Death Seeker - Horizon: Zero Dawn

Chapter 11

Ahvis studied the grazers with a sense of wonder. The spiky reeds swayed back and forth across his vision, denying him a full visual of the target. His back and neck ached from holding such a low profile in the stubble, but he would persevere, enchanted by the challenge of taking down these machines.

Together, he and Tufanah had crept silently to well within bowshot of the herd. Five in total, going about their daily business, ignorant of the two hunters stalking them.

"Those blades on top, the ones that dig up the earth, are worth a fortune in Meridian." Tufanah whispered.

"What are they digging for?" Ahvis asked.

"I don't know for sure, but I think it has something to do with those canisters on their backs." She observed the nearest grazer, tucking into a grassy thicket. "They somehow convert the earth into blaze, collecting it in those cans."

"So the blades could chop me in half, and the canisters can explode if I hit them, anything else?"

"They don't seem to attack if you keep your distance, and those white armour plates," she pointed at the body of the nearest one, "will stop every arrow. Try to aim for its eye."

Ahvis raised an eyebrow at the huntress. "Its eye? You mean the one pressed into the ground?"

Tufanah giggled. "It'll raise its head once in a while, before it moves to a new spot, that's the best time to shoot."

"Okay." Ahvis shuffled forwards with his toes, an arrow half-nocked on Voice of our Teeth. "Here goes..." He slowly and carefully pulled the bowstring to full draw, exhaling as he felt the projectile reach the arrow rest. He aimed, waiting for the machine to lift its metallic face into sight. He held steady, cursing under his breath as his shoulder burned, willing the unnatural beast to take a break. His lungs were almost completely empty, exhaling slowly to remain steady and composed.

He was about to give up and reset, when the grazer suddenly swung its neck back, a beautiful blue eye staring sweetly at him. He released, a fraction of a second too late. The machine was on the move, the arrow brushing against an antler shaft, sending it directly into a sloshing canister attached to its back.

"By the Sun...!"

"Back!" Tufanah ordered, sprinting towards the nearest compilation of tree stumps.

The grazer shrieked and warbled as the duo scrabbled for cover, the herd briefly motionless as their yellowed optics assessed the warning. The resulting explosion was deafening, lifting Ahvis and Tufanah from the ground as they fled, launching them into the distance. Luckily, they landed on a mattress of foliage and ferns.

"The Sun has truly shone on us this day." Tufanah announced, patting herself down.

"The forest is on fire." Ahvis observed the carnage. Four flaming grazers lay on the ground in twisted heaps, sparks quivering from their blackened carcases. The fifth must have bolted into the thicket.

"Let's hope it doesn't spread to the trees."

"Let's hope there's no more canisters to explode." Ahvis replied.

-

Ahvis perched on the rump of a baked grazer, admiring the destruction all around. "There's a certain...satisfaction, to taking a life, don't you think, Tuf?"

The huntress had her head low, carefully extracting any salvageable parts from the downed machine. Wiring looms and electric harnesses had completely melted, all blaze canisters exploded, most lenses were fried or fractured beyond use. But she was able to prise a few shards from one, and an intact machine heart from another. "Ooh, another shard!" She announced, pocketing it quickly.