Chapter 10
The remaining hours of the night drifted into the feeling of years, as Lara and Kurtis sat in the empty airport, anxiously waiting for the clock before them to read 9:00am. They had been sitting in the same, hard, steel-rimmed chairs for nearly five hours. A never coming sleep plaguing their minds.
Lara's thoughts were racing. She didn't understand how the demons had found them at the safehouse. Unless Kurtis had brought them their. "He wouldn't have." Lara told herself. "If he'd have brought them there, he wouldn't have been attacked. Unless he faked it." The assumption had never occurred until now, but it quickly left her mind as it drifted into an impossibility. Another suddenly made itself present, one even worse. She thought of how Kurtis had healed so rapidly, something that nobody could do, something no human could do.
She glanced at him, her recently renewed trust in him completely disappearing once again. He had the tattoo, the possible mark of the Nephilim. He wanted to have a child, rebreeding his ancestral race perhaps. He healed with inhuman capabilities and he had worked for the Cabal. Was he a nephilim, or was he Kurtis Trent? Or, was Kurtis Trent a Nephilim?
Something was wrong. He was not to be trusted, even though she wanted herself too. If he wasn't working for the Cabal-or whoever it was-he definitely knew something she didn't. It didn't matter. As soon as he had the Vial, she would be gone. It wouldn't be her problem anymore.
But what if he was innocent? Then she was leaving him for nothing, condemning the world for nothing. "No." she sternly corrected herself. She was leaving for a good reason. "What?" she asked herself.
She didn't know the answer.
Lara gasp loudly as she felt his hand against her shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Kurtis asked in the strange instant, confused by her weary action.
"Nothing." Lara replied with a fake smile, so casual as not to raise suspicion. She looked away and stared at the clock. It was fifteen minutes until 9:00am "We had better go."
(-)
Lara didn't want to fall asleep. She wanted to watch Kurtis, watch his every move, study him. Her mind overcame her however, and she awoke less than half an hour before the plane was scheduled to land. "We're almost there." she heard a voice speak out beside her.
Kurtis sat still, staring forward. Lara cursed herself for falling asleep. "You're an a plane Lara. I seriously doubt he could do anything suspicious, much less move around." The thoughts comforted her, but several questions ran through her mind, begging her to ask Kurtis.
She watched him from the corner of her eyes as he constantly rubbed his shoulder as though in pain. He pulled his collar down and exposed the strange black circle that appeared upon his shoulder. He studied it, as though the tattoo were new.
Lara curiously stared at him. "That's beautiful." She stated, eyeing the marking and remembering the detailed patterns it held when she had studied it the day Kurtis had appeared on her doorstep, and the mystical powers it had summoned the previous night.
Kurtis quickly covered the tattoo as Lara continued to stare.
"What is it with you?" She asked, slightly aggravated at his action. "I've seen that damn thing a thousand times, but when I try to look at it closer, you cover it up like your embarrassed by it."
"I am." Kurtis spoke with a smile. "And you're not supposed to see it anyway."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Kurtis seemed hesitant at their discussion. He stared at her, his mind determining whether or not to explain the truth to her. "Fuck it." he finally stated to himself. "The damn thing isn't a tattoo." He paused as Lara's eyebrows arched with wonder. "It's a brand."
"A brand?" Lara asked, slightly confused.
"Not like one that you put on animals." he explained. "More like"-his mind stalled, trying to find the right words. "-more like a birth mark."
"I've never seen a birthmark quite so elaborate, or one that possesses magic powers." Lara stated with sarcasm and disbelief.
"Then again, you've never seen a Lux Veritatis before either."
"What?" Lara asked with a confused and sarcastic smile. "It's some kind of cult marking?"
She slightly laughed.
"Yeah." Kurtis stated, breaking Lara's smile. "All the decedents of the Lux Veritatis are born with this damn symbol on their shoulder."
"For what purpose?" Lara asked, her attitude changing from disbelief to curiousness. "Why would the members of the occult want to advertize their heritage to the world. It would make them easier targets."
"It isn't like that." Kurtis returned. "It's not just some pointless symbol that appears on certain children. It's more like a recognition mark."
"So you'd know who's who." Lara stated.
"And, so we'd know who wasn't." He replied. "All the Lux Veritatis pursuers would've loved to have been able to copy the brand, that way they could easily have gotten into one of the ancient fortresses. But the detailing of the mark is so elaborate that it would be impossible to replicate." he paused. "Other than that, it been known to act as a key. Only the people that have it can enter certain places in Annaba, and as far north as Moscow."
Lara wanted nothing more than to go to him and study the ancient figure. The thought of thousands of people have the identical marking upon their body fascinated her. She started to move but stopped herself. She needed to stay as far away from Kurtis as possible. Her previous thoughts of him slightly scared her. She didn't want to go through such things again.
"So every Lux Veritatis had this exact marking on the exact same place of their body?" Lara replied, trying to end her cravings with knowledge.
"The marking was always the same," Kurtis continued. "but it only appeared on the men's shoulders." he paused as he looked to her. "The women's brand always appeared on their lower backs."
Lara felt her heart stop as forgotten memories returned. "Their backs!" Lara mind screamed out. The words were familiar. Something called to her, telling her to be suspicious. Their was something wrong with his words. She focused her thoughts with remembering.
"Mr. Lynch at the museum! The mark of the Nephilim!" She stared forward, her trust in Kurtis evaporating completely.Mr. Lynch had wanted to study her back when she had went to see him. He was looking for the symbol of the Nephilim, the symbol that appeared on Kurtis's shoulder. Lara felt her jaw slightly drop.
Something didn't feel right about her thoughts. Her suspicions suddenly changed. Mr. Lynch had seemed different that day, so much that she held less trust in him then she did Kurtis. Something was telling her that for once, she shouldn't trust her instincts.
"The mark couldn't be of the Nephilim." her mind stated. "Kurtis would never have let me see the brand if it were. He wouldn't have known whether or not I had knowledge of such things, or if I had ever seen it before."
Kurtis had openly let her see the tattoo-like marking at her home, and now, right in front of her, he had pulled his shirt down, revealing it without hesitance. Such actions wouldn't have been carried out by a human-disguised Nephilim that was trying to gain her trust. He would've given himself away.
Lara felt herself sigh, a slight trust she had in Kurtis slowly returning.
Kurtis stared at Lara. She seemed to be having a conversation with herself. Her eyes moved rapidly across the floor as thoughts spurred within her mind. He knew she didn't trust him. He sighed at the thought, wondering what he had said to spawn her feelings once again.
Lara looked away with silence, not wishing to show her suspicions even though Kurtis stared at her. Her in-depth thoughts were obvious.
(-)
The hooded figure's eyes flashed crimson as he glared at the figure before him. "You let them escape!"
"The wraiths ran into another difficulty." Mariana spoke under her breath, her eyes closed out of fear. "He's learned to control the brand."
"If you'd have listen to my instruction before hand, you'd have realized the flaw in your previous statement." he angrily spoke. "Not the fact that the brand's power has been unleashed, but the fact that the wraiths are trying to accomplish what you were told to pursue. These creatures are mere dogs, following your lead. You are the one who needs to destroy Trent, not them!"
"I already tried to kill him myself." Mariana explained, holding back her anger. "I can't get near him while that Croft bitch is around, she's too-"
"What?" the Master spoke with sarcasm. "You're actually admitting to being lesser than the Croft woman? Are you afraid of her?"
Mariana's eyes turned black with hatred at the words. "No."
"Then fuck her!" he screamed. "Finish the assignment! And this time try to do it without losing your target!"
Mariana nodded as she closed her eyes once again, realizing that she hadn't explained the truth of it all.
"There's more." she spoke softly, with fear. The Master's silence confirmed that she continue. "I think he's starting to care about her."
A grin covered the hooded figures shadowed features. "So that explains your frown this visit." the slight grin turned into a smile. "Good. Jealousy will make you stronger, but just so you know, he hasn't loved you for years, not after he realized what you really were."
Mariana clenched her fist tighter with hidden hatred as the Master continued.
"What about our contacts?" he asked. "Have any of them been worth our payment?"
"No Sir." she spoke lightly. "But the one in Samandira and the one here are keeping out a sharp eye. They're ready to send us word of any news."
"Good. Be ready for them at each of the suspected places, especially the church."
Mariana nodded her head as she quickly lifted herself from the floor and started toward the building's exit, knowing that their conversation was through.
Her advance halted at the Master suddenly called her name. She froze.
The hooded figure glared at her with resentment. "Don't return until you've killed him."
Mariana sighed once again with newly found ease. She continued forward, ready to find Kurtis Trent, and ready to kill him, but not before she finished something more personal, not before settling a score with Lara Croft.
She quickly entered the black BMW at the base of the cathedral stairs and sped forward, opposite the direction of the airport, but the direction of Surrey, the direction of Croft Manor.
(-)
The plane's landing gear met the airstrip by the Cap Rosa Oceanside a little after 1:00p.m. Lara gazed at never before seen landscape, somehow familiar to her eyes. The scenery around her reminded her of many places she had seen before, all mixed together to form one city-state.
The quaint countryside and peaceful church-like buildings reminded her of Marseillan, a small community on the Gulf of Lions in France, while the town's large palm trees and cobbled streets reminded her of Jamaica in many ways.
She had never been to this part of Algeria. She had visited the country many times, but never its ocean ports to the north. The surroundings and climate were a lot different here than in the south. While much of Algeria was identical to the other recesses of Northern Africa, meaning desert, this part was considered strange. The sun still shown down fiercely, but the cool breeze brought in from the Mediterranean soothed a sweat drenched face.
She held her on-plane bag over her shoulder, and quickly tightened the straps on her backpack as Kurtis appeared at her side. He didn't speak, absorbed by his surrounding and the thoughts of this map they were supposed to fine.
They hurriedly entered the Annaba International Airport, and gathered the few bags they had been forced to send through the luggage service. The two quickly made their way through customs, anxious to leave the congested airfield and be on their way.
They briefly searched the street as they exited the building, watching its movements and gaining a feel for the town's daily routine. The space wasn't overcrowded, but wasn't near deserted either.
The lack of a vehicle was quickly solved as Lara spotted an extremely small car and bicycle mart a few blocks down from the airport.
Kurtis wanted something small and unnoticeable that would get them to their destination quickly and would be easy to discard afterward. He found it, a piece of shit motorcycle almost too small for a passenger, with rusted-off exhaust pipes and duct-tape holding on it's seat; a large step down from the one they had rode from the safehouse, and the one lodged in the ditch at Croft Manor.
Lara quickly helped Kurtis check the bikes primary fluids, and was extremely surprised when the dilapidated metal before her actually cranked.
Kurtis refused her willing compensation to purchase the bike; it didn't cost much. The toothless seller settled for a little under fifty of Kurtis's American dollars, and the two were quickly on their way.
Lara was forced to sit closer to Kurtis when riding the nearly destroyed bike, due to the fact that if her ass was positioned only an inch further back, it would've met the pavement that rapidly sped beneath them. Her arms were tight around his form as the bike sped forward.
Kurtis wanted to get to the Hippo stronghold as soon as possible, and he and Lara made only one quick stop on the way. They set up a room for the upcoming night at a cheap motel, "The Midnight Gull", knowing that their return time would be decided by the upcoming events of the day, if they returned at all. It was much easier to find a vacancy in the evening hours than in the middle of the night.
They continued toward their destination, never stopping as they went.
Lara studied her surroundings as Kurtis drove. She stared at the sky. The scorching sun beat against her form as she road, burning her arms and singeing her back, being absorbed by the black shirt she wore, causing the heat to feel much stronger than it actually was. The outer edges of the road were lined by several variants of trees, and rocky, yet green mountains rose above their height, slightly visible over the tree tops. Lara blinked her eyes painfully at times as sand met their edges. She would make sure to put on her sunglasses before their next ride.
"We're almost there." Kurtis repeatedly thought to himself. He was anxious and scared at what he would find inside the realm at Hippo, though he wasn't even 100 sure that the map would even be there. He didn't want to even think of the results of his previous thought. If it wasn't in Annaba, he would have absolutely nowhere else to look, not to mention the fact that Lara would kill him if his assumptions were proven false. The only reason he actually knew of such a place, was from the ancient lore he was taught at the age of seven, and from the time his father had actually brought him to the sacred place, for what, he had never figured out, but he was thankful he had.
He stared forward, his eyes fixed to the road, ignoring the sights around him and the beautiful woman sitting behind him, her arms wrapped around his form, something he could only dream of before, but the action seemed pointless now. He was confident in his choice to search here. Something was telling him to be, telling him that everything would be answered inside the Realm of Valor. His mind became blank at that moment, his anxiety blinding him from everything else.
Lara studied their path as Kurtis drove forward. She learned their direction and memorized their path. They had started their trip to the stronghold heading south. Kurtis had made several turns since then, the most recent leading them onto a dirt backroad, that skipped from being desert to shaded with trees. Lara confidently assumed that they were now headed East. She wanted to be sure of her location just incase Kurtis caused her to do something she didn't want to do, or if his stated plans changed in any way. She had her guns ready, though she didn't want to ponder that possible outcome.
She stared once again, holding her head high, ignoring the pain in her neck from her refusal to rest it upon Kurtis's shoulder.
She looked on with curiousness as the small bike suddenly left the main round, and sped through the forest-like surroundings of the land beside it. The tires met a combination of greenery and sand as the they rode further into wilderness.
Lara felt her body suddenly push forward as the bike quickly came to a halt within a thin outcropping of tropical trees and shrubbery about two miles from the main road.
"Is this it?" she asked Kurtis before receiving a mere nod from him . She quickly threw her leg over the bike, and left its side. Kurtis repeated the action.
Lara stared at the large patch of dirt that covered the ground they stood on. It ran no less than fifteen feet around them on all sides. The patch was abnormal considering that the space surrounding it was nothing but plant-life. It created a perfect circle within the shaded area, with no signs of a now removed object that could have been the cause of the ground's lifelessness.
She watched as Kurtis passed by her and positioned himself in the center of the bare circle. He lowered himself to a crouch while he studied its surface. He ran his palms across the ground as if searching for something within the thin dirt that surrounded them. His hands moved in a circular motion as he slowly turned his body around, searching another place for whatever it was he was looking for.
Lara saw his expression suddenly change. He had found it.
Kurtis rapidly began brushing away the dirt around his feet. His palms moved fast, anxiously awaiting to uncover the object before him. Lara stared at the ground as the placement's edges appeared. It's light surface showed clearly through the dark grit surrounding it.
Kurtis continued brushing and blowing the dirt away, until the entire object appeared. He slowly stood and backed away.
Lara examined the stone structure placed below her. It was round and flat to the ground, similar to the manholes within a city, but larger. It was grayish-white in color, and its surface was graced by long since worn carvings that Lara could barely make out.
She crouched toward the stone figure and examined it further. The slight indentation created the resemblance of a family seal, but the lettering was completely worn, with only the remnants of "Augustine 397A.D." carved at its bottom edge.
The vision was interrupted by a hand meeting the structure's center. Kurtis placed his palm forcefully upon the stone's surface. He closed his eyes and whispered something that Lara could not understand, in language or volume. Kurtis quickly jerked away once the words had finished, his mind seeming to grimace with pain.
Lara watched with amazement and slight regret as the stone violently began to crack and crumble before her eyes, Kurtis's strange words destroying it.
The now dusted particles fell, disappearing into a black abyss of a room below the earth's surface, being formally marked for centuries by the now destroyed seal.
Lara and Kurtis's eyes were fixed upon the darkness, unknown dangers hiding in its depths, waiting for them to blindly jump down.
Lara eyes glanced toward Kurtis as he raised his own to her. She directed her hand toward the wavering pit. "You first."