I'm truly sorry that writing this update has taken me so terribly long. At first I wasn't even sure how to continue from the point where I stopped the last time. Hope this isn't terribly lame.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Tomb Raider games or movies.
The Narrow Road
She had been in many tombs and crypts during her life but this one was different and she knew it. The very atmosphere the stone walls around her held within was dark, not because of the lack of light but because of something that seemed to suck out all the hope and happiness there was in her heart. The walls themself appeared darker than they actually were and the coldness emanating from then creeped Lara to her bones. In none of her dreams about the place where the fates of people were decided had she imagined something like this.
Heaven seemed to lack a hold in the hall she now stood. The hell, on the other hand, could be seen in every corner and every single dark spot existing in the large space. She couldn't see the roof of the large hall above her but she didn't know whether the reason was in the room being so high or just too dark.
The faint light shining into the room from the still open doorway was soon consumed by the darkness and the torch she lit wasn't of much help either. It seemed that the air itself inside this place was death to all the light around but it still yearned to reach out from its depths and receive something not meant to it. In more ways than one the place reminded her of the creatures that had built it. They also yearned to bathe in light but their origin of birth forbid them from doing so. The sadness she felt for these creatures took her by surprise but perhaps they had deserved being thought of with heavy hearts.
If these walls could talk she wondered all the tales they'd have to tell. How gruesome would they be? Could they fill her in of everything that had taken place within them?
Suddenly she felt a gun pressed to her back.
"What is taking you so long, Ms.Croft? Shouldn't you be a professional in this?" The voice was barely a whisper but Lara knew it was Karel's. They man had no patience, none whatsoever, or then he was so full of his own immortality that somewhere in between he had forgotten her being a petty mortal.
If she only had some means of escaping or hiding she would've turned and fought for her freedom but since she was outnumbered there was little she could do. She'd just have to wait for a better time and there was nothing worse to her than waiting – she preferred action. If she was a waiting kind of girl she would never have started her tomb raiding career. Instead of it she would've sat 'home' every night waiting for the tea water to boil.
She felt the gun being pressed harder against her back – Karel was growing very weary of her taking time like this.
Now she knew why she was needed. Karel needed someone to avoid or at least find the booby traps there might be in the halls. She was a living minesweeper only taken along for Karel to achieve his goal faster. She could just walk into a trap straightaway and try to bury the nephilim with her. No – that would mean giving up and letting go wasn't go side-by-side with her spirit.
She knelled, studying the floor in the dim light of her torch trying to avoid as many traps as she could. It didn't matter how closely she looked, the floor still seemed as dark as ever. She touched it with her hand feeling the utter coldness but there was no way the stony floor would remain cold inside the volcano.
She could see nothing on the walls and the floor but far in the other end of the room a light shone. It wasn't an ordinary light – its pale and blue created an eerie feeling, so out of place the light seemed in this room.
If she would take a step it might mean the end of her life but it'd definitely end if she decided to stand still. Carefully she took a small step and to her horror heard the sound that had never caused anything good. A soft 'click' echoed through the hall followed by the sound of something massive tearing through the air that had stood still for ages and she felt a soft wind on her face.
And then there was light but instead of feeling relieved Lara only felt oppression building up inside of her. The red shine creeped along the walls and floor lighting up markings on the walls and the roof. The markings were large and looked like some ancient writing. The light shone through the symbols like through silk paper making the whole space bathe in dim red. The room itself looked like a church of some satanic culture or cult. A narrow bridge led from a doorway to another and she was standing on the last safe spot.Normally glancing down wasn't an option but she felt an urge of wanting to find out what was there below her. On both sides of the bridge there was a abyss in which no bottom could be seen. There was nothing but the faint red glow sowing that they really weren't bottomless. The ones who had built this place had surely given it a lot of thought.
Suddenly something swung across the air and she felt the wind caressing her face again. Even though the room was cold the wind was the only thing making her feel it. A moment later the large blade traveled through the air again but now there were more of them, each one swinging to a different beat.
Pendulums. The single word made her remember how much she hated those things and in not getting hit by them the timing was the most important factor. Great, just great. She happened to have impatient company in a situation where patience was considerer to be a god-given trait. There was no avoiding the pendulums if she was held at gunpoint all the time and forced to hurry. She felt the gun pressed to her back harder.
"So this is what you needed me for." She hissed through her teeth as she bit them together.
"I thought you would've found it out sooner. Perhaps you aren't that smart you play to be." Was the response in a voice colder than the room they stood in. "Now, Ms.Croft! Raid!"
She wrapped her fingers around the torch like she was afraid of loosing the dim source of light and hope she held in her hand. She needed to concentrate on the pendulums. One strike from them would end her life easily and to her horror the only thing she could imagine at the moment was the pain it would cause her. You're going to owe me a lot after this, world.
Her gaze followed the first of the deadly blades counting the rhythm it had in it's swinging. Time after time she stared at it as it easily flowed through the air with no signs of slowing down. There was something here that made them last, something that made them fill their petty reason of existence.
Not facing back she closed on the first swinging blade ready to roll when the time was right. The blow of the wind on every time the blade passed seemed to grow stronger forcing her to fight against falling down. Why couldn't they just destroy things that were never meant to be found? Why was it easier to built a tomb for them, a crypt of hiding their darkness for ages until there was someone who found out the secret? Why had someone embodied a terrible force in an object and in their lust of power undone it?
The pendulum glided through the air again, gracefully, almost beautifully, making art of the death it promised, humming a lullaby bringing calmness into the hearts of its victims. She nodded her head each time the metallic death passed her by and then, when she was ready, rolled forward thus avoiding the embrace of the blade.
The second one had another rhythm, a faster one. It fiercely divided the air into two as it swung itself across the room. Where the first one had promised peace this one had other intentions. Each time it passed her she again nodded her head not wanting to miscalculate and being struck with the rage of the pendulum. After the fifth time the object flew past her she stepped forward, fast, and after the first step took two other thus being out of the blade's reach.
Also the third one seemed to have a mind of its own. Anger shone of it and the red markings on its sides grew dimmer each time it soared through the room. It wanted to strike her down, it yearned to harm her, cut her in two. To her it felt heavier than its predecessors and seemed to possess more power than the two last ones. The rage it slew the air with was unbelievable and it seemed to be wanting to punish the air around it. This one was there to kill and she was grateful the blade was unable to change its course. Once more she nodded her head before dashing forward thus surviving to fight at least for a moment more.
A scream behind her forced her to look back but only thing she could see was one of Karel's helpers falling into the bottomless abyss. For a moment the air was filled of blackish light that disappeared as the second pendulum struck the air again.
She forced her attention back to the task at hand. There were two more pendulums to go, each having their own rhythm and aura, both possessed with magic not known to any living civilization. Perhaps it was something that the early nephilim had inherited from their angel fathers, something that was the last thing left to remind them of the greatness they were born from.
The fourth blade was fast like it needed to hurry somewhere. It was eager to travel through the air, not seeming to want to harm her so much than the third one. There was no grace in its movements, they were rash and restless. The markings on the blade were dark green but their shade didn't alter , it remained the same. This one seemed to be the one that had broken the air with such strength that she had heard it before the reddish lights turned on. It was far tougher to get through than the ones she had managed already.
She soon noticed it had no regular rhythm like the other three. It moved with two different speeds and it never followed any order in doing so. First it moved with the slower one and as soon as she took a step forward it hastened its speed soaring back to her in such a haste that she was sure the thing had a mind of its own.
Determined to get past the bridge she rushed forward as soon as the blade had passed her and managed to get out of its way just in time.
The last one wasn't following any rules. It soared through the air at a speed that best fit its intentions and the black markings at its side glowed dangerously. Counting couldn't help to get her pass this one so she just had to go for it and if for nothing else then for everything she had ever believed in she would do this. For Kurtis, she would. She took a deep breath letting the air fill her lungs and darted forward as fast as she could. The doorway was only a few steps away. She could make it, she would make it!
All of her hopes to reach the doorway dried away as she felt the coldness of the blade entering her body. It had been too late after all.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Tomb Raider games or movies.
The Narrow Road
She had been in many tombs and crypts during her life but this one was different and she knew it. The very atmosphere the stone walls around her held within was dark, not because of the lack of light but because of something that seemed to suck out all the hope and happiness there was in her heart. The walls themself appeared darker than they actually were and the coldness emanating from then creeped Lara to her bones. In none of her dreams about the place where the fates of people were decided had she imagined something like this.
Heaven seemed to lack a hold in the hall she now stood. The hell, on the other hand, could be seen in every corner and every single dark spot existing in the large space. She couldn't see the roof of the large hall above her but she didn't know whether the reason was in the room being so high or just too dark.
The faint light shining into the room from the still open doorway was soon consumed by the darkness and the torch she lit wasn't of much help either. It seemed that the air itself inside this place was death to all the light around but it still yearned to reach out from its depths and receive something not meant to it. In more ways than one the place reminded her of the creatures that had built it. They also yearned to bathe in light but their origin of birth forbid them from doing so. The sadness she felt for these creatures took her by surprise but perhaps they had deserved being thought of with heavy hearts.
If these walls could talk she wondered all the tales they'd have to tell. How gruesome would they be? Could they fill her in of everything that had taken place within them?
Suddenly she felt a gun pressed to her back.
"What is taking you so long, Ms.Croft? Shouldn't you be a professional in this?" The voice was barely a whisper but Lara knew it was Karel's. They man had no patience, none whatsoever, or then he was so full of his own immortality that somewhere in between he had forgotten her being a petty mortal.
If she only had some means of escaping or hiding she would've turned and fought for her freedom but since she was outnumbered there was little she could do. She'd just have to wait for a better time and there was nothing worse to her than waiting – she preferred action. If she was a waiting kind of girl she would never have started her tomb raiding career. Instead of it she would've sat 'home' every night waiting for the tea water to boil.
She felt the gun being pressed harder against her back – Karel was growing very weary of her taking time like this.
Now she knew why she was needed. Karel needed someone to avoid or at least find the booby traps there might be in the halls. She was a living minesweeper only taken along for Karel to achieve his goal faster. She could just walk into a trap straightaway and try to bury the nephilim with her. No – that would mean giving up and letting go wasn't go side-by-side with her spirit.
She knelled, studying the floor in the dim light of her torch trying to avoid as many traps as she could. It didn't matter how closely she looked, the floor still seemed as dark as ever. She touched it with her hand feeling the utter coldness but there was no way the stony floor would remain cold inside the volcano.
She could see nothing on the walls and the floor but far in the other end of the room a light shone. It wasn't an ordinary light – its pale and blue created an eerie feeling, so out of place the light seemed in this room.
If she would take a step it might mean the end of her life but it'd definitely end if she decided to stand still. Carefully she took a small step and to her horror heard the sound that had never caused anything good. A soft 'click' echoed through the hall followed by the sound of something massive tearing through the air that had stood still for ages and she felt a soft wind on her face.
And then there was light but instead of feeling relieved Lara only felt oppression building up inside of her. The red shine creeped along the walls and floor lighting up markings on the walls and the roof. The markings were large and looked like some ancient writing. The light shone through the symbols like through silk paper making the whole space bathe in dim red. The room itself looked like a church of some satanic culture or cult. A narrow bridge led from a doorway to another and she was standing on the last safe spot.Normally glancing down wasn't an option but she felt an urge of wanting to find out what was there below her. On both sides of the bridge there was a abyss in which no bottom could be seen. There was nothing but the faint red glow sowing that they really weren't bottomless. The ones who had built this place had surely given it a lot of thought.
Suddenly something swung across the air and she felt the wind caressing her face again. Even though the room was cold the wind was the only thing making her feel it. A moment later the large blade traveled through the air again but now there were more of them, each one swinging to a different beat.
Pendulums. The single word made her remember how much she hated those things and in not getting hit by them the timing was the most important factor. Great, just great. She happened to have impatient company in a situation where patience was considerer to be a god-given trait. There was no avoiding the pendulums if she was held at gunpoint all the time and forced to hurry. She felt the gun pressed to her back harder.
"So this is what you needed me for." She hissed through her teeth as she bit them together.
"I thought you would've found it out sooner. Perhaps you aren't that smart you play to be." Was the response in a voice colder than the room they stood in. "Now, Ms.Croft! Raid!"
She wrapped her fingers around the torch like she was afraid of loosing the dim source of light and hope she held in her hand. She needed to concentrate on the pendulums. One strike from them would end her life easily and to her horror the only thing she could imagine at the moment was the pain it would cause her. You're going to owe me a lot after this, world.
Her gaze followed the first of the deadly blades counting the rhythm it had in it's swinging. Time after time she stared at it as it easily flowed through the air with no signs of slowing down. There was something here that made them last, something that made them fill their petty reason of existence.
Not facing back she closed on the first swinging blade ready to roll when the time was right. The blow of the wind on every time the blade passed seemed to grow stronger forcing her to fight against falling down. Why couldn't they just destroy things that were never meant to be found? Why was it easier to built a tomb for them, a crypt of hiding their darkness for ages until there was someone who found out the secret? Why had someone embodied a terrible force in an object and in their lust of power undone it?
The pendulum glided through the air again, gracefully, almost beautifully, making art of the death it promised, humming a lullaby bringing calmness into the hearts of its victims. She nodded her head each time the metallic death passed her by and then, when she was ready, rolled forward thus avoiding the embrace of the blade.
The second one had another rhythm, a faster one. It fiercely divided the air into two as it swung itself across the room. Where the first one had promised peace this one had other intentions. Each time it passed her she again nodded her head not wanting to miscalculate and being struck with the rage of the pendulum. After the fifth time the object flew past her she stepped forward, fast, and after the first step took two other thus being out of the blade's reach.
Also the third one seemed to have a mind of its own. Anger shone of it and the red markings on its sides grew dimmer each time it soared through the room. It wanted to strike her down, it yearned to harm her, cut her in two. To her it felt heavier than its predecessors and seemed to possess more power than the two last ones. The rage it slew the air with was unbelievable and it seemed to be wanting to punish the air around it. This one was there to kill and she was grateful the blade was unable to change its course. Once more she nodded her head before dashing forward thus surviving to fight at least for a moment more.
A scream behind her forced her to look back but only thing she could see was one of Karel's helpers falling into the bottomless abyss. For a moment the air was filled of blackish light that disappeared as the second pendulum struck the air again.
She forced her attention back to the task at hand. There were two more pendulums to go, each having their own rhythm and aura, both possessed with magic not known to any living civilization. Perhaps it was something that the early nephilim had inherited from their angel fathers, something that was the last thing left to remind them of the greatness they were born from.
The fourth blade was fast like it needed to hurry somewhere. It was eager to travel through the air, not seeming to want to harm her so much than the third one. There was no grace in its movements, they were rash and restless. The markings on the blade were dark green but their shade didn't alter , it remained the same. This one seemed to be the one that had broken the air with such strength that she had heard it before the reddish lights turned on. It was far tougher to get through than the ones she had managed already.
She soon noticed it had no regular rhythm like the other three. It moved with two different speeds and it never followed any order in doing so. First it moved with the slower one and as soon as she took a step forward it hastened its speed soaring back to her in such a haste that she was sure the thing had a mind of its own.
Determined to get past the bridge she rushed forward as soon as the blade had passed her and managed to get out of its way just in time.
The last one wasn't following any rules. It soared through the air at a speed that best fit its intentions and the black markings at its side glowed dangerously. Counting couldn't help to get her pass this one so she just had to go for it and if for nothing else then for everything she had ever believed in she would do this. For Kurtis, she would. She took a deep breath letting the air fill her lungs and darted forward as fast as she could. The doorway was only a few steps away. She could make it, she would make it!
All of her hopes to reach the doorway dried away as she felt the coldness of the blade entering her body. It had been too late after all.