Day 15. The Masked Ones
Death of shaman was cried by the spirits, for shaman was a noble man who tried to protect Raven. In the language of the land there isn't a word for war, as the people who inhabited historically the area were always peaceful. That is until the arrival of the white man, and today of the white girl - Lara Croft.
As an attempt to search for answers, Lara tries to engage with the locals, who flee away from her. "You are an assassin," the people say. "You killed our shaman!" They had felt it, but they couldn't see nor prove it. But Lara still has to find her answers. She can't help it if the locals turn against her. This is the first time it happens, though. "Maybe, it's not here I'll find my answers," Lara thinks, yet it's a sign of times to come...
So Lara heads south, in search of further answers. She arrives at a land of totems towering into the sky, either with the face of a raven or an eagle. But the answers are just not at hand. The peoples who inherited totems have long been contaminated by Western influence, and have lost them… "They only exist in our songs today," a local sadly recalls while talking to Lara. "But perhaps, you may find your answers in the night."
The people hardly delve into the forest in the night, for such is the time of the anima. They overtake animals, they change their faces… Wolves become owls, owls become bears, and so on. It's the time of the masked ones to pass judgment on Lara for killing shaman. She knows it. The first night she's blown with a dart. She's seen one of them, they wear the mask like those who carried raven from the glacial pathway into the New World.
She hears them… the masked ones. They are feasting on the death of the shaman. Their flames, dancing, and shouting impose a test on Lara. "Show me you are worthy of fighting Raven," they say. "Here he becomes Eagle, the warrior bird, even mightier and relentless." The masks all show the form of a grizzly bear. Lara's sight's dizzy, and the bear has as many heads as the hydra would have. One falls, and many more rises, until heads are no more. It's one dead bear against one decaying Croft, who rushes out of the woods.
Lara falls on the asphalt, at a side of the road. A car dodges her by the skin of her teeth. The driver stops at the side of the tree. "Oh no," the driver boy says to his companion. "She's poisoned. Call 911." Lara grabs the driver by the hand. Her lips have turned violet, her skin as pale as the moon. Will the doctors arrive in time?