Chapter 23

They could see it, not more than a hundred feet away - the final piece of the artifact.

Lara paused for a moment, just staring at the piece as it rested on a dais at the center of the cavern. At each corner of the podium, a staff-wielding statue stood guard.

Max stood beside her, camera rolling all the while. After a few seconds, he turned his lens towards the piece, then the statues and scanned the room.

Still, Lara stood there.

"I see the floor trap - is there something else?"

"What?" Lara seemed to have awoken from a trance.

"The break-away floor, I spotted that. Is there something that I am not seeing?"

Max referred to the slightly-discolored pieces of tile that were spaced at intervals across the cavern. In the twelve hours since the squid battle, Lara had given Max an impromptu course in Tomb Raiding. She taught him how to identify traps, when animal attacks were likely - and many other lessons that she had learned the hard way through her life of exploration. He had been a quick study, which made sense when placed in context with the fact that Max was alert and aware to urban threats - he just needed to know what to look for.

Yes, Lara too had spotted the abnormalities in the floor, but that was not why she paused.

"No, I'm enjoying the moment."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. You see, this is it - here is the real reward. There are no crowds here, no bloody rash of people chanting. I made it - when others have not. I am about to be the first person to touch that artifact in maybe thousands of years, it's a hard thing to match back in that world. Also, for every one of these I find, it just might be the last. One day, there will be no more little trinkets to search after - I only hope that I die before that day..."

She suddenly realized what she was saying, and that the moment was being recorded by Max. For the first time that she had met the man, he was speechless. She then saw a slight smile cross his face and Lara realized that Max had gotten what he had come for - the rest was merely filler.

Noticing that Lara was looking at him and not the camera, he broke form for a moment and mouthed the words 'Thank you.' He could not have written a better end for the project. His camera was filled with gold moment after gold moment - pure gold, not the Fox variety. There was Lara's tutorial on survival, their fight with the giant spiders, and even that wild ride down the underground river, and then that speech - he was going to be rich.

More than that, he was going to get out.

Max took a few backwards steps in front of Lara, angling to get the shot.

"Mind the flooring," she warned.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to get something from the front. I've been following you around from the back for so long I forgot what you look like."

"Looking at my bum, have you?"

"It's a dirty job, but..."

Max was cut off by a sound of a single clank! from the direction of the artifact. He turned towards the new sound just a as a gold bolt lanced from on of the statues' staves. The blast struck Max, throwing him backwards for twenty feet, until he came into painful contact with the rock wall.

Lara side-jumped into the air, drawing her pistols. She let off a full magazine into the statue, expecting it to come to life, as so many other had...

Nothing...the bullets bounced off of solid, motionless stone. Lara waited another moment to ensure her safety, then ran over to her friend. Her path to Max reminded her far too much of her experiences in Central America - only this time she had more than a passing interest in Max's well-being.

Smoke was rising from his prone form - he did not look good. As she reached him, there was a stench of burning plastic and flesh. The front of Max's vest was charred and blackened with embers still smoking. In places, pieces of his loud shirt, and chest could be seen.

The pattern of the blast seemed much larger than the energy bolt itself - then Lara saw Max's arm. It looked as though his camera rig had taken the brunt of it, as the device was a fuzed hunk of ash - but a hunk that had saved Max's life. Through the holes in his vest, Lara could see the man's chest still moving as he breathed.

This knowledge brought a smile to Lara's face, and she grasped his left hand, gripping it tightly and fighting back a new flood of emotion that threatened to overtake her.

"Max?" she said tentatively as she tapped his hand.

His eyes opened slowly, at first, then shot the rest of the way as he realized that he was still smoldering. His hand jerked out of hers and began to tear at his webbing. As he did so, he made a kind of hissing noise due to the pain he was feeling.

With Lara's help, Max was soon bear-chested and breathing a little easier. Max looked at her with eyes that almost did not recognize her, then he seemed to gain a little more focus and understanding came to his eyes.

"My glasses..." his voice was almost that of a young child.

Lara scanned the area and saw them lying near the camera wreckage - still attached by their cable. She scooped them up, pulled the cord and placed them upon his nose.

"There you are..."

In response to Lara, Max sniffed the air a couple of times.

"Sum'thin' smells..." he murmured as he looked down at his chest. His head remained down for a few moments. To Lara, it looked as though he had passed out, but Max's face soon met Lara's.

His eyes were watery, and the first of tears began to fall down his cheeks as he began to sob. Lara had never felt so utterly helpless in her life. She quickly removed her rucksack and began to rummage for a first aid kit - more out of a need to be doing something, anything but watching Max in his state. There was no telling what type of injuries that he may have sustained, what with the energy blast and the collision with a rock wall.

Max now let his head fall backwards.

"Oh, God, not now...I was gonna do something good - I was so close. Not out here, I know I deserve less - I didn't mean to!"

"Calm down, Max," Lara said comfortingly as she got out a syringe of pain-killer.

"Shelia," Max said as he looked at Lara, "Shelia, I'm so sorry..."

"It's all right, you just relax. Here..."

Lara moved the syringe towards Max, but he brushed it away.

"No...I mean - I'm sorry for all of it. I didn't want to, but it was all I ever did okay...and she and I never did it..."

"Of course you didn't."

"See, you always say that - but I mean it. I'm gonna die here, and I wouldn't lie...not now."

Lara found his vein and gave him the shot.

"There, now just relax..."

"Sorry..." Max said as he looked off for a moment, then back, but with much more weary eyes.

"Lara?"

"Yes."

"Had a weird dream..."

"I'm sure you did."

"I feel weird..."

"I know, just relax."

Lara looked over her patient again. The burns on his chest and arm were already starting to ooze, so she broke out some bandages and started to dress his wounds. When she was finished, Max was nodding off, she slapped him lightly on the cheek and his eyes lazily opened. Lara raised two fingers in a 'V' for Victory sign.

"Max, how many fingers do you see?"

A strained, yet mischievous smile started to form on his face as he raised both of his middle fingers towards Lara. She sighed in relief, if he was well enough to make obscene gestures, there was hope.

She kept him talking for hours as he slipped in and out of coherent speech - at one point he even accused her of taking his bicycle. Finally, with nothing more she could do, she allowed him to pass out and Lara Croft was left all alone in the ancient chamber.

Normally, there would have been nothing wrong with that situation, but this was not a normal moment for her. Had Max not been there, she would have been hit by the blast. Not having a camera or body armor, she would not have survived.

But there was a part of her that would have readily traded places with Max, to save the life if her friend.

With her calm slowly returning to her, Lara was shocked at the melodramatic nature of her thoughts - she had forgotten all about her goal, which was still in sight. Part of her was shocked that she could worry about some artifact when her friend was barely alive in a heap - but she had been the Tomb Raider for too long.

There as another rationale for her to get the artifact. Often, when the reason for a tomb's existence was procured, an easy exit was often afforded.

Or that place came down upon you...

But the pieces of this relic were meant to be found, the builders were trying to keep the wrong people out - not everyone. That fact should mean the critical difference.

She carefully approached the spot where she was standing when Max was hit by the blast.

Nothing.

She picked up several spent shell casings from the stone floor - her weapons had dropped them when she retaliated against the statues. Taking quick aim, she tossed one of the brass cylinders near Max's previous position around the break-away flooring. The small object bounced once...

And never hit the ground again.

There was a flash and all that remained of the casing was a black burn on the floor. Lara then began trying to find a 'safe zone' by throwing the casings before her so test given areas. Each one of the objects were incinerated by the yellow energy.

Lara was about to give up and check the room for a switch when her frustration got the better of her, and she missed her mark. The casing landed on one of the collapsing floor pieces, bounced, and came to a rest on top - too light an item to trigger the trap.

A plan began to form in Lara's mind. She threw her last casing at another of the trapped tiles, it bounced safely, but hit the other section of flooring and was instantly obliterated by another blast.

Smiling, Lara took a step back, then ran forward, jumping for the closest floor trap. She landed gracefully in the center of the tile, then vaulted into the air before it cracked and fell...

She never heard it hit the ground.

Half a dozen of these advances placed her on the dais, the backs of all four of the statues faced her. Knowing what these guardians were capable of, Lara almost wished that Elder would come bursting in at that moment. Just for once, Lara wanted to have the advantage on her side, and not that of the enemy.

Of course, it was not to be. No one disturbed the silence of the room. Lara reached down and picked up the last piece of the artifact.

There was an immediate reaction on the part of the room. Unseen machinery clanked and hummed as the tiles that Lara had tripped were replaced. Pitching out the last of her spent casings, Lara determined that the energy blast had been neutralized.

As she walked through back over the, now safe, area, Lara looked about for some kind of exit. What she did find was that the tunnel through which they had entered was no longer open. As Lara approached the opening in the rock, she saw that approximately a meter in, a smooth rock wall had fallen, sealing them in.

The seeds of panic were starting to take root in Lara when another detail was noticed. At the point where the doorway met the room, there was a very slight, very straight crack in the floor.

Lara suddenly understood and walked back to her sleeping friend.