The Hunt for Babylon:
By cheekychaos
Chapter Four:
Lara took a deep breath of the cold Tibetan air as she gazed out over the mountains. The Himalayas were spectacular – as Lara had seen before in the past, too. It was a little over fifteen hours since the events in South America and Lara was adapting better than she had thought she would to the sudden temperature change.
Thankfully, she was also dressed warmly in boots, camouflage pants, a black T-shirt and her fur-lined jacket that she had picked up in China all those years ago. Her backpack was on her back and she wore her fingerless gloves and guns as usual.
Turning, Lara began walking up the hill to the pyramid just above her – a pyramid just like the one in South America. Hopefully it would contain the other half of the map, too. Grinning expectantly, she jogged up the snow covered slope, her eyes fixed on the large doors ahead.
Once Lara reached the paved stairs leading up to the doors, she slowed to a walk, careful of any danger that might be about. She hadn't seen any sign of anyone else yet, but that didn't always mean anything – not to mention the possibility of booby traps.
After deciding it was safe for now, Lara turned to the doors and took a good look. Stepping forward, she placed her hands flat on either door and gave them a large push, putting her whole body behind the task. For a moment, it looked as if the doors would refuse to move, before there was a loud groaning sound and they began to budge forward.
With a final push, the doors swung open and a breeze of musty, warm air flooded over Lara. Unlike the pyramid in South America, this one looked as if it was still intact. There was no sign of any snow or animals and soon Lara was taking off her jacket because of the warmth.
As the light dimmed, Lara began to creep forward, her hands hovering above her guns and her eyes wary. This was where things began to get interesting. A grin curved her lips as her blood began to pump. This was what Lara loved to do – and what she did well.
Noticing a line of evenly spaced grooves along the wall nearest her in the dim light, Lara lit a flare and threw it forward, illuminating a wide paved area. The evenly spaced grooves were also present on the opposite wall. Booby trap number one: a dart trap.
Judging the spacing and the distance carefully, as she had done many times before, Lara began to sprint past the grooves and headed for what she thought was a safe area. The hiss and click of blades shooting out of the grooves and hitting the opposite wall echoed behind her as she ran.
Working her way deeper and deeper into the pyramid, Lara came across several more booby traps. There was nothing yet that she had not seen before, and Lara wondered if something was going on. The temple in South America had been guarded better that this. Lara was still thinking about this when she stepped forward and felt the ground begin to crumble beneath her. Instinctively, she threw her arms above her head and tried to grab anything to slow or stop her fall. But before she could, Lara hit a steep stone chute and tumbled head over heels down it, before landing in a heap at the bottom.
The room smelt damp and musty, and it had a dirt floor. Lara quickly rolled to her feet and lit another flare, the other having been lost somewhere along the fall. It was a small, stone walled space, with a narrow passage leading off into the darkness.
Turning around, Lara looked up the chute that she had just come down. "Well, I can't get back through there." She muttered.
Since forward seemed the only way to go, Lara walked a few steps down the passage, before noticing that the floor suddenly became paved. When she cautiously stepped onto the stones, they began to tremble. Immediately, Lara jumped backwards and the stones fell away to reveal rows of large metal spikes that glinted dully in the light of the flare.
Lara stared down the passage as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she leapt forward and sprinted down the passage as the stones fell away behind her. Reaching the T-intersection at the end of the passage, Lara slowed down, wary for more traps. Her eyes snapped up when she felt the passage rumble beneath her feet.
Gasping softly, Lara saw two large boulders rolling towards her and took off in another burst of speed down the slope to her right, veering to her left at the last minute. She slid down another steep slope and carefully watched the jutting spikes at the end. Timing carefully, she jumped just before she reached the spikes, landing in another narrow room.
Lara heard the boulders slam into the wall and doorway behind her a second later, the sound echoing around the room. Wedged as they were, they effectively cut off her way back. Barely seconds later, another grinding noise echoed out over the room.
"Not again!" Lara growled, as she looked hastily around the room. One of the walls, decorated in jagged spikes, moved steadily towards her as she searched.
Spotting an opening high in one wall, Lara didn't hesitate, knowing every second counted. She sprinted to the wall and jumped up to grab the edge. Quickly, she pulled herself through the opening, adrenaline giving her extra strength, as the room got smaller and smaller. Lara scrambled forward a few steps as the spiked wall closed behind her with an echoing clang.
Then, panting, she leaned against one of the walls of the narrow passage and caught her breath. That had not been easy. After a few minutes, Lara continued down the dim passageway, this time more wary for more booby traps, having some idea of what to expect now.
Once again, the floor texture of the passage changed slightly, signaling another spike pit. Lara took a deep breath and began to sprint, the stones falling away seconds after she put pressure on them. This time, however, she didn't hesitate when she burst in to the next room. Lara heard a grinding noise again and groaned. "Bloody Hell!" she swore.
Looking around, Lara looked for an escape, conscious of the wall moving ever closer. She spun, searching the other wall for some sort of doorway or opening, but there was nothing. Starting to feel a little panicked now, Lara ran forward. As she did, the ground gave way beneath her and she fell downwards.
Landing heavily in a pool of warm, dank water, Lara groaned softly as the jolt ran all the way up her legs. She straightened, the flare still spluttering, even though it was underwater a few steps away. Lara now stood in another narrow passage with stone walls, except this one was mid-calf deep in water. Water that was now soaking uncomfortably into her boots and pants. But this was nothing new to Lara, so she just dealt with it in the same way she always did – she ignored it.
Lara left her sodden flare where it was and moved warily down the passage. The only sounds were the faint splashes of her steps and her still slightly ragged breathing. Digging out another flare as the light from the other began to dim, Lara gazed about her. The stones in the walls had decorative carvings much the same as the ones in South America.
Suddenly, part of the wall seemed to break away and swing downwards. Lara dived forward into a roll, and was promptly soaked by the dank water. A large, curved blade barely missed slicing her in two and as she watched, began swinging like a pendulum behind her. Pushing up from the dank water, Lara could see three more blades in front of her, swinging like pendulums and blocking the way.
Lara glanced around, looking for a way past the next blade. Unfortunately, the walls were all made of smooth, even stones, and the blade was swinging a little too fast to safely dodge past. Then she spotted a slight crevice running along the left wall. It was just high enough so that she would pass harmlessly above the blade, if she traversed along it hand over hand.
So Lara moved to the left wall and jumped up to grab the crevice. Then, carefully, she traversed along the passage, passing safely above two of the three remaining blades. Just past the third blade, the crevice stopped. Lara dropped and dusted off her hands. Then she turned to eye the final blade still baring her way forward.
She stood there for a minute, watching the blade swing back and forth. Lara scowled as she went through her options – there weren't many. Sighing in disgust, Lara rolled her shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension. It seemed the only way to get past the blade, was to run for it. Helpfully, the blade was swinging a little slower than all the others, so it wouldn't be quite so difficult. There was a chance, however, that the blade would meet some of her unprotected flesh, but Lara didn't care for that option. So she'd just have to make sure it didn't happen. She wasn't a Tomb Raider for nothing.
Lara began counting as the blade swung past her. She would have about three seconds to get beyond the arc of the blade. Watching the blade swing back towards her, Lara tensed. As soon as it changed direction, she dived forward. She landed on her shoulder blades and rolled, just squeezing past the blade in time. Lara coughed a little as she came up, once again getting covered in water. She wiped her face and smiled wryly. She always did seem to get covered in gross things in her line of work.
Climbing to her feet once again, Lara continued down the passage. Sounds of swishing still drifted through the air from the blades behind her, breaking the somewhat eerie silence of the passage. By now, Lara was sure that this passage lead to what she was after – it wouldn't be so highly protected if it wasn't important. Lara had noticed over her years of tomb raiding, that the more traps, the closer you were to whatever you were after.
A few meters down the passage, Lara stopped, suddenly getting a bad feeling. Looking down, Lara noticed there were a few loose stones on the floor of the passage. She bent down and picked one of them up. It was about the size of her fist and a decent weight. Aiming carefully, Lara threw the stone forward. It landed with a splash.
A second later, a loud bang reverberated down the corridor, startling Lara so much she jumped. She hadn't expected that. The loud bang had come from two sections of the wall springing out and slamming into each other with a great deal of force, appearing to be rather like a stone gate. Except, as Lara watched, the sections retracted, before surging forward again and slamming together.
Lara could hear slightly muffled slams slightly out of rhythm to the walls in front of her, and gathered that there were more of the traps beyond. Taking a few steps backwards, Lara watched the walls. As soon as they slammed together, she began to sprint, surged through them as they opened. Catching sight of the walls ahead, she sped up. And it was just as well, as Lara heard the hiss of blades shooting out of the walls as she ran past.
Darting through the next trap just in time, Lara felt the adrenaline surge through her blood and she pushed herself forward, knowing that if she slowed down or faltered for any reason, she wouldn't make it. With expert grace, Lara dodged easily around the blades and barriers, a grin spreading across her features at the rush she always got from a challenge like this.
She skidded to a halt just beyond the last section of wall, and grinned in triumph at the ornate stairs leading upwards. She'd made it!
Lara hooked her flare into her belt as she climbed the stairs and tried to ignore the squishing in her boots. Her hands hovered near the holsters of her guns. After the appearance in South America of a whole lot of armed men, Lara wasn't taking any chances.
The room at the top of the stairs was empty of people though, so Lara hoped this meant that no one had discovered there was a second artifact yet. It was always so satisfying when your opponents never knew what you were up to until you had already done it.
The room itself was circular and highly decorated with engravings on all the walls, which were made from the same sand coloured stone as the temple in South America had been. Smooth pavers covered the floor and Lara trod on them carefully, wary that they might be booby trapped. There were several statues surrounding the lone pedestal in the centre of the room, guarding it. But it was the artifact sitting on the pedestal that caught Lara's attention.
It was much like the Tear of the Stars, as it was made from the same material. It resembled a large piece of quartz or diamond, except that swirled within it were streaks of cloudy material that looked almost like milk. Symbols were carved in a strip around the middle and inlayed with a silvery metal. One of the edges was rather curved and jagged, as if it were the edge of a complicated puzzle piece – which is essentially what it was.
Lara walked over to the pedestal and gazed curiously at the piece. It was very beautiful and deserved its name – The Heart of the Heavens – just as the Tear had. But then, it did make sense when you considered the people that built these temples to house the pieces had crafted them as well. To them, the pieces had been very special indeed. And so was what the pieces led to – the mythical city of Babylon.
Still grinning, Lara reached out and grabbed the Heart, carefully stowing it in her backpack. As she picked up the artifact, a door opposite swung open with a soft creak. 'Brilliant!' Lara thought. 'A way out!'
It didn't take Lara long to find her way out into the bright sunshine and crisp air again, since she met no booby traps on the way. Slipping on her sunglasses, Lara was about to dig out her jacket when she heard several hushed voices speaking in Russian. Since she had come out of a doorway towards the back of the temple, they probably didn't know she was here – yet. Unfortunately, there were between Lara and her hidden jeep.
Creeping around a corner, Lara found a spot to hide as she listened to their conversation from above. Looking to see who it was, Lara was surprised to find it was the same woman and her goons from South America.
"We need the second artifact!" the woman snapped in Russian.
"What about the first one?" one of the armed men asked.
"We'll deal with that later." The woman answered flatly. "What's taking Gregori so long?"
As she spoke, two more armed men came out of the main doors to the pyramid. "Well Gregori?" the woman demanded.
"The traps have been triggered." Gregori reported. Then he tossed something to the woman. "And I found this."
It was one of Lara's flares. The woman swore. "Do we go after them?" Gregori asked.
"No." The woman replied. "We wait for them to come out."
Lara swore silently. She had been hoping they'd go into the pyramid, giving Lara enough time to get to her hidden jeep. But it seemed today that luck wasn't going to be on her side.
"Spread out!" the woman ordered. "There may be more exits!"
Lara suppressed a groan. This woman was good. Sighing, Lara realized she had three options: she could go back inside the pyramid and try to wait them out, she could take the excessively long way around or she could fight her way out. Normally, Lara was never reluctant to fight her way out of any situation, but this time, her opponents didn't know who it was that was here – and keeping it that way seemed like a good plan to Lara. It would be an advantage to know who your enemies were without them knowing who you were.
To that end, Lara crept backwards out of her hiding spot, keeping a wary eye out for the armed men now climbing all over the pyramid. Unfortunately, one of the men caught sight of her and shouted the alarm. Lara drew her guns in a fluid movement and took off in a sprint. She fired at a few of the men in her way, and they dived for cover, clearing her path. As the men returned fire, Lara dodged the bullets nimbly and put on a burst of speed.
"Get her!" the woman yelled.
No, they wouldn't. Lara was too good for them. By the time the goons were organized enough to give chase, Lara was halfway down the trail and had almost disappeared from sight. This wasn't the first time she had been chased and Lara knew better than to get caught, anyway.
Lara darted into a twisting ravine as she heard a burst of gunfire above her. The sheer walls and icy hill would give her protection from a lot of the gunfire and hopefully cause the men to hesitate in their pursuit. Lara knew she, too, would have to be careful, but this wasn't the first time Lara had been forced to flee down an icy slope.
Moving as quickly as possible, Lara put as much distance as she could between herself and the goons. As the first one entered the ravine, Lara turned the first corner. Chips of rock and ice burst out from where the man's bullets dug into the rock wall. They fell harmlessly onto the trail behind Lara.
She felt her mouth curve into a grin. They'd have to do better than that, if they wanted to catch her.
Lara continued to dodge and twist her way through the ravine, avoiding the men easily. Because the path twisted so much, it was quite easy to keep from sight – and therefore out of range of any bullets that might come her way.
Bursting out of the ravine into a clearing, Lara paused slightly and listened for a sign of her followers. Hearing no sounds of them near enough to her, Lara slowed to a jog and tried to breath more deeply. The cold mountain air soothed the slight burning in her lungs as she brought her jagged breathing under control. Frowning at her condition, Lara decided she was just going to have to train a bit harder when she got back to England. Her condition wasn't as good as it should be – after all, she shouldn't be panting yet!
Lara made it to the edge of a vertical drop before the woman and her men rushed out from the end of the ravine. Glancing over her shoulder, Lara flashed them a grin. Then she jumped over the edge.
And landed in a crouch on the hidden ledge below.
She ran along it, heading towards the tunnel entrance set into the wall. Stopping a few steps inside, Lara turned to see if any of the men had caught her trick. But, remaining hidden in the shadows of the entrance, Lara saw the woman skid to the edge of the cliff and look about wildly. After a moment of looking about, the woman snarled and spun, stalking away from the edge in anger.
Lara grinned. They'd lost her! She walked back through the tunnels to the clearing where she had left her jeep. Climbing in, she threw her backpack onto the passenger seat and started the engine. As she drove down the mountain, Lara couldn't keep the smile off her face. Sometimes it was so good to be alive.
To be continued…