I was awoken the next morning by Lara gently shaking me. Apparently I had fallen asleep sometime during the night. I unwrapped from our cocoon of blankets and stretched my stiff limbs. Together we packed up our little camp and headed further into the monastery hoping to find another way out.

The monastery had looked large from a distance but was huge on the inside. We spent the whole day wandering through the labyrinth of corridors before finally reaching a large room near the top. Lara wandered down the hall in front of me as I examined some worn script on the wall. Unfortunately my ancient Tibetan was rather rusty. Where was Richard when I needed him?

I looked around and Lara was gone. Panic rising I ran down the hall my heels clacking against the stone floors.

"Lara?" I called rounding the corner. There she was standing in the middle of the room. I clasped a hand over my heart. "I told you not to do that anymore. I don't want to lose you."

Lara looked down apologetically kicking her feet at the stones. I couldn't stay mad at her though, curiosity was her nature. I looked around the room we were in. It was a square room with vaulted ceilings. Five oddly shaped free-standing pillars stood in a circle in the center of the room and at the center of them was a much shorter stone dais. Peculiar place to find in a Tibetan monastery but I didn't ponder on it too much.

"Just see if you can find anything for the fire," I said venturing down another hallway. When it appeared to be a dead end I headed back to where I left Lara. "Did you find anything for the fire?"

I walked into the room to find Lara standing in front of the dais apparently having activated some kind of device. Gasping I ran towards her.

"No! Get back!" I shouted dragging her back from the device. "Good Lord, what is it?"

"There's something in the light!" Lara said pointing to the large metal ring that now stood erect behind the dais a glowing green discus of light inside it.

"Stay here," I said stepping toward the dais. I could hear the voices too. "What? Who are you?"

"... Lara... your daughter..." a hazy voice came through.

"What? What about my daughter?" I asked motioning for Lara to stay back.

"... don't touch the sword..." said the voice angrily.

"You stay away from her! She meant no harm!" I shouted at the voices.

"... take out the sword..."

"... NO..."

There was more than one voice now and they were contradicting each other. I looked back at Lara making sure she wouldn't come up here then looked to the sword. I examined it hesitantly. Who knows what would happen if I pulled it out, but then again what would happen if I didn't?

"Mother, what's happening? Who's there?" she asked me. I had no answer.

"...it'll explode unless you pull out the sword..." the second voice said.

"Oh God, NO!" I screamed.

I didn't think I just reacted. If the ring exploded it would kill us both. My hands wrapped around the sword hilt and I ripped it from the dais. There was a large flash of light so bright it knocked me backwards. I lost my grip on the sword and my feet were swept from the floor. For the next several moments I spun through the air having lost all control. I felt weightless as if I had no body whatsoever. Moments later the strange sensation ended and I crashed onto the floor. I rolled once or twice cracking my head so hard again floor I was knocked unconscious for the second time in two days leaving me sprawled helplessly across the stone floor.