Chapter 6
The Coliseum The stone passageway was covered lightly in mint green vines, adding more of a decorative touch to the ancient Roman corridor. Her brown leather boots echoed fully as she kept a steady stride down the long path, which turned right at the end. It appeared she was in the water works of some building. Instead of indoor plumbing ancient stone waterways carried the water through a network of different channels.
There was a pile of rock and rubble at the far end, with a balcony up on the left side of the wall. The end toward the entrance had broken down, creating a ramp up to the balcony. She stepped on it to check how sturdy it was, then hoisted herself and made her way to the top. There were bones of several large rodents up here, along with pieces of bat bones. She saw a pool of water behind the rubble, surprised to see it clear and gently flowing to stop stagnation. She hopped down, then dipped her hand in to check the temperature. It was cool. She took several sips, then slid into the water. There was a path that dead-ended behind her and one that continued forward that split left and right. She swam over to it and checked to the right. A bright beam of sunlight came through the water, splitting into brilliant beams. The path to the left had rubble, but she could see the light of an opening. She pulled herself through the crevice, then swam quickly to the opening, breaking through the water. She sucked in a lungful of air, then pulled herself out of the pool. She was now in rusted prison area, full of old, big iron cages. This was odd to her.
"Where on Earth am I…?"
She climbed over one of the cages blocking her path, finding a big silver key with a white opal in the handle. She placed the ornate key in her backpack and continued up the dirt ramp. At the top of the spiraling ramp, she came to a huge doorway into an expansive area. She stopped as she heard the hooting of an animal. She looked around, realizing she was in an ancient Roman Coliseum. Finally she spotted the animal as it leaped from the seating area down to her level. It was a gorilla, and not some regular primate, this gorilla was easily five times her size and width. It lifted a huge boulder from the ground and with ease flung it at her.
She ducked, drawing her pistols and aimed them toward the beast. Her breath caught in her throat as another one appeared from behind the pillars up in the stands and joined its comrade. She immediately began firing each pistol, glazing the gorillas with hot lead. This infuriated the closer one, and he rushed at her in a blind rage. She dived sideways, firing several shots into the animal's head. It rolled into a bloody pile, dead. She then focused on the second, larger one. It had its fangs showing, walking around her slowly. Lara did the same, keeping both guns aim at the animal. Finally it began lunging at her. She cracked a half smile and began firing away, running toward the beast. She did a front flip over it, landing smoothly. She turned to face the monster-
-and finds out its already running at her. She jumps out of the way, landing hard on her elbows. She fires several more shots into the gorilla before it finally falls to the ground in a dead slump. She stood up, holstering her weapons. One of her elbows were bleeding, but nothing life threatening. She took some gauze from a medical kit and cleaned it up, then applied a bandage to it. She moved her arm a bit, then surveyed the coliseum more closely. At each end was a building, one was smaller and looked less significant than where the ruler or king would set.
She looked at that building. It had two smaller doors at the base, one of which she entered. A giant statue of Athena was in the middle, and the balcony was resting above her. There was a large opening in the ceiling, allowing sunlight to brighten up the arena. She looked over and saw a break where the creatures had come to attack her. She walked over to it, reaching up to see if she could grab the ledge. It was still too far up. She crouched and jumped up as far as she could, and felt the ledge come up underneath her fingers. She grabbed on, pulling herself up. She walked up several of the seats toward a pillar when a gunshot rung throughout the air and rock shards exploded beside her. She dived behind the pillar, drawing her weapons.
"Better pick up the pace!" Came Pierre's voice. Lara furrowed her eyebrows, then holstered her guns and looked around. He was gone. She turned her attention back to the pillar, and saw that of all the ones lining this circular place, this one was broken off at the middle. She vaulted up, then spied a ledge over to her left. She jumped toward it, the rock immediately gave way. She slid a few feet before landing behind some rubble near the Emperors building.
She noticed that from a running jump she could probably make the leap to the balcony. She did, and glided easily over. She walked over to the front balcony over looking the coliseum. There was an old switch near the throne, and she pulled it. The sound of a door opening below filled the cavern. She turned and saw another larger door with a keyhole beside it. She figured the key she picked up in the holding area would fit it, but she hated the thought of leaving the other underground section unexplored. She vaulted over the balcony and climbed down the Athena statue. She walked over to the second doorway-
-and jumped back as lion lunged out. She drew her pistols as two female lions followed the large male. His mane was puffed up and mighty, with the two slender females crouched low, glaring at Lara. She backed up slowly, running into the building. She then opened fired on the male lion. He howled and then circled around her, the other two coming in close. She ran up and jumped on top of the male, pushing off his back. She crumpled to the ground, distracting one of the females. The second one hissed, then swiped at her with its powerful claws. She hopped back, and she swiped again, nicking her calf. She pressed the gun barrel to the feral cats' head and fired once, killing her. She looked up and fired the last of the magazines into the last lion, and it too collapsed.
The gunfight had caved in the newly opened passageway, so Lara made her way back up to the balcony to use the key. The gate opened up slowly, revealing only a ladder going up. Way up. Lara completed the ascend, awing at the amazing view she got of the coliseum from atop the Emperors Watchout. She was now directly across from the smaller building. By several jumps and a large gap to swing with her hook grapple, she made it over to a ledge near the building, where she climbed down and inside of it. This wasn't just another building, it was a passageway into a completely different area. It felt different, almost like she could feel how long a human being had been in, which was quite some time.
