Lady Lara Croft was utterly bored. So bored that she had no idea how to get through the day. Lying on the sofa in her study and stretching her legs over it, she killed the time by watching a fly circling around the lamp above her head.

Keeping her eyes on the small, flying animal felt like the only reasonable activity. Months had passed since Lara returned from her last adventure, and her days had become dull, senseless, and in vain had Hilary and Bryce tried to convince her to engage herself in some meaningful activity. Why wasting time and energy on something that didn't interest her anyway?

After, to her biggest annoyance, she'd lost sight of the fly, Lara reluctantly sat up, placed her feet on the floor, and convinced herself to walk downstairs. Her bare feet made no noise as she descended the stairs. Silence filled the manor, as if even her employees had been avoiding her. Lara was not in a bad mood though, just bored to death.

Next to the entrance, the day's post lay on a small table, together with the current edition of the London Times. Lara picked up the envelopes, and browsed through them. Actually, she didn't care about the post. Maybe, secretly, she hoped to find some exciting new job offer about long-lost, dangerous object, but of course, nothing. Besides the continuous attempts to convince her to yet another credit card, or to sell her one more massage seat, she found nothing of importance. Bills, commercials, useless advertisements.

She threw them back to the table, and her ultimate boredom made her pick up the newspaper instead. What the hell, she thought, walking over to the sitting room. She plopped down to the sofa, her eyes scanning the headlines. She yawned, not even trying to hide it. Turning the pages, the ads caught her eyes that she'd never cared about before. Dating ads, what nonsense, she thought, but despite her indifference, she read them. Handsome male in his fifties is looking for a slim lady to spice up life together, she read one ad aloud, laughing. In her mind's eye, the handsome male in his fifties appeared, probably some boring bank employee with a regular salary no one paid attention to.

Out of the blue, the idea crossed her mind what she would write in such an ad. Treasure hunter bored to death is looking for someone who has some life-threatening adventure to share? Anyone, really. There would be an awful lot of candidates. As she put down the newspaper, faint knocking was coming from the door, and Hilary came in with a tray in his hands, a cup sitting on it.

"The tea, M'lady." He put it down in front of her. Lara didn't even notice that the whole afternoon had passed by. What the hell had she been doing all day?

"Thank you, Hilary," Lara said, staring helplessly at the teacup.

"Don't worry, Lady Croft. There will soon be some challenges to occupy yourself with." Hilary tried to divert her attention.

"I really don't understand what's happening. It never occurred before that absolutely nothing came up. Are there no more tombs to find?" Lara asked her butler in despair, looking at him with big, hazel eyes. Hilary smiled with sympathy. On the one hand, he was worried about Lara, not willing her to get accustomed to this inactive state, on the other hand, the look on her face amused him a little bit. Lara seemed so helpless now that she wasn't facing deadly traps every day, and Hilary found it charming. He was more than certain that this wasn't going to last long. It was just a matter of time that Lara would again indulge herself in something extremely dangerous.

...

Bryce was sitting at his computer, his face resolute. Not being able to bear seeing Lara drag herself from one room to the other for weeks now, he was determined to find a suitable challenge for her. But it wasn't as easy as he'd thought. Bryce had his own methods that were not all entirely legal, but this kind of information was hard to get. It wasn't like calling the tourist information if they had any new tombs to raid. All these years, Lara had never asked where his data came from. A kind of tacit agreement existed between them. Lara didn't mind where the information originated from, and Bryce shut his eyes to how she obtained the artifacts. The result was what counted. Or for Lara the challenge and the adventure.

Bryce scanned every source he knew or had used in the past. Properly disguised, he entered servers of museums and universities, and reviewed the latest results of running researches. After several hours of fruitless searching, he stumbled upon something. Two small words caught his eyes on the screen, and he stopped scrolling.

Chagatai's eyes.

He frowned. That name… Where had he heard it before? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure it out, but for an inexplicable reason he felt that it was important. So he went for Google, and realized the meaning of it right after looking at the first hit on the list. He jumped from the chair as if being yelled at, and ran out of the tech-room. Lara would just love that, he thought, grinning…

...

Bryce literally fell through the door of the living room where Lara was sitting, helplessly looking at her butler who had failed to answer the question whether there were still any more tombs Lara hadn't found yet. The fact that Bryce had just fallen into the room without knocking and out of breath, surprised her a little bit, but wasn't enough to agitate her.

"Lara, I think I've found something… it's about Chagatai's eyes," he finally blurted out, panting.

When she heard the name, Lara jumped from the sofa. "Are you sure? What did you find?"

At once, she was completely transformed, the hopeless boredom vanished from her eyes, and an exciting shine took its place. This had always been a sure sign that something exciting and dangerous was in sight. Hilary understood nothing. While working for Lara, he'd also gained quite a broad historical knowledge, but this name said nothing to him. On the contrary, it seemed to say a lot to Lara. The tea was left behind as all three of them hurried over to the tech room.

"I was looking around on a server of Harvard University when I glimpsed the name," Bryce explained with an innocent face. He clicked around, bringing the document back to the screen.

Lara's eyes skimmed the text, quickly reading it through to find what she needed to know. "So they've found them. Unbelievable," she whispered, mesmerized by the words on the monitor. "As I see, our colleagues have no idea about the importance of their found," she added with more and more enthusiasm as she read on. "But all the better. We'll have time to get it for ourselves." Lara straightened up, excited by the developments.

She rushed over to the shelves, and grabbed the leather folder with her notes. Over the years, she'd devoted a lot of time to solving this riddle, but to her biggest regret, she'd never come closer to the solution. This new data might have just changed everything. Hilary was still standing at the entrance, face incredulous, watching the two of them work in sync. Even if he had no clue what was going on, he was happy to see that Lara was back to her usual self, studying her notes eagerly.

"Here it is," Lara spoke again. "I've always known that Chagatai's hiding the diary I'm after."

The two men looked at her with an expression now that made Lara smile. She stopped, moving her stare back and forth between them.

"Let me explain." She went over to the desk, and spread her papers on it. "This is not about Chagatai, but Temüjin. Temüjin's tomb has been fascinating me since I was a child, and as long as I can remember I wanted to be the one finding it. It would be the greatest discovery of the century. Something like Tutankhamun in 1922." She sent them her usual, determined glance. "Temüjin was buried under great secrecy, and everyone who knew about the location of the tomb was killed. The anonymous thousand. That's how they called the nearly thousand people who participated in the construction of the burial place, and then were murdered without exception. One of them, however, according to the legend, kept a diary, describing the works, and most importantly the location."

Lara was strolling up and down the room as she told the story, hardly able to believe that she would finally take the next step toward the discovery.

"Unfortunately that man was caught and executed before he could hide the diary. Everyone thought that the description had been destroyed. I spent countless days and months researching before I found out that it got into the hands of Chagatai, and must have been hidden in his tomb." Lara let out a small breath, remembering the day she'd realized it. "You can imagine how happy I was. My happiness didn't last long tough, because finding Chagatai's tomb wasn't enough, getting in is impossible without the eyes." Seeing Hilary's confusion, she rolled her eyes. "Chagatai's eyes are two stone spheres. I've been searching for them for years without any success. They just disappeared without a trace. There were so few who knew about their existence that hardly any documentation existed. All I could find out is that Chagatai ordered his men to hide the eyes somewhere in the world after his death. They could be anywhere." Lara stopped strolling as if coming back from her memories. "But now, my friends, we know where they are, and I'll get them. When I have them in my hands, no one can stop me from solving Temüjin's secret."

"This Temüjin must have been a very important person. It's interesting that I've never heard of him before. It seems I still need to broaden my knowledge," Hilary confessed.

"I'm very sure you've heard of him, but maybe with a different name," Lara smiled a knowing smile, picking up her notes again. "Does it ring a bell if I say Genghis Khan?"

Hilary raised his brows in surprise, nodding in astonishment. Of course he knew that name. Who didn't? "Now I understand why everyone wants to find his grave."

"Chagatai was Genghis Khan's son, who led the constructions of the tomb after his father's death. I know where Chagatai's tomb is, but couldn't get in without the eyes," Lara continued the story. "I want that diary so badly, and this is the only place it can be."

"But now that the eyes are found, Chagatai's tomb and the diary will be revealed as well," Hilary pointed out very logically.

"I don't think so," Lara said, returning to the computer. "This description's not that simple. The document Bryce found describes the happenings as a travel diary. Look here," she tapped a finger on the screen. "Chagatai's eyes then glimpsed places no one has seen before… and so on." She read the text aloud. "Our colleague here seems to research how Chagatai got to see those places. Very few people know that the eyes are actually two stone objects. So far, this document hasn't been connected with either the diary, nor with Chagatai's grave, not to mention Genghis Khan. So I'll use the chance and take the glory for myself."

"It's only natural that you will, Lady Croft." Hilary assured her with a smile.

"Let's get to work. There's still a lot to do in very little time," Lara said happily. The two men exchanged glances, pleased to see that she was finally back to her old self. Spirited, professional and brilliant.

...

The helicopter approached the ground, but didn't touch down. Lara descended the ladder, and then jumped to the clearing. When she waved to the pilot, the machine moved away, leaving her all alone in the wilderness that calmed down again after the helicopter left. She looked around, seeing jungle around her in every direction. Well then, she thought, adjusting the holsters on the thighs and tightening the ponytail.

"The place with the fist eye shouldn't be far from here," she said into her headset, while typing the coordinates into the GPS.

"No, you only need to go about a mile to the west," Bryce replied.

Lara strode to the specified direction, clearing the thick undergrowth out of the way with her arms. It was unbelievable that the first eyes had gotten so far from Mongolia, but the document was very clear about its location. Apparently, the Mongolians hadn't left it to fate, and brought the eye as far from the tomb as they could. Lara would have never guessed to come to Thailand for it.

As she kept moving, an ancient stone structure revealed in front of her eyes between the leaves. From the outside, it was very dilapidated. Huge stones were lying around, the jungle slowly taking possession of them. The green crawled all over the rocks, embracing them, hiding them from the untrained eyes. Lara watched the scene with admiration, fascinated by such miracles of history. Cautiously, she ventured closer, searching for the entrance that was overgrown by the vegetation over the time. Lara needed about fifteen minutes to discover a barely three feet high hole that led into the structure.

"Let's get this over with," she muttered, then crawled into the shaft. Farther down, the hole widened into a corridor, so she could finally stand up again. Her hand slipped to the hilt of her gun as she moved farther down the dark passage. Fastening the flashlight to the strap of her backpack, she moved on, trying to avoid running into any traps.

"Just be careful," she heard Bryce's anxious voice in her ear. Lara rolled her eyes. As if it had been the first time she entered a place like this. As she proceeded, a wide gap closed the way, its bottom disappearing in the darkness, only the tips of some sharp spears could be seen. After some careful consideration, Lara took a few steps back, then ran and jumped over to the other side. That wasn't very hard to beat, she thought to herself when she heard the faint swooshing sound coming closer and closer. The beam of her flashlight glinted on two giant blades that had flicked out of the walls on both sides of the passage, and were rushing toward her. Lara only had time to bit back a curse. She hurled forward, her slim body graciously gliding through between the two blades. The huge metal blades whizzed over and under her, whoosh of air on her skin blowing a strand of hair out of her face. Even as she landed safe on the ground, the blades changed direction, speeding toward her again.

"Bloody fantastic," Lara said, spinning on her heels. She ran down the corridor, as fast as she could, not caring where she went. The blades were chasing her, leaving her no chance to escape.

"Lara, look out," Bryce was yelling in her ear, but it was too late. The ground moved out from beneath her feet. Fleeing from the blades she hadn't realized that she stepped on a steep slope, and now was unstoppable sliding down into the nothingness. Before she fell into the crevice at the end of the slope, she hurled forward, reached out her hand, and in the very last moment she grabbed a protruding stone on the wall opposite her. Propping her feet, she caught her breath, moving the lamp around to see where she'd landed.

"You're okay?" She heard Bryce's voice again.

"Yes, sure. It's just a little uncomfortable here."

The corridor continued on the left, following an L shape. The abyss under her seemed bottomless. "I don't think I want to know what's down there," she commented, trying to climb farther to the left, but the stones under her feet trembled in a threatening way.

Bryce followed the scene through the camera. "Get the hell out of there."

"Believe me I'm working on it." Lara propped her feet, holding herself with one arm. Before the stones collapsed, she shot out the grapple fixed on her belt, and swung across the gap, landing deftly on the other side of the passage that led farther into the ancient structure. For a moment, Lara stopped to draw in a breath, then let it out again. Missing a few weeks in her training was clearly noticeable. She glanced back once more to the abyss, then shrugged, and continued her way.

As she ambled down the corridor, it was the first occasion she had some time to look around. Taking a small video camera, she recorded the passage, pointing the device all over the thick walls around her. Just as a good archeologist would do. The walls were made of huge stones, but no ornamentation or text was to be seen on them. Lara continued her way inside, illuminating the dark corners with her flashlight. She stopped in her tracks when she heard something again. Speedy, flapping sound of small wings. Lara put her hand in front of her face when the swarm of bats stormed out of the next room, bumping blindly into her after the light woke them.

"Damn it," she cursed, shaking off the last small animal that got caught in her hair.

"God, I hate those things," Bryce commented in disgust.

"Good that you're sitting in front of your computers then." Lara continued down the corridor, into the room she'd been looking for. "Beautiful," she muttered, venturing further inside. Ruins of pillars grew out of the floor, green covering them just like outside. Giant columns supported the high ceiling where the light entered through cracks and holes. All around, Lara saw several openings on different levels that led into the room. "I hope I took the worst one," she muttered, but couldn't get enough of the view. The sunshine left beams of light behind that cut through the air like rays she could actually touch. "Do you get this, Bryce?" she asked in a solemn voice, walking around with the camera.

"Loud and clear," he answered. "Everything's really beautiful. I've never seen so many nice ruins," he continued in sarcasm. "Would you walk to the platform now, take the eye and get the hell out of there before the whole place collapses?"

"Patience, my friend. It won't collapse now if it held up so far," Lara answered calmly, studying everything in detail.

But then her curiosity won, so she put the camera away, leaving only her headset transmit the picture to Bryce. Among the scattered stones and thick green vegetation, a short pillar stood, the first eye on the top of it. Served on a stone plate to her. The temptation to grab it was huge, but Lara resisted, and approached slowly to see if there were any traps. She was about three feet away from it, three feet away from reaching what she'd been longing for years. For a moment she hesitated, fearing there was a hidden mechanism somewhere in the platform, so she circled it once more.

At the first sight, the eye seemed anything but important. It was a nicely carved and polished stone sphere with no special feature, but Lara looked at it as if it was the world's most beautiful diamond. Mesmerized by its simplicity, she reached out to touch it. She was so absorbed in the discovery that she only realized the movement from the corner of her eyes. Somewhere above her, in one of the other openings that led into the room. Though before she could even grasp what was happening, someone swung across the room, whooshing in front of her with such speed that Lara could only blink. When she looked at the platform again, the eye was gone.

"What the hell?" she said, almost simultaneously with Bryce. Footsteps were approaching from every side. A lot of footsteps. Lara had as much time as to hide behind a column when two groups of mercenaries swarmed into the ancient room.