34- Far Into The Lost Lands
KUTNA HORA, CZECH REP., SOME HOURS BEFORE
For endless minutes there was only a thick mantle of dust around her, and this shrill whistle in her ears. Against her cheek she felt the cobbles'cold and uneven stone. A warm liquid was leaking from somewhere on her scalp, but she couldn't tell from where exactly, as the pain spread all across the top of her head. She blinked several times, rubbing the blood that had run into her eye with the back of her hand. Not far away, she recognised the bodies of some of Javier's men, but also the debris of the skeletons that had escaped from the crypt.
She coughed loudly, and grunted. She realised she was injured in several places. She tried to move her head and sit up, and felt her aching muscles protesting loudly. Something was preventing her from moving her leg. When she managed to look down, she realised a huge block of stone had collapsed on her. She tried again to pull her leg away, pulling with all her might, but it was a waste of time.
She stopped struggling for a few moments, furious. That stupid adventuress had managed to take her by surprise. But the game was not over. She hadn't managed to take the glove back, and the warmth the Norwegian felt on her arm suddenly reminded her that the glove was still there indeed. When she looked down at it and flicked her fingers one by one, the object squeaked, but seemed to respond well to her touch. Her fist tightened in rage, she growled again.
Out of strength, the young woman rolled on one side, and stretched her arm towards the enormous stone that was crushing her. A powerful jet of energy escaped from the glove, and blew the stone to pieces. The enormous weight that was crushing her suddenly lightened, and her body finally found its freedom. Leaning on both hands, scratching the ground with her nails, Saija gradually stood up, first on all fours, then very slowly on one leg, then the other. With a cold, hard look in her eyes, she searched for potential survivors of the explosion in the thick smoke that continued to stagnate around her. The blast had been particularly violent, and had blown the whole laboratory away, which now looked like a field of ruins. There were body parts everywhere, and a lot of blood. Not far away, one of the men was dying in terrible pain.
She looked around the laboratory, but soon realised that there was nothing left to save. There was nothing but desolation here. She even found herself thinking that they were lucky that the church had survived and not collapsed on them.
With the back of her hand, she wiped away the blood that had gathered in the corner of her mouth. Her jaw clenched tightly and a terrible grimace of rage appeared on her grimy face.
Bitch
In the corner she noticed Javier, his back against the wall. The man, covered in blood too, was compressing the huge wound that had pierced the flesh of his arm. His panting breath was heaving in his chest in great gulps. His mad, hateful eyes met those of the young assistant. He turned his head to one side, then the other, looking for the soldiers who had survived the explosion. A small group of a few men had gathered a little further away, one of them looked in bad shape.
"We have to go after them," he said between two wheezes. "Before they counterattack..."
But Saija seemed to be ignoring him completely now, obviously focused on something else. She turned away abruptly, and hobbled to the desks, or at least what was left of them. She stepped over a few pieces of stone that had fallen there, under which Miranda's body now lay. She looked around the furniture, moved stones with her foot, turned around. But she could not find what she was looking for. She let out a terrible shrill scream, a scream full of rage and frustration, before pulverising the piece of furniture standing in her way. The glass material in front of her exploded into a thousand pieces, that were thrown with force against the walls. A new tremor shook the destroyed laboratory, and Javier had to lean to the side to avoid the splinters of wood that flew in his direction.
After a few seconds, when the silence finally fell again, and when the Argentine finally stood up, he found Saija rummaging through one of the wooden crates stuck at the very back of the room. With ease, she popped the nail-sealed lid and pulled out a whole bunch of cables and computer equipment. The man watched her without understanding.
"I've got a better idea," she simply replied, this time pulling out big walkie-talkies.
Javier recognized the GPS phones that Miranda had taken care to bring with all the other equipment.
"There's no need to go looking for them right away and exhaust ourselves trying to find out where they went. They're hidden, and probably think they're safe by now."
The Argentine struggled to his feet, and finally managed to get up. The young woman turned towards him, an uncontrollable shiver ran through him from head to toe as he met her gaze.
"You want us to wait for them to make the first move and come out into the open when they think they're out of danger, is that it? Wouldn't that be taking the risk of getting attacked while we're weakened or getting double-crossed?"
"No chance."
She turned on the device she was holding and handed it to him.
"They and I are looking for the same thing. Might as well let them wear themselves out doing the dirty work for me."
"But they've probably thought of that too... they must know we'll be watching for their every move," Javier retorted with a slight frown.
"What they don't know is that while they're busy fooling around and finding the source for me, we're going to find a way to track them down."
The henchman looked at her out of the corner of his eye, not sure what she meant by that. He'd never particularly liked the young woman, and was even more suspicious of her now that she'd gotten her hands on that weapon of mass destruction she carried on her arm.
"We're going to use the old method, and use our connections," the young woman explained to his reluctant look. "Or at least, those of this bitch."
Javier grabbed the device and glanced at the cracked but still functioning screen.
"He has no close relationships that I know of, he's a loner. In any case, he's always been careful not to leave any trace behind. But I'm sure we'll find something in her contacts. There's always someone willing to talk."
The Argentine suddenly felt uneasy at the smirk that appeared on the young woman's half-human face. He caught the worried glances of his colleagues, who were standing a little further back, but did not dare to look down at the glove that was emitting a strange light on the assistant's arm.
The young woman nodded to them to get to work.
"They want to play..."
On her arm, the Devil's Hand vibrated a little harder and heat her skin dangerously. Her fingers tightened one by one to form an iron fist.
"... so, let's play. We'll see who's the strongest."
—
They left Alexandria within minutes after packing a few things, and drove off into the sunset. Despite the adventuress' insistence, but to Roman and Kurtis request, Jean Yves was driving the jeep, taking advantage of the shortcuts he knew to gain a little time on the road to Giza.
The car drove almost without a hitch to the outskirts of Cairo. Just before entering the main arteries of the city and getting lost in the traffic, Jean Yves turned off again and drove through small deserted streets. After several minutes of getting lost in the labyrinth of the Egyptian capital's suburbs, the archaeologist turned onto a dirt track that ran straight into the desert.
In the nightfall, the five companions discovered with amazement the oppressive and black shape of the three high pyramids on the horizon. Despite the air-conditioning in the car, the hot air outside was suffocating, and tightening the knot that had formed in the pit of Lara's stomach. As she glimpsed the sand dunes and the desert in the distance, she was overcome with a bitter and extremely nostalgic feeling.
Her eyes stared unblinkingly at the elegant but strangely hostile shapes standing in the desert horizon. She recognised perfectly the three small mastabas nestling at the foot of the largest pyramids, and suddenly felt lost in front of these lands she used to know so well, and yet seemed to be rediscovering today.
Egypt, Werner
Kurtis gently nudged her with his shoulder. When she turned her head, he gave her one of those smirks he was so good at, even though his eyes betrayed his own apprehension. He definitely looked better, even if he was not really reassured himself at the idea of entering the great pyramid.
They exchanged a knowing glance, enjoying a brief moment of levity. Next to them, Roman let out a loud snore: the young man had been sleeping for a while, his head resting against the tinted window, literally exhausted by the two days that had just passed. Lara glanced at Jean Yves, who was concentrating on the road, and then at Mark, seated on the passenger side of the car, who was constantly looking at his phone and clutching it nervously.
As they finally approached the site, Mark motioned to Jean Yves to turn right. He took a sharp turn, leading them down a small, barely marked road away from the tourist facilities. Roman woke up slowly, and glanced out of the window in surprise as he finally discovered the huge pyramids not far away. They passed a new area of ruins, overlooked by the sphinx. Amongst the debris surrounding it was an ancient temple façade with its rounded columns, as if appearing from nowhere in all that sand. Lara recognised it straight away: it was the entrance to Semerket's temple. Her eyes remained riveted on it, before it finally disappeared behind a mound of earth.
The car continued on its way at a slower pace, as it approached new excavation areas. At the opposite end of the tourist zone there was a crossing point, and then a whole bunch of tents and facilities for the archaeologists and workers on the site.
As the jeep slowed down as it reached the crossing point, Lara abruptly rose from her seat and wriggled into the trunk, scaling the seats with ease. Jean Yves, Mark, Roman and Kurtis gave her a bemused look.
"It's better if no one knows I'm here," she whispered to Kurtis as she ducked deeper into the bags.
She put the shawl she wore over her head, the four men turned around, and tried to act as if nothing had happened. The car stopped, the two archaeologists showed their access badges to the guard, who recognised them, but who, as Lara had sensed, did not fail to cast an insistent eye on the other two passengers sitting at the back of the vehicle. He nodded to the two men sitting in the front seat, and after a few seconds, they resumed their journey at pace. Jean Yves drove towards a grouping of several tents. The jeep's tyres screeched in the dust as he finally stopped the car a little further on.
"Luckily enough, Dr. El Awady was supposed to come today and tomorrow to check in with the team," Mark explained as everyone broke off. "But he had to cancel at the last minute..."
"I'm quite sorry to hear that," grumbled the demon hunter.
The English archaeologist glared at him, trying not to let himself be interrupted but offended at being taken to task again by the American. Lara straightened up, coming out of her hiding place.
"... and some of the workers have taken time off, so the site will be virtually deserted for the next two days. So we shouldn't be disturbed," Mark concluded bitterly.
With that, everyone finally got out of the car. Roman, still a little sleepy, took a few steps before retrieving his belongings from the trunk, while the adventuress was already walking away, turning her head in all directions, on the lookout. Jean Yves and Mark went straight to one of the nearest tents and lifted the flap to get in. Lara followed them and discovered a modestly furnished office -Jean Yves', judging by the decoration. There was a simple wooden desk, on which he placed his laptop, as well as some storage furniture, on which all sorts of papers were piled up. On the other side, there were armchairs, as well as a camp bed hidden behind a wicker screen. The Frenchman went round to light the paraffin lamps one by one, which illuminated the place with a soft, subdued light.
"Welcome to my humble abode," the archaeologist said, waving his arm to invite her in.
Roman entered like a tornado. Jean's eyes widened in panic as the young man abruptly dropped the bag he was holding next to his table, on which sat a small black granite statuette with a golden finish. The object wobbled dangerously before stabilising, the Frenchman breathed. Kurtis appeared at the entrance to the tent his arms full of bags and belongings too.
"So, where do we start?", the Russian asked.
"We'll have to go for the simplest way," Lara replied as if it were obvious to her.
Jean Yves turned to rummage through some of his papers, and retrieved maps which he laid out flat on his desk. Instinctively, the young woman and the other three men gathered around the table as if they were sitting around a campfire. But as she rummaged through the papers, Lara realised she didn't recognise much. She quickly understood that the configuration of the pyramid had not been the same since the incident that had occurred here a few years earlier. She knew the building almost perfectly and suddenly found herself faced with a real labyrinth.
"The configuration of the Pyramids's inside has changed quite a bit since the collapse," Jean Yves confirmed, sensing the incomprehension of the adventuress beside him. "Some of the tunnels and rooms have disappeared."
Lara shook her head in disillusion. She picked up one of the maps and looked at it for a while, before putting it down and turning her attention to another.
"It's like it's reconfigured, somehow," Mark concluded in a low voice.
She looked at him suspiciously, suddenly wary.
"As for the Temple of Horus, I don't know exactly," Jean said, sensing the question she was about to ask. "At least I don't imagine it made any difference, otherwise we'd be all dead already."
A nervous laugh escaped Mark in spite of himself, but seeing that his other companions were not laughing, he abruptly fell silent.
"The pyramid I knew is no longer the same, if I understand correctly," murmured the young woman, carefully observing the plans.
"It just means that we'll have to proceed more carefully inside," Jean told her.
"But in any case, the machine will guide us if necessary," the young Russian intervened in a confident voice, pointing to the satchel in which was the device that had guided them in Kutna Hora.
After a brief second of reflection, they all nodded in unison.
"And let's not forget that we're all archaeologists here, or almost all of us," Mark defended himself, a little offended that his knowledge of the terrain was being pushed aside by a banal electronic machine. "I think we should be able to manage in there. Lara, Jean and I know the pyramid well, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"Alright, you'll show us the way when we're inside then?", Kurtis said, staring at him with his piercing eyes.
The English archaeologist let out a loud breath, his eyes slightly rounded by surprise, but mostly by a certain nervousness that he was definitely and absolutely unable to control in front of this man. When he sensed his discomfort, Kurtis felt like laughing, but restrained himself. He wasn't the type to bully or take pleasure in ridiculing people in general, but when it came to Mark, he could never resist making the man feel uncomfortable at every opportunity. Besides, he knew that the archaeologist didn't like him much either, so it was only fair.
"What about the other buildings on the site? Don't you think we should divide into groups and go exploring to be more efficient?", Roman asked, thus putting an end to the heavy silence that had settled in.
"Searching the mastabas would be a considerable waste of time," Lara cut him off. "I've done it myself, there's nothing interesting there. We might as well concentrate on the main buildings, and waste as little time as possible."
"Unless some miracle solution falls from the sky to tell us exactly where to look, that's what makes the most sense to me too at the moment," Kurtis confirmed, refocusing on the conversation.
Suddenly, Roman's eyes clouded over, as if an idea had just crossed his mind. He bent down. Lara, Kurtis and Mark and Jean Yves watched him reach hurrily into his bag before finally taking out a huge, thick-covered book. Lara glanced suspiciously at the large grimoire the young man handed her.
"With what happened, I had completely forgotten I had this in my bag..."
Lara grabbed the book and, helped by the other two archaeologists, cleared the desk so that she could place it on it. She took a moment to stare at the weathered leather cover, unable to contain her excitement and the pounding of her heart. When she finally opened it, the smell of old paper and dampness rose to her nostrils. Her eyes widened a little more as she stared at page after page of sketches, diagrams, and other notes written inside.
"Matēj picked this up from the lab," the Russian simply said, his gaze very serious now.
The young woman looked up at her friend, unable to hide her surprise.
"Luddick did more than save your lives," Kurtis said as he took a step forward.
The Russian leaned over the book a little more and discovered the contents of the grimoire, which he pointed at. He felt his heart leap in his chest.
"Is that...?"
"The copy of Eckhardt's grimoire, yes. The one Svendsen kept with her," the mercenary told them.
All three took a closer look, Lara scrolling through the pages at full speed. She couldn't believe it.
This is unexpected
"With the grimoire in our possession, Saija's search will only be slowed down a bit more...", Kurtis said softly, as hope slowly rose within him too.
"Told you we were one step ahead of her," Roman said teasingly.
Lara felt the adrenaline rush into her veins and her heart began to beat faster, she turned to the mercenary.
"I know we may not find out much more than you found out on your own, but anything is good to slow her down and buy us time."
She and the young man exchanged a quick glance, before focusing on the grimoire, whose pages the mercenary scrolled through.
"That's where you first found the clues to this magical source, right?", Mark asked, leaning forward, equally amazed and intrigued by what he was discovering.
Kurtis didn't even look up at him, too focused to be distracted. After a few seconds, he finally stopped on one particular page. On one side was a whole bunch of complex formulas and equations, and on the other, a number of annotations. Lara recognised the term Prima Materia, which appeared in several places.
"Eckhardt reconciled a lot of things in his grimoire," the American explained. "But the most important elements in my opinion are on these pages."
Roman leaned in. His eyes fell on a small, fairly detailed sketch of a first draft of the glove, the details of which looked rather oddly like those of the Sanglyph. He frowned, however, as he perused the black alchemist's annotations.
"I don't mean to be pessimistic, but I don't see how equations from the Middle Ages and a list of chemical ingredients could help us physically locate the source?"
He pointed to the five symbols drawn in large calligraphic letters.
"Eckhardt himself did not know where it was," Lara replied in a neutral voice. "I guess the Nephili weren't foolish enough to trust him and tell him everything."
The mercenary pointed to something in turn on the paper, among the alchemist's formulas.
"Yet, here, he does seem to be referring to something."
He turned the book slightly so that the adventuress could take a look. Lara was unable to read however, as it was written in the dark language of the alchemists.
"I can't translate it literally, as it is a rather vague term," he explained. "The language the alchemists used at the time was quite complex, made up of several other languages."
He paused, studying the writing for the umpteenth time. He pointed to one word in particular.
"Zenoath?", the young woman tried to pronounce.
"That's the word Saija used too."
He suddenly fell silent, and gave Lara a strange look. For a brief moment, his mind was invaded by the images the assistant had used to torture him, and he pushed them away as best he could, concentrating on the large brown eyes of his companion.
"And that word, do you know what it means?", Roman asked to change the subject.
Kurtis pouted, trying to contain the rage he felt bubbling up inside him.
"If I translate it literally, it doesn't really make sense. But it would be closer to a kind of passageway, a path to the shadows..."
There was a brief silence.
"A path?", the Russian wondered, raising his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner.
"Or maybe a door?"
Roman, Kurtis and Lara all turned to Mark, who suddenly felt the stress rise as he saw the questioning in their eyes.
"I know I'm not an expert in alchemy or the occult, but technically speaking, a passageway can also be a portal, right?", he explained with an innocent shrug.
"Okay, but a portal to what then? Another kingdom? A secret temple?", the ex-military asked.
"The Lost Dominion was indeed a kingdom hidden behind a sealed portal," the demon hunter said.
"The Nephili did everything to hide from the outside world and to escape the humans, so it doesn't seem impossible to me that there could be another kingdom hidden somewhere," Lara answered.
"I'm sorry to say this Lara, but you've probably noticed that there are thousands and thousands of doors and sanctuaries in Egypt...", Mark said softly.
The young woman's angry gaze focused on him almost immediately. The archaeologist didn't insist, but Lara knew he wasn't completely wrong on this point.
"At least we have a vague idea of what to look for," the American cut him off again, turning to her, then to Roman. "We've gotta try anyway."
Lara suddenly snapped the grimoire shut and stood up, causing the two archaeologists to jump again.
"Let's start with this, then, and see where this gets us. We'll just follow the main galleries, and then… we'll see."
"Jean, do you think you could give us access to one of the entrances to the pyramid?" asked Kurtis, turning to the archaeologist.
"Unfortunately, this is a bit complicated," the man stammered suddenly, visibly embarrassed.
"The pyramid is not accessible?", Kurtis asked, surprised.
Jean shook his head gently in denial, his hands raised in front of him as if in apology.
"I thought you had all the necessary credentials and access?", gasped Lara, her arms folded against herself.
"Yes, of course, but basically it remains a protected archaeological site. There are guards watching the site all night. Everything is closely monitored, to avoid any theft or damage. Even if it's me, I could be in serious trouble if you get caught infiltrating Khufu's Pyramid. Not to mention the alarm systems..."
"That can be sorted out quite easily," Roman retorted as he reached into his bag to grab his computer.
Lara stopped him with a wave of her hand though.
"What do we do then? Does that mean we have to wait until dawn?"
Jean did not answer immediately, his hand massaged his forehead in reflection. He sighed.
"I don't know..."
"What is the easiest and most direct entrance to get directly inside the pyramid?", Kurtis asked.
The French archaeologist pulled out one of the maps from under Eckhardt's grimoire, and pointed at something.
"The northern entrance has been sealed off since the collapse," he replied, glancing at Lara. "But the one on the west side is easily accessible."
"But the one on the east side allows direct access to the pyramid's inside," Mark corrected him, pointing to another entrance on the map.
"And these guards you speak of, how often do they come by?", Kurtis asked.
Jean Yves' mouth pursed as he did the math. He shrugged a shoulder.
"If we take a specific crossing point, they pass every hour or so. Except between three and six in the morning. Their rounds stop before resuming in the morning, but the alarm systems take over during those few hours."
He looked up into the azure eyes of the demon hunter, who pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket to take a look at it.
"That'll set us back a few hours," he grumbled.
"I can manually deactivate the alarm with my badge and get you into the building, but I can't do anything about the guards," the Frenchman said with an apologetic look at the two adventurers.
Roman finally straightened up, hands on his hips.
"So what do we do? Do we just wait?", he asked, a little dejected.
"It would be safer," Mark told him. "Why don't we use these few hours to rest?"
"That wasn't really in my plans considering the situation," Lara replied bitterly.
"Mark may have a point here," insisted Jean Yves, "Believe me, I sincerely wish I could have done more, Lara. But we're safe here, no one knows you're here. And I think a little peace and quiet will do us all a world of good."
There was a sudden silence in the tent, and everyone nodded slowly in the face of the obvious, there was nothing more to be done at the moment, and they had to take every chance they could anyway. Roman bent down to pick up his heavy backpack and slung it over his shoulder.
"There are several tents available, you can settle wherever you want," explained the Frenchman. "I'll stay here."
"I'll see what I can do with the alarm," said the young man. "But nothing too illegal, I promise you," he hurriedly clarified when he saw the worried look on Jean's face.
"Okay. We'll meet back here at three then," Lara stated.
With that, the Russian disappeared outside. Mark followed quickly, giving the young woman a shy, pinched smile, which faded almost immediately when he intercepted the cold gaze of the demon hunter beside her. After a last glance at Jean Yves, Lara followed Kurtis' lead as he too left the tent without a sound.
They settled in a tent not far from there. Kurtis and Roman then went together to take a well-deserved shower in the sanitary facilities set up a little further away from the camp. The mercenary let out a deep sigh of relief as the water, though as warm as the air outside, rinsed away all the grime on his skin and relaxed his aching muscles. On the way back, the two men took a moment to talk about some things and others, checking up on each other in the time they had not seen each other.
After some other pats on the shoulders, Roman disappeared into his tent and Kurtis returned to his own. When he entered, he found Lara asleep on some mattresses she had removed from the cots and laid out on the floor. He walked quietly and went to lay down beside her, slipped his arm around her waist, and closed his eyes.
—
There is this smoke again, and the shadows that surround him. But there is also that hostile, yet familiar face, which he hasn't seen for so many years now, that appears from the nothingness. The man tries to smile at him, and his blue eyes stare at him and pierce him to the core. He knows him, he remembers him, even if the image of him is only pain now. He reaches out to him, desperately. But when he reaches out in turn, it feels like everything is turning upside down around them both. The man shouts something, his name.
And suddenly he disappears, swallowed up by the damn smoke, like a wave that washes him overboard during a violent storm. The bright light of his blue eyes fades away and disappear like all the memories. But already something else is taking shape before him. A shape suddenly comes out of the dark, like a feline charging at its prey. She moves fast. Her strangely triangular head and green eyes focus on him. He sees huge wings open up before him. But most of all, he sees the long stinger trying to impale him. But at the very last moment, the shapes changes again. And then he sees the long, thick dagger brandished above her head. She leaps at him, and screams in rage.
The darkness returns and engulfs him as the shard pierces his flesh again.
—
He woke up with a start, and jerked upright. Instinctively, he put a hand on his torso, where the blade should have had hurt him, both touching and scratching his own skin as if it would make the feeling go away. Even if he realized he was back to reality, the pain was sharp in his limbs. Covered in sweat, he glanced around, convinced that the woman who had attacked him was lurking somewhere here in the shadows. He tried to regain control over his wheezing breathe, and the hard pounding of his heart against his rib cage. But after some time however, he recognised where he was, and the woman lying next to him. He ran a hand over his face and rubbed his eyes as if to make sure he was really awake or that the shock of waking up was really over.
Slowly he swivelled and sat down on the edge of the mattress. He finally got up and walked out of the tent with a silent step, reaching into his trouser pocket. He took out his lighter and a cigarette, which he lit with a quick and precise snap of fingers.
The camp was silent, except for a few crickets that could be heard chirping in a constant, almost haunting melody, sometimes interrupted by the snoring noises coming from the nearest tent. The moon, already high in the midnight sky, cast a silvery glow over the archaeological site and the surrounding landscapes. Its reflection cut strange shapes along the walls of the three high pyramids behind him. In the distance, he could see the lights of Cairo's city, as well as the huge shores of the Nile River, which disappeared between the dunes a little further on. He took a deep breath of fresh air and gradually calmed down.
Nightmares?
He didn't need to respond. He could feel Lara's inquisitive gaze focused on him, as she closely watched every single reaction of his. He knew the woman in his visions was only some of Saija's mental creations, a lure she had managed to plant in his mind to catch him off guard. These were just visions, manipulations done on his mind. But it took some time for his mind to realise it wasn't real.
Kurtis ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed loudly, shaking his head as if to get rid of all these thoughts.
She saw things, things deep inside me that I wish she hadn't seen
The English woman moved closer. She stopped right beside him, her arms closely crossed against herself, her gaze lost in the landscapes.
That doesn't mean she knows you, nor that she understands who you are
He brought his cigarette to his lips once again, and slowly let all the smoke out in a small swirl.
"Dunno what's worse," he said as to change subject. "Being locked up and tortured in an fucking creepy vault or waking up in a country this hot with this much sand..."
Though he didn't see her, he felt Lara smile grow with a certain pettiness as she remembered indeed the mercenary's love of warm and exotic climates.
"Went kinda trashy down there," Kurtis then told her. "That was well done. Hope this will seriously weaken her."
"That was the idea, indeed."
They turned to each other, and despite the thick darkness, Lara crossed his piercing gaze through the light that emanated from his cigarette.
"But I'm not sure the two shards alone will be enough to stop her."
"We'll find a way," Kurtis replied.
"We have to."
He blew out his cigarette smoke.
"Her blood was already Nephilim, wasn't it? Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to get hold of the glove, even with the Nephilim DNA."
Kurtis took a deep and long drag on his cigarette again, his eyebrows slightly furrowed as he considered her questioning.
"Hard to say precisely. It's not impossible she's the result of one of Eckhardt's experiments either."
"Kind of like what they did to Morgaux?"
The mercenary gave a tiny shake of the head.
"For the time I spent with the Svendsen and her, I didn't find out anything, so that's quite hard to tell. But my father saw and heard enough horrors on the subject, only the Nephili knew what was really going on in those damn labs..."
Lara remained thoughtful for a moment. She considered his answer, images of what she had seen in Argentina came to mind.
"It's strange that he didn't keep her with him. I mean, If she was his creation, as with Morgaux, why didn't he keep her in the Cabal with him?"
"Are you implying Eckhardt may not have known of her existence?"
"Karel obviously didn't either. I find it hard to believe they both would have left a hybrid Nephilim being out in the wild alone without taking care of it."
Kurtis pondered.
"Perhaps she was the creation of someone who had a vested interest in keeping her out of Eckhardt's hands."
"Someone who betrayed him, indirectly?"
The young man shook his head. A number of incongruous ideas were running through his head at that very moment.
"The result of an experiment that went wrong, and that the moron who started it hoped to benefit from. Muller, Boaz, Rouzic... thinking about it, they all had every interest in licking Eckhardt's balls to benefit from his knowledge in one way or another. But it is obvious none of these dickheads could trust each other."
"I guess there are quite a few things we'll never know about. You said it yourself, only the Nephili knew what was going on in their labs."
They smiled at each other with complicity and a certain amusement, even if the idea seemed totally incongruous, and frankly disturbing in a way.
"Boaz's mother was herself indirectly related to Eckhardt, so I think anything would be possible after all."
"We are indeed descended from celestial lines ourselves," the young man retorted in the face of the Englishwoman's smile. "By the way, did you know that in Solomon's Book, the two earthly pillars that form the bridge between the world of humans and the world of heaven are named Boaz and Jachin?"
She shook her head. The mercenary finished what was left of his cigarette and stubbed out the butt on the ground, before putting it in a small stone ashtray that was under the tent, under the accusing eye of the adventuress who watched him do so.
"Too bad for them they didn't stay in their place," she finally replied as he walked back to her.
He put an arm around her, and they snuggled up against each other. For some time they just watched the landscapes around them and enjoyed the silence.
"That Luddick seemed like a nice guy," Kurtis said softly.
"He was a loyal and obviously honest person. He had no reason to do it, I mean, we hardly knew each other... but he decided to sacrifice his life to save us. We couldn't have escaped if he hadn't been there. And we wouldn't have been able to get you out if he hadn't helped us..."
Don't, the mercenary mentally interrupted her before she could even formulate the end of her thought.
Lara sighed.
You know me, I can't help feeling guilty for that
"I know. How's Winston?", he asked, obviously trying to talk about something else.
"He survived, and, he's doing well. Or at least as well as he could be after being shot at by those morons."
"Good to hear," Kurtis replied in a whisper.
"What about you? How are you feeling?", she asked, changing the subject in turn.
To be perfectly honest, and despite appearances, he didn't really know to answer that question actually. As he could barely remember anything from what happened in Kutna Hora except for the tortures Saija had exerted on him, he didn't really know how to feel. There was a kind of emptiness inside him. But he still felt bothered by what he had mentally seen over there, some strong images kept coming back to his mind very violently, and he still struggled inwardly against them.
Like Karel before her, Saija had mentally pressured him, using his own weaknesses to make him bend. He had resisted, had not given in, even though she had brought him into his worst memories, his worst pain. She had had access to almost everything about him, even his most intimate moments with Lara, attacking their bond directly to try to turn it against him. He had rambled many times, lost in the twists and turns of his own mind, not knowing where reality or nightmares lay. Several times he had thought he was going mad.
Lara's hands and arms slipped and closed around his waist. She drew him against her in a soft embrace. Kurtis stared into her big brown eyes, as if to make sure he was in the right reality this time, and took a deep breath, concentrating on the contact of his body with hers. They stared at each other carefully. Then, slowly and gently, the mercenary reached out to caress her cheek, and moved away a strand of hair that was bothering her. She felt his chest swell as he took a deep breath.
I really thought they'd killed you. Those bastards'd planned it well
Despite the very serious look on Kurtis' face, the young woman couldn't help but smile defiantly at him, lifting her head and chin with a slight arrogance.
"You should know people can't just get rid of me like that. Were you scared of what'd happened to me?"
An amused smirk played on Kurtis' lips.
Don't see anything personal
They smiled at each other, and in one motion leaned towards the other, and naturally closed the distance between their mouths, which met with affection. They savoured each other for a long time, breathing and catching their breath at the same moments. When their lips finally parted, Lara straightened up slightly and stared straight into the mercenary's eyes, her gaze suddenly bright with determination.
We'll kick that brat's ass
Kurtis smiled at her, unable to hold back, and watched her carefully: he loved seeing her like this, so strong, and just as beautiful, her eyes shining like a formidable warrior. She couldn't have been more Lara Croft than she was at that very moment.
Hope so. I've had enough of all this crap
A sudden and suspicious glint shone in her eyes as she stared intently into his two azure pupils.
"There are still a couple of hours left before the others wake up," she said in a voice as neutral as possible.
"And I totally agree we should use them wisely, if that was your question."
Lara gave him a smirk, now focused on the provocative smile frozen on his mouth. They remained still for some long seconds, playing up the tension that had built up between them, their lips hanging dangerously close.
"I think there's one important matter the Guardians must take care of urgently, and on which they've been interrupted…", he whispered as his lips brushed hers.
Lara's hand slid on his chest and grabbed his shirt.
"... and you know how much I hate being interrupted on important matters," she answered in a breath.
Their lips pressed fiercely together in the same impatient, almost abrupt movement as Kurtis catched her by the neck. He then followed her lead as she pulled on his shirt and dragged him inside the tent.