:) Hello everyone, I'm really REALLY sorry to have left you all with an evil cliffhanger but I went on holiday the day after posting so I've been unable to update. Sorry! But here at last is the next chapter, and Kurtis' fate shall become at least a little clearer ;)

Chapter 22: Asharagael

I let out a scream that contained every last shred of hope or joy in my soul, and sank to my knees. The air rushed around me as the half-formed Nephilim pushed closer to the fire, waiting for Karel to drop his last offering into the flames. Karel stood on the platform, looking around at the ghastly figures, and held up a bloody palm.

"Brothers and sisters," he called to them. "This is the last of our enemies. To devour him means to return to glory." The Nephilim pressed closer, their fragile limbs still insubstantial in the firelight, long grey fingers grasping, wings stretching and swaying. Their eager whispers filled my ears. They still showed no interest in me whatsoever, their hunger directed at the prize on the platform.

"But first," Karel continued, voice bold and certain, "I want you to swear, my kin, that as the one who resurrected you, the one who brought about this new age, you will honour me as your leader. Without me, you would have remained locked in this grave for all time. I am worthy of your adoration, and your loyalty." The Nephilim strained forwards harder, whispering voices growing to loud hisses, agreeing, urging Karel onward to his next step.

I wanted to die, let it end right there and then. I could do nothing more. Karel had succeeded, and the Nephilim would be whole again in just moments. Unless Kurtis' heart never makes it into those flames, a voice murmured somewhere deep inside. Even in my broken state, a part of me was still trying to save the world. I looked up at the platform, at Karel, at the fire. In a moment he would turn and start carving into Kurtis' torn body. How could I reach him? I couldn't cross the flames, and there was no way of extinguishing them. I couldn't even drag Kurtis' body away, not while he was still chained like a carcass in a butcher's window. I closed my eyes, hung my head, and prayed silently for some kind of inspiration. Something, there has to be something, I pleaded. Just to end this. And if I can live long enough to give the man I love a decent funeral, so much the better.

As these thoughts raced through my frantic mind, something happened in the room. A sudden hush came over the Nephilim, and I screwed my eyes up tighter. Was it too late? Had Karel done the final deed? I couldn't bear to look. But the air seemed to be crackling with fear, not triumph, and the scraping feet around me were retreating now, slowly but surely. I opened my eyes, still afraid of what I may see. Karel had his back towards me, and stood frozen on the platform, dagger in hand.

"No," I heared him say, voice sharp with disbelief. "No, it can't be."

He stumbled backwards, right through the fire, and I looked up at the source of his terror. My jaw dropped open in amazement.

Kurtis had raised his head, and there was orange light spilling from his eyes and open mouth. As I stared, I saw that a fainter glow was shining all around his body, pulsing slowly. It was growing steadily stronger and brighter, until there was a shimmering, fiery aura all around him. Whatever I was witnessing, it wasn't just Kurtis any more. Karel stumbled as the figure on the platform pulled his arms free of the chains as though they were nothing more than paper, and stepped slowly down from where he had been held. With every step the ethereal light around him became more and more defined, brightening outwards to banish the gloom.

I looked around at the frightened, hideous figures of the Nephilim. In the new light they looked more real, more flesh. More pitiful. I shuddered at the sight of their faces. They brought to mind something of exquisite beauty that had been broken, destroyed, drained of a soul, and reassembled to look forever flawed. I realised for the first time why the meeting of angel and human had been such a travesty. These creatures should never have existed. I was appalled to notice that there were about three dozen of them; their destructive potential made the damage done by Karel pale into insignificance. I looked back at Kurtis, or whatever was now standing before me. There was no trace now of the warm blue gaze that had held me captive so many times, no frown or teasing smile to betray his thoughts. A towering figure, made of flame, stood overlapping with his body, head turning left and right to survey the beasts around it. Its eyes were brilliant white flames in a head that was sleek and fierce, but breathtakingly beautiful. Turning its attention to Karel, it spoke.

"What is this?"

The voice was feminine, musical, terrifying and stunning. The words were not in any language I had ever heard before, but the meaning of them was as clear and true as if they had been scribed directly on my heart. I was torn between agony and ecstasy, tears and laughter at the sound. I knew suddenly that this was an angel standing before me.

"What are you?" Karel stammered, futile dagger held out before him, but I suspected he knew the answer to his question as well as I did.

"I am Asharagael," the angel replied. I gasped, remembering Ozan's last scribbled note.

"You are Nephilim," Asharagael's voice rang out. "And your time is over. It should never have begun."

She reached a flaming arm towards Karel, an impossible blend of ferocity and tenderness on her flickering face. Within the light I could still make out Kurtis' form, his own arm outstretched, faint and fragile. Karel backed away, head shaking desperately in denial. Asharagael reached for him, and took hold of his head easily in her tapering fingers. Karel started to moan, quietly and pathetically like a child.

"This is your doing, half-breed," the angel said. She placed both hands around his head and began to crush. The scream that arose from Karel's lips was so awful that I felt sick with pity, despite my hatred, and had to turn away, hands over ears. As the scream died out I looked back at the spectacle before me. A blaze of white flame spilled from Asharagael's hands, tinged with blue. I was reminded of the light that had glowed from the Periapt shards as I plunged them into Eckhardt, many long weeks ago in the Strahov. As the light faded there was nothing left to be seen of Karel.

She turned and began to stride gracefully towards the closest of the Nephilim. Some of them froze in fear, while others ran, crawled or beat their skinny wings in an attempt to get away. Some of them even managed to unleash their own weapons, despite their hungry, half-finished state, sending bolts of light at their pursuer. But there was no escape from her murderous touch. One by one they were consumed by the deadly fire, shrieks echoing around to rough stone chamber. The floor began to shake beneath my knees as the creatures fought and fell before Asharagael. Dust started to rain down from new damage to the ceiling, and I realised that the whole city could be in danger of collapsing into the crumbling chamber. I had no way of getting out.

The rumbling of stone continued even as the last of the Nephilim cried out its last breath. So I would be buried here, in another God-forsaken tomb. But at least it had ended, the Nephilim destroyed. It was more than I could have hoped for. Asharagael came towards me, shining and magnificent.

"Human," she said, peering down at me, burning eyes warming my skin. I looked into her face, squinting against the light. "What is your part in all of this?"

"I..." I didn't know what to say. I felt very small and simple in that extraordinary gaze. "I wanted to stop him," I managed eventually.

"The half-breed?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you bow before him?" she asked. She moved a hand closer to my face and I could feel the power radiating from it. Did she really think that I was one of Karel's subjects?

"I just wanted to stop him... from hurting Kurtis," I whispered.

Asharagael's fingers brushed against my face, very gently, but even that faintest of touches was like a warm wave that threatened to overwhelm me. I gasped at the beauty of that touch. She seemed to be thinking, trying to decide what should be done with me. I knelt before her, helpless and exhausted. She cocked her head to one side slightly, as though she were listening to something I couldn't hear.

"You love him," she said. "The beacon."

"Beacon?" She must be talking about Kurtis. Was he still in there somewhere, alive and feeling, conversing somehow with the angel?

"The human. The last link between man and angel."

I was soothed by Asharagael's touch, but my tired mind, although calmer now, was still struggling with incomprehension. "I don't understand."

"Long ago, when the half-breeds took their first steps upon this earth, my brethren and I were sent to unmake them. They should never have been," she said regretfully. "They have no place in heaven or earth. We knew that some of them had fled, hidden themselves from us. And we placed our mark upon some of the mortals, so that they could be our eyes in this plane, and shine our light into the dark places where the half-breeds had fled. They passed our gift down through the generations, but human memory is fickle, and although the gift remained, its purpose became unclear. The link became weaker,and one by one the beacons were snuffed out, untilit seemed the bond had been cut once and for all." Asharagael turned and moved towards the now empty platform. The circle of flames had been broken by falling dust and debris, but still burnt here and there. The angel waved her hand over the fire and it disappeared.

"But then the signal came again. Suddenly, stronger than it had been for such a very long time. Drawing me back here, to continue my work."

She turned back to face me again, and I pondered what she had said. All along, Kurtis had held this incredible power, and never even known it. I wondered when the memory of the angels had finally faded from human minds. Even Ozan had not known the true purpose of the Light of Truth.

"Are there more of them? The Nephilim?" I asked tentatively.

Asharagael looked solemn. "Yes. I fear that there are more, hidden away even deeper than these were. But I cannot sense them."

I closed my eyes. Surely this had to be the end; after all the tragedies and miracles, surely there could be no more. The floor shifted beneath me again, the groaning of stone on stone growing louder.

"What happens now?" I asked Asharagael.

She smiled at me then, and despite the sounds of destruction all around I was held blissfully in that smile, hoping it would never end. She reached for me, and I found myself standing.

"Now," she said, "We leave this place and bury it forever. And then your life goes on." Her arms opened, and I went to her, folded willingly in her divine embrace. I closed my eyes and let the warmth wrap around me, needing nothing more.

A/N:
Ooooh... Karel's dead! It's all over! Okay, not quite ;) There's still one chapter left, which I will try to finish and post as soon as I can, although I'm pretty busy right now. In the meantime, please let me know what you thought of this chappie. Thanks so much for all the reviews so far! :)