Disclaimer: I don't own Lara Croft, but any unfamiliar characters are mine.
Chapter 4: Crypt?
Lara unzipped her backpack and took out her camera. After taking a few polaroids of the chamber, she walked up to one of the idols. It was a goddess, she could tell, and it was very beautiful. It had ruby eyes and was sculpted from ivory, instead of the pure gold that everything else seemed to be made of.
There were at least a dozen more like it around the perimeter of the room. They were beautiful, nonetheless. In the middle of the room was a sundial surrounded by glass. Judging by the position of the windows, when the sun hit the dial, the light would bounce off of the gems and onto a fixture in the ceiling. This fixture was made entirely of glass and looked like an upside- down serpent head. It was quite odd, really. There wasn't anything like this in Egypt or anywhere else she'd been.
Lara guessed that the sun would hit the serpent at around four o'clock. She noticed that the windows were positioned so that the moon could shine on the serpent as well. Leave it to ancient people to come up with a complex mechanism revolving around the sun and moon. She took a few pictures of the dial and the glass head before moving on. Rhea was already in the next room, looking at an altar. There were bowls and several dagger- like instruments laying on a table next to the altar. Behind it was a hierarchy of chairs. Lara assumed that the largest chair in the center was most likely the shaman's chair.
"Look," Rhea said with a nod in Lara's direction. "There's still blood on some of these. You don't suppose these were for human sacrifices?"
"It's probable," was Lara's reply. "Why else would they be here?" Rhea shrugged.
Lara moved on under an archway that led to a massive room with hallways and doors leading everywhere. She pulled the map out of her backpack and headed down the one that hadn't been explored yet. Actually, there were quite a few tunnels that hadn't been explored yet, but the one farthest to the left was the one that she happened to pick. From a distance, it was the darkest tunnel, but when you got closer to it, it was more like the rest.
She headed down the tunnel and took out her flashlight. The walls were totally bare, and the air was frigid. Before Lara even got halfway down, she could make out her breath in the air, and that's it. When she shined her flashlight, all she could see was more darkness, so she kept the beam on the floor so she could focus on the path. Eventually, she came to a dead end and she couldn't find a way to continue. . . . that is, until she looked up. There were grips, almost like a rock climbing wall, in the ceiling. She jumped up and grabbed one of them. She put the flashlight in her mouth and started making her way across the gap.
When she looked down, the beam shone on piles of corpses and skeletons fifty feet below. There were dozens of backpacks strewn everywhere and some of the people skeletons were still clothed. What disturbed Lara though was the blood trail that led out of the pit and up the wall to where Lara was right now. She glanced to the right and saw a large hole in the side of the cave. There weren't any grips going there, however, so she decided to just keep going onward. After a few minutes of swinging across the grips, Lara's arms began to shake and her palms were sweaty. She shone the light ahead and saw that she was near the end. She couldn't have guessed how far she had gone, but she knew that the others might be looking for her.
As soon as she was above solid ground, she let go of the grips and dropped to the floor. Lara had apparently underestimated the ancient architects because as soon as she touched the ground, it swung open like a trap door. Lara slid down the steep slope into a dimly lit, damp, dark room. It was fairly stark except for a few chain fixtures that hung from the ceiling. Lara grabbed one of the torches from the holds on the wall and looked around for an exit. As Lara started to walk around, the flashlight fell from her back pocket and she saw that there was blood all over the floor. She did not, however, see any corpses so she figured that no one had actually died here. Either that, or whatever dragged the people out of the pit had taken bodies from down here as well.
Suddenly, Lara heard a loud screech before she turned around fire singed her right elbow. The pain was excruciating and her only reflex was to swipe her guns out of the holsters and start shooting like mad. The flashes from the shots revealed a smaller version of the demon from her dream. Its eyes were venomous looking and she had to jump and run every few seconds to avoid the spray of fire that came her way. She shot at the eyes and when she got one of them, the demon screamed so loud that the room shook. It pounded its tail into the ground and then looked Lara right in the face. It stood still just long enough for Lara to snicker and pump the other eye full of metal.
She thought that this would kill the beast, considering that its fire- spraying eyes were its only defense mechanism. Instead, it writhed on the floor until an eerie blue light appeared. The light grew stronger and stronger until a black sword materialized out of this air. Lara hesitated before taking the sword. As soon as she stepped into the light, a wave of energy went up her arm and flowed through her entire body. It was almost like an out of body experience. She slowly rose and then brought the sword down with so much force that it slashed the demon in half. The monster died in two separate parts, the man part grew legs and curled into the fetal position and the dragon half grew a head and rolled onto its back.
The energy left Lara as fast as it had come and she dropped the sword. She put her head between her legs and tried to catch her breath for a few moments. She really had to get to the entrance now. She slowly got up and walked back to the blue light. She glanced at her burnt arm and realized that it wasn't burnt anymore. She saw herself fading and closed her eyes.
In a matter of seconds she was back in one of the entrance chambers, lying on her back on the sundial she had photographed before. Her gaze drifted upwards to the serpent head and she saw that it was glowing blue. She smiled before rolling off of the dial and passing out onto the floor.
Chapter 4: Crypt?
Lara unzipped her backpack and took out her camera. After taking a few polaroids of the chamber, she walked up to one of the idols. It was a goddess, she could tell, and it was very beautiful. It had ruby eyes and was sculpted from ivory, instead of the pure gold that everything else seemed to be made of.
There were at least a dozen more like it around the perimeter of the room. They were beautiful, nonetheless. In the middle of the room was a sundial surrounded by glass. Judging by the position of the windows, when the sun hit the dial, the light would bounce off of the gems and onto a fixture in the ceiling. This fixture was made entirely of glass and looked like an upside- down serpent head. It was quite odd, really. There wasn't anything like this in Egypt or anywhere else she'd been.
Lara guessed that the sun would hit the serpent at around four o'clock. She noticed that the windows were positioned so that the moon could shine on the serpent as well. Leave it to ancient people to come up with a complex mechanism revolving around the sun and moon. She took a few pictures of the dial and the glass head before moving on. Rhea was already in the next room, looking at an altar. There were bowls and several dagger- like instruments laying on a table next to the altar. Behind it was a hierarchy of chairs. Lara assumed that the largest chair in the center was most likely the shaman's chair.
"Look," Rhea said with a nod in Lara's direction. "There's still blood on some of these. You don't suppose these were for human sacrifices?"
"It's probable," was Lara's reply. "Why else would they be here?" Rhea shrugged.
Lara moved on under an archway that led to a massive room with hallways and doors leading everywhere. She pulled the map out of her backpack and headed down the one that hadn't been explored yet. Actually, there were quite a few tunnels that hadn't been explored yet, but the one farthest to the left was the one that she happened to pick. From a distance, it was the darkest tunnel, but when you got closer to it, it was more like the rest.
She headed down the tunnel and took out her flashlight. The walls were totally bare, and the air was frigid. Before Lara even got halfway down, she could make out her breath in the air, and that's it. When she shined her flashlight, all she could see was more darkness, so she kept the beam on the floor so she could focus on the path. Eventually, she came to a dead end and she couldn't find a way to continue. . . . that is, until she looked up. There were grips, almost like a rock climbing wall, in the ceiling. She jumped up and grabbed one of them. She put the flashlight in her mouth and started making her way across the gap.
When she looked down, the beam shone on piles of corpses and skeletons fifty feet below. There were dozens of backpacks strewn everywhere and some of the people skeletons were still clothed. What disturbed Lara though was the blood trail that led out of the pit and up the wall to where Lara was right now. She glanced to the right and saw a large hole in the side of the cave. There weren't any grips going there, however, so she decided to just keep going onward. After a few minutes of swinging across the grips, Lara's arms began to shake and her palms were sweaty. She shone the light ahead and saw that she was near the end. She couldn't have guessed how far she had gone, but she knew that the others might be looking for her.
As soon as she was above solid ground, she let go of the grips and dropped to the floor. Lara had apparently underestimated the ancient architects because as soon as she touched the ground, it swung open like a trap door. Lara slid down the steep slope into a dimly lit, damp, dark room. It was fairly stark except for a few chain fixtures that hung from the ceiling. Lara grabbed one of the torches from the holds on the wall and looked around for an exit. As Lara started to walk around, the flashlight fell from her back pocket and she saw that there was blood all over the floor. She did not, however, see any corpses so she figured that no one had actually died here. Either that, or whatever dragged the people out of the pit had taken bodies from down here as well.
Suddenly, Lara heard a loud screech before she turned around fire singed her right elbow. The pain was excruciating and her only reflex was to swipe her guns out of the holsters and start shooting like mad. The flashes from the shots revealed a smaller version of the demon from her dream. Its eyes were venomous looking and she had to jump and run every few seconds to avoid the spray of fire that came her way. She shot at the eyes and when she got one of them, the demon screamed so loud that the room shook. It pounded its tail into the ground and then looked Lara right in the face. It stood still just long enough for Lara to snicker and pump the other eye full of metal.
She thought that this would kill the beast, considering that its fire- spraying eyes were its only defense mechanism. Instead, it writhed on the floor until an eerie blue light appeared. The light grew stronger and stronger until a black sword materialized out of this air. Lara hesitated before taking the sword. As soon as she stepped into the light, a wave of energy went up her arm and flowed through her entire body. It was almost like an out of body experience. She slowly rose and then brought the sword down with so much force that it slashed the demon in half. The monster died in two separate parts, the man part grew legs and curled into the fetal position and the dragon half grew a head and rolled onto its back.
The energy left Lara as fast as it had come and she dropped the sword. She put her head between her legs and tried to catch her breath for a few moments. She really had to get to the entrance now. She slowly got up and walked back to the blue light. She glanced at her burnt arm and realized that it wasn't burnt anymore. She saw herself fading and closed her eyes.
In a matter of seconds she was back in one of the entrance chambers, lying on her back on the sundial she had photographed before. Her gaze drifted upwards to the serpent head and she saw that it was glowing blue. She smiled before rolling off of the dial and passing out onto the floor.