Prologue – Ancient China
The battle between the emperor's army and the Tibetan warrior monks raged all day for the past ten days. It was one of numerous conflicts that have raged across the land for the past few years, bringing chaos and political instability between the two opposing parties. Echoing through the blood-red evening sky were the sounds of blades clashing and people dying, as well as the slicing of human flesh in many one-on-battles. But the emperor's army knew that this battle would be unlike any of the others that have been fought in the past, for the emperor had a radical new trick up his dirty sleeve, one which they thought would certainly bring the Tibetan rebels down to their knees.
Meanwhile, in an empty field near a newly built section of what would later be known as the Great Wall of China, the emperor pulled out his secret weapon, a dagger that had forever been rumoured to possess the power of the dragon. However, the only way he could ever gain its power was to drive the blade into his heart, and he was well aware of it too. Despite the idea of sacrificing his own life, it seemed like the most reasonable method of gaining control of all of China. After a few moments, the emperor took a deep breath and stabbed himself in the chest, crying out in pain as blood poured down his body. His screams caused a nearby flock of black crows to flee for the sky, which caught the attention of one of the guards in the nearby guard tower. Silence soon took over the entire landscape as the emperor's body went under a startling transformation. Then, in a blinding ball of white light, a sinister reptilian growl was heard and standing in the place of the emperor's mutilated body was a towering golden dragon with large teeth and large fiery reptilian eyes. This was the signal for the emperor's army to attack.
The monks heard the screams and shouting of the emperor's army and immediately confirmed their worst fears. They immediately began to retreat, but realized that they were not as safe as they thought. Flying through the air were thousands of arrows launched by the army in an effort to wipe out most of the rebellion. Most of the shots were unsuccessful, though a good percentage of them managed to injure and even kill the unlucky monks that found themselves in the middle of the open battlefield. One monk found himself slumped against a wooden cart full of battle supplies as an arrow plunged its way into his left knee. While he struggled to cope with the intense pain of his injury, the rest of the rebellion became aware of an even greater threat as the ground shook beneath them.
Back over by the wall, the emperor's army started running for their lives as their plan to take over China started to backfire. The dragon was going after both opposing forces by unleashing a torrent of fire against everyone that stood in his way. Struggling to control the giant beast, the emperor's army realized that they made a huge mistake. Fire started to rage through the grassy fields and the stench of burning flesh filled the battle-tainted air. Meanwhile in one of the nearby guardhouses, one of the surviving guards of the emperor's army gained a clear shot of the dragon's head. Without hesitation, the guard pulled out his bow and loaded it with one arrow before pulling back the string. Once he let go of the string, the arrow darted through the air before striking the dragon's large head a few seconds later. The dragon reacted to the strike by jerking its head violently and became temporarily stunned.
Back on the ground, the monk with the injured knee feared for his own life as he watched the dragon walk towards him. It was not long before the large reptilian beast was towering over him and his vision was starting to fade from the amount of blood he lost from his injury. Suddenly, the monk noticed something peculiar about the dragon's chest. Though his vision was failing him, he was able to discern a mysterious glowing point of light that raised his curiosity. The dragon lowered its neck for another fire attack against the emperor's army, unaware of the monk's presence below him. With the last bit of strength he had, the injured monk stood on both of his feet and reached for the magical light and saw the Dagger of Xian with its beautifully crafted dragon handle. Pulling the dagger from the dragon's chest, an unexpected thing started to occur. The dragon started roaring in pain as a strange orange luminescence erupted from its open chest wound and merged itself into the dagger. The power of the dragon had left the emperor's transformed body, leaving him powerless and sickly.
With its last breath, the dragon breathed out fire and seared the injured monk to death before falling to ground with a large thud that shook the earth. One of the surviving members of the emperor's army lowered his bow as he watched the skin of the dragon melt before his eyes. A few moments later, the only thing remaining was the dragon's seared carcass. The Chinese soldier lowered his head and started to weep, for he knew that emperor's army had been decimated. The emperor was dead and the monks celebrated their victory as twilight started to set in over the Chinese landscape.
As night fell over the landscape, the surviving monks recovered the magical dagger and headed towards a nearby underground temple. Using torches to light their path, the monks walked through the underground labyrinth for about an hour until they came across a mysterious red wooden door with a large circular golden symbol with two curved lines branching from the top and the bottom (representing the upper body and tail of a golden dragon). It was then that they knew they had were in the right place. The monk leading the way then reached for a metallic circular object and pressed it into the door, causing the middle of the door to rotate. All of the monks held their breath as the two wooden rings that made up the centre of the circle cleverly slowed down to line themselves up into a non-skewed curved line. Once the two wooden rings aligned to complete the pattern, the two wooden rings moved into the door, allowing a large metal bar to move horizontally through the middle of the golden ring to complete the large dragon symbol. The door opened into a hallway that was dimly illuminated by torches on both sides. At the end of the hallway was a medium-sized room where a small pedestal stood, the resting place of the magical Dagger of Xian.
With the dagger in his right hand, the leader of the group started his way down the hallway, but something seemed to be keeping him back. For some reason, he had the awful premonition that something bad was going to happen if he placed the dagger back into its rightful place. He turned around, but the others ushered him to continue forward and insisted that everything would be alright. The leader reluctantly made his way down the quiet hall and slowly approached the pedestal. A small golden dragon head with an open mouth marked the slot in which the dagger was to be placed. With the dagger in hand, the monk slowly slid the dagger into the dragon slot and a mysterious purple aura started filling the room. Then, a bright shaft of purple light erupted from the pedestal, causing the torches inside the temple to blow themselves out. The last thing the monk saw before his untimely demise was pure darkness before falling down a mysterious trapdoor and down a mysterious shaft.
After the strange turn of events, the survivors of the emperor's radical reign did not speak of them again. As decades turned into centuries and centuries turned into millennia, the magical dagger and the emperor that tried to use its power to conquer all of China were disregarded from the history books and became the stuff of myths and legends. In that same period of time, the Dagger of Xian remained locked inside the temple and its safety from the hands of evil remained assured…Or so it seemed.
Hey everyone! Although I am in the midst of working on a story based on the first Tomb Raider game, I decided to get started on Tomb Raider 2 to keep my mind fresh with ideas. I apologize if this bothers you. I'm sure how often I will update this, but this will be the start of it. Let me know what you think of this so far! In the meantime, I wish all of you a Happy New Year :) The next chapter will start at Lara's house, so be sure to keep your eyes open!
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