Hello readers! :) The story continues. :D Of course I couldn't leave our heroes (and even baddies) for good! ;)

I would like to thank you all for the support you keep giving me! Your encouragement is very inspiring, as well as heart-warming! :)

This update could happen also thanks to gyikhu, my dear beta reader, extremely kind friend and a very talented writer. :)

The next part is quite packed with some exploring and (hopefully) the Tomb Raider atmosphere. Hope you'll enjoy the chapter! :) Let me know if you feel like it. ;) Have fun! :D

Chapter 21: Attack from an Ally

Joachim Karel was comfortably seated in the helicopter. A sign of a smile was dancing across his lips. It was true that the possibility of flying without expending any effort was his favourite form of transportation. But it was not the reason behind his contentment. His eyes were already carefully scanning the detailed traces of the antique map. Finally it was time to leave the place. After several long hours and days of futile searching through the castle, Karel got closer to another chance to awake his race.

Even all those previous passed years of scheming, waiting and hoping in vain didn't matter now. Too many things had gone terribly wrong in Prague. But everything seemed to play in Karel's favour at the moment. On top of it, he wouldn't even need to care about getting rid of The Black Alchemist anymore. It was another pleasant advantage. The Nephilim had never been afraid of Pieter Van Eckhardt. But the alchemist could have definitely posed a certain threat, especially as long as he had the full control over the Sleeper. Karel was well aware that the Sanglyph had possessed an immeasurable power. And again, it were humans who had made his great task easier for him. Even though it basically meant the end of the flawed mankind. Their own destruction. Karel supposed that many of those simple people might call it an irony.

All men were the same to him. Every single one of them was easy to read and manipulate. But they had also proved to be useful whilst working for him, consciously or not. He glanced out of the window over to the leader of the mercenaries and gave him a short nod. The time to depart had arrived.

Karel briefly thought about the two people he had left trapped in the underground of the castle. His main interest should be centred on the Lux Veritatis warrior and the fate of his unique heritage. After all, there was a high chance of using Kurtis Trent's special powers and knowledge in the very near future. But it was the woman, the adventurer and so-called Tomb Raider, who especially intrigued him. He had encountered dozens of people with admirable qualities, but some members of the human race would probably never stop surprising him. Lara Croft was one of them. She had managed to solve something Eckhardt and the Cabal had been busy with for years, in a matter of hours. As much as Joachim Karel felt resentment towards the female for ruining his plans, and even daring to injure him, the Nephilim had to admit that when he would succeed in the near future, it would be also her credit. Karel thought it was a shame that Croft had refused the greatest offer she could have ever got in her fleeting lifespan. Even that he could change eventually. And it still seemed not to be enough. Not that Karel would need her willing obedience. Or Trent's. He was sure that they both, the Lux Veritatis and the Tomb Raider, as well as and many other people, would prove to be useful again. Just like today. No matter they personal motivations, plans or will. Or any possible inclinations to their foolish beliefs.

Karel knew that his final triumph was coming closer. And this time, no one like Eckhardt, or anyone else, would stand in his - and the Nephilim race's - way.

XXX

Gunderson immediately registered the order hinted by his current client. Because the experienced mercenary had been introduced to the detailed plan of the operation in advance, he knew that the machine would take off in a few moments. There were other things to do. The leader of the group started giving the last orders concerning the mercenaries' departure. "Clean up the place of everything that could help them trace us and then leave the area. It'd be better if you move fast and evade them completely. Getting out of the ruins should keep them busy for some time," the man smirked in mischief.

"Understood," the mercenary standing the closest to him nodded.

"Don't forget that our client," Gunderson took a brief glance towards the helicopter, "wants to keep them alive." Then he took a few steps and leaned closer the man's ear. "Personally I don't really care about the woman that much," Gunderson said now in a lowered voice, "but I want to have a personal talk with Trent later, so make sure he stays alive. Understood?" Then he grimaced. "I don't have any specific demands about his condition, though. The client doesn't need to be informed about this. The consequences would be unpleasant for everyone. Is it clear?" Gunderson added and set out to the helicopter. "Don't mess it up," the older man called back to the mercenary. "We're leaving!" The leader shouted at the rest of his men at last. Two of them swiftly followed behind him.

"Will do, sir!" the mercenary who was staying at the place called after his superior. The man seemed to be very pleased with the unsaid offer of the thick cash, not even minding the hidden threat between his boss' words if he would not obey. He was aware of a possible heavy punishment. But it was not the case. After all, inflicting the pain was sometimes a part of his current job. This man had no problem with that. And the mercenary knew that Gunderson's offers were not meant to be declined. "Let's go!" he instructed some of the men who were staying with him.

The door of the aircraft slammed behind Marten Gunderson. The crew of the helicopter was now complete. The propeller started to turn faster, preparing the machine for taking off.

Kurtis had been right. The ladder was indeed situated in the large chamber. And it didn't even take Lara too long to find it. Unfortunately it was heavily damaged. The iron construction was broken and ended several meters above the ground of the lower platform. So Lara had no choice but to improvise a little bit.

Since Kurtis' departure, she fully focused on a quick progress. The Tomb Raider knew well that if Trent caught up with Karel, her partner would need all help he could get.

She used the remaining short part of the ladder and climbed it down. Then she grabbed the stone ledge beside the ladder and shimmied to the side to get to the well climbable looking wall. Everything went well until Lara missed to grab one of the stones as planned on her way down. She gasped as the fall was quite painful, but luckily the height wasn't too dangerous anymore. She pulled herself up quickly and continued.

After several moments of searching on the newly accessed floor, Lara found the hardly visible trapdoor in the rock ground. As she tore the tiny door open, she could see that down in the deep shaft there was a small alcove in the ninety degree angle. But it was out of her reach. The Tomb Raider eventually let go of the edge and swiftly grabbed the one underneath her. The move was risky, but she managed to perform it and still pull herself up with certain elegance.

The following way brought her into the small room with another trapdoor. She opened the entrance and jumped down into the darkness, lighting up another of the flares. There was only one path leading away from there. Lara followed the way and headed into the unknown. She continued mainly through lowering tunnels and staircases. Sometimes it was required to use the assistance of ladders, ropes or chains.

The first significant change of the surroundings occurred as a narrow tunnel opened into a wide passageway. She passed a grandiose entrance and got into the large decorated hall with perfectly smooth and shiny walls. The place was lit up, much to Lara's surprise. She had no idea where the illumination was coming from. The architecture of the arched ceiling posed a great contrast to the dark dusty corridors, half-destroyed rooms and ruined staircases she had been wandering through during the last minutes. Medieval swords hanging on the wall interposed with statues of knights were lining the room. The ceiling was engraved with geometrical motives. The whole place had a sacred touch.

After a brief check of the new place, her attention was caught by the main decoration of the room. There was a huge mosaic covering the majority of the tall wall opposite to the entrance. The monstrous dimensions of the piece simply amazed Lara. She was especially appreciating the delicate traces and details of the work. The used stones and pieces of glass, as well as the chosen colours and their shades, were creating the perfect illusion of the depth. The depicted surroundings played by bright colours despite the art's old age.

It looked like several different sceneries perfectly merged into one. She could see medieval Lux Veritatis soldiers armed with swords or spears - and in full armour -, some of them sitting on horses, others walking by their sides. There were also breathtaking landscapes and sky depicted, together with several buildings she didn't recognize. And at last, the castle Kriegler itself. The beauty of the piece of art was unbelievable, reminding Lara of the most beautiful paintings of Renaissance masters. She'd had a chance to see several of those, some of them not so long ago at the Louvre museum.

The spirit of the archaeologist awakened in the Tomb Raider again. She was admiring individual parts of the colourful mosaic for several seconds until she suddenly felt that something was odd. Before the British woman realized what was going on, a blade of the sword whooshed closely above her head. Luckily, probably thanks to her good hearing and also some kind of the sixth sense, she ducked and evaded the attack in time. As Lara heard steps, she was sure that she was not alone in the room. It was no mechanical trap. Someone was there with her. And just tried to kill her.

Whilst quickly rolling out of the way, she drew her weapons. Now Lara was standing face to face with her enemy at the gunpoint. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. The British woman now saw that another Lux Veritatis knight was the attacker. In a certain way, she relaxed. There could have been worse enemies awaiting her. The danger was everywhere. Lara knew that. And she wasn't the only one. Almost immediately she remembered her American partner's warnings she had neglected earlier. She innerly cursed her recklessness.

No need to mention this sweet encounter in front of Kurtis...

With having her pistols aimed at the skeleton knight clutching the sword and the shield decorated with the symbol of the Lux Veritatis, she found herself struggling to pull the triggers. Lara didn't want to waste the ammo. Plus she had already known it was basically useless as long as she didn't have anything powerful as a shotgun with her. But more than these practical reasons, she felt more sympathy towards the knight and his task now, knowing more about the Lux Veritatis and the sad fate of their order.

The knight wasn't holding the same respect towards the adventurer though. The resident guardian attacked again. This time more prepared, Lara evaded the blade quite easily. She decided not to shoot at all and put the weapons back into the holsters. Her eyes kept searching for the way out whilst evading the long sword. And there it was, a chain hanging just beside the mosaic she had been admiring in the moment she was attacked. Unfortunately the ancient warrior was literally standing in her way right now. But thanks to the fighter's slow reflexes, the Tomb Raider managed to keep her distance from the slowly moving guardian without a bigger effort. She had already known their reaction time and range of their moves from earlier, so it was not too difficult to eventually lead the ancient Lux Veritatis member where she wanted.

The Tomb Raider lured her opponent farther into the room, waiting for him to swing the sword at her. She swiftly rolled out of the blade's way in the last moment and then rushed back to the tapestry. In the corner of her eye, she could see that she was followed immediately. Lara grabbed the chain and quickly started climbing up to get on the higher ground. She heard a loud cling and felt the strong vibrations as the knight's sword cut into the chain and the wall behind it. The very strong blow made her clutch to the chain, and she breathed out in relief because she was already in the safe height. As she glanced back down, she could see that the warrior started slowly walking away. Soon her enemy got away from the sight, as if losing interest completely. Lara supposed that the knight had acknowledged the defeat.

The pleasure was all mine, she uttered with only a little hint of irony.

Now standing on the raised platform lining the room, she threw the last glance at the well worked-out mosaic, almost wishing she could come back one day. On the other hand, Lara doubted she would ever really enjoy the stay in the place indirectly connected to her mentor's murder.

She used the lever situated by the door at the end of the room. The entrance opened with a loud crackling. As previously, the surroundings was strongly contrasting with the polished hall she was now leaving. The new area was, again, basically a dusty cave with several hanging wooden bridges. The whole place was also darker, giving the surroundings a gloomy feel.

As Lara took first steps in the new place, there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for her. She hastily backed away and fell to evade a blade once more. The sword got stuck in the stone wall for a moment. The adventurer quickly scrambled back to her feet. Now she could see that the previous room had another exit with another ramp leading right to her current position. The knight had obviously used this way to catch up with her. She had underestimated the guardian. This one was obviously wittier.

"You should've gone after the Cabal and its friends, not me, damn it!" she growled at the knight.

As expected, her enemy didn't react in any other than attacking her again.

"Or do you need to be told that in Latin?" Lara hissed through her teeth. She ran around the attacker and crouched before the blade to evade it again. Then Lara swiftly jumped back as the knight's attacks seemed to be even more fierce and faster.

The Tomb Raider trained eyes were caught by the mysterious yellowish light coming from the alcove down in the rock wall. Because her current main priority was to get out of the knight's reach, Lara immediately considered getting there. But a second or two were wasted. Another hit almost reached her.

She managed to hold a balance after the last attack, but she knew that her energy was not limitless. As Lara saw there was nowhere else to go but back into the room where she had first encountered the guardian, she ran down the wooden bridge. Lara planned to jump off on its end and climb down the rock wall. However, the floor beneath her suddenly went down. In that moment, Lara understood that the knight had used exactly the same trick. The Lux Veritatis had lured her to the trapdoor. Lara hastily grabbed a ledge, evading the spikes in the pit under her. She continued to shimmy and then swung to the ledge on the side.

Even though Lara appreciated the guardian's wits, she doubted that the bony body would be durable enough to perform similar stunts. Especially whilst holding the shield and sword. And she was right. She climbed down, then jumped over several big boulders and landed gracefully deep beneath the knight. Right next to the alcove.

Lara looked back up. Again, the knight seemed to be watching her. Other than that, the keeper was doing nothing.

"Hopefully your colleague waiting for me will be less aggressive than you," Lara noted. Seeing that the knight was not even trying to follow her almost gymnastic act and giving her an empty glance instead, she added in a more conciliatory way: "You fulfil your task well. May you find peace once." Because Lara considered sending an air kiss inappropriate, she bowed her head slightly as a good bye and a sign of respect. Then she continued her way.

Kurtis Trent progressed fast. Even though his body was still aching from the exhaustion and especially the struggle with Karel, he was fully ready to confront all the dangers possibly awaiting him. After all, the American was used to similar situations. The life of a member of the Lux Veritatis order had made him an experienced fighter from the very young age.

Crouched, Kurtis currently continued making his way through the underground tunnels. He was looking forward to glimpse daylight again. And also to be able to walk straight to stretch his back. Kurtis had been spending quite a long time in the dark interiors beneath the castle for his taste. He also couldn't wait to breathe the air without the ever-present dust. However at the same time, an oppressive feelings concerning what all could come wrong was building inside of him. And these thoughts were bothering him definitely more. After all, this job of his was not an easy one. But the American successfully managed to put these uneasy feelings aside. It was even easier as something else was playing the main role in his mind at the very moment.

The thought of Lara's surprised face coming right before his jump into the abyss was replaying in his head. He couldn't hold back a smirk. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he saw no harm in bringing some cheer into the unhappy atmosphere. And above all, he had to admit that he enjoyed the banters with Lara. Kurtis thought it was also a good way to read her mood. And to hopefully slowly start getting her on his side again. At the fleeting moment of his pretended fall, Kurtis could see that she cared. And that told him that he had a chance to gain her trust once more. Trent was aware that he had gone over the line in Croft Manor and she'd had a right to be angry. He was not sure to what extent Lara had really accepted his apology. But Kurtis put these thoughts aside as he shook his head and tried to focus purely on the way ahead of him. He knew that this was not the time to think about such things. He couldn't afford any distractions now. He had his task.

And hopefully she will manage hers. Without blowing herself with the whole building up... Be so nice, Lara. Thanks in advance.

Soon the Lux Veritatis warrior got into the more spacious tunnel and started recognizing the surroundings from the vision he had shared with Lara. It was true that the place looked different thanks to the influence of time. But the main features remained the same.

Eventually he crawled through the small dusty tunnel, leaving his clothes covered in the thick layer of dust. Kurtis dusted himself off, but eventually just waved his hand. "Well, who cares. This is not any social event. Even though it also has some two-faced participants... Literally. And even one lady present as a bonus," he muttered.

Kurtis was facing the heavy-looking door. He knew that the exit was already near. However, when he put his palm on the wood and pushed, it didn't move an inch. The door was stuck. He tried to lean into both wings with more force, but the door still didn't open much. Even a strong kick didn't change the situation. Only a tiny beam of light came through the centre. Thanks to the crack he could see that the entrance was caved-in. "This must be the worst holidays ever." Then Kurtis started concentrating his powers.

Time to make a proper way through for myself and the lady...

The invisible wave burst the buried door open, allowing Kurtis to comfortably get through. The action caused a cloud of the thick dust to swirl up. His blue eyes were inspecting outlines of the new surroundings. As the worst dust had settled down, he heard someone's steps. An approaching shadow confirmed his suspicion. Kurtis quickly pushed himself into one of the dark alcoves and watched the incomer. The American grimaced. The use of his Lux Veritatis powers was too noisy.

"It was no cave-in, I'm tellin' ya," a mercenary with a foreign accent growled into the walkie-talkie. "Get here. Right now."

Trent saw a man passing him and stopping by the ruins with his back turned to Kurtis. The mercenary's face was scanning the leftovers of the destroyed door.

"A cave-in. Don't gimme that bullshit..." the man muttered.

Kurtis slowly set out towards his target. He sneaked close behind the newcomer and prepared to immobilize him. A mercenary suddenly turned around. As he saw Trent, the man paused in surprise at first. The Lux Veritatis warrior didn't let himself be distracted by the funny expression. Kurtis Trent said only one simple word. "Surprise."

The encounter with the knight caused that, again, Lara's thoughts wandered to the Lux Veritatis member whose steps she was currently following. She realized that it was quite a pleasant feeling knowing that the real Kurtis Trent seemed to be acting way friendlier than his - as he had already mentioned earlier - bad twin. Thought it was true that she still felt leftovers of bitterness over his behaviour in Surrey. The feeling hadn't disappeared completely yet. However, she admitted that it had been her half-truth that had pushed him into the corner, and made him say all those things about hers, her family and friends. Her partner had obviously felt manipulated by the Cabal and even her, after all. He had thought she was with Joachim Karel, trying to gain immortality. A thought made a wave of discomfort run down her back. Lara understood Kurtis' reaction. She also hated the feeling of being only someone's puppet, especially Karel's. And she hated the immortal being for making them both feel that way.

Lara shook her head as she got into the room leading to the small door near the floor level, featuring torches on either side of the low entrance. After passing through a narrow tunnel she finally got to the place where she had last spotted Kurtis. Her lit-off flare was still lying on the floor as it had landed.

She ducked and got into another tunnel where she had to crawl. From there she ended up in a wide hallway with big pillars and several empty alcoves. Then Lara continued by jumping over several gaps in another half-ruined staircase. She also successfully managed to overcome the crumbling parts. The series of tunnels followed. It took the adventurer a while to get out of the maze of several different ways. She felt like this journey was taking ages.

The Tomb Raider continued through the long and confined curved tunnels, until finding the smashed door after crawling through the last one.

Trent and his manners... she innerly shook her head in a slight amusement.

However, a few seconds later she was made to alter her judgement about Kurtis as she noticed that the boulders and debris had been likely blocking the heavy door. She was glad that her partner had passed this way first, because she had no idea how she would have dealt with the obstacle.

The gradually intensifying light was suggesting that the exit was near. She also recognized the path from the vision Kurtis had enabled her to see. It was a pleasant reward after all those long minutes of searching.

Remembering previous encounter with the Lux Veritatis knight, she slowly progressed with her guns ready in both hands. The first thing that caught her attention was the pair of army boots sticking out around the corner. There was an unmoving body in the shadow. Lara's heart skipped a beat in the very first moment. At the first glance, the fabric was corresponding with Kurtis' clothes.

"So soon?" She swiftly turned over to the voice. To her relief, Kurtis emerged from behind one of the columns. He came up to her and blocked her view on the body.

The more detailed look told Lara that Kurtis' clothes were in fact different from the mercenary's outfits.

"Wrong time, wrong place," the American said, giving a nod towards the body. "And put that thing away, be so kind. You always keep doin' that."

Lara realized that she was aiming at him and immediately put the guns down, now relaxed. She still kept her hands close to the weapons, though. "There's never the right time or place for any mercenaries to appear," she stated at last.

"Yeah. Right," he said with a grimace. "That sounds familiar... How was your journey? Any problems?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle."

"That's evident."

Lara narrowed her eyes. "What's the weather outside?"

Kurtis frowned and paused. "Wasn't it meant to be my question?"

"It depends on what my answer was supposed to be," Lara retorted cautiously.

"English. And rainy. Too bad only corpses are hitting the ground." Again he nodded towards the half hidden body lying on the ground. "I had to get rid of two of them. The guy over here was following his colleague who had heard me. They almost alerted the others about the entrance."

Lara innerly breathed out. After obtaining the right answer, she could be sure that she was talking to the real Kurtis Trent. Her relief was probably too obvious as her partner smirked. However, his amusement lasted only shortly. He shook his head and his expression turned into a frown. He was serious again. "As expected, I was too late. The helicopter is gone," Kurtis informed her. "But it was worth the try."

"That could be expected. They had no reason to wait." Then she torn her sight away from the body and walked towards the exit. "Let's go."

"I have something to show you. Over there," Kurtis hinted the direction to Lara.

He motioned her to go closer to the wall. They both carefully peeked outside of the small opening. The couple could see that they were still very near the castle. The sight of the recent damage on the visible side of the main building the made them both angry. However, none of them expressed their anger aloud.

Several armed people were moving in the surroundings. However, because of the dimensions of the tiny window, only a small range of the area could be seen.

"As you can see," Kurtis started in a low voice as he tilted his head to her slightly, "some of the mercenaries are still here. They're well equipped. About twelve of them. At least I saw that number on the first quick check. These guys have 'bout five bikes on this side of the castle. And what's even better, they seem to be lurking around, searching for us. Like these two." He gave a nod back into the hallway. "And I doubt they want your autograph. Or a bullet into the head as a souvenir."

"Maybe they are more interested in some kind of a memory from you. Like the one in Prague."

"They would certainly want to get some body part of mine as a decoration... I'd more understand that in your case, not mine, though.

She threw him a hard look.

Kurtis caught her gaze. "No hidden meaning. You've destroyed their dreams of immortality by frying the Sleeper," he clarified.

Lara ignored his remark. "We need to get a better view." She pointed towards the rock overgrown with plants and thick bushes close by. "What about over there?"

"That was my choice also," he smiled and looked back at her. "It's a good spot. It's like having the whole area on a platter. And it's also covered from almost all sides."

Lara was aware of his glance but returned it only briefly. "Ready?"

"Follow me."

Before she could protest, the American set out.

Lara shook her head with a hint of a smile. "Lead the way then, stranger," she uttered and followed her companion's steps.