Lara followed Glen's car on her motorcycle, exchanging gun fire on
the way. When they came near to another building, Lara hid and watched from
a distance. Glen walked in first and the men carrying Kurtis followed. She
loaded her guns up and went inside. Immediately she lowered her guns. The
floor was black marble, the walls completely white, and the whole room just
looked like some sort of church. After carefully examining everything, she
found a small behind the throne-like chair. She pulled it up revealing a
winding staircase. Guns ready, she quietly ascended them.
Joachim Karel was lying on a table, dead. Kurtis was still unconscious. Bowls filled with the blood of the proto nephilim were resting on a table. Glen was preparing for the ritual to revive Karel. You need a sacrifice to complete the ritual- a mix of human and nephilim blood. Kurtis woke up to find himself chained. "Ah, nice of you to join me," Glen said. "Just in time for you to see what's about to become of you."
"Where ... is Lara?" Kurtis asked weakly. He felt as though his whole body was too heavy to move.
"That shouldn't matter to you now. And before we actually begin, I'd just like to do one thing." He picked up a knife and reopened the almost healed wound Kurtis had received from Boaz. Kurtis let out a pained grunt, but could do nothing. Glen lifted the knife, ready to stab Kurtis in the hart when a gunshot rang out. Glen yelled in pain, and pulled his hand back to his chest as the knife fell to the ground.
Lara said, "Don't move or I'll blow your head off. Remove all your weapons."
"I don't have any."
"Let Kurtis go, and don't try anything." Glen unchained Kurtis. "Kurtis, you ok?"
"Yeah, just a sharp pain in my stomach. Are you going to kill him?" Kurtis asked. Lara shook her head. "What?! Why not?!"
"Because, we can do it later. You're bleeding in case you haven't noticed." She waved her gun at Glen. "You, get him some bandages." Glen dug around the room until he found it, then Lara took it, and wrapped it around Kurtis's stomach. "Give me a safety pin or something," she said. He gave her a pin. She weaved it in so it would hold. "Now that that's done, get back." Keeping her gun trained on Glen she backed up the stairs with Kurtis.
"You think you can survive a motorcycle ride?"
"Yeah, let's just go."
When they arrived back at Lara's, she had to force Kurtis to rest. He took his shirts off so she could look over the wound and rewrap it. "So," Kurtis said, "has Glen always been this evil or is it only because I'm around?"
"I don't know what's gotten into him. I'm going to put something on this to clean it out. It might sting a bit," she told him. She placed one hand next to the wound and her touch was cold, but gentle against his skin. She used her other hand to apply the liquid onto the wound. She had the most trouble concentrating on the wound. When she heard him sigh, she said, "It's not that bad, not even deep."
"We've got to stop them from reviving Eckhardt."
"We will, but you need to rest a bit first. Plus, I don't know how we're going to stop them without those damned shards. Karel is a nephilim."
"There is something else we can use" he said. "A sword. It's made from a specialized crystal, even stronger than the Periapt shards. The Lux Verittis made it incaase something like this happened."
"Oh, they just know everything, don't they? So, where is it and how long will it take us to get to it?"
"It's in a temple on an island near Antartica," he told her. "And how long it takes us to find it depends, obviously. We should get going has soon as possible. I'm not sure if Gunderson knows it exists and where it is. Are you done now?"
"Yeah, put your shirt on."
"Nah, I think I'll walk around like this and tease you a bit more."
"Wipe that grin off your face and just do it. Okay, so we get the sword. But, not today. Maybe tomorrow-"
"No. We go now. We can take a helicopter or a boat or something, but we go now."
She said, "Ok, ok. Let's pack. Which reminds me..." She threw his weapons out on the bed. They packed up everything they thought they'd need, and Kurtis put his shirt back on. "We'll need a jacket. It'll be cold."
"I don't have a jacket, and I don't want one," he said.
"Fine, I hope you get sick. So, how should we get there?"
"Do you know anyone that can fly a helicopter? I'd prefer a helicopter."
"I'll make a few calls."
Half an hour later, they were on their way. Lara was asleep on Kurtis's shoulder. She was really tired. He smoothed her hair back out of her face. "I'll take care of you," he whispered to her.
"I can take care of myself," she mumbled back. He just laughed. "I'm tired." He smiled and kissed her forehead.
Kurtis directed the man flying the helicopter to the island. Gently, he woke Lara up and they got out of the helicopter. "This looks easy enough," Lara said looking up at the temple. "How do we get the doors open?"
"You don't," Kurtis said. "I do."
"What?" He held his hand up and she didn't ay anything else. He concentrated on the door. It moved slightly.
"Shit," he cursed. "This won't be easy."
"Can't I help you in anyway?" she asked.
"No, I have to do it myself." He let out a sigh before trying it again. The door slowly opened just enough for them to slip through. Inside, they started down a flight of stairs. Lara counted the steps in her head as she stepped on them. When they reached the bottom, Kurtis put his arm out in front of her so she wouldn't go on ahead.
"What's wrong?"
"Look for any signs of traps." They carefully examined the room from where they were standing. The room, Lara thought, looked very similar to the underground hall in the Tomb of Ancients with the blade traps that led to the Hall of Seasons. Kurtis looked up at the ceiling, trying to think. The ceiling was a mirror image of the floor he stood on. He heard Lara start walking ahead. It was an exact mirror image except- "Lara, stop!" She stopped and turned around with her hands on her hips, slightly annoyed.
"What do you want now?"
"Don't move. Look up," he told her. She looked and saw the mirror image of the floor. But, it was different. In the image, there were holes in the floor, filled with spikes. In fact, there was one just a step in front of her. She jumped safely over it. Kurtis started to walk toward her and the floor started to move.
"What's going?" she called to him.
"Watch the floor. The whole thing is covering a pit of spikes. The holes are part of the floor. We have to get to the otherside." Lara nodded. Has the floor rotated, the two of them tried to keep their balance as the floor rotated.
"That wasn't too hard."
"That was just a warm up," Kurtis. They pushed the door open and walked down a small flight of stairs.
Lara sighed, "When this is over, I'm going to want my stairs replaced with an elevator." He smiled at her. In the center of the room was a pedestal. "There's nothing on it, and there's no where else to go. What are we supposed to do?" They looked around the room for a minute. Lara walked around inspecting things while Kurtis stayed by the pedestal. There were symbols carved into the top corners of it. He didn't recognize them though. "Kurtis, come here a minute.' She was crouching down in the corner.
"What is it?"
"I don't know any of these symbols, do you?" She ran her fingers lightly over the ten symbols in the floor. Kurtis pushed the four that matched the pedestal. They heard a noise behind them. The pedestal split and sank down into the ground revealing the sword. Kurtis picked it up. Lara said, "That was easy. I thought the Lux Veritatis protected your stuff a lot better than that."
"We do." The sound of something cracking reached their ears. It stopped for a minute, then was replaced with popping sounds. Kurtis grabbed Lara's hand. "Come on, let's go." They started up the stairs and something hit her in the shoulder. She grunted and pulled a small dart out. "They're poisionous," Kurtis said. "If you get hit take it out right away. Don't give it a chance to sink in."
"Thank you. I don't think I would have thought of that myself if you hadn't said anything," she told him sarcastically.
"Shut up." He pulled her up the stairway. The door was gone. "Shit! There's got to be another way."
"Can you use your telekinesis to move the wall or something?"
He sighed, "I'll try." He put his palms against the wall and closed his eyes to concentrate. Lara tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "I can't concentrate when you do that." She stopped. Water was rushing in behind them.
"Uh, Kurtis? I don't mean to pester you, but if you don't hurry up, we're going to drown." The water started to make a pool around her ankles. The wall blocking their path hit the ground with a smack, and they were thrown backwards by water. When they surfaced, Lara yelled over the noise of the water, "We haven't got a lot of time to get out! Let's swim for the top!"
"I dropped the sword! I'll dive for it, you go ahead!" He went under before she could say anything. He forced his way down and picked the sword up off the bottom. A sharp pain hit him in the side, but he ignored it. He caught up to Lara and grabbed her hand with his free one. They quickly climbed out when they reached the top.
In the helicopter, Kurtis pulled the dart out of his side. He felt dizzy and extremely warm. Lara noticed the dart in his hand. "Do you need an antibiotic?" she asked. He nodded. She a needle from one of her kits and gave him the shot. "You need to rest. We'll go back to my house. We have the sword, we can spare a day." She held his hand until they got there.
**More soon**
Joachim Karel was lying on a table, dead. Kurtis was still unconscious. Bowls filled with the blood of the proto nephilim were resting on a table. Glen was preparing for the ritual to revive Karel. You need a sacrifice to complete the ritual- a mix of human and nephilim blood. Kurtis woke up to find himself chained. "Ah, nice of you to join me," Glen said. "Just in time for you to see what's about to become of you."
"Where ... is Lara?" Kurtis asked weakly. He felt as though his whole body was too heavy to move.
"That shouldn't matter to you now. And before we actually begin, I'd just like to do one thing." He picked up a knife and reopened the almost healed wound Kurtis had received from Boaz. Kurtis let out a pained grunt, but could do nothing. Glen lifted the knife, ready to stab Kurtis in the hart when a gunshot rang out. Glen yelled in pain, and pulled his hand back to his chest as the knife fell to the ground.
Lara said, "Don't move or I'll blow your head off. Remove all your weapons."
"I don't have any."
"Let Kurtis go, and don't try anything." Glen unchained Kurtis. "Kurtis, you ok?"
"Yeah, just a sharp pain in my stomach. Are you going to kill him?" Kurtis asked. Lara shook her head. "What?! Why not?!"
"Because, we can do it later. You're bleeding in case you haven't noticed." She waved her gun at Glen. "You, get him some bandages." Glen dug around the room until he found it, then Lara took it, and wrapped it around Kurtis's stomach. "Give me a safety pin or something," she said. He gave her a pin. She weaved it in so it would hold. "Now that that's done, get back." Keeping her gun trained on Glen she backed up the stairs with Kurtis.
"You think you can survive a motorcycle ride?"
"Yeah, let's just go."
When they arrived back at Lara's, she had to force Kurtis to rest. He took his shirts off so she could look over the wound and rewrap it. "So," Kurtis said, "has Glen always been this evil or is it only because I'm around?"
"I don't know what's gotten into him. I'm going to put something on this to clean it out. It might sting a bit," she told him. She placed one hand next to the wound and her touch was cold, but gentle against his skin. She used her other hand to apply the liquid onto the wound. She had the most trouble concentrating on the wound. When she heard him sigh, she said, "It's not that bad, not even deep."
"We've got to stop them from reviving Eckhardt."
"We will, but you need to rest a bit first. Plus, I don't know how we're going to stop them without those damned shards. Karel is a nephilim."
"There is something else we can use" he said. "A sword. It's made from a specialized crystal, even stronger than the Periapt shards. The Lux Verittis made it incaase something like this happened."
"Oh, they just know everything, don't they? So, where is it and how long will it take us to get to it?"
"It's in a temple on an island near Antartica," he told her. "And how long it takes us to find it depends, obviously. We should get going has soon as possible. I'm not sure if Gunderson knows it exists and where it is. Are you done now?"
"Yeah, put your shirt on."
"Nah, I think I'll walk around like this and tease you a bit more."
"Wipe that grin off your face and just do it. Okay, so we get the sword. But, not today. Maybe tomorrow-"
"No. We go now. We can take a helicopter or a boat or something, but we go now."
She said, "Ok, ok. Let's pack. Which reminds me..." She threw his weapons out on the bed. They packed up everything they thought they'd need, and Kurtis put his shirt back on. "We'll need a jacket. It'll be cold."
"I don't have a jacket, and I don't want one," he said.
"Fine, I hope you get sick. So, how should we get there?"
"Do you know anyone that can fly a helicopter? I'd prefer a helicopter."
"I'll make a few calls."
Half an hour later, they were on their way. Lara was asleep on Kurtis's shoulder. She was really tired. He smoothed her hair back out of her face. "I'll take care of you," he whispered to her.
"I can take care of myself," she mumbled back. He just laughed. "I'm tired." He smiled and kissed her forehead.
Kurtis directed the man flying the helicopter to the island. Gently, he woke Lara up and they got out of the helicopter. "This looks easy enough," Lara said looking up at the temple. "How do we get the doors open?"
"You don't," Kurtis said. "I do."
"What?" He held his hand up and she didn't ay anything else. He concentrated on the door. It moved slightly.
"Shit," he cursed. "This won't be easy."
"Can't I help you in anyway?" she asked.
"No, I have to do it myself." He let out a sigh before trying it again. The door slowly opened just enough for them to slip through. Inside, they started down a flight of stairs. Lara counted the steps in her head as she stepped on them. When they reached the bottom, Kurtis put his arm out in front of her so she wouldn't go on ahead.
"What's wrong?"
"Look for any signs of traps." They carefully examined the room from where they were standing. The room, Lara thought, looked very similar to the underground hall in the Tomb of Ancients with the blade traps that led to the Hall of Seasons. Kurtis looked up at the ceiling, trying to think. The ceiling was a mirror image of the floor he stood on. He heard Lara start walking ahead. It was an exact mirror image except- "Lara, stop!" She stopped and turned around with her hands on her hips, slightly annoyed.
"What do you want now?"
"Don't move. Look up," he told her. She looked and saw the mirror image of the floor. But, it was different. In the image, there were holes in the floor, filled with spikes. In fact, there was one just a step in front of her. She jumped safely over it. Kurtis started to walk toward her and the floor started to move.
"What's going?" she called to him.
"Watch the floor. The whole thing is covering a pit of spikes. The holes are part of the floor. We have to get to the otherside." Lara nodded. Has the floor rotated, the two of them tried to keep their balance as the floor rotated.
"That wasn't too hard."
"That was just a warm up," Kurtis. They pushed the door open and walked down a small flight of stairs.
Lara sighed, "When this is over, I'm going to want my stairs replaced with an elevator." He smiled at her. In the center of the room was a pedestal. "There's nothing on it, and there's no where else to go. What are we supposed to do?" They looked around the room for a minute. Lara walked around inspecting things while Kurtis stayed by the pedestal. There were symbols carved into the top corners of it. He didn't recognize them though. "Kurtis, come here a minute.' She was crouching down in the corner.
"What is it?"
"I don't know any of these symbols, do you?" She ran her fingers lightly over the ten symbols in the floor. Kurtis pushed the four that matched the pedestal. They heard a noise behind them. The pedestal split and sank down into the ground revealing the sword. Kurtis picked it up. Lara said, "That was easy. I thought the Lux Veritatis protected your stuff a lot better than that."
"We do." The sound of something cracking reached their ears. It stopped for a minute, then was replaced with popping sounds. Kurtis grabbed Lara's hand. "Come on, let's go." They started up the stairs and something hit her in the shoulder. She grunted and pulled a small dart out. "They're poisionous," Kurtis said. "If you get hit take it out right away. Don't give it a chance to sink in."
"Thank you. I don't think I would have thought of that myself if you hadn't said anything," she told him sarcastically.
"Shut up." He pulled her up the stairway. The door was gone. "Shit! There's got to be another way."
"Can you use your telekinesis to move the wall or something?"
He sighed, "I'll try." He put his palms against the wall and closed his eyes to concentrate. Lara tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "I can't concentrate when you do that." She stopped. Water was rushing in behind them.
"Uh, Kurtis? I don't mean to pester you, but if you don't hurry up, we're going to drown." The water started to make a pool around her ankles. The wall blocking their path hit the ground with a smack, and they were thrown backwards by water. When they surfaced, Lara yelled over the noise of the water, "We haven't got a lot of time to get out! Let's swim for the top!"
"I dropped the sword! I'll dive for it, you go ahead!" He went under before she could say anything. He forced his way down and picked the sword up off the bottom. A sharp pain hit him in the side, but he ignored it. He caught up to Lara and grabbed her hand with his free one. They quickly climbed out when they reached the top.
In the helicopter, Kurtis pulled the dart out of his side. He felt dizzy and extremely warm. Lara noticed the dart in his hand. "Do you need an antibiotic?" she asked. He nodded. She a needle from one of her kits and gave him the shot. "You need to rest. We'll go back to my house. We have the sword, we can spare a day." She held his hand until they got there.
**More soon**