Deeper Underground

Nightfall had fallen across the land of Egypt as Lara, Christian and Ayesha were tucking into dinner at the hotel they were staying at. The candlelight that was set on the table brought a certain cosiness and warmth to the place even though it was quite a dark atmosphere within the dining area. In the background a piano was playing and with time Lara recognised the piece from Italian composer Antonio Salieri that was being played beautifully. Perhaps it was intentional to play with the senses of the guests, however the effect worked in a strange way as it felt quite nostalgic and moody.

"Mmmm, this is delicious!" Lara merrily commented as she took another mouthful of the Koshary meal that they were sharing between them.

"It definitely was a superb choice we have made… anyway are we all set for this evening's excavation?" Ayesha rubbed her hands in anticipation.

"I believe so, shovels, flares, flashlights and a rope with the prototype mechanical grabbling claw attached ready to go." Christian recalled prepping the tools from earlier.

"What about any ammunition?" Ayesha was quick to question him acknowledging incidents from past experiences.

"Not necessary for something like this…besides if we get caught by the authorities, we will have a whole lot more of explaining to do…" He answered.

'Hmm fair point, however what if we encounter something down there that isn't friendly?"

"I'd say we just give them a good boot up the backside!" Lara confidently quipped with a wink.

"Haha good one Lara, I couldn't agree more. I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to see what we discover underneath the fissure. I must say it brings the feeling like we're sitting on top of the world…" Christian gestured and smiled as they all agreed in unison.

"We need to be careful though and not attract attention to ourselves, it certainly won't be as crowded as it was earlier, but the place may be crawling with patrol." The tomb raider reminded them.

"Well, what are we waiting for…Let's finish off here and head off to unravel the mystery we've all been waiting for!" Ayesha cheerfully gleamed.

Later that evening…

All prepped and ready to go, the trio discreetly left the hotel into a 4x4 that was parked in the shadows of the outer car park. Ayesha took the wheel whilst Christian and Lara loaded up the equipment in the trunk and proceeded to run through the plan again.

Stark contrast to just hours ago at the Valley of the Kings, it had become deadly silent. Ayesha took point and drove carefully around the complex to ensure she got as close to where they had previously found the strange fissure, doing her best without raising any suspicion from security that were patrolling around making sure none of the historical relics and artefacts within the tombs were going to be stolen from under their noses. Fortunately, they remained undetected as Ayesha's driving skill and level of control over the vehicle brought them to their planned drop off checkpoint.

"Nice one Ayesha, we'll take it from here." Christian commended her, whilst the three were unloading the necessary equipment from the vehicle.

"Be safe both, radio in if you find anything down there."

"Thanks again my friend, we'll see you on the other side." Lara hugged her long-time close friend. It was a strange feeling splitting up like this as Ayesha usually would be joining Lara, but it was for the best that she was acting as backup just in case anything went wrong.

Retracing their steps wasn't too much of a difficult task and before they knew it both Lara and Christian were standing side by side at the chasm they discovered at the valley. Two shovels then began digging within the Egyptian desert, and as a short period of time passed along with the masses of sand particles being moved, the original size of the crevice grew until it showcased an underground pit.

"Phew, we certainly worked up a sweat here!"

"A good shower won't go amiss, but first we need to find out what's underneath here."

"You prepared to go?"

"Always, you with me?"

"Till the end."

They grabbed the gear that they had brought with them and with care started to delve within the excavated shaft. Darkness engulfed the two adventurers though this was soon remedied by a duo of light beams shining from their respective torches. Cobwebs, dust, and a staleness in the air was all that could be caught by the senses, and it took a while to adjust to the musky climate until out of nowhere one of the many hidden surprises had sprung up…

"Whoa, watch out!" Christian saw it before Lara who had ploughed on ahead, but already it was too late for her. Lara gave a loud shriek as she felt herself start going into freefall unexpectedly into the void, feeling her heartbeat going crazy at the shock…

'Is this already the end!?' The dreadful thought quickly crossed Lara's mind as they only just started this little venture of theirs.

"Quickly Lara grab this!" Christian barked at Lara as he flung the rope with prototype claw at her direction. The claw opened as it caught up with her at such speed and even though in that crucial moment the tomb raider could not catch the rope properly as she flipped the claw managed to close in on her boot leaving her dangling midway.

"Ow!" Was all the immediate reaction the experienced adventurer could say.

"You okay Lara!? Could've been worse, any further second and all I would have heard is one gigantic unfortunate splat!" Christian could not help but chuckle at Lara's misfortune as she crossed her arms in dissatisfaction.

"I'm glad this amuses you, anyway when are you going to pull me up!? I'm not a vampire who's used to this position you know!"

"Okay bear with me…" Within a minute or two Lara felt herself moving upwards. Whilst being lifted out of the pitfall she took the opportunity to check her surroundings with her light. Apart from majority of the scenery still being shrouded in shadow and murkiness all around, there was a glimmer of richness of a wall section that she saw while being suspended.

"Aha! Hang on Christian, I found something!"

"Don't take too long, I'm not the world's strongest man here!"

"You'll be fine keeping those muscles in check…I'll only be a minute."

Lara wasted no time in dusting the surface of the vertical rock right in front of her which soon revealed a beautiful falcon decoration carved upon the wall. Lara intuitively knew this imagery depicted Horus, one of the most famous gods in ancient Egypt meaning wherever they were certainly held some importance. Upon further inspection of this fascinating discovery, she noticed part of the detail of one of the wings was missing.

'This doesn't seem right.' The tomb raider thought to herself, so she took a closer look at the artwork on display.

"I can't hold on for much longer Lara!" A struggling Christian announced to her, breaking the silence of the isolated passage.

"Almost there." She replied and without hesitation she punched through where the absent detail was on the falcon wing. This was either a make-or-break situation, and in the worst-case scenario it was going to be nasty trap that snared her arm. Thankfully, it was the latter and she gripped upon a hidden lever within the wall.

'Here we go…' Lara proceeded to pull the lever, hoping it was going to do something positive rather than impede on their descent.

"What was that!?" Christian shrieked, as loud mechanical movement noises were resounding in what was previously a quiet environment. A series of concealed gears had suddenly sprung into life and something large had lowered from the ceiling creating what looked like a bridge connecting one side of the chasm to the other.

"Look over there, it's a way forward!" Lara pointed out as she shone her light to the last direction of the noise.

"Nice one Lara, now can I finally bring you up? My arms are screaming in agony!?"

"Of course, go ahead and here's me thinking that this would be a good workout for you!"