Lara set her backpack down and pulled out a bundle of climbing gear with practiced ease. tal hooks clinked softly against one another as she fastened the harness around her waist.
Without hesitation, she swung the grappling hook upward.
The hook soared through the air before catching firmly onto a jagged outcrop high along the cliff wall. A sharp tallic clang echoed through the hidden oasis as the rope tightened securely.
Logan blinked. "You seriously ca prepared for this?"
Lara ignored the question and gave the rope a firm tug to test its stability.
She no longer bothered hiding what she was capable of.
The Norse siblings—and even Liam’s support team—had already witnessed too much during Shay’s kidnapping incident. The impossible could no longer be disguised as coincidence.
With fluid movents, Lara began scaling the rock wall as though she had done it countless tis before. Her footing was precise, almost unnaturally effortless, each motion controlled with the confidence of soone returning to a familiar place rather than venturing into danger.
Halfway up, Liam finally spoke.
"Lara..." His voice carried uncertainty. "Are you really planning to go inside?"
She glanced down at them, her expression calm.
"Yes," she answered casually. "The treasure is inside."
Silence fell over the group.
Logan slowly lowered the map in his hands while Liam stared at the cliff face again, realization beginning to settle in.
The hidden entrance wasn’t gone after all.
It was simply sowhere no ordinary person would ever think to look.
Liam exchanged a wary glance with Logan before stepping forward.
"Wait." His tone turned serious. "Let go first and check for traps or hidden dangers."
For a brief mont, Lara said nothing.
Then the faintest smile appeared on her lips.
Because if there truly were traps inside...
They had once been designed by her and Alaric themselves.
...
Soon, Lara, Liam, and Logan were waist-deep inside the cold pool while the rest of the group remained outside the rocky edges, guarding the three people inside..
The water was icy and startlingly clear, fed by underground springs hidden deep beneath the mountain. Ripples shimred across the surface as beams of sunlight filtered through the canopy above, casting dancing reflections against the stone walls.
Lara took a deep breath before diving beneath the water.
For several long seconds, only bubbles disturbed the surface.
Then she erged near the far side of the pool, her fingers tracing along the subrged rock wall as though searching for sothing invisible to everyone else. Each ti her hand brushed against a hidden groove or protruding stone, a flicker of recognition crossed her face.
Like soone rediscovering pieces of a mory long buried.
Again and again, she subrged herself, moving from one section of the wall to another. Her movents were deliberate, precise—far too familiar for re guesswork.
Liam watched silently, his brows slowly tightening.
How could she possibly know where to look?
After the final dive, Lara pressed her palm firmly against a barely noticeable depression hidden beneath the waterline.
A deep grinding noise suddenly echoed through the cavern.
Stone trembled beneath their feet.
Logan staggered backward. "What the hell was that?"
The center of the pool began to churn violently.
Then, before their stunned eyes, sothing massive erged from beneath the earth.
Covered in layers of rust and mineral deposits, a big tal box slowly rose from the depths, ancient gears groaning as hidden chanisms forced it upward after centuries of slumber. Water cascaded from its surface in heavy streams while the sound of grinding stone reverberated throughout the hidden oasis.
Everyone froze.
Logan stared at the enormous chest in disbelief, his mouth slightly open.
"L-Liam... is this..."
The words died in his throat.
Because no sentence could fully capture what they were witnessing.
anwhile, Liam barely looked at the treasure itself.
His attention remained fixed on Lara.
On the calmness in her eyes.
On the impossible certainty with which she had activated a chanism that should have been lost to history.
And for the first ti, a troubling thought surfaced in his mind.
What exactly was Lara hiding from them?
...
When Lara t Liam’s gaze, she could already see the questions burning behind his eyes.
Suspicion. Confusion. Disbelief.
Even before he spoke, she knew exactly what he wanted to ask.
Still, the words eventually left his mouth.
"How did you even figure out the chanism to bring up that tal box?"
Lara remained calm. "The design is similar to the others," she answered smoothly. "Alia once had an old scroll explaining how ancient trapdoors and hidden chambers were built."
It sounded believable enough.
But Liam’s stare lingered a second too long, as though he was trying to determine whether she was telling the truth—or rely giving him a convenient answer.
Before he could press further, Logan called out from the pool.
"Help with this thing!"
Together, Liam and Logan worked to free the tal chest from the stone containnt that had held it imprisoned beneath the water for centuries. Thick mineral deposits clung stubbornly to its sides while rust coated nearly every inch of the dark tal surface.
Even after dragging it onto the rocks, neither of them could lift it properly at first.
The chest was far too heavy.
It asured barely two feet on each side, yet it felt as though it contained solid iron.
Or sothing even denser.
"This thing weighs a ton..." Logan grunted, straining as he adjusted his grip.
With considerable effort, the Norse siblings finally hauled it onto stable ground while the others gathered around, their eyes fixed on the ancient chest with growing anticipation.
Lara stepped forward.
The old lock was heavily corroded, but her fingers moved across it with unsettling familiarity. A soft tallic click echoed monts later.
Then she slowly lifted the lid.
The mont the chest opened, Liam and Logan both sucked in sharp breaths.
Inside, beneath layers of age-darkened cloth, were stacks of gleaming gold nuggets and bars, gemstones that shimred like captured stars, and ancient artifacts adorned with intricate imperial engravings. Even under centuries of dust and tarnish, the treasure radiated overwhelming wealth.
For a brief second, no one spoke.
Because what lay before them was no longer myth.
It was the remains of an empire.
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