23- The City Of Sand
As they had hoped, the place was completely empty by this late hour of the night. They turned off the headlights and left the car a few hundred feet away from the ruins of the ancient city to avoid being spotted. They grabbed their belongings and their respective weapons, and went across the dunes towards the site's tourist car park. A little further on, they saw the faint light of a small makeshift hut where the few guards standing guard for the night were. Apart from that, they did not detect any other life forms on the site, which was rather good news for them.
They passed the first stone archway that marked the entrance to the city and made their way up the large central alley at a run. They weaved in and out of the stone remains, trying to blend in with the scenery. When they heard noise a little further on, they took cover behind a wall that was falling apart. They waited a few moments before the echo of the guards' laughter they heard somewhere in the distance finally faded away in the wind.
They nodded to each other and resumed their progress and moved silently towards the western part of the city. They retraced the steps they had taken with the guide earlier in the day, and reached the second great arch fairly quickly. They remained hidden behind the structure for a moment to check that the surroundings were clear. After retrieving the medallion, Lara handed her bag to Kurtis. As she approached the stone structure to climb it, she stopped abruptly in her tracks. She looked at the two stone statues on either side of her, then turned around, as if to check one last time that no one had followed them. She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but her instincts were tingling furiously. There was something strange about this place, she felt watched.
She turned around and looked at the stone archway she was standing under. She realized the place suddenly looked strangely familiar, as if she had seen these stones and statues staring at them with their empty pupils before. She suddenly felt the weight of something lurking in the darkness.
What is it?, she heard in her head.
She turned to Kurtis. She was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange, unpleasant feeling. The same feeling she had felt earlier in the day.
That feeling of déjà vu again
The last time you felt like this, we ended up facing a T Rex. Or maybe it's just another Minotaur this time
Even though they could barely see each other in the dark night, they glanced at each other in puzzlement.
I don't really feel comfortable either honestly, the mercenary admitted.
Lara shivered. She saw Kurtis tuck his neck into the collar of his coat, and instinctively reach for his Boran X, his eyes trying to pierce the night around them.
Although slightly unsettled by her feelings, Lara walked to the gate and put her foot on the giant lion's paw and climbed. Once again, it was not very difficult for her to reach the top. In the same way as she had done before, she crouched down and then lay down on the stone, her chest slightly in the air, to be able to get a look at the stone which was just below her. She groped blindly the stone but quickly made out the relief she had spotted earlier in the rock. She then took the medallion and placed it inside. Somewhere below, the chirugai lit up, and she saw that Kurtis was standing on guard. She sensed that he wanted to say something, but it was already too late. There was a click, and the medallion embedded itself in the stone.
The two adventurers held their breath for a moment. Lara's senses were in alert, she was glancing around in all possible directions. Kurtis turned to one side, then the other, then stared at the two statues guarding the door. They both expected them to suddenly come to life and run at them. But nothing moved. Not the stone, not the statues, not anything at all. All was quiet and still.
Lara slowly straightened up, ready to reach for her 9mm, her eyebrows furrowed. She turned her gaze to Kurtis, who looked clearly surprised too.
It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense at all.
She lay down again and took a look at the medallion. She quickly observed the patterns and carvings all around it, but found nothing of interest. Instinctively, her fingers grabbed the locket and put pressure on it. At first, nothing happened. But after insisting, Lara felt the object, and especially the stone, slightly move under her fingers. She tried to apply a little more pressure and felt the stone move a little more. The locket and the stone began to rotate. The rock creaked, then locked, like a key in a lock. Lara suddenly remained still and held her breath, her hands hanging in the air, waiting for what was next.
But after several seconds, Kurtis and her realized that nothing was happening either. All they could hear was the wind that blew in great gusts between the columns that surrounded them and the sizzling of the sand.
Maybe it triggered something elsewhere on the site?, she suddenly heard in her head.
She glanced desperately at Kurtis.
"We still have time," the American said to the young woman's dejected look at her abject failure. "We should keep looking for clues, let's move and see what we can find. Maybe we'll find something somewhere else on the site, maybe it opened a passageway or something."
The adventuress slowly stood up and sighed in frustration, hands on her hips. She was rarely wrong, especially when her instincts told her that she was on the track of something. What's more, Kurtis had also a weird feeling about this place. He was clearly uncomfortable with this strange atmosphere too, and although he didn't let it show, she knew he felt the same. It couldn't be a coincidence. All they had to do now was go around the site again and search in the hope of finding something, even the smallest clue.
But as Lara was about to reluctantly climb down the statues and the gate to join the mercenary, everything suddenly changed around them.
For a few moments, there was nothing but black night. Time stood still. There were no traps or direct threats as such, no enemies coming out of the shadows. Only this feeling, this almost instinctive presentiment which seized the two adventurers. Lara and Kurtis stopped moving, both overwhelmed by this destabilizing vertigo.
Everything became a blur, as if time had suddenly slowed down. The wind had died down, and the silence of the desert had become much heavier, almost deafening. The world around seemed suddenly distant. The air had become heavy. Lara could hear herself breathing and felt her heart pounding loudly in her chest, echoing the controlled breathing of Kurtis beside her. She recognized the ruins, but something was different. She felt a sudden and powerful pain shoot through her chest, like some kind of bullet that would have had pierced her skin and left a sharp burn. The shock was so strong she gasped for breath.
Kurtis saw her falling to her knees.
"What is it?!"
"I don't know," she whispered, trying to catch her breath.
Something suddenly moved beneath their feet. A very slight and subtle vibration, which seemed to come from the depths of earth, which very quickly grew in strength. In a few seconds, the ground began to shake violently, followed by strange noises, as if the earth was cracking, twisting, even exploding in different parts. They even thought they had been struck by an earthquake. But very quickly, the two adventurers, who had positioned themselves in an attack position, ready to fire, discovered with amazement that the earth was not collapsing as they had initially thought. It was rising.
Before them, whole sections of walls, columns and building facades suddenly emerged from the sand and dust in a deafening noise. Where there had been mere ruins only moments before, there now stood an entire complex of houses, temples, and buildings of all kinds. As the roofs of the buildings broke through the ground and rose to the surface, the sand and earth slid down the stones like a waterfall, raising thick, suffocating clouds of dust. The two adventurers had to take several steps backwards and protect their eyes and mouths to avoid swallowing the wave of hot sand the appearance of the city had just caused.
After several long and seemingly endless minutes, the raucous roar of the earth finally subsided, and the cloud of sand slowly fell away. A light mist lingered, scenting the surrounding landscape. They squinted hard to see what now stood before them. But judging by the shapes that were taking shape before their eyes, there was no room for doubt.
An entire city had appeared before their incredulous eyes. A city that had been swallowed up and hidden in the desert for centuries. It was logically impossible, and yet the ancient city stood before them, with its tall buildings and cobbled streets.
Once the feeling of unease passed, Lara grabbed and retrieved the medallion and slipped it into the back pocket of her trousers. She then straightened up and climbed down to join the mercenary, who was waiting for her, gun in hand. She drew her weapons, looking in all directions, waiting for any suspicious movement. They stood still for a long time, holding their position.
"When you said the ruins were definitely hiding something, I wasn't really thinking about that," Lara heard Kurtis grumble under his breath.
The young man approached the nearest wall, obviously that of a small house. The chirugai shone its light on the colourful frescoed façade, before going around the building and disappearing a little further away, in a small alley paved with large square stones. Lara and Kurtis followed it carefully through the remaining slight mist of dust.
"I can't believe it," the American said in a breath as he looked at the paintings on the wall in front of him.
Lara looked up at the pitch black sky above them, then at the roof of the hundreds of buildings that had just appeared from nowhere. Then in one motion, they slowly started making their way through the ghost city, looking everywhere. A strange, almost fairy-like golden light shone and illuminated the streets, like stars floating in the air. This was strangely beautiful, but the two adventurers did not feel quite reassured. Everything was so quiet and still around them.
"I've seen something similar before, but I must admit I wasn't expecting this either," the Englishwoman replied, her hands gripping her weapons hard.
"As long as it's not another labyrinth," Kurtis said with an ironic smirk.
Lara shook her head gently.
"As long as it doesn't draw the guards' attention to us," she replied as she glanced at one open door to her right.
They stopped walking at the same time and looked at each other. Kurtis frowned.
"How d'you explain they didn't notice anything that just happened by the way?"
Lara did not answer him. She knew it was impossible for the guards not to have heard or seen anything. And yet, no one had come to stop them. It was as if the outside world had completely disappeared, or maybe they had entered another world themselves. Her inner self knew the answer, but she refused to accept the obvious deep down. She caught sight of Kurtis' azur eyes as he understood what was going on too. But before he could speak to her, Lara turned away, for this was a theory she wasn't willing to accept.
They resumed their walk, looking in all directions, waiting for the next trap, or maybe for the enemies to come and face them. But the place was all quiet and empty.
They followed the small sandy streets, mostly guided by their own instincts and the chirugai. On their way, they found many empty houses, they exchanged surprised glances when, on several occasions, they discovered that some buildings were still impregnated with the presence of their original inhabitants: pieces of furniture were overturned, objects, some pieces of fabric gave life to this ghost city. The two adventurers could not hold back a shiver in front of this gloomy and strange atmosphere. The deeper they went into the city, the more they realized that they were gradually passing into another world. A world where there had once been life.
They wandered through the narrow streets for quite some time, before finally reaching the other side of the city, and its western entrance. They stopped at the feet of the gate and its great lion statues which, like their counterparts, seemed to be watching them. Lara and Kurtis glanced at the buildings and the golden city behind them, then turned to the darkness beneath they could see through the gate. Beyond this gate, Lara knew they would find the pool that had so appealed to her earlier in the day.
I think I don't need to ask you what's next I guess
Her eyes met Kurtis'.
Would you believe me if I told you I know where to go, even if I can barely explain why?
The young man nodded with a tiny movement of the head. Although he did not let it show, he felt a little nervous too. His instincts had suddenly awakened, and seemed to have increased tenfold. The mercenary felt caught up in a whirlwind of emotions that were difficult to express, as if aware of the slightest thing, the slightest element, the slightest ounce of energy around him, as if this place and this city were intimately linked to him. He hadn't felt anything this powerful since they'd retrieved Eckhardt's glove, and it disturbed him greatly. This place had triggered something in him, something he could not resist.
"Something happened here," he muttered.
Lara watched him in silence, still focused on what was happening around them. But she knew the young man was right. She too felt the strength and vibrations of this place. The stone, the sand were impregnated with an energy like she had never felt in any other place before. And now there was only one place where they could find answers, with all that would entail.
They nodded as one, and walked through the stone gate. Behind them, the golden light of the city quickly disappeared, and was soon replaced by thick darkness. They let themselves be guided by the chirugai who showed them the way with a reassuring whistle. They walked in silence, concentrating on their steps. Soon they recognized the mountainous terrain that loomed a little further away, as well as the great silent desert plain that surrounded them.
Something cracked not far from them. They grabbed their weapons and pointed them in the direction the noise came from. They froze in their position and waited, unable to discern anything. Nothing moved.
They heard another noise, much closer this time. The two adventurers both turned around sharply. They heard a sort of scraping sound, the sound of stone squeaking and crunching, or perhaps the sound of something scraping through dry earth and sand. There was another noise close by, like a blast. Lara swiveled to take aim, but she could see nothing in the dark. There were obviously several of them, and they were getting dangerously close to the two adventurers. For a fraction of a second she thought they were horses, whose nasal breathing she thought she recognized as jerky. Yet the footsteps coming towards them did not sound like hooves. They were much softer, much quieter, like those of a beast lurking in the dark, and no doubt ready to pounce on them at the slightest movement.
Suddenly they perceived a quick movement, followed by a sort of yelp and a sharp snap. At least two relatively large animals had targeted them and were charging at them. The two adventurers fired. Even though they were aiming blindly, they heard the bullets pierce their enemies with a resounding noise, similar to that of shattering porcelain. Kurtis fired continuously until he saw the gaping maw of a monster coming towards him. He stepped aside and ducked to avoid the beak and claws that were about to close on him. He fired a final bullet, which pierced the beast in the head. The monster exploded into a thousand pieces with a deafening noise before spreading at his feet.
The mercenary hurriedly turned around. He heard Lara let out a small cry of surprise as the same tinkling of breaking glass sounded, and the creature that had been attacking her collapsed at her feet. After a few seconds, silence fell all around them. Kurtis was the first to move and approach the young woman. Lara grabbed a torch. They both crouched down to observe what lay at their feet. They discovered a pile of thousands of small, square, colourful pieces scattered all over the ground. Kurtis grabbed one, turned it one way and then the other, and couldn't help but frown. A sneaky thought crossed his mind. He turned to the adventuress.
Is that...?, he asked mentally.
Yes, it is
But before they could react, the tiny pieces of mosaic suddenly began to move. The one the American was holding in his hand slipped and fell away, as if pulled by an invisible force, and joined the thousands of other shards that slid across the floor in a gigantic spiral. The earthenware vibrated against the rocky ground with a terrifying noise, as if an earthquake had struck again.
The two adventurers watched helplessly, completely bewildered by this unreal situation. They stood up quickly as the mosaic rose in a swirling motion in front of them, and seemed to fall back into its original shape.
"What the...?!"
One by one, the small tiles interlocked until they completely reformed the two animals they formed originally: two enormous griffins, with the body and powerful legs of lions, and the head and sharp beak of an eagle. Their huge wings spread and glowed in the light of the torchlight. They strode forward to face the two adventurers again. Their beaks snapped and they let out a resounding yelp as their sharp, piercing eyes focused on their prey.
Lara and Kurtis recoiled and grabbed their weapons. They fired at the same time as the first griffin flapped his wings in a powerful movement to take off and charge them. One by one the bullets hit the beast's body, shattering part of its beak, then its head. The pieces of mosaic cascaded one by one until the body of the monster was completely decomposed. Weakened, it stumbled and fell heavily to the ground, where it exploded into pieces once again. No sooner had they shot it down than the second griffin was already coming at them, beak and claws outstretched in a precise attack. Kurtis' chirugai leapt into the air and attacked the creature, striking it several times to make it retreat. The two adventurers went back to firing at the beast as it ran straight at them, and in the same way it collapsed and scattered into thousands of pieces on the ground.
Lara and Kurtis barely had time to reload their weapons before the two creatures were already reforming.
"Move!", Kurtis shouted at her.
They turn away and started to run in the darkness. The American's flying disc made several attacks as it swung ferociously through the air, delaying the two griffins who had recovered and were following closely behind. The mercenary and the adventuress turned around several times to fire at them, they heard the bullets slam into the mosaic, but the creatures did not slow their pace. Lara was thinking at full speed, but she had never been confronted with such a configuration. But if they didn't find a solution quickly, it was very likely they would eventually die of exhaustion fighting those endlessly resurrecting creatures.
As Kurtis once again turned to fire at their pursuers, they were interrupted by more growls, coming from the direction they were heading to. He had just enough time to crouch and roll to dodge the giant beak that split the air and the night before him. Not far away, Lara jumped at the last moment over a fourth griffin that had just appeared. She saw its wing and tail which whipped the air with force close by, before she landed heavily on the sand further away. She skidded to a halt and turned to fire, but had no time to pull the trigger. She saw the second griffin coming at her at full speed, and she had no time to avoid it. The animal hit her head-on and trampled her without mercy, the young woman fell to the ground with a cry of both surprise and pain. Although a little stunned, she rolled onto her back and started shooting in all directions, hoping to disperse the horde of creatures.
A few feet away, Kurtis managed to destroy the first griffin, which collapsed with a cry. He rushed towards the adventuress who was trapped by the three other monsters. With a wave of his hand, he blocked the hooked paw that was about to hit Lara, mentally pushing it away. The animal struggled for a moment, and fought with all its might against the invisible force that prevented it from reaching its prey. Kurtis took advantage of this diversion and moment of confusion to destroy the fourth griffin, before shooting the third. The chirugai took care of the last one by hitting it in right the head, its blades planted just between its eyes. Once again, the little mosaics fell to the ground in a noisy cascade.
The mercenary rushed towards Lara. He bent down to help her up, but she let out a grunt of pain as he grabbed her to help her up. The young woman felt a warm, slimy substance run down her leg, a sharp pain shot through her muscle to the bone. She put an arm around the mercenary's shoulders and pushed on her legs to get back to her feet, but she was having trouble standing up.
"We need to get to the ancient temple and the pool," Kurtis told her hurriedly as he grabbed her firmly by the waist for support.
"I'm sure that's what they're protecting."
Even though she couldn't see him in the thick night, Kurtis nodded with a firm movement of the head. She felt him push her forward, and they began to run together.
They set off, but soon understood they were moving too slowly. Lara couldn't walk properly, Kurtis could feel her hand clutching his shirt as much as she was gritting her teeth and wincing in pain. The young woman realized her injury was much more serious than she had originally thought. An electric shock ran up and down her leg, through her foot, and up into her hip. She winced again and tried to resist the pain, but Kurtis felt her collapse under her own weight.
"I'll carry you."
"No way!", she protested."It's nothing, I'm fine."
Behind their backs they heard the pieces of mosaic reforming and clattering together as the griffins gradually came back to life. They had barely taken a few steps when they heard the beasts running after them again. The two adventurers stopped and turned around. They heard their sharp paws scraping the earth and sand fiercely, and the four griffins let out a loud, shrill cry in unison. Lara suddenly let go of Kurtis and grabbed her 9mm to fire. There had to be a way to counter these mythological creatures.
The mercenary took a deep breath and tried to focus on the two monsters that were coming straight at him. He held both arms out in front of him. As the beasts gained momentum and leapt towards him, the young man closed his mental grip on them, and pushed them together. The two winged monsters slammed into each other with a ferocious roar and exploded into the air. A shower of small mosaics fell before the two adventurers.
"How long d'you think we can carry on like this?", said the mercenary as they took a few steps backwards towards the other two creatures coming at them.
"I don't know, but I'm getting seriously tired of all this!", Lara replied through clenched teeth.
She fired another burst of bullets, which blew the approaching griffin to pieces. However, the fourth was following close behind, and was already coming at them. They had no time to avoid it. Kurtis pushed Lara violently to the side, she stumbled and fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding the furious animal. The mercenary, however, found himself in its path. The griffon charged at him headlong, hitting him squarely in the abdomen. The young man felt his breath suddenly cut off. But instead of letting himself fall to the ground and be trampled, the American tightened his arms around the animal's neck and gripped it firmly. The feel of the smooth stone, so elegantly coloured and decorated, in contrast to the ferocity of the animal, gave him a strange feeling.
The griffin shook its head in all directions to get rid of this parasite that would not let him go, but Kurtis held on. He reached into his back trouser pocket for his periapt shard and stuck it into the animal's neck, and it bellowed and shook its head even louder. Kurtis finally dropped to the ground as the animal fell to pieces, stopped in its momentum. He rolled to the side and stood up as quickly as possible. A few feet away, Lara was already standing, precariously balanced on her injured leg. The young man rushed at her and grabbed her by the waist. They started running again. But after only a few seconds they heard the first griffins reform. Lara could not hold back a sigh of exasperation. Hand on her holsters, she was already ready to fire again. Behind them, the chirugai was making big arcs in the air to hit and slow down the monsters that were already chasing them. An idea suddenly occurred to the mercenary.
"Dontcha think it's strange they're chasing us?", he asked the young woman who was clinging to him.
They tried to advance a few more feet, but they knew the griffins were not far away.
"What do you mean?"
Kurtis suddenly stopped, and so she did.
"They're protecting what we're supposed to find here obviously. If they're protecting something that belonged to the Guardians, why would they avoid us getting access to it?"
The young woman tried to meet his eyes in the night. She felt the stress suddenly rise in her as she heard the creatures' claws scrape the ground nearby. She shook her head vigorously in panic.
"What's your idea then? The glove?"
"The medallion," the mercenary answered.
The adventuress didn't think twice and pulled the pendant from her backpack. They discovered to their surprise that the red stone at its centre shone with a bright light, its rays dazzling them for a moment. Kurtis then took the object and held it up in front of him, towards the griffins who were coming back to charge. And against all odds, the four animals suddenly stopped running, as if petrified in their movements. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, and their screams of rage disappeared into thin air, as if someone had suddenly turned the sound off.
Lara watched the scene in disbelief. The mercenary, though on guard, tried to take a few steps forward, still holding the medallion firmly in front of him, as he would have done with a shield. They both recoiled as the beasts themselves retreated a few feet in the face of the stone's powerful rays. One of them flapped its wings and let out a yelp that sounded like some kind of protest, but made no move towards them. The four beats walked in circle like lions in a cage, before stopping and standing in a line. To Lara and Kurtis even bigger surprise, they just sat on their hind legs, beaks proudly erect, exactly as they were depicted on the decorative walls of the city, and stood still.
The two adventurers exchanged a puzzled look.
"I guess they just needed a sign to recognise us," said Kurtis.
The six of them watched each other for a few moments, in complete silence after what had just happened. The two adventurers slowly regained their breath and their spirits, still disturbed by what was happening. Kurtis saw Lara take a step forward and tried to hold her back. But she waved her hand to reassure him and approached the four guards with slow, measured steps. They did not move an inch.
The young woman stopped in front of one of the animals and gently held out her hand towards it. Again, the animal did not move, not even when the adventuress' hand met the cold mosaic that covered it. A shiver ran through her as she gently stroked the animal's beak. Her eyes admired its beautiful gold and green colours, before gazing into its azure blue eyes. Lara suddenly felt a kind of dizziness.
"That's what I felt earlier," she murmured.
The animal blew loudly and shook its head, as a horse would have done. Lara withdrew her hand in surprise. But the animals did not move, standing on their hind legs, as if they were waiting for their masters' orders. The adventuress felt a movement beside her, Kurtis had just joined her, the medallion still held out in front of him. She saw his gaze shift from one griffin to the other.
"You didn't tell me you were the new mother of dragons," he told her in a soft but yet sneering voice.
Lara returned his mocking smile, though still a little unsettled.
"Sorry, buddies," the American said, addressing the statues. "We were just defending ourselves."
The statues remained completely still in front of him.
"Indar, Khiva, Nour and Khanat," Lara muttered without even realizing it.
The mercenary turned to her and blinked rapidly in misunderstanding.
"Courage, Strength, Peace and Light... those are their names."
"How d'you know that?"
She turned to the American, a little embarrassed.
"I have no idea," she replied, biting her lower lip."I just know it, that's all."
Kurtis felt uncomfortable, but didn't insist any further, sensing that the adventuress was also quite confused. Stranger things had been happening since they had brought the lost city to life, but finally, nothing surprised him anymore.
Lara gave the griffin a final pat before stepping back. She turned to Kurtis and nodded. They started walking and made their way to the place they would find the stone pool. They felt the statues start to move behind them again. As Kurtis turned around, he saw the griffins were following them wisely, still moving in a line, as if they were escorting them.
Above their heads, they finally saw the imposing rocky mass, and soon they could make out something in the dark night. First they discerned walls, then fairly high columns. As they approached, they found a large square building, also covered with elegant decorations such as they had seen in the ghost city. They followed the wall and walked along it until they found a large entrance. They entered at a brisk pace, looking everywhere, and they found themselves in a huge space bordered by mosaic columns. There was no roof, everything was open to the sky. The adventurers realized this was in fact a kind of sacred patio.
As they took some steps forwards, they soon made out something else in the darkness: green tropical plants, several metres high, intertwined with each other, suddenly appeared before them. They made their way through the strangely dense vegetation and finally found themselves at the edge of the large stone pool they were looking for. Here, too, the the medallion had worked its magic: the simple ruined fountain was now a magnificent structure covered entirely in coloured mosaic, echoing that on the four griffins. There was some water in it and small jets of water lapped gently in an almost soothing sound in this particular atmosphere.
In the centre of the pool, Lara and Kurtis noticed that something had appeared there too. Not surprisingly, they found that the statues that were supposed to be there had disappeared. In their place, and as Lara had sensed, there now stood a kind of square pillar several metres high with colourful patterns. They exchanged a look full of innuendo.
They walked around the side and down the steps into the fountain. They found themselves with most of their legs in the water, which, contrary to what they thought, was not that cold. Above them, the four griffins appeared from among the plants and stood at the edge of the pool. They returned to their seated position to keep watch, while the adventurers moved towards the centre of the structure. They stopped in front of the column, which was covered with frescoes: scenes of battles and a divine world were depicted in impressive detail. Still wading in the water, Lara went around the pillar, before returning to the mercenary.
Kurtis took a step forward, his eyes fixed on the pillar. He could clearly feel the anxiety of the young woman next to him, but so was he. His eyes dropped to the medallion he still held in his hand. Then he glanced quickly at the griffins who were waiting for them.
"This is where it all began, isn't it?"
He looked down at Lara, who was watching him with her big brown eyes. But she was unable to answer him, perhaps impressed by the idea that part of the answer to their questions might be right there in front of them.
"The guide said the Persians built the city here because they thought this was a sacred land..."
"... a land where ancestral forces were once unleashed," Lara murmured, staring at one of the battle scenes on the pillar.
"... the land where the first war between the Angels and the Nephili took place."
They exchanged another look. The adventuress suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion, lost in the middle of this unsettling, yet strangely familiar world. She hobbled over to the column, her breathing coming in fits and starts.
"D'you think there's something hidden in there?", Kurtis asked, pointing to the pillar with his chin.
Lara gently raised her hand and placed it on it. Under her palm, the mosaic was as cold as the one covering the griffins, but seemed to react to her touch. Her eyes fell on the two figures depicted just above her.
"That's what we're about to find o-"