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Lara backflipped, turning in mid-air so that the moment she touched the ground she could run in the desired direction. There wasn’t a long way to run before she had to jump again, forwards, and then again, and then she sprinted to the passage on the left, through its low opening almost brushing the top of her head, her boots sliding on the stone floor when she turned sharply to the right, continuing through the narrow passage.
A spike pit in her path forced her to count steps, so that she took off at the very edge of it, flying to the air and into a roll to avoid a swinging blade.
After a sprint and another sharp turn, she was assaulted by the heat of the dry air coming from the pool of lava that was taking space of most of the cavernous room she had entered. She didn’t slow down, rushing to the end of the platform in front of her from which she jumped to another one ahead. This one was sloped, so much so that Lara started sliding, and she made another jump, drawing her pistols and shooting the rotten wood ahead to clear her way.
She hit the ground running, another two steps, another jump, another slope, this one going to the left. She slid down and leapt towards another slope.
She took off too late, instead of landing on the slope, she had to grab the ledge and pull herself up before she could slide down and with one more jump she grabbed a ladder.
She started climbing, up and up and to the right around the corner, then up again, then – stop! Fire gushed from between two rungs above her. The moment it died, Lara continued her ascend, and at the top took the short available run up to propel herself towards a hanging rope.
She swung herself one time, two, then let go and flew to a thin crevice in the wall, which she grabbed and started shimmying to the right, before she could drop herself on a platform below. A roll turned her around and she performed another running jump, touching down on a walkway leading towards an open door up ahead.
She started sprinting.
The door closed.
Lara had time only to slow down enough so she hit the door with an “oomph” instead flattening herself on it like a fly on a windscreen.
She stayed there a second or two.
She pushed herself from the unyielding metal carefully, her chest heaving with deep breaths, and she bent down to rest her hands on her knees. Remaining in this posture, she turned her head to the right, eyeing a short, narrow path running by the wall that lead to the edge of the room where she had come from. The path had a slope at the end, making it only accessible from this side.
She could go back. She had to go back. To pull the lever again and try to – it was that one slope, wasn’t it? Sliding too low forced her to grab the ledge, costing her precious time. Or possibly the burner at the ladder, if she timed it so she wouldn’t have to wait… difficult, considering the start of her run took place in another room, but not impossible. And swinging two times on the rope? Maybe once would be enough to still not land her into the pool of lava.
She had to remember all this, watch out for any blunders. She couldn’t lose any time.
Back to the beginning it was.