-Tomb of Rhamoon

In the mist of the sandstorm, right on the slope of a sand dune, something was glinting upon a tiny ray of sunshine that barely peaked through the flying sand all around. It was a metal plate with an integrated handle and it stood out in plain sight.

"Hey! I think I found something here!" Lara shouted to the others. Without a second's hesitation they all rushed over to her side. Examining the plate, it had been quite rusty due to weather and time, however they could still make out the markings engraved around the circular metal. Touching each individual letter, Lara talked aloud the translation so the rest know where

"Underneath the sands lies the Tomb of Rhamoon, protector and guardian of..." Lara translated. Though she couldn't finish of the ancient Egyptian script due to being worn away, they presumed that the rest would have said something about the artefact they were looking for. 'How old were these artefacts?'

"We have found it..." Eric enthusiastically spoke, his eyes were widened in amazement. Without another word, he reached for the handle and pulled it with all his strength. A cylinder block came out of the sands, and as it was forced out completely, the ground began to rumble.

"AN EARTHQUAKE!" Tim screamed out at the top of his voice, the power of the shock was overwhelming. They were nearly taken off their feet, until all at once it had abruptly stopped. Looking around at the environment to see if anything had changed during the short earthquake, Lara saw that a large area of sand had disappeared over to the left. Everyone else noticed this as well, and cautiously walked over to it.

The sand had fallen through an opening similar to a trapdoor, revealing a set of stairs leading downwards. Everything else was covered in darkness, but luckily they had all brought flash-lights to shine the way through.

"So this is it..." Eric mentioned in amazement with his arms slightly stretched, as if he was explaining something.

"Yeah looks like it, we must be wary though, concealed traps or hidden pitfalls could be set anywhere awaiting for intruders" Lara warned the group. Saying this reminded her repeating a similar warning one of her mentors had said to her before.

"Very well, because of your experience Lara, you will lead the way through the underground complex" Eric said with an ordering tone and a smirk on his face.

"...Fine" Lara replied with a slight hint of annoyance, she unquestionably didn't like to be ordered in that fashion.

As Lara moved to the front, she made her first careful step on the top of the stair. She checked if the stairs still held up well after all these years and whether they were sturdy enough to support them.

Once they had got to the bottom of the stairs, a wooden stick was lying on the floor. Using a lighter to ignite a flame onto to the wooden stick, Lara using the torch lit up the other sticks that were hung up around the room. Afterwards, Lara took in her surroundings, observing every detail of the classic ancient Egyptian structure.

The room was featured with rich pillars that had held up themselves and the ceiling of the place well after all these years. Two large golden statues armed with spears were on each side of the next passageway, they certainly had a peculiar appearance about them. Overall impressions so far were that this didn't seem like a forgotten tomb, it had more of a rich temple type of furnish and finish. Furthermore a set of wonderful pictures and hieroglyphics filled both sides of the wall. Fascinated by these, Lara went over and studied the markings for the next few minutes on her own, up until she gasped in astonishment.

"Wow gosh..." Lara couldn't believe what they had stumbled across, as she briefly ciphered the Ancient Egyptian writings.

"What does it say Lara?" Tim keenly asked, he came over to Lara's side and stood there paying attention to the hieroglyphic wall.

"It explains the story of Rhamoon, how he came to power and how a tragedy fallen upon him had resulted in his supposed tomb built here. Long ago, there lived a wealthy, strong warrior, who fought among many battles and gathered many loyal followers. He was highly respected in the kingdom, apparently he was one of the high protectors of the people and was viewed as a hero. There was even to be a pyramid constructed in his name. However things had turned for the worse for him. One day, a mysterious artefact arrived in the city, and was bestowed to Rhamoon to safeguard and to ensure that no else gets their hands on it while he lived. Only a few of his followers knew about the artefact. But letting them know about the artefact he was to protect was his downfall. Unfortunately two of his followers were planning to betray him to get their hands on this precious artefact."

"Ah right, interesting, what happened later on? Were they successful with their plan?" Tim queried her. Lara continued her observation of the enigmatic symbols around the chamber, carrying on her translation of the legend.

"The two traitors had the plan of distracting Rhamoon, then grabbing the artefact while he wasn't looking. One of the conspirator's were to play a friendly game of Senet with him, while the other sneaked into his personal chambers to steal the artefact. All of this went well for the defectors, right until Rhamoon caught a shadowy figure passing by in the corner of his eye as they were playing Senet. He demanded to know who it was, and was taken by complete surprise that two of his trusted allies had conspired against him."

"What did he do?"

"In reaction to this betrayal, Rhamoon was about to strike to retrieve the artefact back, but he did not expect to be struck down instantly by them. Not wanting to break his promise and with the feeling that he had failed, uncontrollably a raging fire arose inside of him. This rage and anger that burned inside because of the actions of his closest aides, turned him into a mutated monster as the passage describes. Now in his new strong form, he easily overpowered the two traitors and was victorious in getting back the artefact. However now that Rhamoon was now a monstrous fiend, he posed a serious dangerous threat to the civilisation and it's population. The people decided it would be best to have him banished and buried far away from the cities, and henceforth it was declared. This tomb where we are standing now is supposedly his last known resting place, as the people would never see him again after the ordeal." Lara said, finishing reading out aloud the last of the hieroglyphics.

"Hmmm, I certainly wouldn't like to cross paths with whatever he turned into in the story, sounds like 'The Incredible Hulk' if you ask me" Tim remarked, Lara had to smile at the reference he made.

"You never know, he may still be lurking around here, hiding in the shadows...somewhere" Lara teased Tim with his new fear, seeing his scared reaction after she said that was priceless.

"Maybe, let us carry on and find out if this is true" Eric cut into the conversation, and as before Lara led the way forward through the tomb vigilantly.

They delved deeper into the chamber using their flash-lights to guide the way through the darkness. Every moment passing by they kept getting the feeling that they were not alone in the tomb. Without warning, Lara backed up to a halt and signalled the others to do the same.

"What is it Lara?" Eric frantically asked her.

"There's something down there..."