Chapter 11: The River Amazon
As much as Lara wanted to rush off on the next flight to Lima, her trip to Iceland left her ill-equipped for the drastic change in climate. She and Kurtis returned to England to change out their luggage and arrange for weapons transport. With no idea what they might encounter out there in the jungle, she wanted to ensure she'd have adequate firepower and necessary survival supplies.
Father Dunstan was still at the manor, having apparently been enjoying a mixture of board games, drinks by the fire, and casual conversation with Winston. Lara felt the barest hint of guilt at neglecting her host duties, which were assuaged at knowing Father didn't come to England to check in on her in the first place, even if that was his excuse to make the trip. She was happy for her dear widowed Winston, that he hadn't become a shut-in in his old age.
She was setting her luggage aside the front door for the following morning when Father Dunstan approached her with his own bag.
"What's this?" Lara asked when he placed his bag nearby. "You're not leaving already?"
"I've yet another week of my holiday, but aye. I'm leaving–with you and your special friend."
Her mind snagged on the description of Kurtis as her special friend before catching up with the rest. "What? Decided England is too dreary for your purposes?"
"Not at all. But Kurtis told me about your plans, and I've decided the Amazon jungle of Peru is just the right location to take the rest of my holiday."
Lara was stunned speechless for a few moments. The priest was no longer a young man as he'd been when they'd gone to the Black Isle, and was generally a pacifist–why would he want to follow Lara?
Kurtis strolled down the stairs with his own bag then.
She gestured towards Father Dunstan while addressing Kurtis. "What's the meaning of this? Did you tell him to come?"
Kurtis paused half way down the steps. "No…" His gaze bounced between them. "But he won't get in the way. It'll be fine."
"I'm not unfamiliar with the ways of that land, Lara," Father Dunstan defended himself. "I've dealt with the forest demons myself, back when I was a missionary. I don't intend to be your shadow, dear. I doubt I could make those jumps anyway." He smirked, and Kurtis joined him, dropping his bag beside Lara's.
"We don't know for sure there'll be demons. I still don't–"
"I've already contacted the local diocese in Iquitos. Idle hands being the devil's plaything, I'll be keeping myself busy. You two have simply given me an excuse to get out in the world again."
Lara felt uneasy about this turn in events, and once alone in the kitchen with Kurtis, she asked him about it.
"What did you say to him?" She crossed her arms over her chest.
Kurtis opened a bag of airplane peanuts he'd kept from their flight from Iceland. "Your priest is really stubborn." He tossed a couple peanuts into his mouth and crunched. "I may have let slip about the spirit in Jónsdóttir's base…then he wanted to know if it was over, I told him about the temple, and now he knows there might be forest demons loosed soon."
"Kurtis!"
He held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't know he was gonna hop on a plane with us! Besides, he can take care of himself." He took another mouthful of peanuts, chewed and talked after swallowing. "He's one of the only people in the world who knows about my gift and he's a holy man–he might actually be useful to have nearby. For me, at least."
"If anything happens to him…"
"Nothing will."
Lara observed him for a while, waiting to see if he'd add anything else, and partly also because she enjoyed watching him work his jaw as he ate. He finished his snack, disposed of its trash and washed his hands at the kitchen sink. Once, she'd been helpful to Father Dunstan after tagging along against his desire; perhaps in this case, the roles would be reversed. There was still so much about Kurtis and the strange, occultish spiritual part of his life she didn't understand. Lara reckoned the mysterious air about him would always be there, no matter how much she tried to uncover. After all, Kurtis himself didn't seem to know everything about his powers or the Order he once rejected.
She was certain he wanted the priest to come, even if she couldn't determine why. So if Kurtis believed it a good idea, she'd follow his lead. He had more than earned her trust.
Natalia Olivera waited at the table, anxiously checking the corners of the library for any signs of the couple she was supposed to meet and twisting a dark curl of hair around a finger. Lara Croft… the cursory search Natalia had done when the proclaimed archaeologist-adventurer contacted her turned up incredible tales and photos of a beautiful, elegant English woman. So far no one who had entered the National Library of Peru matched the woman's features, but with ten minutes until the meeting time started, she shouldn't have to wait much longer.
When the woman in question walked through the front entrance, Natalia recognized her at once. Done up in simple brown shorts, a jade top and hiking boots, with her auburn hair tied back in a long braid, Lara looked nearly identical to the many photographs circulating on the internet, if only a little older. Lara's eyes scanned the crowd before settling on Natalia's own, and she strode purposefully towards her, stretching her hand out when she drew near.
"Natalia Olivera?"
Natalia stood and accepted the handshake. "Yes. And you are Lara Croft. A pleasure to meet you, but I must admit I am a little terrified about the purpose of this meeting. I hope I can help you with what you need."
Lara smiled warmly, amused at the young woman's reaction. Natalia was not yet in her thirties, with long black hair that framed her pretty heart-shaped face with thick, lively curls. She knew she must seem naive and unimpressive to someone like Lara.
"My reputation precedes me, I see," Lara remarked mirthfully. "I hope I can put you at ease. My partner and I are looking for information I believe you may be uniquely suited to provide." From behind Lara, a man with dark hair, deep blue eyes, wearing a t-shirt and cargo pants appeared to manifest out of thin air, having gone unnoticed by Natalia until then.
"Oh," Natalia murmured, taking in his frame. "My name is Natalia Olivera." She extended a hand towards him and he took it, shaking it graciously.
"Kurtis Trent," he answered in reply with a slight nod of his head.
The three of them sat down at the table, Lara and Kurtis on one side and Natalia opposite them.
"What is it that I can help you with?"
Lara slung her backpack onto her lap and removed a thick brown leather bound journal from it, flipping it open to a dog-eared page. Sliding it across the table to face Natalia, she pointed at a passage that talked about a key-necklace.
"What can you tell me about this?"
Natalia flashed her a quizzical look. "O-ok..." She quickly read the passage. "Um, is there anything else you want to tell me about this? I've never heard of such a key that leads to a temple. In fact, I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean."
Glancing first at Kurtis, Lara leaned forward a little and lowered her voice. "Do you know anything about a headdress for a moon goddess, perhaps? One that grants immortality?" Then reaching into her backpack again, she pulled out another hefty notebook (wow, that backpack holds so much, Natalia thought) and opened it to a page full of scrawl. She singled out a paragraph. Natalia skimmed this one as well, then her eyes widened and she looked up at Lara.
"That's my name at the bottom. Where did you get this?"
"Nevermind that for now. What can you tell me about this legend? Surely there's something?"
"Ah, so that's why you called me. This story talks—partly—of Mamaquilla. She is the moon goddess in Inca mythology, but the Incas conquered many other tribes in the area of their influence, converting and adopting beliefs and deities as they saw fit."
"Could you tell us about the story of Mamaquilla?"
"Certainly, but there's not much to tell. She's the goddess of the moon. She cries tears of silver, lunar eclipses happen because she is attacked by an animal, her husband and brother is Inti, the sun god. She was considered a great protector of women and was greatly important because she ruled the calendars and was linked to women's menstrual cycles."
"And the headdress? Do you know anything about it?"
Natalia shrugged. "Nothing makes mention of a specific headdress… She had many priestesses, of course, and I suppose during their time they would have worn ceremonial headdresses for important rituals. In the creation myth, the sun was jealous of the moon's shine and threw ashes in her face to dim her. I've heard that some tribes in the Amazon have legends about a headdress and a moon god, but these are not related to the Inca Mamaquilla. I'm sorry to ask, Ms. Croft, but could you be talking to me by mistake? I'm not sure how I can help."
"What about unofficial legends?" Kurtis joined.
Natalia averted her gaze, unable to meet the intensity of Kurtis' deep blue eyes for long. All of a sudden she felt as though she stepped into something far more serious than her usual work.
"Unofficially...there were stories told by some Spanish smugglers and bandits from back during Spanish colonization. They expanded on the myths, but naturally they are meaningless."
"Perhaps the indigenous people were willing to share their stories with them?" Lara suggested. "After all, the Inca empire passed down their stories orally, as they didn't have a form of writing, but the Spanish did."
Natalia scoffed and pressed her lips together. "Yes, I suppose most of the information we have today came directly from the conquistadors. There were unconfirmed additions of a temple filled with silver to honor and worship the moon goddess, but unlike the sun temple of gold in Cuzco, this has never been found. The Spanish were very enamored by rumors of hidden treasures, so I would listen to these stories with skepticism.
"I recall one record of unknown origin speaking of a feather and silver headdress stolen from the sun god Inti by the moon goddess Mamaquilla and hidden away in a secret temple far from the mountains, deep in the forest, protected by monsters. Supposedly the headdress had a certain power, that when worn by the priestess of the moon goddess, allowed her dominion over the skies to bring an unending night where she could not be outshone by the sun. The high priestess who wore the headdress was invulnerable and would be rewarded with eternal life for allowing Mamaquilla to have her revenge. But it is as vague as it sounds.
"There are still to this day tribes being discovered who have never been outside the Amazon rainforest. As parts of the forest in Brazil are deforested, geoglyphs and ruins are discovered. I couldn't in any way say whether such a secret temple exists or not. And that is not taking into account that this fantastical addition I tell you has not been verified by any other sources."
"Perhaps this person was told more about the legends than others?" Kurtis suggested.
"Perhaps," Natalia hesitated, sounding more like she was saying 'not likely'.
"But what if we knew where to look for this temple?" Lara asked.
That gave Natalia pause. "Do you?"
Lara flipped to a different page in the brown leather bound journal, to a page near the back to a set of drawings. Natalia leaned forward, taking them all in while Lara explained:
"I found an artifact in Belize, supposedly taken by a 16th century Spanish smuggler from Peru and traded for gold with a native tribe. This 'key', attached to a necklace, is reported to be linked to the headdress and the mythical silver temple it resides in, and supposedly gives the bearer visions on where to find it."
Natalia's forehead wrinkled. "'Supposedly'?"
"I had the artifact not long ago," Lara relented. "And it gave me visions, one of the temple, an aerial view of the forest, and some of these geoglyphs." She tapped at the pictures. Some of the drawings were quite detailed, others less. "The second vision was the same, only more detailed, and concluded with a vision of the headdress and a pool of blood. But I believe if I piece together these pictures, find out where those two rocks by the river are, I can locate the silver temple."
"Goodness!" Natalia exclaimed and placed a hand to her chest. "And you're sure it's here in Peru? The Amazonas is large."
Lara pursed her lips. "No, I'm not sure, but the best guess for the artifact design is Inca, and the headdress as well as the temple appeared to be Inca to me. I'll start here."
"This is all very fascinating, Ms. Croft. But I fail to see how I am of any more use to you and your cause, as you have discovered more than I know all on your own. I presume your intentions are to find this temple and this headdress for yourself. Let's say I believe everything you have said–at least, after what I have read of you, I would never dream of calling you a liar to your face–" Kurtis smiled at that, Lara's mouth twitched and she cocked an eyebrow. "I wouldn't know what to do."
"You don't think I flew all the way here without doing my research? I need you to get me someone who's spent time studying geoglyphs uncovered from deforested sections of the Amazon. I understand you work for the national university and have those connections."
Natalia pondered for a moment. Did she want to do this? "Yes, I do have a colleague–a friend. He's an anthropologist. Sometimes when the forest in Brazil is cleared, they discover ruins, old cities, and previously unknown tribes, and he's done work attempting to communicate with these indigenous peoples. Perhaps with his help, you can make better sense of the geoglyphs. He has a keen eye for them. I will get in touch with him, but I'm afraid this is all I can do for now. When I hear from him I will call you to set up another meeting, and we can move forward from there."
A small, polite smile graced Lara's face, and after packing up her backpack, she stood. "Thank you, Natalia. I look forward to hearing from you."
And with that, Lara and Kurtis departed the library.
The following day, Lara and Kurtis met Natalia and another man at the helicopter pad in Iquitos, Peru. Shaking hands, they made introductions and boarded the aircraft. The pilot lifted off and flew over the Amazon jungle, and leaning out slightly, the anthropologist Diego Franco watched the treetops pass by.
"I don't think we'll be able to see anything," he shouted over the roar of the spinning blades to the group. "The jungle is too dense. There's a reason we never see geoglyphs until the trees are gone."
"We'll look anyway," Kurtis said. "We need to find it. Lara will know when she sees it."
"You're the boss, gringo."
After flying over the river basin for close to a half-hour with no luck, Diego finally shouted, "I see something!"
Natalia and Kurtis couldn't see it, but Lara noticed it. In the distance a faint outline of a circle was barely visible through the dense tree cover.
"Manny!" Diego called to the pilot, and gestured for him to stop.
"Can't get any closer!" The pilot called back, and maneuvered the helicopter to hover over the spot. Situated over the area, a circle was visible, though it was easy to overlook, and it took no imagination to see how one flying over would think it was merely a coincidence. Lara pulled out a set of binoculars. After all four sets of eyes examined the treetops, Diego was able to make out another thin gap in the forest that matched the markings of Lara's visions.
Diego moved to the front of the chopper and consulted with the pilot for a few moments, then returned to the back with the group. He held a map, and had scribbled the coordinates of the circle on it to the best of his and the pilot's abilities.
"We should head back to Iquitos soon. Manny says he'll run out of fuel if we don't. I'll consider this a success." He waved the folded map in emphasis.
"Wait," Natalia called. "Let's cut directly to the river to see if there's any markings. There could be a path from the river bank."
They fly to hover over the river, and Lara pointed out two large rocks—one along the riverbank and another just outside the treeline, both lining up perfectly.
"That's it. There should be, or there had been at one point, a trail starting there. Exactly what I was looking for."
Diego made another notation on the map. "I think we got it. Let's head back."
Once back in Iquitos, Lara, Natalia, and Diego went to negotiate with the boat captains at the docks for a rental, while Kurtis toured the port. Lara was focused on obtaining the artifact before the Cabal did, but Kurtis was focused solely on the Cabal. He didn't give a damn about the artifact, he didn't care if Lara obtained it or if it was destroyed. What mattered to him was making absolutely sure Freyja Jónasdóttir or any other Cabal member never got their hands on it. He needed to strike while they were weak, because the only responsible party left was him...even if he never wanted the responsibility.
He once tried every conceivable way to avoid this fate. He resisted his training and when that didn't work, he ran away. When changing his identity and joining the French Foreign Legion didn't work, he left that as well. Even his mercenary work caused him to cross paths with the Cabal one way or another. No matter what he did or where he went, his calling as a Lux Veritatis found him and bitterly reminded him of his duty.
And this was his fate. Not being a mercenary, not performing a few hits every now and then—those were to put food in his belly and clothes on his back. His real job would always be fighting black magic: the Cabal, the Nephilim, demons, evil spirits, the occult... Soon his job would require passing this curse down to the next generation before it died with him.
He wondered, as he passed by the stalls along the pier where merchants attempted to sell their handmade products to tourists, if he could ever find a woman for that. The stilted, awkward question posed to him by the late Morgau Vasiley came to mind:
"So are you going to continue the bloodline?" Morgau asked, reminding him of the question he hadn't answered. "What about Lara?"
"What about her?"
She gave him a look, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I think you know..."
He knew what she had been asking. He knew perfectly well. But how could he answer that, least of all to her, another of his own kind. The Order instilled a reproductive obligation in its members, and not even Morgau, who had been so unlike any of the other Lux Veritatis and far different than any of the other daughters, had been spared that part of the training. Mathias Vasiley had been unable to instruct her in every aspect, but it seemed he hadn't failed to inform his daughter about the importance of having babies.
Indeed, it had been important. So much so that the decrease in births among Lux Veritatis was a large contributing factor to its current situation of there only being one damn knight left. The other, larger factor being that Eckhardt didn't satisfy himself with killing only the adults. But soon, once Kurtis dealt with the remaining Cabal, that would no longer be a threat to his hypothetical child.
Then there was the other question…
"What about Lara?"
He knew what his answer would be, if it were his decision to make. He was feeling closer to Lara after their trip to Iceland, but he didn't harbor hopes about ever creating a family with her. They worked well together, but too much time led to them bickering and snapping at one another over petty things. They were both so used to their independence and doing things their way. Not that Kurtis was allergic to compromise, nor did having a child with her mean they'd have to completely give up their lifestyles. Lara's accumulated wealth meant she could afford the best nannies and schools. Kurtis' freelance work meant he could spend as much time as he wanted raising the child and teaching them how to control their power once it manifested. But he couldn't just ask Lara to bear him a child for an Order he hadn't wanted to be a part of himself. He couldn't broach the subject with her for fear she'd laugh him out of the room, or worse, cut off all contact with him.
The possibility of finding other women, maybe even a lot of women, to give it the best chance at success had occurred to him... Of course, Lara wouldn't be happy with that, but how long until they reached the expiration date on their relationship anyway? Apparently, it barely survived a ten month separation. Kurtis couldn't rely on Lara wanting to always be with him, even if he wanted to always be with her. Being with another woman was not an option for him while Lara was still in his life. She'd have to permanently reject him first.
In a way, Dahl's obsession with Lara was perfectly understandable to him.
A mother and child walked by opposite him on the docks, the little boy happily holding the young woman's hand, swinging it to and fro. The boy pointed to one of the stalls, chatting to his mother in Spanish. He asked her if he could look at one of the trinkets, and she smiled down warmly at him with a twinkle in her eye. Kurtis had seen his own mother give him that same look on many occasions, a look he concluded long ago was reserved only for mothers to use on their children.
A breeze swept past, blowing a lock of hair in his eyes. The ends prickled and his eyes welled with tears reflexively. He brushed his hair out of his face but the urge lingered, stretching to several seconds, before he blinked and it vanished, returning to normal.
Here he was getting all sentimental. Too much time with Lara made him soft.
Maybe that wasn't all bad.
After pensively strolling through the ports, Kurtis found no sign of the Cabal—which could be either a good thing or a bad thing. He decided to return to where he left Lara and the others to see if they managed to find a boat to use. Just as he was beginning to zone out and take in the atmosphere, he heard something peculiar.
Upon drawing closer to the dock workers, it confirmed his suspicions. He asked one of them in Spanish what's going on.
"Some gringa and a bunch of suspicious looking fellows rented a few boats early this morning," the worker answered in Spanish.
"Suspicious how?"
"There were a lot of them, and many of them dressed the same. All totally in black. Like commandos or something. And the lady bossed them all around."
"There were other ladies," another said. "But that one gringa was definitely in charge."
"Yeah, they weren't no tourists or filming any documentary. They're up to no good."
Kurtis lit up a cigarette, casting his gaze to the river. How far behind were they?
When he joined Lara again, Father Dunstan was with them, speaking with a river boat captain. Kurtis almost didn't recognize him out of his cassock, dressed head-to-toe in khaki and a straw hat, though the rosary hanging from his trouser pocket and his white collar around his neck remained to designate his status. Lara, Natalia, and Diego were casually congregated near the boat as Dunstan negotiated on their behalf.
Diego and Natalia leaned against a wooden beam, eating tamales. Lara was dressed for the weather: dark greenish-blue tank top and dark stone-brown shorts, but no holsters. They'd have to equip their weapons once they were out of Iquitos to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
"Do we have a boat ready?" he asked as he approached.
Lara turned, dark shades perched on her nose. "Father Dunstan is arranging it. None of the rental boats were available on immediate notice, but apparently a Catholic priest has a lot of pull with the locals in a predominantly Catholic country," she added with a wry smirk. "This boat captain is inclined to take us wherever we want if a priest says it's vital."
Kurtis nodded. "Good, we need to get going. Now."
"What's the hurry?"
Lowering his voice so as to not draw attention, he told her. "The Cabal, they already left this morning. Somehow they're almost a whole day ahead of us. Your pal Dahl and his Black Company are with them too. Some dock workers were talking about it."
Lara's face became hard as marble, eyes narrowed. "We'll catch up." She turned her back to him, her voice lowering. "Maybe say hello to William again. Wouldn't want him to think there's any hard feelings."
Her tone was anything but friendly.