Tomb Raider: The Legacy

Chapter 13: Fate

It was like walking in a dream.

She could be fourteen years old and considered herself, in many aspects, already a woman, but truth be told, she was still a child. Children rarely doubt their parents, they trust them, believe in their words. She wasn't different at all and the ties that bound her to Lara and Kurtis were even tighter, as she'd been instructed to trust, to obey, to act fast, both alone and as a team, because her safety depended on it when traveling with them around the world.

But to have before her eyes the realization of what they had told her was real, that it actually happened, even though she'd believed them blindly regardless of whether she saw it or not, was a rewarding, euphoric sensation.

There was Loanna's tomb, and it was just as they had described it. The circular, large chamber, with traces of soot and scorched stone where Karel's powers had impacted. The beautiful white sarcophagus in the centre, with the reclining lady, delicate, beautiful.

"Omnia vulnerant, ultima necat." She recited as she approached, even before she even read the inscription under the figure, since she knew it by heart. "All of them hurt, but the last one kill."

And there, next to the inscribed plate, were still the remains of dried blood. Her father's blood, who'd hit his head after the Nephilim crashed him into the sarcophagus. All that had happened long before she was born, long before she was conceived, or she was even a mere possibility. But there was, in short, the proof. Everything was true.

What now? She thought, looking at the beautiful sculpted face. Am I supposed to say something? She felt a bit silly standing there. Better to say some nonsense.

"Well, uhm, hi, Lady Loanna." She murmured, and then she slapped her forehead. Lame, so lame...

Welcome, Anna Heissturm.

The girl winced and turned sharply. There was no one. Suddenly she felt her legs tremble. I'm not scared. I'm not scared.

Don't be. The voice was warm, soft, tender as a mother's - well, anyone's mother but hers, of course. Still trembling, but caught with curiosity, Anna walked around the sarcophagus. I won't hurt you, the voice insisted.

There was something sitting on the steps that gave access to the back of the sarcophagus. A fog, a disruption in the air, hard to say. It seemed like a woman. Long hair, long dress.

"A ghost!" Anna exclaimed involuntarily, gaping at the apparition.

The figure raised her face, and for a split second the girl thought she was going to see a skull, a zombie, a monster, anything really – but it was a young woman. Young, beautiful and sad, who smiled at her with a melancholy smile.

Greetings, daughter of my benefactor, daughter of the heiress of my legacy. She tilted her head again and Anna saw a long dagger in her lap. Thank you for coming.

Anna clicked her tongue and looked around, feeling very weird suddenly. There she was, talking to walking skeletons and ghosts of the past. She thought about asking her own questions, but the one being the first Amazon interrupted her. There will be time for that, little one - but now you must listen.

"I... I'm listening." She stammered.

Do you remember your grandfather's message?

A cold sweat ran down her back. She stared, gasping, at Loanna's ethereal silhouette.

"Huh, well, yes... the... grandpa's skull... it... spoke." She shifted her weight to the other leg. "But Dad said not to tell anyone."

It seemed to her that the lady smiled sweetly. And what did Konstantin Heissturm tell you, Daughter of Light? Repeat it.