All righty, peeps, here it is, my newest chapter in my awesomest story ever! Eh heh...anyways, a couple days ago my strange brain thought up a huge, totally brain-whacking plot twist, and I'm gonna go with it! So this story may not be ending too soon! Yay! Also, this chapter has a dedication! Yay to that too!

I'm dedicating this chapter to the one person who reviewed last chapter, Link Fangirl01! You get chocalate-chip cookies! (Cuz they're good for the brain-sort of!) Thanks for reviewing~! Also, if any of you want me to review a story of yours, just tell me in your review, or send me a PM! Okay, read and enjoy this next chapter!

Summary: Kurt is a Fallen, an indescribably beautiful race of demon–angels. Kitty is a fledgling priestess with a hidden power. Kitty knows that Kurt isn't her enemy, but can she prove it?

Fallen Angel

14. Opening the Gateway

Kitty walked around the perimeter of the large circle, brushing away all the dirt and dust she could find, gradually revealing all of the glyphs for each element. She peered at each one closely, and scribbled down the location of each on the floor with a piece of charcoal that Kurt had found outside.

The circles weren't in any particular order—water, fire, air, earth, light, dark, and lightning—and the dragonfire in the center. Kitty could see why it would be hard to open the gateway, even if one had seven Fallen who could all wield a different element. The dragon's fire also was a hard thing to find, and Kitty counted herself lucky that she had a portion of it. And Sparks had said that they needed the Guardian's permission to cross through the portal, though Kitty couldn't imagine how they were going to find something like that.

She turned and gazed at the wall opposite the entrance, the one between the large seal-circle and the doorway. This one had hieroglyphics inscribed all across the wall, and her better-than-ordinary eyesight could pick out the seam at the center of the wall. This was where the wall would become a pair of doors—doors leading to the alternate dimension that the first Fallen had came from. And that realm, Kitty felt, would be the place for the final battle.

A thought pricked at her mind.

A last stand?

She hoped not; after all, they were going to try to stop an evil Fallen who had tried to take over before – and they were the last obstacles to be removed from the chess board.

Kitty walked across the circle to the entrance of the Shrine of Stars, looking around. The scenic view was still there, but it was harder to see. This was because of a large amount of black fire that had appeared around the shrine, at about midday. Kurt had said that it was there to pen them in, make sure they couldn't run. Sparks stated that Fervior was coming and that they'd better start working if they actually wanted to survive.

And that had pretty much shut everyone up.

As the sun began to set against a pale rainbow sky, the black fire growing around the Shrine of Stars began writhing madly, as though agitated by something; Kurt stated forlornly, "He's coming." Kitty wondered if either Sparks or Kurt believed they could make it through this.

Probably not.

She sighed at her own pessimistic thinking, and turned to the other two Fallen waiting behind her. "We need to start placing the elements."

Kurt nodded and Sparks leaped across the circle and asked, "Do you want me to go first or last?"

"Last," said Kitty, eyeing the half-circles arranged in a neat perimeter around the larger seal circle. She crouched next to the semicircle marked with the glyph water, for it was the easiest of all the elements to control.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on the energy pooled within her; feeling a slight tug in the vast energy, a swirling watery orb appeared before her, seen in her mind's eye. She lifted it into the circle, and it glowed blue, the line connecting it to the dragon fire's circle lighting up a brilliant white. The glyph beneath the element was shining dimly. Kitty released her control on the water, but it remained within the circle. Evidently she had to leave all the elements in their respective places in order for the gateway to open. Sighing to herself, she moved on to fire, going through the cycle till all of the elements were in place.

And the light that exploded into existence extinguished the torches with a rush of wind, though it was far easier to see with the new radiance.

Kitty blinked against the shining white light now enveloping the interior of the large, single room in the Shrine of Stars. Each and every element was accounted for; all that they needed was for Sparks to ignite the dragonfire's circle, and the portal would open. Meanwhile, the black fire outside had died down, as if in submission, and Kurt had reported seeing a strange black mist condensing slowly into a humanoid shape—Fervior was coming.

Sparks was standing within the perimeter of glowing element-orbs; against the bright light, Kitty could just barely make out her shadowy form crouching beside the larger circle, dropping a fireball into it.

And the light, which had seemed bright before, grew to blinding intensity; the whole circle was radiating white light, and Kitty had to close her eyes to block the wave of light. And so she did not see Sparks, impervious to the light, dart over to the side of the shrine with the hieroglyphs written on it, and press a portion of the wall shaped into an insignia of a roaring fire-dragon. And Kitty did not see the emblem turn gold; signifying another obstacle in their attempt to open the gateway had been eliminated. However, neither Sparks nor Kitty, or even Kurt, had noticed that a ninth half-circle had appeared, set vertically into the stone wall where the door-seam was, half on one side, half on the other.

The gateway was not yet open.

And Fervior had arrived.

The black fire had vanished from the outside of the shrine; a shadow passed across the light of the almost-open portal. Kitty watched in apprehension as their enemy stepped through the doorway into the Shrine of Stars.

Fervior was tall, with wide black wings, spread against the bright light, looking rather like insubstantial shadows. He wore metal gauntlets on his wrists. He had tan skin and spiky black hair that stood up slightly as though it had a mind of its own. Blue-black markings dotted his face. But it was his eyes that unnerved Kitty the most. They were pure black orbs, flecked with red. The scary thing was that there seemed to be no emotion in them whatsoever, save for anger, and a desire for revenge.

The dark Fallen walked across to the edge of the glowing circle; Kitty was paralyzed and unsure of what to do. As she watched in frozen anticipation, Kurt seemed to break free of his own paralysis, and lunged at Fervior, but the latter held up one hand, and Kurt stopped mid-plunge sharply, held in the air by Fervior's magic, and Kitty recalled, from a long time ago, Shade talking about how Fervior could manipulate metal, including the iron in blood. She prayed that Kurt wouldn't spontaneously combust; the good thing was Fervior didn't seem to find Kurt to be an opponent. They all seemed to be bugs, beneath his attention—Kitty was hiding against the wall, and Sparks had taken refuge on the other side of the lit-up circle, beside the 'door' in the wall, that might eventually open.

Fervior waved his hand, and Kurt flew through the air to land beside the still-petrified Kitty. He got up, both silently watching as the other Fallen skirted around the edge of the circle, glancing at them once (Kitty could have sworn something flickered in his eyes, but she wasn't sure) and headed straight for the door, which through the blinding light, Kitty's eyes could perceive a slight change in the door—for one, there was a strange, glowing dragon emblem, and a ninth half-circle. This circle was what Fervior made a beeline for.

Kitty could see the vague figure of Sparks beside the door. And then Fervior spoke.

"Move aside, Guardian!"

Kitty didn't know whether he was talking to Sparks or the yet-to-be-seen Guardian, but she forced herself to move a couple inches away from the wall, though she knew she wouldn't get there in time. Sparks flew backwards, as much at the mercy of Fervior's magic as Kurt had been.

As Kitty and Kurt stepped to the edge of the shining circle, the glow died down and they could see Fervior beyond the edge, a faintly glowing, pure white orb held in one of his hands. Kitty stared at it in surprise—it didn't have the same crackling energy as lightning did, nor the golden tinge that light had, but she could sense it was a form of an element—an element she'd never seen before. The sphere pulsated slightly, sending off a faint sheen that highlighted the glyphs carved into the wall, though the unknown element's light was lost past the glowing seal-circle.

Fervior laughed at their shocked faces. He smirked, stating, "This is one element none of you could ever have, and so your feeble attempt to open the gateway would have failed right here. Foolish Fallen!" His terrible black, red-flecked eyes narrowed. "This realm was created from Spirit, and so Spirit shall open the door!" He lifted his hand and pressed the white orb into the waiting circle, and rainbow light swirled from the entire wall, the hieroglyphs lighting up in dazzling colors, the circle blazing to life once more, and the seam at the center of the wall cracked down the center. The whole wall was swinging aside, leaving a great, rainbow-colored light-filled circular portal visible, waiting for them.

"Wow…" whispered Kitty. Kurt nodded beside her. Fervior stepped forwards into the light, looking like a shadow against the brilliant, multi-colored brightness; then his silhouette vanished, having been transported through the portal. Sparks glanced back at them; for a moment it seemed as though she could see Kitty and Kurt; then she, too, disappeared into the gateway.

Kitty exchanged a glance with Kurt. "This could be it," she whispered.

"I know. But we have to play our part in saving the world, right?" he said, giving her a small smile. She smiled in return, walking around the circle, facing the glowing, ethereal portal.

This is it.

Hand in hand, they walked into the portal.

We met the evil guy, yaaaay! I actually drew a picture of him, but my screwy scanner won't let me upload it onto my computer nooooo! Anyways, tell me what you think, and press the nuce button at the bottom of the page, you know you want to!

~Shadey