Death Raids A Heart

Pt. IX

Early that new morning, Lara jogged through the Hidden City to a cave David marked out for her by the Heron and an Eclipse. There, she found her friends plotting a rescue mission when the brunette ran to David and automatically hugged him before Jonah asked if she possessed the Box. There, Lara was brought up to speed with the plan to rescue Unuratu where she reviewed the aggression of the plan, which was to invade the Old Temple before she was gifted an armoured tunic and headdress to demonstrate her loyalty to the rebellion in Paititi. 

David approached Lara one she was in her new uniform and held onto her by her arms. "Hey. You okay? You seem a bit... troubled. Anything I can do to help?" 

"I-I'm fine. Really. You don't have to come with me, you know." Lara replied uneasily. 

"Lara..." 

"Hey. It's me, remember?" 

David frowned at her, disappointed that she wasn't allowing him the taste of adventure. The two sat down on a stone bench and wrapped an arm around the other's back. Lara pulled faces with how sore her back still was from being scratched by the jaguar, worried of how her boyfriend wound react if he discovered her wounds. 

"Darling?" Lara cooed. 

"Yeah?" 

"If anything happens... I love you." 

Touched by this, David crashed his lips against hers, sensual kisses gave moans in return. 

David removed his lips from hers and uttered, "I love you too." 

Stifling a giggle, Lara bid him goodbye before she made off to meet with the youngest scout in the Hidden City, Lara found Etzli watching two guards stationed at the prison entrance. The young boy acknowledged Lara and her disguise, to which she smiled back at the boy. 

"Lara! Your Serpent Guard disguise is good," said Etzli. "I discovered the pass phrase for the prison where they're holding my mother: 'innocent eyes will blink at dawn, when weakness falls away.' " 

Lara nodded his way and removed her stare from the two sentries stationed ahead. "Understood. We'll get her out, Etzli." 

"There's one more thing. Hakan has been captured. He's my friend Kayara's dad. If he's sacrificed, I--" 

"I'll see what I can do." 

There, the brunette started her search for Kayara or her father. Lara found it relatively easy to locate Hakan as the guards in her path whom she easily dispersed by employing the assistance of three citizens to help her free Hakan who was due for an execution. Once the father and daughter were reunited, Lara made her way towards the prison when the two guards raised their arms at her, stopping her from entering the prison until she gave a password that enabled her access inside where she began to eavesdrop on Unuratu and Dominguez arguing with one another. 

While he practically begged his sister-in-law for her hand, only Unuratu stood firm against Dominguez before the two left the room. Initiating her plan to save Unuratu, Lara scoured the exterior of the City, exploring ruins and rivers as she dangerously climbed up to Unuratu's cell. After a few words of encouragement, Lara recruited the woman to her side to reach the tomb of Sinchi Chiqa where the two made their escape for the Upper District - Lara would discover that an eclipse will come, signalling that the Box of Ix Chel must be opened.  

"We're by the river, ready to get you and Unuratu out of there. Let us know when you're ready." David reported to the brunette via their walkie-talkies. 

Once the two women were in the vicinity of the tomb of Sinchi Chiqa, Lara explored the tomb to find clues to the location of the Box when pained cries were heard outside the tomb. Now that Lara and Unuratu's identities were exposed, the older woman fended off a few attackers when suddenly she was shot in her stomach. There, Lara identified the one known as Rourke who shot Unuratu where she gave her her necklace to pass onto Etzli. More attackers from the Cult arrived to stop Lara where she utilised her skills before leaving the area to contact her allies. 

"Jonah, David, where are you?" Lara spoke to her walkie-talkie. 

"We're down by the docks," answered Jonah. 

"I see you." 

"Just about ready to go." 

"On my way." 

Walking down some steps to where her friends stood, Lara stared with a shaken expression as Jonah asked of Unuratu's whereabouts. 

"We were attacked. She died fighting Trinity." Lara responded, making Unuratu's final act a brave and noble one. 

Jonah was concerned by this and for Etzli as well as David when the boy himself and two of his followers stood beside him. Kneeling down, Lara presented an amulet to the boy, who remained accepting of his mother's passing. The two men knelt before Etzli when he gave orders to his men to prepare a burial for his mother as well as preparations for battle. In a kayak, David, Lara and Jonah sat in it and rowed themselves along a river when night fell and a light rain began to pour down on them. By then, David and Jonah were still rowing while Lara had disposed of her disguise. 

"All that for another riddle," said Lara, breaking the silence. 

"What did it say?" David inquired. 

" 'The heart of the serpent is in the cup, near the many stone faces.' " 

Jonah sighed and uttered, "Well, it's better than nothing..." 

"I suppose. We need to find the Box and end this." 

Silent once more, the trio sat idly in the kayak when a low rumbling made them tense of what they feared was approaching them. Overhead, a helicopter shone a light on them, a minigun fired as the three jumped overboard when the boat split in two. A bullet hit Lara's left arm, causing her to bleed from pain before she resurfaced and called for her lover's name before submerging and swam for shore. Heaving from being underwater for so long, Lara crawled along the sandy shore, breathing raggedly to catch her breath before contacting whoever she could. 

A light shone on her again as a male voice spoke cockily in regards to him apprehending Lara when she fought back, eventually killing the man after a short struggle which lead to her burying her knife in his chest. Seeing that one man found her, trouble was close by also. Sneaking around once again, Lara used the shadows and the bushes to conceal her from the eyes of an infantry patrolling the riverbed. It was clear that Rourke wanted Lara found and killed. Unfortunately for him, neither he nor his men would succeed in stopping the infamous tomb raider. Continually dispatching Trinity soldiers, Lara viciously killed them but with total silence. 

"What the hell... What the hell am I supposed to do? Unuratu's dead - shot in the back by Rourke. I don't have the Box. David... God, if anything happened to him or Jonah... Goddammit. I have to stop Rourke and find the Box."