Lions, Gorillas, and Pierre! Oh my…

It was just as Lara suspected, but not in the way she anticipated. The interior of the coliseum was very large, covering an area that was comparable to that of a modern sports arena. But what surprised her the most about the amphitheatre was the pristine condition that it was in, even thousands of years after the collapse of the ancient Greco-Roman civilization. Although the coliseum was evidently carved into the ground, Lara would think that the large open ceiling would let in all of the elements and make a mess of the place. Instead, Lara was given an accurate and mind-blowing time capsule of life in ancient Greece. She could almost see some of the activity that may have used to take place down in the large central pit area, though she was still unsure whether or not it was used for religious purposes or for entertainment. Still, Lara deduced that it was most likely an ancient sports arena.

"How could such a huge area go unnoticed, especially in modern times?" Lara asked herself as she continued starring around in awe. "I don't even know where to start looking. This adventure just keeps getting more rewarding as I go."

Looking up through the open ceiling, the sky was a pristine shade of light blue with thin feathery cirrus clouds streaking their way across. The light of the illuminating noon sun made for a dramatic and crystal clear view of the coliseum's interior, especially along the outskirts where four rows of tall light coloured steps wrapped their way all the way around. During the ancient sporting events, these would be the places where people would sit while they watched the action take place. Lara looked around at the large steps and saw they were all in great condition with the exception of the far left side from where Lara stood where large chunks of stone have been uprooted from their foundations. There were also large boxed-in rooms in each of the four corners of the large amphitheatre that connected the ancient stone "bleachers" by doorways on each side. However, Lara could see that the upper right-hand corner of the coliseum was completely covered with huge piles of rocky debris where a large section of the ceiling collapsed. Or was it deliberately destroyed to hide some sort of inner secret? Lara's guess was about as good as anyone else's at this point. The last thing that stood out in the higher section of the coliseum was the large balcony that overlooked the large pit. Located directly on the other side from where Lara stood, the high balcony overlooking everything else was most likely the area where spectators would watch the ancient games. There were also two large supporting columns on either side of the high balcony among the stone sitting areas, the right one being partially buried in dirt and stone debris.

"I can only imagine what kind of gruesome things used to happen here at one point in time." she said as she glanced down into the large pit area.

There were a few things that stood out in the pit. The first thing that Lara noticed were the two smaller pits in the gravel, one on the left side of the 'field' and the other on the right side over by the large rock formations that blocked the upper right corner of the coliseum. The ravine on the left lead down to a smaller area that was not very deep into the ground and it seemed to be connected to a hallway leading into yet another hidden area beyond the upper wall. The pit on the right, however, looked more sinister. Lara pulled out her binoculars and looked into the pit to get a closer look and found that it was much deeper than the other pit. Though the darkness would not allow her to discern clearly any more details, Lara thought she saw large spikes lingering at the very bottom. The thought of it made her cringe.

"I would hate to fall into that trap."

The second noticeable aspect of the pit area were the two large statues of Athena just below the spectator's balcony. In Greek religion and mythology, Athena or Pallas Athena was the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill. Athena's veneration as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times, and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city, many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias (or "Athena of the city"). The city of Athens and the goddess Athena essentially bear the same name (Athena the Goddess, Athenai the city) while it is not known which of the two words is derived from the other. Lara stared at the statues the same way she did everything else. Like the rest of the coliseum's interior, they were well-kept and out of nature's way.

"Wow." Lara said, looking at the statues through the binoculars. "This is just too incredible. This is every archaeologist's dream!"

The last thing that Lara noticed in the large pit were two doorways on the very left and the very right sides of the far wall that seemed to lead down into other rooms. The doorway on the right was partially hidden by the towering rock structure, though it was still noticeable enough for Lara to take notice of its presence. It was at that moment when her stomach started to make growling noises again, so she decided to pull out her concealed lunch and take a seat on the first row of the sitting area just to the left of the coliseum entrance before taking the first bite of her sandwich. After all of the jumping, walking, running, and swimming Lara had already done in the morning hours, it felt great to just sit down and take a break from all of the excitement, especially from her encounters with Pierre, wherever he was at. Even then, it was hard for Lara to get over the fact that she was eating lunch in an ancient Greek coliseum that has not seen any human activity for millennia.

Once Lara finished her large sandwich, she washed it down with water from her canteen and continued her exploration of the amphitheatre. She headed left along the edge of the pit and was quick to discover Pierre walking along the partially demolished steps of the ancient seat rows on the far left side of the coliseum. He spotted Lara and Lara glared back.

"You better pick up the pace!" Pierre shouted, his voice echoing throughout the large arena.

"Yeah…Says the person that's doing hardly any of the work!" Lara shouted back as she continued walking towards him and pulled out her pistols. "How did you manage to get here without the four keys?"

"Easy, I found another route." Pierre said as he and Lara approached each other.

"I almost expected you to follow me through that locked door." Lara said.

"Well I didn't do that, mademoiselle." Pierre replied. "It seems as though you've been slightly outsmarted by your old rival."

"Old rival? Please…I've only known you for a year. You and Larson both."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you and Larson are nothing more than just obstacles standing in my way." Lara pointed one of her pistols at Pierre's head. "Now, unless you want to get killed by me, I suggest that you stay out of my way and mind your own business. I'm not in the mood for any of your nuisances at this time."

"Thanks for the advice. I should see that the same applies to you as well!" Pierre replied.

After that comment, he took one of his magnums and slapped Lara hard across the face with it, causing her to fall down into the large pit area and land on her back. When she hit the hard gravel below, she was enveloped in a cloud of dust and the back of her arms were slightly scraped from the harsh impact. Pierre pointed his guns down at Lara and started shooting, but she was quick to avoid the onslaught and return the favour with her pistols. She managed to hit Pierre in his left arm with a bullet, which tore through his jacket and punctured his arm. Pierre cried out in pain and struggled to pick up his gun, but the pain was much too great. Once he grabbed it, he immediately ran towards the entrance of the coliseum and disappeared down the hall. Lara smiled.

"I warned him to stay out of my way." Lara said. "Oh well, that should buy me some more time to find the tomb."

As soon as she put away her pistols, Lara heard a sinister and familiar growling sound coming from behind her. Turning around, she saw four lions making their way towards her with deadly expressions on their furry faces.

"Oh, great." Lara said. "Just what I needed…another encounter with a group of hungry lions. What next?"

Suddenly, another surprise came pounding its way from behind the rock formations in the opposite corner of the arena. Two large dark-brown gorillas were seen making their way towards the archaeologist, though they also remained cautious of the golden feline creatures that surrounded Lara. Instead of going right up to her, the large primates stood a fair distance away as if to watch the events that were about to unfold.

"Now I have to deal with gorillas too? Damn…" Lara said. "I shouldn't have said anything. This calls for some extreme measures."

Lara pulled out her shotgun and readied herself for whatever was about to come her way.

"Let the games begin."

Looks like Lara has found herself in another mess of trouble! What will she do to get out of this situation? Will she have enough shotgun bullets to get past the two gorillas? Stay tuned for the next chapter as Lara re-launches the ancient games of the Greek coliseum and tries to find another passage that could very well lead her to where she needs to go...

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