Chapter Two

Groggily, Elena awoke to find herself tied to a chair in the middle of a small room. When she could lift her head without the world spinning, she examined her surroundings. The room was run-down, dingy, dark, with the only source of light coming through a generous hole in the back wall. Sunlight poured in through it, creating a beam of dust that dead ended at the door on the opposite wall. Past the beam, was Nate. He was strung up to the ceiling by the handcuffs shackled around his wrists. He was breathing, but still unconscious.

"Nate? Nate! Come on, wake up," she pleaded.

Once again, he answered her words, groaning as he lifted his head. His eyes wandered aimlessly for a moment before he seemed to regain his focus and squinted at her.

"Elena." He groaned again as he set his feet underneath himself. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. Judging by the looks of this building, I'd say we are still in the city though. Lazarevic probably commandeered it as his base of operations. Look, Nate, we need to get out of here."

"Yeah, that's the understatement of the century." Nate pulled at his bonds, but nothing came of it. They were secure. He started scanning the floor. "Do you see anything sharp? Anything at all?"

Elena followed his lead, but there was nothing they could use to cut a rope. No small pieces of broken glass, not even a rough edge of broken concrete. Elena tugged against her bindings in frustration.

"Well, now what?"

Before Nate could offer a response, the door swung open, banging against the plastered wall. Draza, Lazarevic's lieutenant, stepped through it, flanked by three men. Two of the men stationed themselves by the door while the third stood next to Nate. Draza strode between Elena and Nate, a glow outlining his figure when he stepped into the beam of sunlight. He turned to face Nate, a pleased smile covering his face.

"Nathan Drake."

"Congratulations, asshole, you know my name," Nate retorted, glaring at Draza.

The smile instantly disappeared from Draza's face and he rounded on Nate, delivering a punch to his stomach that left Nate coughing and gasping. Nate instinctively doubled over, but couldn't move very much on account of his hands being tied over his head. The most he could achieve was putting his head down as he tried to catch his breath.

Draza leaned in close to Nate. "You are well known for your wit, Mr. Drake. I doubt it will survive long here." With that, he stepped back to address them both. "I will make this simple. Tell me where the entrance to Shambhala is and you will not be harmed."

Elena knew that was a flat out lie. If they gave him the location, Lazarevic would have no reason to keep them alive. And he wasn't exactly the merciful type. Nate clearly had the same idea.

At the same time, Elena said, "Go to hell," while Nate answered, "Not a chance."

The disturbing smile crept back onto Draza's face. "I had rather hoped you would say that. It will make this so much more satisfying for me." He turned to Nate. "I'm going to enjoy this. You've been a thorn in my side for far too long." Nate held Draza's gaze as he nodded his head at the man next to him. The man wore brass knuckles on both hands and clearly intended to use them. In a flurry, he started pummeling Nate, leaving him bruised and bloodied.

"No!" Elena couldn't stand seeing Nate beaten before her. The man paused his assault at her cry, looking to Draza for further instructions. Draza advanced toward Elena.

"The only way this ends is if you tell me the location of Shambhala."

Nate called weakly from his side of the room. "Don't tell him anything, Elena."

His words earned him a swift blow to the face. One that left him with a split lip and cheek. His head hung limply at his chest as he grunted in pain.

Draza rounded on him once more. "You don't get to speak anymore." He slithered back to Elena, gesturing toward Nate. "You are the only one who can save him now. Tell me where it is."

She wanted to. She wanted nothing more than to end Nate's suffering. But she knew, deep down, that he was right. If Lazarevic got his hands on the Cintamani Stone, he would be unstoppable. The world would be in danger. As much as she hated to admit it, her life, Nate's life was worth sacrificing to keep Lazarevic from Shambhala.

She hated herself for it, but still responded, "I can't."

At Draza's signal, the man continued beating Nate until his face was a bloody mess and his shirt was torn in several places. At one point he hammered Nate's side in the same place until there was an audible crack and Nate cried out in pain, his breath hitching.

It was too much for Elena to bear silently and she cried out, "Stop! Please!"

Draza turned to her. "You know what you must do for this to stop and yet you refuse to do it. Very well. Perhaps you require more incentive." He slid the large knife at his belt free and brandished it meaningfully in front of him. Then made his way toward Nate. Nate was too out of it to see the threat coming his way.

"No." The word was barely more than a whisper on Elena's lips as she watched, torn.

Without hesitation, Draza drove his knife to the hilt into Nate's abdomen, forcing the breath from Nate's lungs. Nate's teeth gritted against the pain.

"Tell me where the entrance is!"

"You bastard! I'm going to kill you!" Elena violently threw herself against her bonds, so much so that her chair almost toppled.

But Draza wasn't done. Looking Elena straight in the eye, he twisted the knife still in Nate's side, eliciting a genuine scream of surprise and agony from Nate.

At Nate's cry, Elena was shaken into action. No matter what she had told herself before, she couldn't sit there and watch Nate die. They would have to find another way. They always had. "Wait, please! I'll tell you!" she screamed in between sobs. "I'll tell you where it is. Just, leave him alone."

A triumphant grin on his face, Draza slid the knife from Nate's side and Nate's breath caught once again at the sensation. Nate slumped forward, struggling to stay conscious.

The knife still coated with Nate's blood, Draza now pointed it menacingly at Elena. His voice was low and threatening, losing the fervor it had gained in the heat of the moment. "Where is it?"

Elena answered deflatedly, resigned to telling the truth. "It's in Tibet. In the mountains. I can show you on a map."

Draza turned to one of the men by the door, motioning for a map, but before he could, there was a commotion outside. Suddenly there was chaos. Shouting and gunfire followed closely by the sound of an explosion. Lip curling in obvious annoyance at the untimely distraction, Draza snarled and led his men out to deal with the issue. But not before he issued one last threat.

"You will tell me exactly where the entrance is the moment I return or your friend will die a slow and agonizing death. And there will be nothing you can do to stop it."

Then Draza and his men were gone, leaving them alone with the sounds of fighting outside the door.

Elena glanced worriedly at Nate. "Nate, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

It was clear that Nate was in a lot of pain, try as he did to hide it. His words came between panted breaths. "No. You made the right choice. We can't let Lazarevic get the Stone. No matter what." Nate grimaced as another wave of pain hit him.

"I'm going to get you out of here. You're going to be alright, I promise. Just stay with me."

Nate didn't answer which, to Elena, didn't bode well.

The sounds of fighting grew nearer and Elena finally had to bear them some thought. Who could have gotten in the building? Was it the resistance? If so, she wasn't sure that was going to be any better than Lazarevic's men. They may not be overt enemies, but they weren't necessarily allies either. Even if they weren't hostile, they didn't really have any reason to help them.

When the noise seemed to reach the hallway outside their room, it suddenly died. The next sound was of the bolt being pulled back from the door. Fearing it was Draza returning, Elena steeled herself, unconsciously grinding her teeth in anticipation. But she almost cried with relief when she saw who entered the room.

Sully walked through the door.

"I can't leave you two alone for two minutes."

"Sully!"

"Come on, we don't have much time." He cut Elena free, then turned to Nate. His step faltered. "My God. What happened?" He fiddled with the lock on the handcuffs, eventually clicking them open. Nate collapsed to the floor, but Sully slung one of Nate's arms around his shoulders to get him standing.

"Later. We need to get Nate out of here."

"Agreed. Come on, Nate."

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Nate was managing well considering his injuries, but he was breathing hard and his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated.

"The hell you are, kid." Sully threw a gun to Elena. "You're going to have to cover us. I think I got most of them, but there's no telling how many men Lazarevic has and I admit to not exactly being covert on my way in here."

"Right. Let's go."