Author's Note: Thanks to those who left a review. I'm glad you liked the story enough to take the time to do it. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!




Part One – Back On The Day Job


The Himalayas, Present Day:


Lara edged forward cautiously but without her weapons drawn. It was very unlikely anyone had been here in hundreds of years. And if they had, she very much doubted that they had survived the trip. These Himalayan temples always seemed to be filled with an unnecessary amount of ways to kill yourself horribly.


Ample proof of that was provide as she stepped forward and heard a small puff. She quickly rolled forward out of harm's way before turning to see the undoubtedly poisonous dart embedded in the left wall of the small hallway and, in the right, the concealed pipe which it had shot from. Flicking her long plaited hair back over her shoulder, in a manner that was rather flippant, she stood up and continued onwards unfazed.


Around the next corner she stopped as she came to a pit dug into the stone floor. It was too wide to jump across and the stairs leading down to the bottom appeared a little too inviting. Kneeling, she looked curiously towards the floor, but couldn't see anything untoward. Of course she knew there was. You didn't go to the trouble of putting a bloody great big whole in the stone floor of your temple unless it was there for a reason. And the odds would suggest that the reason was maiming or killing. At least they were consistent.


Standing once again, she looked up at the walls and ceiling either side of the pit. It was too dark to see anything well and so she pulled out and lit a flare, holding it as high as she was able. The walls didn't appear very stable, full of cracks and crevices. There was a stone beam running through the centre of each of them that seemed to be holding them up.


"Hmm," she said thoughtfully to herself.


Well, there was nothing for it. She had to go across. Tossing the flare ahead to land over the other side, she quickly surmised that taking the stairs would probably be a bad idea. Instead she carefully lowered herself to full stretch over the edge before dropping to the ground, bending her knees to soften the landing after the small fall. She stood again quickly, ready to move if anything flew out at her.


Nothing did and she let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding, allowing herself a smile.


Which immediately faded as she took a step forward and heard a click. This was closely followed by a scraping sound, and she looked up to see that the stone beams that were apparently supporting the side walls were retracting.


She executed a forward handspring just in time in to miss being crushed as the stone began to fall into the pit. This landed her just underneath the opposite ledge and she jumped to grab the edge and vaulted out of the pit with mere seconds to spare. Most people would never have made it. But Lara Croft wasn't most people.


She dusted herself off slightly and turned to look at the pit, now full of rubble. Well, at least it would make it easier to get out.


Lara made a mental note to have a word with Bryce and Hillary when she got back. According to their research this was allegedly the less dangerous entrance into the temple. There again, Bryce had never been very good with compass directions so when he had said the north side...


She shook her head. Bryce was certainly the stereotypical flawed techie. Give him a pile of junk and ask him to make a toaster out of it and he'd be fine. Try and get him to cook some toast afterwards though and you'd better have the fire extinguishers on standby. It was a comfort to know that Hillary was there to keep an eye on him while she was away. Lara was never particularly concerned with material possessions but she would prefer her house stay standing.


Picking up her still merrily fizzing flare, she continued onwards once more, coming to stop at an arch that lead into a wider room with a high ceiling. On the far side she could see another arch and through that the bottom of a pedestal where her prize undoubtedly stood.


So, just the room to traverse first then.


Seemed innocent enough from where she stood, but she didn't believe that for a moment.


For example, what were those cracks in the stone floor?


A second look made her realise that they were dotted across the whole room in such a way that it was almost impossible to avoid treading on them if you weren't aware. Some of them had what appeared to be partially crushed human bones on them – particularly the ones closest to archway she was standing in.


Lara knew what it meant, but she looked up anyway.


Above every point where the cracks appeared, there was suspended a large stone pillar that seemed just eager to slam down and crush whoever happened to be the unfortunate person standing underneath them.


"Nice," Lara said to herself. She did appreciate a little inventiveness in the death traps she faced. Swinging blades, rolling boulders and spike traps were getting a little dull now.


So, she just had to get across.


There were plenty enough seemingly safe spots. She just had to be careful to pick them out. Stepping forward a pace she tossed the flare forward to give herself a better view. Quickly scanning the area she picked out the best route across. It was going to require a little agility, but she didn't practice so hard for nothing.


Taking a couple of paces back, she ran and leapt forward, diagonally to her right, back to the left, forward and forward again. This landed her halfway along the room and she paused to have another look around. Noticing that there were no skeletons in front of her, she quickly surmised that this was as far as anyone had ever gotten. A small smile of satisfaction spread across her lips. Of course, she wasn't about to stop there.


Planning out her route to the door took her sharp eyes only a moment to complete. Just another series of jumps that weren't particularly difficult. She walked forward a pace in order to line herself up.


And she immediately fell back to the ground ungracefully in order to prevent herself from tumbling forward as the floor she had just stepped on gave way. Peering into the hole that had appeared where the floor tile used to be, she unsurprised to see a set of sharp wooden spikes eight feet below her.


This was going to make things more interesting.


Clearly from this point on the temple builders had upped the stakes a bit, so to speak. The tiles without pillars over them were apparently not stable enough to stand on for even a moment, which left her with only one choice. She just hoped that she was quicker than the people who had made this tomb had anticipated.


As she stood again, she took more time in planning her route than she had previously. It was going to have to be extremely accurate and lightening quick. Fortunately she didn't doubt her ability to do either.


Taking a preparatory breath, knowing she would not have time to pause for another once she set off, she took a step back and sprinted into a jump.


As she leapt and sprung gracefully from cracked tile to cracked tile she could here the whooshing sound of the air being displaced by sudden movement, followed by the deep booming thump of stone hitting stone. She knew what it was without daring to take a look.


The pillars crashed down in her wake, missing her by inches every time. Hitting the last one, she forced her now tired and burning legs into one last effort to sprint up the stairs to the door and out of harm's reach.


Only now did she allow herself to turn back and survey the scene as the pillars slowly ascended up into the ceiling again. Smiling to herself with just a touch of smugness she turned to the pedestal to collect her well earned prize.


But the pedestal was empty, a dustless circle showing where the artifact had stood until recently.


A large hole was blasted into one of the side walls signaling someone had taken the easy route out.


Lara sighed angrily, hands on her hips.


"Oh, bugger."