Chapter 15
Avery's Descent
Nathan got his flashlight out of his belt and switched it on, "There we go," he said. The passageway began to look less and less like a passageway, and more and more like a cave. There were even stalactites hanging from the ceiling in between the brickwork. As if it wasn't creepy enough, water dripped from the ceiling, and slithered down the walls. Nathan walked forward a bit more until they came to a large iron bar gate. It looked like it was the entrance to some dreadful medieval dungeon. There was a spoked wheel to open the gate, and Nathan turned it. The gate clanked upwards, squeaking and groaning. Suddenly it got stuck just half open. Fortunately it was more than enough room for them to crouch through. "Watch you head," Elena warned. When they got over to the other side, Elena huffed, "Well it looks like Avery built himself a panic cave." Nathan chuckled. There were dusty roots drooping down from the ceiling, and several rats scurried away from Nathan's flashlight. "I wonder where this goes…" Nathan said. They took a few steps forward when suddenly there was a loud snap, and the gate crashed onto the ground. "Ah crap…" Nathan said. "Well I guess we're going to find out." Elena said. Nathan sighed and shrugged, and they both turned and faced the darkness. "This place doesn't look very stable," Nathan said. They walked through the dark passageway, which would occasionally open up into a larger chamber. There were old metal torches on the walls, though none of them were lit. After a bit, Nathan saw more fresh footprints on the ground. "Look," Nathan said, "They must've come this way." Elena looked at them, "That's a lot of footprints," she said, "Let's take this slow." They followed the prints down a bend in one of the larger chambers. There was another path, but it was blocked by large rocks. Suddenly Nathan's flashlight began to grow dim, then it flashed before going out. Nathan tapped it a bit, and it switched back on. If the flashlight would go out, at least Nathan had the lighter to hopefully light one of the torches on the walls. The eeriness of the passageway was enough to make Nathan's skin crawl. Everything was so dark and damp. No color, everything was an ugly shade of grey. Suddenly there was a low rumble, and the ground shook a little. Dust fell from the ceiling. "What was that?" asked Elena. "My money's on Nadine's men," Nathan replied, "They'll use any excuse to blow up stuff." "They'd have to be pretty dumb to use it in here," Elena said. "Yeah, they're pretty dumb," Nathan replied. Suddenly the flashlight began to dim again. "Uh oh," Nathan said tapping on the flashlight. "Did you bring any spare batteries?" Elena asked, "Yeah," Nathan replied, "But they're at the bottom of the ocean." "I won't ask," said Elena, "I won't tell," Nathan replied. Suddenly they came to a large chamber, "Whoa! Whoa, hold up!" Nathan said. The chamber's floor was made up of wooden squares, though some of the squares were missing. Below the squares were huge metal spikes. Impaled on one of them was an open mouthed skeleton staring upward. "Sam and the others still made it across," said Nathan, "Look, there's footprints to the end." Nathan and Elena both cautiously started walking onto the wooden squares. It creaked and groaned like the staircase of a haunted house. "Wouldn't be so bad if it didn't creak so much," said Elena. They both made doubly sure not to stray outside the footprints. "Just make sure you don't go where the footsteps aren't." Nathan said. He heard Elena chuckle, "What?" she said. "I'm just a little preoccupied with not being skewered right now," Nathan replied. After a few more squares they made it to the end of the trap. There was a large chamber at the end, and Nathan breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped on solid ground again. "And…unclench." He said. 'Whew," Elena replied. He followed the footprints to the end of the chamber, and they led to a blocked entry. "They must've walked in and it collapsed in behind them," Elena said. Nathan nodded and crouched down. Elena crouched behind him and they both tried to life up the wood and stones. They grunted and heaved but it was no use. Suddenly Nathan's hand slipped and he dropped the beam. When he did, the shock of the impact caused a huge boulder to drop in front of the entry, blocking their path for good. "We'll have to find another way," Nathan said. The flashlight began to dim once more, "Oh no, just hold out a little longer!" Nathan begged. The light then died. Nathan and Elena was enveloped in nothing but crushing darkness. Nathan couldn't see his hand in front of his face. There was no light whatsoever, just pitch blackness. He pushed the buttons, tapped it, and punched it. Nothing happened. He sighed. "Hey," Elena said, "You still have Sam's lighter?" "Yes!" Nathan replied, "Good idea!" he took it out and flicked it. Nothing. "What?" Nathan said. He tried again and again, but there wasn't even a spark. "Of course he used it all up," Nathan said with borderline fury, "Smoked like a chimney on the way over!" He heard Elena sigh, "Relax, I brought some matches." She said. She lit one and Nathan was just able to walk over to her. Suddenly it went out. "Ow, sorry," she said, "Just…one sec." He heard her walk over a bit further to the other side of the room. Nathan was left by himself, without the slightest idea where he was. He waited a bit longer. "Hello?" he asked. He heard Elena call back, "Over here!" she said. He carefully walked over, feeling in front of him like a blind man. "Ow! Ow, that's my head!" he said after hitting a stalactite on the ceiling. More moments of pitch blackness. He didn't move. He might get lost if he went on without knowing where he was. Suddenly the cave was lit up by fiery, dark orange light. Elena had lit one of the torches on the wall, and it cast strange shadows on the walls. It was a far eerier light than the white brightness of the flashlight. Elena lit a second torch and handed it to Nathan, "Thanks," he said, "Glad you came prepared." "Somebody had to," Elena replied. Nathan chuckled, "Well we got nice, romantic lighting," he said. Elena laughed, "You have a funny idea of romantic," she said. Nathan shook his head. They both looked around, until Nathan noticed that part of the ceiling had a large hole in it. "Hey, this looks promising," Nathan said, "Here I'll boost you up." Elena got onto Nathan's shoulders and jumped up into the hole. "Here," Elena said giving Nathan her arm. Nathan took it, and Elena pulled Nathan up until Nathan was able to pull himself up. This part of the passageway had a very low ceiling. Nathan had to almost crawl through the corridors. "Watch your head," Nathan said. There were a lot of split passageways, and Nathan and Elena followed right behind each other so they couldn't get separated. At the end of one of the low passages was a room. Nathan had to jump down into it. He jumped down about eight feet until he hit the ground, Elena behind him. When he looked up, he gasped in horror. Dangling from the ceiling, tightly packed by rope in bunches were dozens of human hands. "Whoa…" Nathan said. Elena looked at it with wide, unbelieving eyes. "What is this…" Elena said, "This is…creepy." The sheer amount of severed hands hanging from the ceiling almost made Nathan sick. At the end of the room was a sign. Nathan read it, "The hands that stole from me." He looked at Elena, "Wow," he said, "Avery's not even pretending to be sane at this point." "I don't like this place," said Elena. "Me neither," Nathan replied, "Let's get out of here." As they fled the room, Elena shook her head, "Man," she said, "Avery was a total nut job." Nathan huffed, "I mean it was bad enough that he killed all of them, but to cut off each of their arms and hang them up…ugh…That's beyond creepy." They began making their way through the next tunnel, which was looking less like a dungeon and more like a mineshaft. The walls were supported by wooden beams, and there were spiny, dead roots poking through the ceiling like claws reaching down to grab them. Of all the horrors he had witnessed in Libertalia, this was the most horrifying. They entered another chamber, which was larger than the previous one. This room was a storage chamber for Avery's leftover gibbets. Hanging from the ceiling was one, with a skeleton inside. They walked out of the chamber until they came back to another narrow passage. Nathan saw something strange hanging from the wall. He walked up to it, "Wait," he said, "Is that…a mummy?" The thing roped to the wall was a dead body wall wrapped from head to toe in cloth bandages. There were three of them all staring at each other. Some of the mummy's skulls were exposed, others were covered. He cautiously walked inside, when suddenly their chests lit up with a spark. They looked like they had caught on fire. Nathan rolled out of the way when suddenly all three of them exploded like bombs. He stepped back, his ears ringing. Nathan and Elena both stood there, gasping and stunned. "You OK?" Nathan asked. "Yeah, I think so," Elena replied, "What was that?" Nathan sighed, "Trap," he said, "Avery really didn't want any trespassers down here." They both carefully began walking into the chamber, "Watch your step," Nathan said. "Who me?" Elena said, "You're the one who tripped it." "Fine," Nathan replied, "watch my step." Nathan walked into the tunnel, dust was everywhere, and it choked Nathan's mouth, drying it up. He coughed. He saw three more exploding mummies in front of him. He tiptoed towards them, but they lit up. He rolled out of the way and they exploded. His ears rung terribly. "Ah," Nathan said. He looked at Elena, "Just stay behind me," he said. After a short distance they came to six mummies all strung up on the wall. Their gaping mouths and vacant eyeless stares looking into the other wall. He walked up to one, but it didn't trigger. He took another step. Nothing. He walked past three of them when suddenly all six lit up at once. There were three ahead of him, and Nathan leapt forward and rolled on the ground when they exploded. Nathan was stunned for a second, before he regained himself and shook his head. He heard Elena coughing behind him. "Ugh…Are you OK?" Elena asked. Nathan winced and got up, "Yeah." "Well now we know what caused those explosions we heard earlier," said Elena. "Yeah," Nathan replied, "No wonder so many parts of this passage have caved in." He walked to the very end of the tunnel, but it was a dead end. "Oh no…" Nathan said. Suddenly he heard Elena, "Hey Nate!" she called, "I found a shortcut!" He walked back over to her. She had taken a detour down another tunnel. "How do you know it's a shortcut?" Nathan asked. "Trying to be optimistic here," Elena replied. There was a steep slope down to the room below. Elena slid down, Nathan following. When they entered the room, they saw even more bones hanging from the ceiling. "Looks like Avery decorated this chamber too," Nathan said. There, flickering in the torchlight, were dozens of ribcages all hanging from the ceiling. There was another sign that read, "The hearts that hardened against me." They quickly left the room and went down another passage. There were more mummies inside the chamber. Nathan carefully walked, but they lit up, and he darted around the corner. They exploded, and Nathan looked back. The explosion had caused the ceiling to cave in, blocking their path. "Well, we can't go that way now," Nathan said. They turned around and headed down another path. There were still more exploding mummies. Nathan looked at them, "Now don't explode. OK pals?" he said. "Just…careful," Elena said. He walked by and none of them exploded. Then, the last one blew up without any warning. "Agh! What did I just say!?" Nathan shouted. He got up and walked further down the passage until he came to another slipperly downhill slope about forty feet long. He slid down right into three mummies, which all lit up. He got out of their way and they exploded. He coughed violently. "Oh, this stuff can't be healthy to breathe," he said covering his mouth with his shirt. He heard Elena call from the top of the slope, "Nate, are you OK?" "Fine, yeah, fine!" he yelled, "I just wish you'd brought ear plugs! Am I yelling!?" The room had one last mummy inside that hadn't detonated with the others. Nathan walked up to it. "Nate, careful!" Elena said. Nathan nodded and looked closely at it. "Man," he said, "Avery's gone all Egyptian. Except this mummification wasn't you know…voluntary." They continued down the passageway until they came to a stone staircase that led down. Nathan noticed a strange, blue light was coming from the bottom, almost purple. He walked down the steps. It was a flare, and just after the flare he saw the footprints again. "Well we're back on the trail," Nathan said, "The footprints go that way." Elena came up to them and looked. "Be ready for a fight," Nathan said. Elena smiled, "Alright," she said. They followed the footprints down the passageway. Nathan entered another chamber and suddenly he saw the burned body of a Shoreline mercenary. There was an explosion hole of a mummy directly in front of him. "Looks like this guy wasn't paying attention," Said Nathan. They walked down into another chamber that had a blue flare in it. There was a large puddle in front of them. Suddenly Nathan saw a grenade sail through the air, "Elena get down!" Nathan shouted. The grenade exploded, and Nathan got behind a corner of the wall. Bullets started screaming past Nathan's ear. "You idiots trying to bring the whole place down!?" Nathan shouted. The mercenaries responded by unloading their clips at Nathan. Nathan got out from behind the corner and shot one of the mercenary's down. He had the cover but they didn't. Elena hid behind a part of the wall that jutted out. She was in front of Nathan on the other wall. Nathan and Elena took down the three mercenaries inside the chamber, but three more came in. Nathan had a scoped rifle and he took aim as they charged inside. Nathan was able to immediately shoot one down, but the other two kept coming. These were Nadine's best forces, and they had far more accurate weapons. Suddenly the mercenaries started coming directly at Elena. Nathan blew out of his cover and shot one of them down, then took cover beside Elena. One of the mercenaries came around the corner, but all he received was Nathan's rifle butt to the face. Suddenly, a gigantic mercenary walked inside. He was covered in armor, and was carrying a fully automatic machine gun. Nathan rooted through the body of the mercenary he knocked out with his rifle butt. He had a single grenade. Nathan took it, pulled the pin, and threw it at the armored Special Forces mercenary. It exploded and the mercenary fell. Another mercenary replied by throwing a grenade next to Nathan. Before it exploded Nathan grabbed it and whipped it back at the mercenary that threw it, killing him before he could react. Two more mercenaries came in, and Elena took one down. The others hid, and unloaded their magazines. Nathan rolled into the chamber. Several wooden crates were inside, and Nathan hid behind one of them. Another mercenary entered the chamber. One of them ran out and started attacking Nathan. He punched Nathan in the face, but Nathan punched him back, before grabbing him by the back of the head and slamming his face into the crate. "Oh that's gonna hurt!" Nathan said. The mercenary fell unconscious, and Nathan took his grenade, and threw it at the other mercenaries in the room. It detonated, and several of the mercenaries flew into the air. No more mercenaries were in the room. Nathan and Elena rushed down and out of the chamber. There was a corner in the passageway, and suddenly a mercenary jumped out and threw Nathan to the ground. Elena ran over, and kicked the mercenary in the head, before knocking him out. She helped Nathan up with a smile, "Now we're even," She said. They ran down the hall until they came to another chamber. Two masked mercenaries were inside. Nathan took cover behind a pillar inside the chamber. One of the mercenaries saw him hide, and he slowly walked over. Nathan saw his shadow approach through a blue flare. Nathan pulled out his pistol and got out of cover, shooting the mercenary down. Suddenly five more mercenaries entered the room and all went prone. Nathan couldn't get a clear shot on any of them without being in terrible danger of being shot himself. Suddenly he noticed that there was an exploding mummy right next to them that hadn't been set off. Nathan wondered if shooting it might detonate whatever was inside them. He took a shot at the mummy, and it exploded, killing every Shoreline mercenary there. They ran out of the chamber and came to an extremely narrow passageway. Suddenly there was another Special Forces mercenary, and the most well armored one yet. He was like a walking tank, and he slowly marched forwards towards Nathan. He pulled out one last grenade and threw it at the mercenary. It exploded right in the mercenary's face, but he kept moving. Nathan emptied his clip, but still nothing. Then he saw two exploding mummies, one on either side, and the mercenary was walking right for them. When he was directly in-between them, Nathan shot one of them, and they both exploded. The mercenary fell to his knees, before he fell down on the ground. "Well for once I appreciate Avery's exploding mummies," Nathan said. There were no more mercenaries in the tunnels. The huge Special Forces op was their last ditch attempt to kill Nathan. In the commotion, Nathan and Elena had dropped their torches, but they picked up two of the flares and held them up. Suddenly they entered another chamber filled with bones. This time, hung up on the walls and dangling from the ceiling were human jawbones. The sign read, "The mouths that spoke ill of me." Nathan shook his head, "I'd hate to see this guy's Christmas tree," he said. They looked down at the ground, but there were no footprints. "We must be on a different route than the others," Elena said. The next chamber they entered was one of the largest they had seen. Inside were over two dozen dead skeletons, each with weapons either in their hands or in their ribcages. "Looks like a fight broke out," Elena said. Nathan nodded, "Yep. Tew's men versus Avery's." "Dead men tell no tales," Elena said. At the end of the room was a large metal gate. Nathan walked up to it and opened it. The skeleton sitting beside the gate tipped over. In the skeleton's hand was a small metal object. Nathan picked it up. It was some kind of key. Nathan put it in his pocket. "Hey, what's that note?" Elena asked. Nathan picked it up. It was from Thomas Tew to his men. It read, "Lieutenant Barton, Even now, Avery is readying his escape. If we allow him to leave these shores, he will surely disappear. Along with our treasure. This master key will open the gates in the depths of his tunnels, but be wary Lieutenant. He will no doubt expect us to pursue him. While you and your men search the tunnels, I shall take a small detachment of men through the valley so we may cut off his escape. If God grants us the victory, by sundown tomorrow we shall be pirates once more, sailing to unknown ports with the treasure in our hold, the wind in our sails, and the freedom to live as we choose. I for one have seen enough of this accursed island. God Speed. Signed, Captain Thomas Tew." He flipped the note around. On the other side were the words, "Death to those who stray from this path." There were drawings that looked like sigils in the center of squares. Nathan realized that they may have been solutions to the wooden square trap that they had encountered previously. He put the note in his journal. They walked through the gate and came to another room. This one was a large chamber filled with exploding mummies. Nathan carefully entered, and one of them triggered. He dodged out of the way, and it exploded. Several more blew up with it. Many of the mummies inside this chamber didn't explode, and Nathan and Elena were able to walk past them without a hitch. Every time he passed one Nathan got more and more uneasy. "You gonna explode? Huh?" he said passing one, "No? What about you?" That one didn't explode either. He entered another chamber with six mummies. As soon as he entered all six of them lit up. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" he said. He leapt out of the way and hid behind the corner of the wall. They all exploded. "OK, OK, OK, you done?" he asked. Elena walked in, "Whew," he said, "Just another day at the office." Elena shook her head. They continued down the passageway, and this one fortunately didn't have any mummies, or at least they had all been exploded already. "Oh. My ears just popped," said Elena. "Yeah, we're definitely descending," Nathan replied. Suddenly they came to another deathtrap. No footprints to guide them. "What now?" Elena asked. "We follow Tew's instructions," Nathan replied. He took out Tew's note and looked at it. He had the entire grid down on the note, with a skull and crossbones on each bad square. Nathan carefully walked on the designated path, Elena following close behind. The squares still creaked and groaned agonizingly. Nathan carefully stepped on each square, and successfully made it through. He gasped with relief as he stepped back on solid ground, "Aha! In your face Avery!" he said. At the end of the chamber Nathan saw light, sunlight, at the end of the tunnel. "That's our way out of here," Nathan said. He threw his flare on the ground and walked forward. It led to a huge cave room, though there was a huge hole in the ceiling that let the sunlight come in. However, entering the room they were met by a dozen exploding mummies, though none of them exploded. Hanging from the air were over three dozen skeletons. Each of them were hanging in the air by their feet, their arms were tied behind their backs. Some had their hands missing. "Ah…Are those the rest of Tew's men?" Elena asked. Nathan nodded, "Probably. We know Avery liked to make an example of his enemies." "Well he certainly liked making exploding mummies," Elena replied. Nathan nodded, "Yeah. Let's tread carefully in here." They carefully walked to the end of the room with none of the mummies exploding. Nathan saw another iron gate. It was locked, though there was a keyhole. Nathan held up the key with a smile. He was about to put it in when Elena stopped him, "Wait, it could be a trap." Nathan shook his head, "Yeah, well we really don't have much of a choice…But, I have a good feeling about this one." He looked at Elena, who was nervously biting her lip. "Do it," she said. She winced as Nathan inserted the key. Nathan winced as he turned it. The gate opened, and Nathan pushed it open fully. He laughed, "You see?" Suddenly they were lurched off the ground. They had been caught in a net. With Elena in his arms, Nathan chuckled, "Well at least we didn't get blown to bits." Bang! One of the mummies exploded as if on cue. Nathan patted his knife sheath, but it was empty. "You didn't happen to bring a knife by any chance?" he asked. Elena shook her head, "No…But that guy's got a sword!" Nathan looked, above them and to their left was a hung up skeleton with a sword in his chest. "Help me swing this thing!" Elena said. They started swinging their legs back and forth. One of the mummies lit up and exploded, then another. Nathan Swung with all his might, but they weren't swinging fast enough. He reached out and tried to grab the sword, but he wasn't close enough. Bang! Bang! The last two were dangerously close. He reached out again, and he touched it with his fingertips. Another mummy exploded, and Nathan could feel the shockwave. Another swing, and he reached out and grabbed the sword. "Got it!" he yelled. He pulled his hand back and swung at the rope. It snapped and he fell to the ground. Elena got up and began running, "Nate!" she shouted. Nathan got up, two mummied lit up right next to him. "Come on!" Come on! Go! Go!" Nathan yelled. He ran out of the chamber and into a tunnel, with mummies lining the walls. They exploded behind him, Nathan could feel the intense shock they produced. He rushed down the hall, several mummies lighting up in front of him. They blew up right as he passed them, and he tripped. He regained balance just in time. "Don't look back, just run! Don't stop!" They began to explode faster, but Nathan sprinted even faster. "Nate!" Elena called, "Move it! Let's go!" There was a large wooden beam I front that Nathan couldn't see. He tripped on it and fell. Elena ran back and tried to help him up. Nathan struggled to his feet, when a mummy exploded directly behind them. It threw them down, and holding onto Elena, Nathan rolled down a muddy slope, and fell eight feet into a large puddle. Elena landed on top of Nathan, and she rolled over beside him. With rocks and debris falling beside him, Nathan coughed and breathed heavily. He sat up "Thanks Captain Avery," he said. He shook his head and chuckled, "Just like old times huh?" No answer. "Elena?" still no answer. Nathan looked at her. She was laying on her side, with a pale expressionless face. "Elena?" he said frantically, "Elena! Come on! Elena don't do this! Please don't leave me! Elena!" he patted her cheek, but there was no response. Suddenly she moaned, "Mmm…My…Hero." She smiled and opened her eyes. Nathan shook his head, "Oh no, you didn't do that," he said. Elena laughed, "No!" Nathan said, "That's not funny!" Elena sat up, "Oh no, you have done much worse!" Nathan huffed, "You gave me a heart attack!" he laid down in the mud. "Ohh," Elena said, "Let me listen," she laid down and put her ear up to Nathan's chest. "Hmm," she said, "Sounds good to me." Nathan shook his head, still breathing hard, "You realize," he said, "We are now even for everything I've ever pulled alright?" Elena narrowed her eyes and looked at Nathan, "No," she said shaking her head, "Not by a long shot." They both laughed and Elena brushed off Nathan's face, "Gosh, you've got mud everywhere," she said. Nathan put his hand on his wife's cheek and looked into her eyes. He smiled, "Anyone ever tell you…You've got a funny idea of romantic?" Elena smiled, "Yeah." She said, "Yeah, I may have heard that somewhere before." Elena smiled and leaning over, they both kissed each other lovingly. When they finished, Nathan smiled and brushed some of Elena's blonde hair away from her eyes, "Good talk," he said. "Good talk," Elena replied. Suddenly they heard a loud explosion outside. "That's gotta be Sam," Nathan said getting up. They both started leaving the cave gratefully. "Well at least the gunfire means he's still alive," Nathan said, "For now." The cave exit turned out to be an out cove, with the sea in front of them, and two cliffs on either side. They both climbed up the side of the cliff and after climbing to the top of the cliff, Nathan noticed something in the water. He looked down into the ocean and saw, beached on the rocks, a gigantic pirate ship. It was a huge galleon, broken in two pieces and decaying on the rocks. Its tall mast still stood, and Nathan wondered if this was the very galleon that had delivered supplies to Libertalia. He walked over to the other side of the cliff ledge and stood there, stunned. There was an inlet of the ocean that formed a small bay, and sitting in the bay were the wrecks of ten other ships. "It's a ship graveyard!" said Nathan. He wondered if these were actually the founder's ships. The ten here, plus the eleventh back there accounted for eleven of the twelve founders. The only other ship missing was Captain Avery's. They both continued along the cliff. After a bit they heard another explosion. "We're getting close," Nathan said, "Come on!" They both hurried along until they looked down and saw there on the beach, was a group of mercenaries. He saw Sam jump onto the wreck of a ship and run away, the mercenaries shooting mercilessly at them. "That's Sam," Nathan said, "He's surrounded," Elena replied. He got out his rifle and took aim at the mercenaries on the beach. He was able to shoot one of them down. Suddenly he heard Elena shout, "Nate! They're behind you!" he turned to see Elena shooting at one of the mercenaries with her pistol. He shot one of them down with his rifle, and then he jumped down to another ledge of the cliff, making his way down to the beach. Sitting on the cliff ledge behind a box, he saw at least a dozen mercenaries all shooting at him from onboard the decks of the wrecked pirate ships. He took aim at one of them and fired. He fell down. None of them could throw grenades up to him this high, though Nathan was mostly worried about snipers. Suddenly he saw a man with a sniper rifle crawl up to the crow's nest of one of the ships. He shot him before he could climb up, and he fell down onto the ship's deck. He saw Elena jump down onto the ship's deck, and Nathan jumped down after her. Running onto the deck, Elena was picked up by a mercenary. Nathan shot the mercenary down, and Elena fell to the deck and got back up. They took cover behind the mast, then behind a pile of supplies. Suddenly a grenade came Nathan's way. He rolled away from it and it exploded, destroying their cover. Nathan saw a Shoreline supply box, and on top of the box was a sniper rifle, ammo, and two grenades. Nathan took the sniper rifle and looked through the scope. He sniped three mercenaries before a Special Forces op appeared far away from the ship. He was holding a grenade launcher. Nathan aimed for the op's chest and shot. Nothing. Another shot, but nothing happened, he was wearing bulletproof armor. He saw him come closer to the ship. Nathan tossed the two grenades over to him when he was in range. They both exploded, and he fell down. The ship was half beached, and Nathan was about to jump onto the sand when suddenly five mercenaries appeared out of nowhere from the jungle. They rushed down towards Nathan, spitting lead. Nathan shot two down immediately, and Elena was able to shoot down another. When the remaining two got close, Nathan tossed a grenade out, and it took care of them. With no other coming, they both got out of the ship and onto the beach. They ran a short distance until a huge rock blocked their path on one side and an unclimbable cliff blocked the other. Nathan looked around and saw one of the wrecked ships had a large hole in its hull. Nathan and Elena walked into it. There was water inside, but it was only a few inches deep. When they entered, suddenly a grenade launcher shot in front of Nathan. He dove out of the way, and it exploded behind him. "That was way too close," he said. He took aim at the grenadier and fired. He fell. It was the only mercenary inside the hull. They ran over to the other end of the hull and walked out another large hole. "Alright," Nathan said, "Where did Sam go?" "He went that way!" shouted a mercenary on the beach running perpendicular to Nathan. "Well there's your answer," Elena said. They ran along the beach until suddenly three mercenaries came out of nowhere, and began shooting at Nathan. Nathan hid behind a fallen palm tree. Elena shot blindly, but was able to bring down one of the mercenaries. He saw six more mercenaries come into the beach. He threw two grenades out at them, and they both exploded, sending them into the air. No more mercenaries came. Nathan was running out of bullets, and he took one of the guns off of the mercenary's bodies, along with several grenades. They ran past the ship and into a gully. There was another shipwreck right next to them. Elena pointed at it, "Look!" she said, "There's Sam!" Nathan looked to see Sam on top of the ship, unable to run away, "He's pinned down," Nathan said. He got into position behind the mercenaries shooting at Sam. He shot one of them down, and Elena got another. He heard Sam yell, "Hey! Fight fair you morons!" The mercenaries suddenly noticed Nathan and Elena, and they turned their attention to them. They started shooting at Nathan, but Sam was able to shoot one of them down. He saw Sam throw a grenade at the remaining mercenaries. They all flew into the air. "Up here!" Nathan shouted looked at Nathan. Nathan gave him the thumbs up. He walked up to the part of the ship Sam was on. "Man, you're a sight for sore eyes!" Sam called. "Yeah," Nathan replied, "How about we get off this beach huh?" "Absolutely," Sam replied. Sam threw down a wooden slat ladder. Nathan climbed up. "Hey, did you find my lighter?" Sam asked. Before Nathan could answer an RPG exploded the deck, and Nathan and Sam fell to the ground. Nathan and Sam groaned and struggled to their feet. Elena dropped down into the room, which was some sort of bunk room, but there was no cover, and they were out in the open. "We're sitting ducks in here, come on!" Sam shouted. "We gotta take out that RPG!" Elena yelled. Sam looked around, "The cliffs! We can take cover there!" Sam pointed to the cliffs, but they would have to fight their way there first. There was a large building built almost directly onto the cliffs, and Nathan took cover behind a wooden support, then shot one of the mercenaries down. Elena and Sam made their way to the cliffs. Sam quickly came beside Nathan and took aim at the mercenary with the RPG. He shot him down, "Rocket man's down!" Sam yelled, "Grab his RPG!" Nathan saw it at the very far end of the wooden structure. He jumped across a gap in the planking. A mercenary came from around the corner and tried to attack Nathan, but he dodged and slammed the mercenary's face into the wall, before charging forward. He jumped across another gap and grabbed the RPG. There were three rockets. He took aim at one of the ships which was filled with mercenaries. He was now high above the bay of ships, and he took aim and fired. The explosion sent over a dozen mercenaries into the air. He was able to blow up seven or eight with his second shot. Another ship was directly beneath them, and its mast spanned the distance between the cliffs and itself. "That's our way across!" Sam shouted pointing to it. Nathan and Elena shot down the rest of the mercenaries on the ship before running across the mast and onto the ship. Nathan hid behind a Shoreline supply crate. "Hey Nate! Our friends are back!" Elena called. He saw ten mercenaries arrive onto the scene. He got out a grenade and threw it. It exploded, and almost all of the mercenaries fell. The remaining three shot at Sam and Nathan. Elena was hiding almost out of sight, and she was able to take down two of them, Sam taking down the other. Suddenly, three Special Forces ops came lumbering onto the scene, each carrying massive machine guns. "Run!" Sam shouted. The three of them made a dash to the ship's hull. They jumped down into the second deck, passing cannons and artillery. Suddenly a huge explosion sent one of the cannons back, blocking Nathan's path. One of the Special Forces ops had another RPG. "Nate?!" Elena shouted, "I'm good! Just go!" Nathan replied waving his hand. Suddenly another explosion went off right in front of Nathan. Suddenly, he felt himself tipping backwards. He fell down, the entire front half of the ship had broken off and was falling into the water. Suddenly Nathan was underwater, and the entire open part of the ship was blocked by a huge underwater boulder. He swam up to take a breath. The ship was slowly sinking, and the water level was rising. Suddenly there was no more air pocket. Nathan swam into the captain's cabin, but the air pocket there was disappearing as well. He shoved himself above the rising water. It was no use, before the air pocket was gone, he took a deep breath and plunged back underwater. He desperately looked for an exit, and suddenly he saw an opening in the wall. He swam up and to the surface. He was right in front of the beach. Before he could even get a breath, a Shoreline mercenary started shooting at him. There were four mercenaries in front of him. Nathan got onto the beach and hid behind one of the wooden crates. Suddenly, there was something much bigger shooting at Nathan. It was the same kind of truck that had terrorized Nathan and Sully in Madagascar. "Ah, how many of these trucks did you bring Rafe!?" Nathan said. He shot down the four mercenaries The truck began shooting at him, but Nathan took cover. Suddenly the truck turned and looked like it was driving away, "Oh, thank God it's leaving!" Nathan said. But it wasn't leaving. It pulled forward into a different position. Nathan took cover, and suddenly he noticed an RPG laying on the ground. He took it and fired at the truck. The round exploded. He shot again, and the engine blew up. He sighed. No more mercenaries. He looked around for some ammo, and after reloading his guns he started jogging off to find Sam and Elena. Suddenly, erupting into the beach was yet another Shoreline truck, armored, and ferocious. "Ah you gotta be kidding me!" Nathan shouted as he began to run. He ran inside a house and climbed up to the second floor, when suddenly the truck burst into the house, splintering it. Nathan rolled onto the ground. He looked to see the front of the truck. The bumper was crooked, it's engine was sparking, and it's grille was steaming. He ran down the narrow street of some small village. The truck screamed forward and shot a hail of bullets down on Nathan. He suddenly saw a flight of stone stairs in front of him. He ran up them like a rabbit running for its life. He jumped up onto a building. "I'll just hide behind here," he said, "They can't get me here can they?" To answer, the truck rammed into the building, and it slowly began to tip over. "Oh, why? Why? Why!?" Nathan yelled. He jumped off the building and onto the roof of another building. He slid down the roof until he hit the ground. He grunted and got up. He turned his head to see the truck turn towards him. He threw himself up, "Man these guys just don't give up!" the truck groaned and the tires screamed as it drove forward. Nathan ran down the streets, the truck chasing and shooting relentlessly. Nathan jumped onto a wooden platform, then back onto the street. The truck plowed through the platform, wood flying everywhere. With that, it slammed into the side of a building and halted there for a few moments. "Good thing for me you're a terrible driver!" Nathan yelled, "And an awful shot!" There was a wooden gate ahead of him inside a stone archway. Nathan jumped up onto the gate, and threw himself over it. Nathan got out of the way before the truck smashed through the gate, sending stone pieces into the air like shrapnel. The truck then slammed head-on into a building, leaving a sizeable impact crater. Nathan got up and started running, but the gun turret pointed back at him. He ran around a corner, but the truck backed up and continued its hot pursuit. Suddenly he stepped on a rotten wooden deck, and he fell down into a gully. The truck shot past him, and it's engine exploded. He looked up the other side of the ravine and saw Sully holding an RPG, "Sully!?" Nathan shouted. "How you doing Nate?" Sully asked. The truck began shooting once again. "Throw me the RPG!" "You got it!" Sully replied. Sully tossed the RPG down. Nathan took aim at the gunner's turret and fired. It exploded and hit the car's engine. "Finish those losers will ya!?" Sully shouted. "My pleasure!" Nathan yelled back. He loaded in the last rocket and took aim. The turret and engine both blew up in a spectacular fireball, and the RPG fell onto its side. "For God and liberty, moron!" Nathan shouted. He tossed down the RPG and shook his head, "Eh, that sounded better in my head…" "Nice work kid!" Sully shouted. "Yeah, thanks for the assist!" Nathan replied. Sully helped Nathan out of the ravine, and they gave each other a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Good to see you kid," Sully said. "Yeah, in the nick of time," Nathan replied. "Yeah well, got a little antsy waiting around to hear from you two," Sully said. Nathan shook his head, "We need to find Sam and Elena still." "Hey!" called a voice. It was Elena. She jogged over, "What happened? Are you OK? We heard those explosions and we thought…" Nathan chuckled, "Yeah well it was all this guy," he pointed to Sully. Elena smiled and put her hands on her hips, "You saved his butt again?" "Naturally," Sully replied, "You doing OK?" Elena nodded, "OK. Yeah there were some close calls but um…he covered me." Sam sheepishly walked forward. Nathan and Sam awkwardly exchanged greeting. "How's that?" asked Nathan looking at Sam's bloody and bandaged arm, "Oh," Sam said, "Bullet grazed my shoulder. You?" "Cliffside," Nathan replied, "Grazed my face." A few more awkward seconds of silence, "So how'd you lose Rafe?" Nathan asked. Sam smiled, "I led him and his crew right into one of Avery's traps." Nathan nodded, "OK, good." Sam sighed, "Hey, look. About the whole Alcazar thing…" Nathan held out his hand, "Hey just…We can save that for later OK?" He walked back to Sully, "Which way?" he asked. "On the beach," Sully replied, "Other side of town." Nathan nodded and he, Elena and Sully started walking away, "I hope that ruckus didn't attract any attention," Elena said. Sam suddenly walked forward, "Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on. What are we doing?" Sully shook his head, "Well what do you think we're doing? We're getting off this blasted rock!" Sam nodded, "Right, right, right, we could do that…Or we could head in that direction," he pointed to the mountain shaped like the wolf's head, "Which is a shortcut." They all stood there a few seconds, "Shortcut to what?" Sully asked. Sam sighed, "To Avery's treasure!" he replied, "I mean Rafe's gotta go all the way around but we could just-" "Hey screw the treasure!" Sully said. Sam smiled and chuckled, but not in a humorous way, "Uh, Victor with all due respect maybe just-" "You just don't know when to quit!" Sully said. Sam sighed, "Look we're all here for the same reason right?" Everybody looked at Sam, and Nathan gave him a look. Elena shook her head, "Look, Sam we didn't come here after the treasure, we came after you." "And I appreciate that, I do," Sam replied holding out his hand, "But we're good. And we got the lead, for now." He chuckled, "We can do this." They all stood there, nobody moving. Soon, Sam's eyes locked onto Nathan's. "Nathan, come on," he said, "Huh? OK, Avery scuttled every last ship on the island. You know why?" "Because he was bent on keeping his treasure," Elena replied. "Exactly!" said Sam, "No matter the cost to others around him," Elena finished. Sam sighed, "Because he didn't want anyone to follow him," he said, "Because he was leaving. Look at this," Sam pulled out a map, and Nathan reluctantly took a look at it, "This is Avery's map of the island," he said, "OK? That is his ship! Right under that mountain! That's where our treasure is, and it's exactly where Rafe is heading right now, while we're standing here arguing like idiots!" Sully pointed over to the ocean, "Well what if Avery's already left the island and his ship is sunk there in the bottom of the ocean?" "Then we find out where it got sunk," Sam replied with avarice in his eyes. Sully shook his head and sighed, "Oh boy," he said. Sam went back over to Nathan, "How long have we been chasing this thing huh?" he asked, "You and me. I mean no offense to these guys, but they don't get it." Nathan sighed and looked at the ground. He shook his head. "Actually Sam, they do." He said in a low voice. He nodded, "They really do." He put the map back into Sam's hand. Sam's face looked deflated, but Nathan was finally seeing himself through Sam. "Trust me, they've seen this kind of obsession before." He put his hand on Sam's shoulder, "Sam look…We're not those kids anymore. We're not. We've got nothing to prove." Sam looked at Nathan a bit longer, before he held out both his hands. He stepped back and nodded. He sighed deeply, "Victor, where's that plane?" he asked. "Right this way," Sully said pointing. Nathan watched as Sam and Sully began walking forward. Elena came up from behind him and patted him on the shoulder, smiling. Nathan nodded. He started following. "Is it far?" Elena asked. "Not very," Sully replied, "Just past this port town." As they walked, Nathan was thinking. Throughout his many adventures he had never seen himself outside the box. While everybody around him was begging him to stop, begging him to end his obsession, he had never done so. Now, he was finally able to see how he acted through Sam. An obsessed person willing to put other people's lives in danger for the sake of treasure. He was always Nathan Drake. That two-bit thief risking it all for some piece of treasure. He guessed that's how people knew him; how they would remember him. But that wasn't who he was anymore. Now he realized that through all of those years he had been playing with fire, and now he was trying to keep Sam from making the same mistake. After a bit Elena asked, "What if Shoreline set up an ambush by the plane?" "They didn't," Sam replied. "And what makes you so sure?" Elena asked, "Because they headed to the mountain." Sam replied with a sigh, "To the treasure." Soon, they walked through the port town, and they saw the plane sitting in the water. "it's a long drop," said Elena, "How did you end up here?" Sully chuckled, "I climbed a few walls, I guess we'll have to find another way around." Suddenly they heard an explosion, "What was that?" Sully asked. "It's one of Avery's traps," Sam said. "Well good, that means they're blowing themselves up." "No," Sam replied in a low voice, "It means they're on the right track." Nathan sighed, "Let's just stay focused alright?" They kept going, until they reached a wooden bridge. The bridge spanned one part of the town with the other, and below it was the ocean, a forty foot drop. It looked awfully rickety, but they decided to risk it. Elena walked on it first, then Sully, then Nathan. When Sam's turn came, he stood there, not crossing it. "Sam come on," Nathan said. Sam didn't move. Sam then looked at the mountain. "No," Nathan said, "Sam don't even think about it, you hear me!" Sam took out a knife, and cut the rope to the bridge. The bridge fell to the ground. "I'm sorry I got you guys into this!" Sam said. "Look all of that doesn't matter now!" Nathan said, "I have to see this thing through Nathan," said Sam. Sam started to run off over to the mountain, "Sam!" Nathan called, "Hey, listen to me, if you do this, I'm not coming after you! You hear me!?" Sam sighed, "I'm sorry!" he said as he turned and ran towards the mountain, "Sam!" Nathan yelled, "Sam!" Nathan growled, "Stupid, stubborn…" "He called your bluff," Sully said. "He's gonna get himself killed," said Elena. She began running over towards the mountain, "She's…She's probably right," said Nathan. "Of course she is!" replied Sully. He sighed and they began making their way over, "Over here," Elena said, "We might be able to head him off." Nathan shook his head, "I'm going to save him, and then I'm going to punch him!" "Well let's just worry about the saving part for now," said Sully. Nathan huffed, "Why couldn't he just… I mean after everything we…Wasn't this enough?" His words stopped him in his tracks. How many times had Elena asked him that, especially on his hunt for Iram of the Pillars? How many times had others begged him to stop, only for him to disregard their advice and going on anyway. He sighed, "Let's just find him," he said. They went on for a bit, going further into the town, which went further inland. He saw a wall that led into the jungle, but it was too high for Nathan to climb up. There was a wagon in the middle of the courtyard. Nathan started pushing it, but he couldn't quite push it. "Here," said Elena, "We got you." They both got next to Nathan and started pushing with all their might, it was an uphill slope to the wall. After heaving and shoving, they pushed it next to the wall. Nathan engaged the rusty brakes. "Alright," Nathan said. Suddenly the brakes broke, and the wagon started creaking backwards. Elena and Sully held the wagon, "This isn't going to hold," Sully grunted. "Nate, go!" Elena shouted. "No, I got it," Nathan said. He tried to hold the wheel, but it broke and started going back further. Nathan huffed and jumped onto the wagon, before taking a flying leap onto the wall. Sully and Elena let the wagon go, and it crashed into a building, both front wheels falling off. "Blast it," Sully said, "Now how are we going to get up there?" Elena thought for a moment and sighed, "We don't have enough time," she replied. Sully shook his head, "Nate, no, not by yourself." Nathan sighed, "Look, I'll come back OK?" "Look," said Sully, "He is not going to leave without a fight!" "Then I'll fight him if I have to," Nathan replied, "But either way I'm bringing him back. Just get the plane as close to the mountain as you can. And be ready for a quick getaway." Sully huffed, "Like there's another kind," he said. Elena walked forward, "It's not fair." She said. Nathan looked at her, "huh?" She looked at him, "Doing the dishes, we take turns." She said, "Don't even think about not coming back." Nathan smiled, "I love you." He said. Elena watched as Nathan turned and left. "Same to you," she said. With that, Nathan began looking for Sam.