The Many Deaths of Ms. Croft

Lara had seen more than her share of the impossible, but it still formed a cold lump in her belly every time she witnessed it. She had fought the ressurected bones of ancient wars, rs, brass golems given life through c jec jewels, mummified warriors which had not seen the light of day for a thousand years, and countless other horrors; even so, the massive stone jaguars which--impossibly--patrolled the hallways below her with heavy, thudding steps sent an adrenalized rush of fear through her.


Long ago, she had deduced that the fear was more instinctual than logical; such guardians as these were obviously empowered by energies that hailed from realms far outside the possibility of human understanding--and humanity's greatest fear has always been the unknown. Therefore, she ignored the urge to shriek and bolt, to skulk away and search for an alternate entrance that couldn't possibly exist, to retreat to her mansion--far, far away--and hide beneath her bed. Logically, there had to be a way to circumvent the stone jaguars; otherwise, the founders of the pre-Mombassan temple complex Lara was exploring would not have been able to perform their ceremonies. If she searched hard enough, she would find the clues that--


There--each of the jaguars appeared to have been carved from a single block of obsidian, and then adorned with jewels and beaten gold. At first glance, the decorative valuables appeared to have been arranged individually, no two of the volcanic cats alike. On closer study, Lara noted that each jaguar had a large gemstone at the base he she skull, usually part of some sort of collar or headpiece, but occasionally simply inset in the cat's obsidian 'skin'--likely, that similarity held the key to bypassing the guardians. To test her theory, Lara set her knapsack down and pulled from it the crossbow she'd brought, loading it with a steel-tipped bolt. Sighting through the scope, she drew a bead on the nearest feline's jewel and, after steadying her breathing, fired.


With a dull crack, the bolt bounced off of the jewel and broke against thene wne wall. Studying the jaguar again through the scope, Lara saw that the impact had pushed the jewel further in, almost like some sort of button. The giant cat faltered for a moment, then abruptly sat on its haunches and remained stock-still. Satisfied, Lara reloaded her crossbow and sought out the next closest guardian cat, depressing its jewel with a carefully-aimed shot; within five minutes, she'd deactivated all the cats in view.


At one time, the entire temple complex had been underground, but the vagrancies of time and erosion had thrust it, roofless, to the surface. Now, Lara leapt lightly to the temple floor from the jungle above, and began to search for the entrance to the lower levels while ignoring the way her heart leapt to her throat every time she looked at one of the gigantic, still cats. It was the supernatural fear which made it seem that the nearest one had shifted position since the last time she'd glanced at it nervously; the mind playing tricks on her as it subconsciously noted the existence of magicks which had no place on this level of reality.


Oh, bloody hell... Lara froze, her blood ice in her veins, as one of the jaguars--the first one she'd deactivated--slowly turned its head to look at her with its carefully-carved eyes. Time-activated, the button only sets a timer and they come back to life after fifteen minutes or so and sweet Mary it sees me!


With a silent snarl, the huge cat leapt at Lara, who reacted instantly by performing a leap of her own, perpendicular to the feline's path. Kicking off the wall, she landed halfway on the jaguar and scrabbled for purchathe the jaguar whirled, trying to catch her in its bladed maw, but she pulled herself up on top of it and smashed the jewel-button with her fist. Obediently, the beast sat; Lara slid down its back and landed on her feet. Have to work quickly, the next one--shite! Even as the second cat rose to its feet, another began the slow head movements that meant it, too, would soon be active. I can't keep them all down and find the entrance. Time to rethink my approach. Retreating, Lara searched for a way to get out of the maze-like corridors--a climbable section of wall, an overhanging vine, anything.


Focused on escape, her only warning was the sudden scratch of stone on stone as one of the obsidian felines pounced. Lara gave a terrified yelp as the cat smashed her to the floor, slashing claws narrowly missing her. The jaguar's teeth snapped at her, but she managed to twist out of the way and scrabble backwards; but before she could make good on her escape, the cat sprung forward and pinned her shoulder beneath one massive paw. It brought a hind leg up to rake her belly open, but fear-induced speed allowed Lara to draw the pistol on her right thigh from its holster and shoot away most of its clawed foot. That maneuver, however, allowed the jaguard to clamp its jaws around Lara's throat--and there it froze, as the fingers of Lara's other hand slapped at the huge jewel atop its neck, pushing it halfway home.


Whimpering and sobbing, Lara strained to push the button further, but she just couldn't reach far enough. Her pistol clattered to the ground as she tried to reach it with her other hand, but it was no use--the jaguar's neck was too thick. She pushed herself against the obsidian cat, groaning as she tried for the centimeter of reach that would save her life--but her foot slipped on a patch of grass that had grown between the ancient flagstones. The great jewel clicked back into its upwards position as her fingers slipped off of it.


With a sickening crunch, the great cat bit through Lara's throat, its teeth nicking against her spine. A coppery rush filled her mouth and nose as it gave a shake of its head, tearing away most of her neck; an arterial gout of blood slopped against its chin and splashed back against Lara's face and chest as she clawed convulsively at the jaguar. She tried to breathe, but the blood pouring from her neck flooded into her lungs; she tried to scream, but her voicebox was no longer connected to her body. The only sound was the wet slurp of blood as Lara rolled over and tried to crawl away, but the jaguar skewered her with a dismissive swipe of its huge claws.


Almost casually, the beast pulled away an arm with its razor teeth, then began to chew on Lara in earnest as she kicked and struggled. Ripping up a mawful of intestines, it shook its head again and slopped the viscera everywhere before taking a second bite. Lara's jaws clenched open and shut in silent screams as it halfway ripped her apart; she watched in horror as it began chewing at her ribcage before her vision finally dimmed away. The obsidian jaguar continued tearing at her body mindlessly, until she was no more than a slathering of gore on the stones.