Qualopec's Tomb

Lara made another right turn down a smaller tunnel and then made left turn down the dark tunnel and emerged into an area that made Lara drop her flare onto the ground. With sunlight making its way down, Lara could see that she was in a tall room that displayed vivid shades of colour, mainly red and gold. The entire ceiling, as well as the floor (minus the outside edges and a square portion in the centre) was red. Looking down, Lara was even able to see the remains of intricate carvings that once laced the ground. The walls of the room were covered with colourful pictograms similar to the ones Lara had seen earlier when she explored Vilcabamba, all of which were mainly focused at the very bottom, as well as the very top portions of every wall. The rest of the walls in between were a bright gold colour. In each corner of the room, Lara could see large square-shaped support structures that continued the repetitive pictogram patterns at the bottom and top. Between the pictograms, she could see more intricate Incan carvings of people. But perhaps the most compelling aspects of the room were the giant statues that lined each wall. There were eight total, two centred on each wall. In between the statues were doorways, leading down hallways to different parts of the tomb. The doorway on the wall to Lara's right was blocked by a somewhat hidden door that had the same pattern as the bottom of the wall. In the doorway straight ahead, Lara could see that the hallway was slanting upwards and leading to something of significance. The hallway on the left was blocked by three gates, each having a different red symbol on the front of them, the very symbols that Lara had encountered just before she began her cave exploration: a bird, a sun, and a human face. She was now a hundred percent convinced she was in the right place. She was finally standing in Qualopec's Tomb.

"What a beautiful place this is!" Lara said. "There's no way that this tomb could be mistaken for something else! Everything appears to be in almost mint condition as well…" She picked up her flare. "I wonder what I can find up that slanted hallway."

Lara walked straight across the large spacious room and started making her way up the slanted hallway in hopes of finding something even more spectacular. The floor of the hall was gold, as well as the walls, which also displayed greyish line patterns on the bottom and top. The ceiling of the hall, just like the main room, was a bright red. About halfway up the hall, Lara began to sense that something was not right about the area she was in. Then, almost as if she had tripped an invisible wire, Lara heard a rocky crashing sound coming from the top of the hallway and saw a large bluish-grey boulder rolling its way down towards her at an accelerating pace. She immediately sprinted down the way she came and then dove to the right past the statue to avoid the oncoming threat, which was now making its way into the rocky hallway from which she came. Lara got back and brushed the dust from her khaki shorts and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Those relentless ancients... They never seem to give up their secrets very easily!" Lara said. "Oh well. It would be too easy if they didn't!"

Lara started her way back up the slanted hall cautiously, making sure that she would not run into any other hidden traps. Upon reaching the top of the hallway, the doorway was blocked by and intricately designed gate. Looking into the next room, Lara could see that it very identical to the main room she was just in a few moments ago, but there were noticeable differences. At the far end of the room, the two statues lining the wall were spread out further and in between them were the three large enigmatic symbols engraved in bright red against a black background and separated by intricate gold line patterns. Below the large symbols, Lara could see an ancient throne chair and it was the skeletal remains of what looked like the legendary Qualopec himself. On both sides of the deceased ruler, Lara could see two strange-looking bodies that were standing upright and had their arms crossed with their hands on their chests. They were also seen to be wrapped in multiple layers of cloth that were already in the process of decaying. Lara realized that she was looking at well-preserved mummies. At the centre of the room, where the floor was slightly raised, Lara could see a beautiful pedestal. On top of the pedestal stood a shiny circular-looking object that seemed to resemble something that Lara had already seen. Then, she remembered the online conversation she had with Jacqueline Natla and the computer graphic that was presented to her and realized that she was looking at the very object that brought her here in the first place. Standing before Lara Croft was the fabled Scion of Atlantis! Her long and patient search had finally paid off.

"It's here! I actually found it!" Lara said. "How am I going to get in there though?"

Lara tried lifting the large metallic gate upwards, but it would not budge. It could only mean one thing: finding another way into the room. Lara thought for a moment and then made her way back down to the main room and turned to her right to the three gates blocking that hallway. Looking the empty spots of the gates, Lara could another hallway making a right turn to another area just beyond the corner.

Could that be my alternate route to the Scion? Lara thought. If so, then I need to find a way to open these gates! There's no way I can make these budge open.

Lara re-emerged into the main room and refocused her attention on the hallway right across from where she was now standing. It was blocked by a stone door, one that looked as though it could be opened easily just by pushing it open. To her astonishment, Lara was able to push the door open without the assistance of anything else. Suddenly, Lara was encountered with yet another unpleasant surprise. Up ahead were two raptors, and they were quick to notice Lara open up the hallway as they charged with their jaws wide open. Lara quickly drew her pistols and shot at the prehistoric nuances, even though her bullet supply was starting to run a little low. Still, she managed to shoot the beasts dead before they could eat her alive.

"How did these buggers manage to get inside the tomb?" Lara asked herself as she traversed around the dead dinosaur corpses. "They obviously got lost."

Continuing her way down the short hallway, Lara emerged into a smaller room containing three other doorways, each having one of the three different correlating symbols above them. The doorway on Lara's left featured the bird symbol above it. The doorway straight ahead from Lara displayed the large sun symbol overhead and the doorway on the right had the face symbol above it.

"Hmm…" Lara said. "This is rather interesting. I have a feeling there are going to be more puzzles for me to solve in order to get where I need to go…puzzles…"

Lara looked around the room for a few more moments, and then decided to make her way down one of the passages. She started down the left passage, the one with the bird above it.

Hey everyone! I know it may seem like a while since I've updated but here I am once again to enlighten you with another installment. Lara has finally stumbled her way into the Tomb of Qualopec and is now working on trying to get to the Scion in the room at the top of the slanted hallway that's blocked off by a large heavy gate by opening three smaller gates down another hallway. I'm probably going to end up making this level five chapters long (including this one, so four more) and then have a few more chapters in after that before moving on to the next part of the story. Also, be prepared for some surprises in the next few chapters...things are about to get pretty interesting :)

saturn95