Hey people! I'm really sorry this chapter took so much time after the last update. I was in the middle of the final months to finish uni and tons of work to do. Also spent some time to rest but finally could finish the chapter. Now enjoy it!


After Roth gave us the climbing axes, we - or at least in my case- thought we could do it. Actually I was feeling strong and thought we were going to be able to achieve our difficult goal. But all that determination disappeared when we started climbing a long rock wall without the aid of ropes and hooks. Every time we climbed, I had to remind myself over and over again to not look down. If one of us does a single fault, we were going to fall into a certain death... and the worst is that we have to go like this until we send the signal...

As I said, after climbing a rock wall, eliminating some enemies and reaching the top, we were finally able to breathe but the only way forward was through a bridge that was broken and had to jump a very good distance to get to the other side.

'This bridge doesn't seem very safe.' - said Lara as she carefully leaned a foot in the beginning of the platform and this cracked. – 'It seems as it's going to break in any moment.'

'Okay. We will do so: you're lighter so you jump first. Hopefully it won't break when it's my turn.'

'What if it breaks?'

'So... huh... Well, jump first and then we'll see.' - I said shaking my head. She shrugged and prepared herself. Lara ran over the bridge and, though this time it creaked harder, she jumped without problems. She used the axe to catch the next wall and then reached the ground. When she told me it was okay, I nodded.

Okay, my turn. Carefully I put a foot on the bridge and I had a strong feeling it was going to break. I was unsure if it what was going to resist my weight and the storm and the wind didn't help in any way but I had no choice. I took my axe and after ta king a deep breath, ran across the bridge. But when I was in the beginning, I heard a loud crack and suddenly the bride bowed. This make me stumble and I heard Lara warning me but I kept focused. I recovered quickly and didn't stop running until I reached the end and jumped just before this was going to fall into the void. I felt my heart pounding hard as I approached to the wall and when I arrived, I hit the axe with all my strength. After seeing I wasn't falling, I felt a huge relief and climbed to where Lara was who helped me up. As I sat on the floor, I took a long breath.

'I hate this...' - whispered running a hand over my face.

'Are you okay?'

'Fortunately yes.' - I said looking toward where the bridge was. Again, I hate this.

'Well, it wasn't that bad.' - she said trying to cheer me up.

'You know the worst? This won't be the last time.' - I said after giving a long sigh. After getting up, both walked the next way and then the radio turned on.

'Lara... are you there?' – said Reyes voice.

'Yes! I'm with Eric.'

'Eric?! Glad to know you're okay appeared, boy.'

'I could say the same.' - I said smiling.

'Did you find Sam?' – asked Lara.

'We're still on her trail.'

'We're going to try and send an SOS from an old radio tower up there. Any tips?'

'Hey guys!' – suddenly said Alex. – 'Let's see... You're gonna need to find the communications console. It'll look like a bunch of old switchboards.'

'Okay. We'll let you know when I find it.' - said Lara and put the radio on her belt. We went down the road and then we met some hunters. After seeing their reaction, they weren't expecting us.

'Listen! You don't need to do this!'- said my cove and in response I received an arrow. I hide and sighed. Lara, who was hiding next to me in a large rock, looked at me. I shrugged. - 'I had to try.'

After that, she and I took our weapons and attacked. One of them tried to get us out of our covers by throwing a Molotov cocktail and had success but we attacked and killed all them in a few seconds.

'This is getting too easy.' - said Lara as we walked next the corpses and sighed.

'I know. But if we don't respond like this, they'll kill us.'

'I still wonder what reasons have to attack us...' - she said as we walked into a small and narrow aperture in the rock wall and reached the other side.

'Maybe one day we'll know. Anyway I don't think it will help us.'

I followed her to the other side and I saw that we were in an area were probably the hunters that we killed camped. After reaching the small camp, in the distance I could see the radio tower.

'There's the tower. We're really close.' – said Lara. Then I saw as she hugged herself and shivered with cold.

'Hey, what if we rest a bit and wait here until the storm calms down?'

I saw that she was about to protest but was so cold that ended accepting my suggestion. As she sat in front of the fire and tried to warm up, I went to get some wood from the junk that was around. When I returned, I put the wood on the fire, sat next to her and gave a sigh. The storm was roaring and the rain had become somewhat violent because of the wind but at least the camp was covered. After several minutes of silence, I took the video camera and Lara looked at me curiously.

'Sam's camera... I really forgot about it.'

'The wreck hasn't damaged it at all. Even still contains all the recorded videos.' - I said as I opened the small screen and turned it on. In the screen Reyes and Alex appeared. They were trying to fix one of the lights from some room and also discussing about the kind of problem. Then Alex started joking after taking a picture of a little girl and then knew he was in a serious problem when Reyes said she was her daughter. We smiled as we saw Reyes poking some fun and also sending a king of warning to Alex. Alex face said it all.

'Alex's special joked always putting him in serious problems.' – said Lara smiling.

'I already warned him several times that one day will get into a serious problem for trying to be funny.' - said chuckling. The following video was Grim telling one of his experiences and I couldn't help smiling. – 'And here comes Grim and his stories.'

'Never gets tired of telling them. I still remember when he tried to explain me as he was about to sink in the middle of the sea while I was trying to study. He said his stories could teach better things than my books.'

'From experience, never get alone with Grim if you need to work or read books.'

Then Roth appeared and told Grim some orders. Even when leaving the room to work, he kept telling Sam about his story until finally disappeared. Lara and I couldn't help but laugh until we saw what happened next. The camera then turned to the other side and focused on Roth and Reyes some intimate attitude... Lara and I went silent after seeing that, neither of us dared to say something. The video ended with Sam having to turn off the camera after seeing Roth had discovered her. We all heard rumors about their relationship but seeing see them actually in that way... Well, it was pretty awkward.

The next video was a recording session for the documentary about the expedition and Sam was leading it.

'Ugh... I still remember this.' - I said wincing as I remembered the moment. In the recording Jonah was trying to teach Whitman how to cut and clean a fish for cooking while Sam and Alex were recording the scene.

'Were you there?'

'Yes. I was the one who was recording with this camera. Sam asked me.' - I said as we watched as Sam was trying to convince Whitman after the man tried to follow Jonah's tips and surrendered after failing. - 'He may be a great archaeologist, he may had studied many things and may had done tons of documentaries. He's still a stupid, foolish and arrogant idiot.'

'You don't need to tell me.'- said Lara after giving a long sigh. - 'By the way, how ended everything?'

'Well, as it should.' - I said shaking my head as I laughed. Whitman failed in his second attempt and nobody was surprised by that. I still remember Sam cursing Whitman and everything as she was trying to think a way to modify the video. Then the camera moved to the next and last moment recorded and was surprised to see Lara and Roth talking on the deck. I looked out the corner of my eye and I noticed she had a slight frown.

"I've studied them so much, I can see charts on the back of my eyelids. But if I'm not right about Yamatai being in the Dragon's Triangle…"- said Lara as she touched the green stone from her necklace.

"I remember when you found that on one of your father's digs." - said Roth with a smile as he noticed the stone. - "You ran up and showed it to me dressed in your penguin pajamas."

"I was five years old. It was my first find." - She said while laughing as they walked to the railing and leaned on it.

"You've got great instincts, girl. You just have to trust them."

"That's what my father used to say." – she said looking at the sea.

"Now there was a man that ran on instinct. For better or worse. He would have been so proud of you, Lara." - said Roth and Lara kept looking at the sea. Apparently it was a subject that she didn't like talk about and quickly changed the subject, pointing that the ship was approaching to the storm. The same storm that made the Endurance wreck. And then the recording ended.

There was an awkward silence. Only could be heard some thunders and the wind roaring violently. I didn't dare to say anything. It was a personal conversation that supposedly I shouldn't have seen... Slowly I turned my eyes to Lara who had… a sad expression? She gently took the camera and, after giving long sigh, closed the small screen.

'As I suspected, Sam has been doing her things.' - she said with a small smile.

'Well, she wouldn't be herself if she didn't.'

'That's right.' - she said this time giving a small laugh and must admit I liked that sound. Then she looked into the distance. - 'Tell me, you knew my father?'

'I never got to know him personally but I've heard a lot about him and his expeditions.'

'He spent more time chasing myths and impossible stories instead of focusing on reality.' - she said without looking at me. It felt like she was talking to herself. - 'It's true for me it was a huge loss when he disappeared but he never cared quite enough to teach me all the things I needed to know. Instead Roth made sure about it. And he not only cared for teaching me everything I know now, he also made all the things my father should had done as… father.'

'He has always been like that.' - I said throwing a few branches to the fire.

'He also taught you, right?'

'Yes.'

'And I guess most of the time he acted more like a father than a teacher.' – said with a smile.

'Well, in a way he is.' - Noticing the tone in which I said that, I felt her looking at me surprised.

'What do you mean?'

'My parents... Well, they died in a car accident when I was just a baby.'

'O-oh... I'm really sorry, Eric.' - She rushed to say. I simply nodded.

'I spent most of the time of my childhood in orphanages, waiting for a family to accept me. But that moment never came and spent more time alone. But guess who appeared and become the only one who visited me and gave me all the attention I never had.' - I said looking at the fire.

'Well, at least you had someone to trust.' - She said trying to cheer me.

'Yes. Shit… Every time I remember my childhood, I remember how evil I was.'-. I said laughing. - 'I still don't know how Roth could stand me. I deserved a smack in the head. Or two...'

'Did he know your parents?' - asked Lara curious.

'Yes. He told me my father was a history professor at the university and my mother was from Norway.'

'Oh, you have viking blood.' - she joked and I chuckled.

'You're not the only one who makes me that joke.' - I said laughing. - 'About them he said they were very good friends and apparently attended some other expedition together.'

'Well, seeing that I guess we have a lot in common.' – she said and I looked at her. When she noticed my look, her cheeks flushed. - 'I… I mean about Roth being our mentor.'

'Yeah. That old man never stops.' - I said with a smile. - 'Hey, since you also have been trained by him... don't you have the feeling that he has been preparing you for this moment?'

'Now that you mention it, yes. Now I'm really thankful for all those hard days of training.' - she laughed but then stopped and looked down. - 'If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been able to survive until now nor have known how to react against those hunters. Clearly they're living here and are well organized.'

'I still don't understand what kind of goal are following. They kill people and are recruit members, but why?'

'Maybe they're following some kind of cult.'

'A cult of what?'

'I'm not sure... I could guess some ideas but I won't be certain until I discover more about them. Until then we should focus on searching the radio console. Others are counting on us.' -said getting up.

'You're feeling better?' - I asked and she knew I meant when she was freezing.

'Yes. And I would like to find the console the sooner.'

'Okay then. Let's go.'

After picking our things, we followed the only way possible. Though the storm had calmed down just a little, the rain was still falling and the wind sometimes went quite violent. Besides the temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees and the coldness increased every moment. As we walked to the next area, I noticed Lara looking at me from behind.

'Hey, Eric. About what you said before... '

'Shh!' - cut her suddenly as I heard voices ahead and motioned her to approach into a van that was in the middle of an aperture. Both hid behind and looked the area. The road was a wide and well guarded area, with four men watching by land and another one placed next to a big spotlight from the top of a balcony. The spotlight went moving in every place of the zone.

'Neutralize these men would be easy if it wasn't for that damn light." - muttered Lara.

'Avoid the light without touch those will be impossible.' - I said thoughtfully. - 'Okay. I have a plan. I'll go ahead and I'll neutralize some men. You're faster so when some path, go ahead and take care of the enemy from up there and the spotlight.'

'Count with it.'

After getting ready, silently I approached to the hunter who was closer to us and left KO in a few seconds. Fortunately the light didn't reach to where he was and that area was darker so it was easy to hide his body. Lara and I hid behind some sacks and boxes that were ahead and figured my next move. I saw one of the enemies approaching into a corner from a wall to pee and I noticed that the focus couldn't light that part. Okay, no one would see the body. Quickly I pulled my bow and an arrow and when I saw that the light didn't illuminate our cover and the wall, I rushed to fire directly at his head. Heard as the enemy I groaned after the impact and fell but luckily none of his colleagues noticed. After that, I hid and looked at Lara.

'Okay. After I take down the next enemy, you should have no trouble on getting to the hunter from the light. I'll make sure to clear you the path.'

She nodded and looked out. When I saw the light passed to another area, I hurried out and rushed towards the next enemy who was after a few big cans and some bushes. As I arrived, I circled his neck with my arm and covered his mouth. Then I dropped him to the floor behind the cans and bushes and began to choke him to make him fall unconscious while trying to make the least noise possible. When I noticed he wasn't moving, I let him go and carefully sat up behind the cover. I carefully looked around and noticed that Lara was nowhere. She must be going after the enemy from above. I observed the area and saw that there was only one enemy in sight. Then I heard a metallic bumps and I noticed that the light had begun to flash before turning off.

'What the hell?!' - said the hunter as he looked up and then I took advantage to leave the cover and kill him with an arrow. Then I looked up and saw Lara waving at me from where the light is.

'The way is clear. You can go up.'

I nodded and after stealing the arrows carried by the hunters, I climbed to Lara's position. Along the way I found the bodies of three unconscious hunters.

'I see you've had some work.' - I said when I reached her.

'It was nothing. Come on.'

We moved to next side of the balcony to reach a leap into another building and saw two hunters who were next to another focus that was off and who didn't realize what had happened below. Lara and I killed them quickly with our arrows and jumped to the other side. As we climbed the building, Lara looked around.

'This place is a bunker... World War 2 era. Probably Japanese.'

'I'd say you're right but I wasn't pretty good with history subject.' - I joked and she smiled.

'And your father was history teacher…'

'Hey, don't blame for not inheriting some history knowledge.' – I shrugged and she smiled again. I was starting to like it... When we reached the top, we saw that the only way down was through a rope that could be used as zip line. Both descended through it with the help of our axes and fell to the bottom of the bunker that was flooded.

'Ah... it's freezing!' - said with a grimace. Then I heard voices and pointed Lara to stay silent.

Both left the flooded area and moved in silence. The enemies weren't in the same area as us but they were obviously close. After moving to the next part of the building through a shortcut that was between the walls, we came to a hallway and saw the enemies talking in the end. Instinctively I took Lara's hand and quietly dragged her to a room that was close. I pointed her to stay quiet and after a few seconds, the enemies walked next the entrance without noticing our presence. Then we followed them and took them down the same time. Although there were apparently no more enemies, I heard a noise and motioned for Lara to follow me. We followed the hallway and then saw another enemy trying to open a metal door with a blowtorch. I approached silently and take him down quickly.

'I think this is the last one.' - Then we heard a noise and saw a hunter who had come from a small window. Before I could react, Lara drew his bow and killed him with a shot. - 'Nice shot.'

'Thanks. You've also done well before. You really know how to move.'

'Well, in some expeditions I went with Roth we had to face a few... really bad guys.' - said grimacing. We approached to the window from where the hunter entered and used to pass to the next room. We arrived at a machine room with a large observation window and several oil lanterns were probably left by the hunter to light the room.

'Hmm... seems to be no way out.' - I muttered looking around.

'The next room is similar like this one.' – said Lara pointing to the window.

'The door for that room is pretty locked up and these windows seem very strong.'

'Maybe not.' - I looked at her and saw that she had that "look ".

'You have an idea, right?'

'Yes. Come on, help me.' - she said as she climbed over the front panel that was in before the window.

'What are you going to do?'

'You'll see.' - she said simply and I gave a sigh. I had the feeling I wasn't going to like her idea but well... I helped her to reach a vent that was up the wall and through it she passed to a small space between the two rooms. She then approached to a tube that had a circular handle and knew what her idea was about. I definitely didn't like it.

'You're trying to blow the damn glass?!'

'I know what I'm doing.' - She said simply as she forced the handle with her axe to pull it from the tube. When she did it, the gas started coming out and she walked away. Then I saw movement in the other room.

'Lara!' - I called her. She was startled to see a hunter trying to open the window from the other room with blows and it cracked though this wouldn't give up in so easily. While coughing, Lara hurried back to where I was.

'Throw one of the lanterns through the vent. Hurry!'

I sighed and hurried to obey. I knew this would cause an explosion so before I could something, Lara and I hid behind one of the large engines. Then I threw the lantern through the vent and instantly there was a loud explosion. Fortunately the machine's frame protected us both and went out of our hiding place when we noticed it was safe. The explosion blew both windows besides forcing all the blocked entrances to open. There was debris everywhere and there was a strong smell of gas but fortunately it wasn't enough to intoxicate. We went to the other room while dodging the debris and before reaching the end, I noticed a gun on the floor. I picked it up and noticed it was a rifle. It was pretty old but still worked.

'Eric.' - called Lara. I went to her and found her before the hunter we had seen before. He was against the wall, half of his body trapped in the rubble and was obvious not going to survive.

'Please... just… just end it...' - He pleaded while groaning in pain. I didn't hesitate and pulled out my pistol to end him with a shot in the head.

'Rest in peace... you damn bastard.' - Muttered with a hard expression. Lara simply remained silent. We walked along the following corridors and then came to a completely dark room. After entering, I had a bad feeling.

'Eric?'

'What the...'

'NOW! Light them up!' - Suddenly someone shouted and some lights came on. The light blinded us for a few seconds but I reacted quickly and pulled Lara to one side. Several hunters started shooting at us and leaned over her to protect her.

'Are you okay?!' - I asked between the sound of the gunfire.

'Yes!' - Carefully I pulled away from her and both took our weapons. I pulled out the rifle I took before and after checking the ammunition, I looked at Lara. Both nodded at the same time and then left our covers. We attacked our enemies and while Lara moved to the other side, I walked forward the next hunter. He tried to hit me but I reacted quickly and knocked him down to finish him off. I hid behind some boxes and began to shoot at all the enemies I could. Then I heard movement above me and thought about Lara.

'Lara?!'

While reloading my gun, I received no answer except the sound of the gunfire. From above I heard groan, shots and blows and feared the worst. When I finished reloading my gun, I shot the enemies that I found but there were too many. They attacked all the time and couldn't have a clear chance to try to take them down. I hid behind the cover and cursed. From my position there was no sign of Lara and couldn't see what was going on upstairs. That made me nervous. Oh god, I really nothing bad happened to her... Suddenly I heard moans from the enemies who were behind me and looked to see what happened. I saw as someone was attacking from above... and then I saw Lara moving around the second floor's balcony. She shot without hesitation at all hunters with a rifle she had taken and one of the bullets hit gasoline can that was nearby. There was a small explosion that pushed out some enemies and stunned others. I took advantage from the moment to attack.

I left my cover and walked around the room shooting at all the hunters I found. The explosion had caused many to lose their balance or drop their weapons and they were defeated in a few seconds. After making sure there were no more enemies, I gave a long sigh and saw Lara carefully jumping down from the balcony.

'You okay?' - she asked as she approached.

'Yes but that I should ask that question. For a moment I couldn't find you and I thought something bad happened.' - I said clearly worried.

'It wasn't so bad. Come on. I have a feeling we're close to that console.'

Both walked through a corridor and suddenly a hunter jumped from a vent in the ceiling. Clearly his plan was to attack by surprise but I left him KO after a punch in the face.

'I wish I could do that.' - She said Lara surprised.

'You're tougher than you think.' - I said with a smile. She smiled and then pointed the room in the end. We entered to a large room full of panels with buttons, levers and indicators. Then I realized it was the communications room.

'Okay. So this is the place...' - I muttered. I saw Lara approaching to the central console and after clearing it from some leaves that were over, I saw a small lever. Lara pulled it but we got pretty disappointed when we saw it was broken. Lara sighed in despair as she leaned against the console and I cursed. Meanwhile I looked around. - 'There must be some way to send the signal. This can't end here. '

'Maybe Alex knows something.' - said Lara as she picked up the radio. - 'Alex? Are you there? '

'Y-yeah.' - He said several seconds after and I noticed that his exhaustion.

'Is everything okay out there?' - I asked worried.

'Yes. We had some problems but we're okay. Did you find the console?'

'Yes but it's a wreck.'- Lara replied this time.

'Damn it... Well, unless you see a Radio Shack around, you're going to have to patch in manually through the maintenance panel.'

'Okay, that sounds simple enough.' – I said looking at Lara.

'Yeah, well uh...'

'What?' - I said frowning.

'You're going to have to find it first. On those old towers they installed the panels high up. I mean way high up.' – Lara and I looked at each other and then up. Through a hole in the ceiling the tower in the distance. And as Alex pointed, it was pretty high up.

'You're kidding me...' - I said running a hand over my face.

'Climbing again. Great.' – muttered Lara.

'Sorry guys. I wish I could offer you another option...' - said Alex clearly feeling bad.

'It's okay. We'll call you when we have something.' - she said and put the radio on her belt. We tried to assimilate the new plan for several seconds and Lara finally spoke. - 'Okay. Before we begin to think to reach that tower, we should find a way out.'

'Hmm... Unless we make our way back, I don't see another exit.' - I said looking around. Then I saw Lara approaching to a hole that was in the wall and looked inside.

'Here are all the gas tubes from the building. If we follow them, maybe we'll get to a vent.'

'Let's try it.'

Lara went to enter and leaned against one of the tubes to bend but she suddenly gasped as she pulled her hand away.

'Okay. Avoid to touch the tubes. They're literally burning.' - said shaking her hand. Carefully she entered through the hole and I followed her. We moved through the narrow gap, trying to not touch any tube and using small gaps where we could touch the wall. Suddenly I was startled when some gas darted behind me and Lara looked at me worried.

'You okay?'

'Yes.' - I said wincing and pointed her to keep moving. Finally we could cross a corner and saw a vent in the end. Lara kept moving but suddenly the gas jumped to her back and she coughed. Above was filled with hot gas so we had to kneel to avoid it and kept moving forward.

'That tower better work after all this.'

'You're not the only one thinking that.' - I said with a smile when I noticed her anger.

Finally we reached the vent and opened it after giving several kicks. When we jumped outside, I saw the radio tower in the distance. And then I noticed the intense cold. I looked around and saw that was snowing.

'Snow?' - I mumbled confused.

'This isn't normal. We haven't advanced and climbed enough to get such an extreme climate.'

'It seems that there is nothing normal in this island.'

We moved forward through a balcony and then I began to notice I was starting to freeze because of the cold. That was very bad sign and had no clothing to cover me. We jumped off the balcony to reach solid ground and saw that the only way to advance was through a bridge that was quite broken. To one side I saw a camp that probably had been set by hunters.

'Maybe we should get some rest. Reaching the top of that tower for sure will give us some hard work.'

'Agreed. And with this cold we're going to suffer.' - She said rubbing her arms. I went to the fire and though wasn't lighten, the remains were still warm. While I was trying to light the fire again, Lara looked inside of some boxes that were nearby.

'You find something useful?' - I asked while working.

'Maybe. Ropes, some ammo... Oh.' - said suddenly.

'What?'

'Look.' - I turned and then Lara threw me something. When I caught it, I saw it was a sweater. It was quite old and was a little dirty from dust.

'It's a little dirty but it works for me against the cold.' - I said as I put it. Then I saw Lara put a jacket that she had found and approached to me with all the useful things.

'This is all I found. There are also batteries.'

'Well, at least the radio won't die so easily.' - I joked. After making sure that the fire was well lit, I sat beside her and sighed. - 'Your turn to rest. I'll be guarding.'

'Honestly I don't feel like to sleep now.'

'That's what I thought before and fell asleep not long later. Try to rest, it'll help you to feel better.'

'Okay.'

She walked to a wall that was close leaned against her wall and shrugged in his new jacket. As I expected, a few minutes later she fall asleep from exhaustion. To spend some time, I decided to take her weapon and examined them. Shen had her hand-gun, the bow and the rifle she picked up from the hunters ambush. Then I looked into the boxes that Lara looked before and saw something that surprised me. Weapon pieces and other useful parts. There were larger chargers, pieces that could help to aiming... Really good things. I decided to use all the time on guarding to improving our arms. During all the expeditions I attended with Roth, he taught me that I have always to improve and be ready for everything. And in this island we have to be ready more than ever.


And here ends the chapter… I must admit after enjoying the E3 and all the new stuff about "Rise of the Tomb Raider" I got pretty excited – though they didn't say anything about Sony and PC consoles… - and gave me more strength to write the chapter. Now time to work on the next one!

See you soon and remember to share your thoughts and post reviews!