We get to have dinner like Lara promised, and even a little fooling around before she got too antsy for it to be really fun any more. I can't really blame her, I'm excited too! I get to be all sneaky mcsneak person. Lara's plan is pretty simple. The three of us each pick a spot and take pictures and video of whatever we find. Then she'll study them and see if there's any clues. I'm less skeptical than Soraya is. I know what Lara is capable of. The woman loves to research. She would have starved to death in the library if it weren't for me.

I find some kind of writing when I get to my circle on the map and I get a good shot of every symbol. Then I hunt around a bit. I don't find anything obvious but if it even looks funny I point my camera at it. I just want to do this right. Lara was impressed with the shots I've taken in the past, but this is different. She's counting on me. I want to knock her socks off. Not that I haven't but these are a whole new pair of… socks. I make a note to come up with a better metaphor than socks.

I'm just about finished when I hear voices. I peer around part of the paw. Footsteps. Men's voices. They're not speaking English and it's not a language I'm familiar with though I heard it a lot around us when we were at dinner. I don't know if it's Sphinx security or some people Shaw hired, but either way I can't get caught here. I start to climb up the ancient stone monument, and lay myself flat out as they pass beneath me. Holding my breath, I pray to whoever'll listen to let them keep walking.

Apparently the gods were listening as the men disappear into the night. I wait a few more minutes, then scramble back down and creep through the desert to get to our meeting point. Gyasi is already waiting for us and I chew my lip out of worry as we wait for Lara. She's a few minutes late, but she's smiling. I throw my arms around her. "I got some good video, did you see anything useful?"

"Yes. And if you two confirm my theory I know what we need. The hard part will be finding it."

"Then let us get to work," the man next to us said. I glance at him and grin. It looks like years have shaved off of him, just from the excitement on his face.

The weirdest thing is when we put the cameras next to each other, it looks almost like a map. I can't make heads or tails out of it but Lara and Gyasi start to geek out and I get lost about two sentences in. Something about a missing city, one of the original capitals of ancient Egypt. So I just film their geekery and smile to myself because this'll look great on Youtube. Once a plan is made we return to our hotel room to pack and get ready for the trip.

I'm excited at first but after seven hours of travel I realize I hate the desert. I fucking hate the desert. There's sand everywhere. It's not even a lie. I don't know how the truck we're in doesn't just choke on all the sand. That's probably a good thing because otherwise we'd be stranded in the middle of nowhere. The only way that I can tell what direction we're going is by the compass that Lara handed me. Otherwise we'd be lost.

I really hope she doesn't want me to be the navigator. Is she crazy? I think she's crazy. And it's hot. It's really fucking hot. My clothes are sticking to me in the most disgusting manner possible. I thought the jungle was bad. This is worse. At least I look fashionable. I'd gotten the two of us some pretty head scarfs to protect our scalps and foreheads from the sun. Before we'd left I'd soaked them but they dried out pretty quickly.

The AC can barely keep up. It's like we're driving in a death trap. Lara should have let me rent a better vehicle but she insisted the heat would abate since we're into October now. Like there's somehow a difference between melt your skin hot and oh my god just kill me now hot. Maybe we should have waited another month for temperatures to reach tolerable but then it would have been really too cold to sun on the ship. Although seeing Lara in that suit had been worth a little diamond nipple.

"Sam, which way is Southeast?"

Lara's voice brings me out of my inner whining and I check the compass. "That way." I could whine out loud, but Soraya is in the back seat and I don't want her to think less of me. I don't need her to think I'm a whiner. Well, I kind of am but I won't let anyone but Lara know. I like Soraya, I don't want to lose her respect.

"We're going to need to leave the road soon," Gyasi murmurs. "It will be bumpy."

"We'll be fine. It'll just mean slower going." I glance at Lara as she talks, and I wonder if she actually knows where we're going. She has this uncanny sense of direction, especially in places where most people would be hopelessly lost.

"So what are we looking for, exactly? I think I got the general idea but you two got so excited that I got lost." I turn around in my seat so I can look at both of them at the same time.

Lara looks at me, then in the mirror at Gyasi. "It's a lost city called Thinis."

Something has been bothering me, so I ask, "And what, the map was just sitting out there in the open and no one figured this out until now?"

I hear Soraya make a sound behind me. It doesn't sound negative. I think she's kind of backing me up in my statement. I glance back at her and she smiles at me.

"Some things can be hidden in plain sight," the Egyptian says, and Lara nods in agreement. He put his hand on my arm. "If no one is looking for it, how will they see it? Without knowing to even look there, your friend would still be searching for the map, let alone the answers you both seek."

"Okay," I say, patting his hand. "What's so special about Thinis anyway?"

"Thinis," Lara says. "Was one of Egypt's capitals during the first two dynasties. This was during the period just after Egypt was unified. They were split before into two kingdoms, with Lower Egypt encompassing much of the Nile delta. Thinis was the seat of the first Pharaoh, and remained the seat of power for three hundred years until the capital was moved to Memphis and the Old Kingdom period began."

Gyasi picks up where she left off. "Thinis became very obscure after that, save for the military importance of it's location. It was still important religiously, and plays a role as a place in heaven."

"It's this religious context that makes it important to us as well. Rituals reference it," Lara continues. My head keeps snapping back and forth. It's like archaeological tennis. "Being a place of power. We saw first hand what the Sun Queen's temple was like, and I suspect the other locations we visited had religious significance to the peoples of the area."

"Shaw obviously thinks there's something there." Hey, I can contribute too! "What do you think it is? Another skull? Something more like that knife?"

"Kris," Lara corrects me absently. "I have a few theories about that. I don't think this one is a skull, or even crystal. It's probably some sort of limestone, or it could even be a precious metal. Gold or silver. But it's something that they would have considered durable and ever lasting. In one of the records I took from Shaw there was mention of something seen in the sky. It could narrow down the time period of the artifact, at least! The ancients recorded all sorts of things that most people never think about. What was attributed to a god or act of the divine is often something as simple as a celestial event."

Lara can go on forever if she isn't stopped, and while I love to listen to her, she really will keep going. Like the energizer bunny. The only time I really want her energizer bunny is when we're alone. I snap my fingers. "Okay so how much longer do you think we'll traveling?"

"Another day at least." Gyasi leaned forward, and pointed out the window. "It will be dark soon. We can rest, or try to drive through the night."

"I can take over for you, sweetie." I put my hand on Lara's arm and she gives me this look.I know it means 'I love you but there's no way in hell you're driving' which doesn't speak much for her confidence in my driving abilities. I'm not that bad. Just a little excitable. I like straight lines.

"No, I think we should rest. I want to be able to look at these ruins with fresh eyes." She doesn't even acknowledge my offer. I roll my eyes and fold my arms.

"Like we're even going to be able to sleep like this." Now my whining is vocalized and I wince at the sound of my own voice. But Lara just laughs.

I'm glaring at her when Gyasi explains. "Night will be a lot cooler. It could drop as low as sixteen tonight."

Living in London for as long as I have, I didn't have to do any mental contortions. I just breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay. Thank god. Can we try to get up earlier tomorrow? Maybe it'll still be cool when we're searching for artifacts. "

"That's a good idea." Lara rubs my knee. "Keep an eye out for a good place to pull up for the night. I'll take first watch."

"Lara, you've been driving all day. Let me do it. Please?"

She shakes her head. "If I take first watch that means you don't have to wake me, and I can sleep straight through. My head will be clearer in the morning."

Well that makes sense. "Okay, I see how it is, you just want me to be the groggy one."

She gives me this absolutely cheeky little smile. "Well, you are used to it."

If she hadn't been driving I would have thrown something at her. But I didn't want to strand us out here, so I don't. Instead, I find us a place to park, and get out to stretch my legs. With the sun setting it feels a little better but the breeze is warm and saps the moisture right out of my skin. I promptly crawl back into the slightly cooler vehicle.

We eventually settle on Lara taking first watch and Soraya taking last. I think the idea is that since they're sort of our protection detail, giving them the most uninterrupted sleep is probably a good idea. And I think Soraya is looking forward to that early morning watch. She seemed pretty insistent on the idea.

Gyasi was right, though. By the time Lara wakes me for my watch, it's cool enough to need a jacket. I hadn't brought one, so I settle on stealing one of Lara's shirts. Because of course she has long sleeved shirts for a hike through the desert. That woman's brain. So sexy. I hadn't even thought of that. Just shorts and a tank top.

Nothing happens for the first forty-five minutes. I hear Lara's breathing slow and I'm glad for it. I want her to get some rest. Then there's a lot more nothing for the next couple of hours. Oh, there are things that spook me. Desert creatures moving in the night and for about twenty minutes at one point I had to sit perfectly still as a snake took it's time slithering past me.

It's nearly time to wake Gyasi up when I feel rather than sense people approaching. I shout the alarm, and just like that Lara is awake. I duck for cover as one of the attackers opens fire at me. Lara draws and shoots her bow so quickly that I don't even see the movement in the darkness, just the sound of the arrow thunking into a man's neck.

There's so much going on all around us. I don't want to shoot my own guns because I don't want to hit Lara or Gyasi. It's too dark and all the chaos just makes me wish I could slow it down, or at least illuminate things better.

Lara is like a devil, and the only thing I can think to do is grab Gyasi and pull him out of the line of fire. But she's overwhelmed, there's just too many of them. At least two dozen and she's only cut down a handful. She'll fight tooth and nail until she's dead and she'll take as many of them with her as she can.

I can't even see Soraya at first. I hear the retort of a gun and spy her trying to lead some of them away. Brave, probably stupid. She doesn't strike me as stupid, so I hope she has a plan. I'm starting to feel useless. I want to scream and curl up and give up and hide until Lara and Soraya have saved us. I'm a coward.

Fight. Do not be weak, do not relent. What use is a Queen who abandons her consort? I feel the energy coursing through me with thick jolts. The sky darkens overhead, the stars obscured by angry clouds. They roll and they twist and they spin with unearthly light. Lightning crackles above us and I feel it inside me as surely as I feel the pulse in my veins. I have to do something. I can do something! I'll trade anything to protect my Lara, I'm desperate. I need it, I need... Show me. I find my voice and scream,"Show me!"

The wind kicks up, faster and faster until it's howling around us. Dust and sand whip through the air like tiny razorblades. Lara shouts my name. I see the lines in the air, stretching up to the heavens. My fingers trace the path I need the lightning to take and I call down the thunder.