The Golden Grimoire

[noazmale]

CHARMED
“The Golden Grimoire”
By J. B. Tilton
With Teresa Thibeault
Email: [e-mail]
Rating: K+

* * *

Disclaimer: “Charmed” and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

* * *

(Authors’ note: This story takes place between season 5 episodes “Happily Ever After” and “Siren Song”.)

* * *

The Charmed Ones and Leo have to enlist Cole’s aid to stop a demon from gaining an ancient tome that that will give it unlimited power and make it virtually unstoppable.

* * *
PRELUDE

The young man opened the door and walked into the office. Sitting behind a desk was an older gentleman sporting a beard and mustache. The younger man walked up to the desk holding what appeared to be an ancient manuscript.

“Professor Gant,” said the young man.

“Ah, Chase,” said the older man, looking up from the papers he was reading, “what brings you to my office this time of night?”

“It’s the Voynich Manuscript,” said Chase, indicating the manuscript he was holding. “You gave me permission to try my hand at translating it.”

“Yes,” said Gant. “Almost every doctorate student I’ve had has tried to translate that document. In fact, since it was discovered in 1912 by Wilfred Voynich many scholars have attempted to translate it. All without success I’m afraid. I’m sure you’re aware that there is some speculation that it’s not even genuine.”

“Yes, sir, I’m aware of that,” said Chase. “But I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a shot at it. I can’t do any worse than anyone else has.”

“Well, that’s certainly true,” said Gant. “Was there something you wanted to ask me about the manuscript?”

“Yes, sir,” said Chase. “I was wondering if I might borrow it for a while. Not long. Just long enough to make a copy of it so I can work on it in my spare time at home.”

“There are copies available in the library,” said Gant.

“Yes, sir, I know that,” said Chase. “But I thought maybe a fresh copy might make it easier to decipher. The copies we have are several years old. I was thinking of scanning it into my computer. I have some programs that might bring out something that a copy doesn’t.”

“Well,” said Gant thoughtfully, “I don’t suppose it could hurt. How long will you need to have it out?”

“Only a couple of days,” said Chase. “I promise to take very good care of it. I can have it back as soon as I’m finished with it.”

“That should be fine,” said Gant. “Just remember. Even if it is a fake it still has a certain historical value to it if nothing else. I’m sure you’ll take very good care of it.”

“I will,” said Chase.

Chase turned and left the office. Outside in the hallway another man waited for him. As he approached, the man turned to him apprehensively.

“Well?” the man asked. “What did he say?”

“He gave me permission to borrow the manuscript to scan it,” said Chase.

“Excellent,” said the other man. “That means you can take it anywhere you want.”

“Precisely, Lorne,” said Chase. “I told you it would be simple. Now I have to take it to San Francisco. We’ll need help to use the manuscript.”

“Do you want us to go with you?”

“No, it would be too risky. I’ll have to go alone. You wait here until I’ve finished in San Francisco.”

“Very well. If you need help all you have to do is call.”

“I know,” said Chase. “Now, I need to get home and pack. With any luck I should be in San Francisco in a couple of days.”

The two men left the university building and headed for Chase’s apartment.

ONE

Phoebe came into the manor and placed her car keys on the entryway table. She glanced in the living room and saw Paige sitting on the sofa reading a book.

“Hey, what’s up?” Phoebe asked, walking into the living room.

“Not much,” said Paige. “I figured after our little encounter with that wicked witch and the whole fairy tale thing I’d better bone up on fairy tales. If what Leo told us about them being based in fact is true I decided I needed to know as much about them as possible.”

“Not a bad idea,” said Phoebe, looking at the grandfather clock. “I guess Piper’s at the club right now.”

“Yeah, she left a little while ago. She said something about putting her bartender in charge for the night and coming home early. I guess being eaten by a wolf was kind of tiring for her.”

“I guess so. At least we got to see Grams.”

“Some times I’m sorry I didn’t get to grow up with her like you and Piper did.” said Paige putting the book aside.

“It wasn’t all peaches and cream. But I know what you mean. I miss her a lot.”

“Well, she’s only a summons away,” said Paige, putting the book down. “So, you want to go to the club later for a while?”

“Maybe. I need to take a shower first. We’ll go over after I’m finished.”

“Okay, great. I think I’m finished reading for the day anyway. You want to get something to eat before we go?”

“No, I’m not really that hungry. I’ll get something to eat later after we get home.”

Just then there was a knock at the front door.

“I’ll get it,” said Phoebe.

She turned and headed for the front door. Curious about who might be knocking on their door Paige got up and followed her into the entryway. Phoebe opened the door to see a man in his mid-twenties, holding a briefcase, standing on the front door.

“Yes?” Phoebe questioned.

“Hello,” said the man. “My name is Chase Parker. I’m looking for a Prue Halliwell. I understand she lives here. Or at least she used to.”

“Actually, she used to,” said Phoebe. “I’m Phoebe Halliwell, her sister. I’m afraid you’re won’t be able to talk with her. My sister died just over a year ago.”

“Died?” questioned Chase. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Roger said she lived here but hadn’t been in contact with her in a number of years.”

“Roger?” Phoebe questioned.

“Roger Granger,” said Chase. “He became the curator of the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut where I work. He moved to New Haven about four years ago and he’s mentioned her several times.”

“Roger?” Phoebe questioned again. “I always wondered what happened to him after Prue broke up with him. Won’t you come in, Mr. Parker?”

“Thank you,” said Chase as they headed into the living room, “and please, call me Chase. Mr. Parker was my father. You said that your sister broke up with him? Did they date for a while?”

“Actually, they were engaged,” said Phoebe. “But it seems he wasn’t happy with just one woman. When Prue found out she was furious. She broke off the engagement and quit the Museum of Natural History here in San Francisco. He was her boss and she just felt it was too awkward working there after they split up.”

“I see,” said Chase. “And this would be Piper, you other sister? Roger has mentioned all of you several times.”

“Actually, I’m Paige Matthews,” said Paige. “I’m their half sister.”

“Funny, Roger never mentioned you.”

“Oh, he wouldn’t have known about Paige,” said Phoebe. “We didn’t even know about her until after Prue died.”

“Well, as I said, I’m sorry to hear about your sister’s pasting,” said Chase. “I guess they didn’t keep in touch after they broke up and Roger probably never knew she had passed.”

“What did you want to talk to Prue about anyway?” Phoebe asked.

“I have something I wanted her to look at,” said Chase, opening his briefcase and removing the manuscript. “It’s an old manuscript that we have on file at Yale University.”

“You teach at Yale?” Paige asked.

“No,” said Chase. “Actually, I’m a doctoral student there. My field of specialty is ancient civilizations with a minor in linguistics. I only work at Peabody part-time to support myself. I sort and catalogue the new acquisitions the museum gets.”

“I helped Prue with that for a while,” said Phoebe. “After she left the museum she went to work at Buckland’s Auction House. It was fascinating seeing all the antiques that came in every day.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Chase. “You’d be surprised just what can find tucked away in an old chest or between the pages of some forgotten book.”

“Sounds boring to me,” said Paige.

“Well, it’s certainly not for everyone,” said Chase. “Anyway, I was hoping that Prue might be able to help with the Voynich Manuscript. It was acquired by Wilfred M. Voynich in 1912. It was named after him. It was donated to Yale in 1969 by Hans P. Kraus, an antique book dealer who wasn’t able to sell it.”

“It looks very old,” said Phoebe.

“It’s estimated to be about four hundred years old,” said Chase. “No one knows who wrote it. There are 240 pages here but it is known that it originally held 272 pages. They’re separated into 17 quires of 16 pages each.”

“Quires?” questioned Paige.

“Yes,” said Chase. “A quire is a set number of pages that are stitched together. It’s a term most often used in book binding.”

“Oh, okay,” said Paige.

“Anyway,” continued Chase, “as I said, Roger mentioned your sister on several occasions. He also said that her field of experience was exactly what I was looking for.”

“And just what are you looking for, Chase?” Phoebe asked.

“I was hoping she might be able to authenticate the manuscript for me,” said Chase. “As you can see, it’s written in some sort of ancient dialect. A great many people have attempted to decipher and translate it and to date no one has ever been able to do that. Some of the best linguists in the world have attempted to translate it and all have failed. There are some who claim that it’s actually a fake and the script it’s written in doesn’t mean anything.”

“Maybe they’re right,” said Paige. “If professional linguists can’t decipher it maybe it’s not a real language.”

“That’s what I was hoping your sister might be able to help me discover,” said Chase. “If nothing else she might have been able to authenticate its origins.”

“Well, as I said, Prue passed away about a year ago. I’m sure she would have been happy to help you if she could.”

“It was a long shot,” said Chase. “I thought as long as I was in San Francisco I’d stop in and see if she could help.”

“Are you staying in San Francisco long?” Paige asked.

“A few days,” said Chase. “I’m doing some research at some of the local museums. I’ll be staying at the Hilton while I’m here. Well, I suppose since your sister can’t help me I’ve taken up enough of your time. I suppose I should be going.”

“Well, thanks for stopping by,” said Phoebe. “I’m sorry it was a wasted trip. Maybe you’ll find someone else who can help you.”

“That’s always a possibility,” said Chase. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Our pleasure,” said Paige.

“He seemed nice,” said Paige after Chase had left.

“Yeah, he did. But he has to work with Roger. I don’t envy him that.”

“You never told me that Prue had been engaged before.”

“It was before we became the Charmed Ones. He was a real snake. Created a lot of trouble between Prue and me. Even though he was engaged to her he would keep hitting on me. When Prue found out about it he claimed I was the one hitting on him.”

“Sounds like a real sleaze.”

“I’ll tell you all about it on the way to P3,” said Phoebe. “Just let me shower and get changed and then we can go.”

[noazmale]

TWO

Chase closed the door to his hotel room and laid his briefcase on the bed. As he turned he saw Lorne standing on the other side of the room.

“Well?” questioned Lorne. “Did she agree to help?”

“What are you doing here?” Chase questioned. “I told you to wait for me in Connecticut.”

“Don’t be angry,” said Lorne. “I just wanted to make sure everything went well and that you didn’t need any help.”

“Actually,” said Chase, sitting down in one of the chairs, “it appears that Prue Halliwell died over a year ago.”

“Well that’s just great,” said Lorne. “You came all the way out here for nothing. And with one of the sisters dead there’s no way they can help you now.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Chase. “I was able to talk to her sister, Phoebe. And her other sister, Paige. It seems they have a half sister they never knew about. So I’m willing to bet they can still help us.”

“How?” Lorne asked. “Without the oldest sister there’s no way for them to learn what’s going on. Which means they have no reason to help us.”

“Help me,” Chase corrected. “And I’m willing to bet I can still salvage this whole thing. I haven’t come this far to give up now.”

“So what do we do now?”

“You return home. I’m fine here. I think in a little while I’ll be getting a call from Ms. Phoebe Halliwell.”

“As you wish,” said Lorne.

Chase got up and walked over to his briefcase and removed the manuscript. He looked it over. He glanced back where Lorne had been standing and saw that the man had all ready left the room. Chase put the manuscript back in the briefcase and poured himself a drink from the bar.

* * *

“And you said he works with Roger?” Piper asked at the club that evening.

“That’s what he said,” said Phoebe. “Can’t say I envy him there.”

“What was this manuscript he had with him?” Leo asked.

“It’s something called the Voynich Manuscript,” said Paige. “He said it was about four hundred years old and that no one has ever been able to translate it. He also said that some people think it might be a fake.”

“Not necessarily,” said Leo. “Egyptian hieroglyphics were practically unreadable until the Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt in 1799. Up until then most of the hieroglyphics were thought to be just so much gibberish by a lot of people. Once the Rosetta Stone was discovered it helped them to translate the hieroglyphics.”

“Well, with Prue gone I don’t suppose there’s a lot we can help him with,” said Phoebe. “She was the antique expert. I really don’t know a lot about that kind of stuff.”

“Well, I’m kind of an expert,” said Leo, smiling. “A lot of antiques were new when I was alive.”

“Yeah, but even you weren’t around four hundred years ago, sweetie,” said Piper. “Besides, Phoebe’s right. Prue was the expert in that area. She did work in a museum and at Buckland’s. And she was very good at her job.”

“Who knows?” said Phoebe. “Maybe it is a fake just like he said.”

“Maybe what’s a fake?” asked Cole walking up to the table.

“What are you doing here?” Piper asked, open disgust in her voice.

“What?” questioned Cole. “Can’t an old friend stop in for a drink?”

“You’re not our friend,” said Phoebe. “Just because we’re married doesn’t mean you can stop by whenever you want to. We’re getting divorced and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind.”

“Fair enough,” said Cole. “But to be honest that’s not why I’m here. I sensed something this afternoon. Something very powerful at the manor. By the time I figured out where it was and got there everyone was gone.”

“And why would you be concerned with something you may have sensed at the manor?” Paige questioned.

“Because it was like nothing I’ve ever sensed before,” said Cole. “It overshadowed the magic from even the girls and the Nexus. I thought something that powerful bore looking into.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” said Phoebe, “but there was nothing like that at the manor today. Just some doctorate student with an old manuscript he wanted Prue to look at.”

“Manuscript?” Cole questioned.

“Yeah, a manuscript,” said Paige. “Written in some old language no one can read. But no magic. Just an innocent doing some research. Nothing else.”

“I know I sensed something,” said Cole. “It wasn’t my imagination. Are you sure that’s all he wanted? Some help with an old manuscript?”

“That’s what he said,” said Phoebe. “Apparently no one has been able to translate it. Some people think it might be a fake.”

“As you can see we have absolutely no need for your help,” said Piper. “So why don’t you go back to your penthouse and leave us alone?”

“I thought I’d just have a drink before I go,” said Cole. “If you don’t mind.”

“Just don’t bother us,” said Phoebe. “We have nothing to talk about.”

“Fair enough,” said Cole. “I’ll be at the bar if you should change your mind.”

“He’s still as arrogant as ever,” said Paige as Cole walked to the bar. “I wish there was some way to get rid of him.”

“Maybe some day,” said Piper. “As long as he leaves us alone we shouldn’t have to worry about him.”

“You know he has a point,” said Leo.

“What point?” Phoebe asked.

“It’s just strange that he should sense something the same time that man was visiting you,” said Leo.

“Assuming he’s telling the truth,” said Piper. “His track record in that area isn’t exactly flawless.”

“But it’s strange that, if he made it up, he picked this particular time to do it,” said Leo. “Are you sure there wasn’t anything unusual about this man?”

“No,” said Phoebe. “He said he was a doctorate student at Yale University and worked part-time at a Peabody museum. Once he found out Prue was dead he excused himself and left.”

“Maybe you should look into this a bit further,” Leo suggested.

“Well, that’s a switch,” said Piper. “You’re usually the one saying we’re being too reactive. Now you’re saying we should check into something as harmless as a student with an old manuscript?”

“Cole said the magic he sensed overshadowed your magic and that of the Nexus,” said Leo. “I don’t know of any magic today that’s powerful enough to do that. If he did sense something I think we should at least check into it.”

“Well, why don’t you go check with the Elders?” Paige suggested. “If it was that powerful they must have sensed something.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Leo. “I’ll be back soon. In the mean time you should be careful.”

“We always are,” said Piper, as Leo headed for the offices to orb out.

“You think he’s overreacting?” Phoebe asked.

“I don’t know,” said Piper. “He’s not the type to overreact. And he usually has good reason when he’s concerned about something. We’ll wait until he gets back from the Elders and see what they have to say.”

[noazmale]

THREE

Leo wasn’t gone very long. When he came out of the office he had a concerned look on his face. He walked over and sat down at the booth where the girls were sitting and looked around to make sure no one could overhear them.

“Cole may have been right,” said Leo. “The Elders sensed something too. About the same time that man was at the manor. Something very powerful. They aren’t sure exactly what it was but it has them concerned. Just as Cole said, it seemed to overshadow even your power.”

“Then maybe Cole did sense something,” said Phoebe. “If he did and it’s that powerful it might be something we should check into.”

“That’s what the Elders suggested,” said Leo. “It didn’t last long and now they can’t seem to locate it.”

“Chase said he was staying at the Hilton,” said Paige. “Maybe we should give him a call and have him come back over tomorrow. Maybe there’s something about him that is having this reaction.”

“In that case,” said Phoebe standing up, “it might be a good idea to have Cole there. None of us noticed anything. If he can sense it then he might be able to tell us what it is.”

“You sure you want to do that?” Piper asked. “You keep telling him you don’t want anything to do with him. If you ask him to come over now he might get the wrong idea.”

“No, I don’t want to do this,” said Phoebe. “But this might involve the innocent. If it’s a demon going after an innocent we need to know about it. I’ll go talk to him. I’ll make it clear to him that this isn’t personal and it doesn’t mean we’re getting back together again. But we can use all the help we can get.”

“We’re here for you if you need us, sweetie,” said Paige.

“Thanks,” said Phoebe. She walked over to the bar where Cole was sitting.

“That can’t be easy for her,” said Piper. “After all she’s done to get over him and now she has to ask for his help. I’m not sure I could do that.”

“Sure you could,” said Leo. “Just like her, if you thought it was serious enough you’d ask for his help. Now, Paige. Tell me everything you can remember about this Chase. There might be a hint about who – or what – he is.”

* * *

“Chase, thank you for coming back,” said Phoebe as she led the man into the living room. “You remember my sister, Paige.”

“Certainly,” said Chase. “Nice to see you again.”

“This is my other sister, Piper,” said Phoebe. “And that’s Leo, Piper’s husband. This is Cole Turner, a . . . friend of the family, so to speak.”

“A pleasure to meet you all,” said Chase. “Honestly, I was somewhat surprised when you called. With your sister Prue no longer around I don’t see how you can help me. Are any of you antique experts?”

“I am, after a fashion,” said Cole. “Oh, nothing like Prue was. But I do have a little expertise. Phoebe thought I might be able to help you with the manuscript you brought with you.”

“Well, I appreciate the help,” said Chase. He opened his briefcase and pulled out the manuscript. “As I told Phoebe and Paige, the manuscript is estimated to be about four hundred years old. No one seems to be able to translate it. I was hoping at the very least I might be able to find out authenticate it or something.”

“I see,” said Cole, looking the manuscript over. “You say no one has been able to translate this?”

“Not even a single character,” said Chase. “It’s possible it’s a fake but somehow I don’t think so.”

“You might be right,” said Cole. “Leo, could I see you in the kitchen for a minute please?”

“Uh, sure,” said Leo. He was confused that Cole would suddenly want to speak to him privately.

“We’ll be right back,” said Cole.

After they went into the kitchen Cole looked back out the door to make sure they’re alone.

“Cole, what is it?” Leo asked.

“I recognize that script. It’s a form of ancient demonese. It’s no wonder no one can translate it. Only demons are familiar with it. I doubt even the Elders know anything about it. As far as I know it hasn’t been used in over five thousand years.”

“Demonese? You mean that manuscript was written by a demon?”

“Apparently,” said Cole. “And there’s more. There’s something unusual about it. As I was looking at the manuscript I noticed the characters were changing. They were very subtle changes but they were definitely changing.”

“Changing? Changing how?”

“It’s hard to describe. They looked basically like they did before. But the changes were so subtle that I’m sure a mortal linguist would see them as different characters each time they looked at it. It probably explains why it hasn’t been able to be translated. A mortal linguist probably wouldn’t notice the changes consciously but they would be enough to prevent an accurate translation.”

“Okay, what does that mean?”

“I think there’s an enchantment on that manuscript. An enchantment that prevents it from being translated by mortals. I also recognized the manuscript itself. This Chase called it the Voynich Manuscript. But it’s not a manuscript. That’s probably why it was enchanted so it couldn’t be translated. To keep anyone from deciphering it.”

“What is it?” Leo asked.

“They’re instructions. Instructions for what I’m not sure. But whatever it is must be pretty powerful if someone went to all this trouble to protect it.”

“Is that what you sensed earlier?”

“Yes. The magic of the enchantment is interacting with the girls’ magic. I’m sensing it even now. It’s stronger now since I’m right here with it but it’s definitely the same thing I sensed earlier.”

“Why can’t I sense it?” Leo asked. “I should be able to sense any magic that strong.”

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s demonic in nature. I know that shouldn’t make any difference but it’s the only reason I can think of that I can sense it and you can’t.”

“And Chase probably doesn’t know what he’s got. To him it’s nothing more than an old manuscript that he’s trying to translate.”

“Which he never will,” said Cole. “The manuscript is altering itself to prevent translation. The basic script is unaltered but the enchantment is causing it to appear different.”

“We have to get that manuscript from him. From everything you’ve said this must be something very important.”

“And very old. Considerable older than the four hundred years the experts think it is.”

“Okay,” said Leo. “Let’s go see if we can persuade him to let us borrow it.”

Leo and Cole went back into the living room. Cole took a seat on the sofa next to Chase and Leo took his usual place next to Piper.

“Can I have another look at the manuscript?” Cole asked.

“Sure,” said Chase. “But as I said professional linguists haven’t been able to translate even a single character.”

“That’s okay,” said Cole. “I’m just curious about it.”

“Chase,” said Leo, “what else can you tell us about the manuscript?”

“Not much I’m afraid,” said Chase. “There really isn’t that much known about it. It is believed that when Voynich came into possession of it that it’s pretty much as it is now. Which means he never had the additional thirty-two pages either.”

“Are there any ideas what happened to those thirty-two pages?” Piper asked.

“No,” said Chase. “Before Voynich got it no one even knew it existed. Lawrence was trying to trace down its origins but didn’t seem to be having much luck with it.”

“Lawrence?” Phoebe asked.

“Lawrence Greggson,” said Chase. “He was another doctorate student working with me on the manuscript. I was working on the translation and he was working on its background.”

“Wait a minute,” said Cole. “Lawrence Greggson? What did he look like?”

“I don’t know,” said Chase. “About your age I guess. An inch or two shorter. Light brown hair. The strangest thing about him was his eyes. He had one brown and one green eye. I’ve heard of people like that but I never met one before Lawrence.”

“Did he have a scar along his left jaw?” Cole asked.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact he did,” said Chase. “It was faded but it was still noticeable. Do you know him?”

“I used to,” said Cole, glancing at the others. “Lawrence Greggson and I kind of grew up together. To be more accurate we, uh, received some of our early training together. At one time he was my best friend.”

Everyone stared at Cole in disbelief.

[noazmale]

FOUR

“Your best friend?” questioned Phoebe.

“Something like that,” said Cole. “We were the only two of, uh, mixed blood, so to speak. All the other students were full bloods.”

“Full bloods?” Chase questioned.

“Yeah,” said Cole. “I, uh, was raised overseas, you might say. His mother and my father weren’t natives where we were trained. I guess that’s why we just sort of gravitated to each other. We have something in common the other students didn’t have.”

“He did mention he was raised outside the United States,” said Chase. “He was always staying off by himself. He was friendly enough with me. When he found out I was working on the Voynich manuscript he offered to help me with it. I couldn’t work on the translation and track the pedigree at the same time so I asked him if he could try to trace down its origins. He seemed happy to help.”

“What was his major?” Phoebe asked.

“Comparative religions,” said Chase. “He said he had been working for quite a while and finally decided to go back to school and get his Ph. D.”

“Cole,” said Paige, “did you and Lawrence ever work together?”

“Not really,” said Cole. “Early in his training it became apparent he would never be able to, uh, fulfill some of the basic requirements. He finally left the training center and I lost touch with him over the years.”

“Where is Greggson now?” Piper asked.

“I don’t know,” said Chase. “A couple of weeks ago I came into my office and he was looking the manuscript over. He said he was hoping to get some information from it that might help him trace where it came from. He left my office and I heard he had left the university the next day. I have no idea where he went.”

“If he read the manuscript,” began Leo.

“That’s impossible,” said Chase. “No one has been able to translate it. I told you that.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” said Cole, picking up a page from the manuscript. “How much of the manuscript do you think he saw?”

“The whole thing as far as I know,” said Chase. “When I found him in my office he was looking at the last couple of pages. Why? You don’t think he was able to translate it do you?”

“I’d bet on it,” said Cole. “And if I’m right about what I’ve just read, Lawrence could become a very dangerous person.”

“How dangerous?” Leo questioned.

“The Golden Grimoire,” said Cole. “That’s how dangerous.”

“The Golden Grimoire?” Chase asked. “That’s only a legend. Like the Holy Graille or the Seal of Solomon.”

“We need to tell him,” Cole said to the others. “I realize he’s only an innocent but from what I’ve read here we need to stop Lawrence. And we’re going to need his help to do it.”

“Tell me what?” Chase asked. “Just what’s going on here?”

“That’s not a good idea,” said Leo.

“I agree,” said Piper. “If this is going to be a problem we can handle it. There’s no need to involve an innocent in this.”

“Innocent?” Chase asked. “What are you people talking about?”

“We don’t have a choice,” said Cole holding up the manuscript. “We’ll need this to track down Lawrence and we’ll need Chase to do that.”

“It’s out of the question, Cole,” said Phoebe. “Why is it so important that we bring him into it anyway?”

“This is why,” said Cole.

He reached down and picked up all the pages of the manuscript. Then, without saying a word he suddenly shimmered out of the manor. Everyone, especially Chase, was startled at the move. Within seconds the manuscript simply appeared on Chase’s lap. He looked down at the manuscript dumbfounded. Just then Cole shimmered back into the manor.

“That’s why,” said Cole. “According to what little I’ve read so far, the enchantment on the manuscript prevents it from being stolen from the rightful owner. If it is stolen the magic causes it to be returned to the rightful owner.”

“Okay, what’s going on here?” Chase asked. “Who . . . what are you people?”

“I guess the cat’s out of the bag now,” said Piper, shooting an angry glance at Cole. “Look, Chase. The truth is that we’re witches. And according to Cole this manuscript seems to be under some kind of enchantment. That’s probably why no one has ever been able to translate it. He also said it made reference to something called the Golden Grimoire, whatever that is.”

“Witches?” Chase asked. “You expect me to believe that?”

“You’d better believe it,” said Cole. “You intimated you knew about the Golden Grimoire, although I’m sure what you know isn’t anything near what the truth is. But if we’re going to stop Lawrence from getting to the Grimoire we’ll need you to do that.”

“What is this Golden Grimoire?” Phoebe asked.

“Chase?” questioned Cole. “Care to tell us what the academic world tells you about the Golden Grimoire?”

“Well,” said Chase, “according to legend, it’s an ancient tome of great magic. Supposedly it was collected over several dozens years by some unnamed magician who decided it was much too powerful for any mortal to possess. So he hid it away and never told anyone where he had put it.”

“Close, but no cigar,” said Cole. “It’s much older than you could possibly imagine. But the part about it being extremely powerful is true. In fact, it’s probably the most powerful book ever created. And if Lawrence is after it that can mean only one thing. He plans to use it to take over the Underworld.”

“What’s so powerful about this Grimoire?” Paige asked.

“According to legend,” said Leo, “it’s the combined magic of the Ancients. But it’s been lost for millennia. No one has ever been able to find it and plenty have tried to find it. Even the, uh, my bosses have tried without any success.”

“Well, I’ll need to read more of this to know for sure,” said Cole, picking the manuscript off Chase’s lap, “but I think these are detailed instructions about how to find the Golden Grimoire. And it appears that Lawrence has a couple of weeks head start on us.”

[noazmale]

FIVE

“So you really are witches?” Chase asked after the girls had made some explanations to him. Cole had been reading through the manuscript as they had talked to Chase.

“Yes,” said Piper. “We’re called the Charmed Ones and it’s our job to protect the innocent from demons.”

“Like him?” Chase asked.

“I told you,” said Cole. “I’m no longer a demon. That was a long time ago.”

“No,” said Paige. “He just has demonic powers now, that’s all.”

“Enough,” said Phoebe. She turned to Chase. “I’m not sure exactly what you’d call Cole now. It’s kind of a long story.”

“And you say this manuscript can’t be stolen?” Chase asked. “I guess that explains something I’ve always wondered about.”

“What’s that?” Leo asked.

“Well,” said Chase, “a few years ago we had a break in at the university. One of the things the person took was this manuscript. We thought we had lost it forever. But the next morning we found it in its normal resting place just like nothing had happened. I could never understand why the thief would break in to return the manuscript.”

“He probably didn’t,” said Cole. “Technically, it belongs to Yale University. The magic would have caused it to return there just like it did a while ago.”

“But if it belongs to Yale University, shouldn’t it have returned there instead of to Chase?” Paige asked

“I have permission to have it,” said Chase. “My department head said I could take it from the university for a while to study it.”

“Which means that as long as he has permission from the owner,” said Cole, “meaning a member of the faculty of the university, he is temporarily the rightful ‘owner’ of it.”

“Well, couldn’t we just have him loan it to us?” asked Paige.

“I don’t think it will work that way,” said Cole. “Chase isn’t the permanent owner of the manuscript. Technically he doesn’t have the right to give permission to anyone to use it. Kind of like if I borrowed Piper’s car. Temporarily it’s my car but I don’t have the right to loan it to anyone else without Piper’s permission.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” said Piper.

“So what does Lawrence have to do with any of this?” Chase asked.

“Like me, Lawrence is half demon,” said Cole. “Only his father was a demon, not his mother. It’s like I said. When we were in training he didn’t exhibit most of the demonic abilities that full demonic children did. Oh, he could shimmer and he had a fairly powerful energy ball. Not nearly as powerful as mine are. But it was clear early on that his use to the Underworld would be severely limited.”

“So he left?” questioned Phoebe.

“Yes,” said Cole. “Since he was half human he could still be useful to the hierarchy. He could help collect information and such. But he’d never be very high up and he knew it. And to be perfectly honest, it pissed him off to no end.”

“I can imagine,” said Paige. “He probably had plans like all demons and to find out he could never reach his goal must really have made him angry.”

“Exactly,” said Cole. “It turned him mean. He was sadistic even by demonic standards. What he lacked in power he more than made up for in pure cruelty. Even most mainstream demonic leaders were appalled by just how cruel he could be.”

“That doesn’t sound like demons,” said Paige.

“Most demons aren’t cruel just to be cruel,” said Cole. “They use their cruelty to further their ends. Lawrence was different. He was cruel because he enjoyed it. Eventually most demons simply avoided him. It was one of the reasons he decided to leave the Underworld.”

“Okay, well, I’m not seeing a problem here,” said Phoebe. “You said yourself we need this manuscript to find the Golden Grimoire. If this Greggson can’t find it without the manuscript and he can’t steal the manuscript then what’s the problem?”

“The problem is,” said Cole, “is that Lawrence has a photographic memory. If he read the entire manuscript then he’ll remember every word he read. As a half demon he’d be able to read it exactly as I have. And he’ll know exactly what to do to get the Grimoire.”

“Just what is involved in getting the Grimoire?” Leo asked. “The Elders have been searching for it for centuries. They haven’t found even so much as a rumor that was any good.”

“I’m not really sure,” said Cole. “I’ll have to read the entire manuscript. But from what I’ve read so far it appears that it was moved to some alternate dimension or something. The manuscript seems to tell how to locate the person; or creature; that knows exactly where it’s located.”

“So you can really read this manuscript?” questioned Chase.

“Yes,” said Cole. “It’s written in an ancient form of demonese. As I explained to Leo this particular dialect hasn’t been used for several millennia. The basic script is easy to read but the enchantment on it would keep any mortal from translating it.”

“That’s why no one has been able to translate it,” said Chase. “I always knew there was something about it. No one’s been able to figure it out, though.”

“There’s no reason they would,” said Piper. “Most of them probably don’t even believe that magic is real. That’s probably why some people think it’s a fake.”

“I’ll need to read this through completely,” said Cole, picking up all the pages to the manuscript. “Which means you’ll have to stay here while I do. The moment we separate the manuscript will magically return to you. It shouldn’t take too long. I’m a pretty fast reader.”

“Sure, anything,” said Chase. “Is there any way to remove this enchantment that’s on it?”

“I don’t know,” said Cole. “Presumably, magic of the Ancients was used to create the enchantment. There’s no guarantee that even a Power of Three spell could remove or break it.”

“Power of Three spell?” Chase questioned.

“We’ll explain later,” said Piper.

“I suppose I should let the Elders know what’s going on,” said Leo. “Something this important they should be made aware of.”

“Not just yet,” said Cole. “Let’s wait until we have something to report. Chase said that part of the manuscript is missing. It’s possible this is a dead end. The relevant parts detailing how to find the Grimoire may be missing. Once I’ve had a chance to go through the manuscript I’ll be able to tell you more. Then you can fill the Elders in.”

“That makes sense,” said Leo. “You’d better get started on that manuscript. If Greggson knows how to get the Grimoire and has a two-week head start on us we need to find him fast. With that power he could even challenge the Elders.”

“Is it really that powerful?” Phoebe asked.

“If even half of what is known about the Ancients is true,” said Leo, “that one tome is the most powerful magic ever created. It’s possible that not even the Power of Three is strong enough to stop it.”

“I’ll get started right away,” said Cole. “I’ll be able to fill you in in a couple of hours.”

“Cole said this Greggson was interested in controlling the Underworld,” said Paige as Cole went into the library to read the manuscript. “So what’s all the fuss about?”

“If he gets that power,” said Leo, “controlling the Underworld is only part of it. He’ll want to get rid of any threat to his power. Which means he’ll want to get rid of the three of you. And he could conceivably have enough power to do just that.”

[noazmale]

SIX

“This is a lot to take in,” said Chase. “Witches, demons, ancient magical powers. I’ve read about such things my entire life but I never dreamed any of it was real.”

“Oh, it’s real okay,” said Piper. “It wasn’t that long ago that we were just ordinary women. Now, we’re the most powerful forces for good in history. It does take a bit of getting used to.”

“These Ancients,” said Chase. “Who are they? Where did they come from and where did they go?”

“I’d like to know the answers to those questions myself,” said Paige. “And how their magic could be more powerful than the most powerful magic in history.”

““You are the most powerful witches in history,” said Leo. “The Power of Three is the most powerful magic in history. The reason the magic of the Ancients is so much more powerful is because it pre-dates history.”

“I don’t get it,” said Paige.

“Before human history began,” said Leo, “there was a race of beings. Today we refer to them as the Old Ones. According to all references they were extremely powerful demons. Much more powerful than the ones that exist today.”

“I thought the Old Ones were just creation of fiction,” said Chase. “H. P. Lovecraft created them for a set of books he wrote.”

“It’s possible this Lovecraft learned about them and wrote his books based on them,” said Phoebe.

“That’s possible,” said Leo. “The Old Ones are the ones who originated magic. Created it as a tool. Just like humans have created all sorts of scientific and technological marvels to assist them. That’s the equivalent of what the Old Ones did. They created magic to use as a tool to help them.

“But like so many things what they created was much more powerful than they imagined. When the first atomic bomb was tested, even the scientists who created it were staggered by it’s power. They had no idea it would be so powerful. The Old Ones were equally staggered. The tool they had created turned out to be even more powerful than they first imagined.”

“What does this have to do with the Ancients you mentioned?” Chase asked.

“The Ancients were the second race to exist,” said Leo. “An offshoot of sorts from the Old Ones. It is believed they were created when some of the Old Ones mated with what were essentially the first humans. The Ancients were more human than the Old Ones but just as powerful.

“After several millennia the Ancients began to realize just how powerful the magic that had been created was. They also realized that the magic was being used to keep the humans in virtual slavery. Humans answered to the whim of the Old Ones and some of the Ancients.”

“Power corrupts,” said Chase. “It’s an old story down through history. Whenever someone has too much power it corrupts them. They begin to think they’re above the rules.”

“I guess that’s what happened with the Old Ones and the Ancients,” said Phoebe. “With that much power it couldn’t help but corrupt them.”

“Yes,” said Leo. “But with each succeeding generation of descendants of the Ancients, the magic of the Old Ones was being further diluted. The magic those generations could control was nothing compared to the original two races.”

“Eventually the humans revolted against the Old Ones. The original Ancients sided with the humans. There was a terrible battle and thousands died on both sides. When it was over, according to legend, the Old Ones were either vanquished or forced from the mortal realm.”

“But the Ancients were also decimated. Most had died during the battle. Those that had survived were greatly depleted of power. According to some very ancient legends, the surviving Ancients gathered all of the magic that had originally existed into one massive book. This was the Tome of the Ancients. The magic it contains is so powerful there is no known way to destroy the tome.”

“And you said this Tome of the Ancients was hidden somewhere,” said Piper.

“Yes,” said Leo. “Accounts vary on what exactly happened to it. One account has the book eventually being divided up and the individual pages hidden in distant locations so that no one would ever again have access to its terrible power. What is known is that the last surviving Ancient took the tome and disappeared with it. He nor the tome were ever seen or heard from again.”

“What happened to the rest of the Ancients?” Chase asked. “The ones that survived the war with the Old Ones?”

“No one knows,” said Leo. “Apparently they moved to some alternate reality or parallel dimension. According to legends the second generation Ancients formed a group called the Gray Council. They eventually became the Elders as we know them today.”

“Oh, we remember the Gray Council,” said Phoebe. “When Damonculous attacked us we learned all about them.”

“Gray Council?” questioned Chase. “Who are they? I’ve never heard of them before.”

“No reason you should,” said Piper. “They don’t exist any longer. And good thing for us they don’t. We nearly lost everything against him.”

“Then you have an idea what kind of power the Tome of the Ancients possesses,” said Leo. “As powerful as he was his power was diluted so to speak. The power of a true Ancient is even more powerful than his was.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” said Piper. “If Greggson gets his hands on that book we could all be in a great deal of trouble. We were only able to stop Damonculous because Cole figured out his weakness. If this Greggson is half human and half demon he won’t have that weakness.”

“And he’ll have the power of the Ancients to protect him,” said Leo. “I doubt if any potion or spell; even a Power of Three spell; would be enough to hurt him.”

“So I guess we don’t have a choice,” said Paige. “We have to find this Tome of the Ancients and prevent Greggson from getting his hands on it. I only hope it’s not too late to do that.”

“We might just be in luck there,” said Cole, coming into the living room. “I finished reading the manuscript. It appears some relevant portions are missing but there’s enough here to learn what we need to know.”

“What did you learn?” Leo asked.

“It’s not good,” said Cole. “The Tome of the Ancients was given to an Ancient named Shavak Sier. He entrusted the tome to a creature named Shushaun. This Shushaun is apparently a Vestige.”

“A Vestige?” questioned Phoebe. “What’s that?”

“It’s a spirit that exists outside of reality,” said Leo. “It’s claimed that certain individuals with the proper training can summon a Vestige to make a pact with them. The pact allows the Vestige to experience reality while granting the person who summoned it to gain some kind of abilities.”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound good,” said Paige.

“It’s not as ominous as it sounds,” said Cole. “Most Binders gain only minimal abilities. Nothing that would be considered a threat at all.”

“Binders?” questioned Paige.

“Binders are the ones who summon a Vestige,” said Cole. “Usually they summon a Vestige for a specific purpose. Once that purpose is completed the Vestige returns to its home outside of reality and the Binder looses whatever abilities they gained.”

“And this Shavak Sier used a Vestige to hide the tome?” Piper asked.

“Yes,” said Cole. “That would explain why no one has ever been able to find it. This Shushaun would have taken it with him outside of reality. Not even the power of the Elders would be able to locate it there.”

“Okay, so our problem is solved,” said Paige. “We just figure out how to summon this Shushaun and get him to give us the book.”

“Easier said than done,” said Cole. “A Vestige can only be summoned using their name, title, and a special seal that each one has. To prevent that from happening Shavak Sier entrusted that information to a special being. It’s a magical being that apparently was imprisoned in the Grand Grimoire.”

“That’s another legendary book,” said Chase. “It was supposedly published by Alibek the Egyptian who was also known as The Red Dragon. Legend holds that there is a magical entity trapped in the book but no one really knows what it is supposed to be or what its powers are. It’s also been lost for centuries.”

“Not lost,” said Cole. “Shavak Sier hid the book in a special place. And he divided its power into three parts. In order to release the being in the Grand Grimoire and get the information we need, we have to find all three books and bring them together.”

“Besides the Grand Grimoire what other books do we need?” Leo asked.

“The Grimoire Arcanarum and the Necronomicon,” said Cole. “The first is Latin for ‘Grimoire of Secrets’. It supposedly holds secrets for summoning and binding evil spirits. The second is rumored to be a detailed description of death related topics including how to resurrect the dead and such things.”

“Any idea where we can find these three books?” Piper asked.

“Actually, yes,” said Cole. “That’s the bad news. According to the manuscript, Shavak Sier placed the three tomes in the Juncture.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” said Leo.

“What is this Juncture?” Paige asked.

“Probably the most dangerous place in existence,” said Leo. “It’s a place where all planes of existence intersect with each other. Technically it’s outside space and time. No one in his right mind would go there.”

“What’s so dangerous about it?” Phoebe asked.

“The intersecting planes of existence have an unpredictable affect on people,” said Cole. “Powers can be altered or nullified altogether. It can also produce what might be called illusions. Only the illusions can be very real and can even hurt; or kill; people. There’s no way to know if what you experience there is real or illusion. As far as I know, no one who’s ever gone into the Juncture has ever returned from it.”

“It sounds like a really dangerous place,” said Piper.

“You have no idea,” said Leo. “Most magical beings avoid it completely.”

“So if it’s so dangerous, then why worry about it?” Paige asked. “Even if Greggson has a photograph memory and knows the manuscript from memory, it sounds like he’ll never come out of this Juncture.”

“Normally I’d agree with you,” said Cole. “But the manuscript also describes some of the traps and pitfalls that can be found in the Juncture. Enough so that it’s possible Lawrence might be able to get through it. This manuscript reads like a cheat code for a video game. It’s very detailed.”

“So it seems we don’t have a choice,” said Piper. “We have to stop Greggson before he can get the Golden Grimoire.”

“That’s not an option,” said Leo nervously. “Piper, you have no idea what the Juncture is like. It’s very likely your powers won’t even work in there. And you’re pregnant right now to boot. You can’t go in there after Greggson.”

“Leo, we don’t have a choice,” said Piper. “You said yourself that if he gets the Grimoire he’ll be coming after us. Either we stop him now while he’s still relatively weak or we face him later with the power of the ancients from the Grimoire. It seems to me our best chance is to stop him before he can get the Grimoire.”

“She’s right, Leo,” said Cole. “If Lawrence gets the Grimoire none of us will be safe. We have to stop him before he can get to it.”

“But he’s got two weeks head start on you,” said Chase. “It’s possible he all ready has it.”

“I don’t think so,” said Cole. “The Juncture isn’t some place you can just walk into. The entrance fluctuates between dimensions. But apparently there’s a pattern to the fluctuations and if you know what to look for you can figure out when it will open again on a particular dimension. And according to the manuscript it’s due to open on the mortal plane again sometime in the next three days.”

“Is that the best you can do?” Piper asked. “Sometime within the next three days?”

“I should be able to find out when it’s going to open,” said Cole. “I’ll need to do some checking but I can find out where it’s going to be from the description given in the manuscript. But the good news is that Lawrence won’t have entered the Juncture just yet. He’ll have to wait until the opening appears before he can do that.”

“Then we’d better get ready,” said Phoebe. “When the entrance opens we need to be ready to go in and stop Greggson. Who knows? If we’re lucky we might be able to stop him before he even enters this Juncture.”

“I can go stop him,” said Cole. “There’s no reason for any of you to even get involved. I am indestructible, after all. And Lawrence was never a match for me before I came back from the Wasteland. Getting the book from him should be a piece of cake.”

“Oh, yeah, we’re going to let you get your hands on the most powerful magic in existence,” said Paige sarcastically. “Yeah, that’s going to happen.”

”That’s not an option,” said Piper. “We need to get that book and put it somewhere that no one will ever be able to get it again. Which means we need to go with you.”

“I’d better let the Elders know what’s going on,” said Leo. “Something this important they need to know what’s going on.”

“We’ll figure out what we need to do to get ready for this Juncture,” said Phoebe. “Cole can help us with that.”

“I’ll be glad to help any way I can,” said Cole.

Still not convinced that the girls were pursuing the right course of action, Leo orbed out of the manor to talk to the Elders.

[noazmale]

SEVEN

“Are you sure this is where the opening is?” Piper asked. She looked around at the foot of the Bay Bridge. Cars passed over the bridge connecting San Francisco with Oakland oblivious to the six individuals underneath the bridge. “I’m not seeing anything that would even suggest something like a doorway or opening.”

“Give it a few minutes,” said Cole. “The clouds are beginning to clear out. As soon as the moon is visible we should see exactly where the opening is.”

“The moon?” questioned Phoebe. “What does it have to do with the opening?”

“The opening is a magical opening,” said Cole. “The magic of it makes it very similar to a black hole. There’s no visible indication that it even exists. But under a full moon, like tonight, it’s a different story. The doorway itself can’t be illuminated. But the event horizon around it will be very visible when it’s illuminated by the moonlight.”

“Why is that?” Paige asked.

“Use of magic leaves a residual affect in the atmosphere,” said Cole. “It’s not much and is barely noticeable. When enough of it builds up it opens the doorway to the Juncture. The moonlight will illuminate that magic being sucked into the opening.”

“Then why hasn’t anyone ever reported something like this before?” Piper asked. “I’ve never heard about anything even remotely similar to this.”

“That’s because it’s not visible to the naked eye,” said Cole. “It has to be illuminated to be seen. I’ll be able to do it easily. Then all we have to do is step through and we’ll be in the Juncture.”

“How come no one has ever gone into it by accident?” Paige asked.

“Who says they haven’t?” Cole asked. “Lots of people go missing every year. It’s very likely that some of those disappearances are people who have inadvertently walked through the doorway not even knowing it was there. It would explain why some of those people simply disappear without a trace especially for ones who apparently gave no indication they were going to do so.”

“So how were you able to figure out where the doorway was going to open?” Leo asked.

“It was easy once I knew what to look for,” said Cole. “When I learned that the doorway draws incidental magic into it all I had to do was find out where the greatest concentration of that magic was. It led me here.”

“So, any idea how long before this doorway opens?” Chase asked.

“Actually it appears the doorway opened several hours ago,” said Cole. “Which means that Lawrence may all ready be in the Juncture. But he won’t be very far ahead of us. If we hurry we should be able to catch up with him relatively quickly. You know, it’s not too late for you to back out of this. I’m sure I can catch up with Lawrence without your having to go in there.”

“And if you don’t?” Chase asked. “If he gets this Golden Grimoire? How could I live with myself if he murdered innocent people with that power? I know it’s a risk. I also know that you need me so you can check the manuscript from time to time. Besides, you told me the sisters are the most powerful witches in history. Plus they have their White Lighter with them and there’s you. I figure I’ll be safe enough.”

“I don’t like it,” said Leo. “You’re taking an innocent into one of the most dangerous places in magic. I know the Elders wouldn’t agree with this.”

“Which is exactly why we aren’t going to tell them,” said Piper. “I don’t like it any more than you do but we don’t have a choice. Without him we can’t take the manuscript with us and like Chase said, Cole may need that manuscript to make sure we’re going the right direction.”

“The manuscript isn’t complete, as I told you,” said Cole. “It’s very possible there are some very serious dangers in there that we will have no idea of. And no way of knowing how to get around them.”

“Don’t worry, Leo,” said Phoebe, “we’ll do our best to make sure that Chase isn’t harmed.”

“And if your magic doesn’t work in there?” Leo asked.

“We’ll deal with that when, and if, it happens,” said Paige. “Cole said our powers may not be affected at all.”

“Besides,” said Chase, “if Lawrence gets his hands on that Grimoire I figure he’ll want to get rid of anyone who might be a threat to him. Which means he’ll probably kill me just in case I know something no one else does. So in a way I’m protecting myself as much as helping you.”

“What’s the backpack for?” Piper asked, noticing the backpack Cole had lying on the ground next to him.

“To carry the books, assuming we actually do find them,” said Cole. “Books as old as the ones we’re looking for are usually pretty large. As large as the Book of Shadows or even bigger. It might be cumbersome if we tried to carry them in our hands. This way we can carry them and they’ll still be out of the way, so to speak.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Leo. “It’s not like we can just stick them in our pockets.”

“It’s time,” said Cole, looking into the sky. The moon had just come out from behind the nearest cloud illuminating the entire area around the bridge. “All I have to do it illuminate the incidental magic in the air and we should have our doorway.”

Cole spread his hands and a magical light began to emanate from them. The light spread out over the area. As the light illuminated the pylon on the bridge an irregular shape appeared. The light began to pass into the pylon as if passing through some invisible opening.

“That’s it,” said Cole. “That’s the way into the Juncture.”

“Uh, maybe we should have thought about this earlier,” said Paige, “but has anyone thought about how we’ll get out of this Juncture once we do find the Grimoire?”

“I should be able to orb us out if I have to,” said Leo.

“Assuming your orbing still works in there,” said Piper.

“If he can’t I’m sure I can get us out,” said Cole. “There’s also some reference to another opening in the Juncture that’s probably an exit. Most of the information about it is contained in some of the missing pages but there’s a reference to it. I don’t think getting out is going to be a problem.”

“Okay,” said Phoebe, “I guess we should be going. Every minute we wait Greggson gets that much farther away.”

“I’ll go first,” said Cole. “Just in case there’s some kind of surprise waiting for us on the other side.”

“Just don’t try anything,” said Piper. “Remember, we’re all going after the Grimoire together.”

“Don’t worry,” said Cole, smiling. “I remember.”

Cole picked up the backpack from the ground and then turned and walked up to the opening being illuminated by his magic. He paused for a second and then stepped through the pylon. Piper looked at her sisters and then followed Cole through the pylon. One by one everyone else followed Cole and Piper through the pylon into the Juncture.

* * *

“Well, it’s pretty much as I expected it would be,” said Phoebe, looking around. “It looks like we’re inside some huge cave.”

“Well, there isn’t much decision about which way to go,” said Cole. “It’s a straight passage one-way. If Lawrence is in here he’s down that passageway ahead of us.”

“There’s no going back this way,” said Leo, pressing against the stone wall behind them. “This is as solid as any cave wall. I guess the doorway is one-way.”

“I figured as much,” said Cole. “The manuscript mentioned something about it being one-way. I’m not sure what we’ll find up ahead but the manuscript says something about a caretaker.”

“Any idea what this caretaker is?” Paige asked.

“None whatsoever,” said Cole. “Just that whomever – or whatever – it is will act as a guide. It should be able to tell us if Lawrence is here all ready.”

“Well, lead on,” said Piper.

Cole turned and began to walk down the passageway. Everyone else followed ready for an attack at any time. They walked for nearly thirty minutes when they suddenly came to a large cavern with a vaulted ceiling. The passageway led into the cavern for several feet and then terminated in a large opening that filled the center of the chamber.

“Well, looks like we found the Juncture,” said Phoebe.

“Quite right.”

They all turned to see who had spoken. Standing several feet from them at the side of the cavern was a figure dressed in gray robes with its arms folded inside its robes. The robes it was wearing had the hood drawn so it was impossible to tell who – or what – the figure was.

“Welcome to the Juncture,” said the figure. “We are honored to have the famous Charmed Ones visit us.”

[noazmale]

EIGHT

“Who are you?” Piper demanded. “And how do you know who we are?”

“I am the Caretaker,” said the figure. “As for knowing who you are, I know everything about this place. Including the honored visitors we have. The Charmed Ones, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. Their White Lighter, Leo Wyatt. Cole Turner, formerly known as Belthazor. And a human named Chase Parker. Again, welcome to the Juncture.”

“How do you know so much?” Paige asked.

“As I said, I am the Caretaker. It is my responsibility to know such things.”

“Well, if you know who we are then you must know why we’re here,” said Cole.

“Of course,” said the Caretaker. “You come in search of the items placed in our safe-keeping by Shavak Sier. Three ancient tomes of great power.”

“Okay, you seem to know everything,” said Phoebe. “Care to tell us where these three books are?”

“They are on your journey ahead,” said the Caretaker. “My function is to assist you in anyway I can. Anyway in which you cannot help yourself, of course.”

“Of course,” said Piper. “No reason to think this was going to be easy.”

“There would be no sense in giving you aid if you could perform a function yourself,” said the Caretaker. “You have the Voynich Manuscript with you. It will provide you with most of the information you will need.”

“We’re also looking for someone else who may have come here,” said Cole. “Lawrence Greggson. We have reason to believe he may be coming here after the three Grimoires, too.”

“You said your objective were the three books you are seeking,” said the Caretaker. “Your path will lead you to what you are seeking: nowhere else.”

“You can’t tell us if he’s here or not?” Phoebe asked.

“My purpose is to set you on the course for your destination,” said the Caretaker, pointing to an opening in the wall on the other side of the chasm. “If you seek the tomes, that is where you will be led. If you seek another individual who has entered the Juncture, it will lead you there.”

“Where did that come from?” Chase asked. “It wasn’t there when we entered this chamber.”

“You get used to it,” said Piper. “It appears we have to concentrate on the grimoires instead of Greggson. So I guess Leo can orb us over there.”

“That won’t be possible,” said the Caretaker. “This chamber is specially enchanted. It prevents the use of magic while inside it. Neither your White Lighter nor Mr. Turner will be capable of transporting you across the chasm.”

“That’s just great,” said Paige. “Just how do we get to that side of the chasm?”

“Faith,” said the Caretaker.

“Faith?” questioned Leo. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just as it implies,” said the Caretaker. “The path lies before you. It simply takes faith to follow that path. I’m confident you will prove adequate to the task.”

“Assuming we do manage to figure out a way across that chasm, what are we going to find on the other side?” Piper asked.

“Whatever it is that you expect to find,” said the Caretaker.

“We expect to find all three Grimoires,” said Cole.

“Then you shall not be disappointed,” said the Caretaker.

“And you won’t tell us how to get across this chasm without magic?” Leo questioned.

“Faith,” said the Caretaker, “as I said.”

“You speak in riddles,” said Paige.

“I answer your questions in the way best suited for you to understand,” said the Caretaker. “You have but to open your ears and listen to understand.”

“Like I said, riddles,” said Paige.

“There is nothing further I can tell you,” said the Caretaker. “Your journey begins here.”

“Hey, we have a few more questions for you,” said Piper.

“You have been told all you need to know,” said the Caretaker. “Further questions would be fruitless. I wish you success in your journey.”

Suddenly the Caretaker simply vanished from the chamber.

“Well he was a lot of help,” said Phoebe. “So, anyone have any ideas how to get across this chasm?”

“I’m at a loss,” said Phoebe. “It has to be at least thirty feet across. Too far for any of us to jump. And if what the Caretaker says is true Leo won’t be able to orb us across.”

“The Caretaker said the path lies before us,” said Piper. “What does that mean?”

“I guess it means our path is through that passage on the other side of this chasm,” said Leo, looking over the edge of the chasm. “It looks like a long way down.” He picked up a small stone from the floor and dropped it over the edge. They all waited for the sound of the stone striking the floor below. A sound that never came. “Well, looks like going that way isn’t an option.”

“Maybe there’s a side passage in the corridor we just came down,” suggest Paige. “All we have to do is backtrack and with a little luck. . . “

Her voice trailed off as they all turned to see that the passage they had just come down was gone. Even the opening they had come through was gone. There was no indication that the opening had even existed.

“Okay, so going back is out of the question,” said Piper. “Anyone have any ideas?”

“The Caretaker said to get to the other side of that chasm took faith,” said Cole. “That implies there is a way to get there.”

“I’m not seeing a way,” said Phoebe. “If it wasn’t for this ledge we’d all be at the bottom of that chasm right now.”

“Maybe that’s it,” said Paige.

“What do you mean?” Chase asked.

“It’s something I heard once,” said Paige. “When I was a kid. My mom had the television on and one of those televangelists was taking about Faith.”

“You used to watch televangelists?” Piper asked.

“My mom did sometimes,” she said. “Anyway, I don’t remember the exact passage he quoted but there was a verse from the Bible. He said that the verse meant that faith was believing in something you can’t see or feel or touch. Maybe that’s what the Caretaker meant. The way across the chasm is not something we can see.”

“Well, that’s as clear as mud,” said Chase. “How do we use this way across if we can’t find it.”

“Maybe we don’t have to,” said Cole. “Remember what I said about the Juncture? Part of it involves illusions that can be just as real as any reality.”

“So you’re saying this chasm in front of us is just an illusion?” Leo asked.

“Not exactly,” said Cole, stepping up to the edge of the chasm. “There’s one way to find out. If I’m right, then we should be able to just walk right across this.”

“Are you crazy?” Piper asked. “You aren’t going to step into that chasm are you? You have no way of knowing just how deep that thing is.”

“And I can’t be hurt, remember?” Cole questioned. “There has to be a bottom to it down there somewhere. It might be a long climb back up but at least we’ll know if my idea is right. And in the mean time the rest of you can explore other ways to get across.”

“What other ways?” Chase questioned. “There doesn’t seem to be any way across it.”

“There has to be a way across,” said Cole. “And the way I see it, this is the best option we have.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Phoebe questioned.

“Then you won’t have to worry about me bothering you any more,” said Cole.

Smiling he stepped out over the edge of the chasm.

[noazmale]

NINE

Everyone stared at Cole as he appeared to be standing in midair over the chasm. There was no apparent support for him but he didn’t fall into the chasm.

“See,” said Cole. “All you have to do is have faith.”

“Faith in what?” Phoebe asked. “There’s nothing there.”

“Nothing you can see,” said Cole. “My guess is that if you believe you can walk across the chasm then the magic of this place will allow you to do so.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” said Piper, looking over the edge of the chasm.

“So, you’re saying the chasm is only an illusion?” Chase questioned.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Cole. “The bridge spanning it is. Remember, I told you that in the Juncture illusion can be as real as reality. The caretaker said it took faith to cross this chasm. If you believe you can cross it then you can. All you have to do is believe in it.”

“And if we don’t believe?” Paige questioned.

“It’s a long way down,” said Cole. “Look at me. I believe in the magic of the Juncture. I know that it will help me cross this pit and the invisible bridge proves it. All you have to do is believe in it.”

“I don’t know,” said Piper. “It doesn’t seem all that reasonable.”

“Well, if he says that’s the way it works then I guess he’s right,” said Chase. “And we can’t stand here all day.”

Cautiously he stepped over the edge of the chasm. He took only a couple of steps and stood on the invisible bridge next to Cole. He stamped his feet a couple of times and it did appear he was standing on a solid surface.

“Well,” said Phoebe, “we’ve seen magic do some pretty incredible things. I suppose it’s possible that Cole is right.”

“Just believe you can cross the chasm and you will,” said Cole.

Phoebe looked at the others and then cautiously stepped to the edge of the pit. She hesitated momentarily and the closed her eyes. With all the conviction in her she stepped over the edge of the pit. Cole stood ready to catch her in case her faith should not prove enough. Thankfully his help was not needed. She stepped out over the chasm and stood next to Cole and Chase.

“Well, it seems he was right,” said Phoebe.

One by one, Piper, Paige, and finally Leo stepped out onto the chasm. Spurred on with each new success they eventually all stood in the center of the pit, standing on the invisible bridge. Quickly they crossed to the other side and stood on the ledge in front of passage that lay beyond.

“What do you think we’ll find down there?” Paige asked.

“Well, it stands to reason there will be some kind of test,” said Chase. “Just what that test will be I don’t know. But you can bet it won’t be easy.”

“It could be just about anything,” said Cole. “Traditionally those kinds of tests are meant to prove that the person is worthy. We may have to fight our way through or it might be a test of intelligence or ingenuity. Or it could be a combination of the two.”

“That sounds reasonable,” said Piper. “If the tome is as powerful as you say and the Ancients intended to protect it from being found you can bet it isn’t going to be easy.”

“We’d better get moving,” said Leo. “Every minute lets Greggson get that much farther ahead. If we’re going to stop him we need to get going.”

Cautiously the six began to walk down the passage that lay ahead. It seemed to stretch forever and the light, which seemed to come from nowhere, only lighted their way for several feet ahead. As they walked down the passage they braced themselves for the attack they all felt must surely come at any moment.

They walked for what seemed to be hours. There were no passageways branching off from the one they were traveling and all they could do was continue forward. Occasionally Cole would stop momentarily and check the walls on either side. It was, he said, to see if there were any secret or hidden passages that led off the main passage. But each time he found nothing.

“How long does this go on? Paige asked. “We’ve been walking forever.”

“It might be only an illusion,” said Cole. “In here it’s hard to tell the difference between reality and illusion. But it won’t last forever. The caretaker said we’d find what we were looking for along this passage. It stands to reason there’s something ahead.”

“Well, I’m with Paige,” said Piper. “If we don’t find something soon I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“I’m sure we’ll find something just ahead,” said Chase. “As long as we’ve been traveling we have to be getting close to something.”

“Like that?” questioned Phoebe, pointing ahead of them.

They all looked ahead and saw what looked like an opening ahead. It opened into a larger chamber than the passage they were currently walking through. As they walked up to the opening Cole, who was in the lead, stopped just short of the chamber ahead.

“We’d better be careful,” said Cole. “According to the manuscript some of the chambers are trapped. I don’t think it would be a good idea if we just walked straight in there.”

“What do we do?” Leo asked.

Cole bent down and picked up a rock from the passage floor. He glanced at the others and then tossed the rock through the passage into the chamber beyond. As the rock passed through the opening electrical charges shot out from the opening disintegrating the stone.

“Good thing we didn’t just walk in,” said Phoebe. “Any idea how to get around that trap?”

“Maybe we could overload it?” suggest Paige. “Short it out somehow.”

“I don’t think so,” said Chase. “From the way Cole and Leo talked this place has some powerful magic in it. Whatever magic is used must be replenished as it’s used up.”

“What if we just believed we couldn’t be hurt?” Piper asked. “Like with that invisible bridge over the pit. If we believe that trap won’t hurt us maybe it won’t.”

“No, that would be too easy,” said Cole. “I think it’s a safe bet that no solution will work twice in this place. The Ancients were very ingenious and devious. It wouldn’t be like them to repeat themselves.”

“So what do we do?” Leo asked.

“Chase, let me see the manuscript again,” said Cole.

Chase handed the manuscript to Cole. Cole looked through several pages and then settled on one particular page. He read it for several moments.

“It says,” he said, “that to avoid the power from the clouds that we should use the magic of origins. Lightning is normally produced during storms. Static electricity is discharged in the form of lightning. I think that’s what is meant by the power from the clouds.”

“And you said it was the Ancients who were using the magic that was originally created by the Old Ones,” said Phoebe. “That must be what it means by the magic of origins.”

“And all we have to do is use the magic of the Ancients to overcome it,” said Piper. “That’s great. It’s a catch 22. We can’t get passed the trap without the magic of the Ancients and we can’t get to that magic until we pass this trap.”

“Not necessarily,” said Cole. “The power of the Ancients is contained in the tome. But it doesn’t become magic until it’s used. Magic is the form that power takes when a spell is cast.”

“The manuscript,” said Chase. “You said it had a spell cast on it to make the symbols change. Maybe, somehow, the manuscript will overcome the magic of the trap.”

“That makes sense,” said Leo. “To protect against the power of the Ancients it’s just natural that you’d need the magic of the Ancients. But the question is how do we do it? How do we use the manuscript to avoid the trap?”

“Maybe we don’t,” suggested Phoebe. “Cole said the manuscript said to avoid the power of the clouds, not the trap itself. Maybe the magic of the manuscript provides some kind of shield from the lightning attacks.”

“Well, maybe it absorbs the lightning,” said Paige. “While the manuscript is absorbing the lightning we can get through the doorway.”

“Maybe,” said Cole. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

He took a page from the manuscript and laid it on the floor. Then he pushed the page across the floor into the entryway beyond. As soon as the page entered the entryway the lightning again began to shoot throughout the opening. As they watched a curious thing happened. The page remained untouched. Instead of striking the page the lightning seemed to be deflected around it.

“Well, that’s interesting,” said Cole. “It seems that the magic of the page is deflecting the lightning.”

“If that’s true,” said Chase, “then we should be able to just walk through the opening. If we each hold part of the manuscript then the lightning should be deflected around us.”

“That makes sense,” said Leo. “Holding the manuscript should cause the magic contained in it to affect us.”

“Then we’d better get going,” said Cole. He divided the manuscript into several sections and handed a section to each of the others. “I’ll go first. Just in case it doesn’t work the way we think. If I make it through okay then it should be safe for the rest of you to come through.”

Cautiously he stepped up to the opening. He hesitated for a moment and then, holding part of the manuscript in one hand, stepped into the opening. Just as before the lightning shot out covering the opening. But just as they had predicted it didn’t touch Cole. The lightning seemed to be deflected around him. Cole bent down and picked up the single page lying on the floor and then stepped into the room. He glanced around to make sure it was safe and then turned back to the others.

“Leo, you should go next,” he said.

“Why?” Leo asked.

“Remember, the manuscript is written in demonese,” said Cole. “It’s possible the magic of the manuscript protected me because of that. Since no one else has demonic DNA it’s also possible the magic won’t protect them. As a White Lighter the trap can’t hurt you permanently. But it will tell us if a non-demon is protected by the manuscript.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Piper asked. “It could kill him.”

“No, he’s right,” said Leo. “I’m the most logical choice to go through next. If it doesn’t work I’ll be okay. If it does then you and the others can follow me through.”

“Just be careful,” said Piper. “The baby needs her father.”

“I will,” promised Leo.

Holding his share of the manuscript Leo stepped into the opening. Just as with Cole the lightning was deflected around Leo causing him no harm. One by one they each passed through the opening unharmed as they held their portion of the manuscript.

“Looks like we were right,” said Chase, collecting all the pieces of the manuscript. “The magic of these Ancients seems to have protected us against the power of that trap.”

“I wouldn’t count on it again,” said Cole. “As I said it’s not likely that any solution will work twice. So far we’ve been lucky.”

“But Greggson didn’t have the manuscript with him,” said Phoebe. “And the caretaker admitted that he was ahead of us. How was he able to bypass the trap without getting electrocuted.”

“It’s possible there is more than one way around the trap,” suggested Chase. “It would seem there would have to be for him to get through.”

“Maybe,” said Cole. “At any rate we’ve gotten this far. Let’s see what’s in store for us next.”

They all looked around the cavern they were in. It appeared to be about thirty foot square with a ceiling that was about fifteen feet over their heads. As they looked around they noticed that the passage they had just come through had mysteriously vanished behind them.

“Looks like the Ancients didn’t want us backtracking,” said Paige.

To their left were two doors on the far wall. They looked like ordinary wooden doors, each with a single handle. Inscribed on the wall between the two doors were several lines. They all read what was inscribed on the wall.

Your path lies before you.
Choose you the right door to continue your quest.
One door leads to death. The other to life.
One door leads to sadness. The other to happiness.
One door leads to poverty. The other to wealth.
One door leads to damnation. The other to salvation.
One door leads to your doom. The other to your prize.
Your path lies before you.

“Well that’s just great,” said Piper. “After all we’ve been through and now they’re giving us riddles? So which is the right door?”

They all stared at the doors wondering the exact same thing.

[noazmale]

TEN

“Well,” said Cole, checking both doors for the third time, “they appear to be identical. Even down to the wood grain pattern in them. There’s absolutely no difference between the two.”

“So how do we figure out which is the correct door?” Phoebe asked. “If I’m reading that riddle properly one of the doors will lead us to what we’re looking for. The other one, presumably, will kill us. Can’t say I like the choices.”

“We can’t go back,” said Paige. “I guess all we can do is go on ahead. Which means we have to choose one of the doors. But which one?”

“Why don’t we just open them both and see where they lead?” suggested Chase, moving toward the right door.

“I wouldn’t do that,” said Cole, stopping him. “The riddle says to choose a door. Once we open one that will constitute a choice. We might not be able to open the other door. Which means we have to make sure we open the right one first.”

“So just how do we figure out which one is the right door?” Leo asked.

“That’s a very good question,” said Cole. “As I said, both doors look exactly the same. They open the same way and the handle and hinges are identical. There has to be some way to tell which is the door we need. But I’m at a loss.”

“Could one of the doors be an illusion?” Phoebe asked.

“It’s possible,” said Cole. “The trouble is there isn’t any indication which is an illusion if one of them is.”

“Maybe there is,” said Paige. “Two doors to choose, one path to follow. Show us the way that we seek.”

They all waited patiently but nothing happened.

“Well,” said Piper, “either they’re both real or the spell didn’t work. You did say that magic worked differently here.”

“Sometimes not at all,” said Cole. “There’s just no way of knowing how it will affect any particular individual.”

“So what do we do now?” Chase asked. “We can’t just sit here forever. We can’t go back so we have to go forward. Why not just pick a door?”

“That’s not a good idea,” said Leo. “You all know how dangerous magic can be. If we pick the wrong door it could be fatal. For all of us.”

“Well, except you and Cole,” said Piper. “You’re a White Lighter and Cole is virtually invulnerable.”

“Not necessarily,” said Leo. “As Cole said this place affects people differently. It’s possible that my immortality and Cole’s new powers won’t be enough to protect us.”

“Which brings us back to our primary problem,” said Cole. “Which door do we choose?”

After casting the spell, Paige had been busily studying the engraving on the wall between the doors. She stared at it intently as if trying to burn the image into her mind. Suddenly her face lit up.

“That’s it,” she exclaimed. “Of course. The answer has been staring us straight in the face all the time. I guess it was so obvious we just couldn’t see it.”

“See what?” Piper asked.

“The answer,” said Paige. “It’s the right door. The one on the right. That’s the door we have to go through.”

“Are you sure?” Phoebe asked.

“Positive,” said Paige.

“Well, if we’re going through it we’d better hurry,” said Cole.

They all saw him staring across the room. As they looked to see what he was staring at they the sight chilled them. The far wall was steadily moving toward them shrinking the size of the room as it moved.

“I’d suggest we get a move on it,” said Cole. “At the speed that wall is moving I don’t think we have more than a minute or so before it reaches this side of the room. And I don’t think any of us want to be in here when it does.”

“Come on,” said Paige, pulling the door on the right open.

Quickly they all followed her through the door. Leo was the last to pass through the door and just as he pulled the door closed behind him the wall from the other side of the room moved over the place where the had been standing only moments before. He had no sooner gotten the door closed than they all heard the opposite wall impact the wall with the doors on it with a resounding “thud”.

Beyond the door was a passageway similar to the one they had followed to the room with doors. As before the area immediately where they stood seemed to be illuminated by some unknown and unseen light source. There was no book but neither was there the deathtrap they had all imagined.

“How did you know?” Piper asked Paige. “How did you know the door on the right was the right one?”

“Because the engraving on the wall told us it was,” said Paige. “Remember? It said choose the right door. And those lines below it. One door leads to death. The other leads to life. One door leads to sadness. The other to happiness. And so on. All of the bad things were on the left side while the good things were on the right side. It just made sense that the right door was the right door.”

“You took a big risk,” said Phoebe. “Opening that was a desperate gamble. If it had been the wrong door. . .”

“But it wasn’t,” said Paige. “And the way I saw it, we didn’t have much of a choice. We had to pick one of the doors and we didn’t have a lot of time to do it. But I was convinced I was right. I’m just glad I was.”

“So are we, little sister,” said Piper, hugging Paige. “Lucky for us you were able to figure out the clues they left behind for us.”

“I wonder what was behind the other door?” Chase asked.

“Something not very pleasant, I’ll wager,” said Cole. “Remember, the engraving said we’d die if we went through it. I hesitate to think of what kind of death it would have been. The Ancients could be extremely sadistic, according to some legends.”

“You thing Greggson picked the right door?” Leo asked.

“Well,” said Cole, “that’s hard to say. He was very intelligent. I think we have to assume that he did. That way we’ll be prepared in case we meet up with him farther on. If he didn’t pick the right door we won’t have anything to worry about from him. Either way I think it’s best to be prepared for him.”

“Let’s go,” said Piper. “With any luck the books we’re looking for are just ahead.”

The group began to cautiously make their way down the passageway. No one knew what to expect, not even Cole. Even though they had the Voynich Manuscript to guide them he had told them it was far from complete. And the references it had made to the obstacles they would encounter were, for the most part, not complete.

They walked for nearly ten minutes when they came to another chamber. As before they stopped just short of the opening to the chamber. Cole picked up another stone from the floor of the cavern and tossed it through the opening. This time, however, nothing happened. After a few minutes they all decided it was probably safe to enter the chamber.

As they entered the chamber they saw a small ledge protruding from the back wall of the chamber. On the wall sat three large books. From all appearances the books appeared to be identical.

On the wall to their left was an opening leading to a passageway out of the chamber. When they entered the chamber the passage behind them vanished just as the previous ones had vanished. They were now trapped in the chamber with only one way out.

“Well, it seems we’ve found what we were looking for,” said Piper. “The three books we need to summon this Shushaun so we can get the Golden Grimoire.”

“I don’t think so,” said Cole. “According to all references, the Grand Grimoire, the Grimoire Arcanarum, and the Necronomicon are totally different books. That would imply that each would be distinctively different from the other two. Those three books all look to be the same. My guess is that only one of the books is real. The other two would be fakes.”

“Oh, that’s just great,” said Piper. “After everything we’ve been through and we don’t even get all three books? Not to mention that we have no idea which one of those books is the real one?”

“Well, the power contained in the Golden Grimoire is the most potent magic ever to exist,” said Cole. “Putting the other three grimoires together is the key to finding it. It wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to put all thee keys together in the same place.”

“I guess so,” said Piper. “So, how do we figure out which one of those books is the real one?”

“I guess the first thing to do is take a look at them,” said Phoebe. “There might be something on one of them that will identify which is the real book.”

“Just no one touch them,” said Cole. “There doesn’t seem to be any traps in the room but I wouldn’t rule out the books being trapped.”

Cautiously the six walked over to the ledge to inspect the three books on the shelf.

[noazmale]

ELEVEN

All of the books looked virtually identical. They weren’t as big as the Book of Shadows, but all looked to be at least as old. They were leather bound with metal tips on each corner. Inscribed across the front of the book were strange symbols that only Cole was able to read. The book was a dark brown color.

“It says ‘Arcanum Ianus ’,” he said. “That translates loosely as ‘Grimoire Arcanarum’. So one of these appears to be one of the books we’re looking for.”

“Yeah, but which one?” Paige asked. “They all appear to be the same.”

“Not exactly,” said Leo. “Look at the corner protectors on the books. One appears to be made of gold, another one appears to be made of silver, and the third one appears to be made of bronze or something. But other than that I don’t see any difference in the three books.”

“Neither do I,” said Chase. “You think the corner protectors mean anything?”

“I’d bet on it,” said Cole. “The metal corners were designed to protect the corners of a book which usually were the first part of a book that began to fray and come apart. What we have to do now is figure out which material the Ancients would have used to protect the corners of the grimoire.”

“ That’s easy,” said Phoebe. “The gold ones. This is supposed to be one of the most powerful magical books in history, right? It just stands to reason they’d make it as decorative as possible. And that they’d use the most expensive material they could find. So it has to be the one with the gold corner protectors.”

“Not necessarily,” said Chase. “Gold would have been a decorative addition to the grimoire. But it would make more sense that they’d use the sturdiest material they could find to protect the book. While gold is very decorative bronze is a much stronger metal. It makes more sense to me that they’d use the bronze for protective reasons instead of the gold.”

“Let me see the manuscript,” said Cole.

Chase handed the manuscript to Cole. Cole looked through several pages and then pulled out one of the pages. He looked it over carefully before speaking.

“According to this,” he said, “Shavak Sier said that the tips of the book are protected by the rays from the sun. Now that could be a euphemism for some type of magic on it but I think it’s in reference to the corner protectors. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to magic only the corner protectors. So I think it’s in reference to the corner protectors on the book.”

“That makes sense,” said Leo. “It stands to reason that Shavak Sier would leave clues in the manuscript considering he left the manuscript for someone to find the books. And if the manuscript says the sun if protecting the corner protectors that must mean it’s the one with the gold tips. The sun is yellow and the gold is yellow gold. That has to be the answer.”

“No, it’s not,” said Paige. “Cole said the manuscript said the tips are protected by the rays from the sun. It’s not talking about the sun itself but the light it produces. The sun may be yellow but the light rays are white. That would mean it would have to be the book with the silver tips. Silver is the closest thing to white.”

“She has a point,” said Piper. “I don’t think the wording that Shavak Sier put in that manuscript was arbitrary. He would probably have spent a lot of time figuring out just the right words to use in the manuscript. Enough to help figure out where the books are.”

“And maybe enough to mislead someone who wasn’t smart enough to figure out the clues,” said Cole.

“What do you mean?” Chase asked.

“Think about it,” said Cole. “We were all centering on the gold and bronze ones. And we had very good reason to consider both of them. But we never even considered the silver ones. I’m betting that’s what Shavak Sier had in mind. That whomever had the manuscript would discount the silver ones because the gold and bronze ones seemed to be the more logical choices.”

“So it was a misdirection,” said Leo. “To fool anyone who wasn’t paying close enough attention to the clues.”

“Yes, I do,” said Cole. “Remember, the Ancients were a very intelligent race. I think it’s very likely they would leave information with just enough truth to figure out what they meant while misleading someone who was in too much of a hurry to analyze the clues. If a demon had gotten hold of this information most of them would have been in such a hurry to get the Golden Grimoire they would be convinced they had figured out the clues properly.”

“A demon did get hold of the information,” said Leo. “Greggson, remember?”

“Lawrence is only half demon,” said Cole, “like me. And he’s smart enough to figure out that the clues can be misleading. He’d be very careful to make sure he had figured things out before making a move.”

“So it’s possible that none of these are the Grimoire Arcanarum,” said Phoebe. “If he figured it out as we did all of these might be fakes.”

“That’s a possibility,” said Cole. “But it doesn’t make sense that this obstacle would still be here if he had taken the Arcanarum. There would be no need for it if the book wasn’t here any longer.”

“So that means that Greggson must be dead,” said Phoebe. “If he’s ahead of us and he hasn’t gotten this far that means he was killed earlier on.”

“Not necessarily,” said Leo. “According to all of our information, the Juncture is different for each person. It’s possible that he’s been going through his own tests and just hasn’t made it this far yet.”

“Leo’s right,” said Cole. “The magic of the Juncture conforms itself to those who enter it. So it’s very possible that we’ve passed Lawrence somewhere along the way.”

“Okay,” said Phoebe, “so have we decided on the silver one? Other than the tips on the corners there’s no indication which of the books is real and which ones are fake.”

“Well, I agree with Paige and Piper,” said Leo. “And what Cole said about Shavak Sier misleading whomever has the manuscript makes sense. I say it’s the one with the silver tips.”

Cole stepped in front of the book with the silver tips.

“Unless anyone has any objections. . .” he began.

No one said a word. Cole reached up and picked up the book with the silver corner protectors. As he lifted the book off the shelf the other two books simply vanished.

“Well, looks like we’re stuck with this one, right or wrong,” said Cole. He turned to Chase. “You seem to be our resident expert on ancient writings. Why don’t you authenticate it for us.”

“I’ll do my best,” said Chase. “I can’t promise anything. What little I know about the Grimoire Arcanarum may not be enough to decide if it’s real or not.”

“You should at least be able to determine it’s age,” said Cole. “Or at least an approximate age for it. That’s one place to begin.”

Chase took the grimoire and began to look through it. He carefully examined the cover and spine before he opened it. With the book open he began to examine the pages, running his hands over the pages. After several minutes he closed the book and handed it back to Cole.

“Well,” he said, “I can’t be sure without some tests, but it appears to be several hundred years old. The binding and the paper seem consistent with early productions of hand-written texts. The cover is very old but appears to be in extremely good shape. From what I can tell this book is apparently as old as the Arcanarum is supposed to be.”

Cole opened book and scanned through several pages.

“I’d have to agree with Chase,” he said. “Just like the Voynich Manuscript there’s an enchantment on the pages to subtly alter the writing but the basic writing is essentially unaffected. There seem to be some extremely complicated spells and incantations for summoning some kinds of beings. If the legends are true they’re beings we don’t want to summon. All of them would be thoroughly evil and probably uncontrollable.”

“So that’s it then,” said Piper. “If it takes all three books to summon this Shushaun then as long as we have this one book he can’t be summoned. All we have to do is put this one where no one can get it and the Golden Grimoire will never be found. We can go home now.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” said Cole. “When we came in here we came after all three books. The magic of the Juncture would have conformed to that quest. Which means as long as we don’t have all three books there’s no way to get out of here.”

“Oh, that’s nice to know,” said Phoebe. “So we have to go on with this whether we want to or not.”

“I’m afraid so,” said Cole. “So the sooner we get on with it the sooner we can find a way out of here.”

“I thought you said no one ever left this place,” said Piper.

“There’s a first time for everything,” said Leo. “At any rate Cole is right. We still have two more books to find. I think it’s best if we get on with it.”

Cole put the grimoire in the backpack he was carrying. Together the six turned and entered the passageway leading out of the chamber.

[noazmale]

TWELVE

As they walked through the passageway the all felt a little better about their quest. Even if they didn’t find the other two grimoires they had the first one. Which meant that no one, not Greggson nor anyone else, could summon Shushaun. At least the Golden Grimoire would be safe even if they couldn’t get it.

After walking for nearly ten minutes they noticed the passageway turned to the right just ahead. They cautiously made their way to the turn in the passageway and Cole peered around the corner. Seeing only a passage beyond, the party turned the corner and continued on. About ten minutes later they came to another chamber. Cole checked by tossing a stone through the opening but found the opening untrapped.

As they entered the chamber they noticed this one was different from the rest of the chambers and passages they had been in. Up until that point it had appeared the entire area had been cut from solid rock. This chamber, however, appeared to have been built. The walls appeared to be comprised of stone block cemented together. The ceiling in the room was twenty feet above their heads.

To the left was another passage leading out of the chamber. The passage, however, was nearly three times as wide as the passages they had just come through. It appeared to be more of a chamber than a passageway. It was nearly fifteen feet wide and the ceiling was ten feet high.

Instead of being comprised of stone this additional chamber seemed to be covered in small white tiles approximately one foot square. Lining the walls at a spacing of about two feet each were a series of pipes sticking out of the walls from ceiling to floor. In the back of the chamber was a small alcove with a podium. On the podium sat a book.

“Off hand,” said Cole, “I’d say that’s the second book we’re looking for.”

“So all we have to do is walk up and take it,” said Piper. “Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be quite that easy.”

“I think you’re right,” said Leo. “Those pipes don’t look promising. It looks like a trap to me.”

“But what type of trap, that’s the question,” said Piper.

“One way to find out,” said Cole.

He picked up a stone from the floor and tossed it through the opening into the outer room. As the stone struck the floor and clattered across it flames shot out of all the pipes. There was virtually no area of the room covered in the flames. They shot out for nearly five seconds and then suddenly subsided.

“Oh, that’s not good,” said Paige.

“Not at all,” said Chase. “Anyone stepping in that room would be incinerated nearly instantly.”

“There has to be a way through the room,” said Paige. “But I can’t see anything that might suggest how to do that.”

“The manuscript,” said Cole. “It mentioned something about seeing a pattern in the journey. It also said that Temple of Ignis shall be traversed by the man who can follow the path set behind him.”

“Temple of Ignis?” Paige asked. “What is that?”

“Ignis is a Latin word for fire,” said Leo. “That’s a pretty good description of the chamber in there.”

“Yes, it is,” said Cole. “But what I found strange about that particular passage was that it was written backwards. The words, even the letters were written in reverse. There was no explanation given for why it was written that way.”

“Written backwards?” Chase questioned. “That’s odd. Why would Shavak Sier write part of the passage backwards?”

“I don’t know,” said Cole. “But as Piper mentioned earlier, I don’t think the manuscript was written hastily. I believe, like she does, that he took great care in writing it. The reverse writing must mean something. I just don’t know what.”

“Okay,” said Piper. “There must be someway to disable the trap. This room is different from the rest of the caverns we’ve been passing through. There must be a reason for that. Now, why would the Ancients or whomever built this place build this room different from the rest?”

“There’s one reason I can think of,” said Paige. “You see it a lot in old movies and such. Rooms and even entire houses are built out of blocks like that and sometimes they hide secret panels or passageways behind them. Maybe there’s a hidden panel in here somewhere.”

“It’s worth a shot,” said Leo. “Everyone fan out. Check the walls for any sign that there’s a hidden panel or door.”

They all began to search around the walls. It didn’t take very long before Phoebe called out to the others. She was searching the wall opposite the open passage.

“There looks like the seam between two doors here,” she announced. “It looks like the stones are fitted together to conceal it but it’s obvious there’s a seam here.”

They all moved over and looked at the section of wall Phoebe had indicated. He saw the faint outline of what appeared to be a door running from the floor to the ceiling.

“She’s right,” said Leo. “It’s very faint but there’s definitely a seam here. There must be some way to open it.”

“Stand back,” said Cole. “I can get it open.”

They all moved across the room and Cole formed a fireball. He cast the weapon at the hidden door and the fireball exploded against the wall but caused no damage. He tried again twice more but none of the fireballs left even a mark on the wall.

“Well, that isn’t going to work,” he said. “Any other ideas?”

“What about a spell?” Piper asked. “Something to force the doors open?”

“It probably wouldn’t do any good,” said Leo. “If the Ancients hid that door they probably used their magic to protect it as well. There must be a lever or something that opens the door. Which means there may be a second secret panel in here somewhere. One that opens that door.”

“Okay, I guess we go back to searching,” said Piper.

They all went back to searching the walls again. After several minutes they had searched all four walls.

“Well, there’s no secret panel here except that hidden door,” said Paige. “We’ve searched every inch of all the walls and there’s nothing.”

“That’s not true,” said Piper, looking toward the ceiling. “We’ve only searched as high as we can reach. There’s still about ten feet above our heads that we haven’t searched yet.”

“You think they’d put a secret panel that high up?” Phoebe asked. “It would be nearly impossible to get to from down here.”

“And would be a very good safeguard against being found,” said Cole. “It would require the cooperation of more than one person to find it. And if someone came in after the books alone they wouldn’t be able to locate the panel by themselves.”

“Short of using magic,” said Phoebe. “I can levitate and Leo can fly. And I’m sure with all of Cole’s powers he has some way to get above the floor. What about Greggson? Did he have anything like levitation or something like that?”

“Not when I knew him,” said Cole. “But I haven’t seen him in decades. Since his father was a demon it’s very likely that he’s gained additional powers since I knew him. And there’s no way to determine what those powers could be. It’s possible he’s gained a power like levitation or something like that.”

“Well, at least we can search the upper parts of the walls,” said Piper. “I suggest the three of you see if there’s another secret panel above our heads that we can’t reach.”

The searching went slower this time. Piper, Paige, and Chase all had to simply stand and wait as Phoebe, Leo, and Cole used their powers to search the walls above their heads. After a short time Leo announced he had found something. They all watched as he pushed on the side of one of the stones, exposing a secret door as the face of the stone flipped open.

“There’s some kind of lever inside,” said Leo. “No writing or anything, just the lever.”

“Well, turn it,” said Piper. “With any luck it will open the secret door.”

“Or set off a trap,” said Cole. “There’s no indication that the lever activates the hidden door. For all we know it could set off another trap.”

“Well there doesn’t seem to be any more secret panels,” said Phoebe. “If it doesn’t open the hidden door how does the door open?”

“I just think we should take it slow, that’s all,” said Cole. “Chances are that lever opens the hidden door. I just don’t think we should go rushing in, that’s all.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Piper asked.

“I suggest we finish searching the walls,” said Cole. “Just to make sure.”

“It can’t hurt,” said Chase. “And Cole is right. That lever could set off a trap. Remember what Cole said? The Ancients were very careful. It could be we were meant to find that panel just so we’d jump to the conclusion we did.”

“Okay,” said Piper. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. A few more minutes won’t make much of a difference I guess.”

Phoebe, Leo, and Cole went back to searching the rest of the walls. After a few minutes they had finished and Phoebe and Cole stood on the floor next to Piper, Paige, and Chase. Cole, using his flying ability, hovered next to the secret panel with the lever in it.

“Well,” said Cole, “that seems to be the only hidden panel in the room. I guess its function is to open the secret door. Leo, might as well see if we’re right.”

Leo reached into the panel and began to turn the handle. At first it refused to budge, as if frozen in place from centuries of disuse. Then, slowly, it began to turn. Finally he turned the handle. As he did they all heard a loud scraping sound coming from the wall with the hidden panel. As Leo floated to the floor they all watched as the doors opened and slid back.

“What have we got?” Leo asked.

“It appears,” said Cole, stepping up to the open doors, “that we have a mirror.”

They all stared at the mirror that filled the area behind the hidden doors. Nothing else was behind the doors except the mirror which reflected all of them and the room beyond.

[noazmale]

THIRTEEN

“Well, this is interesting,” said Paige as she looked from the mirror to the other room and back again. “We have a mirror. Well that clears things up.”

“I don’t get it,” said Phoebe. “I thought there would be something behind those doors that would shut off the trap in the other room. What good is a mirror?”

“Maybe everything,” said Cole, looking from the mirror to the room and back again. He pointed at the reflection of the floor in the other room in the mirror. “Look at that.”

They all looked at the mirror. The floor reflected in the mirror was not an exact reflection of the floor in the room. The floor in the room consisted of the same white tiles as the rest of the room. But the reflection of that floor showed several tiles that were darker than the rest of the floor.

“What is that?” Piper asked. “A trick of the light?”

“No,” said Leo. “Cole said the manuscript said something about seeing a pattern in the journey. And that the Temple of Ignis could be crossed by someone who could follow the path set behind them. If you’re facing the adjoining room then the mirror would be behind us. And the mirror shows the pattern we need to follow to get through the room unharmed.”

“Exactly,” said Cole. “And the best way to follow that path is to move through the room backward and watching your reflection in the mirror.”

“Well that doesn’t sound so hard,” said Paige.

“It could be harder than you think,” said Chase. “You ever try to walk backward along a specific path using a mirror to guide your steps?”

“Well, no,” said Paige.

“I remember when I was a kid,” said Chase. “I used to help my dad with his construction company and sometimes I had to back a truck with a trailer hooked to it. I had to use the rearview mirror to back it in and I had some really serious problems with it. I kept turning the wrong direction.”

“This isn’t a truck with a trailer attached to it,” said Paige.

“No, but Chase does have a point,” said Cole. “It’s not the same thing as walking through a room forward. One mistake and you won’t get a second chance.”

“I don’t see we have much of a choice,” said Piper. “There are no other ways out of this room. If we want to get out of the Juncture we’re going to have to go through there.”

“What about me orbing them across?” Leo asked.

“Can you even orb?” Cole asked. “So far none of our powers seem to have been affected. But we haven’t tried all of them yet. It’s very possible that you’ll orb only part of the way across the room.”

“There’s one way to find out,” said Leo.

They all watched as Leo concentrated. Nothing happened.

“It seems I can’t orb,” said Leo. “At least not here. I’d bet the Ancients have put some kind of dampening field in the room to prevent orbing or any other type of magical movement.”

“Then I guess we don’t have a choice,” said Chase. “There seems to be only one way across that room. So, who’s going to go first?”

“I will,” said Cole. “I suggest we go across one at a time. That will prevent any accidents.”

They all watched as Cole stood in front of the adjoining room facing the mirror. Careful he watched himself in the mirror as he began to walk backward through the room. In a few moments he stood in the small alcove with the podium on it.

“Come on,” he said. “It’s not that difficult. Just take your time and be sure of your footing before you take a step.”

“Look at the reflection,” said Chase. “The path through the room has changed. It’s not the same as the one Cole took.”

“That shouldn’t make a difference,” said Cole. “Just make sure you follow the path reflected in the mirror.”

Piper was the next one to make the trek. About halfway through the room Cole called out for her to stop. He had been following her progress in the mirror making sure that she stepped on the darker tiles.

“Your left foot,” he said. “Remember, you have to step in the opposite direction than you normally would. Just like in the mirror, everything is reversed.”

“Thanks,” said Piper. “I don’t think I’d like the results if I stepped on the wrong tile.”

Eventually she made it across the room and stood next to Cole.

“It’s not that hard,” she said. “It’s just like Cole said. Just be careful where you step before you move.”

One by one the others began to make their way across the room. Everyone had crossed the room except Phoebe, who was about halfway across the trap when they all heard a scraping sound from the room they had just left. They all looked up to see the doors covering the mirror rapidly beginning to close.

“Hurry,” Cole cried out. “If those doors close before you get across we won’t be able to see the path through the room.”

Phoebe began to hurriedly follow the path through the room. Time was running out and she was worried that she’d never make it in time. She was nearly across the room when the doors covering the mirror closed completely leaving her about seven feet from the alcove. She stood in the room looking at the others.

“What do I do now?” she asked. “I’m not sure which of the tiles are the safe ones.”

“Jump,” said Leo. “It’s only a couple of feet. Jump as far as you can and we’ll pull you the rest of the way. With a little luck we’ll get you out of the room before the trap is activated.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” said Phoebe. “You’re not the one about to be flambéed.”

Cole moved to the alcove directly opposite Phoebe.

“Leo is right,” said Cole. “Jump as far as you can. I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt. I still have my demonic strength. I can get you out of the room before the flames reach you.”

Phoebe looked at Cole. Since coming back from the Wasteland he had done everything he could to prove to her he had changed. She knew that would never happen but she also knew if he was trying that hard then he would also protect here as best he could.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Trust me,” he said. “Despite everything that’s happened in the past I still don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Phoebe looked at the others. She really didn’t have any choice. It was too far for her walk and one wrong step would activate the trap. She was out of options.

“Okay,” she said. “On three. One. Two. Three.”

As she said “three” she jumped toward the alcove. She nearly made the distance. As she landed on the floor just outside the alcove, Cole reached out and grabbed her. As the flames shot into the room, he pulled her in past the others.

Phoebe appeared to be unharmed. Cole had been able to get her out of the room before the flames had reached her. But he hadn’t been as fast as he thought. As he pulled Phoebe into the alcove, flames began to consume the jacket he was wearing. He quickly pulled the jacked off and used it to smother the flames that were also beginning to burn his shirt sleeve. Within seconds he had extinguished the flames.

“Are you okay?” Piper asked Phoebe.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Phoebe. “I guess Cole was right. His strength was enough to get me out of danger.”

“Not quite fast enough,” said Cole, pulling his partially burned sleeve up. “It seems I didn’t get my arm out of the room fast enough. At least we’re past the trap. We don’t’ have to worry about it any more.”

“Your suit is ruined,” said Chased. “It looks expensive.”

“It was,” said Cole. “But I have others. And it was for a good cause. Phoebe’s safe.”

“You’re hurt,” said Paige looking at Cole’s arm. Cole’s arm showed signs of being burned. It didn’t look serious but it was obvious the flames had burned more than his suit.

“It’s nothing,” said Cole. “It barely burned me. But it does tell me one thing. My invulnerability doesn’t function here. That’s going to change the complexion of the rest of our journey. We can’t rely on me being unharmed by whatever else we encounter here.”

“At least we’re past the trap,” said Piper. “And we seem to have another book. Which one do you think it is?”

They looked at the book sitting on the pedestal. It appeared to be similar to the Grimoire Arcanarum. Instead of brown this one was a dull gray color. It had the same silver corner protectors as the Arcanarum and inscribed across the front were the symbols similar to those on the first book.

“It says ‘mortuus liber libri’,” said Chase. “It’s Latin. Roughly it means ‘Book of the Dead’.”

“That would make it the Necronomicon,” said Cole. “It supposedly holds great secrets about death that have been lost to humanity for millennia.”

“Thinks like bringing the dead back to life,” said Piper.

“Among other things,” said Cole. “Although I wouldn’t suggest trying to use any of the spells or rituals contained in this book. They were considered complicated by even the Ancients and it was claimed that only the most accomplished of them would even attempt to use them. If they aren’t performed exactly right they’ll destroy whomever is attempting to use them.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound very pleasant,” said Paige.

“Are we sure it’s real?” Leo questioned.

“Only one way to find out,” said Cole, lifting the book off the pedestal. As he lifted the book a panel in the back alcove slid open revealing a passage beyond. “Well, it appears we’ve found a way out of here. Now, let’s see if this is the real thing.”

Just as before Chase examined the book thoroughly. After a few moments he announced that it appeared to be nearly identical to the Arcanarum they had found earlier. And Cole said the writing was being magically altered, just as with the Voynich Manuscript and the Arcanarum.

“Two down, one to go,” said Paige. “Looks like there’s only one way to go.”

Cole picked up the tome and put it in the backpack with the Arcanarum. Together the group turned and walked down the passageway to find the third, and final, tome.

[elenarae]

Absolutely wonderfully written. I am really enjoying and eagerly anticipating this story!

Bravo!

[noazmale]

FOURTEEN

The passage seemed to continue on forever. As before, there were no openings or passages branching off and there was only one way for them to go. They walked in silence hoping that the final leg of their journey would end quickly and they could return home soon. Finally they came to an open passage that appeared to lead into a larger, very dark chamber. After testing to see if the passage was safe they stood outside the chamber.

“Well, this doesn’t look good,” said Paige. “There’s no way of knowing how large that chamber is or what’s waiting inside for us.”

“Maybe there is,” said Cole. He raised his hand and a ball of light formed in the palm. “It’s not dangerous but it should illuminate at least part of the room.”

He stood in front of the passage and tossed the ball of light into the room. Just as the light ball passed the opening into the room it was immediately extinguished.

“Okay, I don’t like this,” said Piper. “It appears that magic doesn’t work in this chamber. That can’t be good.”

“So what do we do?” Phoebe asked. “There could be anything waiting in there for us. And we can’t just stand out here waiting forever.”

“Maybe Leo should go in first,” Cole suggested.

“Are you crazy?” Piper asked. “For all we know there’s some horrible beast waiting in the darkness that would tear him apart the second he steps in the room.”

“He also is incapable of being permanently harmed,” said Cole.

“Your invulnerability isn’t working here,” said Piper. “What makes you think his would work any better?”

“Because my invulnerability is because of the powers I acquired in the Wasteland,” said Cole. “Leo is a White Lighter. It’s part of who he is. His orbing may not be working because that’s an external power. He’s immortal. Not even the magic of the Ancients is enough to strip that from him. Not without killing him.”

“It’s a crazy idea,” said Phoebe.

“No, it actually makes sense,” said Leo. “My White Lighter abilities have obviously been affected in here. But my immortality isn’t an ability it’s part of the makeup of all White Lighters. And Cole’s right. It can’t be circumvented short of killing me. I’m the most logical choice to see what’s in that room.”

“And if something happens to you in there?” Piper asked. “You can’t orb out. And we may not be able to come in after you.”

“We all knew this was dangerous when we came in here,” said Leo. “Just as Phoebe said, we can’t wait out here forever. We don’t have a choice.”

“Just be careful,” said Piper, kissing him. “At the first sign of danger I want you to get out of that room.”

“I will,” Leo promised.

He stepped up to the opening and peered into the darkness. The light from the corridor penetrated only about a foot into the room. He hesitated for a moment and then stepped into the room. Nothing happened. Tentatively he took another step in the room.

Suddenly the entire chamber lit up. The chamber was twenty feet wide and nearly sixty feet long. The ceiling rose nearly fifteen feet over the floor. In the back of the room stood a stone pedestal about four feet high and a large book sat on the pedestal. About six feet into the room was a man facing the pedestal but he seemed to be sunk in stone floor up to his knees.

“Who’s there?” asked the man trying to turn to see who they were. He was unable to turn around completely and was unable to see who they were. “Whoever you are I’d appreciate a little help here.”

“Who do we have here?” Piper asked peering into the room.

“I think that’s Lawrence,” said Cole. “It seems he sprung the trap in this chamber.”

“I know that voice,” said the man. “Cole? Cole Turner? Long time no see, old buddy. You think you might give me a hand out of here? For old times sake?”

“Hello, Lawrence,” said Chase. “Imagine my surprise when I learned that you had betrayed me. I thought we were friends.”

“Chase?” questioned Greggson. “Well, it’s good to see you, so to speak. Sorry. I really couldn’t tell you what I was up to without a whole lot of explanations I was pretty sure you wouldn’t believe anyway.”

“Leo, don’t move,” said Cole. “You’re safe for the moment but there’s no telling how much more of the room is trapped.”

“What kind of trap?” Phoebe asked.

“Quickstone,” said Cole. “It’s kind of like quicksand. You can’t tell the difference between it and regular stone until you step on it. Then it begins to suck you under just like quicksand. When it’s finished you’re completely encased in stone.”

“Is that what I’m seeing on the floor?” Phoebe asked.

“What do you mean?” Cole asked.

“The floor,” said Phoebe. “I can see dark spots. They seem to be randomly scattered throughout the room. And Greggson seems stuck in one of them.”

“Maybe her precognitive ability is letting her see the spots of quickstone,” said Piper. “Which means we should be able to get the book without risking getting caught in any more of it.”

“That would make sense,” said Cole. “The magic here might be enhancing her special sight allowing her to see things that no one else can.”

“So, why didn’t it do that with the mirror trap?” Paige asked.

“Uh, Cole, buddy, you think we could save the explanations until after I get rid of the cement shoes? I’m still sinking and I figure I have about a minute before I become a permanent part of the floor.”

“We should leave him there,” said Paige. “If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t even be in this mess.”

“It’s tempting,” said Piper. “I’m kind of curious to see just what actually happens when the floor completely swallows him up.”

“Aw, come on guys,” said Greggson. “You can’t just leave me here like this. It would be inhuman.”

“He’s right,” said Phoebe. “He really hasn’t done anything to deserve this. Cole, is there any way to get him out of there?”

“Sure,” said Cole. “Leo and I should be able to pull him out easy enough. The section he’s in has all ready been activated so we don’t have to worry about getting caught in the trap. Until he’s all the way under Leo and I should be able to pull him out as easily as we would from quicksand.”

“Well, I guess we don’t have a choice,” said Piper. “Listen to me, Greggson. Once we get you out don’t try anything funny. Just because we’re saving your butt doesn’t mean we won’t hesitate to vanquish you if try something.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Greggson. “I’m not stupid enough to go against Cole and you. As I’m sure he’s all ready told you, I’m not much of a match for him, let alone all of you. I don’t have a death wish.”

“You seem to have mellowed in your old age,” said Cole stepping into the chamber.

Except that he never entered the chamber. As he tried to enter an impenetrable forced blocking the entire entrance into the chamber suddenly stopped him.

“Looks like you’ll have to handle this one yourself, Leo,” said Cole. “It appears it’s not going to let the rest of us into the chamber.”

“If we can’t get into the room, how are the rest of us supposed to get out of here?” Phoebe asked.

“My guess is that once we get the book the trap will be deactivated,” said Cole. “Minus, of course, the one Lawrence seems to be trapped in right now.”

“Leo, get the book first,” said Piper. “No sense taking any chances with our friend Greggson.”

“Aw, you don’t trust me,” said Greggson. “I’m hurt.”

“Actually it’s a good idea,” said Cole. “Let’s face it, Lawrence, your track record with the truth isn’t exactly untarnished.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” said Greggson. “But I’m turning over a new leaf, believe me. Just as soon as I get out of here I’m going straight, I promise.”

“Not likely,” said Cole. “Leo, get the book. Once the trap is deactivated we should all be able to enter the room and I can help you get him out of the quickstone. That way we don’t have to worry about him trying anything funny.”

“I can lead you around the quickstone spots,” said Phoebe. “Just don’t take a step until I tell you where the nearest one is.”

Leo turned to head for the pedestal. Before Phoebe could tell him where the nearest spot of quickstone was Greggson said, “uh oh”.

“What is it?” Piper asked.

“I’m sinking faster,” said Greggson as they all watched him start to slide down into the stone.

“The book,” Chase cried out. “It’s sinking, too.”

They all looked up and saw the podium with the book on it sinking into the section of floor it was sitting on. It was obvious that the podium and the book would be sucked into the quickstone within a matter of seconds. It was just as obvious that Greggson would be sucked into the quickstone just as quickly as the book would be.

“The book,” Chase called out. “We need that book. Get it before we loose it.”

“You can’t abandon me,” Greggson cried out. “I’ll die.”

Leo only had seconds to act. If he got the book Greggson would be sucked into the quickstone and die. If he helped Greggson they would loose the Grand Grimoire forever.

[noazmale]

FIFTEEN

“There’s no time left,” Chase cried out. “We must have that book. Leo, get the book before it’s too late.”

“You can’t leave me here,” Greggson cried out. “Help me.”

“Leo, save Greggson,” Piper said. “We have two of the books. Even if we don’t get the Grand Grimoire no one will be able to summon the Vestige again. But Greggson is at least partially human. We can’t just let him die.”

Leo didn’t hesitate. He immediately turned and grabbed Greggson under the arms. With all his strength he pulled Greggson up, freeing him from the quickstone he was trapped in. Just as Greggson cleared the stone floor the book in the back of the room vanished into the stone it was sitting on.

“Thank you,” said Greggson to Leo. “You have proved your worthiness for the power you seek.”

Suddenly Greggson just vanished from the room. At nearly the same instance the podium at the back of the room upon which the Grand Grimoire had sat rose from the floor into its previous position, the book resting squarely on it.

“Okay, what just happened?” Paige asked. “Where did Greggson go?”

“He was never here,” said Cole. “It was a test. To see if we’d choose Lawrence or the book.”

“To see what we valued more,” said Leo. “Power or human life. Just before he vanished Greggson said we had proved our worthiness for the power we seek.”

“Well it seems we passed his test,” said Phoebe. “I’m not seeing the section of quickstone that were here before.”

“As I said,” said Cole, “once we get the book the trap would be deactivated. I suggest we get the book and find a way out of here.”

“How?” Piper asked. “There’s the invisible barrier keeping us out of the chamber.”

Cole simply passed through the entrance to the chamber and stood next to Leo.

“It was part of the test,” said Cole. “To allow only one person into the chamber so we’d have to decide which to get, Greggson or the book. Now that we’ve passed the test there’s nothing to keep us from simply walking up and taking the book.”

They all entered the chamber and walked up to the podium that held the Grand Grimoire. It looked nearly identical to the two previous book except that it was black in color. In addition, the words “amplitudo libri” were etched into the front cover.

“The Grand Grimoire,” said Cole. “According to legend this is one of the most powerful books in history. Maybe even more powerful than the Book of Shadows. And with it we can summon Shushaun.”

“Let’s just get it and get out of here,” said Piper. “Now that we have all three books we don’t have to worry about Greggson getting his hands on them.”

Cole reached up and pulled the book off of the podium. As he did the podium began to recede into the floor and eventually disappeared all together. At the same moment a secret door behind the podium opened revealing a passage beyond.

As before, Chase looked the book over and announced that it was remarkably similar to the first two. Cole looked through it and also announced that it was protected by the same magic protecting the first two as well as the Voynich Manuscript. He placed the book in the backpack with the others.

“Had it over,” Piper said, holding here hand out. “Now that we have all three books there’s no way you’re holding onto them.”

“It’s probably best if I held onto them,” said Cole.

“Hand them over,” said Phoebe. “Without your invulnerability you can be vanquished just like any other demon. And I’m with Piper. You don’t get the books.”

“Be my guest,” said Cole, sitting the backpack on the floor.

Piper reached down and grabbed the straps of the backpack to lift it. But she barely got it off the floor. She let the backpack drop to the floor.

“Boy that’s heavy,” she said. “Leo, maybe you’d better carry it.”

“Be glad to,” said Leo.

He reached down and grabbed the straps but lifted it only several inches higher than Piper had before letting it drop back to the floor.

“There’s no way I’m carrying that,” said Leo. “I can barely lift it. There’s no way I could carry it very far.”

“That’s why I was carrying it,” said Cole, lifting the backpack easily with one hand. “As I suspected, the magic altering the writing in the books is also increasing their weight. An added safeguard against their being stolen. Look, I’m not interested in the books. I don’t need their power any more. But I’m about the only one capable of carrying the books out of here.”

“Okay,” said Piper. “But the second we’re out of this place you turn the books back over to us.”

“That’s the plan,” said Cole.

“Well, we have all three books,” said Paige. “I guess that’s the way out of here.”

“Then let’s get going,” said Piper. “We have what we came for. There’s no reason to stay here any longer than we have to.”

Together the group turned and headed into the passage beyond. As the last of them enter the passage the opening to the chamber behind them vanished. They began to travel down the passage wondering how long it would be before they reached the exit. Suddenly, without warning, they found themselves standing in the middle of a very large chamber.

“Okay, what just happened?” Piper asked. “One second we’re walking down a corridor the next we’re standing in here, wherever here is.”

“It must be the magic of the Juncture,” said Cole. “It’s brought us here. This must be the way out.”

“So where is it?” Phoebe asked, looking around. “There’s nothing here. This chamber is completely empty.”

They stood in what looked like a huge chamber. It was forty foot square and the ceiling disappeared into the darkness overhead. It was made the same blocks cemented together as the chamber with the firetrap had been. But other than the six of them, there was nothing at all in the room. Nor were there any passages leading out of the room. Essentially, they were trapped in the room.

“Looks like we have to find another secret panel,” said Paige.

“Not likely,” said Chase. “Cole said the Ancients didn’t use the same trick twice. So I doubt there are any secret panels in this room.”

“Chase is right,” said Cole. “This is probably something different. But there are no symbols or writings to indicate what that might be.”

“Well, it’s a big room,” said Leo. “Maybe we should search and see if we can find anything.”

“Okay, everyone, spread out,” said Piper. “Let’s see what we can find in this room.”

They all spread out and began to look around the room. After only a few moments Phoebe called out to the others. They looked over and saw her looking at the floor.

“I found something,” she said. “It looks like a triangle with a line through it.”

The others walked over and looked at the floor where she was staring. Engraved in the floor was a symbol exactly as she had described.

“Okay, but what does it mean?” Paige asked. “Does it mean anything?”

“It could mean any number of things,” said Chase. “It could be the letter of an ancient alphabet or maybe a pictograph indicating a word or phrase. Many ancient cultures used symbols to specify not only words but entire phrases.”

“What’s your best guess?” Cole asked. “You are the linguistics expert.”

“Well,” said Chase, “the first thing that comes to mind is earth. Some ancient cultures used the symbol to describe earth. But without anything else to put it into context that’s only a guess.”

“Look where it’s placed,” said Leo, looking around the room. “It seems to be equally spaced from these two walls in this part of the room.”

“You’re right,” said Piper. “Maybe there are other symbols in the other parts of the room that will help figure out what this one means.”

They fanned out and began to search the rest of the room. It didn’t take them long to locate other symbols. Paige found one that looked like two straight lines, one over the other. Leo found one that looked like two half circles joined to resemble the letter “M”. Cole found another one that was comprised of three wavy lines, one above the other. The four symbols appeared to be the only things in the room. They seemed to be even spaced around the room equal distance from each other.

“This is interesting,” said Chase. “The symbol Phoebe found looks like the symbol for earth. The one Paige found – the one that looks like two straight lines – was often used to represent air. The rounded ‘M’ has been used to represent fire. And the wavy lines Cole found were often used to mean water.”

“Earth, air, fire, and water,” said Piper. “The four elements.”

“Exactly,” said Chase. “The four basic elements. But what do they mean?”

“That’s a good question,” said Cole. “There aren’t any other engravings or markings to tell us what they’re here for. Or what, if anything, they’re supposed to do.”

“They must mean something,” said Leo. “I doubt the Ancients would have gone to the trouble to engrave them in the floor purely for aesthetic reasons.”

“They probably wouldn’t have,” said Cole. “Leo, you know as well as I do that the Ancients had reasons for everything they did. Especially with something as important as the Golden Grimoire.”

“So what do we do with them?” Paige asked.

“I wish I knew,” said Cole. “Without some kind of instructions it could take weeks or even months to figure out what we need to do. Or never.”

“Why the four elements?” Paige asked. “Why inscribe those in the floor? What do they mean, anyway?”

“Well,” said Chase, “they’re the four basic elements of the universe. Virtually everything can be categorized in one of the elements in some way or another. For example, plants are grown in the dirt and when they decay they break down and convert back to the basic elements. So does the human body.”

“So the Ancients would have considered them very important,” said Piper. “Sort of the building blocks of everything.”

“Well, I’m not sure I’d classify them that way,” said Chase. “But most civilizations have considered them important. Even today we recognize them as important. The question is why did these Ancients feel it important enough to inscribe them here?”

“Maybe they describe what we’re supposed to do,” suggested Paige. “Maybe we’re supposed to use them in some way.”

“But what way?” Piper asked. “There isn’t anything in here to use them on. Besides, how would we use them anyway?”

“I don’t know,” said Paige. “I’m just guessing here.”

“Paige might be right,” said Leo. “Maybe there is some way to use the elements.”

“How?” Leo asked. “And on what?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Cole questioned. “As Paige said, there’s nothing in here to use them on anyway.”

“Maybe there is,” said Chase.

“What do you mean?” Phoebe asked.

“The symbols are engraved in the floor,” said Chase. “They’ve been cut into stone floor, not inscribed in some other manner. From what Leo and Cole have told us these Ancients must have had the ability to make the markings without having to cut them into the stone floor.”

“Yes, they did,” said Leo. “With their magic they could have inscribed them in any number of ways that would still be apparent today.”

“Then why go to the trouble to cut them into the floor?” Chase asked.

“Containers, of sorts,” said Cole. “The grooves used to make the symbols are used to contain the element they represent.”

“That’s as good a guess as any,” said Chase. “Ancient alchemists often used the basic elements in their rituals and experiments.”

“Yes, they did,” said Cole, eyeing Chase. “That’s pretty good thinking.”

“Okay,” said Piper, “so the grooves are supposed to hold the elements. So, where do we get the elements we need?”

“That’s the easy part,” said Chase.

He bent down and scooped up a pile of dust off the floor. He then walked over to the triangle with a line through it and poured the handful of dust into the grooves of the symbol. As soon as he did the block of stone that the symbol was engraved in began to rise. Within seconds a small pillar had risen to a height of five feet.

“If we do that with the rest of them I think the same thing will happen,” said Chase.

“I can help there,” said Cole.

He walked over to the “M”, the symbol for fire, and held out his hand. A fireball formed in his hand. Carefully he laid the fireball on the grooves of the symbol. Within seconds a pillar similar to the first one had risen.

“That’s two,” said Phoebe. “All we have left is air and water. Anyone have a bottle of water on them?”

“Not exactly water,” said Paige, “but it should work.”

She walked over to the symbol with the three wavy lines and spit into the symbol. The stone with the symbol in it began to rise but only rose for about three inches.

“Oh, that’s disgusting,” said Piper.

“But it seems to be working,” said Leo. “Saliva is comprised of mostly water from the body. Disgusting or not it seems to be our only choice.”

Paige spit into the symbol again. Again the stone rose several inches. They each took turns spitting into the symbol and slowly the pillar rose. Eventually it had risen the five feet as the first two had.

“Okay, that’s three,” said Piper. “One left. Wind. In a sealed room like this I can’t see how we’re going to get a wind to blow in here.”

“Not a wind, necessarily,” said Phoebe. “Enough like a wind to maybe do the trick, though.”

She bent down and knelt on the floor over the two lines carved into the floor. Gently she began to blow on the symbols. Unsteadily the stone block with the lines carved in it began to rise. But it was only rising an inch or two.

“It’s not enough,” Phoebe said. “I need some help.”

Piper and Paige knelt down next to her and also began to blow on the stone. With the three of them blowing on the stone it began to rise just as the first three had. Within moments it had risen to the five feet of the others.

“Well, looks like we got it to do what it was supposed to do,” said Piper. “Now what?”

“I don’t know,” said Cole. “We were lucky to have figured out this much. I’m not sure what we do next. Chase, any suggestions?”

“Not really,” said Chase. “I’m not sure what the purpose of the pillars are for.”

Suddenly they all heard a scraping sound coming from above them. They looked up to see the ceiling of the room slowly descending toward them. They were trapped in the room with no way out.

[noazmale]

SIXTEEN

“Oh, this isn’t good,” said Paige.

“Any ideas would be real helpful right about now,” said Piper.

“I can’t orb,” said Leo. “If I couldn’t orb before I won’t be able to orb now.”

“Well, we’d better think of something fast,” said Phoebe. “I figure we have about thirty seconds before we all get smashed flat.”

Suddenly the ceiling stopped about ten feet above them. All but the sections directly above the four pillars in the room. The group continued to watch as the four sections of ceiling descended and then came to rest on the pillars forming four complete pillars from floor to ceiling.

“Well that’s a relief,” said Paige. “I wasn’t sure what we were going to do.”

“Now what?” Chase asked.

“I wish I knew,” said Cole. “We still don’t have the vaguest idea . . . .”

His sentence went unfinished as they all saw a figure suddenly appear in the center of the room, between the pillars. The figure was about as tall as Leo and was wearing a dark gray robe. He appeared to be a human male. He had shoulder-length black hair.

“My name is Shavak Sier,” said the figure. “If you have come to this chamber you can be after only one thing. The Golden Grimoire. The combined power of my people. To gain this power it has been necessary that you acquire three tomes of great power. The Grand Grimoire, the Grimoire Arcanarum, and the Necronomicon. Each of these tomes is a powerful magic in and of themselves.

“By entering this chamber you have all ready proven you have the courage and intelligence necessary to acquire the Golden Grimoire. You have all ready acquired the three tomes needed to summon Shushaun, the vestige with whom I entrusted the Grand Grimoire. You have passed the test required to acquire the power of my people.

“You have demonstrated that you have the faith needed to use such great magic. You have proven you have the intelligence to use the power wisely, a necessary precaution with power of this magnitude. You have proven you can work together for the common good. And you have demonstrated that, above all, you consider life more important than power.

“But know this. The tomes you have collected are but illusions of the real things. They have no more substance than a shadow on a summers day. It is a final precaution necessary to insure that only those most worthy and capable of such power gain it.

“The three tomes you seek have been placed in the care of the caretaker of this place. He has instructions not to give the tomes to anyone but the persons capable of proving their worth for such great power. If you can return to the place of the beginning, the caretaker has instructions to give you that which you seek.

“Good luck. And may you have the courage to use the power of the Golden Grimoire wisely for your people.”

Suddenly the man vanished from the chamber.

“Wait a minute,” said Paige. “After all we went through and we don’t even have the books?”

“Apparently not,” said Cole, opening the backpack he was carrying. They all watched as he pulled back the top of the backpack exposing an empty pack. “They’re gone. As if they were never here.”

“Okay, so now what?” Piper asked. “That vision or whatever it was said if would could return to the place of the beginning we’d get the books. Does that mean we have to get back to that chasm we encountered when we first got here?”

“That would be my guess,” said Cole. “Shavak Sier said that the caretaker would give us the books if we could prove our worth for such great power. I’m thinking there’s probably one more test we’ll have to go through to get the books. Assuming we can figure out how to get back to that chasm.”

“How do we do that?” Leo asked. “There’s nothing else in here to indicate how to do that.”

“There must be something,” said Chase. “So far every test or trap we’ve been through has had some indication of how to get through it and a way to circumvent it. There must be something in here that indicates what we’re supposed to do.”

“Let’s finish searching the chamber,” suggested Phoebe. “Maybe there’s something else in here we haven’t found yet.”

The group fanned out and began to search the chamber again. It appeared that, other than the four pillars in the room, there was nothing else to be found. Finally, Leo called out to the group. He had been searching near one of the pillars and was currently examining the floor at the base of the pillar.

“I think I found something,” he said. “It appears to be a groove or something cut into the stone at the base.”

“It looks like the pillar turns,” said Chase as they all gathered around the pillar and knelt on the floor to get a better look at what Leo was talking about..

Cole stood up and grasped the pillar. He twisted the pillar clockwise and it rotated a quarter turn then seemed to lock into place. As soon as it was turned a panel on the side of the pillar facing the center of the room slid open and a diamond-like object slid out of a secret compartment.

“Check the rest of the pillars,” said Piper. “I’ll bet they all turn like this one.”

One by one they found the same grooves on the floor at the bases of the other three pillars. With very little effort they were able to turn the pillars so that they all faced toward the center of the room. As with the first pillar, a secret panel slid open and a diamond-like object slid out of a secret compartment.

When the last pillar had been turned, a light like a laser beam shot out of the four diamonds. They intersected in the center of the room between the four pillars. Seconds later the floor where the beams had intersected opened up and a triangular-shaped section of the floor began to rise. It rose to a height of four feet in the center of the room forming a sort of pedestal. On top of the triangular stone pedestal were three impressions that resembled hand imprints. They all appeared to be the engraving of a right hand.

“Well, that’s something at least,” said Paige. “I guess someone is supposed to put their hands in there and it does what? Open a secret door or something?”

“I don’t know,” said Cole. “Maybe.”

“Hey,” said Chase, “there’s some writing on the side of this pedestal or whatever it is.”

On one side of the triangular pillar were symbols engraved into the side. They appeared to be similar to the symbols that had been engraved on the three books they had found.

“It’s the same demonic language that the Voynich Manuscript is written in,” said Cole. “Only there doesn’t seem to be any magic altering them.”

“What does it say?” Chase asked.

“Let’s see,” said Cole. “It says ‘the quest complete, it now takes the Power of Three to return to what was before’.”

“Whoa,” said Paige. “Are you saying that the Ancients knew we’d be coming here?”

“That’s very possible,” said Leo. “It’s very possible that one of them had the ability to see into the future. He or she may have foreseen everything we’ve just gone through.”

“But that was thousands of years ago,” said Phoebe. “Is it possible to see that far into the future?”

“As powerful as the Ancients were I wouldn’t have put it past them,” said Cole. “It’s also possible that Shavak Sier used his magic to see who would be coming to get the Golden Grimoire. It’s also possible that the magic of this place has just conformed to whomever passed the tests. There’s just no way to know for sure.”

“Well,” said Piper, “it appears that this is our way out. Not too soon for me, either. So what do we do? Put our hands in those impressions?”

“Looks like it,” said Leo. “It’s probably designed to interact with your inherent magic and will open some kind of portal.”

“Then let’s do it,” said Phoebe. “I’m with Piper. I want to get out of here.”

The sisters each placed their hands on the impressions cut into the pedestal. As soon as they did magic began to swirl around the entire group. It enveloped them and within moments they vanished from the chamber.

[noazmale]

SEVENTEEN

“Well, we’re back where we started from,” said Piper, looking over the chasm where they had begun their journey. “So what now?”

“Welcome back.”

They all turned to see the caretaker standing several feet from them. He was smiling at them.

“We finished your tests,” said Chase. “We jumped through your hoops for you. Now give us what we came here for.”

“I have given you no tests,” said the caretaker. “There have been no hoops. Only what you expected to find.”

“What are you talking about?” Phoebe said.

“When you began your journey I told you that you would find exactly what you expected to find,” said the caretaker. “You theorized that you would find some kinds of tests to prove your worth. That you might have to fight your way through or be tested for your intelligence or ingenuity. That is exactly what you found.”

“We said we expected to find all three grimoires,” said Cole.

“Which is exactly what you found,” said the caretaker. “Or at least the way to get them.”

“So all the tests?” Paige asked. “Everything we went through . . . “

“Was your own doing,” finished the caretaker. “It is what you expected to find. The magic of this place simply gave you what you expected.”

“That vision of Shavak Sier said you would give us the tomes,” said Chase.

“Yes,” said the caretaker. “He also said that I was not to give the tomes to someone who could not prove their worth.”

“So that’s what the tests were for?” Piper asked. “To test our worth to get the tomes?”

“No,” said the caretaker. “As I said, the tests you were made to endure were of your own devising.”

“So how do we prove our worth?” Leo asked. “If those tests had nothing to do with it what do we do to prove we’re worthy to have the tomes?”

“You cannot,” said the caretaker, turning to the three sisters. “It is they who were required to prove they are worthy of such great magic.”

“Okay,” said Piper, “how can we prove we’re worthy of this great magic?”

“You have no need to,” said the caretaker. “For more than four years you have battle the forces of evil and protected the innocent. You have endured hardships that would cause lesser beings to falter. You have used your great magic to fight for good and have resisted the temptation to use your magic for personal gain. You caused a great evil,” he looked at Cole, “to turn from his evil ways and embrace good. You have proven time and again to be the true champions of good. You have nothing to prove.”

“So how do we get the tomes?” questioned Paige.

“You have but to ask,” said the caretaker. “My instructions were that those who could prove their worth were the rightful possessors of the book. As I have all ready explained, you have proven your worth. The books are yours for the asking.”

“That’s it?” Paige asked. “You mean we could have gotten the grimoires simply by asking for them?”

“As it should be,” said the caretaker.

“So they didn’t have to go through everything they went through?” Leo asked.

“I suppose that would depend on your perspective,” said the caretaker. “In their minds they felt it necessary to test themselves. Their grandmother instilled in them that nothing worthwhile is free. That if something is gained too easily it holds little value.”

“Grams did used to say that,” said Piper. “She always made us work for the things we wanted. She would say if we had to work for what we got we’d appreciate it more.”

“And I rarely listened to her,” said Phoebe. “Things might have been a lot easier on if I had listened to her a little more.”

“No doubt,” said the caretaker.

“Okay, so give us the grimoires,” said Chase.

“The tomes are theirs for the asking,” said the caretaker, pointing to the sisters. “They can be given to no others.”

“Then let us have them,” said Piper. “It’s what we came here for. And after everything we’ve been through I think we’ve earned them.”

The caretaker pointed to the wall behind him and three panels slid open. Inside each panel was a single tome. The group could see that each of the tomes looked like the ones they had supposed collected during their trials. The sisters moved over and removed the tomes. Cole held up the backpack and the girls put them inside.

“Strange,” said Cole, “the real ones don’t feel as heavy as the ones we supposed collected. Somehow I don’t think you’ll have any trouble carrying them.”

“If we can ever find a way out of this place,” said Phoebe.

“Your way is before you,” said the caretaker.

They all looked where he was pointing and in the wall where they had entered once again had a passage in it.

“That will lead to back to your world,” said the caretaker.

“Come on,” said Piper. “Let’s get going. I’ve had enough of this place to last me a lifetime.”

They turned and walked through the passage. Almost as soon as they had passed through the passage they found themselves standing at the foot of the Bay Bridge where they had entered it. A full moon still shone overhead.

“Even after all the time it seemed like we spent in there,” said Paige, “and it doesn’t look like any time has passed out here.”

“It’s possible it hasn’t,” said Cole. “Time has a different meaning on different planes. One day on one plane could be a hundred years on another. The place we went to may even be outside of time so it would have had no meaning while we were in there.”

“Well, thanks for the help,” said Phoebe. “We couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“My pleasure,” said Cole. “I guess that’s my cue. If you need my help for anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” said Piper.

Cole just smiled and then vanished.

“Well, I guess we should be getting home,” said Piper. “Now that we have the tomes we can make sure that neither Greggson nor anyone else can get them.”

They all held hands and Leo orbed them back to the manor. Once there the sisters pulled out the grimoires from the backpack. Just as they suspected, each one was virtually identical to one of the ones they had collected. Other than being very large and obviously extremely old they didn’t look all that impressive.

“Well, Chase,” said Phoebe, “you were a big help. As I told Cole, without you it wouldn’t have bee possible to get these books. Now we can make sure no one ever finds them again.”

“Anything I can do to help,” said Chase. “What do you plan to do with them now?”

“I’m sure the Elders can find some place to put them,” said Leo. “Although they may have been a lot safer where we found them.”

“Yeah, and there would always be the risk of someone else being able to get them,” said Piper. “At least with the Elders they can make sure each one is properly protected. And we’d know if someone tried to get to them.”

“I guess,” said Leo. “I guess I should get these to the Elders so they can find a place to put them.”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” said Chase. “I didn’t go through all this trouble just to have you hide the books where I couldn’t get at them. Now if you’ll just hand over the books I won’t have to kill you.”

“What are you talking about?” Phoebe asked.

“I’m talking about the Golden Grimoire,” said Chase. “I’ve spent a great deal of time and effort looking for it. Now, when I’m this close to actually getting it, I’m not about to let some witches stop me. I don’t care if you are the Charmed Ones. I needed you to get it out of that place. But now that we have it I’m going to have what I’ve spent all these years working for.”

“Not likely,” said Piper. “In case you haven’t been paying attention the last few days, we’re the most powerful witches in history. And you’re just a mortal with no powers. You’re chances of leaving here with those books are slim to none.”

“Yes, that’s right,” said Chase. “A mere mortal with no powers.” He held his right hand to his chest and closed his eyes. He concentrated for several moments and suddenly six demons shimmered in around the room. “But I do have one thing in my favor. The command of as many demons as I need to get the books. Now, as I said. Give me the books and I won’t have to kill you.”

Even with their power, the sisters knew that against six demons their chances of surviving were not good.

[noazmale]

EIGHTEEN

“We should kill them anyway,” said one of the demons. “They are a threat to the underworld. We should eliminate that threat while we have the chance.”

“There’s no need for them to die today, Lorne,” said Chase. “Once I have the Golden Grimoire they won’t be a threat any longer.” He turned back to the girls. “As you can see they aren’t very fond of you. If you don’t give me the tomes I’m afraid I’ll have to let them have their way with you.”

“Since when do demons listen to a mortal?” Paige asked.

“Since I have this,” said Chase, pulling a medallion out of his shirt. The medallion appeared to be made of gold and was shaped like a six-pointed star. It had four different gems inset in it. “I found it in an old chest several years ago. It took me a while to figure out what it was and even longer how to use it. But as you can see it’s been quite helpful to me.”

“A medallion?” questioned Phoebe.

“Not just a medallion,” said Leo. “If that’s what I think it is then it’s very powerful.”

“And just what would you think it is?” Chase asked.

“The Seal of Solomon,” said Leo.

“You know a great deal about antiquities,” said Chase. “Yes, it’s the Seal of Solomon. I acquired it from a shipment of artifacts that were found in Egypt several decades ago. Most of them had been shipped to the United States but had lain forgotten in a warehouse until the university acquired them through an estate donation. No one had any idea what it was.”

“The Seal of Solomon?” questioned Phoebe. “Chase mentioned that before. He said something about it being a myth or legend. What is it?”

“It’s a mythical amulet,” said Leo. “According to Legend, it was created by King Solomon of Israel. It purportedly gives the possessor control over demonic creatures. As long as he wears it the demons have to do whatever he commands. Over the centuries it was lost and no one knows what happened to it.”

“Just like the Ark of the Covenant,” said Chase. “I would imagine it was probably stolen by an enemy of Israel during a war or something but they probably thought it was just some form of jewelry. Eventually it was forgotten about and some archeologist found it in a tomb somewhere or something.”

“Enough,” said Lorne. “We’ve waited long enough. Give him the books or we will destroy you.”

“They’re quite impatient, as you can see,” said Chase. “I’ve promised them control of the Underworld so they’re very impatient to take over. We’ve wasted enough time. Give me the tomes or they will destroy you.”

Everyone tensed. If they didn’t give Chase the tomes they had no doubt he would order the demons to attack. They also knew that no matter happened they couldn’t allow Chase to get the tomes.

“The Seal of Solomon. So that’s how you did it. I knew it had to be something.”

They all turned to see Cole standing at the top of the stairs leaning against the railing. He was smiling at them as if he had no cares in the world.

“It does explain a lot,” said Cole. He turned and began to descend the stairs. “I knew you must have had something I just didn’t know what it was. Now I know.”

“What are you doing here?” Chase asked.

“I’ve been waiting for you to make your move,” said Cole. “You never did in the Juncture so I figured you were waiting until we got back.” Cole turned to Lorne. “Hello, Lorne. It’s been a long time. And here I find you helping him. That’s not going to look good on your resume. Working for a human.”

“He has the seal,” said Lorne. “As you are aware, we have no choice. You also know that I would not do so otherwise.”

“Of course,” said Cole. “I’m afraid I don’t know you friends. All high level no doubt. And since I’ve been dethroned, so to speak, I would imagine that each of them has delusions of grandeur about becoming the next Source.”

“Who are you?” demanded another of the demons.

“The name’s Cole Turner,” said Cole. “Oh, you may have heard about me under my pseudonym, Belthazor. But I haven’t gone by that name for months.”

“The Source,” gasped another demon.

“Formerly,” said Cole. He turned back to Chase. “Now, why don’t you just hand over the Seal of Solomon and we can forget all about this foolishness. You’re not getting the grimoires so you might as well forget about them.”

“Never,” said Chase. “I’ll have those tomes now. Demons. Destroy them all.”

All of the demons formed fireballs and stood facing the group. It was obvious they were all struggling. The power of the amulet was forcing them to obey Chase. But their natural fear of Cole, who they perceived as the Source of All Evil, was diametrically opposed to Chase’s orders. Suddenly Lorne launched his fireball at Piper.

“Fireball,” Paige called, redirecting the weapon back toward the demon. It struck the demon but dissipated harmlessly away. “Oh, oh, that’s not good.”

“It’s the power of the amulet,” said Leo. “As long as Chase has it its power will protect the demons even from their own power.”

“That’s right,” said Cole, turning to face Chase. “I had forgotten that. So it looks like I need that amulet, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s not going to happen,” said Chase, holding the amulet and smiling. “As long as I have it you can’t hurt me. It not only allows me to control demons but it protects me from demons. And as I recall you were the demon, Belthazor. Which means you have no power over me. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Yeah, well there’s one very minor flaw in your theory there, Chase,” said Cole, forming a fireball. “I’m no longer a demon. That part of me was stripped a long time ago. Which means you’re just as vulnerable to me as anyone else.”

“No,” said Chase, fear showing in his eyes. “That’s not possible.”

“Isn’t it?” questioned Cole. “That amulet controls demons. All demons. Its power is irresistible. These six are proof of that. And yet it has no power over me. I’d think very carefully about my next move if I were you.”

Chase just stared at Cole, anger evident. He gripped the amulet even tighter.

“Kill them all,” he commanded.

The demons turned on the sisters and Leo. Before any of them could move, Cole cast the fireball he was holding and it engulfed Chase. Chase fell to the floor screaming in agony. At the same moment all six demons grabbed their heads and began to scream in agony. Cole stepped over and grabbed the Seal of Solomon, yanking it from around Chase’s neck. A moment later the flames of the fireball vanished and Chase lay on the floor unharmed.

“Here,” said Cole, handing the amulet to Phoebe, “I think it will be in better hands if you hang onto it for right now.”

“What happened?” Piper asked.

“The power of the amulet works both ways,” said Cole. “Not only does it protect the demons but it also protects the wearer. It’s kind of like a conduit channeling the power. I figured that since it was channeling the power and the protection it would also channel my attack.”

“But Chase is still alive,” said Paige. “The fireball didn’t hurt him.”

“It was very low power,” said Cole. “Not enough cause any harm but I’m sure it hurt like hell. Long enough for me to get the amulet. Fortunately the amulet doesn’t have the same protection as the Voynich Manuscript. It can be taken away. And I didn’t think it was necessary to kill Chase to get the amulet from him.”

“So what now?” asked Phoebe, looking at the demons gathered around them.

“Well,” said Cole turning to face the demons, “I suppose it is conceivable that they could get one or two of you, ending the Power of Three forever. But then again most of them won’t get out alive. And the ones that do will have to contend with me coming after them once they’ve escaped. And I would be coming after them, they can bet on that. So I guess the next move is theirs.”

The demons all looked around and then looked at Lorne. By this time they had all extinguished the fireballs they had been holding. Lorne was obviously the leader of the demons and they were all waiting to see what he would do.

“We only participated because of the amulet,” Lorne said finally. “We wouldn’t be foolish enough to confront the Charmed Ones otherwise. And I’m certainly not stupid enough to antagonize the only demon who has ever returned from the Wasteland. So, if we’re free to go . . . .”

Cole just nodded to Lorne. The demons all shimmered and vanished from the living room. Cole turned back to Chase.

“Well, Mr. Parker,” he said, “it would seem you’re out of options. If I were you I’d go back to Connecticut and forget about the Golden Grimoire. There’s no way you’re ever going to get your hands on it.”

Chase looked at Cole in disgust. He reached down and picked up his briefcase that held the Voynich Manuscript and turned and headed for the front door. Just before he left the manor, Cole spoke again.

“Oh, and just one more thing. You try something like this again and I’m not going to be very happy. So just remember that six high level demons left here in fear of me before you try anything like this in the future.”

Chase glared at Cole one more time and then left the manor leaving the front door open. Cole just chuckled and then turned back to Leo and the sisters.

“Okay,” said Piper, “care to explain how you knew Chase was after the Golden Grimoire?”

“I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that’s what he was after,” said Cole. “But I knew he was up to something. Practically from the moment he walked into the manor. It’s one of the reasons I insisted he come with us. I needed to keep an eye on him until I was sure what he was after.”

“What made you suspicious?” Leo asked. “I began to grow suspicious when he became extremely insistent that we get the Golden Grimoire. But that wasn’t until we were most of the way through the Juncture. Why were you suspicious when he walked into the manor?”

“Because he told me,” said Cole, smiling at the group.

[noazmale]

NINETEEN

“Wait a minute,” said Piper. “He told you? Are you saying you were working with him from the beginning?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” said Cole. “And to be honest, saying he told me might have been a bit strong. But the story he told didn’t sound right to me.”

“What didn’t sound right?” Phoebe asked. “It sounded perfectly plausible to me. He was a linguistics student trying to decipher and translate an old manuscript. That sounds perfectly legitimate to me.”

“Oh, that part sounded reasonable enough,” said Cole. “What struck me as odd was that he was looking for Prue to help him authenticate it.”

“So?” Piper asked. “She was an expert in antiques. It seems logical that he’d want her to help him with it. Especially after what Roger apparently told him about her.”

“Except that books aren’t usually authenticated by antique experts,” said Cole. “Oh, most other antiques can be authenticated by any competent antique dealer. But books are usually in a separate class by themselves. Usually it takes a book expert to authenticate a book. Someone with Parker’s training and experience would have known that. And it occurred to me that Yale University would have some of the best authenticators in the world. It seemed strange he would come all the way across the country to do something that could have been easily accomplished in Connecticut.”

“Well, when you explain it that way,” said Piper, “I suppose it does sound a bit suspicious. So that made you think he was up to something?”

“Not exactly,” said Cole. “I also considered he might be less than competent. But it was suspicious. He also mentioned that Lawrence was trying to help authenticate its origins. And yet he implied that it was several weeks at least before he found Lawrence in his office reading it.”

“What’s so suspicious about that?” Phoebe asked.

“In order to authenticate it,” said Cole, “he would have had to look at it initially. If he had he would have immediately recognized it as I did. So I’m sure he wouldn’t have waited several weeks before attempting to learn its secrets. I found that very odd. Not to mention that I’m sure Lawrence would have killed Chase as soon as Chase found him reading the manuscript. Lawrence would not have wanted to leave any witnesses around who could have told what he was up to. Remember, I told you Lawrence was unusually sadistic. He would have enjoyed killing Chase.”

“Well, we didn’t know Greggson,” said Leo. “There’s no way for us to know he’d react like that.”

“I know,” said Cole. “Apparently Chase didn’t know him that well, either. At least not as well as I did. Anyway it got me to thinking. It seemed that Chase knew more than he was telling us. It wouldn’t have done any good to ask him about it. He would just have lied and we had no way of knowing what he was lying about.”

“Is that all?” Phoebe asked.

“Oh, not by a long shot,” said Cole. “When we entered the Juncture, Chase didn’t hesitate when he had to step into the pylon of the Bay Bridge. Even if he believed everything we told him, he would have been at least a bit hesitant about stepping into a pylon.

“And when we had to cross that chasm he was one of the first to cross over. He had absolutely no doubt he could cross the chasm without any problem. That’s just not normal for a mortal. Not knowing what magic is really capable of he should have been at least a little doubtful about walking across an open pit.

“There were other things, of course. The farther we went along the more I became convinced he was up to something. He was also the first one to point out that the first trap replenished itself. There’s no way he should have been able to know that. And remember when I asked him to authenticate the first grimoire we found? He was able to determine some specific things about it. Something he supposedly came to have Prue do. If he was capable of doing that he shouldn’t have been able to authenticate it any more than any of us would have been able to.”

“That’s right,” said Paige. “He did claim he needed Prue to authenticate it for him. It never dawned on me that he was able to do exactly what he claimed he needed someone else to do for him.”

“Well, you were all concentrating on getting the grimoire,” said Cole. “And I was all ready suspicious of him. So I was able to see his actions in a different light.”

“I guess there were a whole lot of things about Chase Parker we failed to see,” said Piper. “If not for you we might have lost the three grimoires and Chase could have gotten his hands on the Golden Grimoire.”

“Oh, I wasn’t about to let that happen,” said Cole. “As I said, with my increased power I don’t have need of the Golden Grimoire. But I wasn’t about to let anyone else get their hands on it either. Least of all a mortal who had no idea the damage he could do with magic without realizing it.”

“We never did find Greggson,” said Phoebe. “You think Chase even knew him.?”

“They probably met at one time,” said Cole. “He knew too many specifics about Lawrence. And using the Seal of Solomon and his control over demons he could have learned everything else he needed to now to set up his plan.”

“So what happened to him?” Paige asked. “Greggson, I mean.”

“That’s hard to say,” said Cole. “As I told you I haven’t even seen him in decades. I do know that Lorne was more powerful than Lawrence was. Presumably so were the other five demons with him. It is possible that Chase got rid of him when he was finished with him. We may never know.”

“One thing I don’t understand,” said Phoebe. “If Chase had the manuscript and was able to control demons who presumably could read it for him, why come to us? Why not just take the demons he was controlling and go get the Golden Grimoire himself?”

“The demons probably told him how dangerous it was to go into the Juncture,” said Leo. “They probably also told him that you were the only ones who stood a chance of getting through it. Almost every demon must know by now how resourceful you are and the magic that protects you. They would most likely have told him that he would need that magic to make it safely through the Juncture.”

“And he couldn’t just come here and tell you the truth,” said Cole. “He’d have to explain how and why demons would be giving him information and helping him which means he’d have to tell you about the Seal of Solomon. Plus, if you knew about the grimoires he knew you’d want to keep them out of everyone else’s hands. So he invented that little fiction about Lawrence and gave you just enough information to figure out that you needed to stop him.”

“And he knew you’d have to take him with you because you would need the manuscript,” said Piper.

“Exactly,” said Cole. “It was very well orchestrated. He just made a few minor errors that didn’t add up.”

“So,” said Piper, picking up one of the grimoires, “what do we do with these?”

“Not to mention this,” said Phoebe, holding up the Seal of Solomon. “This can be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. From the looks of it this thing can control demons even better than the Source used to.”

“It can,” said Leo. “The legends say that the magic it contains is irresistible to all demons. Even the Source could be controlled by it. Whoever has that amulet has complete mastery of the Underworld.”

“Well, that’s not good,” said Paige. “Maybe we should just destroy it.”

“It can’t be destroyed,” said Cole. “It’s probably best if Leo takes it with the grimoires and have the Elders safeguard it. Something like that should never fall in the hands of mortals.”

“I agree,” said Leo, gathering up the grimoires and taking the amulet from Phoebe. “The Elders can lock all of these away where no one can ever get at them again.”

“Do you think they’ll use the grimoires to get the Golden Grimoire?” Piper asked.

“I doubt it,” said Leo. “One of the reasons the Ancients hid the Golden Grimoire was because they felt its magic was too powerful for anyone to have. The reason they chose the Juncture was because they felt no one would ever be able to get to it there.”

“I guess they were wrong,” said Phoebe.

“Yes, but it took the most powerful witches in history to do it,” said Cole. “Anyone else would probably have been killed by one of the traps in there.”

“With your help,” said Phoebe. “Thanks again, Cole. We couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“You’re welcome,” said Cole. “I guess I should be going now. It seems my work is finished here. I think I’ll drop in on Lorne and make sure he and his friends aren’t planning to come back for a visit. The amulet may have controlled him but it might have given him some ideas. It’s probably a good idea if I discouraged those ideas.”

Cole shimmered out of the manor. Although the powers he had allowed him to travel in several different ways, he always preferred to shimmer with the girls. It was something they were used to and it just felt more comfortable around them. After he had left the manor, Leo orbed to the Elders with the grimoires and the amulet.

“I’m glad that’s finally over,” said Piper. “But at least we were able to stop Greggson and keep the Golden Grimoire out of the hands of demons. All in all I’d say it was a pretty good days’ work.”

“I’d agree with you, big sister,” said Phoebe. “And for a change we didn’t seem to have any trouble with Cole. That was a real big relief.”

“I could use a bath,” said Paige. “No time may have passed here but it still seems like we were in that place for hours. Think I’ll go get cleaned up.”

“And I think we could all use a night out,” said Piper. “I don’t really feel like cooking to night so I think we should go out to a nice restaurant and just relax.”

“Good idea,” said Phoebe. “I’ve been trying to think of a reason to wear that new dress I bought last week. Seems like as good a time as any.”

“Great,” said Piper. “As soon as Leo gets back we’ll decide where we’re going.”

* * *

“So, what did the Elders decide to do with the grimoires and the amulet?” Phoebe asked as they ate dinner.

“I can’t tell you,” said Leo.

“Can’t tell us?” Paige asked. “After everything we went through to get them and you can’t tell us? That doesn’t seem at all fair.”

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know,” said Leo. “Each item was given to a different Elder who was to pick an undisclosed White Lighter who was supposed to hide the item in an undisclosed location. The White Lighters were ordered to never reveal the place where they hid the items even to the Elders who gave them the items. The Elders felt that was the best way to keep them safe. Since no one person knows who hid them or where they were it was very unlikely anyone would be able to find them.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Piper. “From what you and Cole told us about those items it’s probably best if they were never found again.”

“And I’m sure you filled them in on what happens in the Juncture,” said Paige. “Just in case someone else has any reason to go in there again.”

“Well, I did tell them what we went through,” said Leo. “But I doubt that would help anyone in the future. As Cole explained to you the magic of the Juncture conforms to whomever enters it. It’s very unlikely that anyone else who enters there would experience the same thing we did.”

“Well at least they have something to go on,” said Phoebe. “That’s better than nothing.”

“The Elders also wanted me to thank you for what you did,” said Leo. “They would never have located the Golden Grimoire without you. Plus they also located the Seal of Solomon. I can tell you that’s been a source of concern for them for centuries. They were also worried that someone might find it and unite the Underworld in a way the Source was never able to do. Now they can rest a little easier.”

“Glad we could help,” said Piper, partially sarcastically. “But I say we just forget about it and have a nice quiet evening. This is one of the best restaurants in San Francisco and it’s been a long time since we were able to just sit down and enjoy a meal without worrying about demon attacks. Since no demons are likely to attack in a public place like this, I think we can forget about demons and the Underworld and all of that at least for a while.”

“Hear, hear,” said Phoebe. “And afterwards we can go to P3 and enjoy whatever band you have booked for tonight.”

“It’s some group called Bucking Broncos,” said Piper. “I’ve never heard them before but Justin, my head bartender, raves about them.”

“Bucking Broncos?” questioned Paige. “Sounds like a Country and Western band. Doesn’t sound like something the crowd at P3 would normally be interested in.”

“Well, all I can tell you is Justin usually listens to some kind of techno type music and he says they’re the best local group he’s ever heard,” said Piper.

“Techno music?” questioned Phoebe. “Not exactly my cup of tea but you never know.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” said Leo. “Let’s just finish our dinner and then we can go hear them for ourselves.”

“Good idea, brother-in-law,” said Paige.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. They enjoyed a nice dinner and the band turned out to be better than Phoebe had imagined. By the time they got home late that evening, they were all quite ready for bed.

The End