[Name]'s POV
I pull the trigger, and the bullet shoots through the air and hits the soldier in the head. Nate and Elena run outside and engage in a battle with the guards on the ground, while I take out the ones on the balconies.
More soldiers start to come out of a door, and I headshot many of them while Nate and Elena start shooting at the ones I didn't get. Some soldiers show up on the balconies, and I quickly line up my scope with each one and pull the trigger. I take out each guard, and when the last man goes down I sling my gun onto my back, and meet up with Elena and Nate.
"Let's get to Schäfer," Nate says and I nod in agreement.
We run through the snow over to a red door with a crank on the side to open it. Nate turns the crank, raising the door, and Elena and I walk under it. Nate brings the door up a bit higher, before letting go and running under it before it shuts.
We jog down some stairs, and Nate runs over to a broken ladder. "I'll boost you two up," he says while crouching down under a broken ladder. I step on his hands and he tosses me up into the air. I grab the ladder and climb the rest of the way up to the floor above. Nate boosts Elena up next and I go to kick the ladder down for him when it breaks.
"Good job, [Name]. I can definitely climb up there now," Nate says, and I grumble while pushing a box off the wooden platform I'm standing on.
"You coming, Mr. Sass Drake?" I ask and he chuckles and jumps onto the box, making his way across some beams under the platform Elena and I are on.
Elena and I jump from platform to platform, and we walk across a wooden plank to another platform. I pick up the plank of wood off the ground and place it diagonally for Nate. He walks across the plank of wood and joins us on the platform we're on.
Nate, Elena, and I jog up a few steps and jump onto some stone blocks on a wall. We climb up the wall and onto the window ledge, staying low when a soldier starts to walk over. Once the man is by the window ledge, Nate grabs his arm and throws him over us, out of the window.
"They're over here!" a different soldier shouts, and I pull out one of my pistols and shoot one of the soldiers in the head.
Another one starts making his way towards us with a shield and I pull myself into the room and kick the shield out of his hand. He goes to shoot me but I beat him to it and put a bullet through his head. "I could use some help in here!" I shout to my two friends who are still hanging outside the window.
They don't hear me over the gunshots and I take cover and shoot the rest of the guards in the room, when the other two finally join me. "Thanks for the help! Much appreciated," I say with a dry laugh, while walking out of the room and over to a different red door.
"Sorry, [Name]," Nate apologizes, and I open the door.
"It's fine," I tell him, and we walk inside and look around. I point up to a door on a balcony, while the door we walked through shuts behind us, "Up there. That must be where they're holding Schäfer."
Several doors open up on the balcony and soldiers rush out. "Ah, crap. Get down!" Nate shuts as more come out from rooms on the ground we're on.
I pull out my pistols and shoot the soldiers with laser sight guns first. "This is annoying as hell," I mumble while reloading.
"Tell me about it," Nate says while shooting a few heavy-armored guards. I shoot the helmets off some of the guards and Nate finishes them off with a headshot.
More soldiers appear on the balcony above us and I pull out my sniper rifle and take them out one at a time. "[Name] the sharpshooter: part two," Nate chuckles, and I smirk at him while finishing off the last soldier. I sling my sniper rifle onto my back, before Nate, Elena, and I make our way up the stairs to the room where we think Schäfer is being held in.
I push open the door and we burst inside, looking around to find Schäfer lying on the ground, badly wounded. "Oh no..." Elena trails off and we run over to him, kneeling down to his level. Elena pats his arm reassuringly, "It's okay. We're here."
Karl opens his eyes and looks between the three of us. "You were right," he states and turns his attention to Nate.
"About what?" Nate asks him.
"Everything you touch does turn to shit." Karl coughs and Nate pats his shoulder.
"All right, c'mon- we're going to get you out of here."
Nate tries to help Schäfer up, but the he refuses. Elena turns to me while I stare at Karl, "What do we do?" she asks me.
"He's not going to make it. Let's listen to what he has to say," I whisper to her, and she frowns.
"Did you find my expedition?" Schäfer asks me, and I nod my head.
"Yes- we found them."
"Then you understand what I had to do."
"You made the right decision."
"If they had found the Stone... it would have changed the course of history." Karl coughs again, and I rub his back. "He took the dagger-"
"We know," Nate tells him and Schäfer looks at him.
"He's gone to the tower... you have to stop him," Karl tells us while groaning in pain. "This monastery hides the secret path to Shambhala. You must get the dagger back... find the secret path... and destroy the Stone before he gets his hands on it. [L/Name]... Drake... you have to believe."
He coughs heavily, before leaning back and taking his last breath. "Rest in peace," I whisper, while moving his hand so it rests on his necklace. "Never thought I'd say that to someone who used to work for the Nazis."
"We can't just leave him," Elena states as we all stand up.
"What choice do we have? You heard him," Nate tells her, and she frowns.
"Do you think all this really could be true?" she questions, and I look at her.
"He believed it, and that's enough for me. Plus it's not like we've never seen legends and curses before," I say while turning and walking out of the room.
"Okay-" Nate starts when Elena cuts him off.
"I think I should split up from you two," she says, and I narrow my eyes, until she explains further, "I'll go scope out the secret entrance thing and you two go to the tower and figure out how to get that dagger back."
"Sounds like a good plan. You stay safe, and keep us updated when you can," I tell her and she nods, handing me a radio before jogging off. Once she's out of sight, I turn to Nate, "That means we're off to the tower."
He nods and we jog across some planks and jump over to a rope. I jump and grab it first, swinging and leaning my body to the right so I head in the direction of a wooden platform.
Once I'm close enough, I jump onto it and walk across a narrow plank to a hole in the wall. I lean against the railing and watch Nate swing over and cross over the plank, joining my side.
"There's the tower," Nate says while pointing to the building not so far Northwest of us.
"Then let's go," I say and we both jump across to the rooftop opposite of us. We land on the roof and crouch down, taking cover behind a part of the roof that is raised higher than the rest.
A soldier runs out of a small room on the top of the roof and I pull out my bow and an arrow. I line up the shot and shoot him in the head, killing him instantly. Another guard comes out and sees the body, but before he can say anything, I shoot an arrow into his throat.
A third and fourth guard walk out at the same time and I hit one in the chest by their heart and the other one in the middle of their throat. They fall on top of the two bodies below them, and Nate pats my back and smirks at me.
"Beautiful job as always," he says and I stand up and bow dramatically.
"Thank you kind sir," I say with a posh accent while collecting the arrows from the soldiers bodies.
I drop down off of the rooftop- onto a wooden walkway below, before quietly jogging down some stairs and over to a ladder that's leaned up against a wooden platform. I climb up it and grab the arm of the soldier at the top, yanking him down and off the cliff.
"That's a long fall," Nate mutters from beneath me, and I pull myself onto the platform and climb up a part of the wall- onto the edge of the roof.
"Then don't let go," I say while making my way around the edge of the roof, and onto another walkway.
I walk across the walkway, jumping to the rooftop on my right, and waiting for Nate to join me. "Hurry up slowpoke," I yawn exaggeratedly, and he rolls his eyes while jumping and pulling himself onto the roof I'm on.
We jog across the roof and drop onto a lower one when some soldiers start shooting, but not at us. "What the hell are they shooting at?" Nate asks, and we make our way onto the ground to see more of those beast-like creatures from earlier.
"Goddammit," I sigh while pulling out my sniper rifle.
Nate picks up an M4 off the ground and he runs into the battle, fighting off the soldiers. I snipe the soldiers at the top of the staircase while Nate kills the ones at the bottom. 'Where'd that Yeti-like creature go' I look around to see it's no longer here.
I take out the last soldier at the top and stand up from where I was kneeling in the snow. "At least the soldiers are thinning out," Nate says and I nod my head.
"Yeah, but I'm concerned as to where that creature went," I tell him, and we walk up the stairs, past all the dead bodies.
We start to walk up another flight of stairs when two more of the creatures jump across the roof above us. "Those things are bad news," Nate whispers, and I nod in agreement. We continue to jog around the snow path ahead of us, when another beast jumps across the roof.
"We need to go," I whisper, and we spin the crank beside the door high enough, before running under it.
The door shuts behind us, and Nate and I drop off the broken stairs we're on- onto the ground below us. We walk into a thin layer of snow, and climb the ladder on the wall to our left onto a platform above. We walk across the wooden platform and jump onto some stones on the wall, jumping for the platform beside us. I look down and scan the area, spotting two soldiers with heavy armor holding machine guns, and some normal soldiers scattered around the rest of the area.
I pull out my sniper rifle and aim at the head of one of the heavily-armored soldier, pulling the trigger. The bullet pierces through his helmet and he falls to the ground dead. The other soldier with the machine gun turns around and I shoot him in the face, giving Nate space to jump down and kill the other guards with his M4.
I take out the last few soldiers on the high ground, before Nate and I run down the stairs and across the snow to another set of stairs. We run up the steps and climb a ladder on the wall to our left.
Nate and I run and jump across the platform, grabbing the stone on the wall and jumping to the next platform. We pull ourselves up and I lead him over the railing- onto a landing below us. I jog over to the open window and pull myself inside, dropping down to the floor below. Nate joins me and we start to make our way through the room when the radio on my hip makes a noise.
"[Name]... there's something strange going on over here. There's some sort of animal," Elena says, and Nate and I exchange wary looks.
"Yeah, we probably should have warned you about them," I say and one of the creatures growls near us.
"Warned me? Wait, you two knew about these things? When were you planning on telling me?" she questions and Nate and I slowly creep up the stairs.
"Just lay low and stay out of their way," Nate tells her and the radio goes silent.
We pull out our pistols and jump across the hole in the floor to what's actually left of the wood. My friend and I walk out through the open window and onto the rooftop, climbing up the stones on the wall to our left. We slide around the wooden edging of the wall, staying quiet as a dozen or more soldiers pass by a few meters below us.
We climb onto what's left of the stone balcony above us and across the red bars hanging off the wall. I grab onto the ledge of an open window and pull myself through it, hanging onto the ledge on the other side. I reach behind me and push off the wall, jumping to a stone walkway outside a locked door. I turn to my left and jog over to some dressers, climbing up them and onto the roof.
Nate follows closely behind me, and we climb onto the balcony of the tower above us. "Oh finally. The tower," Nate sighs in relief and we climb up the stones on the wall and onto a stone platform. We quietly walk across a beam into the tower, and I stand on the beam to the left so we both can safely stand on the narrow wood without falling.
"I'm tired of your excuses," Lazarević says, and I look down to see him talking to Harry with Chloe standing beside them.
"Look, give me some more time that's all I'm asking," Flynn says, and Lazarević laughs humorlessly.
The war-criminal points the Phurba at Harry, "I have given you enough time. I have brought you the dagger. Now- where is the gate to Shambhala?"
"Look, Zoran- we know-" Harry starts when Lazarević shoves him against a pillar and points the dagger at his throat. I pull out one of my pistols and aim to shoot, but Nate stops me before I put my finger on the trigger. I send him a confused look, but his stern gaze tells me not to argue.
"I have not come this far to be thwarted by your incompetence," Lazarević hisses lowly, and Harry presses his back as close as he can to the pillar.
"We know the answer is somewhere in this room. We just have to find it," Flynn says with fear in his voice.
"Meanwhile Drake and [L/Name] remain just one step behind you."
Lazarević stabs the dagger into the wood on the pillar, getting right up into Harry's face, "I clearly hired the wrong man for the job."
The war-criminal walks out of the tower, and Harry pulls the dagger out of the pillar, turning to face Chloe who looks at him. "What an asshole," she says and Flynn sighs.
"I'll- I'll try to smooth things over with him," he says, while handing her the dagger.
I look out Nate and he nods, agreeing with what I'm think. "Yo!" I shout and they both look up to see Nate and I.
"You two shouldn't have come," Chloe says and we jump down off the beams.
"Nice to see you two as well," I chuckle before frowning, "but listen- this entire thing needs to stop now. Lazarević is in way over his head."
"What are you talking about, love?" Harry asks and I run a hand through my messy hair while striding over to him and Chloe.
"The real reason he wants that stone is for power. That old man he brought here was after the Cintamani Stone in the 40's. He was working for the Nazis and when he realized why they wanted the Stone, he killed the rest of his expedition so they wouldn't get to it. If Lazarević gets the Stone..."
"He'll be the most powerful man in the world," Chloe whispers, and Harry rests his hand on my shoulder.
"I'm going to go and try to buy more time," he says, and I nod before hugging him.
"Stay safe," I say, and he wraps his arms around me.
"You too, [Name]," he whispers before letting me go, running after Lazarević.
"I'm sure they'll be back here any minute. Here's the dagger, but do one thing for me," Chloe tells me, and I grab the Phurba. "Take that son of a bitch down."
"Did you think I wouldn't?" I chuckle, and she smirks before running off. I turn to Nate as he flips through his journal, "All right...what are we looking for?"
He doesn't respond and I watch him closely as he starts picking up some objects and setting them in circles that match up with what's on the floor. Each circle lowers as each object is placed on it, and Nate spins the cylinder in the wall behind each of the objects to the correct symbol.
Once the last symbol is correct, a pedestal rises out of the floor in the center of the room. "Whoa..." I breathe out and walk over to it. I find a hole in the center of the pedestal that's three sided like the dagger, and I insert the Phurba and twist it.
One of the walls a few meters above us reveals a door that opens up. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Nate smirks and we climb up some ledges on the wall and through the opening.
The door shuts behind us and we grin, looking out to where the secret entrance is. "Elena, can you hear me?" I ask into the radio which makes a staticky sound before her voice comes through.
"Yeah," she responds and I grin.
"We think we just found the secret entrance."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Do you see the area of the cliff with all the statues?" Nate asks her.
"Uh... yeah! Yeah I can!"
"Meet us there," Nate tells her, before the radio goes silent again.
"I hope Chloe and Harry can hold onto their ruse a bit longer. I really don't want them to get killed," I tell Nate, before taking the zip-line down into a small room.
I see one of the creatures climb up the wall, and Nate joins me and rests his arm on my shoulder. "Those things are here," he tells me and I frown.
"I know. We need to be quiet," I whisper while jumping out through the hole in the wall- to the floor across.
Nate follows me up some stairs, jumping over a part of the cross that's missing, and pulling ourselves up onto the floor. We jog outside and climb the wall up onto the roof, staying low when we see some of Lazarević's men trying to pull down a statue with ropes.
"Elena, you there," I pick up the radio and whisper into it.
"Yeah... I'm over here. I can see you both," she says and we look out to our left to see her waving her arm out from behind a stone block.
"What the hell are those guys doin'?" Nate asks into the radio.
"Looks like they're pulling the statues down trying to find that secret entrance," Elena explains to him.
"Yeah, well, those dumbasses are right on top of it," I sigh, and Nate and I drop off the roof into the snow below.
"Well, here goes nothing," Nate mutters and we take cover behind some boxes.
"Okay... I'm ready when you guys are," Elena says, before the radio goes silent.
Two soldiers patrol the part of the ground we're on and when the one sits on the box we're behind, Nate grabs him and snaps his neck, killing him instantly. He pulls the body down, so it can't be seen, while I quietly run through the snow and jump on the back of the other guard, snapping his neck.
I sneak up a ladder and grab the soldier with the RPG at the top, throwing him off the platform. He cracks his head open on the ground below, and I stay low on the platform and watch Nate take out two more soldiers down to my right. We manage to sneak up behind two more soldiers and snap their necks, not drawing any attention.
"Stealth masters," Nate says, we I high-five, before he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side.
Elena runs over and joins us with a smile, "Okay... so where's the secret entrance?" she asks, and Nate drops his arm from around me.
"It's right here. This is it," I say while pointing at the golden circle on the ground beside me. I step onto the circle and insert the Phurba into the hole in it, twisting the dagger. The circle rises up with me on it and four bars hang out to the side of it. "We need to turn it," I tell my two friends while hopping off the circle and grabbing one of the bars.
The other two grab one of the other bars and we push it counterclockwise, triggering a waterfall to start flowing. We watch as the water flows down and over to a tree with steps leading up to it. The steps retract back and I chuckle, "That's what you call hiding in plain sight."
I run over to a zip-line and make my way down, watching as soldiers try to kill the beasts on the ground below me. "Less soldiers for me to deal with, I just hope it keeps the beasts busy for a while," I say while landing on the snow-covered roof.
Nate lands beside me and sighs, "[Name], cover me," he says while dropping off the roof and climbing down a ladder.
I pull out my sniper rifle and shoot at the soldiers who start to walk down the stairs into the area where Nate is. Elena heads down to join him, and I take out the ones on the path that leads to the stairs. Three soldiers start to repel down a wall and I kill them, staying on guard in case more show up.
A few minutes pass by and no more soldiers show up. I put my sniper rifle on my back and drop off the roof- into the snow, before jogging over and joining Nate and Elena. We run over to the wall where the ropes the soldiers were repelling down are, and we climb up them. We pull ourselves into the ground above us and jog between two buildings, down some stairs, and over to where the tree is that had the stairs leading up to it retract back.
Nate, Elena, and I jog down the stairs that the secret entrance revealed, and we run around the staircases and down another one. "We're getting close, I know it," Nate says, and we slow down to a stop by a door.
"Let's see what's inside," I sigh, and Nate and I push open the doors. We walk into a circular room with a sphere in the middle that has a beam of light coming from it.
"Here it is. The secret entrance to Shambhala," Nate says, and Elena looks around.
"Don't see it," she says, and I snicker as Nate's face falls.
"Neither do I," I say while walking over to the walls that have Phurba's on them. I turn them so the dagger points to the ground and the sphere in the middle, being held by wooden hands- lifts up.
"That's it," Nate says and I walk over to the sphere. I go to take the Phurba off my belt when voices come from the door we walked through.
"Fuck," Nate and I whisper, and we press our backs against the wall and pull our guns out.
The first soldier runs into the room and Nate grabs him and puts his gun against the man's head, "Drop the gun! Do it!"
The soldier drops his gun, raising his hands in surrender. I aim one of my pistols at a soldier who run in, and frown when I see we're easily outnumbered. Lazarević walks into the room last, and Nate continues to keep a hold on the soldier he has a gun to.
"I should have killed you myself when I had the chance. Not a mistake I will make twice," Lazarević threatens and points his gun at Nate, when I step forward and aim my gun at the war-criminal.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. The last person who threatened one of my friends is dead, and I'm quick to the trigger. Is this really a chance you're willing to take?" I smirk and he glares at me.
"Pull the trigger, and you die, too. You're out numbered. Now- you will open the passage to Shambhala," Lazarević tells me and I roll my eyes at him.
"Go to hell," I say while keeping my gun trained on him.
"Are you a student of history? Any of you?" Lazarević asks while turning around and pacing.
"I've read a book or two," Nate responds and I follow the war-criminal's every move.
"Hmm... and what about you, Ms. [L/Name]?"
"I've studied it since I was a child," I tell Lazarević and he hums.
"Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot... they were all great men-" Lazarević says and I let out a dry laugh.
"Okay. Sure. Great is definitely the word I'd use to describe them. I also say the the sky is red," I say sarcastically, and he glares at me again.
"But do you know why they prevailed?" Lazarević continues, and I roll my eyes.
"Let me guess. You're going to tell us."
"Because they had the will to do what other men would not," Lazarević states and shoots his soldier that Nate was holding captive in the head. "Compassion is the enemy. Mercy defeats us. Now, unless you wish to still test me further, you will drop your weapons!"
Lazarević aims his gun at me and I keep my gun aimed at him, a smirk coming to my face. "If my death ensures yours. I'll gladly take it."
"Then you're more stupid then I thought," he snaps, leaning down so his breath fans my face.
"You need a mint." My taunt makes him grit his teeth, and I sidestep as he pulls the trigger of his gun that was aimed at my head.
"[Name] enough! Stop provoking and toying with him," Nate shouts and makes me lower my gun.
"We're making a mistake," I grumble and we drop our weapons and kick them away.
"So- you have tested my will. Now it is my turn to test yours," Lazarević says and aims his gun at my head.
"Killing us won't get you anywhere," Elena says and Lazarević continues to stare me down. I smirk at him, not showing any fear, knowing my submission is what he wants.
"Killing her and him, yes. But you..." the war-criminal says and turns his gun to Elena, "you aren't needed in the equation."
"You hurt her and you get nothing from us," I state while stepping in front of Elena.
"Well then it appears we are at a stalemate. Unless- I add another pawn to the board. Bring her in!" Lazarević shouts, and Harry drags Chloe in.
'At least Lazarević still trusts Harry, but how do we get Chloe out of this' I mentally frown.
Lazarević touches her shoulder and she brushes him off while standing beside me. "Now, one we will use as a lesson. And the other we will use as incentive to cooperate. You choose," he says and I scoff.
"If you want Nate's or my help, then you let them go. But be warned, if you even attempt to kill him or I, we won't be giving you shit," I snap, and Harry bites his lip and smirks from behind Lazarević.
"This is not a negotiation! Who would you sacrifice? And who would you save? Want this one? You want to save this one? Or maybe you what to sacrifice yourself? Hmmm?" he asks and points the gun back at me.
"Okay, I've head enough of this shit- just quit the fucking theatrics, you're embarrassing yourself. I'll do what you want," I tell him, before walking over to the sphere in the center of the room.
I pull out the resin that is in the wooden box from my bag and all the soldiers, along with Harry and Lazarević, aim their guns at me. "Ooooh a bit of resin, so scary," I roll my eyes while opening the box.
I dump it into the bowl under the sphere and take my lighter out of my pouch, the men now cocking their guns. "Will you guys calm the fuck down. God, you're so fucking antsy," I glare at them, Harry looking at me amused by my annoyance and frustration.
I flick my lighter and the orange flame appears. I hold it to the resin and it lights up blue, bringing awe to the soldiers. I walk over to to the wall that has blue lines swirling around it and I pull out the Phurba and place it into its hole. The wall starts to lower, and a cave with stone faces and pits with fire is revealed. A stone path leads down the middle towards a door at the top of some stairs with two waterfalls beside it.
"Holy shit..." Nate whispers, and Lazarević and Harry walk in.
"What is this?" Lazarević snaps as the first path turns so it can't be walked on.
"How should I know?" Flynn gives him a 'what the fuck' look.
"Find a way across, and fix it! And take Drake and [L/Name] with you."
Harry nods, and shoves Nate and I forward. We start to walk away when a booming voice calls out to us, "Drake. [L/Name]..." Lazarević says and we look at him, "don't try anything clever."
I roll my eyes, before walking over to the ledge and dropping down. "Do we still have to act like we hate each other?!" I whisper-yell since the others are right above us.
"If we speak quietly, then no," Harry responds, and we walk and jump onto a small landing.
"You know, if all of us can get the soldiers to a more open area. I can take out Lazarević and you guys can kill the soldiers," I whisper, and Harry sighs.
"That would have worked out better earlier, darling," he tells me, and Nate nods in agreement.
I sigh and jump onto a wall, climbing the ledges down and around it. I jump to my right and grab onto the edge of a stone landing, pulling myself up. Nate climbs down next, and Harry decides to take his good ol' time while Nate and I move on ahead.
"Hold on. Wait for me. Daddy's got a gun~" Flynn sings out, and my jaw drops at what he called himself, while Nate's eye twitches.
Harry lands behind us, his chest pressed up against my back. "You'll catch flies if you don't shout your mouth, love," he chuckles and his hands land on my hips as he leans down, his breath fanning against my neck, "Or I could shut it for you." The husky tone of his voice makes me flustered and I shut my mouth, while Nate sends a sharp glare to Harry who laughs and legs go of me, "You're so easy to tease, love."
"Let's just go," I mumble, and Nate boosts me and Flynn up.
Nathan steps back and we push a stone block down so he can get on it. My friend climbs up and joins us, and Harry and I start to run along the stone path. Nate goes to follow us when the path breaks and we spin around.
"We got you, mate," Flynn says, and Nate jumps over to us. We grab his arm so he doesn't fall to his death, and we pull him onto the path.
"Thanks," Nate states, and the three of us jog across the stone path and climb up some landings to a wall.
We squeeze though the crevice in the middle of the wall, making our way through to the other side. Nate, Harry, and I push a boulder into the water below us, before dropping down onto the edge and sliding across to a small landing. I pull myself up and press my back against the wall, sliding across the narrow edge to the other side where a cart is.
"Now how did they get that cart there?" Harry questions while we walk over to the cart.
"Magic," I grin, and wiggle my fingers making my two friends chuckle.
"Let's just move the cart," Nate says, and him and Harry push it while I sit on top.
"You're doing a lot of work up there, [Name]," Harry chuckles and I smile cheekily.
"It's really tiring," I tell him, and Nate eyes me and goes to open his mouth when I shush him.
"You don't get a say in this, Nate. You made me do a whole bunch of climbing and I had to kill a whole bunch of soldiers by myself," I tell him and he raises his hands defensively.
"You got a point there," Nate says and I giggle.
"You did what, Drake?" Harry scowls, glaring slightly at Nate.
"He was being a lazy ass. Kinda like you at the museum." I stick my tongue out at both men.
"Ouch. Right to my ego," Harry says and I raise an eyebrow.
"And I thought Nate was the egotistical one."
"You have really been coming at me lately, [L/Name]," Nate says and I wink at him.
"It's all out of love, Nathan."
Nate chuckles and looks at me with a smile, while climbing up the wall. He looks down at Harry and I, and gestures for us to come up, "Let's keep moving you two."
Harry and I walk over to the wall and he smirks at me, "After you, love."
I climb up the wall to the edge above me, sliding around the side and jumping to a statue. I make my way around the first statue, before jumping to the second. I grab onto it and make my way to the third, sliding around the side of the statue, and climbing to my right along the stone ridges.
I jump to a walkway behind me and pull myself up onto it, joining Nate who waits at the top. Harry comes up a few seconds later and lays a hand on Nate's shoulder, his other hand gesturing to the giant statue of a face in front of us.
"Oh, look- it's a life-size statue of your ego, mate," Flynn snickers, and Nate glances at him.
"And the face looks like your mom," Nate retorts and I face-palm.
"Why do I put up with you two?" I sigh, and Nate looks at me.
"Because you love us," he grins and pulls me against his side.
"That I do," I giggle, looking at the guys with a smirk, "And you love me."
"We definitely can't deny that one," Harry chuckles and Nate lets me go.
"Well, anyway- you two guys are childish," I giggle while walking past them and over to the end of the platform.
"Says the one who snickers at dirty jokes and plays Marco Polo in a pool," Nate retorts, and I cock an eyebrow.
"Last time I checked you did the same thing!"
Nate's face falls and he pouts, making me smirk triumphantly. I jump to the walkway on my left and jog across it to the stairs. I run up the steps to a door, and Nate and Harry join me a few seconds later.
"All right, let's open it up," Nate says and we push open the door to reveal another door.
"Y'know what they say- behind a door is another door," Harry says.
"Who the hell says that?" I ask while we walk through the door which shuts behind us. I breathe out a sigh of relief now that we're spectated from Lazarević.
"I'm going to lose it if I have to spend another second with that bloody twat out there," Harry groans and I laugh.
"You know- [Name] almost got herself shot because she wouldn't stop provoking him," Nate informs Flynn and I gulp.
"[Name], you should know not to provoke war-criminals," Harry scolds me, flicking my forehead with a sigh.
"Yeah, yeah, but it was worth it," I point out, and Nate flips through his journal before smirking.
"Okay [Name], see these three symbols?" he asks and points at the wall to my left.
"Yep, they look like those ones that you changed a bit ago in the tower," I tell him and he nods.
"I need you to change those three to match up with this," he shows me the book and I nod, before climbing up onto the platform on my left.
I turn the cylinder on the left and the one in the middle, leaving the one on the right the same. Nate changes the cylinders on the right wall, making the circle that was in the middle of the floor rise up and reveal bars to use to turn it.
"Sweet," I say while Nate and I jump down.
We spin the wheel until it lowers into the ground again. Water falls from the mouths of the statues in the room when the Yeti-like creatures show up in the room.
"Flynn, I'm going to need a gun!" Nate shouts, and Harry tosses him an extra.
"[Name]!" Harry looks at me with worry, but I pull out the second pistol I keep on my thigh.
"Don't worry about me," I smirk, and we start to work together and shoot at the creatures.
After minutes of fighting, Lazarević comes in and finishes the creatures off with a shotgun. "Drop the guns," he tells us and Nate and I drop our weapons while Harry goes back to acting.
"What the hell are those things?" Flynn asks, and Lazarević flips over one of the dead creatures and takes off the face, revealing a human inside.
"Scarecrows... guardians to frighten trespassers," he explains and stands up.
"Yeah, well, it's bloody effective," Harry states and kicks the legs of the dead guardian in the yeti costume.
"Lazarević- we've done what you asked. Let them go," Nate says as two soldiers lead Chloe and Elena into the room.
"You and [L/Name] are always bargaining... but you have played your last hand, and lost," Lazarević says and walks towards us.
"I want you two to see Shambhala, and die knowing that I have taken it from you," he tells us before facing his soldiers, "Open the gates."
Lazarević's soldiers follow his order and the gates open to reveal a sunny peaceful looking temple on a mountainside. "I mean if I'm dying anywhere, this doesn't seem to bad," I say and everyone looks at me. "What? I'm just stating the truth."
All of us walk into Shambhala and Lazarević turns to us, "Now... you have been a thorn in my side for far too long. On your knees," he orders Nate, Elena, Chloe, and I.
"Damn, I didn't expect that before I got killed I'd have to suck di-" I start and Nate clamps his hand over my mouth, effectively shutting me up.
"Will you shut the fuck up?" he whispers into my ear with a blush, Chloe and Elena trying to contain their laughter; while Harry's mouth goes slightly agape.
"What a dirty mouth you have, Miss [L/Name]," Lazarević states, and we are about to be forced down to our knees, when an arrow hits one of the soldiers and kills him. Lazarević looks around and glares at the purple-skinned guardians with crossbows, "What is this?!"
The guardians shoot at the war-criminal's soldiers, both of our enemies getting distracted in a heated battle with each other. "Let's go!" I shout and Harry, Elena, Nate, Chloe, and I run off.
"Is everyone okay?" I ask as we jump down and land on some stone.
"Yeah, but we need to go," Nate says, and the five of us start running away from the attacking guardians.
"Now, Lazarević definitely knows I crossed him," Harry laughs as we dodge all the arrows coming at us.
My four friends and I jump onto a stone landing when some soldiers catch up and start to shoot at us. One goes to launch his RPG but a guardian attacks him, making him miss his shot and hit the platform we're standing on. The platform starts to slide down a hill and we dodge the soldiers on our way down, before crashing into a stone wall.
My vision goes black and I fall over, hitting my head on the ground. I blink as my vision slowly starts to come back, and I look around to see I'm laying between Nate and Harry while Elena and Chloe are across from me. We all slowly stand up and jump off the broken platform and onto some dirt, dropping down onto the stone path below. Everyone picks up guns and I pick up two desert eagles from the ground along with a sniper rifle.
"I've been meaning to get me some of these pistols," I smirk while putting them in my holsters.
"Looks like someone made it here before us," Chloe says and we take off our winter jackets and toss them to the side.
"Let's just hope we have better luck making it out," Elena says, and I look around at the dead bodies.
"Yeah, these bodies look like they've been here sixty maybe seventy years," Nate says, and I groan.
"I thought we had enough of humanoid creatures after the descendants, but now we've got guardians," I grumble while kicking a rock.
"Descendants? What the hell are they?" Harry asks and a dark look crosses Elena's, Nate's, and my face.
"Zombies is the best way to describe them. Let's just say, don't visit the Amazon in Peru," Nate explains and I frown.
"Zombies?! You guys ran into bloody zombies?!" Harry exclaims and I sigh.
"Yes, but that's a story for another time. We should get going. We need to get to the Cintamani Stone before Lazarević if we have any hope at all of stopping him," I say and the others nod in agreement.
Many of the guardians appear and we all groan and pull out our weapons. 'Maybe a bow will do better than bullets for them' I hum and go to grab my bow and arrows only to realize I tossed them. My eyes widen, when I see a conveniently placed bow and quiver of arrows in front of me, along with several crossbows.
I quickly grab the bow and arrow quiver, shooting the arrows at the guardians, noticing that it seems to do more damage. "Guys! Grab any crossbows that are here," I tell my friends, and they find the specific weapons and use them.
We take out the rest of the guardians and climb up a pillar onto the landing above us. We jump to the next then onto a slab of stone, climbing around it and jumping to the next platform. We continue to jump from landing to landing, until we climb up through a hole in the wall.
"I can't wait till this is all over and I can get a cold beer," Harry says as we walk around the cave-like room that has tree roots growing through it.
"Agreed," the rest of us respond at the same time, making us chuckle at our synchronized answer.
We walk over to a wall with vines covering it and I shoot the blue resin sap that surrounds it, making it catch on fire and disintegrate. "Resin sap," I state as my friends go to question what it was.
We make our way up a set of stairs and I shoot some more sap on the vines covering the path to our right. We run through and Nate climbs across some walls and clears the vines for us. "Now, we're talking. Let's go," he says, and we run through the path to our right that's now open. We run up another set of stairs and Nate points at the temple in the distance.
"That must be where the Cintamani Stone is," I say, and we drop down to the ground below us. The five of us run through the grass and up some stairs, when some of Lazarević's men show up. We all work together to sneak up and snap their necks, minus Elena who didn't want to chance us getting noticed.
"I just want this to all be over," I cry out when guardians start to appear. My friends use their crossbows and I use my bow and arrows to take out what used to be humans.
"I need a vacation," Elena says and I nod my head.
"I'm going to join you," I say and Nate, Harry, and Chloe chip in that they're going to tag along.
"Now can one of you boost me up and I'll grab the chain of this gate, while someone else pulls the lever?" I ask and Harry walks over to me.
"Up you go, love," he says and lifts me up.
I grab the chain and Nate spins the wheel, opening up the gate. Chloe pushes a stone head under it and we all quickly slide under the gate a few seconds before it breaks through the stone and shuts completely.
It starts to rain on us and we drop down into a river, and start shooting at the soldiers in front of us. We shoot their helmets off their head and finish them off with headshots, before running through the water. More soldiers start to show up and I pull out my sniper rifle and take our each of them with a single bullet before leading my friends up a ramp. We climb up the wall and onto the landing above, dropping down through a hole in the floor and running back out into the rain.
The five of us take cover behind barriers when some soldiers walk into the area. I price the grenades I still have, and I take one off my belt and pull the pin out, rolling it across the ground. It lands by one of the soldiers feet, before blowing up and killing the four men.
"Looks like we need to get up to that ledge," Elena says, and I spot a broken cart we can use.
"Nate, help me with this," I tell him and we crouch by the cart and use our backs to push it to the ledge. We climb up the cart and onto the ledge, pulling ourselves onto the stone ground.
"So, any idea how we're going to take Lazarević out?" Chloe asks while we run up some stairs and into the temple.
"We'll figure it out when the time comes," I tell her and everyone deadpans.
"You're very reassuri-... oh shit! These bloody things again!" Harry shouts and we pull out our bows and aim them at the guardians.
"There's soldiers, too!" Nate calls to us and we stay low by a barrier, allowing the guardians and soldiers to kill each other off.
"There's only a few soldiers left," I say before popping up and shooting one of them in the head. My friends and I work together to take out the rest of the soldiers and when the last one dies, two guardians appear on the top of the staircase across from us.
"At least it's only two," Nate says, and we shoot arrows at them. They roar at each arrow that hits and soon enough they're dead.
"That's the last of them," I say, and we run up the stairs and past the guardians bodies and up the few steps behind them.
We run into a room and up some more stairs through a hall and up another flight of stairs. "Great. More stairs," Harry groans as we continue to take the flights up to a room where a tree grows into a dome and a light blue sphere sits in the middle of the tree.
I look past the tree to a forest outside, quickly looking back at the blue sphere when I realize what it is. "The Cintamani Stone," I state.
Elena gasps, "It's beautiful."
"I'm surprised we beat them here," Harry says as we all approach the stone.
Chloe picks up a metal object and smirks. "Now let's smash it and get the hell out of here," she states and Nate stops her.
"Wait- there's something wrong," he says and I also notice it.
"This isn't a sapphire. It's amber," I sigh and Chloe cocks an eyebrow.
"Amber?" she asks and I nod.
"Fossilized resin," Nate tells her, when I notice some glowing resin in the middle of the carving of a tree on the wall.
"Oh fuck..." I trail off while rushing over to the exit of the room where the forest is, "Fucking hell! How could I have missed the obvious!"
The others rush over to me, and Harry lays a hand on my shoulder and forces me to to look up at him, "Love, what the hell is going on?"
"There never was a Stone. It's the resin- the sap from the Tree of Life," I explain and Chloe shakes her head.
"You've lost me. Do you mean this tree?" she asks and points at the figurative one in the room.
"No... the actual one," I point out to the forest where the huge Tree of Life is.
"And there he is. Lazarebitch," Harry points to the war-criminal heading down to the Tree.
"Nate!" I exclaim suddenly and he looks at me. "The black teeth," I state and his eyes widen.
"They ate the resin, that's what turned them into those creatures," he says and Harry sighs.
"Are you guys just now figuring that out?" he asks and we look at him.
"You knew?!" I ask in exasperation.
"I thought everyone knew. I just didn't know that prick wanted to eat it as well," Flynn states and I face-palm.
"You know what- it doesn't matter. We need to get down to Lazarević, before he eats any of the resin sap and gains power," I state while checking my guns to make sure I have enough ammo.
"I think I'm going to sit that out," Elena says while sitting down against a pillar.
"Me too," Chloe agrees and I look at Nate and Harry.
"It's just us then. Let's go," I tell them and we take off down the stairs of the room.
The guys run ahead of me and I decide to split off from them, and run onto a branch of the tree that's leaning against the stairs. I make it to the trunk where a pool of resin sap sits at the bottom. Lazarević and his men show up and the war-criminal kneels down in front of the pool.
'Now's my chance' I tell myself while pulling out my sniper rifle and looking through the scope. I line the shot up with his head and he dips his hands into the sap. "Now," I breathe out, pulling the trigger and watching as the bullet goes through his skull a few seconds later. Some of the soldiers look around and I fire another shot, but at the pool of resin sap, causing it to catch on fire.
The ground around me starts to shake and I fall out of the tree, landing in front of another soldier. "You," he hisses and I stand up, and start to run when a grenade lands beside me. The ticking becomes quicker and when it explodes, I'm sent flying into a wall, my head bashing against the stone and knocking me out immediately.
~
Light whispering fills my ears as I slowly wake up. My eyes open and my surroundings appear blurry, before slowly becoming clear. "Good to see you awake, kid," a familiar voice states and I smile weakly.
"How did you find me?" I ask, and Sully helps me sit up.
"Just followed the path of destruction," he chuckles, and I rub the nape of my neck sheepishly.
"I don't remember passing out here, so how did I make it back to the village?"
"Flynn carried you. He found you before you went down with the rest of Shambhala."
"And the rest? Are they okay, too?"
"They're just fine. Worried about you, but fine."
The door to the house opens and I look over to see Elena. "How's she- oh my god, you're awake," Elena rushes over and hugs me.
"Just woke up," I respond and she holds me at arms length.
"You scared the shit out of all of us. Why would you ever split off from Nate and Harry?" she asks and I lean against the wall.
"It was quicker."
"You damn idiot..." she breathes out before pulling me into another hug.
"I guess it was a rather stupid decision, but I did manage to stop him, so I don't regret it," I tell her, and she lets me go.
"Yeah, well, come on. Let's go see the others," Elena says while helping me out of the bed.
She slings one of my arms over her shoulder and helps me out of the house, and I spot Harry, Nate, and Chloe talking with each other, when Chloe catches me out of the corner of her eye. "[Name]..." she gasps and the guys whip around to see me.
"Hey," I smile, waving slightly and they rush over.
"You bloody fool," Harry breathes out while pulling me into an embrace. "What were you thinking, love? You could've gotten yourself killed," he murmurs, resting his chin on my head.
"I was thinking I wanted to end something that never should've happened. I don't regret my decision," I respond, and Harry slowly let's me go.
"It worked, but you were careless, [Name]," Nate scolds me and opens his arms out for a hug.
I walk into them and rest my head on his shoulder, "When am I not?" I ask and he chuckles slightly.
"Quite a bit actually, but you still need to be more careful when you pull stunts like that," he tells me and I sigh.
"No promises, but I'll try," I say and he lets me go. "So, now that this is over- what should we do?"
"If you and Drake don't mind, I'd like to tag along on more of your adventures," Flynn says with a faint smirk.
"I'm fine with it," I say while sending a look to Nate who nods.
"It'd be nice to have you on our journeys, Flynn," he says, and the two men fist-bump each other.
"I still want to go on that vacation you suggested, [L/Name]," Chloe says, and I sigh dreamily.
"Where should we go? I'm feeling someplace warm," I say and she nods.
"Bora Bora I heard is lovely this time of year."
"That sounds utterly wonderful," I say, before looking at Elena, "you want to come with us?"
"I would love to," she laughs, and Nate clicks his tongue.
"Are Flynn and I not invited?" he asks and I turn to face them.
"Will you boys be able to handle yourself?" I raise an eyebrow in amusement.
"With you around maybe not, love," Harry says huskily, sending me a flirty wink.
"Oh my..." I face-palm with a chuckle, "you're such a flirt, Harry."
"Only for you, [Name]."
Nate frowns with obvious jealousy, and I playfully roll my eyes. "Anyway, how about we thank Tenzin and the others, and get the hell out of here?" I say when Sully joins us.
"I think that sounds like a plan," Nate says, and we walk over to Tenzin's house to bid our farewells.