"Oh dear," said Lara, dismally. They reached the foot of a sheer hill shrouded in shrubbery. At the base was a wide crawlspace and evidence of a structure beneath the greenery. The plants around the crawlspace had been hacked away and a large square stone lay on the ground beneath it. Dean ran his hand over the stone.
"Looks like it's been cut out," he said, examining the dust on his palm.
"Bloody tourists," Lara said with a tut, "Well, I guess we're going inside."
"After you."
"Wait one moment." Lara rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a small fabric pouch. From it, she found an object, similar to a watch battery, and attached it to Dean's shirt.
"Uh…" said Dean.
"Look," Lara said, pointing to the screen on her GPS. There was a blue dot at the location she had marked earlier.
"I usually use these pointers in elaborate tombs or labyrinths so I can find my way back," she said.
"Like breadcrumbs then."
"Well…yes I suppose. But in this situation, I'm using it in case you get lost."
"How thoughtful."
Lara flicked on the light on her backpack strap and climbed into the crawlspace. It seemed that whoever was here had tunnelled the rest of their way through. It annoyed Lara that people needlessly vandalised ancient structures like this.
She proceeded through the tunnel, grit and dust sticking to her hands and knees.
"You think Amanda's here already?" asked Dean.
"That's safe to assume," Lara replied, examining the tunnel, "My only concern is that she has already come and gone."
"And if that's the case?"
Lara sighed. "I'll figure out something."
The tunnel reached a dead end. Puzzled, Lara felt the walls for any evidence of an exit.
"Stand up," said Dean.
Sure enough, the tunnel had widened enough for Lara to be able to stand. At eye level was another crawlspace, from which a dim light could be seen. Lara hopped, hands first, leveraging herself with her boot against the wall before her. She shimmied further in with her elbows. Suddenly, she was grabbed by a pair of rough hands that pulled her through. Too startled to react, Lara landed awkwardly on a cold, hard floor before a tall, grizzled looking man. The man then reached into the crawlspace above, pulling Dean with him. Dean landed next to Lara, slightly dazed. Lara winced at the sting of her grazed forearms.
"That was rude," said Dean, "Where are we now?"
"In trouble," Lara replied, gazing up at her captors: six armed men and, of course, Amanda Everett. Amanda, who normally wore leather attire, was wearing a black cotton vest top, khaki green combat shorts and black Caterpillar boots. Her almost white blonde hair had been cut since Lara had seen her last, leaving the nape of her neck bare, and her ice-blue eyes framed with a spiky fringe.
"Lara," Amanda cooed, stepping around the hieroglyphic pedestal in the centre of the room. Lara stood, her hands twitching by her gun holsters. She could possibly take out the six henchmen, two at a time. Amanda would be quick to react though and Dean would be an open target. She eyed the stone that rested at Amanda's collar bone.
"Don't worry," Amanda said, "It's out of juice from the workout I've been giving it." She glanced up and Lara followed her gaze. The room stretched to about 200 metres high. The ceiling had been demolished, revealing a clouding sky.
"Shortcut," said Amanda.
"A perfectly good tomb," Lara sighed, "You used to be such an efficient archaeologist. It's a wonder you even found this place at all."
"There really was no way without that map you have," Amanda glanced at Dean, "But some people can be very cooperative when you want them to be."
Lara's jaw dropped. Dean's cheeks were burning red.
"I'm sorry, Lara," he mumbled sheepishly.
"Not as sorry as you're going to be," Lara spoke low and menacing through gritted teeth. Her face was flushed, her heart beat hard with fury and humiliation of Dean's betrayal. He must have communicated with Amanda before they travelled…but something didn't make sense.
"What I don't understand," she said, "is why you asked for my help in stopping Amanda, when you just led her right here."
Amanda, amused by it all, tilted her head to one side and said, "Yes, Mr. Andrews, why did you bring her here?" Dean hesitated, turning a deeper shade of red.
"Huh," quipped Amanda, "You thought she could stop me." She coughed a fragmented laugh and paced the room, gesturing. Lara noticed something in her hand, something that reminded her of the Atlantean scion.
"You thought," she said waving a finger at Dean, "you could get away with my money and my artefact? And, what, kill me? Leave me here to die?"
Silence.
"Well," she sang, pulling out a mobile phone, "I guess I'll just cancel that transaction to your bank account."
"You can't do that! We had a deal!" cried Dean, lunging for the woman. He grabbed her by her vest but was immediately pulled back and thrown to the ground by one of the henchmen.
"We did have a deal," Amanda said, "And you stabbed me in the back."
The sound of a chopper ripped through the air and the dust in the tomb whirled about them. A rope ladder unfurled from the open ceiling and the henchmen began to ascend it. When Lara found her chance she whipped her guns out, aiming at Amanda's head. At that point, she felt a familiar sensation approach, like hot electricity. Amanda's stone glowed with red and black smoke.
"Tell me," said Lara, "Do you even know what the artefact is for?"
"Sure," Amanda replied, a mirthless smile spread across her face, "It's gonna open the gates of Avalon." Lara's heart sank. Amanda was still obsessed with finding Avalon.
"And do you have any proof of this theory?" said Lara, more to give her time to think about what to do now.
"I think it was your old buddy, Natla, that persuaded me to find this one."
The sentence hit Lara like a bullet between the eyes.
Amanda hopped onto the end of the rope ladder and she waved as it pulled her out of the tomb.
"A gift!" she called as something dropped into the tomb. It was small, metallic and flashed a small red light.
A grenade.
"Get down!" Lara screamed, pulling Dean to the ground.