Tomb Raider: The Golden Seal

Chapter 9: The Manuscript

Gunderson twisted her arm viciously. Lara stopped struggling as that would only increase the pain. She clenched her teeth.

"I think he still hasn't heard you." Gunderson whispered.

"Go to hell!" She gasped.

"I see. Well, if the lady refuses to cooperate, we'll have to use a more convincing method."

He told a mercenary to unsheathe the knife from Lara's thigh and hold the blade over the fire that was burning a nearby chair. Nearly all the wall had burned by then, so Gunderson dragged his prey next to the window. He wasn't going to leave the room until it was absolutely necessary. The mercenary who had fallen into the flames earlier had fled towards the door, engulfed in fire. The boss had doubts about his survival. The other mercenary brought over the knife, whose edge was now red hot.

"Well, Miss Croft," Gunderson added, "we'll see if you fight so efficiently with just one eye..."

The mercenary brought the glowing blade to Lara's face. But before he could blind her, an orange sparkling object whistled between them with such precision that it cleanly amputated the mercenary's hand, splattering blood on Lara's face. The mercenary began to scream, alternating between looking at the bloody stump and his now dismembered hand on the floor, still grasping the knife.

Gunderson shoved Lara against the wall and threw himself to the floor, narrowly avoiding his neck being sliced by the Chirugai. The blade returned immediately to its owner's hand, who stood at the door. Kurtis' eyes burned like the flames devouring that room.

"We meet again, Trent," Gunderson said.

Lara tried to wipe the mercenary's blood off her face, visibly disgusted. She got up, still stunned by the blow, and retrieved her knife. "Seems you've run out of men." Kurtis said, seeing the mutilated mercenary fleeing out the doorway and still screaming in pain.

"War casualties." The boss said. "You're still in disadvantage."

"I wouldn't say so. You can't dispose of us so easily. That freak you work for wants us both alive."

"Not you, Trent. Just her."

Lara placed herself next to Kurtis and brandished the glowing knife, although her arm still felt sore.

"You kill me, Karel dies. There's only one of us left on each side. Your beloved Meister hasn't told you this tale?"

Gunderson loosed an outburst of laughter. "He knows the True Option. He won't die with you, you moron."

Lara was listening to them in silence, frowning.

"If that were true, he'd have already taken her." Kurtis said, nodding towards Lara. "He doesn't know jack shit."

Lara took part then: "We need to leave! This place is going to burn down!" And it was true. The wooden old furniture had held enough, but now the flames were spreading, the heat was unbearable, and the air was almost unbreathable.

Kurtis agreed and picked up his Boran. Almost immediately some sirens began to sound from the outside; it was probably Brasov's police and firemen. The fire and the fuss of Gunderson's men must have awakened the whole city.

"Come here and fight like a man!" Shouted Gunderson.

"Why bother? The police will take care of you." Kurtis said mockingly before following Lara.

While they were running downstairs, Lara told Kurtis about the secret compartment under the tapestry. "There was something there but someone took it!"

"I'd bet my life," Kurtis said, "that 'someone' was our fruit-peeler-wielding friend."

Lara hummed in agreement, too tired to speak. They had little time to reach the professor before the police did.