The roof was starting to cave in. Rocks were falling around me. I grabbed the ledge but my hands started to slip. I couldn't hold on any longer. I fell.
I desperately tried to stop myself. As I fell I tried grabbing the rocks, but they slipped through my fingers. Then, ten feet short of the bottom, where I would have met my death, my right hand grabbed something. I found a crack. I shimmied along and climbed up.
I started to find a way to the surface. Many corridors were now blocked, but I found my way.
Near the top, I mistakenly walked into a poison dart trap. I carefully ran through it, but one dart missed my back by centimetres. As I finally climbed to the top, I noticed a camp nearby. I hid behind a crate. I heard a shout coming from far away. I looked over cautiously.
A shaft was dug into the side of the pyramid. They were digging - for me.
Looking over, I saw my former teacher and adversary for the Amulet of Horus - Werner Von Croy.
I was feeling unwell, so I reached for my backpack to get a medikit. All I could feel was the fabric of my top. My backpack was gone. It must have been taken off when that dart nearly hit me.
I looked over at the camp again. Everyone was rushing towards the pyramid, talking excitedly in Arabic. I saw Von Croy go as well. He returned ten minutes later, holding my broken backpack.
He sat down in a chair in front of me. He looked at my pack and muttered, 'She's alive.'
I crept behind him, took the safety off my gun, held it to his head and said, 'And I'll be having that back, thank you.'
'What?' he said, shocked.
He turned around to look at me. I put my gun away and smiled.
'Hello, Werner,' I said.
'Lara!'
He stood up and walked towards me as if to embrace me, but I stepped away and pointed my gun at him. I was grateful for him trying to save me, but I was angry at him for trying to kill me for the Amulet.
'What is wrong, my child?'
'Well, in case you didn't notice, you almost killed me, Werner!'
'Ah, yes, that little misunderstanding about the Amulet. Where is it, by the way?'
I smirked. He wasn't going to get me that easily.
'It was destroyed in the collapse.'
Werner looked as if he had been punched in the stomach. I took my backpack out of his frozen hands and walked away. The Amulet was not destroyed, of course, it was in the pack. As an afterthought, I placed it back in its rightful position in the side of the pyramid. Set was re-imprisoned.

That night, I paid a visit to my old friend to let him know that I was okay. He let me stay the night and early the next morning I caught a boat to Spain, and I flew home from Madrid that night. There were terrible sandstorms that night in Egypt and I knew that there was no way that Von Croy could communicate with my family. I smiled. I had a surprise for them.
I got home at about midnight. The house was deserted, but the study light was on. I smiled. Everyone was in my Trophy Room.
I slowly opened the door a little and peeked in. Father Patrick, Winston and Charles Kane were there. I smiled. Father Patrick was holding the Philosopher's Stone, one of my earlier yet hardest conquests. I thought about the things I had to fight. Bloody Gladiators... I'll tell you later.
Anyway, as I opened the door, a bolt of lightning flashed - a great lighting effect. All anyone could see was my silhouette as the only source of light was the fire on the other side of the room.
I could see Father Patrick beside the fire, crossing himself as if I were a spirit.
The looks on everyone's faces were priceless. I almost laughed. Eventually, I said, 'I believe you were expecting me.'

'... That was great fun,' Lara said, smiling at the memory. 'But I thought the statue was a bit premature. I'd only been missing a couple of days.'
Lara looked at me and smiled, then she went back to her hot chocolate. I felt very privileged to know such a person as her, let alone work with her.
My full name is Victoria Hermione Anne McDermott-Lawrence, but to Lara Henshingly Croft, world-famous adventurer and archaeologist, I'm just Hermione.
I sat in awe beside her as she told her exciting story about her miraculous escape to me. She sighed and turned to me.
'You know, I wish I could still do those sorts of things.'
I laughed. 'Why? I think you're insane.'
'Thanks, Victoria.'
She knew that when she wanted to annoy me, she would call me by my first name. I don't know why I preferred my middle name, as it was very unpopular, but I like it better.
'But seriously, Hermione, I'm just getting too old to adventure, unfortunately.'
'No, Lara, you're only 35. Egypt was only four years ago. How old was Von Croy when he took you to Cambodia? 40?'
Lara sighed. 'Yeah, I suppose. But I went back into the gym the other day and I couldn't jump as long as I used to. You know exercise 4? I couldn't do it. And I built that gym when I was 28, barely seven years ago.'
I laughed. 'Come on Lara, I'm 24 and I can't even do that jump. Only you could do such a thing as that.'
Lara sighed. 'I know, Mione. I'm thinking about retiring.'
I nearly dropped my mug.
'You're not serious!'
She nodded. 'I am. My adventuring days are over.'
I shook my head. 'But Lara, you love adventuring more than life itself.'
'I know. I can't rid myself of the thrill of the chase.'
'But Lara, no one does what you do anymore. After you, there will be no one left.'
'That's because they're not as stupid as I am. Maybe if I took on an understudy, a replacement.'
'You already have an understudy, and no one can replace you.'
I had been working as an assistant for Lara for two years, when she started to adventure again. Nothing too big, just minor missions.
Adventuring with her opened my eyes to the world. It stirred something within me. I don't know if it was a bug for travel, or adventuring. Although I loved it a lot, there was no way I could do the latter.
Lara's face brightened. 'I have a perfect replacement in mind.'
'Who?'
She smiled at me. 'You.'
I shook my head. 'No way Lara. There is no way I could do it.'
She laughed. 'When I was 16, when Von Croy took me to Cambodia, I thought that there was no way I could do that. I was terrified. It was way too risky. But then the crash happened, and when Rich died and I had to rely on myself to survive... that changed me. I nearly died out there, but Rich told me to get out, told me to get away. And I listened to him. I did what he told me, and I've been doing it ever since. But I'm tired, Mione, I've had enough missions for a lifetime. Starting with Von Croy and finishing in Egypt, I've done about 50 missions. And every one of them was for Rich.'
Richard Parker-Whiteley was Lara's boyfriend and soulmate. When she was 21, after finishing school, Lara, Richard and some friends went on a skiing trip to the Himalayas. Their plane crashed right in the middle of the mountains, on the border of Nepal. Lara proved the be the only survivor.
Everyone except her and Richard were killed instantly. Richard suffered massive injuries and died three days later. When Lara came home, she was a mess, emotionally and physically. It took her years to get over his death. In the end, when she was 24, my age, she started adventuring and writing books about her adventures to fund her trips since was now cut off from the family fortune after her father disowned her. She had everything everyone can dream about. A successful and rich career, a job she loved, and every material success in the world and the celebrity status that came with it.
But there was one thing missing from her life - love. When Richard died, a part of her died with him. She felt she could never love again, and she never has. She has just thrown herself into her work.
I had hinted to her about settling down but she just ignored me. Well, that's Lara for you.
After Egypt, I had tried to get Lara back out doing what she loved, but she had lost all confidence. She told me she realised that what she was doing was too dangerous, and she didn't want Richard to have died almost in vain when she was risking her life every time she left the house.
She hired me to assist her in taking care of her finances and her affairs, and I occasionally went on mini-missions with her. I was never any good, though. I would scream at the sight of a mouse and all I could do was hand Lara ammunition when she had to shoot something. I would climb up high until it was safe. I was a scaredy-cat.
She used to tease me with tales of the horrible monsters she faced. Her most notable was the Abomination.
I sat with her and tried to convince her of not retiring, and she tried to convince me of being able to replace her. Her argument was more convincing.
'Look, Hermione, no obligations. Just meet me in the gym tomorrow morning at ten and we'll see what we can do.'
'No obligations?'
She smiled. 'None whatsoever.'
I nodded. 'I'll try.'
'That's the Hermione I know and love. Okay, go to bed and get some rest, and bring some light training clothes with you.'
'Okay.'
That night, I lay awake in bed thinking about the very real possibility of me having to replace Lara. I thought all night.
Could I become a Tomb Raider?