Epilogue

Croft Manor, 1997

"…?"

"Um, what is it, if I may ask Lady Croft."

"It's an assault course! I decided to build it to hone my skills, and learn some new ones."

Winston shook his head.

"Well, its very well put together." He finally replied, staring at the array of boxes, ropes, jumps, slides, and ladders, all atop a giant sandpit. Lara sighed.

"Well its no surprise, you've been working on this blasted thing for two weeks now. I'd say you fancy some tea?" She nodded vigorously.

"Quite. And will you fetch the mail please?" She asked politely. He nodded, taking a side door into the kitchen. She stood up, strolling into the kitchen as well.

On the counter already was a cup of ice tea, and beside it a stack of letters. She grabbed her tea and the stack, then walked over into her lounge room where she flipped on some classical music and sat down on one of her luxurious sofa's, picking one that overlooked her gardens and maze.

"Lets see…junk, junk, business offer, junk, travel brochure, request…Wait a tick, what's this…?"

There was a plain white envelope, with no stamp, return address, or even sealed for that matter. She pulled out the contents, which was only a single typewritten letter. The top half had been torn away, leaving only a single paragraph left to read.

There will be a reward if you can find any clues relating to this "Dagger of Xian". The relic has many mysterious and vast powers, not anything to be taken lightly. Please relocate to the Great Wall in China immediately.

"Winston! Come take a look at this!" She called out, re-reading the ominous note.

"Yes Ms. Croft?"

"Look at this. It was in my mail."

She handed him the letter, and watched as his face contorted into a look of confusion.

"I don't understand, can you?"

She shook her head.

"No, but I've heard of the dagger they mentioned before. The legend is farther most intriguing by far." She let out a small laugh.

"My trophy room is looking a little empty, and I haven't done a single thing since my little encounter with Natla last year. All I got from it was a few fragments of the Scion. Besides, someone obviously wants this thing found. So maybe it is a good idea that that person be me."

"I don't know, it seems suspicious to me." He replied, handing the letter back to her.

"I don't care, I have a feeling that a trip to China may be in the works here very soon…"