Well, here is the final chapter. Enjoy!



Lara breathed heavily, leaning against the wall. She glanced down to see the knights struggling in the water once again. These buggers just won't quit, she thought. She removed a grenade from her belt and then pulled the pin. She held it in her hands for a dangerous second, then threw it forward, demolishing the path that led to the other two hallways. That should hold them off, at least for now, she thought.

Lara pushed herself off the wall, blood trickling down her arm from being sliced by one of the knights' swords. She gripped her arm to stop the bleeding, but she knew it would need to be tended to later.

She was grateful that the mercenaries hadn't come her way – perhaps they'd assumed she was already dead, battling undead knights and such. However, they'd left the Hall already – did that mean they'd gotten what they wanted? And if so, where were Kurtis and Emily? The thought stimulated Lara to move faster, and she moved along the second pathway, ignoring the cries of the skeletal nights below.

The path ahead was blocked by stone debris. She approached it, trying to peer through the cracks. Her stomach dropped when she saw Kurtis's unconscious body lying in the corner. "Kurtis!" she called. She began to brush the debris away frantically, pulling out the rocks and tossing them aside, kicking at the loose stones until she made a clearing. When the path was clear enough, Lara pulled herself through. She quickly rushed to Kurtis's side to shake him awake, glancing at the line of fire splitting the room in half and the skeletal knights beyond it. What happened here? she thought.

Kurtis groaned as he slowly stirred, looking up at Lara with weary eyes. "Where's Emily?" Lara asked quickly.

Kurtis looked down, thinking for a second. Then, he pounded his fists against the ground, anger seeping through his being. He sat up and rose to his feet, staggering a bit. Lara gripped his shoulder to help him steady himself. "Kurtis, where's –"

"Karel took her," he said angrily. "He fucking came through here and took her."

Lara slowly looked away, her grip on his shoulder loosening. The only thing that mattered more than anything else was gone, and was in the hands of a madman. Kurtis glanced up at the knights beyond the line of fire, then gripped his head, shaking his vision clear. He turned towards the clearing among the debris, pulling himself through it. Lara followed after him, gripping him by the arm to stop him as he trudged forward without a word. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"What do you think I'm doing?" he asked, shaking her arm off. "I'm going to get Emily back."

"How do you plan to do that, especially without even communicating with me?"

"Lara, now's not the time for your patronizing," he said, moving forward.

"I'm not patronizing you," she said angrily. "She's our daughter, and we need to work together to find her."

Kurtis stopped in his path, looking into her eyes. He sighed, knowing she was right. He leaned against the wall, dropping his head with exhaustion and worry. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "It's just…I thought that if she was with me, she'd be safe, and she obviously wasn't."

"Don't beat yourself up for it," she said, placing a compassionate hand on his shoulder. "It's Karel who's going to pay." Then a thought struck her. "Did he steal your piece of the sword as well?"

Kurtis looked up at her. "No," he said. "He didn't even care about that. He just wanted Emma."

"I don't know if that's better or worse," Lara sighed. "Regardless, we need to get back to the boys at the hotel."

Kurtis leaned off the wall and continued on his way out of the temple, Lara following after him. They stepped out into the night sky of Ireland, leaving Dundermot Mound behind them. Once they reached safe ground, the earth of the mound closed itself shut, creating the façade that there hadn't been anything there at all.



"Ah, thank Heaven you're back," Alister said with relief as he opened the door to the downtrodden faces of Lara and Kurtis. They brushed past him quickly, heading straight towards Zip, seated at the computer desk.

"Book us flights to Cappadocia, Turkey, immediately," Lara said.

Alister cautiously approached their sides. "Did you find the sword pieces?"

"Of course we did," Lara said. "At the expense of our daughter's safety."

Lara and Kurtis simultaneously dropped their sword fragments on the table top, dropping them with an abrupt clunk against the wood. Lara also removed the Lux disk from her backpack, setting it alongside the sword pieces. "Strangely enough, Karel didn't show the slightest bit of concern about the sword pieces," Lara said.

"That's odd," Alister said. "You'd think he'd be hell-bent on getting a hold of them."

"He seemed more hell-bent on getting a hold of Emily," Kurtis muttered.

"Alister, we need you to find out what you can about these sword fragments and the armor," Lara said quickly. "Kurtis and I need to head into Cappadocia to find Karel and Emily."

"But do you even have the slightest idea of where they could be?" Alister asked nervously.

"We'll find them," Lara assured him. "There are only so many places in Cappadocia where Karel could be. I want you to see what you can't find in correlation to the Nephilim and to Cappadocia as far as location."

"I'll get on it, then," Alister said, heading towards his makeshift desk to start conducting research. Lara turned away and headed into hers and Kurtis's room through the adjacent door. She started tossing her clothing into the nearby suitcase, stimulated by anger at Karel and fear on behalf of her daughter. If we don't get out of here soon, Lara thought, I'm going to lose my mind.

She heard the door open behind her and looked up to see Kurtis entering, running his fingers through his hair. He sighed loudly, seating himself on the edge of the bed, leaning into his hands. "The most contact I've ever made with my daughter is taken away from me by that son-of-a-bitch," he muttered.

Lara angrily zipped the suitcase shut. "I don't think he quite understands whom he's messing with."

Kurtis wriggled his hands nervously. "What kind of chance do we stand…?" he muttered, barely audible.

Lara looked up at him with confusion. "What did you say?"

Kurtis stood up angrily. "Lara, it's Karel! What the fuck are we going to do to stop him? Whatever he wants from Emily, he's going to get it!"

"You're giving up? On our daughter?" Lara asked hollowly. She stared past him, struck by his defeat. Kurtis glared at her, hurt by her accusation, but then turned away. He leaned towards the wall, pounding his fists against the plaster. Lara was too angry with him to console him. How could he be acting this way? How could he be giving up on Emily in such a way?

Lara turned away, letting her anger slowly sink away. Then, she faced Kurtis again. She glanced down at the shimmer reflecting off of the Chirugai that still lay on the ground from the night before. Lara slowly bent down next to it and tenderly picked it up. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not giving up," she said quietly. "Not on her, and certainly not on you."

Kurtis slowly turned towards her, and she raised the Chirugai up. He stared down at it as if he didn't recognize it. Then, he slowly reached forward, taking the foreign weapon into his hands. He slowly met Lara's gaze, drawing in a silent, deep breath. She stared into his hurt blue eyes, then leaned forward, kissing his lips. She pulled away, looking up at him."We're going to do this," she said quietly. "Just like old times – you and me, together."



The rumbling noise beneath where she laid stirred Emily back to consciousness. She groaned as she reached a hand up to her head, her vision slowly clearing. She felt something heavy on her wrists, and glanced down to see that she was handcuffed. A long metal chain streamed down from the middle of the link of the handcuffs to a floor panel down below. Great, I'm on a leash, she thought.

Emily glanced about the room. There were a few windows in the corners, some dingy curtains covering them, and a small makeshift table in the back corner. She was lying on a small cot, a stiff pillow and crinkly sheets below her. When she let the entire scene sink in, she realized she was on a train. She quickly sat up and reached for the curtains of the window that was just over her bed. Outside, she could see endless desert in the distance and a hot sun above. What had happened?

Then, she remembered. She had been with her father in Dundermot, fighting off undead skeletal nights. Then, Karel came, knocked Kurtis unconscious, and kidnapped her. What had happened after that? Emily quickly reached for her lighter, but found that it had been confiscated. She was powerless now.

Emily pulled the chain as far as it would go, reaching towards the window above the bed. She began smacking the metal of the handcuffs against the plated glass, hoping it would break – for what? She obviously couldn't run away…

The door at the end of the hall opened, and a mercenary stepped inside, holding his rifle towards her. "Knock it off," he muttered angrily. Emily glared at him, then turned back to the window, banging on it with the hope that it would open. The mercenary approached her and quickly backhanded her with the butt of his rifle. She fell against the bed, gripping her face where she could feel blood pooling at her mouth. She continued to glare up at the man, not possessing fear like she usually would. This time around, she only felt angry – she wanted revenge for her mother, her father, and herself. She lurched herself forward in the effort to attack the man with the gun, forgetting that she was chained down to the bed. She heard the mercenary scoff, keeping his gun level with her head.

"That's enough," a voice said from the other room. Emily looked up to see Karel stepping into the room, a calm look on his face. Emily glared up at him. "You," she bellowed. "What are you doing? What do you want with me?"

Karel gestured for the mercenary to leave the room. He nodded and backed away, closing the door behind him. Emily had felt confident moments ago with the mercenary, but Karel was another story. Emily scooted into the far corner of the bed, trying to keep a steady glare into his eyes. Karel, however, was not intimidated. He approached the far window, gazing out. "What do you know about the Nephilim race?"

"That you tried to kill my parents to bring it back," Emily said.

"That's only half of the story," he said. "We Nephilim have only ever been trying to survive. Do you know what that's like, Emily? To have to go day by day, changing your appearance just to make sure you can live another twenty-four hours? Do you know what it's like to be alone?"

Emily glared at him. "Now I do," she said. "You took me away from my parents. You kidnapped me."

He casually faced her. "You are to serve a grand purpose in my plan," he said.

"What plan?" she asked.

"In order to bring back the Nephilim, I will need to locate the Black Angel."

"The Black Angel?" Emily asked. "He's Lux Veritatis. Why would he help you?"

"If I awaken him, he will be under my command. Once I have the Black Angel on my side, the Nephilim race will continue to thrive once more. We will have nothing to fear."

"What does all of this have to do with me and my parents?" she asked impatiently.

Karel seated himself at the table. "I have witnessed your powers, Emily, and I am quite impressed."

"Thanks," she said hollowly. "Would you like to see them again?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You talk too much for someone so small."

"What do you know?" she muttered.

"The Black Angel is useless right now. I can only imagine how he'd be with powers like those that you exhibit…"

Emily looked up at him nervously. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly. "You want…you want to take my powers…?"

"And give them to him, yes," he said. "So you see, young girl, your life will serve a purpose far beyond anything you could've imagined. You should be honored, not afraid."

Emily felt her courage slipping away. "You're a sadist," she said with a shaky voice. "My mom and dad are going to find you and kill you."

"Like the times they did so before, correct?" he asked with amusement. "Your parents are the least of my concerns. Once we reach our destination and find the Black Angel, you and your parents will be powerless against my army of Nephilim."

Emily felt tears coming to her eyes. "You're not going to get away with this, Karel…"

"On the contrary, my dear," he said casually. "There is nothing in my way any longer. And if you think for a moment that your parents will be able to rescue you, well…they won't. The only thing you can do at this point is sit still and wait to serve your destiny."

Karel rose from the table and approached the door to leave the room. He stopped, glancing back at Emily. "You should be thankful," he said. "Perhaps the Black Angel will spare your life once you've been so noble to him." Then, he turned away, leaving the room as he closed the door behind him.

Emily covered her face. I'm not going to cry, she thought. But she felt tears streaming down her cheeks. Perhaps the worst part of this wasn't being kidnapped, dragged away, and having her powers be sucked dry – it was the thought that she wouldn't get to see her father, whom she'd only known for a few days, and she wouldn't get to apologize to her mother for running away into this mess in the first place.



You guys know how I love cliffies...well anyways!! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!! I will update part 4 on October 1!! Catch ya then! =D