Tomb Raider: The Midnight Stone
Chapter Four - Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire
Surprised, Lara pushed her attacker away, drawing her twin pistols as she sprinted to the opposite side of the room. The amber eyes she had looked into belonged to a dingo -- a wild dog which had entered the temple to prowl for food. The dingo leaped a second time, gnashing its teeth. Lara began her assault, shooting madly as the dingo crossed the room. As it landed near her feet, Lara dived sideways, continuing to pump lead into the creature's body. Finally succumbing to the onslaught of bullets, the hungry dingo did not receive its next meal.
"You picked an unfortunate place to hunt" Lara muttered to the dingo, as she walked to a huge hole in the floor. There was also a tunnel to her right, and Lara stood in indecision on which route she should take. Overcome with curiosity by the strange crack in the floor, she gripped the edges of the broken flooring and dropped to a lower level.
Standing, Lara observed the room she had landed in, which would be in complete darkness if not for the illumination from the floor above. Several torches flamed dimly along the length of the room, adding a further amount of light to the room. The strange wall torches flickered on a mosaic wall mural hanging to the left of what appeared to be a door. Intrigued, Lara walked up to the mosaic. Clicking a button on her headset, Lara interpreted the artwork to Zip and Alistair.
"There is a wall mural here on the second lower level of the temple, composed of glass and pottery. It portrays the story of how the natives found the sapphire crescent, and the evil that befell them as consequence for finding it. Seeking to rid themselves of misfortune, and to amend themselves to their Gods, they built the Temple of Fire to house the crescent and keep it hidden from the rest of the world, so no one else could discover the stone and release its evil" Lara enthused. "Very pretty".
"You're not taking it home!" Alistair grumbled.
After a few seconds of silence, Zip questioned Lara. "So, I guess that means a lot of traps? Y'know, to make it harder for people to retrieve the stone".
"Nothing new there then" Lara smiled, clicking the button on her headset to immerse herself in silence. Curious, Lara peered at one of the many flaming torches hanging from the walls.
How curious, that fire can burn all these years underground. Perhaps magic is involved... Lara thought, stepping further right as she traced a finger over the metal rim of the torch. A door thudded open in front of her. Surprised, she looked at her boots. "Ah, a pressure plate" she muttered, chiding herself inwardly for failing to notice such an obvious component.
Several more thuds echoed down the passage.
Leaping from the pressure plate, Lara landed in the dusty corridor. The wall slammed shut behind her. Jogging spritely down the passage, Lara skidded to a halt as a wall suddenly appeared to bar her way. Slowly, the wall parted into two separate slabs of rock which slid inwards - leaving the tunnel clear. Just before the sliding mechanisms hit the tunnel wall, Lara jumped forwards, the sound of crushing rock greeting her from behind. Running forwards for a distance, Lara was confronted by a second crushing wall. Confident of her abilities, Lara leaped through the gap as the walls slid away from each other - only to land in danger.
A jet-stream of fire emerged from a pipe in the wall, and Lara directed the arch of her jump in mid-air so she would hit the wall and avoid being scorched. Ducking quickly, she lay flat on her stomach and commando crawled under the flames, emerging into yet another room. Collapsing over her knees, Lara allowed herself to to get her breath back. The room was small and nothing in particular seemed to be of interest along its hollow walls. However, something metallic caught Lara's eye. Intrigued, Lara knelt beside the object, picking it up in surprise.
"Ah! How convenient" she mused, rolling a slightly dinted machine gun through her palms. No doubt it was from a previous adventurer who had attempted to reveal the temple's secrets. Lara noticed there was no body, and she hoped someone else had not got to the crescent before her.
Determination arousing her energy, Lara shouldered the machine gun and carried on down a tunnel to her left. The passage was long and dark, and Lara struck a flare to illuminate her path. After she had traversed various passages and dusty routes, the tunnel emerged into a large, rectangular hall. Several antechambers threaded away from the main room, but Lara's focus was on a large, oblong glass box which was raised out of the floor. Inside lay the first of the crescent-shaped sapphire pieces. Clicking the power button on her headset, Lara described her find.
"Zip?" Lara asked.
"We're here" Zip assured her.
"I've found the crescent" she beamed. "but there appears to be complications in obtaining it"
"As always" Alistair said sarcastically.
Circling the glass box, Lara reported what she saw.
"There are four receptors for...puzzle pieces. Looks like I'll have to find those before I get that crescent. I'll report back once I have it".
Without waiting for a reply, Lara switched the headset off and faced the first antechamber.
"You picked an unfortunate place to hunt" Lara muttered to the dingo, as she walked to a huge hole in the floor. There was also a tunnel to her right, and Lara stood in indecision on which route she should take. Overcome with curiosity by the strange crack in the floor, she gripped the edges of the broken flooring and dropped to a lower level.
Standing, Lara observed the room she had landed in, which would be in complete darkness if not for the illumination from the floor above. Several torches flamed dimly along the length of the room, adding a further amount of light to the room. The strange wall torches flickered on a mosaic wall mural hanging to the left of what appeared to be a door. Intrigued, Lara walked up to the mosaic. Clicking a button on her headset, Lara interpreted the artwork to Zip and Alistair.
"There is a wall mural here on the second lower level of the temple, composed of glass and pottery. It portrays the story of how the natives found the sapphire crescent, and the evil that befell them as consequence for finding it. Seeking to rid themselves of misfortune, and to amend themselves to their Gods, they built the Temple of Fire to house the crescent and keep it hidden from the rest of the world, so no one else could discover the stone and release its evil" Lara enthused. "Very pretty".
"You're not taking it home!" Alistair grumbled.
After a few seconds of silence, Zip questioned Lara. "So, I guess that means a lot of traps? Y'know, to make it harder for people to retrieve the stone".
"Nothing new there then" Lara smiled, clicking the button on her headset to immerse herself in silence. Curious, Lara peered at one of the many flaming torches hanging from the walls.
How curious, that fire can burn all these years underground. Perhaps magic is involved... Lara thought, stepping further right as she traced a finger over the metal rim of the torch. A door thudded open in front of her. Surprised, she looked at her boots. "Ah, a pressure plate" she muttered, chiding herself inwardly for failing to notice such an obvious component.
Several more thuds echoed down the passage.
Leaping from the pressure plate, Lara landed in the dusty corridor. The wall slammed shut behind her. Jogging spritely down the passage, Lara skidded to a halt as a wall suddenly appeared to bar her way. Slowly, the wall parted into two separate slabs of rock which slid inwards - leaving the tunnel clear. Just before the sliding mechanisms hit the tunnel wall, Lara jumped forwards, the sound of crushing rock greeting her from behind. Running forwards for a distance, Lara was confronted by a second crushing wall. Confident of her abilities, Lara leaped through the gap as the walls slid away from each other - only to land in danger.
A jet-stream of fire emerged from a pipe in the wall, and Lara directed the arch of her jump in mid-air so she would hit the wall and avoid being scorched. Ducking quickly, she lay flat on her stomach and commando crawled under the flames, emerging into yet another room. Collapsing over her knees, Lara allowed herself to to get her breath back. The room was small and nothing in particular seemed to be of interest along its hollow walls. However, something metallic caught Lara's eye. Intrigued, Lara knelt beside the object, picking it up in surprise.
"Ah! How convenient" she mused, rolling a slightly dinted machine gun through her palms. No doubt it was from a previous adventurer who had attempted to reveal the temple's secrets. Lara noticed there was no body, and she hoped someone else had not got to the crescent before her.
Determination arousing her energy, Lara shouldered the machine gun and carried on down a tunnel to her left. The passage was long and dark, and Lara struck a flare to illuminate her path. After she had traversed various passages and dusty routes, the tunnel emerged into a large, rectangular hall. Several antechambers threaded away from the main room, but Lara's focus was on a large, oblong glass box which was raised out of the floor. Inside lay the first of the crescent-shaped sapphire pieces. Clicking the power button on her headset, Lara described her find.
"Zip?" Lara asked.
"We're here" Zip assured her.
"I've found the crescent" she beamed. "but there appears to be complications in obtaining it"
"As always" Alistair said sarcastically.
Circling the glass box, Lara reported what she saw.
"There are four receptors for...puzzle pieces. Looks like I'll have to find those before I get that crescent. I'll report back once I have it".
Without waiting for a reply, Lara switched the headset off and faced the first antechamber.