Hope you aren't terribly mad at me for not updating for a few months. I just haven't had the slightest interest to write for a while but today, finally, I felt like writing some more.

Disclaimer: And again…I don't own the characters from any of the Tomb Raider games or movies.

Hope in Hell

Sneaking closer to the doorway into the Halls of Doom Kurtis was trying to create a plan that would distract Karel's workers for long enough time for him to get in. Not having his chirugai with him anymore he had to trust in his mental abilities and that meant putting his hopes in something he nearly abhorred.

He lay hidden behind a pile of rocks, which was no doubt part of the result of the mountainside excavation. Not many meters separated him from the misty doorway now and he could see the sun medallion glinting in the air like some invisible force was supporting its weight. Having seen stranger things in his life he left this one to be marveled by the workers of the site.

He needed only one distraction but it wasn't as easy as that. For a small while he needed every single worker there to look somewhere else and hope they weren't witty enough to see through the distraction.

The old 'rock-to-the-bush' -trick was too obvious and couldn't be used since the risk was too high. What other possibilities were there?

Suddenly the dim bulb began to brighten - a single truck stood facing him on the other side of the excavation site seemingly abandoned. Perhaps it had already served its purpose for today and wasn't needed anymore. A facetious smile crept to his face, as he knew what was about to happen. He slowly stood up and retreated behind a large enough obstacle to hide his standing body. He only needed to see inside the truck to be able to control it.

He stood still and breathed in deeply to relax himself. He closed his eyes held out his hands palms outward. Suddenly his eyes shot open revealing only the sclera of his eyes. His body stood like a salt statue but his spirit was free to wander wherever it wanted.

Like air he floated through the excavation site to the truck that stood on its place in perfect silence. He avoided the workers even though he believed there was no way they could sense his being there. The truck itself looked older and more corroded near than from afar and to Kurtis it seemed like it had stood on its place for weeks. Not having to open the truck door he floated through the open window. The heat in the truck was almost unbearable and for a moment Kurtis was grateful that he had left his body behind. He only hoped no one would discover it standing there on its own.

He had never grown used to driving any kind four or more wheeled motorized vehicle and thus had chosen motorcycles over cars. He knew how to drive a truck, though. In fact he had learned it in the foreign legion he had joined after running away from home. At the time it had seemed like a good idea but now…would he do something differently given another chance?

He concentrated on the handbrake slowly releasing it. He turned his thoughts to the gear stick willing it to move into another position. Slowly it slid to reverse and the truck began closing the verge after which the speed would increase immensely. As soon as the truck began reversing the excavation site was filled with shouts showing the astonishment of the workers. In his invisible form Kurtis glided through the site once more and dived back into his body.

Kurtis' body jerked awake and hoping the diversion he had caused was enough he sprinted for the doorway of the Halls of Doom. Feeling enormously relieved having managed staying unnoticed he passed the doorway and entered the tomb. But the relief was short lived as he soon noticed himself standing in a room bathing in dim red light and had stopped just before the tenuous bridge with dark abysses on both sides. If he hadn't done so he might as well have gone to meet his maker. The five pendulums guarding the doorway across the bridge traveled through the air with almost unnatural force as if they had had a mind of their own - one collective mind all set to kill anyone who dared to enter the Halls.

"What a creativity gone to waste", Kurtis muttered to himself stopping the first pendulum blade in the air with his mind. Whoever had designed and built this room hadn't thought of the possibility of a Lux Veritatis warrior coming for a visit one day. The second pendulum was as easy to pass but the weight of the third gave him some trouble. Even his mental powers had limits and secretly he hoped that they would through this room and into the battle he knew was coming if he survived that far.

He almost slipped as a sudden thought ran through his head - had Lara survived this room? Had she lived on or had her body fallen into the black pits so eagerly awaiting for sacrifices? What about Karel? The Lux Veritatis warrior highly doubted that either of them had met their demise in this room - Lara was probably too stubborn to die in a tomb and Karel too willing to rule the world or whatever it was he wanted to do.

The fourth pendulum he had no trouble with but the fifth he only managed to slow down enough to get out its way.

The next room he stepped into also bathed in dim red light, which seemed to be coming from the middle of the room where the light beams from the stones in two paintings rendezvoused. The beams from the stones were dim but the one pointing to an opening in the wall next to the other painting wasn't - it glowed in deep crimson and must've been the source of light in the room. Not wasting his time on where the light actually came from Kurtis ran to the opening and entered it.

Also this room bathed in reddish, sickening light but now he could identify the source of it. Angelic statues stood on both sides without a door and each of them held a lamp. If it hadn't been for the red light the sight would've been pleasing to the eye but now the only emotion that this room managed to create was intense pain. Some of the lamps were broken and the glowing red liquid was slowly dropping to the floor from the remains. Like he was bewitched, Kurtis walked nearer to one and dipped his fingertips in the liquid only to pull back his arm quickly. Whatever it was, it wasn't water and it almost felt like…blood. But blood wouldn't glow like that - not human blood anyway.

Not seeing anything important in the room he kept on going knowing that every second he lingered might be fatal for Lara and for the world itself. He kept a steady running pace since he didn't want to tire himself out - what help would he be for Lara if he was in no condition to fight? Somewhere near he heard metal hitting metal.

After the next turn he stopped dead on his tracks, as he understood where the noise had come from. In deathly speed they charged from the walls and as soon as they had appeared they disappeared inside the walls again. Not having long to study the blades Kurtis rushed forward, having only one thought in his mind - to save both Lara and the world but to his surprise he thought the world as trivial compared to Lara.

There was no way he could stop all the blades with his mind - three or four at most but they moved on such a speed that it wouldn't have helped at all. There didn't even seem to be any mechanism to stop the blades altogether so that option could be left out, too. The only remaining one was the timing - dodge at the exactly right moment and don't hesitate since in this game hesitating could loose one one's head.

As soon as the first set of blades closed on him again and began to retreat, after it had reached the end on his side, Kurtis followed them. If he blew this now he could say bye-bye at least to one of his limbs. He dreaded the moment the other set of blades would meet up with this one but it was inevitable - it was the way the system had been built, to squash everyone who ever tried to enter the Halls.

As the second set of blades came near enough Kurtis rolled hoping to escape being sliced and to his surprise lived to open his eyes again. He used the same tactics on the other set of blades too hoping that this would be the final trap in this place - but after all, these had been created to keep out the nephilim and he was one only partly. There could easily be more to come.

He began to hear voices - someone was talking in the next room and as he took a peek around the corner he saw two backs obviously belonging to men. But the voice in the room was a female one and its owner didn't seem to be afraid of the men who had surrounded her in the small chambers. That could only be one person - a small smile took over Kurtis' face. Not even in a tough situation like this did Lara loose her composure. She remained as calm as ever but that was the trick in her profession - you could never show the enemy your fears, doubts or suspense for if you did the game was over. There'd be no cards left, no aces up in the sleeve. Once the enemy had seen all your cards the only thing you could do was to blame yourself of your stupidity. But Lara wasn't like that - she knew the cards she had and that her hand wasn't a winning one. But what she didn't know was that there was a joker in this game too.

Kurtis sneaked around the corner and closed up on the men as quietly as he possibly could, seeing there were four members in the enemy team and three of them were holding Lara at gunpoint. She needed a diversion and quick. Not wanting to alert the nephilim he decided to abandon the rules of fair fight - it wasn't even likely that the creatures would fight fairly given the same situation. They'd take every advantage they could get.

He took one last step closer to the man nearest to him grabbing the Shadow Katana and without any regrets thrust it through the back of the man in front of him. The man's body stiffened and he let a surprised sigh escape his lips. As soon as Lara noticed what had happened she kicked the gun from the hands of the nearest nephilim and threw herself after the weapon.