Charging up the stairs Lara reaches the doors and finds them locked, "damn it! Ana must be already in there with Konstantine," she looks up and takes a couple of steps back. Running and jumping she throws the ice pick up and manages to catch a rim up above the doorframe. As she climbs up she can faintly hear yelling, reaching the doorframe, Lara holsters the ice pick and jumps up to the next climbable ledge and inches along the side till she finds some makeshift steps going up.
"Where is the Divine Source! I know it is here!" Konstantine shouts and Lara finds a window, lifting herself up, hands gripping the cold rock she takes a deep breath as she looks up and over.
Her eyes widen, her heart skips a beat, Sofia is on her knees, hands bound behind her back and Konstantine holding a gun to her. "No…" she searches frantically and spots a pillar with rope wrapped around it, and then next to her is another one.
Taking her bow off she quickly wraps rope around it and fastens it, aiming nice and tight, she lets it fly and then once it's made its mark she sets it on her side.
"You have to the count of three to tell me where it is, or your dead," Konstantine threatens and Ana paces behind him.
Looking up, Lara takes out her ice pick and jumps, effectively catching the rope and sliding down.
Staring at Sofia's defiant eyes, he cocks his gun, "One… two… thr-" Lara kicked him down from the upper chest, knocking him onto his back and startling Sofia. Ana stopped her pacing just in time to see Lara knock down Konstantine and both ladies watched as Lara swung her ice pick down at Konstantine.
He got caught in the left shoulder, gasping and rolling to pick up his assault rifle that he'd dropped, brings it up quickly to block the next swing and once he does he yanks it back. Making Lara lose her balance she stumbles towards him, he releases his grip with his right hand to back hand her, the force makes her lose her grip on the ice pick and almost fall to the floor. Just catching herself before hitting the floor she turns around to have him bring up his gun on her, Sofia saw this and takes off from where she was sitting to tackle him with a shoulder to his back.
Konstantine stumbled and let off two shots, missing her and spinning around to hit Sofia with the butt of his gun at an awkward ark. Catching her to the side of her head, she hits the floor hard, blood trickling down her head and she looks up to see Lara land a punch on him, hitting him in the jaw.
He takes the hit, but then he punches her in the stomach with more force than she was ready, doubling over he grabs her neck. She back fists him and he grunts, "Croft you have gotten on my last nerv!" he lifts her off of her feet with both hands around her neck for a few seconds before slamming her hard into the floor.
Vision blurred and suddenly darkened, Lara struggles to get his hands off of her throat, to get any amount of air back into her body. Sofia squirms on the floor trying to get closer so she can help get Konstantine off of Lara, her stomach knitting up at the sight of Lara losing the fight.
"Let her go! Lara no!" Sofia screams as she struggles to get free, but Ana keeps an eye on her.
Ana hates having to watch this, having watched Lara grow from a little girl into a young adult, and to be fighting with her every step of the way to get the Divine Source. She looks away, not wanting to see her death. She turns her eyes to Sofia.
Lungs burning, vision going darker with white spots, heels sliding against the floor, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her knife and stabs him in the side. She does it again and again, pulling it down as he grunts and her eyes start rolling up. Chest tightening and finally arms going limp.
Suddenly red sprays out above Lara's head and the pressure around her throat is gone, her lungs struggle and get just a wisp of air. Her wind pipe damaged she coughs and gasps but just barely getting air into her, she gradually has her eyes focus just enough to see that a spear from the Deathless is in Konstantine's chest, he finally slumps onto his right side.
Screaming and rushing to her brother, Ana holds his face as Lara gets to her hands and knees, slowly getting more air in and her vision getting clearer. Coughing and gasping she holds her throat to feel it is tender, little pieces of rubble stabbing her knees, she looks up to see Jacob standing about 20 feet away. 'Pefect… timing,' Lara thinks as she starts to stand up and moves to Sofia to use her knife and cut her binds free, again.
Ana stands up angrily, pulling out her handgun, "where is the Divine Source? I can still save him!" she cries and aims it at Jacob.
Lara's heart skips a beat, getting her breath back she pulls out her own gun while Sofia stands up with Lara. "Stop this Ana!" Lara's voice sounding so weak and hoarse, but Ana turns her attention to look at her.
In the corner of her eyes Ana sees it, a large lump of what looks like rock with a very old, musty looking cloth wrapped around it. "There! I can still save you!" Ana starts running for it, across the religious floor.
"Stop! It isn't meant for the world!" Jacob shouts and takes off, and Ana lifts her gun to him as she picks it up.
"No!" Lara shouts in her raspy voice and shoots, getting Ana in the back of the right shoulder, she jerks and hits the column that the Divine Source was sitting at. She turns and gives a glare at Lara.
"How dare you! This is my only cure! I am dying Lara!" Ana shouts and points the gun at Lara who stands firm.
"Dying is a part of life, if you try and use that with the rest of the world, then you are taking away the one part of us that makes us human. We aren't meant to be immortal," Lara says calmly though her voice is still scratchy and Sofia hurries around to find her own bow and arrows on the floor.
"That's easy for you to say!" Ana says and Lara sees a dark look within her, she looks down at the Divine Source in her hands and starts to unwrap it.
"No!" Lara and Jacob shout at the same time, only Lara shoots her again, in the left collar bone.
Lifting her own gun Ana shoots and Lara's body jerks back, Sofia lowers her bow and arrow, having watched in the corner of her eye the bullet going into Lara's chest. Dropping her bow and arrow, Sofia catches Lara as her knees give way and her limp body slumps into Sofia's arms. Everything going in slow motion as she feels her body being lowered, barely noticing that Sofia is holding her to her chest.
Setting her down, Sofia cradles Lara's shoulders and head in her arms, her body partly lying on her lap. She looks up at Jacob and he heads for the two ladies while keeping an eye on Ana and coming through every door now is the Deathless.
Ana watches him kneel down next to the two girls, deep down it broke her heart to shoot Lara, no matter how many times she gave the order to kill her, Lara is like the daughter she never had.
"Father, can you save her?" Sofia asks, her face straight and stone, but her eyes show her fear for the outsider.
Breathing ragged breaths, the pain having spread through her whole chest, to her upper arms and finally making her legs start to feel numb, the bullet having pierced her right lung and internal bleeding setting in. "Jacob…" Lara looks up at him and reaches up to weakly and he opens up her jacket to see the pool of blood that is soaking through. He takes her hand firmly while the other goes into his pocket to take out the same stuff he's used on Jonah.
"The world needs you Lara Croft, what I am about to do will be my gift to you," Jacob says, he doesn't care that Ana is watching, nor that the Deathless are coming. He must do this, no more shall die for him.
Sofia watches Lara's face grow pail, and her father's hands cover Lara's bullet wound.
"The Lord is your guardian, your protective shade at your right hand. The sun shall not harm you by day, nor moon by night," gradually the colour comes back to her face, a healthy pink. "The Lord guard your soul from all evil," her chest starts to rise and fall like normal, having a normal rhythm again. "The Lord guard your going and coming, from now to all time," Jacob said and then removed his hands to reveal the bullet wound healed.
Lara gasps and Sofia holds her hand as she coughs and looks down, "J-Jacob," Lara cannot form words, as Ana uncovers the Divine Source and a blinding light comes from it. Lara looks over, suddenly feeling fearful, "No… Ana!"
The Deathless are almost upon them, her eyes absorbing the light, and her hands drop the Divine Source before she falls to her own knees. Her bullet wounds have been healed, but not yet her cancer.
"This has to end," Jacob looks at Sofia, "I'm sorry, but I have endangered you and the rest of our people for long enough." With that he stands up and runs to the blinding light, unafraid of looking into it.
Ana looks up in time to see Jacob take the Divine Source from the floor, she screams, extending her hand at her one cure. The Deathless just feet away with their position and the ground vibrating with every step they take.
Jacob looks at Sofia as he holds it above his head, she gives a small nod and holds Lara tightly while placing her hand that was holding her hand over the spot where the bullet hit. She knows the truth about her father, which the Divine Source is the only thing keeping her father alive and that the act of destroying it will also kill him.
A tear rolls down Sofia's face as Ana tries to get up, but he throws it down hard, the Divine Source smashes into a hundred different pieces. Ana screams in anguish, falling back onto her knees and shielding her eyes as twisting lights come out from the shattered rock, going through every Deathless and Jacob grunts before falling to his knees.
Covering their eyes, Lara and Sofia wait through the agonizing seconds it takes for all Deathless to become nothing more than a heap of armour and weapons along the floor. Ana collapses in on herself, filled with anguish and watches as Lara finally pushes herself to stand up with Sofia's help and move to kneel next to Jacob who's barely able to hold himself upright.
Filled with guilt and a new loss, seeing his features look ashen and a haze around him, "I'm so sorry Jacob, I never meant for this to happen," Lara whispers, her voice coming back slowly, sounding less hoarse. "I just wanted to make a difference." But he smiles.
Chuckling at her and he takes her hand, "you already have," he says in a firm voice.
Looking at Sofia he reaches up and touches her face, his face slowly turning grey. "My darling Sofia, I'm so sorry it came down like this… please know that I will always love you," a tear trickles down for his thumb to brush away.
"I love you father," she whispers and he smiles as his face turns more grey, the wind sweeps through the building and they watch the wind carry him away.
Sofia holds Lara close and leans on her for a moment, before listening to Ana slowly stand up and a few of the villagers come walking in. "Apprehend her, and don't let her out of your sight," Sofia commands, she stands up with Lara leaning on her.
The men walk to Ana and tie her hands behind her back before escorting her out of the building, Sofia looks at Lara as Lara works to stand up on her own. "I'm sorry Sofia," Lara looks at her, touching her own chest where she'd been healed, still feeling strange and remembering Jacob telling one of his men to keep pressure on Jonah's wound. Placing her hand there, it helps a little, but still it doesn't stop the hurt inside for having lost Jacob.
"Lara, I know that if he didn't do it you or I would have," Sofia says firmly while locking her eyes with Lara. "Trinity got too close, and who was to say about the next time? You did what you could, and my father was right," she watches Lara's features soften.
"The world needs Lara Croft."
Please Review!