Lara Croft, Tomb Raider:

The Power of Five


Prologue


Belize, 1995:


It was hot.


Too hot.


Far too hot to be pleasant. Any place where the sun touched bare skin burned like a hundred tiny needles were being stabbed in and then jiggled about it a bit for good measure. Things had improved somewhat since they had gone off the track and headed into the tropical jungle. The further they walked, the thicker the vegetation became. Whilst this made their armed escorts from the village very nervous about the increasing animal sounds, at least it kept the sun's rays at bay.


Dr William Andrews glanced across at his wife, Nakia, who was walking peacefully beside him. Whereas perspiration was falling in rivlets down his face, she appeared as if she had been walking in her own refreshing breeze. He had to bare in mind though that she was Egyptian and this heat was nothing new to her.


The squealing, shrieking and howling of the native animals seemed to be intensifying with every step they took. Not that William was at all worried – he'd done this a hundred times before and he had hand picked the men with rifles as they were the best shots in their village. Even though he he had had to pay them the negotiated fee of one hundred and seventy five Belize dollars each for the pleasure of their company. Most had refused the offer. They said where he was going was a haunted place, protected by powerful magics. It seemed, however, that even some of the most supersitious minds could be won over with enough money.


As they continued he was surprised at how remote this location felt. In reality they were only a few hours walk from the village. They hadn't even brought any camping equipment with them, having set off at dawn meant they would arrive at the temple in plenty of time to have a good look round before they were forced to return. Even so, he felt as if they were an age away from civilisation. Almost as if every step they took somehow transported them into the time of the temple they were looking for. Part of him expected to see Mayan warriors jumping out of the undergrowth at them wanting to sacrifice them to their gods.


He took a quick glance across at Nakia again, wondering if she felt the effect too. If she did though she didn't show it. Her face was calm as always. In the twenty-five years they had been married he had barely seen her get flustered about anything. She coped with everything her husband's exploring threw at her with the same grace and good will. He smiled slightly.


What he was about to stay stopped upon his lips however when he spotted something ahead. They had been walking up a steep incline for the past few minutes, but William had been too lost in his own thoughts to really register it. Ahead though, in the suddenly thinning undergrowth a large limestone figure could be seen jutting through the green. William increased his pace without thought, stopping by what he could now see was a fallen statue. Ripping away some of the vines that had grown over it, he quickly revealed a serpent's head surrounded by a mane of feathers.


"It's the god, Kukulcan", he whispered softly to himself.


"We are not the only ones to have come this way," Nakia said, from the other side of the statue.


William, who had been so intrigued that he hadn't even noticed her arrival, leaned over to see what she was pointing at. There was a spot, much like the one he had just created, where the vines and moss had been ripped away. He frowned. That was strange. He wasn't aware anyone had investigated this particular temple before. He had come here because one of his colleagues at the British Museum had got wind of a rumour spread among the locals about a hidden temple. The museum had funded the expedition on the premise that this would be a new discovery. He hoped that wasn't going to prove to be a false assumption.


"We must be close," he insisted, looking up to see that they were indeed reaching the ridge of the hill. He waited a short moment for Nakia to take a couple of shots with her camera then they hurried on, their escorts following cautiously.


He knew they had arrived even before he could see over the ridge. He could feel it in the air. Stopping at the very top of the hill he took in the view below him, suddenly wishing they had brought more film for the camera.


The temple reminded him a lot of the stepped pyramids in Egypt only this was more detailed and intricate – the traditional Mayan carvings could be seen even from this distance. It helped that it sat in a clearing, seemingly being in a place where even the jungle not dared to go. Fourty foot high, the structure had stood the test of time relatively well considering it could be anything up to three thousand years old. In places the limestone was crumbled, but it appeared to be remarkably intact.


After taking in the view for a few moments, William began a rather hurried decent down the hill. Nakia, who quickly followed after him, had a rather thoughtful expression on her face when they stopped at the bottom.


"Why are there no vines here? No animals?" she asked, taking in her surroundings with a careful eye. It was the sort of place that vines wound themselves round very quickly when left to their own devices, and monkies would have found it a wonderful playground. Why had they stayed away all this time?


"I don't know," William admitted, sounding more excited than anything. That was one of many questions his eager mind wanted to find the answers for. He had better call the museum when they got back to the village – this was going to be more than a three week job.


He glanced across at his wife, his fasicnation diminshing just slightly as he saw the frown she was wearing.


"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, out of the earshot of the men who seemed to be slowly gaining some confidence as they inched closer. He waved them forward pointing to the temple. They nodded in understanding and went to investigate things further.


Nakia shook her head, knowing that her worries were ridiculous. This wasn't like her.


"It feels strange, that's all," she explained, when it was obvious he wasn't going to let it go without an answer, "Not abandoned or ruined but....."


She trailed off, not being able to put the feeling into words.


William took her hand in a reassuring gesture. Nakia had adjusted so well to the Western world that he sometimes forgot she was from a far more supersitious culture than he. Whilst she was just as fasicnated by ancient worlds as he was, she tended to pay much more heed to the myths and legends that serious scientists rejected out of hand.


"Come on," he said, "I want to get a good look before we have to head back."


She nodded, still looking slightly uncertain but content to trust him. Walking towards the temple, the first thing he noticed was the details of the carvings, even more elaborate than he could have hoped for.


"They're so well preserved," he whispered in awe, going in for a closer look. Then he frowned as he ran his fingers over the carving of a jaguars head. He could feel it – the feeling that was making Nakia so uneasy.


"Too well preserved," he said, standing again and backing away a few steps, pulling his wife with him, "It's not right."


He looked up at the temple once more, shaking his head. What was this place?


A shout from one of the men brought him back to his senses.


"There's something strange here," the man was saying, apparently from around the near corner of the structure, "Stones with strange pictures on. They're not Mayan."


William frowned and shared a curious look with Nakia.


Suddenly a scraping sound was heard, like stone rubbing on stone.


Then silence.


An unearthly shrieking squeal, followed by gunfire.


And human screams.


William dropped Nakia's hand as he ran to help.