Thank you everyone. It's wonderful to know you enjoy reading this. I hope you can forgive me my inability to write action scenes.

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Tomb Raider games or movies belong to me. I only borrow them for a while. No profit is made from this.

The Judge

Her body came to a painful contact with the ground but she didn't care – she didn't have time to care. Possible cuts and bruises could be treated later on but now she had more important things at hand. Wounds would heal, the world after Karel's domination wouldn't – the scars would be there forever even if someone managed to destroy the source of evil itself.

Her palms clad in fingerless black gloves reached for the weapon she had managed to kick free from the nephilim's hand. It felt strange how the gray object laying on the ground seemed like a salvation to her, but having always counted more on firearms than martial arts, she saw it as a better option than attacking the nephilim with only her arms and legs. As most the remaining enemies focused on the new threat she had just enough time to reach the gun. Feeling relieved she wrapped her fingers around the weapon and pushed herself up from the ground.

A quick glance over her shoulder told her that her helper had dark brown hair with piercing blue eyes and her mind immediately connected those features to a certain Lux Veritatis warrior. Not having more time to study the person, she ducked avoiding the kick aimed at her by the weaponless nephilim. Knowing she wouldn't have enough time to turn around, aim and fire, she relied on her agility turning around and kicking blindly at something that was behind her. The nephilim was taken by a surprise, as her foot caught him in the stomach, and he stumbled back a few steps but regained balance shortly.

But the few moments the nephilim was out of the game were all Lara needed to get her act together. She sprinted toward the nephilim but underestimated her opponent's swiftness and was taken aback when the man avoided her attack but instead of standing there dumbstruck she forced herself to keep on moving to avoid the possible hits directed at her body.

Another bullet passed Kurtis' face closely, warming up his cheek with its passing flight, as he ducked. The traitor dissident muttered something incoherent and reloaded his weapon with amazing speed, never letting his sight of Kurtis. The Lux Veritatis warrior took the advantage of the situation by standing up and readying himself for the next attack that was surely about to come. He only needed one good hit to the heart of the nephilim. Since Kurtis wasn't sure if hits to any other body part would kill the creature he had to keep dodging as long as it was possible for him to strike his opponent down with only one hit.

Karel, in the meanwhile, was observing the act of his helpers, Lara and Kurtis with amusement in his eyes. Having trained his sons and the dissident nephilim with utmost care he deeply believed that the mortals stood only a little chance against the two that remained of his helpers. Karel raised himself up to air while the others kept on fighting and prepared himself to battle.

Lara was having a hard time dodging the hits of the nephilim fighting against her even though he had to be younger than her – younger than Kurtis – if he was a son of Karel's. And from what Konstantin had told her she was sure this indeed was the case.

As she ducked the nephilim's hit and once more swung her fist at the being she could only wonder how two so different beings can be brought into this world by the same woman. The thought escaped as quickly as it had arrived as her wondered off mind was woken up by a punch to her stomach. As she stumbled a few steps backward she protected herself from the new punches as well as she good even though a few of them found their goal.

I will not be beat up by a bastard, she thought to herself as she tried to come up with a new fighting strategy. She fake-coughed a few times trying to express being fatigued to give the creature a sense of triumph hoping he would fall into her trap.

And he did – the years of his life and being trained by Karel had not taught him the cunning of the human beings. He didn't seem to believe that people, too, were able to act if they were in pursue of a certain goal.

The nephilim took the bait – he rushed toward the woman who looked beaten and defeated but it was his turn to be surprised. As he came near enough she raised her eyes to meet his and in a blink of an eye he realized that he was staring directly at the barrel of the gun in her hand. The moment seemed to last forever to him and for a moment he allowed himself to think that it was never going to end. He didn't hear the gun firing nor did he feel the bullet boring itself into his skull. All of a sudden the silence just ended and he fell on the ground.

Lara knew it wouldn't keep te nephilim down forever – the creature was immortal, after all, or at least invulnerable to most weapons. But her victory was shot-lived as a green flash of light struck near the wall next to her. Lara glanced up seeing Karel floating in front of the scales and in his hands glowed green light. Not knowing whether he had intentionally missed her or was if it was just a bad aim she dashed forward not having any idea of how to defeat him.

Kurtis was starting to get tired of dodging the bullets fired by the dissident nephilim. He had seen Lara defeating her own opponent and dashing toward Karel like there was no other option on hand. She didn't even have a weapon to defeat her but at least the man had had enough dignity not to kill her when he had the chance.

The dissident fired at Kurtis but the weapon just clicked, out of ammo. Furious, the being threw the weapon to the side of the room and approached Kurtis drawing a dagger from the sheath on his belt. A crooked smile took over Kurtis' face. At last they were in the art of fighting that also suited his choice of weaponry. His fingers squeezed the hilt of the shadow katana knowing that his weapon wouldn't be able to defend him from any strikes. Anything but light could pass through the shadow.

As the dissident attacked him Kurtis avoided the hit easily by jumping aside as the being was close enough. Knowing he had to keep his distance to the dagger Kurtis circled the nephilim avoiding each swing aimed to end his life. He had to admit that the former dissident was skilled with the blade and he had a tough time dodging all the hits.

"What are you planning to do, Ms. Croft?" Karel's voice held a hint of mockery in it and his face confirmed it – the nephilim thought she was ridiculous or at least entertaining. To him her and Kurtis' efforts were like an annoying swarm of mosquitoes to a human being – the noise was there but no real harm could be done. But what he didn't know was that some mosquitoes carried diseases fatal to human beings.

"The same thing I always do – save the world." She told him her voice not showing a slightest hint of fear.

He laughed coldly, his entirely black eyes directed directly at her. "With that?" He didn't point out the weapon in Lara's hand but she knew he meant it. She shook her head not taking her eyes of him and let the gun fall on the ground. She knew well enough that bullets had no effect on him when he was like that – they wouldn't even slow down his speed.

Kurtis grinned as he heard the metal clank informing the dissident in front of him had been successfully unarmed. The creature himself didn't seem to be worried about this fact – when one lived for hundreds and hundreds of years they had time to practice multiple ways of fighting. All the others Kurtis could defend himself against but the natural powers of the nephilim race.

And that's exactly what the creature did. When he ran out of weapons he relied in the one that had been given to him in birth. With a wave of his wrist he directed a bolt of light green fire at Kurtis who managed just in time to avoid being burned by the nephilim fire.

Karel grinned as he saw Kurtis being no problem at the time and he could concentrate on destroying the annoying tomb raider. When he had come this far in getting what he had always wanted he simply wouldn't give up now.

Lara knew what was coming and dodged before the bolt of green flame even left Karel's fingers. She just needed to keep him occupied long enough for Kurtis to finish off the dissident nephilim and knowing that the task would be anything but easy she readied herself for a tough ride. She knew that as an opponent Karel would give her no time to relax and would shoot her in the back if he felt the need to. As another bolt of flame left his fingers she rolled forward thus dodging the death awaiting for her in the embrace of the green fire.

As she had guessed, Karel's power was infinite. The nephilim didn't seem to tire himself as he floated almost gracefully around the round room firing bolts of fire at Lara who was beginning to feel fatigued from all the dodging and ducking.

"Die, mortal!" Karel shouted, boredom shining through from his voice. He was like a child bored with a toy but instead of forgetting about Lara he tried to destroy her.

Another bolt of green fire left his hand and this time it was almost a hit. Lara failed to see that one coming and instead of docking away from it she was thrown of her feet and tumbled to the ground. As she once more climbed to her feet one single thought took over her mind: Can't you finish with him already, Kurtis?

Lara wasn't the only person ducking for their life. Kurtis followed suit as he once again threw himself away from the trajectory of an incoming nephilim fire bolt. Not having a moment to stop and think his strategy through he kept on going in the hope the chance would soon be offered.

It offered itself sooner than he had thought possible. As the dissident nephilim got ready to fire another bolt of fire he saw movement in the corner of his eye. Lara had stumbled on the floor, panting somewhat and Kurtis saw his chance. The next bolt would never leave the nephilim's fingers if Kurtis had anything to say about it. The Lux Veritatis warrior darted forward and with all the strength he could muster slammed his fist into the nephilim's stomach. The creature grunted being caught off-guard and tried to regain his composure – but to him it was already too late.

Before he could even think about it Kurtis had already run the Shadow Katana through his heart and he could see his immortality erupting from the wound in a shadowy form. As fast as he had struck the katana through the nephilim he liberated the blade from the creature's corpse that lay on the ground unmoving. Hoping that Lara could hold Karel busy for a little while longer he ran to the body of Karel's son.

The man lay unmoving on the ground even though the wound on his forehead was already beginning to heal. Feeling strange sort of longing Kurtis had to remind himself of what his half-brother was like before he thrust the katana deep into his chest.

Having lost both of his helpers in such a short time the grin on Karel's face took a turn from better to a worse. His floating turned from graceful into hazardous as he now had two objects to take her by himself.

"Two against one? This is hardly fair. Are you sure you don't need any back up?" His voice was venomous and for a moment Lara thought she heard bitterness caused by the loss of his family in it.

Lara just grinned at him teasingly and dodged yet another bolt of flame aimed at her.

"I give you one more chance to join me, Croft." Karel hissed through his teeth. "One more chance to be something more than this!" Almost furiously he imprisoned one of the small blue lights floating in the room in his fist only to see it escaped his grasp. He opened his fist his face glowing with hatred.

"Not in this life."

"So be it!" The nephilim hissed and squinting his eyes aimed his next bolt at Kurtis.

Not having anything to hide behind Lara and Kurtis concentrated all their energy in dodging not even trying to approach the nephilim. His helpers might have humane mistakes due to the mixed blood of the both races but she highly doubted Karel would fall for those same ones.

Karel kept his eyes on both Lara and Kurtis keeping himself back to the wall like fearing there'd be someone who would stab him in the back. It was a precaution against enemy which rather met their opponents face to face in a fair engagement but to the nephilim it seemed impossible for someone to have enough morale not to take advantage of their enemies like that.

In all the dodging and avoiding being hit Lara and Kurtis lost their time. The little blue lights seemed to form lines like they were forming an image but Lara forced this thought out of her mind. It seemed to her that she wasn't able to think straight anymore. She didn't know how long she had been running and jumping but even her body had it's limits and those limits were soon going to be exceeded. A glance to Kurtis told that his stamina was wearing thin, too.

Kurtis was panting, hard, and everything in his appearance told her that he didn't have much of his strength left. Only his will kept him going on since his hope was fading when he saw Lara knowing she wouldn't last long. Something had to be done and soon or there would never be any end to their little cat and mouse play.

Karel was enjoying more than he could've ever anticipated. Having his enemies running from him like that gave him a total new feel of power – one that he had never known existed. In the world of maggots he would be a king. No, not a king – a god. In this new flush of power his face regained the grin of enjoyment it had held earlier and he sent one more bolt of green fire at Lara.

Only hitting her this time…

She bit her teeth together to kill the scream that would've escaped had she not done so. The fire had hit her on her left thigh and in the impact the flames also charred her side. She fell on the ground as the wave of pain flashed through her making her body and mind yearn for unconsciousness. On the contrary she felt it as she stumbled to the ground and remained conscious.

Kurtis was still running but his speed had decreased due to his lack of stamina. His breathing had changed from peaceful, long breaths into short ones that only just gave his body enough air to keep on running. But in his weakened condition ,in which all of his focus was directed to staying on his feet and not falling down, he forgot to keep an eye on what Karel was doing. Suddenly, taking a look over his shoulder, Kurtis stopped and saw Lara laying on the ground, winking at him. He stood still for one second too long and gave Karel time to aim.

The bolt struck him to the right shoulder throwing him off his feet. As his mind tried to comprehend what had just happened his fingers let go of the hilt of the katana unknowingly. The metallic hilt clattered as it fell on the floor but stayed still after a few moments.

Karel couldn't help but laugh as he saw his opponents fall on the ground, both taken aback by his powers and durability. Now that everything standing between him and the scales had been taken care of nothing would stop him from using the power of the ancient artifact.

He descended from the air and sigher in relief as his feet made a contact with the ground. He stepped toward the scales like he had no worry in the world. As his fingers caressed the scales a grotesque smile took its place on his lips. All he had ever wanted was in front of him – all the power in the world within the reach of his hands. His fingers traced the outlines of the scales and greedily he took a hold of the object examining it with interest. There was no need to revive the old nephilim when you found a way to create new ones.

As the nephilim slightly raised the scales form its pedestal he saw a something glimmering under it. As he knelled to take a closer look the shiny surface of the small gem the scales had been placed on dimmed visibly and soon it glimmered no more. To his surprise Karel noticed that the small gem reminded him of the sun medallion that had opened the door.

With multiple thoughts running through his head he touched the surface of the gem. No one had ever told him of its existence, not even the dissident nephilim he had managed to get to betray his fellow dissidents. Just as he was pulling back his finger the surface of the gem again changed taking a darker color and before Karel even knew it an eye opened in the middle of the blackness of the gem looking directly at him.

The nephilim quickly took the a firm hold of the scales and turned to make his grand escape when he saw it. A figure of blackish smoke stood in the only doorway leading out of the chambers with its glowing red eyes staring at him. In its hands the creature held the sun medallion and repeated the one and the same number all over again: one. When the creature took a step closer Karel backed up one step unknowingly approaching Kurtis.

The Lux Veritatis warrior stared at the back of the approaching nephilim not seeing what he was so afraid of that he backed up. Clambering to his knees Kurtis took a look around trying to locate the Shadow Katana seeing it lying only few meters away from him. He stood up too fast his body letting him know of the pain caused by the burn on his shoulder. Leaning to the wall he slowly made his way to the katana and dropped himself on his knees next to it. Grateful for the object being there he slowly wrapped his fingers around the hilt.

Lara stirred and to her luck the small dim blue lights didn't hurt her eyes. She too laid her eyes on the backing nephilim who stared at something neither she nor Kurtis were able to see.

Karel could only stare at the glowing red eyes and he could feel the hatred of the creature and the word it repeated rang in his ears. Whatever this thing was it seemed to be a guardian of a sort – a keeper of these halls. But a being like it could not be from this world or this plane of existence.

Kurtis stood up carefully and took one unsteady step toward Karel clenching his fingers around the hilt of the katana. If he had to head stab the nephilim in the back and live with it for the rest of his life rather than die here today being too weak to stop the creature. He carefully raised the blade and got ready to strike Karel down.

Lara kept her eyes on the scales in Karel's hands and stood up as fast as she could. She wasn't going to let him take the artifact, not in this lifetime and not in the next if there was a thing called transmigration of souls.

Karel wasn't going to let the being take his key to the world domination. No matter how much it must've wanted the scales it couldn't have them. In a blink of an eye the nephilim turned around to search for a way to escape but his eyes only met the angered ones of Kurtis. The shadow of the katana in the Lux Veritatis warrior's hands now seemed a threat to the nephilim's own existence for the first time.

Kurtis couldn't believe what he saw – on the face of the man in front of her was a pleading look as his eyes tried to search for sympathy in Kurtis' blue ones. Karel's hands were still wrapped around the scales protectively like it was something that really belonged to him.

"Not in this lifetime." Kurtis said coldly before he thrust the shadowy blade through the nephilims chest into his blackened heart. Karel's fingers instantly fell limp and he released the scales and let it fall.

Lara, having limped nearer to Kurtis during the few last moments of Karel's life, now kicked herself into running speed and lunged toward Karel and the scales as he let go of the object. Jumping forward Lara reached out her hands not caring if the return to the ground would be a painful one.

As the scales landed on her hands not breaking the whole scene Karel had been backing up from emerged before her. The being with the blaming red eyes turned to stare at her amazement she recognized it. It had been described in the papers they had found taped in Nikolas' notebook. The same red eyed shadowy creature that had sat by the bed of the person who had written those papers was now standing in front of her. It took a step closer and all she could sense were its eyes on her. They were scanning her like a prey.

No, they were scanning the scales.

"Kurtis…" She sat up and glanced at him over her shoulder. The man behind her turned to look at her with amazement in his eyes.

"What is it, Lara?" His voice was filled with relief and bewilderment. He couldn't bring himself to understand why she talked on a hushed voice.

"We're not…alone in here." Her voice was filled with caution as she turned to face the red-eyed being again. Couldn't he see it? Remembering Karel's acting few moment earlier she looked from the creature to the scales as her mind made the connection.

"There's nothing here with us anymore. Nothing alive." He added as he looked at the four corpses on the floor.

"It wants the scales…" Her voice was slow and peaceful.

"What wants the scales?" He knelled in front of her and looked her in the eye expecting to find them empty or expressing some sort of insanity. But what insanity could've been brought upon her in such a short time?

"It's…standing right behind you." She looked over his head into the flaming red eyes. "It's fingers…on your shoulders."

Sudden coldness swept over Kurtis but he didn't know if it was because of her words or the room temperature dropping rapidly during the last few seconds. Suddenly he felt something warm on his shoulders and as he took a careful peek he indeed saw the black fingers there. Not wanting to see more he turned to look at Lara again.

"What is it?" He asked as if he really believed she would know.

"The spirit inside…the sun medallion." She kept a small pause as she remembered the poem behind the medallion. Was this the keeper or the one that served it? Was it the slave or the master? The power or the mastermind? "The keeper."

She eyed the creature of the black mist as it stood behind Kurtis with its fingers on his shoulders. Did it want to…trade? His life for the scales? What if she gave the scales to the creature? What was weighing down each pan? Kurtis' life on the other pan and the rest of these spirits in the other? Would she condemn them into hell if she decided to hand away the scales?

She turned to look at the scales in her hands – the object that held the most value of all the artifacts she had discovered during her travels. Yet it was the one she didn't want in her house – it was the one she didn't want to keep. She couldn't sell it for it would fall into the wrong hands and she had no want to keep it herself. Suddenly the fingers on Kurtis' shoulders didn't seem that bad an option. She gently raised the scales toward the spirit.

Kurtis stared at her in amazement as she offered the scales as a peace treaty but didn't say a word. He wanted nothing to do with the scales, with the object that had robbed his parents of him. He felt the coldness leaving the room as the creature lifted its hands off his shoulders and reached out to receive the scales. When its fingers touched the object Lara let go immediately.

She had never experienced such coldness in her life – it was as if the creature's touch had frozen over the scales and she had to pull back her hands saving them from being frozen solid. She saw the creature stepping back its long black fingers around the scales protectively. It walked slowly across the room to the place where the scales had stood before Karel had touched it. Laying down the object the creature of black mist began to dim and soon could not be seen.

The scales stood on it's former place as one of the small blue light emerged on the pan that didn't hold the feather.

"It's the judge" Lara could only whisper before she stood up. Kurtis soon followed suit and they watched as one soul got to the better place.