Third Time Charmed

Enter the Witch (Part 6)

When Paige reached the tree that the Zen Master's body was tied to, she stopped, seemingly frozen, her mind blank. What was she supposed to do now? To her right, Prue and Yen Lo were duking it out Mortal Kombat-style on top of a big rock, and to her left, An Ling was trying to save her father—and Piper's body—from being sucked into a black hole or something.

Shouldn't she be helping? No, if she could just free Piper's soul quickly, they could both help. But how? She looked at the ancient dagger in her hand. She held its tip to Beyan's chest, willing it to transfer Piper's soul, but nothing happened. Did she need to cut the man with the Dragon Blade, or worse yet, stab him with it? She didn't think she could do that, even if she was willing to risk it. She looked to Prue, wanting to ask her, but she was busy enough getting smacked around by the looks of it.

Think, Paige! she told herself. A spell. She could try a spell. The words weren't coming to mind, though. Piper had been right about trying something off the cuff under pressure. She had something to work with against the Fury. Paige took a breath and tried to calm down. "To free this trapped soul...I call her name. Return her now...from whence," she cringed. Whence, really? "she came! Piper. Piper? Piper!"

On the third utterance of her sister's name, the Dragon Blade flashed green, and a white light popped out of it. However, rather than entering the body before her, it shot in the direction of An Ling and her father, then a second light shot out of Piper. Suddenly, the man in front of Paige came to life, causing her to jump backward. "Oh, you're awake! That's good!" she declared joyfully, but then a scream of horror rent the air.

"What the hell is going on?" Piper roared, An Ling's precarious grip on her hand the only thing keeping her from being swallowed whole by the churning sinkhole to her rear. "Oh, hell no!"

"Oh, that's bad!" Paige grimaced. "But my spell worked!"

"Hurry, cut me loose," said Beiyan, indicating to the Dragon Blade with his eyes.

Paige immediately got to work on the ropes, but they were thick, and the old blade wasn't all that sharp. As she gripped the dagger tightly, sawing with all her might, a Premonition suddenly flashed into her mind.

She saw Yen Lo fighting, saw his defeat. He was stabbed in the chest with the Dragon Blade, and after his soul was sealed, their harsh surroundings became a beautiful garden, and the vortex relinquished its death grip on Piper and An Ling. But the person holding the Dragon Blade... It wasn't her. It wasn't Prue either. It wasn't any of them.

***

As confident as Prue had been when she elevated herself to the stone stage of sorts for her showdown with Yen Lo, she was starting to worry. She had landed a couple of strong punches, but her opponent was adapting quickly. The man was an expert combatant. His occasional bursts of levitating magic aside, he was swift, agile, precise, and clearly proficient in several martial arts styles.

Even with the power of Limbo working to her advantage, allowing her to move her limbs with the merest thought, giving her speed comparable with the time she fought Vinceras, it was all Prue could do to keep up with Yen Lo's superior technique. She could move in time to parry most of his blows, her braid whipping about behind her, but the problem was becoming clear. Her lack of experience compared to his meant that her movements, while quick, weren't always the correct choices.

She would mentally raise an arm to block a punch, only to realize too late that he was feinting or else performing some complicated maneuver. When she dodged a jab that turned into a backhand, she took a fierce strike to the mouth and was knocked off the rock. Disoriented, she fell to the earth below, unable to break her fall with her power. Instead, she tried a different tack.