23- UBI OMNES FINES*

*Where it all ends

They only had a few metres to go before getting out of the Golems' reach. The mercenary suddenly stopped running and turned around. He found himself facing the huge monster that was coming straight for them. He stood, planted in front of the thing that was about to crush him. He took aim and pulled the trigger. The monster grunted, before collapsing to the ground. Followed by a cloud of dust, Kurtis resumed his run. He joined the adventuress who had run into a small ruined house in a remote corner of the city.

It took him a few moments to catch his breath. His stomach wound was not helping his, it was burning furiously. After a last look outside, he let himself fall to the ground, his back resting against a large stone. He felt the blood start to flow on his hip again. Lara rushed to compress the wound. The mercenary couldn't hold back a grunt of pain, although it gave him some relief.

"We have to get to the temple," he said in a breath.

"We can't go through the main access, we have to find something else," the adventuress replied.

She was concentrating on Kurtis's wound.

"You already have an idea on the subject, right?", the young man asked.

"The sanctuary here has great similarities with those in Latin America. The Incas built temples with several entrances: a main entrance, of course, which was more imposing, to symbolically mark the entrance to the sacred world. But this kind of structure often has one or two other emergency accesses."

"You sure about that?"

Lara pressed a little more on the wound. The mercenary grinned.

"I know it because it's also the case for the pyramids built by Egyptians. The slaves needed different kind of tunnels during the construction, even if they condemned them after use. In any case, it's the best way to get out of a pyramid that has collapsed on you. You can trust me."

The young man gave her a doubtful look.

"Do you think you could use your foresee to locate this access?", asked the young woman.

Kurtis seemed to think for a moment, obviously in doubt.

"I don't know how my powers will react in this world... if I use them, there's a chance he'll locate us."

"Whether he locates us now or when we are in the temple, it doesn't matter anymore, don't you think?"

"I'd appreciate if we could save a little time... And I'd like to avoid rushing us to our deaths," replied the American bitterly.

They exchanged a steady glance.

"There was some sort of altar inside," the young woman said.

Kurtis nodded.

"They still have to find the sleeper, but Karel won't waste time starting the resurrection ritual... we don't have much time left."

"We have to get the sword back, it's our only chance," Lara said as she looked up at him.

Kurtis winced again in pain.

"Hopefully Gunderson and his men will protect the sleeper and the shrine. The good thing is that there aren't many of them left."

Lara nodded. But she frowned.

"It might not be the most complicated thing indeed. I was thinking mostly of the golems."

She was silent for a moment, concentrating. Kurtis tried to sit up.

"He's going to wake them up to get in our way, that's for sure," said the young man, also concentrated. "The first time I came up against them was on a mission in Ethiopia. They're relatively slow, they'll be easy to lose and destroy if we stay focused, but only this Nephilim bastard knows how many he'll send after us..."

Lara raised her finger, she had just thought of something.

"Earlier, the golems only attacked us when we came out of the sanctuary with Morgau. They could have trapped us up there."

"The golems are simple guardians. They are by definition impure beings…"

"... who therefore do not have access to sacred places."

They nodded together.

"It almost sounds easy," Kurtis said wryly.

The young woman smiled bitterly. Their eyes, which were glowing with the same light at that moment, met once more. They savoured those few short seconds before the young man let himself go backwards. He closed his eyes. Lara released the pressure on his wound and he grunted. She then grabbed a roll of gauze and slowly wrapped it around his abdomen. He felt a wave of apprehension run through him. He took a deep breath.

"Okay, let's go," he said in a whisper.

The weight of the sword bent her back. Her master stepped forward without a word. Without hesitation, he walked into the sanctuary with a hurried step. Suddenly the space was lit up on all sides. Morgau was surprised to discover the place they had entered earlier with Lara was in fact a huge, almost empty room. Torches hanging from the walls suddenly flared up. The floor, covered in patterns and symbols, gradually lit up as the Nephilim moved into the room. Great columns surrounded them. The place was immense. At its centre was a large block of irregularly cut stone, whose rough appearance contrasted sharply with the rest of the sanctuary.

The rock in front of them made it clear what it was used for: large rusty iron chains hung heavily on either side, and the rock was stained with traces of blood. The ground itself still bore the traces of the sacrifices that had been committed here. Karel looked around the room, his eyes unable to focus on a specific point. He turned to Gunderson.

"Go to the antechamber," he said, pointing to the staircase at the back of the room, which plunged into the depths of the pyramid.

The mercenary did not look reassured. His injured shoulder was hurting like hell, even though he tried not to let it show.

"Master, what about the-"

"GO GET THE SLEEPER!", the Nephilim cut him off abruptly.

Gunderson gave a sign to some of the men, and they disappeared into the darkness. Rouzic, on the other hand, had discarded his heavy backpack and was already busy taking out the large grimoire he had not discarded. He held the sanglyph against him. Not far from him, the last surviving archaeologists were huddled together in a corner, completely panicked.

"What should we do with them?", Morgau asked.

Karel glared at the group of women.

"One thing at a time."

She did not answer. She held his gaze for a few seconds. Karel suddenly stopped moving, looking up, as if he had heard something. After a few seconds, the expression on the monster's face changed. The Nephilim turned around and walked towards Rouzic.

"Stay on your guard, they're trying to find a way in," he said over his shoulder. "You'd better keep them away."

"I thought golems made very good watchdogs too."

Karel, who had now joined Rouzic, slowly turned around. Morgau stood there without a word. He watched her carefully. She felt a pain in her forehead. An excruciating, piercing, sharp migraine, which gradually enveloped her skull, which pierced the bones to directly attack the brain and the nervous system. Her vision blurred. Her heartbeat quickened. Her breathing became jerky. She resisted. She saw in her master's eyes all the hatred and contempt he felt towards her. The pain intensified. She clenched her jaws with all her might. She fell to her knees, but did not take her eyes off him.

Everything around him was terribly dark and blurred. He felt as if he were hovering above the world, as if his mind had suddenly become detached from his body. At first he visualized the whole abandoned city, and the hundreds of sad, dusty houses. Then, the pyramid. He let himself be carried away, and approached the entrance to the sanctuary. He was suddenly unsettled by a feeling of vertigo, as if something overpowering emanated from the darkness of the pyramid. Something was sleeping here. Something was brewing. He felt himself being pushed back, as if he were swimming against the current.

He refocused. Again he let his instincts lead him, this time a little further down the pyramid.

There was a large house, or perhaps a building, somewhere at the foot of the building. He dived without hesitation. He flew over the pile of stones that blocked the access to the building. It was dark, he could hardly see anything. In one of the back walls, hidden behind some debris, was a stone door. He passed through the rock.

It was completely dark down there. A strange humming sound was coming from the stone around him. He went up the passage, he was going deeper and deeper into the pyramid.

A noise called to him. A sort of growl. He tried to go a little further. He continued up the narrow corridor. The roar increased. Finally he came to a small room, which looked very much like an antechamber. He continued on. There was an entrance to his left, which seemed to go up into the pyramid.

A movement caught his eye. As he was about to continue, he came face to face with a procession of several men. They were bringing something up. They were carrying something heavy on their shoulders. At first he thought it was a simple block of stone. But on closer inspection he noticed its strangely elongated and rounded shape. There was something inside. A body. But a body that was not human.

He came back to his senses. Lara was shaking him by the arm. Like every time he exercised his foresee, it took some seconds before his mind reconnected completely with his body.

They were under attack. He wobbled slightly as he sat up, still a little stunned. Lara was pushing back as best she could the golems that were charging at them. The chirugai, back on his belt, unhooked itself and charged straight at one of the monsters. The weapon's sharp blades ricocheted forcefully against the beast's shoulder, and it grunted. But it did not stop it. The golem smashed the wall in its path with its fists. Kurtis's metal disc turned and pierced the monster's head, which pitched for a moment, destabilised, but did not give way. It was dangerously close. The two adventurers both stepped back to take cover a little further into the room. Kurtis then drew his own pistol and fired. The monster finally disappeared. Under the adventuress' bullets, another monster collapsed a little further on.

Before they could catch their breath, another growl went up somewhere outside. Lara and Kurtis glanced at each other.

"Let's go!"

The adventuress nodded, determined, and Kurtis went ahead. They walked out of the small house and onto the streets of the abandoned city. Almost immediately, they saw five more golems take shape before their eyes.

"Come on, give us a break," the mercenary sighed.

They started to run. Lara followed Kurtis without thinking. The houses, which all looked the same, passed before their eyes at full speed. The street they were on was steeply sloping and extremely uneven. Lara was repeatedly thrown off balance by the unevenness of the ground, which undulated dangerously in places. The golems were chasing rhem like a tsunami wave. They heard the stone crack and explode behind them as the monsters hit the corner of a house. A large piece of stone literally flew through the air and landed not far from Kurtis. Lara turned several times to fire: the first golem collapsed with a loud grunt.

The chirugai attacked them one by one with precise and repeated lacerations, whistling dangerously in the air. A second monster finally exploded.

Kurtis suddenly veered to the left. Lara skidded and almost fell backwards to follow him. She gave a burst of acceleration to catch up with the young man, who had just pushed back with the strength of his mind, a golem that was approaching a little closer to the young woman. They jumped over beams and large blocks of stone that blocked their path. Suddenly, a golem sprang up from the ground in front of them. The two adventurers stopped dead in their tracks. They saw it raise both arms, but just as the monster was about to lower them, the chirugai hissed, and cut its face in two. The monster's arms fell limply, and Lara and Kurtis took advantage of this to resume their frantic race. The mercenary dragged the Englishwoman down a street to the right this time, before the other golems caught up with them.

"We're almost there!", Kurtis shouted over his shoulder.

The young man was slowing down. His stomach wound was seriously bothering him. Lara turned and fired at the group of golems still standing, determined to exterminate them. She managed to hit several of them. She caught up with Kurtis and grabbed him by the waist to help him run.

In the shadow of the pyramid, a building loomed up ahead. With a last effort, the young man grunted and began to run a little faster, helped by the Englishwoman. They passed the entrance to the building. Right behind them, two huge golems smashed the façade to enter in their turn. Lara stopped short and turned around. Panting, she pointed her pistols at the monsters and fired. Kurtis rushed to the back of the house, to a separate room. He found the stele that marked the entrance to the shrine without any trouble. However, it was sealed.

The mercenary rushed to grab a piece of wood that was lying there. He slid it between the rock and the opening and tried to pry it open. The wood broke with a sharp snap.

"Shit!"

He turned around. Lara reached his level, and judging by the expression that had frozen on the young man's face, she quickly understood what was happening. Her eyes rested for a brief second on the door, then on the mercenary. A golem growled, and its heavy footsteps came closer. She turned as the monster entered the room. She held up her 9mm, but it clattered. The magazines were empty.

As the monster swung its powerful fist, Kurtis pressed himself against the wall, while Lara jumped to one side to dodge. The monster then targeted Lara and threw its fist forward again. The young woman had just enough time to duck to avoid the stone fist that slammed into the wall above her. She rolled back towards Kurtis.

They didn't need to speak to each other to realise they had just had the same idea. The passage to the pyramid was right behind them. They made their decision.

They faced the monster, who was already getting up and coming back towards them with a heavy step. They just stood there, and waited. As the golem swung forward in the hope of finally catching them, the two adventurers suddenly ran towards it, dropped to the floor and slid under it.

As they had hoped, the golem, carried away by its momentum, struck with all its might the exact spot where they had both been a few fractions of a second before. The door exploded into a thousand pieces with a resounding crash. Lara and Kurtis had just enough time to stand up and dodge the blocks of stone that were falling from the ceiling. When the monster finally stood up and faced them again, Kurtis threw his chirugai, which ended their fight.

When the monster had completely disappeared, the two young people approached the opening the monster had just created. A tiny passage opened up for them, and seemed to go into the meanders of the pyramid. They exchanged a satisfied smile. But already the grunts of other golems were rising in the distance, and told them that he was being chased again. They ran headlong into the opening before the other monsters came upon them.

They moved at slow pace in the darkness. The passage was extremely narrow and uneven. The air was humid, almost suffocating down here.

As Kurtis had predicted, the golems had not been able to follow them into the tunnel, which was a relief to them both. However, they did not necessarily feel safe.

After several long minutes, they came to a small, undecorated antechamber. They moved forward cautiously. Another tunnel, a little larger and wider, started from the small room where they were and went up higher in the pyramid. It was still pitch black around them.

"These are old galleries," she said in a whisper.

Lara met Kurtis's wary gaze. The place was quiet, almost silent.

With no other choice, they entered the tunnel. Again, they progressed cautiously, watching for the slightest trap around them. Lara was extremely surprised they had not been attacked by other monsters or Karel's illusions.

After several dozen metres, they came to a sort of crossroads, part of which had collapsed. They had two options: either go straight on and climb a little higher into the pyramid, or turn left. To their right, the tunnel was inaccessible. After a quick discussion, they decided to take the left path. The corridor twisted for several metres in total darkness, before ending in a dead end. Or at least, they were once again blocked by a rockfall that prevented them from continuing. As the young woman was about to turn back, Kurtis grabbed her by the arm to hold her back. By the light of the torch, she saw the mercenary put a finger to his mouth and urge her to listen carefully.

She did not immediately understand what he was getting at. The only sound she perceived at first was the strange resonance of the rock around them, as if they had been trapped in the belly of a whale. Then, with a little more concentration, she discerned much more distinct and pronounced sounds. She looked up at Kurtis.

"They're somewhere close," she saw him articulate quietly.

They turned and walked back to the crossing. This time they took the tunnel that led up a little further into the sanctuary. The slope was much steeper on this side. Far ahead of them, a slight opening let in a dim light. All sorts of noises emanated from the other side. They were getting close.

The corridor had become extremely narrow, they had to crawl to finally reach the opening at the end of the tunnel. Kurtis, who was ahead of the young woman, turned to her to indicate once again to stay silent. She joined him as quietly as possible.

Lara's heart sank as she saw the scene before them. They had reached the main sanctuary. What they had discovered with Morgau was in fact a huge, almost empty inner room, bordered by large, imposing columns. She had the impression of being in front of an arena dug into the depths of the earth. It reminded her of the arena at Strahov, although here the space looked more like an ancient underground palace. Large torches lit up the sanctuary, and the symbol-paved floor made the atmosphere oddly muted, strangely fairy-like. She realised she and Kurtis were hidden in a small niche in the wall, perched on a sort of balcony overlooking the whole place.

They soon spotted Gunderson's men strategically placed around the room. The mercenary kept an eye on the few remaining archaeologists, clustered in a corner. They could hear them sobbing. One of them was lying face down on the floor. Not far away, Morgau was also standing guard. She held the periapt sword, its blade glinting brightly under the lights of the shrine.

The two adventurers finally noticed Karel and Rouzic, who were standing in the centre of the shrine, near a rock that stood there in stark contrast to the clean lines of the rest of the place. A strange light emanated from the rock itself, as if the stone was vibrating with energy. The archivist held his huge grimoire in his hands, and recited in a low voice what looked like ancient incantations. Lara suddenly noticed that the nephilim had changed its appearance. His human skin had now been completely replaced by a greyish, almost scaly skin like that of a snake or reptile. The scars that adorned his face had disappeared. His hands had turned into large, deformed paws. Around him, in the centre of the shrine, a circular magnetic field was forming. He, too, was chanting formulas at high speed, his gaze fixed on something in front of him, slightly above the ground. The balcony they were on prevented them from seeing exactly, but the young woman had no trouble understanding what Karel was looking at.

Lara and Kurtis exchanged a steady glance. Time was running out. Karel motioned to Gunderson to bring in one of the archaeologists, who screamed as the mercenary grabbed her by the hair and dragged her towards the altar's centre. With the help of one of his men, they tied the poor young woman to the rock. Gunderson punched her hard as she struggled mightily to free herself from their grip. Karel approached, his eyes now as black as ink on the archaeologist. He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her hard against the stone.

His voice suddenly changed tone, and hardened. Rouzic and him began to chant again, and the energy fields around them suddenly seemed to intensify. A sort of transparent smoke slowly appeared, and moved towards the prisoner. The smoke brushed against her belly, before sliding towards her chest and then her throat. The two adventurers then saw the smoke literally plunge into the mouth of the young woman, who seemed to choke for a moment. She struggled even more.

As the two adventurers looked on in horror, the young archaeologist suddenly seemed to change her appearance as well. Her skin crumpled in all directions, as if thousands of insects were swarming inside her and pushing to pierce her skin to come out into the open. A thick stream of drool began to drip from her twisted mouth. The young woman tried to scream, but only managed to make an unpleasant, hoarse sound.

Lara launched herself forward, but Kurtis stopped her. The archaeologist's scream then tore the air.

Rouzic remained focused on the incantations as long as he could, repeating the same words and formulas over and over again. From where he stood, he could feel all the power emanating from the energy field and the body of the sleeper, who was floating a few meters above them, also supported by a powerful energy field.

When the archaeologist began to scream, and when he saw her body begin to tear, he realised they had succeeded in transferring her life energy to the sleeper's body, but that it still wouldn't be enough to resurrect him. With a last gasp, the young woman fell limply back against the stone, her eyes blank. Karel untied her, and let her body slide to the ground in a disjointed movement. He was already turning to Gunderson to bring another young woman. The archivist interrupted him.

"Master-"

"No time for that, Rouzic," the Nephilim interrupted him abruptly in his distorted voice. "The more energy the sleeper has recovered, the sooner he will be resurrected."

"I agree with you, Master Karel, I know it would be much faster, but we must keep some of them alive for the incubation."

In front of Rouzic's determined expression, Karel finally changed his mind.

"How long do you think it will take to complete the ritual?"

"Actually it m-"

The archivist was suddenly interrupted. Karel heard the man cry out in surprise and saw him topple to one side, as if he had been jostled by a shoulder blow. He dropped the Nephilim grimoire, which fell at his feet. Then, before the Nephilim realised what was happening, the archivist suddenly toppled backwards, mowed down by a bullet to the skull.

Morgau jumped up, alert. Not far from her, one of Gunderson's men fell to the ground, hit in the abdomen. The mercenary rushed behind a column to take cover. Panic suddenly spread through the sanctuary. Karel let out a cry of rage. He turned in all directions, desperately trying to understand where the bullets were coming from. One of them suddenly tore his ear off. He took a few steps backwards, mad with rage. Another plunged into one of his pectoral muscles. Another scratched his neck, taking a few pieces of flesh with it. One exploded part of his arm. Black blood began to flow from the various wounds.

The shooting stopped, and a strange silence fell. Karel looked down at his torso and the various bullet holes that were scattered all over it. He then began to laugh. With a triumphant gesture, he spread his arms open towards his enemies who were contemplating him from the balcony on which they had hidden.

Rouzic was dead, and most of Gunderson's men too. Kurtis straightened up, his Boran X in hand. They had to take advantage of the diversion while they had the chance.

"It's now or never," he told Lara who was standing next to him.

Lara reloaded her 9mm, and finally looked up at him. His piercing blue eyes shone like never before in the darkness. There was no turning back now.

"See you on the other side," she simply told him.

Just as she was about to make her move, Kurtis grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. With a firm but yet gentle movement, he pressed his lips to hers. A strong feeling suddenly rose in her, as if the energy and adrenaline that were flowing through them both were mixing and intensifying. She realised the same doubts had taken hold of the young man, between determination and despair.

"I'm definitely counting on it," he replied with a pronounced smirk as he finally let her go.

Weapons in hand, they came out of their hiding place and ran towards their enemies.

They dug themselves out of the small cavity and scrambled against the stone columns for cover. As Lara bent down, she realised she had Karel right in her sights. Despite the confusion, the Nephilim had not moved. She knew she couldn't kill him with simple bullets, but she could at least buy some time, and maybe even wound him.

In a fraction of a second, she emerged from her cover, aimed and fired a burst of bullets at the Nephilim. She saw his ear burst into a mixture of blood and cartilage, another bullet plunged into his chest and a third wounded him in the neck. Before she was completely exposed, Lara took one last shot, but the bullet deflected and went into the monster's arm. In defiance, Karel stepped forward with his arms spread wide.

"Are you afraid to face me in the open?"

His powerful voice echoed throughout the sanctuary. The two adventurers heard Gunderson shouting orders to his few remaining men. Kurtis bent slightly, and managed to shoot down another. He barely dodged a flurry of bullets coming his way. The stone vibrated heavily against him as they hit.

It was at this moment they finally saw the sleeper's body, which seemed to be floating in the air. A sort of energy field was emanating from him. Its half-closed eyelids showed his glassy yellow eyes. If they didn't hurry, it would be awake in a few moments.

In panic, the surviving archaeologists scattered in all directions. The one in the lead ran with all her might towards the entrance of the shrine, in the hope of getting out of the pyramid. One of the soldiers ran after her and shot her in the back. Her lifeless body toppled forward and fell down the stairs.

Ignoring the chaos around him, Karel approached one of the two survivors and grabbed her with force. The young woman screamed as the nephilim dragged her by the hair to the altar. He hoisted her onto the large rock and tied her to it. Almost instantly, life began to flow out of her and into the sleeper.

In the same movement, Lara and Kurtis emerged from their respective shelters and jumped over the thick balcony railing. The Lux Veritatis helped them landing softly, before the gunfire resumed. With a loud hiss, the chirugai unhooked itself from the American's belt again and charged straight at the soldiers. The weapon slammed into two of them, cutting their throats in one clean, precise stroke.

"Vasiley, hold your position!", Karel shouted.

The young woman, spear in hand, joined her master in the space bounded by the circular energy field. Lara rushed towards them, but the bullets she fired were now lost in the wall of energy that stood between her and the nephilim. She let out a frustrated yell before turning on the soldier who was running at her at the same time. She fired, but her bullet only wounded the man. He dropped his weapon. The young woman approached him and kicked him in the face. He fell on his back. The adventuress stepped over him and shot him in the head.

"Get down!"

She crouched instantly, narrowly avoiding the jet of energy that was coming at her. The flame passed not far from her head, before hitting the ground in an explosion. Karel, still in the process of transferring the archaeologist's life to the sleeper, had targeted her and was shooting bolts of energy in her direction. The adventurer rolled several times, first to one side, then to the other to dodge, then sprinted from one end of the room to the other to escape the flames. She was trying to create a diversion while Kurtis fought off some guards and went after Gunderson. She had to buy time, and get the sword. She fired as long as she could, hoping to cause a minimum of damage. But the wall of energy surrounding Karel and the sleeper was getting stronger as the nephilim came to life. Lara tried to find shelter behind some walls several times, but could not stay in one place for very long. Her heart was pounding against her ribs. As if she had already understood the adventuress strategy, Morgau stood back behind her master and continued to stare at her and watch her movements.

A little further on at the same time, Kurtis was in hand-to-hand combat with one of the soldiers. When he saw Gunderson emerge from the darkness and advance, the American used his enemy's body as a shield to protect himself from the bullets the mercenary was firing in his direction. The soldier's body began to shake violently and Kurtis felt it gradually go limp. Then he met the dark eyes of Gunderson, who was striding forward to face him. Kurtis dropped the lifeless guard, who fell heavily at his feet.

"Here we go again," the Norwegian told him in a both challenging and cynical voice.

Both mercenaries raised their pistols at the same time. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Kurtis felt something coming from behind him. He ducked, narrowly avoiding one of Karel's flames coming at them. Unfortunately, the last surviving archaeologist was not so lucky. She collapsed, struck by the powerful energy. Gunderson, taken by surprise, took a step to the side, destabilised. Kurtis jumped at the opportunity. He raised his Boran X, but a clattering sound told him that his magazine was empty. He stood up and ran towards the Norwegian.

Gunderson had no time to react and fire again. The Lux Veritatis hit him head-on and grabbed his arm and wrist to block them. The American struck him several times to make him drop his weapon. But the mercenary resisted. Kurtis felt the man's arm muscles tense under his grip as Gunderson tried to straighten the gun towards him. He saw the barrel coming dangerously close to him. The mercenary's face twisted into a grimace under the effort. Their eyes met for a brief second.

Kurtis gave him a headbutt, and the Norwegian wobbled slightly. The American then seized the opportunity, and took a firm grip on the man's hands. He applied pressure to aim the gun at the ground, just as Gunderson finally managed to pull the trigger. The gun vibrated in their hands and the bullet went into the Norwegian's foot in a splatter of blood. The man let out a cry of pain. He let go. Kurtis pushed him back violently with a powerful kick. The mercenary stumbled backwards and dropped his weapon, which slid to the ground. He lunged forward again and retaliated with a punch. Kurtis did not let himself be thrown off balance. Gunderson struck again and again. The American managed to hit him in the jaw. Blood escaped from the Norwegian's mouth, and he stroke back with a violent punch in the abdomen, right where the young man was injured. Kurtis gasped for breath and let out a cry of pain.

Gunderson abruptly drew his knife. Although stunned, the Lux Veritatis had the reflex to take a step to the side to avoid the blade that was coming in his direction. He grabbed the Norwegian's arm to block it, and hit him with a knee strike. The knife fell to the ground with a metallic noise. The man collapsed to the ground with a grunt. His bloody face turned towards the American.

"Is that all you've got?", he spat as he gave Kurtis an ironic look.

Kurtis rushed at him and blocked the Norwegian under him. He hit Gunderson several times. He tried to resist and to stand up. He grabbed the young man by the throat and hit him with several punches. He managed to hit him again in the stomach. Kurtis let out a scream, and Gunderson pushed him to the side. With a quick, stealthy movement, he managed to grab the knife that had slipped away and plunged it into the young man's shoulder. Kurtis screamed, but resisted. He grabbed the knife and pulled it from his flesh. Gunderson blocked him as he tried to lower the blade to his chest.

Kurtis pushed with all his might to bring the knife down, but Gunderson resisted firmly under him. Then a hissing sound was heard. Before he could react, Kurtis saw his chirugai charging towards them. It passed between the two men, only inches from the American's face, but hit its target. Gunderson screamed in pain as the disc's sharp blades severed part of his arm.

The Norwegian let go. Kurtis grabbed the knife again and without hesitation plunged it into the man's chest, who screamed in pain. His severed arm flailed for a moment, spilling blood all around them. With a superhuman effort, Gunderson threw the fist of his still valid arm into Kurtis' jaw. The young man toppled backwards, stunned. The chirugai was coming back. The mercenary pulled away from the American who was still holding him down. But just as he turned to stand up, the metal disc plunged towards him, before cutting him deeply in the side. The Norwegian screamed again, and fell back to the ground.

Kurtis crawled to him. His abdomen was in excruciating pain, and not surprisingly, the wound had started to bleed profusely again. He reached Gunderson and held him down by the throat. Their eyes met again. The mercenary was mad with rage, dying. His crippled arm hung pitifully to one side, at an unlikely and certainly unnatural angle. The knife in his chest had sunk deeper into his flesh. His breathing was wheezy, disturbing. Big drops of sweat had mingled with the blood streaming down his swollen face.

"D'you want more?", Kurtis asked.

The Norwegian just stared at him with his big empty eyes. He tried one last time to resist, his teeth clenched tightly.

"Last word to me, then," the Lux Veritatis concluded.

The young man raised his hand. The hissing sound was heard again. The chirugai made a great curve in the air, before returning to his master. With a quick and precise movement, Kurtis took hold of the metal disc, and planted one of the blades somewhere between the mercenary's throat and chin. The metal literally went through his mouth, pierced his tongue and then his palate, before going up into his skull. The mercenary's body shook violently. An impressive mix of saliva and blood went out of his mouth. He let out some terribly disturbing and awful noises of agony. Kurtis gave a final jerk to drive the blade further in. Gunderson's entire body seemed to stiffen for a moment, before finally relaxing, his black eyes still focused on him.

Kurtis waited a few more seconds before removing the chirugai from the mercenary's skull. He tried to catch his breath. He could feel his body buzzing and protesting against the blows he had just received.

"I really need a holiday…"

The archaeologist's heart-rending cry brought him back to reality. With difficulty, he stood up and turned around.

The scene he saw sent a chill down his spine. Gunderson and his men were now all dead, which was a very good thing for them. However, he realised with horror that the sleeper was waking up. Lara had taken cover a little further away to escape the energy fields that Karel was sending at her. He rushed to join her, narrowly dodging a jet of energy too. He felt a new spike of pain piercing him deep in the intestines.

"We have to hurry," he told the young woman before she could open her mouth.

Not far away, they heard the last archaeologist prisoner utter a cry of agony, before finally falling silent. Mad with rage, the nephilim pushed the woman's body away which fell heavily to the ground. He suddenly ignored the two adventurers to concentrate on his ritual. He started chanting again at high speed. This was his last chance to bring back the sleeper and survive. Next to him, Morgau realised it was now up to her to protect the three of them, they were now alone against the two adventurers. She gripped her spear a little more firmly. With a determined step, she crossed the protective field, and advanced towards the enemies.

Lara and Kurtis also stepped forward, now in the open. After a short moment during which the three of them observed each other without a word, the girl ran towards them with a shout of rage.

Although there were two of them against her, the girl was sharp and fast. And although Kurtis was in a bad shape, he was the first to counterattack and run towards her. As she came at him and whipped the air with her spear, the mercenary bent down to dodge the blow. He crouched down and swept at her. Morgau jumped froward to dodge, landing in a forward roll. Lara aimed and fired at her, but to her surprise, the bullets ricocheted off the young woman, as if an invisible shield was protecting her.

"Karel must have applied a protection spell to her!", Kurtis said as he saw the young woman's incomprehension.

Lara put away her 9mm.

"I'm fine with a hand-to-hand combat too," she replied defiantly.

As if to confirm their words, Kurtis's chirugai lunged at the sentry, but again the disc veered off course a few inches before striking the girl. The weapon whistled and returned to its master. A satisfied smile appeared on the girl's face. She twirled her spear in her hands, and went on the attack again.

When she lowered the blade again to strike Lara, the adventuress stepped aside and threw her fist in her face. Morgau grunted. Kurtis took her by surprise from behind and hit her in the head with all his might. The sentry turned around and threw her weapon to impale the young man on it. Kurtis jumped to dodge the blow. Lara kicked the girl in the back. Morgau toppled forward slightly, and the American punched her in the jaw. She fell to the ground. Before Lara could get to her, the girl whirled her spear over her head to keep them both away, and then leapt to her feet.

Lara kicked the spear again, hoping to make her let go. But Morgau was tenacious. With another cry of rage, the girl tried to attack the mercenary. She threw her weapon several times, which grazed the young man's arm. Kurtis retaliated with a series of powerful punches, which slightly destabilised the young girl. When Lara tried to kick her in the head, she ducked and swept her spear across the floor. Lara caught her feet in the weapon and fell backwards. She rolled to one side to dodge the blade that was coming at her.

Kurtis jumped on the sentinel. He caught her by the waist, then by the throat. Morgau struggled furiously. Lara sat up, aching. She could feel blood pour out from her nose and mouth. For the very first time in days, her leg and thigh started hurting again. Morgau tried desperately to grab Kurtis by the arms to make him fall over. Then she seemed to remember the wound in the mercenary's abdomen. She gave him a violent elbow. Kurtis found himself bent in half from the pain. Lara approached her and punched her in the face. Morgau toppled backwards.

Lara suddenly had an idea. She suddenly ran straight towards Rouzic's corpse, which was lying a little further away. She heard Morgau screaming, while Kurtis was hitting her hard. Without hesitation, the adventuress crouched on the ground and searched the archivist's body. She quickly found the object she was looking for, hidden in one of the man's inner pockets. She stood up without delay, and ran to join the mercenary. Morgau was getting tired, they might have an opportunity.

Kurtis understood what was going on when he saw the golden metal shining in the young woman's hand. He rushed to the sentry and grabbed her by the waist as if they were in a wrestling match. She dropped her staff, and they both fell to the ground.

Morgau struggled angrily. She sent her fist into Kurtis' face, and he did the same. Vasiley pushed on her legs and they rolled. She held him down under her. As she straightened up to hit him, Lara threw the metal disc at Kurtis, who slammed it against Morgau's stomach and corset.

A strange sizzling sound was then heard. A bright light suddenly rose up and blinded all three of them. With the shock of the explosion, they were all thrown into the air and landed heavily several metres apart.

When Kurtis stood up, Lara was stunned, but was getting back on her feet. Morgau was trying to get up from the ground. On all four, she was letting out loud, hoarse rales, as if her lungs were jammed and no longer functioning. As the two adventurers approached, they discovered that there was nothing left of her belly but a gaping hole, where her metal corset had once been. Large spurts of black blood dotted the stones and ground around them. The girl coughed, a trickle of blood escaping from her lips.

Her eyes fell on the sanglyph, which Kurtis still held in his hand. She couldn't hold back an ironic laugh when she saw it. Lara approached the sentry, and deep down she felt strangely sorry for her.

"Come on, not with me, Miss Universe," the young girl said, her mouth full of blood.

They heard Karel screaming in rage behind them. Before she could stop him, Lara saw Kurtis rush towards the altar and the Nephili.

"Kurtis!"

But the young man was not listening to her anymore. Sanglyph in hands, he rushed towards the Nephilim and the Sleeper, and crossed the energy field.

Everything buzzed strangely around him, like the buzzing of a thousand bees. The ground vibrated under his feet. Above them, the body of the sleeper seemed more alive than ever. Karel was waiting for him and staring at him with his dark, bulging eyes. An evil smile appeared on his face, which was no longer human. Kurtis rose his chin defiantly.

"It's show time, asshole."

"You want to be a hero like all your stupid ancestors before you, Lux Veritatis. You might as well sacrifice yourself, that's courageous. But there's no more bloodline after you anyway, there's no one left to fight us."

Kurtis let out a small cynical laugh.

"Seriously, don't cha have enough of repeating the same bullshits over and over again?"

Karel laughed, and Kurtis lunged at him, brandishing the sanglyph in front of him. He ducked and barely dodged the jet of energy that the Nephilim sent towards him. Kurtis got quickly on him, and hit him hard. But Karel resisted. He pushed the mercenary back with an invisible force, which propelled the young man a few meters backwards. Kurtis stood up, and charged again. Again, the Nephilim deftly dodged the American's punch, before grabbing his arm. The flow of energy through the nephilim was so powerful that it burned the young man's skin. Kurtis let go of the sanglyph, which Karel kicked away.

Lara desperately turned back to Morgau. Her eyes fell on the sword, which was stuck in the girl's back.

"Take it," she said in a whisper.

It took Lara a moment to realise what she had just said. She stood next to the dying sentry without a word. She just watched the black blood gradually spreading around them. She took one last look at the dismembered body of the girl, and took a step forward. Morgau did not move. She let Lara bend down and retrieve the sword that was still attached to her back.

"I'm sorry, Morgau," she told her.

"Not as much as me," the girl replied bitterly.

Lara did not answer. She gripped the thick handle of the sword firmly. Its black blade glinted. It was time to end it all.

But when she turned around, she felt a sudden void in her. Her brain stopped working. A few feet away, not far from the sacrificial rock, two men were fighting. Or rather, two Kurtis.

She shook her head sharply, as if she was suddenly hallucinating. And yet, on closer inspection, it was Kurtis, fighting himself.

The same size, the same build, the same clothes, the same injuries. Identical in every way. It was impossible to tell them apart. The young woman tried to approach and interpose herself, although she was very confused. She aimed her 9mm at either of them at random.

"Another one of your little tricks, Karel?"

The two men turned around. Lara was even more confused when her gaze met the two pairs of crystal eyes.

"Lara, this is a trap."

"I had understand that, thank you," the young woman answered ironically.

She pointed her gun at the first Kurtis, then at the second.

"He's trying to use me to buy time," said the first Kurtis.

She pointed her gun at him.

"I know."

"Don't listen to him, he's trying to confuse you," the second Kurtis said.

"You have to listen to me, Lara... you have to believe me..."

The young woman could feel the stress building up inside her.

"I'm getting sick of your stupid little games."

One of the Kurtis suddenly rushed at the other. They punched each other hard. They fell to the ground. Lara tried to concentrate, but there was obviously no way to tell them apart. Her thoughts raced, looking for a solution. The sleeper behind her gave a grunt. She kept pointing her gun at them as they finally stood up and launched each other against the rock behind them.

"Enough!", the young woman yelled.

The two men stopped fighting and stood up. They faced her again with their incredible piercing eyes. She wanted to fire, but she knew she would take the risk to wound, even kill the real Kurtis. She pouted. She had to try something.

"What was the first thing you said to me in the Louvre?"

There was a brief silence between the two men. Neither of them took their eyes off her. She saw them swallow with difficulty. Karel had access to all their thoughts, maybe even their memories. It would be easy for him to answer the question here. Especially since she could imagine that Karel was intelligent enough to copy the mercenary in the slightest of his mimics and in the slightest of his reactions. But she had to try.

"Nothing," replied the second man.

"That's too easy, we can both have the answer anyway," replied the first.

"Indeed," the young woman said coldly.

"Lara, please, there is no more time-"

"Come on, you have to trust me..."

She pulled the trigger. The bullet went into the ground, right at the feet of the second Kurtis, who stepped back without a word.

"That's exactly what the fake Kurtis would tell me."

She looked into their eyes again, one by one. She hoped to find the glint in them that would allow her to choose. But they were both looking at her with the same intensity.

She suddenly looked down at the sword she still held in one hand. Her heartbeat quickened. The three of them watched each other in the silence and darkness of the cave. She didn't know if it would work. But she no longer had a choice.

"Well, actually there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Then she lifted the huge sword, and thrust it through the air towards the two men. Time seemed to stand still for a fraction of a second, during which Lara was gripped by a terrible doubt, but she had no more time. No time to think. The weapon arrived at the level of the two mercenaries. In a tiny, almost invisible movement, one of the two stepped back slightly, while the second stepped forward without hesitation to catch the weapon in flight. The real Kurtis.

The young man grabbed the weapon by the handle and turned around. Without the slightest sign of hesitation, he plunged the weapon into the other Kurtis. Lara saw the blade pierce him through the abdomen and out the back. The fake Kurtis petrified on the spot. A look of bewilderment, almost shock, came over his face. Then, suddenly, his face twisted into a horrible grimace. His blue eyes and skin disappeared. Karel gradually regained his original form.

When he was completely back to his old self, the nephilim's gaze slowly shifted from the sword that had pierced him to the mercenary facing him. He began to howl, with a cry that only a beast could utter. It was a shrill, piercing howl. Everything around them shook. The energy field fell back, as if it had never been there. The sleeper's body slumped to the ground with a soft sound. Kurtis withdrew the sword from Karel with a sudden movement. He fell to his knees. The nephilim tried to catch his breath, but the magic of the sword was already consuming him. His skin was turning black and gradually falling away from his body to dust. He let out a hoarse moan. Kurtis, exhausted, turned to the sleeper. Drawing on his last bit of strength, he raised the sword above his head, and with a cry of rage, brought it down on the monster. The head separated from the rest of the body with a thud. And almost instantly, the body crumbled into dust. The mercenary fell to his knees.

"NO!", shouted Karel behind him.

Kurtis turned to him.

"Oh yeah, bastard."

Karel's face began to decompose, piece by piece. His greyish skin became translucent, as did his eyes. His hair was gone. He slowly fell to the ground, and as he took his last breaths, he suddenly turned to dust. A powerful movement of energy suddenly formed, and swept across the shrine with all its might. The light, so powerful, blinded them for a short time. A powerful blast swept through the space around them. The two adventurers were knocked to the ground, blasted by the power of the explosion.

When the light finally faded and silence fell back, the ground began to shake under their feet, as if an earthquake had suddenly struck. Lara rushed to the mercenary to help him to his feet. She put an arm around his shoulders to help him.

"Get up, mister badass!"

Kurtis let out a grunt of pain as they stood up. They took one last look at the remains of Karel and the sleeper, before turning back. They heard a loud crack from the other side of the shrine. Some columns were cracking and collapsing in on themselves. A huge piece of balcony broke off and collapsed. Blocks of stone fell from the ceiling with a resounding crash. Curtains of dust fell on their heads. The shrine was collapsing around them.

They rushed to the entrance of the pyramid. They had to hurry before the building collapsed on them and locked them underground forever.

"Faster!", shouted Lara, feeling the stress creep up on her.

Before they stepped through the door that would lead them back into the open, they took one last look at Morgau, who lay on the ground near her spear. Her now translucent and lifeless gaze rested on them one last time, before being swallowed up behind a pile of rocks.

The rock crumbled and closed in on the shrine behind them. They ran down the steps of the pyramid at great speed. Kurtis gritted his teeth as much as he could to resist the pain that shot through him. The steps of the staircase began to twist and sway dangerously.

They jumped the last few feet before being swept away by the collapsing pyramid. They began to run. In front of them, the city was disappearing, as if swept away by a hurricane. They slalomed between the debris and rushed to the bridge before it too collapsed. The great cliff by which they had arrived here was beginning to collapse in its turn. A huge fissure ran up and down it. They heard the rocks crunch, and then, as they had feared, a piece of the cliff suddenly broke away, taking part of the cave with it with a deafening noise. An impressive landslide formed in front of them. The large waterfall on the left seemed to open wide, and water gushed out. The river and the beautiful waterfall had suddenly become a deadly torrent, the power of which would soon pour down on them and on the remains of the city. Their only chance was to reach the pile of stone and climb up, before they were swept away and drowned by the waters.

They barely made it to the opposite bank and the rockslide. The earthquakes around them began again. Large blocks of rock broke away from the ceiling of the cave, before crashing and exploding into a thousand pieces on the ground. As they progressed, openings were created in the ceiling that let in the daylight. Maybe they had a chance.

They climbed up. It was a long and difficult climb, the ground being unstable under their feet. They could slip at any moment. Behind them, the bubbling water of the underground river had made its way to the city, and was engulfing it. They were exhausted, but they held on. Lara could see an opening to the outside not far above their heads.

"I'll have to ask for a rise," Kurtis said, out of breath.

"I'm sure we'll work something out."

She held him a little tighter against her. She let out a grunt as she helped him go up on another rock. They were almost there. Then suddenly something moved beneath them. The rock and sand began to slide again. They began to fall backwards. They got separated. Lara's hand barely caught the edge of the cliff as the ground disappeared beneath her. She let out another cry of surprise and pain as she hit the rock. She heard Kurtis grunt beneath her, holding as much as he could to the rock wall too. When she looked up, she saw daylight, close by, only a few metres away. The outside was there. But hope was suddenly replaced by terror and anguish. Without wasting time, she pulled herself up onto the small platform that had formed above her and turned around.

Kurtis was hanging in the air, desperately clinging to a thin ledge. His bloody hands were slipping. The place where she herself was would not be stable for long, she could already feel the earth sinking beneath her. She had to be quick.

"Kurtis!"

The young woman layed down at the edge of the precipice. She desperately reached out her hand full of blood to the young man. The earth shook again. A boulder broke loose above their heads and crashed a few centimeters away from them. Lara had just enough time to turn her head away to avoid the shrapnel and dust coming into her face. She leaned over towards the mercenary.

"Kurtis, come on!"

"Of the two of us, I'd rather see you survive..."

She crossed the mercenary's azure gaze. He detached one of his hands from the wall and held it out, palm open, towards the young woman.

"Don't you dare doing this…"

A smirk appeared on his face.

"Don't see anything personal."

She didn't have time to react as an invisible force suddenly pushed her backwards. Her feet lifted off the ground. Propelled into the air, she landed heavily several meters away, dragged in the dust and small rocks.

She straightened up just as the ceiling collapsed where she had been standing exactly a few seconds before.

A new tremor occurred. The floor was slipping beneath her, slipping in places like quicksand. She would soon be swept away by the sand if she didn't move.

She gave a powerful impulse to jump, and caught up with the wall at the last second. Her feet skidded on the crumbling rock. She kicked her legs in the void, before she managed to regain momentum and climb back up. Leaning on her elbows, and leaning on her flayed shins, she finally managed to climb and get outside, tearing the earth with her fingernails.

She crawled several metres to reach stable ground. The fresh air from the open air swept over her face and slid almost painfully into her lungs.

She heard the mountain closing in on the underground city in a resounding din. It took a long time before the earth stopped shaking around her.

She couldn't tell how long she lay there, panting. She rolled to one side, and slowly, on one knee, then on the other. She didn't know how much time it took her before she decided to get up. She stood up, staggering. When she turned around, she faced a pile of rocks and dirt. The Nephilim Cradle and the canyon had completely disappeared, swallowed up by the mountain.

She looked up to the grey skies: the atmosphere was heavy, stifling, and the warm wind was whipping her. A sandstorm was coming from the south. It would be on her in a few hours. She let herself be carried along by her footsteps, haggard. And she walked. She just walked away.

She didn't know where she was going exactly, but she just walked. For hours, she just walked in the desert. She felt empty. Actually she wasn't sure about what had just happened. Her head was buzzing, she couldn't see very clearly. All the memories and images went blurred and mixed in her mind. She felt like her brain couldn't make the right connexions anymore. She felt both dead and alive at the same time. She couldn't feel her body anymore, as if her mind was not connected to it anymore.

However, after several hours, her knees weakened under her own weight. She let herself fall and spread out all the way in the sand, head first. Exhausted, her face stuck to the warm earth, she finally let out her tears and began to scream. At the top of her lungs, she just screamed. She screamed as much as she could, her cries of despair and pain carried away by the southern winds.