Everything progressed in slow motion as the demon charged toward Lara. In those few precious seconds, the Tomb Raider's mind and senses snapped to attention. As her senses heightened, her nostrils picked up the raw stench of flesh and steam. Her very skin rapidly perspired and threatened to melt away. The flames in the pyres intensified to the point of blinding as the demon gained speed. Somewhere, someone yelled in a panic, but Lara was mentally elsewhere. She was simply transfixed by the monster's form as the fire made its body glisten.
Come on Lara. Move!
Not a second too soon. Croft leaped out of the way, her assailant barely grazing the tip of her boots. The beast roared with anger as it spun around, losing its momentum. Guns at the ready, Lara stared down her opponent. It glared back, whipping and cracking its long tail.
Then the beast charged again. This time, Lara didn't watch it happen; she immediately pulled both of the triggers on her guns and let the bullets fly. The Tomb Raider's precise aim couldn't have saved her if she wanted it to.
As each bullet headed toward its mark, Lara's eyes grew with sudden shock. Impact was never obtained. Each point of entry rippled like disturbed water; motion slowed somewhat and Lara watched her bullets as they spun through the almost-transparent demon. The red wisps that filled the beast's body elegantly swirled and distorted as the chest and abdomen received the bullets. All natural law was broken as Lara, at normal pace, observed the pieces of metal travel in slow motion.
When the pointed tips emerged from the demon's back, momentum grabbed the bullets, full force, and shot them forward. The sound of stone could be heard as shards split from a wall and fell to the floor. Lara was privately horrified.
It can touch her but it's not tangible?
Rapidly, Croft holstered her pistols and ran to the end of the chamber, toward Commander Vladimir's former body. Hesitating for merely a mental second, Lara Croft stepped into the circular engraving. Her back to the demon, she could hear it snarl. Hopefully, her ideas were correct; hopefully, Croft hadn't assumed too much. If she had, it would all be over right now.
She let a moment pass, her back to the rest of the chamber. Taking a deep breath, Lara placed her hands on her guns and slowly turned around.
Her blood ran cold.
Centimeters in front of her was the monster's face, its fiery eyes staring directly into hers. Oddly entrance, Lara found herself unable to move. Inside she knew she was safe, but those menacing eyes bored down on her, making the bold tomb raider feel like a child. An unexpected voice startled Lara; as much as she tried not to be afraid, an overwhelming sense of fear crept over her.
Step out, it whispered, Now.
"Ah!"
Lara suddenly screamed as something grabbed her ankle. Looking down, she saw the empty holes of Vladimir's skeleton facing her, vainly trying to hold her image in its lost eyes. In disbelief, she stared at the remnants of flesh, still gripping to its former self. Crimson blood was splashed on the milk-white bones; Lara could feel the cold grip of Vladimir's half-remaining hand even through the thick material of her boots.
"Help me!" It screamed, though it had no vocal cords.
Lara's mouth had been agape the entire time, but now she set her jaw firmly and addressed the Commander's peeling flesh.
"No," she said shortly. "I cannot help you when I did not bring this upon you. You did this yourself, you fix it."
The skeleton's eye sockets would have narrowed if they could, but all it was allowed to do was stare with the same empty gaze. Suddenly, it screamed:
"You will help me, Croft! Or you will die!"
Without warning, Vladimir's remnants leapt onto Lara, slashing at her face with its bone-hands. Despite the fact that its muscles were no longer present, Lara was struggling to keep the undead Commander away. She had no idea what was powering him, but she knew that she wouldn't let a sack of bones be her demise. As it pinned her to the ground, Vlad's face appeared directly above hers. Now she could appreciate how truly gruesome he was. Bits of skin and tissue still slung to his mouth, forming no more than half of his top and bottom lip. Not letting the situation get the best of her, Lara kept her expressions to a minimum.
"You don't know how to dispose of the demon," Vlad's half-lips stated. "Bringing me back will only help."
"And how do I know that once I do bring you back, you won't just turn against me?"
"This demon is more powerful than I thought; I cannot control it. I have but one choice and that is to assist you. Besides, the Pacific Amulet will do more than help."
Croft narrowed her eyes. He was lying. But truthfully, Lara did not know how to destroy the monster that still watched her from outside the circle. If she threw Vlad out of the engraving, what would happen? There was no room for error. She wished she knew what to do!
"Lara!"
The tomb raider looked past Vladimir and spotted Alex, still clinging to a pillar above the room. She hoped that the demon wouldn't turn its attention toward Alex. Glancing at the entity, however, Lara saw that it still was focused on her. It appeared as if... as if it was waiting for her to do something. But what?
"Lara, what are you going to do? You can't shoot it, it's too powerful! Throw Vlad out and let the monster rip him apart!"
An epiphany.
Help me...
Let it rip him apart...
Bringing me back will only help...
You don't know how to dispose of the demon...
The Pacific Amulet will do more than help...
"No," Lara murmured. Thoughts ran through her mind and she came to a sudden realization. Snapping out of a daze, she looked up at Alex, at Vlad, and at the demon. This was a puzzle and all of the pieces were there, she just didn't see it. She couldn't touch the monster, but she could touch Vlad. The monster was a manifestation of Vladimir's life and body. Vlad was trying to trick her. To everyone's surprise, Croft let out a laugh.
"How sweet it is," she said, smiling. Catching Vlad off-guard, Lara flipped him off of her, careful to keep him inside of the engraving. She stood up.
"If you want to leave so much, Vladimir, do it. Apparently, you have enough strength to attack me, so why not use it to stand up and walk out?"
The skeleton remained silent. Its remaining lips hung loosely and nothing was spoken.
"That's right, don't say anything, because you can't." She turned toward the demon, its eyes intent and masking confusion.
"You are some ventriloquist," Croft complimented. "But taking the rest of this body out of the engraving would only make you stronger. You are not complete and you hate it, don't you? You're not as strong as you could be and it kills you, doesn't it?" She smiled.
"And I'm here to make sure that nothing makes you happy."
The demon insides turned a blood-red, signifying its intense anger. It didn't want to be figured out.
"Alex!" Lara yelled to him. "Come down here and hand me the Amulet."
Her companion's face fell. "Are you crazy?" He yelled back. "It'll rip me apart!"
"No," Lara whispered, "it won't. Trust me, West. Come down here and give me the Amulet."
Slowly, West made his way down the column mumbling on his way down:
"Jesus Christ... lost her mind... never gonna live through this..." Finally, he reached the ground and he became stock still. The blazing entity turned toward him and roared with wrath. West plastered himself against the base of the column, breathing hard. This was what he considered as suicide.
"Come on, Alex. It can't hurt you! As long as you have the Amulet, you can't be touched. Trust Me."
Taking a deep breath, West took a furtive step forward. Never taking his eyes off of the larger form in front of him, he neared the engraving. Every step he took was monitored closely by orange and yellow eyes; it even closed in some distance between it and Alex at one point, making West increasingly uncomfortable. In time, the male tomb raider made it to the engraving. Eyeing the demon for another moment, he then turned his attention toward Lara. An amused expression played on her face.
"You'd think this was dangerous or something," she chuckled. Alex was not impressed.
"You know... the things I do for you," he said as he handed her the Amulet.
Lara winked at him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into the circle. He was apprehensive for a second, but he knew that Lara would never put him in any real danger. Now both Tomb Raiders received venomous stares from the chthonic beast. Its nostrils flared and the red wisps of which it was composed swirled rapidly.
Swallowing hard, Lara faced Alex. Without a word, they both knew what they must do. West reached out to his female comrade and grabbed her shoulder in warm recognition.
"I can't believe I'm about to let you do this," he said, scolding himself. "I just hope everything turns out okay."
Lara put on one of her trademark smirks. "You worry too much, West. Everything will be fine." She paused and raised an elegant eyebrow.
"You ready?"
Alex patted the gun on his hip. "On your lead."
"Okay then," Croft said. "Let's do this."
Then faster than anyone could react, both Tomb Raiders ran from the engraving and past the demon. Racing for their lives, they hoped that their plan would work.
As fast as she could, Lara ran toward the opposite end of the chamber; she could hear the monster's roars echo in her mind. She only hoped that Alex was up for this. She knew that this plan of hers could get them both killed. And what then? How would the beast be able to get out of the chamber?
But the answer was simple: it would merely feed off of Lara and Alex to achieve its full strength. One problem solved, Lara spun around and watched Alex's progress as he ran in her direction, but more toward the left of the room. He would need to conserve his strength if they wanted this to work.
Quickly, Lara shimmied up a column, using the cracks as minimal footholds. This particular column could no longer be used as a support for the room, for the top had been blown off due to one of the violent tremors that occurred earlier. It was perfect for Lara's plan. Perching herself on the top of the pillar, Lara un-holstered her weapons and aimed at the column across from her and next to Alex. Pulling the trigger, she was rewarded with the sounds of debris falling to the floor. Soon, she had unloaded both clips and needed to reload. Checking West's progress, she took no time in destroying the top of the opposite column.
After a few precious minutes, Lara had succeeded in tearing apart the section of the column that connected to the ceiling. Now her objective was to take a decent chunk out of the bottom so it would fall over. Reloading her pistols, Croft made a motion to crack her neck. She fired.
Alex West prayed to God that Lara would hurry. The distinct cracks of bullets filled his ears, but he paid no attention- there was a demon chasing after him! He couldn't seek the refuge of the engraving again because he would be trapped; the whole plan would fail. He had to rely on Lara and her marksmanship. In this plan, he was the bait.
"ALEX!"
That was his cue. Spinning around, West slid between the beast's legs and quickly got to his feet. He slowed his pace a bit and made sure that it was following him. Then the pillar began to sway. The demon was ten feet from it. Alex held his breath. The column tipped over and collided with the one that Lara was crouched on top of. It laid diagonal across the room, making a triangle with the floor.
The demon appeared to be laughing, but the pillar wasn't meant to land on him. This, the beast didn't know. West felt his skin crawl as the red wisps phased through the fallen pillar; it paused as it finished phasing. Five feet from Alex, it roared in a mix of wrath and joy. Victory was upon it.
West felt his mind scream at him, but he had to stay in that spot. Glancing at the top of the still erect column, West watched as Lara held the Pacific Amulet tightly in her hand; without a moment's hesitation, she walked to the edge of the fallen pillar and slid downward.
From behind the demon, Lara slid down the column, her boots making barely a sound as she did so. Readying the Amulet, she held it in both hands. Anyone else would be trembling, but Lara knew what was at stake. Not just her life, but Alex's life, Bryce's life... the world. Everything lied on her shoulders. There was no room for error. As she approached the beast, she leapt from the column and forced the thick chain around its neck. Tumbling to the floor, Croft rolled away and drew her pistols. Soon after, a deafening screech filled her ears.
This was the moment of truth. If her plan worked, everything would be all right.
If it didn't, however, she just might have placed the world in terrible danger.