Underneath the Sands

Prologue: Falling into darkness

It was a lovely but scorching hot afternoon in the Israelian Negev mountains. The high temperatures made the clear blue sky wrinkle, and even the most heat resistant snakes and scorpions had hidden away under rocks or in the shadows.

The climate sure was extreme, but Lara Croft couldn't think of a better place to settle down for a short and relaxing holiday. A few days ago, she had set up her tent in the middle of nowhere, and now she was out on a small stroll.

Of course she knew that going out during the noontide in a desert-like environment wasn't the wisest thing to do, but she simply couldn't help herself. Walking narrow mountain paths to look down the edges of the dizzying steep ravines would never get boring, nor would the breathtaking sights of sandstone, hills and abandoned ruins.

Lara heaved a content sigh, as her gloved hand gently caressed the mountain wall.

The tomb raider wore her favorite and most comfortable outfit; an aqua green tank top, incredibly short khaki shorts and firm, brown lace-up boots. She had her thick, auburn hair in a braid; that was the easiest way for her to keep it out of her warm, sweaty face.

This was basically the outfit she wore whenever she appeared on the front pages of magazines and newspapers when she had done another discovery - only her signature dual pistols were missing.

She hadn't bothered with bringing her babies today. She used to always carry them around in the past - just in case - but a year ago she had decided to waive that silly, paranoid little habit... It wasn't like a pack of henchmen would overpower her while she was shopping for groceries!

Lara grinned at the crazy thought. 'Imagine that...' She shook her head, and stopped to get a bottle of water out of her backpack.

It always was important to stay hydrated when you were out on your own. Countless of walkers had disappeared in the wilderness because they hadn't packed enough water - they had gotten lost and died of dehydration. Those idiots were lucky if at least their corpse had made it back to civilzation...

Lara chuckled and continued her walk. Wasting time standing around pondering about dead tourists would be a shame; in a week she'd be back in rainy England to give a lecture to students of Oxford University... Eventhough she was very passionate about the mummified remains of the Ancient Peruvians herself, giving a bunch of young adults a two-hour talk about them wasn't exactly her cup of tea.

To her, those things became boring once you had identified them... There was nothing fun about the long lost Queen of Tiwanaku when you had already sifted the tiniest details of her life story, written her a biography and even had dressed her dried, emaciated body up for an exhibition...

Mummies were nice trophies and Lara always was glad to donate one to a museum, but they only were exciting when you had just discovered them. Or if they weren't completely dead yet, of course.

As a tomb raider, Lara had encountered dozens of mummies that were still faltering around in the deep, dark corridors of abandoned temples or were guarding beautiful, sumptuous treasure rooms of faraos who had descended to the afterlife themselves many centuries ago.

Seeing them appear in gloomy niches or hearing them grunt in the darkness always was somewhat eerie; but shooting them always brought her delight, in a way. She couldn't decide whether it was the thrill near dead experiences in general gave her, or the satisfaction of defeating the supernatural, but fighting mummies definately gave her a boost.

Suddenly, the woman sensed something strange. It seemed as if the sand she was walking on was moving... It couldn't be!

''What the...?''

She had fallen in trapdoors before - piramids were full of them! - but she had never found one in nature... 'I couldn't have expected this, could I?'

Feverishly, Lara tried to find a tree or a large rock. She had brought a rope - a rope only, that was really all her climbing gear - and if she managed to find something steady enough, she could use it as a point to toss her lasso around and... and save herself...

Unfortunately, there was only the unbelievable smooth mountain wall. Within less than a second, Lara Croft fell into a dark, deep pit, together with hundreds of cubic metres of desert sand...