Getting Warmer...

Though it did not seem like it, Lara had been exploring the underground caves of Peru for almost two and a half hours and still had no idea where the tomb, let alone the artefact, was located. She had already explored the forgotten city of Vilcabamba, setting foot in countless areas that have remained undisturbed for centuries and got a unique insight into the lives of the people that once lived there. Lara has already encountered many dangers throughout her adventure, things that threatened her very existence. Even so, it only made Lara ever more eager to see what she could discover next, because the farther she ventured, the more enigmatic everything seemed to get. As Lara continued down the dark passage, her thoughts began to go back to when Carlos was killed by that pack of wolves that attacked just outside the entrance to the caves leading to Vilcabamba. She began to regret not being able to save his life in time, but there was no way she could possibly do that, even if it meant dropping from the side of the mountain. But those thoughts soon passed and Lara turned left down the dark passage and lit a flare to see where she was going. The sound of a fast-moving stream started becoming louder as Lara approached the source of the sound. Lara remembered how cold the air around her felt when she first entered the caves and realized that it had gotten warmer since then…much warmer. It almost felt tropical. It was only now that Lara noticed the almost sudden change in temperature.

"Was this the temperature change that Carlos mentioned back at the Lima airport?" Lara asked as she began contemplating yesterday's events. "He did mention that Qualopec's Tomb was supposedly buried somewhere around here an area where the temperature was different. If that's the case, I think I might be getting close to the tomb!"

Lara suddenly remembered something else that Carlos mentioned before his sudden departure. He had mentioned the presence of large 'lizard-like' creatures that were reported roaming around the area. Thinking about it gave Lara a chill down her back, for she had no idea whether he was telling the truth or not. But then again, the temperature had changed just like he said it would. Could he really be telling the truth about the creatures? The more Lara thought about it, the scarier her surroundings seemed to get.

Lara emerged from the small passageway and emerged into another cave, where some of the surrounding rock was covered with green moss and a fast-moving stream was seen going rapidly to the right, where it opened up into a cave that was much larger and taller. Lara was standing at the edge looking down into the cave where the river was flowing over the edge creating a giant and magnificent waterfall. The water poured into a medium-sized underground lake that seemed to continue underground through a naturally made waterway. Behind the waterfall, Lara could see what looked like another opening, but Lara knew that the current of the water would not allow her to see what was there. Across from the waterfall, Lara could see another dark cave opening in the distance.

"Hmm…" Lara said. "There's a lot to explore here. Maybe I should see what's upstream first."

Lara turned away from the large opening and continued in the opposite direction towards the cave wall. She looked across the river and saw a place where she could jump to and did so while being careful about the possible danger of falling into the water. Lara turned and saw another small platform directly behind her just around the corner from where she started and jumped across again. From there, the platform merged into an upward slope that lead to another place where Lara could jump across the river. She easily did so, since the distance between her standing position and the other side was shorter. After she made it safely across, Lara went to the other end of the platform around a pillar of rock and observed another platform that was a little higher than the platform she was standing on. From there, it a simple matter of jumping and grabbing the edge and pulling herself up before continuing. As Lara pulled onto the high ledge, she could see a dark passage leading away from the river to some unknown location.

"Another passageway…great." Lara said, slightly irritated. "This place isn't supposed to a labyrinth! Oh well. I guess I should press onward."

Lara took out one of her remaining flares and lit it before continuing down the dark passage. The sound of the rushing water started to muffle out a bit as Lara ventured farther away from it. She rounded a left corner and continued around another rock structure down the dark cave. The only light that illuminated Lara's surroundings was the reddish glow of her flare. A few moments later, she could hear the sound water returning as she reached an exit that took her out of the dark and back above the raging river. She was now standing on a manmade platform that was made of light-brown stone that was connected to an old wooden bridge leading to another landing across the river. To her left, Lara could see the source of the rushing water: a large set of waterfalls that were the result of runoff from the tops of snowy mountains. Come to think of it, it had been a while since Lara had seen snow at all; another side effect of the temperature difference from where she started to where she was now.

After taking in the view, Lara left her flare in the dark and walked across the bridge to the other side where she discovered something curious. On the wall was an ancient gear mechanism that appeared to be missing three small cogs required to complete it. On the left wall was a lever switch that Lara figured was used to turn the gears. The last gear in the series on the right was connected to another gear in side the wall, which was connected to another, and so forth. But it was unclear what the purpose of the gear mechanism was. Then Lara glanced to her right and saw that part of the landing had given away and formed a safe route down to an empty riverbed that was connected to raging river. Surely, there had to be water flowing down that riverbed too, but something was blocking and diverting the water down just one path, over the edge and into the large cavern. Lara looked closer and saw that it was a manmade diversion in the form of stone dam that was built centuries ago, and was still doing a great job keeping the water from flowing into the other riverbed. Lara decided to explore the stone landings around the deep riverbed. She jumped to the other side and discovered a skeleton lying on the stone with a shotgun in its hand. There were also a few packs of shotgun shells that had never been used yet inside the bag that the body was carrying.

"I could use this!" Lara said as she took the shotgun and the ammo. "I could never pass an opportunity like this up!"

Once Lara grabbed everything she could, she turned around and jumped back across the empty riverbed and climbed back up to where the gear mechanism stood. Somehow, Lara had to get the gear mechanism to turn in order for the dam to open and let water flow down the other river channel in order to make the waterfall in the large cavern disappear to reveal that secret passageway; at least that was what she thought.

"I guess I'm going to have to find three small cogs in order to make this thing work." Lara said. "And right when I thought things couldn't get any more difficult…Let's see what surprises lurk in that large cavern at the end of the stream."

Lara made her way back across the bridge and through the dark cave with the flare she had lit, leaving it behind as she exited the passageway for when she returned. After jumping back across the rocky platforms, Lara ended up back where she started and started making her way through the large opening into the tall cavern with the giant waterfall. The trail leading down to the bottom was very bumpy and jumbled up, but Lara eventually managed to make it to the bottom of the cave. Walking around the small lake, Lara headed for the cave opening straight ahead when all of sudden, she was surprised by three wolves running out. She took out her pistols, but instead of running at her the wolves ran past her and started making their way up the rocky trail to the overlooking cavern that Lara had come from.

"That was weird." Lara said. "Why didn't they attack me?"

Despite her concern, Lara climbed over some rocks and continued into the dark cavern beyond. No matter how hard Lara tried putting her finger on it, something did not feel right about the area she was in…

Hello, everyone! I am on a roll today, because is the second chapter I've uploaded in the last twenty-four hours! I've been thinking and decided to make the Lost Valley level three chapters as well. So far, Lara has explored the area upstream and has found the infamous gear puzzle requiring three more gears in order for the waterfall to reveal a secret passageway, though she doesn't quite know this yet. She has also acquired the shotgun from a dead carcass, giving her more protection against enemies! The wolves that ran past Lara and didn't even try to attack her is a sure sign of things to come. I have a special surprise for the next chapter, so stay tuned and watch for it! :)

saturn95