Requiem of the Tomb Raider

Sacrifice

Lara Croft, at this point, was used to the paranormal. She had found multiple instances where the past contained many forces that just couldn't be replicated by modern science. First the Sun Queen of the Yamatai... then the Prophet hidden in Siberia... now? A literal doomsday scenario just around the corner because of a knife. One that could grant or restore the power of the sun. Right now? It was in the possession of her bitter enemy.

Trinity.

They had taken everything from her. Her father. Her innocence of the true nature of those in the shadows. They had even tried to take her mansion as well, but she had barely held onto that. At this point, the head of trinity, Dr. Dominguez, was attempting to use the box of ix Chel to attempt to make himself a god... with the destruction of the world as a secondary concern. He claimed to be protecting his home, Paititi, but... power corrupts. She had to make sure that this power wouldn't be used for the wrong reason. Clambering over the side of the Mesoamerican pyramid, she had heard that the High Council were all killed by the Yaxxil. The monsters up high were killed by their own arrogance. Typical. They deserved it for what they put so many people through. Trinity, on their own, caused genocide, destruction of history, and even more evil acts. But now, the one who was the biggest threat was Dr. Dominguez. He had the Silver box, and the dagger that could activate it... and the only thing holding him back was pure ceremony. According to Paititi law, this could only be done a certain way, with Crimson Fire being in charge... but since he wasn't as well versed in the actual ritual as his late sister-in-law... well... he didn't know the full ceremony.

Climbing up the side of the pyramid, the tomb raider tensed, gripping onto a ledge, before pulling herself up onto the platform.

The ceremony had begun, and Dominguez had inserted the knife into the box. The power of a god had already begun to pour into him. His skin glowed, transforming him from human into the sun god he worshiped. The name of their cult, Kukulkan, was in reference to the pet snake of the sun god. It consumed the world as it ended, before the next one was reborn. That seemed to be the goal of this cult, regardless... use the end of the world to gain power over the next.

Quietly, through the overgrowth present in these ruins, she waited for an opportunity. There were plenty of guards, who would make this very difficult. She knew that the sheer volume of arrows would make it impossible to stop him in an outright assault.

So, she waited for the first guard to walk past her position, ensured that nobody would notice, and quickly stabbed him in the back, before silencing him, and dragging him back into the bush. All of the other guards were on the other side of the temple... allowing Lara to take in her surroundings. There were three main carved statues, clearly linking to Dominguez in the center. With the barrier of pure energy, she couldn't reach him... but maybe... if those statues were destroyed...

As much as she despised the destruction of history, there were far more important things at stake. So, with her climbing ax, she dug it into the worn stone, and pulled. The interior was just as blistering hot, but she continued to break it apart. One final strike and it broke. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the carving was used to channel the energy between a priest and Dominguez, and now that the supernatural energy ceased to flow, Croft barely had enough time to hide before he called out for more guards. Quickly behind a tree, she looked up, and found that there was a branch she could use. Jumping up, she kicked against the tree, climbing up and onto it. This gave the perfect vantage point from which she could view the area, as well as prepare an ambush. A warrior, a cultist of Kukulkan, walked below, speaking with the priest, before they both turned away from each other. Quickly withdrawing her bow, Lara aimed at the dark warrior and fired, piercing the man through the lung, before using the rope attached to the arrow to drag him up into the tree... before tying the rope around his neck. He died without a sound, far above where they would care to look. Dropping down to the floor, she snuck up to the priest, and used her climbing ax to hook his shoulder, before stabbing him in the throat, and dragging him into the underbrush. Quickly moving on, she quietly moved to the next statue. Using her trusty climbing ax, she tore into that one as well. At this point, the nearest guard called out, in the native Paititi dialect: "Hey, there is the girl!"