I am not making any money with this. I do not own Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
etc.
Only to be archived at Fanfiction.net and 'Lara Croft's Tales of Beauty and Power'. All other sites email me first to gain permission.
========================================================= The Last Revelation Part IV: Merit by Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi) =========================================================
Chapter 3
Hours later, she had done her shopping in Khan-El-Khalil; a thick gallabia that would keep off the sand and coldness of the night, and a scarf to wear on her face.
From the centre of Cairo she took a taxi to Giza. She was to meet her guide there - an excellent place at that - she still loved the pyramids, despite the fact that she had seen them countless times. Though she had never been inside. Stories telling of uncovered secrets underneath the massive buildings were often told to tourists. Lara wasn't sure whether to believe or not. She had seen so many unrecovered or buried sites in her career that folklore wasn't something she dismissed happily anymore as a source of information.
They arrived in Giza after a good fifteen minute ride. Suffice to say, there was almost no traffic so late in the evening. Lara paid the driver, got off, and started walking to the pyramids. The sun had set hours earlier, giving Cairo's mosque minarets a golden frosting and making the Nile a spectacular sight. Lara never had enough time to spend in the city. She had visited Egypt on numerous occasions, yet she'd never seen the inside of the dark walls of Saladdin's Citadel, visited the Temple of Karnak or the ruins underneath Alexandria that she thought to be spectacular.
On the other hand, imagining herself in a tourist bus, listening to the guide spelling Menkaure's name wrong and fussing over people to get into the Sphinx area, she again vowed never to become a tourist.
'Going to Egypt to see the pyramids, eating in McDonalds afterwards and enjoying beach life in Hurghada is no trip to Egypt,' she thought bitterly, and sat down on a slanted block a mile away from Khufu's Queen's Pyramid. On the edge of the desert, only a short walk from her sitting place, her guide to the desert was waiting.
Only the bedouins can take a hike on the desert in daytime. The physics of a British woman, Lara Croft or otherwise, cannot stand the heat or intenseness or the dry wind of the Sahara. Lara knew this, that's why she rode to her destination in the solace of the night.
The temperature was under zero, but her white gallabia kept her warm. Exchanging an occasional word with her guide, who spoke suspiciously good English, she enjoyed the nighttime desert.
The stars shone over Egypt. The ancient land of ancient people and pharaohs was melted by the moonlight into a serene, brown mesh of sand and wind. Scorpions crept over dunes, their passage almost as amusing as that of crabs, creeping and crawling, that being the only meaning of their mere existence.
Remembering the movie Lawrence of Arabia, Lara patted her camel. Camel- riding was new to her - she had naturally learned to ride horses (an unquestioned advantage of being the daughter of a Lord who liked to go fox- hunting), but camels she had never tried.
She felt like she was swinging. Up a dune, down a dune. An observant, but surprisingly bright-looking camel head made its long journey in front of her, making an occasional growl in the starlight. Lara fixed her position, trying to sit more upwards like her guide seemed to do. It helped. She didn't feel like falling during the curves anymore. Pushing the worries on how to get off a camel aside, she pressed her heel on the animal's side and it quickened its pace.
Up a dune. Down a dune. Until all the dunes look the same. Until all the occasional trees and bushes look the same. Until you'd marry your guide for a promise that he would get you out of there later on.
The desert can be beautiful, but it is deadly to those who do not know their way out. And the Sahara is a terrible place to get lost in.
A sandstorm arrived an hour before dawn. Sand nearly choking her and the wind almost knocking Lara off her camel, she looked at her guide and wondered how on earth one possibly got used to it. The cold desert at night was alright, but the cauldron of sand and hot wind was almost too much to bear for more than an hour.
Lara had looked behind her once and noticed that the footsteps of her camel were filled with sand almost instantly after the camel had stepped off. They were no use if anyone wanted to find back to civilization.
They reached their destination at dawn. It was a lonely-looking place; just a wide pile of large boulders in the middle of nowhere. Some small crevices housed scorpions or beetles.
Behind a large boulder they dismounted their camels and left them behind the boulder - it would spare them from the wind. Scratching her camel's ear, Lara dug out her backpack from the covers on the camel's back, and strapped her shotgun into a double-secured strap in her back. Waving at her guide to wait for her, she reached over the camel to dig out her holster belt from its back. The camel shifted slightly.
"That's a boy," Lara babbled to the camel named Maleesh while clicking on her belt buckle. The animal was obviously so fed up with gleeful tourist kids riding him near the pyramids that a nightly excursion to the desert was a treat.
Lara left the camel and followed his guide, letting the hem of her gallabie fall down to her ankles. The sandstorm still kept raging.
Walking to her guide, she spotted something on the ground. A cat statuette's head. It had some kind of jewels for eyes, as it seemed to blink at Lara. She kneeled to pick it up - if it wasn't a switch of some sorts, then at least the museum would be happy with such a beautiful statue. In the meanwhile she noticed her guide waving at her. Wondering why he was in such a hurry, Lara turned her gaze back to the statue, her hand reaching for it. As she turned her head she noticed the huge scorpion.
An inch away from her outstretched hand.
Its sting ready to strike.
Lara gasped, and quickly pulled her hand back, falling backwards to the sand.
Definitely not stopping to determine whether it was a member of a poisonous species she started getting up. and noticed at least a hundred scorpions squirming out of a nearby crevice in the rock. Hurrying to get up, she started running in the sand.
Anyone who ever tried running in sand can tell that if one wanted perfect legs, it was the only way to get them. It's like running in a barrel of syrup.
Adrenaline rushing in her veins, Lara fought her way to her guide. Luckily, the scorpions were left behind.
Panting, Lara leaned on her knees, and looked at what the guide was pointing.
A round handle of some kind in a rock. Curiosity getting the best of Lara Croft, she placed her gloved hand on the handle. What bad could come from pulling it - as the rock it was attached to seemed itself to be attached to nothing. Just a rock.
She pulled it.
Noting happened. The wind roared.
But after some seconds a minor earthquake shook the ground. Lara and her guide looked at each other, but before either had the time to shrug, the ground opened.
A large, round opening appeared under their feet and Lara let out a bloodcurdling scream as she fell.
Being taken by surprise is still being taken by surprise, whether you're Lara Croft or not.
And they fell. Lara quieted her panic as the rushing tunnel of sand tried to rip wounds into her feet and pooled her shorts with sand. Her guide was yelling uncontrollably in Arabic and their quick descent to the ground continued.
What Lara worried about most were the large chunks of rock following. She didn't want to be hit by one of them. She didn't want to be hit by anything from behind, no matter whether it was her guide or a rock.
Then, suddenly, the steep tunnel ended. Lara felt the tunnel bottom disappear from under her, and she fell back to the cold ground. The fall knocked all breath from her lungs.
She got up some minutes later, after a good silent checkup for broken bones. She had definitely not expected to receive a blow of that kind. Her head hurt - that was for sure - but she didn't care. She was where she was supposed to be.
Pulling off the gallabia and letting it fall to the ground, Lara studied her surroundings. Her guide had lit some torches - obviously while waiting for her to get up. Politeness or the question "are you alright" obviously did not belong to his vocabulary. Not that Lara cared. A woman of independence, she'd have shot anyone for fussing over her more than necessary.
Concentrating on the task at hand, Lara clicked open her holsters' press- studs and dug out her pair of pistols.
The Tomb of Seth. She was ready.
End of part IV/V
And the story continues. The last scene of "Merit" can be watched as an FMV. If you don't know which one, get either a life or a copy of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation ;=)
I had to slightly modify some facts to fit the story. The Tomb of Seth, in the game, is located near the Valley of The Kings, which is definitely not within a camel walk from Cairo.
After finishing 'Merit', I realized two things. Firstly, I had finally come to my destination in the means of telling the story behind the scene in Jean's house late in Alexandria late in the evening. Whether Lara shared that bottle of wine with Jean is beyond me ;-)
All feedback to: siirma6@surfeu.fi
~For additional information about the series and the creative process, there's an article published about the series at "Lara Croft's Tales Of Beauty And Power". You can find it in the section "Author's Notes". I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far.
Heidi
Only to be archived at Fanfiction.net and 'Lara Croft's Tales of Beauty and Power'. All other sites email me first to gain permission.
========================================================= The Last Revelation Part IV: Merit by Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi) =========================================================
Chapter 3
Hours later, she had done her shopping in Khan-El-Khalil; a thick gallabia that would keep off the sand and coldness of the night, and a scarf to wear on her face.
From the centre of Cairo she took a taxi to Giza. She was to meet her guide there - an excellent place at that - she still loved the pyramids, despite the fact that she had seen them countless times. Though she had never been inside. Stories telling of uncovered secrets underneath the massive buildings were often told to tourists. Lara wasn't sure whether to believe or not. She had seen so many unrecovered or buried sites in her career that folklore wasn't something she dismissed happily anymore as a source of information.
They arrived in Giza after a good fifteen minute ride. Suffice to say, there was almost no traffic so late in the evening. Lara paid the driver, got off, and started walking to the pyramids. The sun had set hours earlier, giving Cairo's mosque minarets a golden frosting and making the Nile a spectacular sight. Lara never had enough time to spend in the city. She had visited Egypt on numerous occasions, yet she'd never seen the inside of the dark walls of Saladdin's Citadel, visited the Temple of Karnak or the ruins underneath Alexandria that she thought to be spectacular.
On the other hand, imagining herself in a tourist bus, listening to the guide spelling Menkaure's name wrong and fussing over people to get into the Sphinx area, she again vowed never to become a tourist.
'Going to Egypt to see the pyramids, eating in McDonalds afterwards and enjoying beach life in Hurghada is no trip to Egypt,' she thought bitterly, and sat down on a slanted block a mile away from Khufu's Queen's Pyramid. On the edge of the desert, only a short walk from her sitting place, her guide to the desert was waiting.
Only the bedouins can take a hike on the desert in daytime. The physics of a British woman, Lara Croft or otherwise, cannot stand the heat or intenseness or the dry wind of the Sahara. Lara knew this, that's why she rode to her destination in the solace of the night.
The temperature was under zero, but her white gallabia kept her warm. Exchanging an occasional word with her guide, who spoke suspiciously good English, she enjoyed the nighttime desert.
The stars shone over Egypt. The ancient land of ancient people and pharaohs was melted by the moonlight into a serene, brown mesh of sand and wind. Scorpions crept over dunes, their passage almost as amusing as that of crabs, creeping and crawling, that being the only meaning of their mere existence.
Remembering the movie Lawrence of Arabia, Lara patted her camel. Camel- riding was new to her - she had naturally learned to ride horses (an unquestioned advantage of being the daughter of a Lord who liked to go fox- hunting), but camels she had never tried.
She felt like she was swinging. Up a dune, down a dune. An observant, but surprisingly bright-looking camel head made its long journey in front of her, making an occasional growl in the starlight. Lara fixed her position, trying to sit more upwards like her guide seemed to do. It helped. She didn't feel like falling during the curves anymore. Pushing the worries on how to get off a camel aside, she pressed her heel on the animal's side and it quickened its pace.
Up a dune. Down a dune. Until all the dunes look the same. Until all the occasional trees and bushes look the same. Until you'd marry your guide for a promise that he would get you out of there later on.
The desert can be beautiful, but it is deadly to those who do not know their way out. And the Sahara is a terrible place to get lost in.
A sandstorm arrived an hour before dawn. Sand nearly choking her and the wind almost knocking Lara off her camel, she looked at her guide and wondered how on earth one possibly got used to it. The cold desert at night was alright, but the cauldron of sand and hot wind was almost too much to bear for more than an hour.
Lara had looked behind her once and noticed that the footsteps of her camel were filled with sand almost instantly after the camel had stepped off. They were no use if anyone wanted to find back to civilization.
They reached their destination at dawn. It was a lonely-looking place; just a wide pile of large boulders in the middle of nowhere. Some small crevices housed scorpions or beetles.
Behind a large boulder they dismounted their camels and left them behind the boulder - it would spare them from the wind. Scratching her camel's ear, Lara dug out her backpack from the covers on the camel's back, and strapped her shotgun into a double-secured strap in her back. Waving at her guide to wait for her, she reached over the camel to dig out her holster belt from its back. The camel shifted slightly.
"That's a boy," Lara babbled to the camel named Maleesh while clicking on her belt buckle. The animal was obviously so fed up with gleeful tourist kids riding him near the pyramids that a nightly excursion to the desert was a treat.
Lara left the camel and followed his guide, letting the hem of her gallabie fall down to her ankles. The sandstorm still kept raging.
Walking to her guide, she spotted something on the ground. A cat statuette's head. It had some kind of jewels for eyes, as it seemed to blink at Lara. She kneeled to pick it up - if it wasn't a switch of some sorts, then at least the museum would be happy with such a beautiful statue. In the meanwhile she noticed her guide waving at her. Wondering why he was in such a hurry, Lara turned her gaze back to the statue, her hand reaching for it. As she turned her head she noticed the huge scorpion.
An inch away from her outstretched hand.
Its sting ready to strike.
Lara gasped, and quickly pulled her hand back, falling backwards to the sand.
Definitely not stopping to determine whether it was a member of a poisonous species she started getting up. and noticed at least a hundred scorpions squirming out of a nearby crevice in the rock. Hurrying to get up, she started running in the sand.
Anyone who ever tried running in sand can tell that if one wanted perfect legs, it was the only way to get them. It's like running in a barrel of syrup.
Adrenaline rushing in her veins, Lara fought her way to her guide. Luckily, the scorpions were left behind.
Panting, Lara leaned on her knees, and looked at what the guide was pointing.
A round handle of some kind in a rock. Curiosity getting the best of Lara Croft, she placed her gloved hand on the handle. What bad could come from pulling it - as the rock it was attached to seemed itself to be attached to nothing. Just a rock.
She pulled it.
Noting happened. The wind roared.
But after some seconds a minor earthquake shook the ground. Lara and her guide looked at each other, but before either had the time to shrug, the ground opened.
A large, round opening appeared under their feet and Lara let out a bloodcurdling scream as she fell.
Being taken by surprise is still being taken by surprise, whether you're Lara Croft or not.
And they fell. Lara quieted her panic as the rushing tunnel of sand tried to rip wounds into her feet and pooled her shorts with sand. Her guide was yelling uncontrollably in Arabic and their quick descent to the ground continued.
What Lara worried about most were the large chunks of rock following. She didn't want to be hit by one of them. She didn't want to be hit by anything from behind, no matter whether it was her guide or a rock.
Then, suddenly, the steep tunnel ended. Lara felt the tunnel bottom disappear from under her, and she fell back to the cold ground. The fall knocked all breath from her lungs.
She got up some minutes later, after a good silent checkup for broken bones. She had definitely not expected to receive a blow of that kind. Her head hurt - that was for sure - but she didn't care. She was where she was supposed to be.
Pulling off the gallabia and letting it fall to the ground, Lara studied her surroundings. Her guide had lit some torches - obviously while waiting for her to get up. Politeness or the question "are you alright" obviously did not belong to his vocabulary. Not that Lara cared. A woman of independence, she'd have shot anyone for fussing over her more than necessary.
Concentrating on the task at hand, Lara clicked open her holsters' press- studs and dug out her pair of pistols.
The Tomb of Seth. She was ready.
End of part IV/V
And the story continues. The last scene of "Merit" can be watched as an FMV. If you don't know which one, get either a life or a copy of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation ;=)
I had to slightly modify some facts to fit the story. The Tomb of Seth, in the game, is located near the Valley of The Kings, which is definitely not within a camel walk from Cairo.
After finishing 'Merit', I realized two things. Firstly, I had finally come to my destination in the means of telling the story behind the scene in Jean's house late in Alexandria late in the evening. Whether Lara shared that bottle of wine with Jean is beyond me ;-)
All feedback to: siirma6@surfeu.fi
~For additional information about the series and the creative process, there's an article published about the series at "Lara Croft's Tales Of Beauty And Power". You can find it in the section "Author's Notes". I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far.
Heidi