole held up his hand so Leo and Matt could see it and then he counted down with his fingers to zero, all three of them carefully stepped out from behind the pillars and each threw several vials at the closest group of demons. Again several demons disappeared in flame however Matt who had waited to see what happened to his vials, was disappointed as he completely missed hitting any of the demons.
This meant that he was too slow to retreat and he became an obvious target. Only Cole's quick action of reaching out to grab him and haul him behind a pillar, probably saved his life. Even so, a near miss, left him with a very nasty burn on his left shoulder. "Stay down" ordered Cole, "if you get yourself killed, Prue will almost certainly kill me". After a few seconds, Matt recovered enough to reach back into the potion bag and after several tries removed another vial.
Several of the remaining demons flamed out, however the rest continued to throw fireballs at both the sisters and their men. With a sigh, Prue said "Now", and stood up as did her three sisters. After a short pause, the remaining demons rose in unison to throw fireballs at the sisters. Prue with a look of intense concentration on her face held her hands out in front of her, palms towards the demons. At the same time Paige half closed her eyes and held her hands up in front of her with the palms up and called out "Fireballs". Piper flicked her fingers outwards towards the oncoming fireballs. And Phoebe stood quietly as she concentrated on the group of demons in front of her.
For a second, nothing seemed to happen, then everything changed. Fireballs exploded, disappeared in a cloud of orbs or changed direction to be thrown back at demons who had thrown them. Only a few fireballs were not effected and these flew past the sisters to hit the wall behind them, were they exploded harmlessly.
However some of the demons were not so lucky, as those who could not dodge fast enough were hit by the fireballs and vanquished. More were hit as the fireballs that Paige had called for were thrown back. Still over half the demons remained and these once again ducked for cover.
Now all four sisters came together as Phoebe pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. With a firm voice, they read the spell together.
We call upon the Ancient lore,
To vanquish with the Power of Four,
Hell-spawned demons of fire,
This will be your funeral pyre.
The remaining demons all burst into flames except for the frozen demon as the sisters had carefully make sure their spell did not 'see' him.
After a brief pause to make sure that no more demons were either hiding where the spell couldn't reach or were about to return, the sisters and their men came together by the entrance to the cavern.
An in pain Matt, holding his arm as he tried to be macho for Prue's benefit, walked over to join the sisters. Prue saw his wound and yelled "Leo" as she ran to check how badly Matt was hurt. After realising that his life was not in danger, she turned on both Leo and Cole with a furious look on her face.
Before she could say anything, Leo had hurried to Matt's side and placed his hands over the wound. As he felt his pain fade, Matt turned to look at his slowly vanishing burn with wonder and awe. Now he began to realise just how important a Whitelighter was to the family.
Prue turned back to carefully watch as Leo finished healing Matt. Holding him carefully she couldn't help but say "I warned you, don't you ever do this to me again". Again she turned to look at a unrepentant Cole and a nervous looking Leo. Matt hurriedly spoke up "Don't blame them, this was my choice, besides I owe Cole a huge vote of thanks as he saved my life". Prue turned back to look at Matt as he explained "I took too long to get out of the way and if Cole hadn't pulled me to safety, they could have killed me, I am sorry, you were right, I didn't know what I was getting into".
Prue turned back to look at Cole who by this time Phoebe had joined, with a completely different expression on her face as she realised what she owed him. After a short pause and with a gentle smile on her face, she stepped forward, gently kissed Cole on the cheek and said "Thankyou". Turning back to Matt, she said "You and I will discuss this later" in a quiet but ominous voice.
Matt turned to look at a surprised Cole and a laughing Phoebe, Paige and Piper. He then stepped back into the corridor to give himself some time to think. This had been one heck of an adventure, most of which he still had difficulty taking in.
As Cole also stepped into the corridor, he saw the still frozen sentry demon. With a smile on his face, he tapped Matt on the shoulder and indicated the frozen sentry demon. Pointing to a potion bottle still in Matt's right hand, Cole mimicked throwing it at the demon. After the briefest of pauses, Matt turned and threw the vial at the demon. It shattered on his chest and like with the other demons, a blazing circle of flame spread from that point to consume him.
Matt watched as the demon burnt into ashes and he realised that for the first time in his life, he had deliberately taken an intelligent life, however evil. He turned back to see both Cole and Prue looking at him. Cole with a pleased expression on his face as he said "Well done, thats your first vanquish". Prue's expression was unreadable but then she smiled quietly at him and turned back into the cavern to examine the demon Piper had frozen.
"Unfreeze his head Piper and lets find out what he knows". Matt watched as Piper moved her hands in a short and careful circular movement, and the demon's head woke up, looked around and then started to make threats.
Piper then joined Leo, Cole and a nervous Matt as they stood to one side and tried to both listen to what was said and look out for any demons returning at the same time. With Paige quietly watching the demon as she used her power to read his intensions, both Prue and Phoebe begun to bombard him with questions.
As the sisters started questioning the demon, Cole now took the opportunity to carefully explore the cavern. Only when he started to examine the floor behind the demon did he notice something. Picking it up, he examined it with interest and then pocketed it. Continuing his search more carefully now, he moved further around the cavern.
Leo stayed with Matt who was listening with fascination to what the demon was saying.
Prue "Who do you owe your allegiance too?", no reply but an impression of the Triad came through to Paige.
Phoebe "What do you know about the Wolfen?", no reply but again an impression of the Triad.
Prue "Why did you attack the Rising Moon coven?", this time the reply was, "They attacked us, we had the right, release me now".
Phoebe "What have the Triad promised you", no reply.
Phoebe "You said the Triad had promised you help, what help", reply "They will kill you all for what you have done to their allies".
Prue "Why do the Triad have your allegiance, not the Source", reply "They are the strongest, the Source is weak and will soon die".
Phoebe "So the Source is weak", reply "He can't deal with the witches, you or the Wolfen".
Phoebe "What about the witches?", reply "They interfered with us, they needed teaching a lesson and you couldn't stop us".
Phoebe "And what about us", reply "You should not have interfered, now the Triad will turn their fury on you".
Prue "Why the Wolfen?". This time Dominiss could not stop himself, "They will be the catalyst that brings down the Source and the Charmed Ones".
Phoebe in a contemptuous voice said "We have already dealt with the Wolfen. You obviously know little about what is going on". Dominiss lost the last of his self control and replied in a fast and angry tone, "The Triad are more powerful than you as they have the Power of Three also. There are still more Wolfen and now you have hurt them, they will not stop until you are dead. The Wolfen will destroy you and the Triad will vanquish the Source".
Cole stepped forward to remark "You have to give it to the Triad. The used the Wolfen to put even more pressure on the Source, and obviously intended to send them after you when the Source was dead. Two enemies with one pack".
Prue stepped forward to look at a suddenly uncertain looking Dominiss who just realised that he had spoken too much. Holding up a potion vial that she had taken from Paige, Prue asked "If you want to live then what else can you tell us?". Dominiss snarled and replied "Vanquish me witch. And I will wait for you in hell".
Piper stepped forward and froze Dominiss again and said "I think thats all we are going to get from him". Even Paige now felt they could get no more information from the demon. He was like all demons, self centered, over confident, had no compassion and while no hero, he was not a coward either.
Stepping away from him, the four sisters quietly conferred. Paige was now sure that the Triad was responsible for the presence of the Wolfen, with both Prue, Phoebe and Cole agreeing with her. Leo and Piper were still unsure while Matt because of his journalistic experience had elected to stay quiet and listen. What confirmed Paige's views was what happened next.
As the Triad faded in to the cavern, it was a toss up as to who reacted the fastest as both sides were caught by surprise. Cole reacted first, as with hatred showing clearly on his face, he threw the remaining potion vials, still in their bag at the Triad. All the vials exploded, forcing the lead Triad member back one step before he recovered enough to return.
Piper's attempt to freeze them was thrown off within seconds but it gave the sisters enough time to step between the Triad and their men. Holding hands, they immediately started the Power of Three chant. Matt's hair started to rise as something extended from the sisters and moved to surround them all. Like a ripple in the air, or a heat haze and it stopped the Triads lightening and fireball attacks cold.
Unfortunately for Dominiss, he was not protected and he disappeared in a ball of flame.
With that, the Triad faded back down into the underworld, without uttering a single word before the sisters could gather enough energy to attack.
A laugh, both familiar and chilling made all turn rapidly towards the entrance of the cavern. Standing there was the Source of all Evil and two other demons that only Cole recognised.
These he would tell everyone about later, when they had time. On the Source's right, dressed in fine and ornate clothes, stood the chief priest of the Dark Grimoire. On the Source's left, stood a being that frightened Cole almost as much as the Source. An attractive black woman, of average height, well if quietly dressed, the Seer was well known as a powerful and dangerous upper level demon. She was both a powerful oracle and a wielder of magic.
Prue's attack slammed into the three of them, only to pass through them and cause devastation in the corridor beyond. The only effect was to ripple and burr their appearance which settled back into their normal appearance. "Wait" said Cole. "Its only a projection. they are not actually here and are no threat".
"Thankyou, you have done me a great service, the Triad had become the greatest threat to my rule and now you have given me the evidence I need to deal with them. You will be pleased to know that after they have paid for their betrayal, I will deal with you. The means of your destruction has already been chosen". With that the Source and his two companions faded away as the illusion was ended.
"Who the hell was that" asked Matt who had decided that was one demon he did not want to meet in a dark alley. Piper turned to look at him and said "That was the Source of all Evil and it looks like he has recovered from our last meeting. Well we were wondering when he would come after us and now we know. Back to the Manor, I think".
