- Italy (Laconia Island)
As soon as Lara got back to her home, she didn't waste any time relaxing and got back into the library, spending quite a lot of hours there. Her objective was to decipher the next chapter of the strange Tome of Ezekiel. This too was aided by her recent discoveries, found in the Swedish Mountain of the Tomb of Ezekiel and in Angkor Wat. She now understood that the mysterious 13th centurion book describes a prophecy that was called the Prophecy of Magic.
Part of the Prophecy of Magic tells that the three magic stones helped the great conquerors, Heort the Viking, Surya Varman II of Cambodia and Marcus Aurelius Emperor of Rome. Thanks to this understanding, Lara now knew where the location of the final stone she seeks was. Lara decided to finish off deciphering the final chapter of the Tome of Ezekiel and the Prophecy of Magic, after she had collected The White Stone of Pure Spirit from Italy, on an island known as Laconia Island.
With this new knowledge, Lara informed Winston of where she was travelling next to. Winston asked Lara if she needed any help getting anything, and Lara replied saying to phone a transport provider on the island, so she could explore much quicker and efficiently. While Winston was doing this, Lara prepared her weaponry and equipment she may require. This was the following she would take with her:
- 2 Medical-Kits
- The Tome Of Ezekiel Book
- Field Notebook
- A Mobile Device for distress signals etc
- An M37 Shotgun
- Dual .50 Calibre Pistols (More powerful than her usual pistols)
- The two magic stones she has in her possession
For this venture, Lara wore her favourite jungle outfit, which comprised off a green tank top, brown khaki shorts, her backpack, boots and belt with holsters. Once she acquired the gear and equipment, Lara rushed to the helicopter transportation that will take her to Laconia Island in Italy.
It was late afternoon, and Lara was exuberantly searching the island for any clues that could lead her to the sanctuary of The White Stone of Pure Spirit. She was driving a rented motorcycle all around the island streets, and passing buildings flew by at a speed on long roads. The motorbike was a dark blue coloured, and was the Norton Street fighter model, which had a rotary engine, perfect for the eating up the miles she took. Instead of wondering around meaninglessly, Lara first thought of checking of the back streets. This is where hardly any people would be walking pass through, making the search easier and less complicated. Also people would be less suspicious of her activities, and not be interrupting her concentration.
Within the hour, Lara had no results as she continued looking into places that could hold any sort of information. Then in a rare glance, Lara spotted an ornament stuck on the wall of a building in an alleyway. She drove towards it and inspected her find. It was a huge metal mask monument of a wolf with a ring piercing between the nostrils. 'The wolf is the animal symbol of Ancient Rome, so I there is the first clue of getting close to the artefact' Lara thought, as she reminisced the fact that this building may be more important than people know it. Then it quickly snapped within Lara's mind, 'Of course, the last stone should be hidden somewhere in this converted Roman Villa' she believed, and made her way to the entrance.
Unexpectedly though she was soon to be stopped. Round the corner of the alleyway, Lara saw two more red hooded figures having a conversation. She had an idea, instead of spoiling their talk to one another with gunplay. Lara eavesdropped into their discussion behind the wall.
"Any news on the stones we lost in Cambodia?" the first red robed apparition questioned.
"No, she has them. We've even sent brothers to search her mansion!" the second red robed figure responded.
"I see... Well currently our leader holds the final stone, so it's in safe hands at the moment. The leader has also summoned us all to meet at the coast of this island, where we will discuss the next part of our plan." the first dark figure explained. After, they vanished, without a doubt they were on their way to the meeting point.
A flood load of unanswered questions rocketed in Lara's head. 'How did they know where I'd lived' and most importantly 'What was Winston's current status?'
'NO...Winston!' Lara couldn't bear the thought or sight of her trustworthy friend being interrogated, and what kind of methods the Teg-Du-Bhorez did for that sole purpose. But she couldn't leave now. She had to retrieve The White Stone of Pure Spirit from under their leaders' wing. She would immediately return home afterwards, to check out what damage they had done. Thanks to the listening in on their conversation, Lara now knew the whereabouts of the white stone, but now it wasn't going to be easy. She stepped back onto her motorcycle, and accelerated down the street, heading now for the coast where they all were going to meet up. This time, she was ready for some payback.
Meanwhile...
The White Stone of Pure Spirit was placed in the centre of a mosaic image of Medusa, the gorgon monster of Greek mythology. The remaining six members (Two red robed, four purple/black robed) were floating and in two separate lines. A white robed figure then appeared in the centre, and begun it's speech.
"The prophecy indicates that the time has come for us Teg-Du-Bhorez to reawaken our master. The Great Grey One will be awoken through the third reunion." The leader stated. The members of the cult all nodded together, but one red robed figure had its reservations.
"She is a persistent one. She will be here soon, sire." The red hooded dark figure said. But before the white hooded figure can react to that statement, one of the purple hooded henchmen appeared with news.
"Sire, the thief is here!" the henchman declared.
"Excellent. Dispose of her at once!" the leader ordered and they all disappeared, waiting for her to pick up the bait.
It took a few miles until Lara had reached the coastline, it had been thankfully deserted. She mounted the motorcycle, and scanned the area. Up front there was a stone platform, utilised for sightseeing, but no one was there. Lara walked up the stairs, and noticed in the centre of the mosaic pattern of Medusa, was what she had been seeking. 'The White Stone of Pure Spirit'! But why had it just been left there, unguarded and seemingly abandoned. She sensed that a trap was set out so she could take the bait. 'How original' Lara joked, and she drew her .50 calibre pistols, readying them for some action, that was soon about to come. She got closer to the white stone, feeling like she was being watched all the way, and picked it up from the floor.
Upon picking it up, she swiftly stashed it into her backpack, and straight away redrew her pistols. Four brothers of the Teg-Du-Bhorez had shadowed behind her, and before they were able to make a surprise ensnarement, Lara's dual pistols had already blown away one member to dust. Anger filled the three attackers, and the trio begun casting shields to protect themselves from her gunfire. To get rid of their magical shields, Lara switched her weapon to the shotgun. This would impact their shields greatly, as the wide-shot shells that she loaded up, would break it up effortlessly. BANG! BANG! BANG!
Their shields shattered into tiny little pieces, like a glass being smashed or dropped. The trio tried to conjure up one united spell. Using their advantage of outnumbering the thief, they would unite powers, and unleash this unforgivable spell on the victim. 3...2...1...ZZZAAPPP! The surge of magical power created had been of a huge scale, as the team had directed it right into where Lara was standing. Reacting fast to the new assault, Lara hopped off the ledge and hung onto to it tightly. Her scheme was to fool the trio, by making them think the huge blast of the spell had destroyed her. Moments later, Lara heard the spell ending, and the cheery hurrah made by the three brothers.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm still here!" Lara pointed out, smiling at them. Their shining red eyes widened in disbelief.
"Impossible!" The trio magicians shouted altogether. But before they could try again, Lara finished them off with her dual .50 calibre pistols, while they were still shock in awe. All that was left of the trio was black smoke rising up from their ashes, giving out their final fallen whines.
With the deaths of the henchmen, failing to eliminate the thief, the white robed figure decided to face Lara itself. But not to battle her, not yet, but to give her some information of why she has already lost. The apparition appeared in front Lara, and began to speak with her in that dark hollow tone, they all seem to have.
"You surprise me, human, but the Third Reunion cannot be prevented!" The white hooded figure expressed to Lara.
"There's no Reunion without my stones" a confident Lara told the leader.
"You fool! The stones are eternal, and you are only a mere mortal. Keep them as long as you live, but we will get them back one day!" Claimed the white robed leader, he soon vanished leaving Lara on her own.
'Well looks like my only option is to find their headquarters and put an end to this. The stones might be eternal, but the Teg-Du-Bhorez certainly isn't! Lara declared, and now with all the stones, she went back to her parked motorbike. She returned it, and booked the first flight back to England. This was not only check out the mess left behind in her home and to see if Winston was okay, but also to translate the final chapter of the Tome Of Ezekiel.
