Chapter 2
City of Vilcabamba
Lara walked cautiously into the wide, open space. There ancient stone pillars in here, with a pathway in the upper right corner and another larger area to her left.
She took a glance down the path and saw it was extremely dark, and decided to go with the open area. It was all made of white stone, with a large square pool in the center of the room. Ancient Peruvian carvings decorated the walls and sides of the prehistoric pool. In the far side of the room there was a large, almost ceremonial shaped archway, and at the end were two stone double doors.
She walked carefully down the path, eyeing the floor and ceiling with each step. She traced some lines on the door, smiling at how creative the elders were. On each side of the door was an ancient locking device in the shapes of a frowning skull. It was chipped and withered, but still looked like it could be used. The open mouths were where you used the key. "But first, I have to find it…" She whispered out loud, the sudden sound of her voice making her heart race faster. Aside from the occasional sound of birds or bats in the distance, the ancient tomb was quiet. It was entirely dark though, the center of the main chamber had an open ceiling, allowing crisp breezes and bright sunlight to flood the area, and several places beyond that. The stone lining the opening was built to reflect light, amplifying the sunlight that did get in. She turned and walked back toward the pool and knelt down, her braid sliding gently over her shoulder. She reached out and touched the water, which was surprisingly clear and a bit warm. A little colder than she preferred, but still unusually warm for an ancient tomb.
The water rippled, and the gentle sound of it as she moved her finger through it gave her a sense of relaxation. She smiled, taking in a deep breath as she looked at her reflection. And then it all happened so fast. She heard the deep, heavy footsteps first, then heard a deafening snarl. Then she saw the reflection of a gigantic brown bear behind her. It took a matter of seconds as she quickly side rolled, drawing one of her pistols. The bear dropped down from its stance on walking on two legs, and began to bound after her. She fired three shots before it reached her and she crouched, then sprung backward in a not to graceful backflip, and landed crooked on her feet. She drew her other gun and fired several more shots into the already slowing and bleeding grizzly.
It leapt forward, two of its enormous paws extended, and it took a chunk of the stone ledge off as soon as she hopped back. It tried feebly to climb up after her, but the shots were taking their toll. She fired once more into the bear's head to stop its slow suffering. She holstered her smoking weapons and stepped past the animal carcass to explore where it had came. It was a small, enclosed area with straw matted to the floor. The full skeletons of several wolves were lying near the straw, and over in the corner was a half rotted corpse of a slightly newer meal.
Lara cringed her nose and stepped out. On the wall to the right of the archway was a darker granite colored stone door, and beside it was a wooden switch. She walked over to it and pulled down on the switch, which broke off. The door opened however, and she stepped inside. In here there was a rack for hanging the skins of animals and a fire pit. There were also several rocks leading up to another doorway. She climbed up them, taking her time so she wouldn't crumble the rocks. At the top there was a short hop over into another room. The fall wasn't to far if she missed, but the thought of limping through the rest of this didn't appeal to her. She sucked in her breath and hopped over. Her foot slipped, but she caught herself with her elbow. She pulled up and examined the new room. It looked completely bare, and wasn't to large width wise.
She stepped down onto a slightly lower platform, but it crumbled and toppled Lara into the room. She looked up, slightly panicked. There was no way she could reach the opening again. She looked around the bare room once more, taking in all of the details. At the opposite end, a section of the wall looked different from the rest. She walked over to it and ran her hand along it, trying to hit a hidden switch. Nothing happened. She reared back and kicked it several times. Cracks raced along this section now, and she smiled. She kicked it several more times, and it crumbled away. There was a completely dark passage up ahead. She slid a strap off her backpack so she could access it, and then opened it up. Aside from some heath supplies and extra magazines for her pistols, it was almost empty. She felt some of the pockets, and found what she was looking for.
A tin container used to hold flares. This wasn't a new pack, but hopefully there were some left. She opened it up and was surprised to see five left. She pulled one out and replaced the container back into her backpack then put her backpack back on her back. This was the type of flare that when you pulled the top off, it struck against the hard wick and caused it to spark up. The light was good for about twenty feet. Her preferred source of light in tombs. She pulled quickly on the end, and it lit up in a blinding red hue colored light. The flare made a slight fuzzy sizzling sound as it lit up quite a bit of space. She walked down the path, and frowned as it came to a dead end. Frustrated, she leaned against the dead end wall to think. It moved slightly.
She jumped away, waiting to see if she had cause some sort of trap in motion. After a few moments of silence, she walked back over to the wall and placed her shoulder against it and applied some pressure. It moved a little more. She pushed harder, and the wall kept moving back. Finally, it opened up a new room. The stuffy heat cause from the flare had started to give Lara a headache, but as soon as the stone block revealed a new room cold air hit her in the face. She breathed it in. This opened up to a closed in area. Ahead was a sort of second floor, and underneath the second floor was a darkened area lined with dusty and broken golden jugs. She had to lean her head down as she went underneath the ledge. Set in ceremonial stone were two relatively small items- a silver key with the shape of a skull on the end and a flat golden idol about the size of her hand.
The idol was covered in sacred etchings and had the face of an ancient Incan. It was relatively heavily and beautifully decorated in old carvings. She pulled both items out and examined then before putting them into her backpack. She heard several loud squeaks come from above, followed by the heavy flapping of the wings. Two Vampire bats came swooping down from a dark alcove. Lara jumped and pulled herself up onto the second floor ledge and balled her fist and swiped at the bat aimed at her head. She heard a crunch has her hand connected with the smooth, furry body of the animal. There was some clay pottery bowls next to a wooden framed straw bed in the corner beside a rectangular opening that allowed light from the main chamber in.
Lara vaulted up and lowered herself down before dropping and landing in a crouch position. Back in the main chamber she walked over to the stone doors and used the Skull Key in one of the locks. One of the stone doors opened slowly, and Lara craned her neck to peer inside. As soon as the door was opened enough she heard quick, light footsteps. Before she could react properly a wolf was lunging toward her. She fell back into a backward roll, catching the wolf with her foot and sending it flying into the air behind her. She sprung back up, drawing her pistols. The animal was still getting up, and she pumped several bullets into its head. After several sprays of crimson the wolf settled into its final resting place. Lara brushed a lock of her brunette hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. She holstered her weapons and walked back toward the open door. In the far distance she could see a massive stone structure covered in mossy green vines.
The short path leading to the opening was lined with blow dart traps. She leaned back then propelled herself forward. She heard something click, triggering the trap. The short hallway was suddenly filled with the sound of the darts being blown out and hitting the wall. As soon as she landed she fell into an army style crawl and finished the short hallway. At the end she stood up and brushed off her top and legs and tightened her black, fingerless leather gloves.
Ahead was an ancient structure hidden in a light mist and shadows. Incan pillars and spiked skulls were at the base of the building. She walked forward carefully, eyeing around the building. There were 3 openings, two on the left and right and in the middle was a larger door, decorated in gold pictograms. It was closed and sealed. Lara decided to take the open doorway on the left. After a short, winding hallway it opened up into a massive room, with ledges leading up to the highest part of the building. In front of her was a pool filled with murky, green tinted water.
She stepped up to the first ledge, and it held easily. If she took a running jump she would land on the ledge opposite her and the room. She reared back and took several sprinting steps then sprang forward. On leg slipped, but she landed firmly. She saw that this ledge was cracked and ready to crumble. She pulled herself up on the ledge that was even with her head. Now there was one more ledge above her that led to an open doorway. She crouched down then jumped up, one hand catching the ledge. She pulled up a little and grabbed on with her other hand then pulled herself up. As she was brushing off, she heard a low rumble coming from the doorway. She peered inside, and was then suddenly knocked backward by a giant black cloud of Vampire Bats. Her heel teetered dangerously on the edge as she hit and swiped at the bloodthirsty mammals. Finally, the cloud cleared. She adjusted her backpack and brushed some stray locks of hair behind her ear.
"Miss Jacqueline better be damned happy when I find this relic…" Lara grumbled before continuing on down the hallway. Up here was an oddly pattern room, with splashes of red and orange colors on the wall. In front of her was a switch that looked like it was made of bone and set into some weird mechanism on the wall. She had to use both hands to activate the lever, and heard a dull sound of scraping stone somewhere below. Opposite the way she came in was a doorway. She stepped out onto it and saw she was on a balcony on the top of the building, overlooking the walkway that lead in to this area. She took in the view for a little, then started carefully climbing down the rock wall next to the building. She smiled about halfway, getting a rush of excitement.
This is what she loved doing, being alone and isolated from humanity in search of something worth millions that hasn't been seen for centuries. Which reminded her, Natla never really named the artifact she was looking for, except that it had "mystical powers" and buried in Qualopec's tomb somewhere underneath this city. She dropped the last few feet, landing roughly on her feet. Back down here, the door to the right of the middle one was now open. She smiled and headed through it. In here was a gigantic square opening with a lever at the very bottom. She looked around and saw no handholds or anything she could use to climb down. Across the pit was a switch on the wall, with no platform or ledge above it. The puzzle was simple, jump across the pit and grab the lever, which will fill the pit with water so she can climb down and pull the lever to open the large double doors in the middle of the building. Unless there was a hidden "real" switch somewhere else and this was a fake. Deciding against the not to favorable odds, she jumped forward and grabbed onto the two handholds of the lever. It slid downward-
-and an icy waterfall fell from the ceiling. She felt her grip lessen immediately. She faced her head toward the ground, realizing that the water was coming from the slowly melting Peruvian snow on the mountain.
"Those tricky ancient Inca's…" Lara thought grimly. Finally the water caused her grip to go entirely, and she fell into the filling pool. It was filled enough, however, to stop any additional harm. She gripped the lever down here and pulled it, then heard a huge mechanism move inside the mountain. After waiting in the cold water keeping her head afloat, the water was high enough to climb out. She shivered once, but continued on. Back out in the main area, she saw the third and middle door was open. Inside was a hallway and at the end she could see another wall switch. She stepped inside-
-and had to spring backward to stop from being sliced in half from a giant pendulum that swung down from a hidden hinge on the ceiling. This started a chain reaction, and two more spaced evenly down the hallway began swinging, each one making a rhythmic swoosh sound. After careful observation, she made timed leaps across them, making it safely to the other side. Here was a bamboo gate and beside it, a switch. She pulled it and the gate creaked open. In here were pillars made of marble and ivory, with an elegant pool in the middle. Raised up on some steps was a door with a carving of the gold Idol on it, and beside it was an indention to place it there. She removed it from her backpack and stuck it in place with a resounding snap. The door opened, and she could hear a waterfall in the distance. The air also had the smell of grass and was more humid than the stale air of this catacomb. She continued on.
