Chapter Three
Lara reached up and ran her fingers carefully around the torn edges of the map. As she had suspected, it was not painted directly onto the wall, but onto a piece of parchment that has been nailed to the boards with uttermost care. One by one, she worked the tiny silver nails free until she had the delicate map in her hands. She was amazed by the detail on the map. It showed each world with absolute precision. She was able to easily pick out Yggdrasil, the ash tree that connected all nine worlds. She also picked out Midgard, the home of man. Each world was full of detail, so that the map was more of a portrait of the worlds than a map. She was awed by the craftsmanship.
She knelt and laid it onto the floor whilst she pulled an empty silver tube from her pack. She rolled the map and placed it inside the tube. The ends of the tube were sealed with clear plastic, which would protect the contents from harm. Clicking the ends closed, she checked them to make sure they had made a watertight seal. After slipping the tube back into her pack, she rose to her feet and left the room, now knowing her final destination. The hall was as empty as she had left it just moments before. No more mutant rats tried to attack her. The house felt different, almost as if it was readying itself for something.
She rubbed her hand along her injured arm and wondered what she had gotten herself into. An uneasy chill settled into her stomach and she suddenly felt cold. Maybe this was the job that would be the end of her. Perhaps this time, she wouldn't be able to save the world. It wasn't a pleasant thought and she tried to chase it away, but it remained firmly rooted in her mind. More than a little annoyed with herself, she frowned. "Cut it out Lara!" She muttered to herself in her best imitation of her finishing school's head teacher. The bad impression made her smile fleetingly. The bad feeling in her stomach dissipated slightly. The creepiness of the old house was getting to her.
At the end of the hall, she found the stairs she was looking for behind a narrow wooden door. A thick ropy cobweb blocked her way up them until she trailed the muzzle of her shotgun down the wall, freeing one end of the web. It fell to the floor in a heap. The spider that had made it came out of hiding at the destruction of his hard made home. He was as big as her hand. Each leg looked to be as thick as her fingers. She stopped, watching the spider for any nasty surprises. He scuttled back into his hiding place in the rotting wall. Lara disliked spiders, though she didn't fear them. There was something sinister about an animal with that many legs.
The stairs to the attic were narrow and turned sharply on themselves about half way up. They were dusty, and she coughed slightly as she progressed up them, for her footsteps were stirring up the dust. The carpet on the floor had once been very fine, but now it was faded to a shadow of it's former self. The brass rods that held in place had corroded and broken in places. She tread carefully, more wary that ever about the state of the floor under her booted feet. A few ominous groans marked her progress up the stairs. Each time, she stopped, hands resting on the walls as she waited to see if the floor was going to collapse under her.
The door to the attic was an impressive sight, even in an advanced state of decay. It was made from a single sheet of oak and had been engraved in exquisite detail. She stopped and brushed the worst of the dust and cobwebs from the door, trying to make out the picture. She did, and gasped in shock. It had not been engraved when the door was made, and it was not complete.
It showed a slender, longhaired woman, who Lara took to be herself, fighting against an undulating black cloud. She saw that the engraving was only just taking place on the fine surface of the wood. She reached out to touch it, changing her mind at the last minute. Her hand hung in the air, scant centimetres from the door's changing surface. She let her arm drop back to her side, mind occupied with what she was seeing.
As she watched, the details became more and more clear. The cloud advanced, only to be pushed back by the weapon her likeness wielded with utter accuracy. The weapon itself was fuzzy and indistinct, but Lara had the feeling that it was some kind of staff. As the image started to change once again, she placed her finger on the door Abruptly, with bang that made her ears ache, the ethereal image vanished. She felt an acute sense of loss as the blank wood in front of her regained it's normal appearance.
Rubbing her hand over the door, she felt a kind of charge, like left over static on the screen of a television. It made her hand tingle. The few fillings in her teeth throbbed. As suddenly as the picture had vanished, so did the feeling. The door under her fingers felt like normal wood. Whatever magic had made the picture, it was all gone now.
She took hold of the gold-coloured door handle in a shaking hand. It turned easily in her grasp. She pushed open the door and stopped dead. The room was lit by an eerie flat light that was so bright, she had to raise a hand to cover her eyes. At first, she couldn't make out where it was coming from, but as she took a step into the room she knew. And she didn't like it one bit.