urprisingly, when Nicole looked at the man, he laughed, and dissolved into dirt, a few leaves and twigs, and a sort of slimy mud. He'd been nothing but a golem.
"So, Jade," said Kat, trying to break the tension. "What was in the golem's future?"
Jade glanced at the cards placed on the table behind them, and laughed.
"Death and travel," she said. "And I think I see the means of his transportation approaching."
All turned in the direction of her gaze, to see one of the hotel workers approaching with a broom.
"Let's pack up, I think we've done enough for today.

***

One afternoon, after the seminar had been running for about a week, Kat and Jade were taking a break by the pool. Leo had gone to get the girls drinks from the bar, and Darryl was manning the stall a couple of metres away. Kat and Jade were trailing their feet in the water, chatting, when Jade looked behind Kat, and abruptly stopped talking. The guys she'd spotted wasn't gorgeous, as such, but there was just something about him... Kat raised an eyebrow, and Jade smiled.
"About 50 metres behind you," she murmured, "About 5'10", 5'11", sorta thin, brown hair, glasses, Oh, killer smile... If I didn't know Dazz I'd be in love."
Kat laughed, and casually twisted around to have a look. Then she pulled her feet out of the water, and turned to face him more fully.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Jade said, grabbing Kat's wrist. "I saw him first, *I* get to flirt with him."
"Your boyfriend is just there," said Kat nodding at Darryl, "and mine is nowhere to be seen. Bet I can get a hug and kiss in under 5 minutes."
Jade laughed.
"That I have to see," she said, and released Kat's wrist.
Kat casually stood up, walked over to him, and just gave him a huge smile. The guy instantly wrapped his arms around her, gave her a huge hug, and kissed her on the cheek.
"How does she *do* that," murmured Jade to herself.
"I don't know, but if you ever do it I'll die of jealousy," said Dazz from just behind her.
Jade jumped, then laughed and kissed him. Kat was leading the guy back over to them, and then Darryl started laughing.
"What?" said Jade, suspiciously.
"You'll see in just a second," Dazz replied with a grin as Kat arrived.
"Jade, I want you to meet my Ancient History tutor, David. David, my sister Jade. And you've met Dazz before, I think?"
"Yes, I think so," said David with a smile. "Nice to meet you," he added to Jade.
Jade was glaring at her sister.
"That is *so* cheating."
Kat merely smirked, and Dazz grinned again. Just then, Leo returned, and after handing out the drinks, placed his arms very firmly around Kat's waist. She smiled at him, then introduced him to David. He relaxed a little.
"But why are you here, David?" Kat finally got around to asking him. He grinned.
"Well, seeing as though you managed to coerce the board into giving you that grant, they sent me over to collect you. We're working on a time scale here, baby," he teased.
"We are?"
"Oh, hell yes. The uni has sent me as the 6th member of your team, mainly to make sure we don't run over budget, and that we don't take too long about it."
"Six?"
"You, me, and the four people you're allowed to select yourself. Damn board with their rigid structure, can't figure out that you don't really *need* that many..."
Kat laughed, and hugged him impulsively, somewhat hampered by Leo's arms about her waist.
"Come and meet Mum and Dad," said Kat. "I'm sure you coming too will set their minds at rest somewhat."

The five of them walked towards the seminar rooms, where Marc and Sarah would probably be relaxing. As they walked, Jade fell into step by David. "Listen, David, about Kat. She flirts, but..."
David glanced at her, and grinned.
"Don't worry. Quite aside from her being one of my students, she has a boyfriend, and he's much bigger than me!"
Jade laughed, suddenly much less worried, and the five went to talk to Marc and Sarah.

It took another week before everything was organised. Sarah had called up their next door neighbour, Catie, and asked her to pack some warmer clothes for the girls and Leo, and Darryl and Nicole's parents had sent up a couple of suitcases for their children. David had already packed, and Kat spent about half an hour trying to explain to Catie which books she needed, but the phone was taken away from her when she began to discuss clothes. Kat sulked, but relied on Catie's judgement - Catie was just over 30, but still very fashion conscious. Kat worried about such things.

The suitcases were sent to the hotel, and Kat and Jade spent the time doing frantic shopping before they had to leave. David seemed to be quite interested in Nicole - and she also in him, although she was keeping her distance, of necessity. The time passed swiftly, and with the seminar well under way and running smoothly, Marc and Sarah were kept busy enough not to worry too much. Maya was happily taking her yoga classes, and refused to get involved in all the preparations. On the day of their flight, Marc and Sarah took the six travellers to the airport, and saw them onto the plane. Once the plane took off, they returned to the hotel.
"They're all growing up," said Marc as they travelled back to the hotel.
"But just think," murmured Sarah. "Maya's going home in 2 days, and after that, we'll be all alone..."
"I know," Marc sighed.
Sarah laughed.
"Remember our honey-moon?" Sarah teased.
Marc suddenly became much less mournful, and grinned.
"I certainly do!"
"And we'll be all alone," Sarah repeated.
Marc grinned at her, and beamed all the way back to the hotel.

***

The plane landed in Peru one misty morning, and David led the way to their hotel.
"We have two rooms," he explained. "So you girls can have one, and we'll have the other. I don't know how long we'll be here for - we'll probably want to move around a fair bit, out to a village nearer to the temple you wanted to look at, Kat."
"Sounds good," Kat replied, creeping under Leo's arm for warmth. "Gods, it's cold!"
Jade laughed.
"That's because you're wearing Bangkok clothes!"
Kat waved a hand at her airily, and they all laughed, before hurrying to the hotel.

Without saying a word, Jade and Kat got up and dressed in warm clothes and went out into the hall, where they met Leo and Dazz. Nicole led them silently back to the temple where they'd had their training the previous day. As they entered the temple, a sense of calm fell over them. Nicole led them to the alter room, and they took their positions in the four corners of the room, and Nicole sat cross-legged on the alter. Her disrespect made Jade a little nervous, but she decided she'd have to know what she was doing. Nicole spoke in a low voice, and suddenly the presence of their tutors from the previous day was felt throughout the room. In response, the four began to glow - Kat red, Leo blue, Jade white and Dazz green.
"Good," said Nicole. "Each is in complete attunement with their element. Tonight heralds the battle, and it seems that we are ready. Prepare."

The day was spent in mediation, each separate from the other, with only their tutor for company. As night fell, the full moon became visible in the sky, and darkness covered the temple.
"It is time," said Nicole, rising from the altar and standing beside it. Instantly the 4 tutors vanished from the room, and the four stood in their places, waiting.

Soon the door to the altar room opened, and the demon strode in.
"Vassago," said Nicole, by way of greeting.
"Gabriel," he replied, moving to the centre of the room.
Nicole/Gabriel moved forward, until the two were standing 5 metres each from the center of the room. As they stood there, shafts of light shot out from Nicole, forming long, thin tendrils of light, which were obviously where the idea of wings had come from. The air around the demon Vassago seemed to darken in response, and spikes of darkness spread from his body. When the two had reverted to their original form, they faced each other.
"And so it begins," Vassago said, his deep growling voice seeming to snarl into the corners and cling to the darkness there.
"Indeed," Gabriel replied, and her voice seemed to lighten the oppression that had fallen as the demon spoke. "This time thou shalt be returning to hell, no' as prince, but as a normal soul. For this I forfeit mine wings, and thou forfeit thine royal ties. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the demon snarled, and the restraints which had held everyone in the room in place were suddenly removed.

Instantly, the four corners began to glow as each began to exercise their power. Knowing instinctively what to do, the four powers combined to produce a sphere of power, which contained the angel and demon within it. The fight would be between angel and demon - Kat, Jade, Leo and Dazz were there to protect the world by stopping the power from escaping. The four watched as the angel and demon fought, the demon slashing with spikes of darkness, and the angel using the tendrils of light as whips. Finally, one of Gabriel's tendrils wrapped around the demon's throat, and she pulled him close, wrapping the others around him in what looked like a strange hug. The light ate into the demon flesh, and he screamed as he began to dissipate. Just before he vanished, he focused all his energy into a single thrust of darkness. Thinking herself victorious, Gabriel had not been paying attention to the constraints of her mortal body. Vassago's final thrust pierced Nicole's chest, and then he vanished.

Gabriel stumbled back, staring in astonishment as Nicole's body fell away from her presence, lying on the floor of the temple. The demon and all traces of his host body were completely vanished. As Nicole's blood soaked the floor, a strange thing began to happen. The walls began to glow a soft golden colour as the temple absorbed the blood, and then a God appeared at the altar.
"My children," he said, smiling at them.
Slowly the shield dissipated, the power also soaking into the temple walls. As the elemental power dissipated, the golden glow grew stronger.
"The sacrifice has been accepted," said the God, "The power of the Incans shall be restored, and my protection reinstated. I place my blessing upon thee, who bought this to pass, and thank thee. Gabriel, come. It is time to return."
The angel nodded once, and then angel and God were both gone, and Nicole was dead.

***

Nicole's funeral was held a week after the four and David returned to Australia. There was much weeping, such a tragedy that Nicole had ventured into an unexplored passageway alone and been caught by an ancient Incan booby trap, which was just as deadly as it had been when first constructed. Kat had taken photographs of every wall in the temple, and she was almost finished her thesis, telling the myth of how the ancient amulets protected the Incan people when paired with blood sacrifice to appease the Incan Gods. David had been devastated over Nicole's death, as he didn't have the level of understanding Jade, Darryl, Leo and Kat had, and they weren't about to tell him the whole story. Darryl was upset, but knew that his sister had never really survived the accident, and had died for the second time, for the best cause in the world. Jade and Leo had stayed around for Nicole's funeral, but a week after that had to return to base; their leave was almost up, and Jade had her bivouac. Kai was still with them. He had scolded Kat quite thoroughly for leaving him asleep in her bed when the four had returned from the temple, and since then rarely left her side. It seemed he wasn't planning on going anywhere in a hurry.

Sarah and Marc returned from Bangkok in time for Nicole's funeral, but it didn't affect them to the same level. After the "children" had left, they'd met another couple with very similar interests, who were in the process of moving into a house which was quite near Marc and Sarah's. The couple's names were Rod and Julia Howard, and they had a daughter aged between Jade and Kat, who hadn't gone to Bangkok. Over the rest of their holiday they'd decided to extend Sarah and Marc's business to include crystal healing, which was Julia's specialty, and courses in herbalism, which was Rod's area of expertise. Rod and Julia brought their daughter over on the very day that Kat completed her thesis. Kat walked into the kitchen with her completed thesis in one hand and Kai on her shoulder, just as Marc was preparing to call for her. The girl standing in the kitchen had large dark eyes, long dark hair, and pale flawless skin, which seemed to glow from the inside.
"Kat," said Julia, "this is our daughter, Gabby. Gabby, this is Sarah and Marc's younger daughter, Kat."
The two girls looked at each other for a long moment, then Kat grinned and Kai chirruped a greeting.
"Gabby... Is that short for something?" Kat asked with a smile.
"Gabrielle," the other girl replied with a smile in return.
"As in, the angel?" Kat said with a twinkle in her eye.
"I, personally, always thought the angel Gabriel was a woman. Everyone knows the bible is completely gender biased."
Kat's grin transformed into a beam.
"You know, Gabby, I feel like I've known you for years."
"I feel just the same."
"Come with me. I want you to meet David, my tutor. Something tells me he's your kind of guy," said Kat with a grin. "And then there's a couple of other people you just have to meet - Dazz first, and when they're next on leave, Jade and Leo too. Trust me, they'll adore you."