Chapter 14
The Great Pyramid
At the top of each archway was a larger, brightly glowing rune, each one identical.
"So, it's more important somehow…"
The long corridor was exceptionally wide, intended probably for something much larger than her to fit through it, making her stomach quiver with uneasiness. It took a sharp right, and she could see as the passageway slightly dipped downward, a large, expansive room. She hurried on, keeping a palm resting on one of her pistols.
"Something doesn't feel right at all. Something isn't right…"
The steam-filled chamber was hot and muggy, due to the boiling hot lava far below. Pulsing on the walls were huge, red amniotic sacs, each one being fed by thick red veins that snaked around the wall they were attached to. In all there were six of them, three on each side of the room.
At the end was another short passageway, and she hurried over to it as quickly as she could, wanting to distance herself from the breeding chamber as much as possible. A deep rumbling emanated from the bubbling lava as she reached the end of the corridor, looking up the long, massive vertical shaft.
Many more of the pulsing sacs lined each side of the shaft, each one holding something large and unknown. At the top, she spied Natla, clutching the Scion. She was marveling at it, twisting and turning it in her hands. Finally she walked over disappeared from site, a bright white-purple light exploding from some ancient device in the middle of the room.
She felt the Great Pyramid shake, then a deafening explosion as boulders flew from the mountain, now revealing the pyramid itself.
"It's rising up…She's activated it with the Scion somehow…"
She turned and headed away from the slowly rising lava and back into the incubation chamber, the closest fluid sac pulsing more intensely.
The surrounding walls near the sacs were now covered in a pinkish-reddish colored flesh, pulsing with the sacs in a disturbing rhythm. Finally, a middle sac exploded, dark red blood and fluid flying everywhere, the sac hanging on the wall like a wet paper bag.
A winged demon flew out, extending its arms and legs; each one armed with sharp claws. She drew her pistols and immediately open fired, peppering its deformed, skinless body with shots. But it wasn't long before another sac exploded. And then a third one.
She spotted another one of the bat demon Atlanteans, and then one on all fours, just like the mummies! Only with the tattered bandages gone, she could clearly see that this was one of the pyramid bread Atlantean monsters. It immediately raised up, a ball of white light forming in between its raised hands. In a sonic, low pitched boom sound it shoot forward, now a flaming ball rushing toward her. She panicked, clumsily stumbling to the left. She tripped-
-the ball of fiery energy just missing her and exploding on contact as it collided with the stone wall, sending rock pieces flying. She was pulling herself back to her feet, and senses, when suddenly strong claws were grasping her backpack, lifting her in an instant five feet.
She dropped one of the pistols trying to un-holster it, quickly reaching for the second. The creature howled, a high pitched throaty sound that echoed from the vast chamber walls. She shot blindly behind her, the bullets hitting its body in disgusting, wet snapping sounds.
The creature dropped her, thankfully after falling several feet. She barrel rolled, grabbing the other weapon in the process, and was on her feet in a second. The wounded monster flew up to a second floor walkway that went around the length of the room, more than likely resting and waiting for the other two 'comrades' to finish her off.
She pelted the cat monster as it was rushing at her, hissing and growling as the shots entered its head and upper chest. It seemed to be a slight weakness for it and the entire Atlantean race in general. One of its glowing eyes exploded, and the monster slowly slid to the ground, defiant to fight at death. The bat thing swept down low, swiping at her furiously. She open fired with both guns, almost point blank, until its wings were nothing but tattered flaps of skin.
It was soon on the ground, crawling pathetically toward her as it tried to uselessly flap its broken wings. She shot it dead, gratefully ending the poor, animal's life.
She looked up and saw that the second one had died as well, still in a half sitting position. Blood was dripping from it, forming a small pool on the floor below it. She saw through the strong, gold covered iron grating in the floor that there was lava far below, just like over at the base of the shaft.
"It looks awfully low. I wonder if its because the pyramid has been so inactive for centuries? …Is the Scion really capable of re-powering this ancient city?"
She shook her head, pushing the thoughts deeper into her mind.
"No one would believe this…It's all up to me I suppose…"
She looked around and spotted a ladder to her left, nicely tucked away in a shadowy corner. She ascended it, the winding passage coming out on a ledge a good football field away from where she had stood once before. She looked around, seeing various ledges going up the shaft.
"Is this the only way…? For me it'll have to do…"
This place was old, so time must also have been able to help in some sort of way, from creating little cracks to move around in and places to hook a grapple to. Also going up the shaft on the walls were huge, hexagonal shaped carving, each one covered in intricate glowing symbols and important looking runes in each center.
The egg sacs also worried her, realizing she might have to get dangerously close to a couple if she wished to ascend as close to where she had seen Natla stand. The ledge on the next wall over was rather easy to get to, only a short hop and she was there. But, this put her much farther away from the one on the other wall. Protruding from the top of one of the hex monuments on the wall was an onyx and gold ring, welded superbly on to the onyx wall.
She reached back and grabbed her grapple, extending the wire a little bit so she could wind up some speed to throw it. It hooked, barely, but she managed to tug on it to secure it a little better. The wall run would be a long one, and she have to jump backward from the wall to hit the ledge and land just right.
"Perfect. No problem…"
She closed her eyes and jumped laterally, hitting the wall running at just the right time. She heard the hook scratching against the hook as it slowly started to slip from the hold it had, and she jumped a bit early-
-right as the hook detached, otherwise sending her plummeting into the boiling magma below. She caught the ledge one handed, struggling a moment to reach up and regain her grip.
She heard the sound of another sac breaking open, and felt some of the warm fluid splash on her shoulders and face. She looked down, pulling herself up as quickly as she could as another bat Atlantean came flying out with a death howl. A second sac higher exploded, and another demon flew our, creating a flameball just as the ground soldiers had done.
She drew her guns, her eyes locked on the monster as it hurled it forward, unaware that the first demon was heading toward its deadly path of destruction. It collided, a red cloud of red and matter colored the walls around it, raining down near a frightened and disgusted Lara.
The bat creature who had thrown the projectile flew down, chasing the corpse of the fallen beast; even into the hot steaming magma below. She saw above this ledge there was another one of the big hex shaped sigils, and in the center was a set of golden, thin rings going in a spiraling downward shape.
"Like a bulls eye…"
She drew a pistol and shot at it several times, finally one of the shots connecting with a resounding ping!
The platform slowly slid upward, taking her several stories past ledges and hooked rings. Finally, as the hidden elevator slowed, she saw she was near a timed set of hooks, with two hex sigils on the walls and two onyx slabs sliding her down into the lava far below if she should slide for to long.
The rings would only come out for a short amount of time, soon retracting it the wall, sure to also send her plummeting to her death. But, should she make it she'd be at the last ledge, leading to a passageway that took a sharp left. Also, above the doorway was a last sac, pulsing more feverishly than the rest.
"Probably ready to pop…"
She reloaded her pistols and aimed them toward the abomination, firing into the sac repeatedly, until both full clips were empty. Fluid had created a small pool below, something wriggling inside slowly before settling down to die. Something so disturbing, yet horrendously sad at the same time. She watched the puzzle trap to get a feel for the timing, then readied her jump to a broken column in the corner of the shaft, one that would slide her to the first ramp downward.
Jumping that would be easy, but then swinging and hooking her grapple the first time to swing to the second ramp and jump to hook the second ring before it goes in the first time then jump backward to hit the ledge slippery and covered in blood.
"…No…sweat…?"
She took several deep breaths and then sprinted forward, jumped and hitting the pillar spot on. She jumped forward, her adrenaline pounding in her ears, and hit the first ramp, taking quick glances up at the onyx ring. It was out, she threw the grapple and it hooked. She wall ran, banging her knee on the wall as she swung down, but unhooked at the right time to hit the second ramp. The ring wasn't out yet, and she was sliding frighteningly fast. The bottom quickly came, and she jumped, the ring coming out later than expected. She threw the grapple blindly, closing her eyes the accept the few seconds of free falling before the quick, scalding death-
-but it hooked, and she swung down, opening her eyes and quickly running forward, jumped backward from the wall as hard as she could-
-and landing on her feet in a crouched position, a slight smile on her lips. She looked at her knee, shocked to see a thin, steady stream of blood trailing down to her boot, soaking the top of her white sock crimson. She reached into her backpack and removed the medical kit, finding some antiseptic wipes and bandages in a pouch, along with a small bottle of water.
She cleaned up her knee, taping the square bandage with tap that would still allow skin to move freely. Handy to have on an adventure. She drank the rest of the water and tossed the trash over the ledge, and then headed down the corridor, the archways and runes giving off soft, gentle glowing light. Subtle, yet enough to see with. She heard the repeated sounds of something heavy crashing together-traps. She saw that the corridor slanted upward, which was good.
"Up is where Miss Natla is…"
She sees first the three large doorways, each small free space in between each one line with a device shooting lava darts, something the Peruvians must have mimicked.
"I'm witnessing evolution…!"
In each doorway there was something similar to the Egyptians wall slamming traps, only these were thin sheets of metal lined with small, razor sharp 'teeth', three in fact all closely adjacent to each other and slamming in a bang! bang! bang! rhythm. She also saw that above each archway was a brightly glowing rune, something that she knew had to be important here.
"Analyze…Predict…Survive…?"
She drew one of her guns and fired at it several times, and it went out. Also for the period of time it was out, the lava darts stopped.
"Ah, right…"
She fired at it again, then moved accordingly through each crushing wall-lava dart trap until she was at the top and through unscathed. Turning right at the corner, she saw she could slide into the next square chamber. There was some circular device in the center, steam and the amber glow coming from a grate in the center.
There were two stone bridges here as well, and a ladder to access each one. There was a switch at the end of the one closest to her, and the one farthest away had a door and beside it, another switch.
The gloomy chamber was also filled with the wet, spongy sounds of several sacks pulsing, a very bad sign indeed. She had to slide down into the room, and as soon as she did she heard two sacs open, one right after the other. Two ground crawlers fell out, and she drew both pistols, aiming at both monsters with each one. She saw something moving directly across from her, looking almost human. She focused first on killing the two Atlanteans, which were premature and went down easily.
She holstered her weapons and walked closer toward the device in the middle of the room, keeping her eyes on the thin monster that was incredibly doing the exact same thing she was doing.
"Wait a second…No way…"
The more she stared at the bizarre creature, the more she began to see nothing more than a skinned copy of…herself. It was an Atlantean soldier of course, but somehow Natla's sick mind had made this revolting creation be a clone of Lara, and it mimicked her every move. She opened her mouth, and the disturbing, soulless creature did the only thing it knew how, to mimic her by opening its mouth. Lara said a few words, but the Atlantean doppelganger only moved its lips with what she was saying; no voice at all. She felt a shiver go down her spine, now turning to face away from it.
She heard it shuffle around as well. She looked around, seeing the bridge in front of her was the one that only had a switch. Opposite end of the bridge was a ladder, and she could see through holes in the support column that it was actually hollow and led down into a small vat of lava.
"So this switch must open the opening to the lava, and the switch behind me must open the door outta here."
She walked over and started up the ladder, glimpsing over to see the doppelganger climbing up the other one as well. She saw a golden circular hatch covering the opening, and she jumped from the ladder on top of it; it held her weight just fine.
She walked over and pulled the switch, hearing it slide back on hidden hinges to reveal the lava opening, steam pouring out. She lowered herself down from the bridge, unable to look away as she watched her clone look over and stare at her as well, instantly giving her the shivers. She looked away, from the corner of her eye seeing it do the same as well. She climbed up, then looked over as she jumped onto the bridge, watching the Atlantean doppelganger instead falls flailing and screaming into the lava below.
"Talk about being your own worst enemy…"
She pulled the switch that was down here, opening the large metal double doors at the end. An egg sac exploded from inside the door as it opened, a bat Atlantean flying out. She pulled out her guns, taking the chance to shoot it as it struggled to fly through the doors.
It soon fell down into a puddle of its own blood, writhing and wriggling around before finally dying. She took the wide, dark passageway down several turns, dodging a lava dart trap in the process. At the end a grand looking opening came into view, an ornate, golden lined bridge leading to it over a large pool of bubbling lava. Ahead she saw the silhouette of three large, spiky looking thrones. She walked quietly as she passed through the grand entrance.
Lara stepped into the Atlantean Throne Room. In the center was a pedestal, covered in the amber glowing hieroglyphics of the Atlantean language. The Scion was floating in the middle, somehow powering everything from this device. She walked over to the big opening, peering down the deep central shaft of the Great Pyramid. The tiny glowing square at the bottom was the great pool of lava she had seen entering the pyramid from Natla's mines.
"You've reached the top Lara, there's no where left to go…but down."
She turned and saw Natla, wearing a black and red medieval queen dress, with an Atlantean gold crown and golden spike plates on the edge of her wings, which she folded open broadly. Lara looked over Natla's shoulder and saw around five of the Atlantean crawlers. The leader of the group growled, its skinless lips snarling, showing huge fangs. Another one hissed.
"You're rebuilding the army of Atlantis…?" She asked Natla, her voice shaking.
"This pyramid breeds far more than the soldiers you've faced. Now that I have the Scion I have the means to create anything I desire…" Natla took slow, long strides around Lara, eyeing her warily.
"What is it you desire Natla…?" Lara asked, her voice echoing in the vast cavern.
Natla looked up, then placed one of her long alien hands on the back of one of the thrones.
"It takes three to rule. Tihocan and Qualopec were too weak to destroy what stands in the way of the Seventh Age. But you have the strength to claim this seat beside me."
"This is madness!" Lara said breathlessly.
"This is what you've been searching for! All the answers you've sought your entire life are within the Scion. Immortality has its price, but what are a few lives to sacrifice for your dreams…?"
Lara looked at her hands, remembering her final encounter with Larson, the Kid, and Kold.
"Help me, and I can give you anything. Wouldn't you like to know what happened to your parents? What about a…second chance? You're here, because you belong here Lara…" Natla finished, smiling at the last sentence.
Lara looked away, trying to decide between her dreams or the right thing.
"And if I do the right thing, mother and father are still dead and I'll never know what happens. I have no purpose because I have nobody that cares, even if I die in one of those old tombs…"
Lara lowered her head and whispered the apology to Lord Richard Croft. "I'm sorry father…"Natla smiled in approval-
-but was stopped as Lara quickly drew one of her pistols and aimed it at the pedestal holding the Scion-
-and fired, the entire pyramid quickly starts to shake and rumble.
"NOOOO!!" Natla screamed and lunged at Lara, making both plummet off the edge. Lara fired twice into a screaming Natla, then kicked off her and fired twice more before throwing the grappling hook and hooking the next ledge down across from the Throne Room.
Natla fell screaming into the fiery bottom of the lava pit put into her own pyramid built for her dreams. She pulled herself up, lying on her back a moment to catch her breath. She hears a low beat of something pulsing, and looks over to the flesh covered wall. Its moving around sporadically, something large writhing about inside.
"Uh oh…"
