Read Online Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals by Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent - Free Book Online

Willow than she had since she’d visited Sam in hospital. She felt safe in the big airy dining room at Teddy Hall, among the undergraduates with all their enthusiasm and lively conversation. She couldn’t believe that she’d been just like them so recently. Yamatai had ended all that.
    At nine, as promised, Lara walked the short distance to Merton and was in the bar a few minutes later. Kennard was already there with a couple of notebooks and a pint on the table in front of him. He stood when she entered.
    “You promised I could buy you a drink,” he said.
    “A tomato juice, if they have one,” said Lara. “Thank you.”
    “Nothing stronger?” asked Kennard.
    “Just the juice, thanks,” said Lara, standing at the bar next to him, just to make sure that really was all she got.
    “Good dinner?” asked Kennard.
    “Very,” said Lara. “Good company, too.”
    “Not too good, I hope,” said Kennard. “I’d like the chance to compete.” He smiled. Lara thought he was trying just a little too hard.
    “Tell me more about Colchis,” said Lara when they were seated.
    Kennard began to flick through his notebooks.
    “I can be more specific than that,” he said. “I can talk about the Golden Fleece.”
    “Great,” said Lara. “The more I can learn, the better.”
    “Everyone knows how Jason voyaged to Colchis on a quest for the Golden Fleece,” said Kennard. “Everyone knows the labours he had to perform to secure it.”
    “Ploughing the field with fire-breathing oxen and getting past the ever-wakeful dragon,” said Lara.
    “Don’t forget the army of warriors that grew out of the dragon’s teeth he sowed.”
    “How could I possibly forget that?” asked Lara. “Although they were pretty stupid warriors if they were prepared to turn on each other over the throwing of a rock.”
    “You make a fair point,” said Kennard. “Anyway, with the help of the sorceress, Medea, Jason won the Golden Fleece.”
    “And...?” asked Lara when it became clear that Kennard wasn’t going to say any more without prompting.
    “That’s where it ends for most people,” said Kennard. “Everyone assumes that Jason and Medea returned to Iolcus with the fleece. There are legends about the return journey, and there are other stories about Jason, but, for the most part, the Fleece is forgotten.”
    “But not by everyone?” asked Lara.
    “Well, I don’t want to get your hopes up,” said Kennard, “but I have found references to the Fleece over the past few hundred years. Some of them are pretty obscure.”
    “So obscure that you don’t want to tell me about them?” asked Lara.
    Kennard drained his glass and stood up.
    “Let’s have another drink,” he said.
    “Let me,” said Lara.
    “No, I insist,” said Kennard.
    “Then, I’ll have another tomato juice. Thanks,” said Lara.
    “You’re sure I can’t tempt you with a glass of wine?”
    “Really. I’m sure,” said Lara.
    Kennard began talking again almost before he sat.
    “Assuming that we’re disregarding all symbolism and looking for a literal fleece,” he said.
    “By which you mean?” asked Lara.
    “The Golden Fleece has been mooted as many things,” said Kennard, “as the wealth of Colchis during the Ancient period, as the sun, as a sea of golden grain… Lots of things.”
    “OK,” said Lara. “Yes, let’s disregard all of that.”
    “Good,” said Kennard. “This is where Professor Babbington’s teaching comes in handy. Since I’ve been studying under him, I’ve taken an interest in textual inconsistencies and in out-of-the-way stories. Over the centuries, various individuals and organisations have regularly made claims that they own or know the whereabouts of important antiquities or artifacts. The same is true of lost artworks.”
    “And you’ve found references to the Golden Fleece.”
    “Only one in the past fifty years, and it’s such a ridiculous long shot I can’t believe I’m telling you about it,” said