20- The Archeologist
She could hear a lot of different sounds around her. Footsteps came and went. Voices rose and fell silent, sometimes close, then suddenly much further away. She could make out a rather loud background noise. A strong, continuous vibration, not far from where she was obviously standing.
A waterfall
Underneath her she felt the comfort of a mattress. A light blanket covered her body. She slowly opened her eyes.
She discovered to her own amazement that she was in a small tent. The space was small and empty of furniture. She was alone, lying on a cot. She slowly sat up. Her head was buzzing, but she felt strangely rested.
Once again, she felt completely lost. She couldn't remember anything. She didn't know how she got there. She shook her head slightly, as if to clear her thoughts.
Suddenly she detected movement at the tent's entrance. Someone was approaching.
The silhouette appeared against the light through the canvas. A man obviously, had stopped at the entrance. He spoke a few words to someone who was passing by at the same time, before falling silent again. She didn't know their language but recognized it anyway.
Russians
The young woman felt suddenly panic-stricken. She looked around again, only to realise once more there was nothing but the cot in the small tent. No trace of her belongings.
Slowly, she gently pushed back the blanket, and slid out of the bed. Her bare feet met the rocky, sandy ground. She moved forward at an extremely slow pace, almost bent in half, her eyes fixed on the guard. She noticed his black uniform and the assault rifle in his hands. The man moved slightly, and turned his head to one side. She stopped dead in her tracks.
She stood there for a long time, standing still in the middle of the tent. She waited, arms hanging in the air, hunched over, like a feline ready to pounce on its prey. The man took a few steps, then stopped again, with his back to her. The canvas that marked the entrance to the tent lifted slightly, pushed by a slight draught. A metallic glint caught her eye. In one of the guard's back pockets was a long, serrated knife. She felt her heartbeat quicken.
She slowly resumed her walk, measuring each step. She had reached the entrance to the tent. The man was now within her reach.
With a quick movement, she snatched the knife from the mercenary's belt and leapt at him. Before he could turn around, she put her hand over his mouth and slid the knife blade across his throat. The man collapsed at her feet with a sinister sound.
She found herself outside. She discovered a small camp organised around a dozen or so tents. They seemed to be perched on a rocky cliff, overlooking a body of water. As she had sensed, they were at the top of a waterfall, which flowed into a large lake several dozen metres below them. She deduced they were still somewhere in the canyon, but the space here was much larger and even more imposing. Again, the red stone seemed to close in on them, overhanging the waterhole with its rounded arch from the wear and tear of time.
She noticed a movement to her left. Another soldier had just spotted her, and was coming towards her. He shouted something in Russian and started to run, his rifle pointed in her direction. Lara came to meet him. As the man reached her, she pivoted, and threw her leg into hothead air, which hit the soldier's arm. The weapon slipped from the man's hands and fell a little further. The adventuress then grabbed his arm and kicked him sideways. The soldier fell to the ground. Before he could react, the young woman rushed at him and pinned him to the ground, before stabbing him in the neck with the knife she still had in hands. The man struggled for a moment, his dark eyes looking into the young woman's. Then, with a sudden gesture, she snatched the knife and stood up, alert.
The whole camp had suddenly come alive around her. She heard voices from all sides. Someone was shouting orders. She heard the metallic clanking of guns. Footsteps came closer, gradually surrounding her.
Two soldiers appeared to her right, then two more to her left. She turned her head in all directions, looking for a way out. Without thinking, she rushed at those on her right, fists out. The first man hit her hard in the face, and the second grabbed her by the waist to stop her. She dropped the knife. To defend herself, she grabbed the soldier who held her tightly, and rolled backwards with him. She pinned him underneath her, and hit him in the face with a heavy blow. The other soldier tried to approached from behind, but she grabbed by the sleeves and flipped him forward. The man fell heavily to the sand, next to his colleague. Before he could get up, hop the woman gave him a violent punch. Both men were left stunned on the ground. As she stood up, she felt one of them grabbing her by the ankle to hold her down. She kicked him.
Two mercenaries were already coming at her. One of them grabbed her firmly from behind, and put his arm around her neck to block her. The young woman struggled and let out a cry of rage. The other soldier rushed in to block her legs. More footsteps echoed around them, and suddenly someone rushed out of one of the tents a little further away. Lara's heart jumped in her chest.
Her lost and distraught eyes met the azure gaze of Kurtis, who stood a few feet away. He looked almost shocked to see her. Time seemed to stand still for some seconds, as if to mark this moment. A breath of hope rose in her, but only for a short time.
The mercenary tried to move towards her, but was immediately stopped by another soldier. The young man struggled for a moment, pushing the man who was trying to block his way with all his might. Several other men came to the rescue to restrain him. Lara struggled a little more and let out a cry of frustration. One of the guards hit Kurtis in the face with his gun, and the young man staggered backwards.
"Look at that..."
The blood seemed to freeze in Lara's veins as she recognised the hollow voice of Gunderson, who hobbled forward among his men. His hard, black gaze fell on the young woman. He let out a cynical laugh, before turning to Kurtis, who was struggling to get out of the mercenaries' grip.
"Looks like your little whore is back with us."
Out of the corner of her eye, the adventuress noticed another person approaching. She quickly recognised Morgau's frail figure and short hair. The girl crouched down to her level and looked at her with her icy gaze.
"Two dead men, and at least two wounded... for someone who's come back from the dead, she looks pretty good," the sentry hissed in an unpleasant voice.
She straightened up. She motioned to the soldiers to release the adventuress, who fell forward on her hands. Lara got to her feet, furious. Her gaze went from Kurtis, then to the soldiers, then to Morgau, before stopping on Gunderson.
"Miss Croft."
Her gaze focused on the man who was slowly making his way towards her. Karel had just appeared. He walked quietly towards them. He was followed by a man she did not know, who stood slightly back, silent. His skeletal appearance and very pale complexion made the young woman uneasy. She felt her fists clench, unable to hold back her anger.
"I'm glad to see you up and about."
Lara was seething with rage. Kurtis's azure gaze remained focused on her. Gunderson looked at them triumphantly, obviously pleased with the situation.
"Of course, you don't remember anything, but that's normal. The shock was quite severe, and it was difficult to get you back. The Golems are extremely powerful beings, tougher than we might think. That's why they make an excellent defence system. But you are safe now. Or at least, for the moment."
"What the hell is this?", the young woman hissed through her teeth.
For a brief moment there was a heavy silence. The adventuress felt her chest heave with the jerky rhythm of her breathing. She looked around for the mercenary.
"What happened?"
Before Kurtis could answer, the guards tightened their grip around him. Morgau looked at her with an evil eye. Karel turned his piercing gaze on the young woman. He did not blink. His face was devoid of any expression.
"I must admit that once again, I was wrong, Miss Croft. You may be of use to us after all. It is quite possible that we will need your services, and those of your friend."
"I really hate your sense of humour, Karel."
The Nephilim shook his head gently, almost amused by the young woman's attitude.
"As you may have guessed, the Nephilim cradle is only a few feet from here. But despite our best efforts, we can't get over there. The sanctuary is sealed by a door, which can only be opened if we find the right access code. However, the mechanism is more complicated than we thought. I hope that your intellectual and physical abilities can help us, then."
"Certainly not."
Lara could not help but step forward again, ready to pounce. Morgau immediately stepped forward too, holding her long spear to the Englishwoman's throat. Lara stopped moving immediately.
"You were dead, Miss Croft," continued the Nephilim in a theatrical voice. "Your friend here has kindly offered to help us, in exchange of your life."
"You've got to be kidding me."
Her disillusioned gaze met Kurtis'.
How could you...?
It was the only way to save you
"What's wrong with you?", she continued aloud in a distraught voice.
Once again, she wanted to move forward, but Morgau pushed her back violently with her weapon. Lara wanted to counterattack and hit her with the fist, but the girl managed to dodge it with agility. The adventuress skidded in the gravel. She turned around and tackled Morgau to the ground. The two women grabbed each other by the hair and threw blows at each other. To the loud laughter of his men, Gunderson finally stepped forward to separate the two women. With one hand he grabbed the Englishwoman firmly and threw her at the feet of two of his men. They grabbed her by the arms and forced her to her feet. She struggled furiously. Karel approached her, before stopping in front of her. He waited a few moments for the young woman to calm down. His piercing eyes did not leave her. The Englishwoman raised her chin in defiance.
"If you think we're going to help you get into the sanctuary, you've got a hope, Karel."
The nephilim smiled.
"Actually, the decision is not yours, Miss Croft. Besides, your friend has already started working with Rouzic on the scrolls we have in our possession. We were just waiting for you."
He took another step forward, and Lara felt his body brush against hers. She could not hold back a shiver of disgust. Behind them they heard Kurtis stirring. With a slow gesture, Karel raised his hand and gently caressed the young woman's cheek. Then, a little more firmly, he grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at him.
"And if you're no use to us for this, you'll be useful for something else, don't worry."
He snapped his fingers. The men who were holding her suddenly dragged her away with them. She grunted in protest, but finally stopped resisting and let them take her back to the tent in which she had woken up. Before the soldiers could throw her in, her desperate gaze caught Kurtis', who also disappeared into the tent where he was being forced back.
—
She had been waiting in her tiny tent for several hours now. She felt terribly nauseous, as if she had been guilty of a monstrous mistake and knew there was no turning back.
She glared at the guard standing at the entrance to the tent. Footsteps sounded again, and Morgau appeared. She nodded and told the Englishwoman to get up and follow her. The guard who had been watching her followed them closely.
They walked quickly up the camp. At a glance, Lara noticed the tent where the imprisoned archaeologists were gathered. Some of them looked at her quizzically as she passed them, terrified. They looked tired, but not as beaten up as she had feared. In another tent, she caught sight of Gunderson, sitting quietly on his cot, looking at her with an evil eye.
Morgau led her to one of the more remote tents in the camp. A few metres further on, the steep cliff plunged steeply down to the lake. The sound of the stream and the water here was deafening. Lara felt the foam and moisture of the water on her skin.
They entered a tent that was slightly larger than the others, in which a makeshift office had been set up. A large table sat in the centre, and a smaller one at the back. The pale and skinny man she had seen earlier looked up at her with a glassy stare. He rose slowly from his seat, almost elegantly. With a movement of the hand, he indicated to the young woman to sit at the central table, where all sorts of documents were spread out.
"Miss Croft," he said, as if he wanted to greet her.
She did not answer. Her gaze was mostly drawn to Kurtis, who was seated on the other side of the table. The mercenary had risen to his feet as she entered, but had been stopped in his tracks by a guard who was holding him at gunpoint. They just looked at each other in frustration. At the insistence of the guards and Morgau, Lara sat down in silence.
Her gaze quickly flicked through the papers scattered before her, before returning to the mercenary.
Why did you do that?
She heard him sigh loudly.
I had no solution, and certainly no power to bring you back. The magic you were held under was far too strong and far too dark. Karel was the only one who could bring you back. I had no choice...
You should have left me over there
Kurtis shook his head sharply to show his disagreement. Angry at first, the adventuress let her anger fade away. She looked at her companion with a tired expression. His blue gaze reassured her and soothed her for a moment, although she felt a little lost.
This is madness. What are we supposed to do now?
"You're supposed to put your shit together and get to work."
Morgau had suddenly walked up to the young woman and threatened her with his spear. The adventurer stood up abruptly, almost knocking over her chair. She stared at the sentinel, scrutinizing her face with its many scars and black-rimmed eyes. It was at that precise moment she realised how young she was. She almost felt a pang of sadness for this martyred soul.
"First I'd like to know what I'm getting into, if you don't mind", Lara told her in a more than ironic voice.
The two women stared at one another for a few seconds, until Rouzic approached and tried to calm the conflict.
"I think Miss Croft does need some answers to her questions, indeed. Once things are cleared up, I'm sure she'll be better able to help us."
An unpleasantly sour smile formed on the man's emaciated face.
"You are the archivist, right?"
The man nodded slowly in response. With his crooked hand he invited her to sit down again.
"Please, Miss Croft."
Resigned, the adventuress sat down without protest. She glanced at Kurtis again, clearly annoyed. Then she began to rummage through the papers in front of her. She discovered an impressive number of pages filled with notes and formulas, various calculations, sketches and other diagrams. She realised that their enemies had worked in the same way as they had on the part of the scrolls they held. Kurtis held the original scrolls in his hands and handed them to her. She looked at the scrolls with a concentrated eye.
"As we suspected, Karel had the second part of the Sleeper scrolls," the mercenary told her, glancing at Rouzic, then at Morgau, who had stepped back into a corner, watching them in silence.
Lara recognised the same ancient writing throughout the pages. Again, she was unable to read what was written on them, but she still admired the work of the Lux Veritatis and their knowledge. What the scrolls contained was priceless, and although Karel did not have access to the first part of the writings, she understood that there was enough information there to allow them to locate the Nephilim sanctuary. She thought back about what they had themselves discovered in the first part of the scrolls, and the translations that Mikhaïl and the mercenary had worked so hard on. She concentrated on not thinking about it too much, as she feared Morgau would intercept her thoughts.
"There is nothing strictly speaking about the location of the cradle," the young man continued. "The Lux Veritatis had concealed the information and had made a point of not dwelling on it in their writings, I imagine so as not to leave the information open to anyone."
Lara concentrated with all her strength to avoid her thoughts going to the young man's tattoo. Again, she preferred to avoid that Morgau had access to this type of information.
"What exactly is in those scrolls?", she asked.
"Some anecdotes about battles fought by the Lux Veritatis during the last century, mostly in continuity with what we found in the other part of the scrolls... I found some of my father's annotations as well, some information about the periapt shards and on Kriegler Castle... there's a reference to Eckhardt, there are quite a lot of notes about his history, his powers, and about alchemy too..."
The mercenary's face suddenly darkened. Lara watched him carefully. She felt sadness, and above all anger rising in him.
"So nothing you didn't know already," she whispered softly.
The young man nodded slowly. He seemed to shake off his dark thoughts, and refocused on the rolls.
"Actually," Rouzic interrupted them, "I think the part we're interested in is the one about the passage to the Nephili world."
"I was about to come to that, thank you," the American cut him off abruptly.
"I think you'd better concentrate on that part exactly," the archivist said, pointing to a specific page of the scrolls. "My Latin and my Lux Veritatis are certainly a bit rusty, but the historical part is of little importance to us here, it brings us very few concrete elements..."
"But that's often the most important thing," the adventuress cut him off cynically.
The man gave her an evil look. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Morgau slowly approaching, ready to attack if necessary. After a moment of heavy silence around the table, a strange smile appeared on Rouzic's face.
"Yes, of course. I didn't mean to offend you, Miss Croft. I just wanted to spare you the details and get straight to the point."
With a slow, precise movement, he pulled a sheet of paper from the Sleeper's pile of parchments and placed it in the middle of the table between the two adventurers. It was a huge sketch, representing what looked like a sort of round pentacle. The drawing, however, looked relatively rough, and was not very precise. Lara leaned forward, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Is that-"
"No, indeed, this is not an original sketch. This one was drawn by me, according to the indications and description of Morgau, and of some other volunteer soldiers."
Lara's eyes met Kurtis's, who looked down at the drawing at the same time. She looked at the rounded lines of what looked like a huge ancient portal, which she imagined might be carved out of stone. It was studded with various symbols, which she could not decipher. The door, or portal, was obviously cut into five different sections.
"We've deduced that it was a portal to the sanctuary," the archivist concluded.
"I suppose you've located it, then?", the Englishwoman asked, her arms now crossed against her chest.
Rouzic nodded.
"Is there any chance of seeing it?"
"Of course," replied the archivist, as he straightened up. "If you're willing to take a little dive for that."
Lara frowned. She looked at him without understanding, before turning to Kurtis, who remained still. At a nod from Rouzic, Vasiley walked towards them without saying a word. At her look, the two adventurers knew they had to get up and follow her.
—
The last few metres were difficult to walk, the rocks were extremely slippery. Kurtis followed her closely, placing his feet one after the other carefully so as not to slip. She could hear Morgau's long metal blade scraping the rock behind them. A few soldiers were leading the way.
Lara stopped her progress only a few metres from the water. She watched the eddies caused by the power of the waterfall a little further on. It was extremely humid here, and hot. Far above them, she saw Karel, Rouzic and Gunderson, who were watching them from the top of the cliff. She felt the mercenary come up beside her.
"We don't have to do this," she whispered.
The mercenary shook his head slightly.
"They're going to kill us anyway. If not now, they will when they have reached the sanctuary. For now, it's the only chance we have. Until they have clearly decided our fate, we have to go their way."
"We'll find a way," she said, shaking her head.
The energy and determination that emanated from the young man at that moment gave her some hope.
"Get away, Trent," they suddenly heard behind them.
Morgau was coming up to their level. The mercenary made no resistance, and took a few steps back. Lara gave the girl a murderous look, and she smiled back cynically.
"Where am I supposed to dive?", she finally asked.
Vasiley pointed to the body of water in front of them with a movement of the head. Lara followed the direction of her gaze, to a point under the water, against the wall that faced them. Then she looked down at the water at her feet. It was relatively clear, and the lake did not seem very deep. There was no current. Kurtis took a look at the water too, then at his companion. She felt a strange apprehension come over him. She could feel him almost embarrassed. She searched his blue eyes, looking for an explanation.
Swimming was never my strong point
Lara raised her eyebrows slightly, surprised by this revelation.
But you should know that I'm willing to take private lessons
They exchanged a brief and discreet smile before Morgau's thundering voice brought them back to reality.
"Hey, where do you two think you are?"
Kurtis took another step back.
"I won't be far," he simply told her, his gaze fixed on her.
Lara nodded slowly. After a sigh, she bent down to undo her boots. She then removed her shirt, then her trousers, under the envious eyes of some soldiers. With her eyes, she told Kurtis not to get angry.
"I know," she replied before diving in head first.
—
It took her a few tries to reach the portal under the lake. The water was icy, but again, relatively clear. The structure was submerged just a few feet below the water, but it was larger than she thought. As Rouzic and Vasiley had told her, the portal had indeed been carved out of the rock at the bottom of the lake. Round in shape, it must have been around six or seven metres in diameter. When she discovered it on the first dive, she quickly realised that Morgau's drawing was in fact only a vague sketch of it.
Lara dived again and again to analyse and memorise all the symbols on the wall, guided by the light of her torch. The structure was extremely detailed. Each time she went back to the surface, she gave some more detail to Kurtis and Morgau, both of whom were sitting on a rock a little higher up, and who had brought down paper and the original sketch to redraw and perfect it.
They spent most of the day like this, trapped in the water and on the edge of the lake, watched very closely by Gunderson's soldiers.
When daylight had almost disappeared in the canyon, the soldiers brought the two adventurers back to the camp. They settled Lara and Kurtis in Rouzic's tent, where they resumed their places around the cluttered table.
Exhausted, they set about deciphering the symbols they had discovered. Lara had already given them a more precise vision of the structure in general, and in much greater detail: the simple rounded basic design had become an assembly of small precise elements.
It was stiflingly hot in the tent, which made their minds slightly foggy. Lara sometimes found it difficult to concentrate, disturbed by the presence of Rouzic and Morgau, who were constantly watching them.
In the glow of the dim light hanging over their heads, Kurtis sank back in his seat. Vasiley had just slipped away, and Rouzic was immersed in a book that Karel had given him. He watched the adventuress leaning forward over her notes, her eyebrows furrowed. The pencil she was playing with was moving frantically between her fingers. She tapped the pen against the table, as if something was bothering her.
"What's wrong?", asked the mercenary.
The young woman did not answer immediately. Her gaze fell on the sketch Kurtis had before him. She grabbed it abruptly without a word, almost snatching it out of his hands. She traced something on the paper with her pencil.
A strange gleam suddenly flashed in her eyes. Kurtis leaned towards her.
"Sun," she said in a breath.
Her large eyes finally lifted from the paper and met the blue of her companion's.
"Sorry?"
"Sun..."
She took the leaf and rose abruptly from her chair. She walked around the table and joined the young man on the other side. Rouzic looked up, intrigued. She handed him the paper, pointing to one of the symbols in particular. He noticed she had altered it very slightly, as if she had wanted to make it more readable.
"This pictogram," she finally explained, "is the one used for the word 'sun'."
The mercenary looked at the symbol, then at the young woman.
"How do you know that?"
"This is ancient Persian."
"You can read this language?"
"Unfortunately I am no expert, my knowledge is quite rudimentary. But I studied it at university, yes."
The Lux Veritatis nodded slowly, impressed.
"It was one of the official languages of the old Ottoman Empire, along with Latin and Arabic, among others...", continued the young woman. "I would have thought the Nephili had their own language, but..."
"From what I've read in some of the Lux Veritatis writings, they didn't have one so to speak...", added Kurtis, who had straightened up, his eyes full of excitement. "I imagine they had to adapt to their environment and were confronted with the local population, so they used and integrated the language of the time..."
"Or perhaps, some people felt necessary to make the sanctuary inaccessible after finding themselves facing the Nephili and understanding what they were capable of..."
The two adventurers exchanged a look full of innuendo. Rouzic had returned to them, also bent over the young woman's notes. He gave a head sign to Morgau, who was still waiting in a corner. She turned and disappeared without a sound.
"Do you think it's a code?", the archivist asked.
"I'm not sure... I think I'll have to go through the symbols one by one..."
The young woman did not have time to finish her sentence. They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps outside. Karel suddenly appeared in the tent, closely followed by Gunderson and some armed men.
A heavy silence settled in the small space. They all looked at each other for a moment, before the Nephilim slowly walked towards the two adventurers. He glared at them. His piercing blue eyes fell on the documents and Lara's notes.
"You'll be pleased to know that we may have found something," the Englishwoman told him cynically.
The Nephilim walked slowly around the table, his hands folded behind his back. His face was frozen in an expression that was difficult to decipher.
"How long?", he asked.
The Englishwoman and the American looked at each other briefly, and pouted. Lara straightened up, hands on her hips in defiance.
"As long as it will take. I'm not a robot."
Karel came back to them. He stopped in front of the young woman, his eyes fixed on hers.
"But if you know someone else who can translate this language, I'd be more than happy to accept their help," the adventuress quipped.
Karel turned to Morgau, then to Rouzic. The man shook his head ruefully.
"Unfortunately, Master Karel, I have never been initiated to this language..."
Morgau simply stared into Karel's eyes. Lara could not hold back a slight sceptical laugh.
"That's what I thought."
"Gunderson?", Karel suddenly barked.
The henchman took a step forward.
"Go ask the archeologists about this. I suppose there must be at least one of them who knows the language, right?"
The mercenary nodded, before turning away.
"I'll come with you", Kurtis interrupted.
Lara looked at him in surprise.
"Those people have been quite traumatized until now, think it's better if one of us goes and talks to them," the young man explained quietly.
After a short second of silence, Karel stepped aside to let him pass.
"I'm coming with you too," Lara announced in turn.
Gunderson looked at both of them warily, but in front of his master's impassive gaze, he lowered his head and turned to leave. The Englishman and the American followed, surrounded by guards. They all went down to the tent where the archaeologists were being held. When they entered, Lara and Kurtis were struck by the calm that reigned there. All eyes were suddenly on them.
There weren't many of them. Lara counted nine precisely. One of the men was lying on a cot, drenched in sweat, obviously in bad shape. Two of the women were sleeping, curled up on the dusty floor. Kurtis moved forward at a measured pace, also uncomfortable. When Gunderson tried to get into the tent, Lara waved her hand and told him to stay outside. The tall man pulled out his knife, the same one he had used to torture her, and pointed it at her.
"Don't mess up with me, Croft."
"We need to reassure them and gain their trust. Leave it to us," the young woman replied coldly.
"If you try anything-"
"And tell me, what exactly would we try to do?"
In front of the young woman's determination, the mercenary changed his mind, and lowered his knife. The adventuress turned around and walked back to Kurtis, furious.
"Fucking jerk," she hissed through clenched teeth.
She approached the group of archaeologists. Instinctively, they had gathered in the centre of the tent, almost huddled together.
"Please, don't be afraid," Kurtis tried to reassure them. "We don't mean no harm."
"In fact, we need your help," Lara added.
Some of them nodded, a little confused. One of the women, presumably quite young, became agitated. Sitting on the floor, she held her knees firmly against her.
"Who are you?", she asked in English with a strong oriental accent.
The two adventurers glanced at each other briefly.
"If you are with them, there is no need to ask for help. We are not working with murderers," she replied before the two young men could open their mouths to answer.
"No, actually, we're archaeologists too," Kurtis explained in a soft voice. "Or sort of..."
"Sort of?", retorted the young woman.
"We have nothing to do with those monsters," Kurtis told her. "To tell you the truth, we were chasing them, and by a lot of circumstances, we ended up here, we are their prisoners too..."
His gaze met the young woman's, who didn't look convinced at all.
"We are friends of Alessio's," Lara then told her.
The expression on the young woman's face suddenly changed. The adventuress took advantage of the gap that had just opened up.
"We've spent some time in Iznik, before we got trapped with several of our friends over there..."
"And Alessio, I imagine," the young woman cut her off.
Lara shook her head in surprise.
"If Alessio was still alive, I guess he would have been here too..."
The two adventurers exchanged a pained look.
"Before he died, he tried to reach you and your team. That's what brought us here."
The young archaeologist shook her head gently, her head and gaze lowered to the ground.
"I suppose it's them?"
The Englishman and the American understood she was referring to Gunderson's men.
"Yes," Kurtis simply replied.
She remained silent. Some of her colleagues stirred around her.
"There's something here, under the water. Some kind of portal. We've discovered some ancient writings, Persian probably...", explained Lara. "I know the language, but my knowledge is quite limited. Do any of you speak this language?"
The young archaeologist stared at them with her large black almond-shaped eyes. They saw a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. Then she turned to her comrades and spoke to them in Arabic. They imagined that she was translating the conversation for them.
One of them started to get angry. The other man lying at the back of the tent also protested. The debate was clearly raging between them.
After a few minutes, the tent became quiet again. The young Turk turned back to the two adventurers.
"I suppose we don't have the choice?"
Kurtis shook his head gently.
"Neither do we..."
The young woman pouted, thoughtful. One of her colleagues tried to call her out, but she interrupted.
"In fact, there are several of us who know this language. Well, Aylin knows the basics, but it's been a long time since she studied. The same goes for Adem...", she pointed to the man lying at the back of the tent. "He's too weak to move at the moment anyway..."
Lara felt disappointment creep over her. Beside her, Kurtis sighed.
"... and there is me."
The young woman stood up. Her long black curly hair slid over her shoulders.
"I know this language very well, and some of its dialects as well. It was one of my main options at university. If you promise me not to hurt the others, then I'll help you."
Behind her back, one of her colleagues protested again.
"Believe me, we don't have a choice either," Lara repeated in a voice that was meant to be reassuring.
The young archaeologist's gaze then fell on Gunderson, who had just reappeared at the entrance to the tent. He gave them a head sign.
"Get to work."
