Slouching Toward Bethlehem
A continuation of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.

Disclaimer:
I do not own any recognisable characters that appear in this piece of fiction. Lara Croft, Kurtis Trent and others are property of Eidos and Crystal Dynamics. The only thing I own is some OCs and the plot. This story was written for pleasure only. I am making no profit from this story.

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» Chapter Ten: Extraction »

All three were silent for a moment, letting this new information sink in. Kurtis was the first to break the silence.

"What is "their realm"?"

"The text is probably referring to the underground cities in Cappadocia," Rouzic answered, shifting in his seat, "That's where the Nephilim were supposedly cast after their banishment from heaven."

Lara nodded her head. "I've heard of these cities, but I didn't know they had anything to do with the Nephilim."

"So," Kurtis put in, "Karel has to make his sacrifice in one of these underground cities?"

"Yes," Rouzic told him.

"Well, aren't there about 40 of these cities?" Lara asked,"How are we supposed to know which city is the right one?"

"Last time he was here Master Karel mentioned that he had a team busy excavating in Cappadocia. At the time I did not know what this meant, but I suppose they are excavating the city mentioned in the text."

"So," Lara said, catching on, "Basically we just look out for the huge excavation site in the desert?"

Rouzic nodded.

"Lara," Kurtis whispered, grabbing her arm and pulling her off to the side, "You sound as though we're going to go found this city."

"Well, what did you expect?" she answered, confused.

"As far as I see it, we have two choices. Either find some way to kill Karel and prevent this ritual or hide our asses on the other side of the globe. Since there is no way to actually kill Karel, I'm leaning heavily towards the running away option."

"Kurtis," Lara answered seriously, "I am aware of our limited options here," She stood silently for a moment. "I think a realistic option here would be to go to Cappadocia, find this excavation site and total it. That way we can at least buy some time."

"You don't agree with my running away idea?"

"Get real here Kurtis; Karel's gonna tear the world apart looking for you. Do you really want anyone's deaths on your conscience?"

Kurtis was silent for a while, staring at his feet. Lara was about to repeat herself, when he lifted his gaze to meet hers. In his eyes she saw real fear.

"It's just," he paused, trying to find a way to organise his thoughts, "After Eckhardt killed my father that was it. That was the end of the Lux Veritatis. Except for me. I'm the only one left, and if Karel does this ritual… That's hundreds of years of our Order gone… All those men and women who gave their lives, it'll have been for nothing." There was a long pause before he added, "There'll be no-one else left to fight the Nephilim."

Lara stepped forwards, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I will fight them," she told him, "We both will. I promise."

Kurtis slowly nodded. They both continued to stare at each other, until Lara awoke from her reverie.

"Luther…" she started, but then trailed off when she took in the letters on the computer screen, "I've seen this writing before," she said suddenly, moving back to the desk, "It was on a huge stone slab inside the Strahov." She used the mouse to zoom in on the text. "It was underneath a huge saw. I accidentally triggered the machine and it started cutting the stone in half."

"That's probably why only half of the original text is here," Kurtis said, "The rest must have been too damaged to translate," He looked over at Lara. "Nice one Croft."

"Sorry," she replied sheepishly, "But at least this way Karel knows as little as we do."

Kurtis shrugged in reply.

Light suddenly flooded the cavernous room. Lara and Kurtis looked up from the computer screen in shock to the sound of dozens of automatic rifles being armed. They both hurriedly raised their guns and aimed them in the direction of the noise.

"Oh shit," Kurtis said. A dozen masked commandos appeared before them, weapons converging on the pair.

"I take it you're not here to return a library book?" Lara quipped.

There was a noise behind them, and both turned to see Rouzic had bolted from his chair.

"Damn librarian," Lara muttered, watching as Rouzic moved to safety behind the commandos.

"You should have shot him when you had the chance," Kurtis added, exchanging looks with her.

Lara was about to reply when the line of commandos separated, allowing a figure to step forwards from behind their ranks. It was a figure the both of them recognised immediately.

"Mr. Trent," Marten Gunderson said, smiling, "You are a smart man. I trust you to cooperate with us fully. Otherwise-"

He waved his arm and every single commando aimed their weapon at Lara.

She seemed unmoved.

"Surrender your weapons Trent. They will be of no further use to you."

Kurtis, still keeping hold of his Boran X, turned his head towards Lara.

"You've gotta go," he told her, ignoring the hostile presence before him for the moment, "If I give up then they'll shoot, but if I don't they'll shoot anyway."

Lara thought quickly.

"Mr. Trent?" Gunderson said, "I am getting impatient."

"You distract them," she whispered, "They can't shoot you. I'm gonna make for this service exit of yours."

Kurtis nodded.

"Mr. Trent? You have five seconds before we open fire."

Kurtis turned back towards Gunderson and his men.

"Five."

Lara scanned her surroundings for a quick escape route.

"Four."

Kurtis closed his eyes, feeling for the connection between himself and his Chirguai.

"Three."

Lara looked at Kurtis, meeting his eyes.

"Two."

The Chirguai ripped free of its restraints.

"One."

Lara quickly ducked down behind the desk as a barrage of rifle fire was directed at her. A scream rent the air as the Chirguai found a target. Kurtis began firing his Boran X at the men.

"Go! Now!" he yelled over the noise.

Lara rushed out from behind the desk, gun blazing as she made for the cover of the nearby stacks. The distraction was enough, and she got away unscathed.

She snatched a quick glance over her shoulder. Kurtis was still holding his own. She cursed as she heard Gunderson yell for the soldiers to find and kill her.

Quickening her pace, she raced down the length of a bookcase, turning at the end and cutting across the width of the room. In this way she managed to escape the soldiers who were seeking her, and doubled back towards the entrance. Kurtis was still holding off a number of soldiers, and Lara managed to pick off a few from her vantage point.

There was a shout, and Lara quickly flung herself behind a stack as the men fired at her. The soldiers were so busy shooting at her, Kurtis managed to slip away from the desk and make a break for the shelter of the stacks. Bullets impacted into the wall beside him, but none met their mark.

"Hey," Kurtis breathed, once he had made it to Lara's position, "Let's get the fuck out of here shall we?"

Lara didn't need telling twice, and sprinted after Kurtis, who led the way towards the service exit through which he had entered the Archives. The two were moving at such a break-neck speed that any soldiers who fired at them missed their target by miles.

They reached the back of the Archives, and Kurtis did not miss a step, lifting a palm and mentally blasting the door before them off its hinges.

They both raced through the newly created exit, and found themselves in a blue hallway. Before them were three doors; two obviously leading to toilets, but Kurtis ignored the third and started down the stairway on their right. Lara did not hesitate, following Kurtis as he raced down.

They emerged in another hallway, this time longer and with noticeably more doors set down its length. Kurtis did not slow however, and Lara found she had to quicken her pace to keep up with him. Maybe it was the fear concerning the Lux Veritatis which spurred him on; she wasn't sure.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a bullet whizzed dangerously near her ear and impacted into the wall. She urged herself faster, making it around the next corner just in time.

A hand grabbed her arm, pulling her into a darkened room. She was about to cry out when she realised it was only Kurtis. He put a finger up to his lips, signalling to her to be quiet as the soldiers passed their hiding place.

"What now?" she said, once she was sure the men were out of earshot.

"I don't know," Kurtis answered, "I'm kinda making this up as I go along."

They both stayed stock still as more soldiers ran down the corridor.

"They're gonna have all the exits covered," Kurtis told her, moving forward and peering around the doorway. The corridor was now empty. "I think that was the last of them," he continued, turning back to her, "I think we took out about four of them before. That leaves eight more to deal with." He was silent for a moment. "We're gonna have to double back. I don't think they all followed us back here. The entrance is gonna be only lightly guarded."

Lara nodded in agreement.

Kurtis checked down the corridor once more before venturing out of the room, indicating to Lara that she follow.

TBC...

Damn, this chapter has changed drastically since I first wrote it... Oh well, I prefer this version :) It is so hard to write these action scenes, especially since I have a penchant for writing myself into corners... Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and in regards to Luther Rouzic: Did it ever occur to you that I simply used an existing (although unused) character because I have no imagination of my own? :s No, seriously, I kept looking at his picture on the web and thought, "God damn that dude is scary. I wish he had been in AoD!" So putting him into my story was like the next best thing to do... Ten chapters? Am I into double digits already? This story has just whizzed past hasn't it? :D