Hi everyone !

A very quick note before starting this chapter !

A special thanks again to Light for your review, indeed Lara and Kurtis have both suffered a lot until then, I know I wasn't kind on them... ^^' I'm guessing it's because of the dark side I want to give to this story... but things could get better for them from now on ;)

Another quick note to say that you might notice I've changed some lines in the dialogs at the beginning of the chapter, but I needed more content here, I needed something more accurate, I made those changes because in my opinion, they fit my story better this way :)

Again, thanks to all those who have been courageous enough to get there! :)


14- After the Storm

It was strangely cold in the cave, despite the huge fire burning in its centre. Her gaze got lost in the hypnotic dance of the flames for a moment, her mind unable to focus on a precise idea. Disturbing shadows appeared on the walls around her, the sand was warm under her bare feet. A shiver ran down her spine.

"You have unic strengths, Lara. Learn to trust them."

She finally looked up at the shaman facing her, on the other side of the fire. The young black woman stared at her with her big brown eyes, holding her stick firmly in her hand.

"How will I remember?"

"Your inner strength is much stronger than you think. You survived and you healed. You will always remember. The forces are with you now, just listen to them and trust them."

The Englishwoman lowered her gaze pensively.

"All those demons from the past... they still trouble me."

The shaman didn't move, still watching her protégée with a piercing but reassuring gaze.

"Learn to be patient, and to accept. All things, good or bad, teach you a lesson. And whatever is useful from your past will come to you when you need it."

"I feel like the fight is already lost this time. I'm so tired of fighting over and over..."

The shaman shook her head.

"Don't give up, Lara. The world needs you and your strength more than ever. Some people need you, more than you think. Don't forget that you are not alone anymore in those darkness."

The shaman walked towards the adventuress, the heavy jewels around her wrists and neck made a slight rattling sound as she walked. Her long black robe dragged in the sand, leaving a furrow behind her. A smile appeared on her slender face. She put a soothing and reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I can feel you are ready now."

Lara smiled slightly in turn, but felt her heart squeeze into her chest.

"Where will you be?"

"Where I've always been, Lara."

The two women exchanged tender glances.

The fire in front of them undulated suddenly, as if swept away by a gust of wind. The weight of Putai's hand suddenly disappeared, and when the adventuress turned her head, she realised that the shaman had completely disappeared. However, someone had appeared on the other side of the fire.

A small woman, in her late fifties it seemed to her, had taken her place where Putai had been standing a few moments before. Her long black hair, some of it dreadlocks, was tangled up in a half bun. Numerous necklaces, including one with an imposing iridescent grey stone, hung around her neck. She stared at Lara with her strangely familiar blue eyes.

"Who are you?"

"We don't know each other yet, but we'll soon meet. I am someone who wishes you well. And someone who's here to help you, by the way."

The young woman didn't lowered her gaze, suspicious. The woman with black hair gave her a serious look.

"My powers are strong, but you are very weak, Lara. You have to fight. Without your will there's nothing I can do."

The adventuress shook her head, skeptical.

"I know there's still a long way to go, but you have to fight, now more than ever. We are all counting on you."

"How can I trust you?"

"If you don't do it for me, I think you'll do it for someone who really cares about you," the woman replied in a soft voice.

Lara frowned, not sure she understood. The two women watched each other silently. A feeling of warmth came over the young woman as she plunged into the shaman's azure eyes. It started at the tip of her feet, then slowly moved up her legs, her lower body, her belly and then her chest. Her breathing quickened. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the same sizzling sound she has heard before in her nightmares, just like a wave of insects approaching. The same voice, which recited over and over the same Latin words.

"One battle is not the whole war, Lara. There are dangers, as yet unseen, that are aligned against us. A new world order is poised to emerge from the shadows. You must make your stand. The future needs you, now more than ever."

The shaman held out her hand through the flames, without showing a slightest sign of pain. After a moment of hesitation, Lara in turn reached out her hand to grasp the hand the woman was holding out to her. When their skins met, everything began to move around them at great speed. Her feet left the ground, her weight lightened. Everything blurred around her: the cave, the fire, the sand, the shadows on the walls gradually disappeared, as if swallowed up in an endless whirlpool.

She slowly opened her eyes. Everything's was dark around her. She first saw the thick stone ceiling above her head. Strangely enough, its colour, of a very light beige, reassured her. She straightened up slightly on her elbows.

She discovered a spacious bedroom, elegantly decorated and yet in a very refined style at the same time. Looking out through some huge baroque windows, she could see the starry sky, black as foam. From where she was, she could also see a few trees and a little further on, a body of water that looked very much like a lake.

She was laying in a huge four-poster bed with satin sheets caressing her skin. The pillow under her head was soft. Her head hurt terribly, blood was drumming in her temples. She felt nauseous.

Where the hell am I?

She tried to sit down, but her head began to turn. She stopped for a few seconds and closed her eyes, frowning.

Damn it...

Once the feeling of dizziness had passed, she decided to open her eyes again.

The room was really big, not to say huge. The veil curtains that framed the long windows floated in the evening air. The room itself overlooked a tree-lined garden, whose freshly mown lawn came to a halt a little further down, stopped by an imposing railing that followed the relief of steep rocks. The lights of the villages on the opposite bank reflected in the calm water of the lake. The sky was clear and uncluttered, the air soothing. The moon was shining far to the south.

She swung to sit on the edge of the bed and took a few breaths to calm the returning nausea. She took a look down at her aching body: her skin was clean, free of dirt. All that remained were many scratches left by the tortures of Vasiley and Gunderson.

Her gaze got caught by the thick bandages around her hand, arm, and the other one around her thigh. The flashback of the knife piercing her flesh came back to her memory: her body stiffened and her wound began to burn sharply under the bandage. Her fingers tensed up on the sheets, the pain reaching up to her hip.

She tried to take a deep breath to calm down and regain focus. She felt a sensation of panic creeping on up on her.

Calm down, Croft. Guess Kurtis can't be very far away?

She felt the panic win her over. Nothing in that room gave her any clues as to where she was. The weather was hot, almost stifling, dry and air was filled up with the smell of sand. Only a few dusty old pieces of furniture dressed the room. She deduced from this, however, that she was in a luxurious villa. The walls were stone made, bright, and the buildings roofs, low, incurved and dark red, looked typical from the far Southern East part of Europe, from what she saw through the opened window. She tried to gather her thoughts.

There must be some way to find out. Where are my guns? Where am I?

She looked around the room again, but still saw nothing as a clue. She had to take a deep breath before pushing on her arms and swung onto her legs. She stayed like that for a few moments, as if suspended in the void, raising her arms to find her balance.

Concentrated, she took a first, wobbly step, then a second. The wound on her thigh began to burn again, as if in protest.

Damn it...

After a few steps, she became violently dizzy and began to stagger, feeling her legs give way under her weight. A new spike of pain finished her off; her right knee bent and dragged her forward. She let out a cry of surprise.

Bloody hell!

She fell on the icy floor, dragging with her a small side table with an old-fashioned lamp shade. The lamp flickered and crashed with a deafening noise on the floor next to her. The side table in turn tilted with a thud. She stayed for a few moments where she had fallen, haggard.

Well done, Croft

Her heart was pounding like hell and her leg kept hurting her.

Suddenly, a creak, followed by a metallic rattle, indicated that someone was breaking the door handle of the bedroom door. She held out her ear. Her breathing became quicker, jerky.

"Lara?"

Her heart leapt into her chest. She tried to stand up, but the pain in her leg was too great. She moaned again, this time more like a croak.

Footsteps came closer, and a half-asleep Kurtis appeared at the other end of the big sofa behind which she had fallen. On her stomach, amidst the debris of the lamp, Lara looked up somehow at him. The mercenary couldn't hold back a smile.

"Always looking for troubles, aren't you?"

"Go to hell," she replied under her breath, more offended than upset.

"Nice to see you too."

The young man came forward and grabbed her by the arm to help her up. He put an arm around her waist to support her a little more firmly, and took her towards the bed. Lara was limping as best she could, glued to him. A little groggy and blurred, she tried to refocus.

"I don't understand anything, what happened? Where are we?"

Kurtis helped her to lie down on the bed. She let out another groan of pain. The young man grabbed one of the pillows and wedged it against the adventuress's back. She let herself go backwards, stunned with aches and pains.

"Easy, Miss Croft. First we're going to take a look at those wounds."

"What-"

"Shhh, first things first," Kurtis replied, putting a soothing hand on her belly.

The young man sat down on the edge of the bed beside her and bent down to grab the first aid kit that was slid into the lower compartment of the bedside table. He pulled out a thick roll of gas compress and a small bottle of disinfectant. His warm hands touched the young woman's thigh.

"May I?"

Lara nodded. He delicately undid the bandage around her thigh. The wound was deep, but relatively clean. She clenched her teeth. Kurtis grabbed a piece of cotton and soaked it with disinfectant. When he dabbed the wound, the flesh began to burn again. A wave of pain overwhelmed Lara and her head began to turn. She closed her eyes to let the discomfort pass.

"Oh, for God's sake..."

"Are you all right?", he asked her.

What do you think, Trent?

His azure gaze crossed the young woman's.

"I know," he replied aloud. "The bad news is that you might feel nauseous and limp for a few more days, but your wounds are clean and well healed already."

"But we don't have a few days," she said, trying to straighten up on her elbows.

"Shhh, calm down Croft, we are safe here."

He grabbed the roll of gas compress, and set about dressing the young woman's thigh with it. His gestures were precise but tender, and his hands radiated a gentle and soothing warmth on her skin. She had the feeling the energy emanating from him was spreading throughout her body, and she felt strangely relaxed.

"Another magic trick?", she said with a weak smile.

Kurtis looked down, concentrated on his movements, but still gave her back her smile.

"A magician never reveals all his secrets."

She observed him work on the bandage. A weird silence settled down between them. Lara felt uncomfortable. Her eyes were constantly searching for any clue which would reveal her where they were.

"How long have I been sleeping? Where are we?"

Her heart was beating like hell against her ribcage. She tried to breath slowly, but she couldn't help but feel panicked. Kurtis stopped working on her thigh, his hand dragging on the immaculate white bandage.

"Somewhere in Northern Turkey. I'd rather not tell you more, just in case."

"Just in case...? And what about Gunderson, Karel? And Vasiley? Have you found about the Nephili base? For God's sake, what happened?"

She felt lost. Kurtis simply stared at her in silence.

"And the sword?"

Kurtis forced her to leaned back on the pillow, and again, put his hand on her abdomen. She suddenly felt another rush of heat coming up to her. Her head hurt a little less, and the pain in her leg seemed to disappear for a second.

"I can't remember anything..."

"I promise you we will tell you everything, but first, you need to sleep."

She knew he was right. And she was too tired to argue. Finally feeling relaxed, she gave him a weak smile. All of a sudden, Kurtis stood up, looking away.

"If you need me, I'm in the opposite room."

He walked away in silence. As he was about to close the door behind him, Lara straightened up.

"Kurtis!"

The young man turned around.

"I'm not sure I want to stay here all alone, with a failing memory, in a place I barely know..."

He nodded gently. He came back to her, and headed to the furniture at the end of her bed, pointing the blanket which was on it. She answered with a slight nod of the head, before he could even talk to her. The young man grabbed the blanket and wrapped himself into it, as he went to sit on the sofa a little further away. They glanced at each other.

"How do you feel?"

The young woman let out a small sigh. She looked away through the window, thinking. Actually, she realised she didn't know how to feel. She felt distrustful, oppressed, as if eyes were constantly spying on her. She also felt empty, as if everything was suddenly slipping away from her, like the memory of an amnesiac.

"I don't really know."

Her gaze got back to the mercenary.

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Almost three days."

She nodded silently. She still felt exhausted yet.

"Get some rest, Croft."

She shook her head again. Without a word, she then leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes. Laying on the large sofa, his hands crossed behind his neck, Kurtis waited for her to fall asleep, watching her closely.

A gentle warmth woke her up. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to discover a beautiful blue sky outside, and a bright, comforting sunshine. The weather was good. She enjoyed the calm and soothing silence of the morning, and the sound of birds whistling outside. She felt invigorated in a way. For a moment, she almost forgot Hohenzollern pain in her muscles and the wound on her thigh that was furiously scratching her.

She got up gently. Kurtis had disappeared, the plaid was folded up and placed on the sofa which formed a very small living room in the bedroom itself, with two large armchairs. In the light of day, she also discovered a small wooden desk a little further into the room. The lamp she had dropped the day before was still on the floor, broken.

She only wore a simple tank top and panties, she walked barefoot towards the satin dressing gown which was hung to a wardrobe, before getting out of the bedroom through the large double door. Her room was at the end of a bright corridor, with parquet flooring covered with a thick red carpet. The space was decorated with some simple wooden furniture in an elegant, slightly rustic style.

Curious, she approached the door opposite to hers, at the other side of the corridor. After a second of hesitation, she engaged the handle and put her head through the door opening. She discovered a much smaller but equally charming room. She recognised Kurtis' belongings lying on a chair, but the mercenary was not there.

She heard footsteps in her back.

"Lara!"

Sasha had just appeared in the corridor, and was walking towards the Englishwoman. She looked at Lara from head to toe with her big blue eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess..."

The Russian gave her a little smile back.

"Great. You had a hard time over there... but we'll talk about it with the others, let's go downstairs. I guess you might be hungry?"

She shook her head and followed Sasha who was already turning back. They went down the steps of a large marble staircase, which stood in the entrance of what looked like a spacious villa. They then branched off to the left and entered a new corridor that ran all the way up the whole length of the house. On their right, they passed a large and very bright living room. Right in front of them, at the end of the corridor, a heavy wooden door slightly opened and let out some voices. Sasha entered the kitchen first.

"Look who is joining us!"

A solid wood central island was standing in the middle of the room all painted in modern white and grey tones. Around this large table, Lara discovered a whole group of people whose eyes had suddenly focused on her. Conversations fell silent. Then someone stood up and approached her. It was Roman.

"I am so happy to see you Lara!"

A bit surprised, the young woman let him take her in his arms. Mikhaïl, just behind him, stood up and approached to give her a hug too.

"We were so scared," he whispered in her ear.

"I'm here now."

"You're safe and sound, yes, that's the most important thing," the old Russian said to her with a fatherly smile.

Lara thanked him with a glance. Her gaze then fell on Kurtis, who was watching her from the other end of the table, and who gave her a wink. The young woman's gaze then got to the man sitting next to him, whom she did not know. Tall and thin, with a shaved head and a beautiful tailor-made three-piece suit, he contemplated the adventuress with fascination, almost devouring her with his big brown eyes.

"Miss Croft, I feel so relieved to see you safe and sound! It is such an honour to meet you, I have heard so much about you! I have been following your research with great attention for as long as I can remember, and your discoveries have sometimes even been useful to me in my own work... But sorry... I think my introduction is a little bit missed, my apologies, I don't want to bother you with all this, I guess you've got much more serious matters in mind right now. I haven't even introduced myself to you, what an idiot... my name is Alessio Stampa."

The Englishwoman watched from the corner of her eye the hand the man with an strong italian accent was holding out to her. She squeezed it carefully.

"Alessio is the assistant curator of the National Museum of Ankara. As you will guess, he too fought for the Lux Veritatis once," Mikhaïl explained.

"My parents, in fact," added the young man.

"He is one of our privileged contacts here."

Lara nodded gently. She took the time to observe the young Italian a little closer. He was the kind of always anxious man, but the one who is always clean on him and elegant. She guessed he was in his forties.

"May I ask you where are we exactly in Turkey?", she finally asked.

"In the northern part of it, in the town of Iznik and its lake. We are not very far from Istanbul, and Ankara is about three hours away by car. You are here in my house, in my second home."

Lara shook her head again.

"But please sit down Miss Croft, we will give you something to eat."

The curator stepped aside and invited her to take a seat on one of the high stools at the counter. As she sat down, her gaze fell on another person, who was sitting with the others, but who had been standing back until then. Her heart liquefied in her chest, she thought she was going to faint.

"What the..."

Her eyes stopped on the woman with long black hair and azure eyes who was watching her from the other side of the table.

"Nice to meet you in person, Lara."

And that's when the Englishwoman understood. She understood why that face and those eyes had seemed so familiar to her in her vision, seeing them next to one another with Kurtis.

"Lara, this is Marie, my mother," Kurtis told her.

The young woman was unable to move or utter a word. It was as if she was paralysed, as if her brain was unable to process information.

"You…"

"You know each other?", Sasha asked, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Kind of," the woman replied with a warm smile.

"You were in my head...", the adventuress replied, still in shock. "How could-"

"This was part of the ritual to bring you back," Kurtis explained. "We had to combine our powers to be able to counteract the spell Karel had used on you. It took us several days."

Her gaze passed from Kurtis to his mother, she was appalled.

"What do you mean?"

"Karel is one of the most powerful and advanced Nephili in terms of mental manipulation, his powers are beyond anything I could have imagined," completed the woman. "He has managed to infiltrate your mind, he has created an opening to manipulate you as he pleases, no doubt with the aim of undercutting you and torturing you."

Lara bit her lips, nervous.

"Does this mean he can potentially see what I can see or infiltrate my mind again?"

Marie shook her head.

"Not anymore. It's been complicated, but you're off the hook. Apparently that's what he had already tried to do when you were in St Petersburg, as Kurtis told me. We did everything we could to block as much as possible the opening he has created, I had to go deep into your subconscious to stop him, I hope you'll forgive me for that. You will have no major after-effects, except for some memory loss and perhaps a few nightmares. We have done our best for your physical injuries as well."

Lara remained silent for a moment, digesting the information. Her breathing had calmed down. She just nodded her head again and Marie gave her a smile. Her gaze glided for a moment over the wound on her own arm and then towards Kurtis, whose thick bandage wrapped around his chest and shoulder was visible under his white shirt.

"So, what happened? How did you find us?", the young woman finally asked.

Everyone took their places back around the large central island. Mikhaïl was the first to speak.

"In fact, it all started when we lost contact with you at the Ermitage. Everything was going pretty well, until you parted..."

Lara and Kurtis exchanged a quick glance.

"... actually I think Gunderson's forces had already infiltrated the museum, and simply jammed the signal we were using to communicate...", Roman added.

"They took you a few miles out of town, in what we imagine to be another Cabal's headquarters, just like the Strahov was," Sasha said.

"How did you locate us?", Lara asked.

A triumphant and rather satisfied smile appeared on the young Russian's face. He took his own mobile phone out of his pocket and brandished it in front of the adventuress.

"Gunderson and his men might be physically strong, but they forgot that we live in a modern world," Roman explained. "We just traced your phones..."

"... and former comrades of mine have come to give us a hand," Sasha concluded.

"Karel had already left, but we arrived in time for you," Marie intervened.

"You were here too?", Lara asked, surprised.

"To tell you the truth, I already knew you were in danger, even before Mikhaïl contacted me. I was already on my way to Russia. For some time now I had felt that the forces of darkness were rising, and my foresight didn't deceive me. I knew this moment would come, from the moment you left for France."

She put a hand on Kurtis's arm. They exchanged a knowing smile. Lara frowned, intrigued.

"You said you intervened with some armed forces, Sasha, but there was an explosion just before you arrived, I think?"

The young Russian woman frowned in turn, turning the question over in her head.

"Um... yes indeed, something happened just as we were going down into the fortress... it looked like an explosion yes... but I'm not sure, I won't be able to tell you exactly what happened down there."

"There was a shock wave yes, but afterwards I don't know exactly what it was either...", the mercenary interrupted her.

Lara's gaze fell on him, but the mercenary just kept on staring at the cup of coffee in front of him. But the expression on his face betrayed him: he was lying. Or at least he knew something. He seemed pensive, in restraint. But after a few seconds of reflection, she didn't insist, preferring to avoid another possible conflict. They could talk about it later.

She grabbed one of the toasts from a small plate in front of her. The nausea had returned, she wasn't hungry, but she still forced herself to take a few bites to soothe her stomach.

"So," she resumed between two bites, "what's the plan now? The Nephilim base is here, somewhere in Turkey, isn't it? How did you know?"

"Actually, it's thanks to Kurtis," Mikhaïl intervened.

The young man got a bit nervous.

"It was just a stroke of luck," he said.

"... a stroke of luck that might save us all," Sasha interrupted him.

Kurtis nodded his head slightly.

"As Roman pointed out earlier, the Nephili are powerful, but they don't take the time to think before acting."

The mercenary's azure eyes finally returned to the adventuress.

"Before they took you into the cell, before Gunderson tried to-"

He couldn't finish his sentence. There was an insistent silence around the table.

"What did he do? What did this bastard do to you?", Roman asked angrily.

"What enemies do to one another in those kind of circumstances," Lara cut him off with a a look devoided of any emotion.

She met Kurtis's eyes. The two adventurers exchanged a steady glance.

It's not just scratches we're talking about

It wasn't a reproach. But the Englishwoman was able to decipher all the rage that was suddenly bubbling inside the mercenary. She tried to give him a soothing look, and Kurtis finally resumed his telling.

"Before they took you to my cell, a Russian guard came to talk to Gunderson, and busy as they were, they didn't pay attention to me... they said something about you, and they talked about a convoy that had just left for Turkey..."

"Except that they had forgotten you speak Russian," concluded the adventuress.

They exchanged a knowing smile this time.

"That's why there weren't so many guards in there," she then told Sasha.

The young woman nodded.

"Luckily... the convoy had just left obviously, Karel, Morgau and most of the others were no longer there when we arrived. They must have assumed that none of you would survive, so they left the minimum number of men behind."

"Hopefully they must not be much further ahead of us, otherwise I imagine something bad would have already happened," Mikhaïl said. "As we feared, it was indeed in the scrolls that Karel holds that the Nephilim base is mentioned, but they obviously don't know any more, or at least are not as advanced as I thought in the translations."

"From what I have also understood, they do not know where it is exactly. This is the information they wanted from us," added Kurtis.

"That gives us a head start. What are we waiting for to take the lead then?", Lara insisted.

"And where to?", replied the American, suddenly exasperated. "We just can't go for it without thinking before acting, we can't go stir the whole country from top to bottom without knowing where to look... Coming out to the open now would be like signing our own death warrant."

"So what do you propose? To stay hidden until the world is destroyed?"

"We have no other choice for now," replied Kurtis, scathing.

"I'm certainly not going to sit idly by and just wait for Karel to win this war!"

"We don't have the strength or the means to fight for the moment, Croft!"

Exasperated, the two adventurers got up from their seats in the same movement. Lara hit the table with her fist, furious. However, she had forgotten her injured leg, which protested sharply when she leaned on it. The wound under the bandage started to burn and the leg bent. The young woman rocked to one side in a groan of pain. She was barely caught by Roman next to her, who helped her to sit down again. On the other side of the table, Marie had grabbed her son by the arms to encourage him to calm down and sit down again.

The two adventurers glared at one another. After a few seconds, calm progressively came back around the table, but everyone kept their eyes down, embarrassed.

"Actually, that's where I come into action," intervened Alessio.

Lara turned to the young man. Remarkably calm, he was now looking at her with the greatest seriousness.

"Regarding your status and your general knowledge Miss Croft, I imagine you are not unaware that the Museum of Ankara has set up a number of archaeological missions throughout the country."

The young lady nodded.

"I come from a powerful and renowned family, Miss, so I have well-placed contacts all over the country, even in the remotest corners, not to mention those who are not necessarily connected with the museum and its research, if you know what I mean. If the Nephili try anything, if they make the slightest move, we will know it one way or another. In my humble opinion, I think Kurtis is right on this point, it may be more prudent to stay hidden while we can, until we find a plan of attack."

The whole table nodded in agreement. Lara scowled, upset. She couldn't stand still any longer. The idea of letting Karel win without doing anything was unbearable for her. All of a sudden, she turned to Mikhaïl.

"Did you by any chance take the scrolls and your notes with you, Mikhaïl?"

The Russian shook his head, surprised by the young woman's reaction.

"Of course," he stammered.

"I'd like to take a look at them if you don't mind."

"Lara, I don't know if-"

In front of the young woman's insistent gaze and her determined look, the Russian resigned himself. He got up, disappeared for a few moments, and then came back with the documents in his arms. Lara took everything.

"Good night," she simply said.

She suddenly turned around, turning her back on her six companions, who watched her disappear and hobbled back to her room, stunned.

She rubbed her tired eyes. Sitting on the bed, the notes scattered all around her, she was obstinate, but she hadn't been able to see clearly for a while. Her mind was confused, she could no longer think. On top of that, the wounds on her thigh and her hand, which until then hadn't caused her any more problems than that, had woken up quite violently in the early evening. Her hand was in excruciating pain and she shook it several times as if it would have helped her to relieve herself.

"I didn't think you would take my words literally."

She jumped. As she looked up, she came face to face with Marie, who was watching her from the doorway. Lara smiled a tired smile at her.

"You're right, I think I'm taking things too much to heart at the moment."

Marie returned a soft and strangely soothing smile. She walked a few steps towards the adventuress, carrying a tray in her hands. Her clear eyes gleamed in the night.

"But how could it be different in such circumstances?", the young woman asked.

Kurtis's mother didn't answer right away. She just put the little tray down next to the young woman and sat down on the edge of the bed. The smell of the few fruits, the sandwich, the dates and the bread that had been put there filled her nostrils.

"You must take a stand, but your time will come soon enough. Rushing to your death is not necessarily the message I wanted to convey to you."

Lara escaped a nervous laugh.

"I now realise that this is how I have always worked, actually. I make decisions fast, I learn to live with the consequences. And between us, that's what has always saved me."

"That's what I understand, indeed."

Lara looked at the implied smile the woman was giving her. With a gentle gesture, the shaman grabbed the young woman's wounded hand and stuck it between her owns. With the greatest gentleness, the adventurer watched her manipulate her hand and remove the bandage around it. The still bloody mark left by Vasiley's knife was revealed, its distorted aspect accentuated by the bedside lamp's light. Marie observed the wound, concentrated. A heat seemed to emanate from her skin, as when Kurtis had dressed the English's wounds the day before. The skin heated more intensely in the very heart of the wound, as if it was healing. Lara watched with fascination as the flesh gradually reformed and blackened as it was being reconstructed. The young woman felt relieved, she was almost painless.

"Did you know Putai?"

"Unfortunately, no. But I can feel she is a very strong and loyal woman. Her heart is pure, I feel all the strength of her wisdom. But also the full extent of her powers, she is an exceptional being, extremely powerful."

"She was, yes. She and her tribe were massacred many years ago."

A silence fell between the two women. Lara felt the shaman's blue eyes scrutinising her.

"Your wounds are deep, but don't let them kill the best of you, Lara."

The adventuress did not answer.

"You have a lot of anger in yourself. I have seen it, and I can still feel it now."

"I feel like I won't be able to find some rest until it's all over," the young woman answered bitterly. "It is hard to find light in all this darkness sometimes."

Concerned, she lowered her head towards the notes in front of her. She massaged her neck distractedly.

"The shadows of the past will always be with you, whatever you do. It's up to you to decide whether you want to let them take over, or to fight them. Be aware of how far you've already come. You are a survivor. Don't be afraid to become who you were meant to be."

Again, Lara didn't answer. Her gaze fell on one of the pages covered with notes and pencil strokes, on which Kurtis had written a few words in Latin.

Natus in lucem

Renascentes in umbratio

Uada per memoriam

Contra per malum

Fallen from light, Reborn in shadows...

"... Haunted by memories, Confronted by Evil," she heard aloud.

When the adventuress raised her head, she found herself alone on the bed. Marie had already disappeared as she had arrived, without a sound.

She woke up abruptly. She ran a hand on her face, pushing away the locks of hair that got stuck onto her moist face. She scanned the room from side to side, unable to fix her gaze on a precise spot. Her chest moved fast, following her jerky breathe. Her eyes finally set down in the emptiness in front of her.

No cell, no metal walls, no straps to hold her back. No knife to tear her skin apart. Only this huge bedroom plunged into the dark. She let out a sigh.

As if she couldn't bare staying in bed any longer, she suddenly pushed the sheets back and got up in a bound. Limping, she approached the nearest window, her arms crossed against her chest. The atmosphere was icy, and a storm raged outside. She was surprised by the deafening din of the driving rain on the large windows' panes. Her thoughts raced by as she looked outside, and she couldn't stop them. For the umpteenth time she felt the flame of Gunderson's dagger in her leg, and the mercenary's grip on her thighs as he pushed herself against the cold floor. She could still see that insane look in his eyes. No matter how hard she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate and get that feeling away, she could still feel the pain, the illness and the disgust.

Son of a bitch

She shook her head in annoyance. Running a hand through her hair, she swivelled and went to sit down in the large bench under one of the windows. She stayed there for a long time, her legs bent against herself, her chin resting on her knees, just listening to the water and the wind whistling outside.

Through the rumbling storm, she heard a slight knock on the door. She slowly moved her gaze to the opposite side of the room. Kurtis had appeared from the darkness, leaning on the door.

"Nightmares again?"

Lara gave him a mixed look.

"I guess..."

The mercenary approached softly, his silhouette standing out in the semi-darkness of the room and settled at the other end of the bench, facing the adventuress. He observed her without a word, looking serious.

"But nothing like what it has been before. Thanks to you, I think I may not end up crazy."

The mercenary smiled at her.

"You still didn't tell me what happened down there," she told him defiantly.

Kurtis frowned, visibly not sure about what she meant.

"Something happened Kurtis, I'm not stupid. We couldn't have gotten out of there only with the help of Sasha and her friends."

He didn't answer right away. He took a deep breath, looking away in the pouring rain.

"To tell the truth, I was sincere when I said that I don't know exactly."

"Did it come from you?"

"From me, from my own mind indeed. Some of us mentioned it as a self-defence system, which is triggered unconsciously in a situation of inmediate and great danger."

Lara nodded in a slight movement of the head.

"So, that was the explosion. Why didn't you say anything?"

The young man shrugged his shoulders, visibly worried.

"I don't even know how it is triggered... I had vaguely heard about it, but I had never seen it done, and I had never experienced it before. I only know few Lux Veritatis have actually developed this ability. I'm still trying to figure out what's happened down there..."

"So, you're a kind of ticking time bomb, if I understand correctly," the adventuress told him in a playful voice.

"That's about right. You shouldn't mess with me from now on."

Lara sketched a half amused, half cynical smile. A sudden grimace of pain crossed the young man's face. He leaned slightly forward, his lips pursed. He put an hand on his side.

"You okay?"

He waited until the peak of pain had passed. The adventuress clearly saw that he was doing everything he could to make her believe everything was okay.

"Can't wait for that damn rib to heal."

"I guess it's always useful to have a healer in the family in such cases."

"It is, indeed. But I think she's tired of finding me in pieces every time we see each other."

They laughed. But his face quickly changed expression. She knew his thoughts had already gone back to the Nephili and what had happened to them.

We'll find them

Kurtis watched her attentively. A strange smile appeared on his face.

Looks like you're finally getting used to it

More or less. I keep telling myself that it can still be useful, indeed. I just need some more practice

They stared at one another in the half light. He observed her hair tied in a loose ponytail, sliding on one of her shoulder. She seemed to try to hide her bruised face behind some strands of hair. Her gaze stopped by the mercenary's torso, wrapped in a thick bandage. The wound on his face was still puffy, but he definitely looked better.

She leaned her head against the window, looking at the pouring rain outside. She saw a big flashing light tearing up the sky somewhere in the distance, before the thunder finally stroke.

"I'm sorry", she said in a whisper.

"I'm sorry too", he answered in the same voice.

'Kurtis-"

"... for not being able to protect you from all of this."

"I don't need to be protected!"

From the corner of her eye, she saw Kurtis staring at her face, still puffy in some places, and lowering his gaze to her bandaged hand, arm and leg. He rose an eyebrow and a smile slowly appeared on his face. Lara couldn't hold back a smile either.

"Okay, that... is a low blow."

They laughed together.

"This is all my fault. You were right, the sword was not where I thought. We almost died because of me, I should have listened to you," she kept going.

Kurtis did not answer. She expected bullying from him, but the mercenary remained silent, almost withdrawn.

"You should have left me over there."

"Don't talk nonsense. I couldn't have done nothing without you. We need each other," Kurtis interrupted her.

The wind had risen and whipped with force the surface of the lake's turbid waters. The thunderstorm continued to rumble in the distance, thick black clouds approaching heavily to the villa.

"I don't want to loose you into those darkness…"

The words echoed weirdly in her mind. When she slowly turned her head, she met the piercing gaze of the mercenary, who had got on her. He simply remained there, an elbow resting on the armrest of the small sofa. She watched him carefully with her big brown eyes; she felt very strange all of a sudden, as if those crystal flames could see all of her, just right into the depths of her being. Kurtis suddenly stood up, looking away.

"We'll see each other tomorrow morning. G'night", he simply said.

She tried to speak but the words wouldn't go out off her mouth. She looked up at him, her eyes shinning into the night. As he turned his back and walked towards the door in silence, she watched every step he took, her heart beating wildly in her chest. The door closed behind him, and the silence fell again in the bedroom.