After the War's End

Chapter 32

Avad woke up in the morning. The sun was streaming through the holes in the walls, illuminating the room. Only gray ashes remained of the fire, and she was nowhere to be found. In the absence of the warmth of the fire, he felt the morning cold. He stretched as he heard machine sounds near the tower where they had taken shelter. Slowly, still wrapped in his cloak, he got up and peeked through one of the large holes leading to the outside. There he saw Aloy fighting with several machines simultaneously, including several grazers, a couple of watchers, and two striders. He was fascinated watching the agility with which she moved in battle. She shot arrows at great speed, spun and somersaulted, and slid on the ground passing under the machines. She also launched projectiles at the blaze canisters of the grazers, causing them to explode, contributing to their weakening. It took her just a few seconds to finish off the entire herd without receiving a single scratch. He enjoyed watching her fight, in a way completely different from the last time he saw her battling machines in the Sun Ring. Now that their lives were not hanging by a thread that could snap at any moment, he enjoyed observing her. After finishing, she sabotaged a strider she had tied with the ropecaster to keep it as a mount. She then rummaged through the components among the remains of the fight, extracting various pieces and storing some of them in a small cloth bag. The remaining ones she wrapped with a long strip of leather she had.

"You woke up!" she exclaimed.

"By the Sun, Aloy, I didn't see you climb up, nor... hear you arrive." he replied, catching his breath as he pressed his chest with his palm, surprised. She laughed.

"I saw you fighting down there; you were... amazing."

"Thank you." she replied, smiling. "I wanted to gather some parts, and when I got up, I saw that there was a herd nearby. I couldn't resist; it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. How did you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well, considering we spent the night in some ominous ruins called Devil's Thirst. I guess... it might have been influenced by the fact that the night before, I barely slept." he said with a cheerful smile as he rubbed his hands to warm them. "And you?"

"I'm well, I'm quite used to spending the night in unconventional places, although, unlike you, it had never occurred to me to sleep on a tallneck, you know?" laughed the huntress, reminiscing about days ago "So, we'll leave right after breakfast, okay?" she asked as she arranged some branches and lit the fire again.

"Perfect." he replied, pulling the hood over his head.

And so they did. As soon as they had something to gather strength for the journey, the pair mounted the tramplers and rode through the frozen lands towards the Embrace. Along the way, Aloy could see how much the appearance of the forests in the area had improved, burned some time ago by the Eclipse in the war. They had already encountered some Braves who had greeted the young woman very effusively. Shortly before arriving, Aloy slowed down, causing the mount to gradually come to a halt.

"Before we arrive... I want to warn you about... one thing." she said, getting off the machine followed by the Sun-King "Many Nora are... quite stubborn, not to say that the majority... A large part of them rejected me when I went to take the trial for being an outsider, and I can't assure you that they'll be friendly with you... in the Sun's Vigil, the Goddess is not worshiped, and that is considered impure..." then, she paused, aware that she was about to bring up the topic that he disliked so much "Also... after the Red Raids, many are resentful. I know it's not your fault, and that every day you work for peace between the tribes, but maybe they don't see it that way... Just... I don't want you to be disappointed if it doesn't go well..." she explained, somewhat nervous.

"Don't worry, I'll be very cautious." he responded seriously "Relations with the other tribes have been complicated since my... the Sun-King Jiran committed all those atrocities. Although it hurts that they associate me with it, it's understandable that they do." she gave him an encouraging smile.