After the War's End

Chapter 39

It was already late afternoon. The afternoon of their last day in the Sacred Lands. They had spent a very good day together. Aloy was quite intrigued because the king had told her that he wanted to go out for a moment without her accompanying him, saying that he would tell her later. She didn't deny him, although she didn't feel comfortable with him going alone. At least he had said he wouldn't take long.

"I hope there's no inconvenience." she murmured to herself when he left. She took that moment to enter Rost's room. Although she didn't like the idea of him going without her, she could use that time alone to somehow be with her father by navigating through his memory. When she entered the room, she sat on the floor, leaning against the bed, and remained there for a long time reminiscing about what she had lived with her father. Rost's essence still lingered there.

After a while, the door of the cabin opened.

"Come, I have a little surprise for you." said the Carja, entering the place excitedly. She smiled.

"I can't wait to know what it is." she replied impatiently.

They went outside, where her strider was calmly waiting. Aloy was surprised to see that they were heading towards it, and that there were footprints of the monarch around it.

"I've been practicing a bit..." he said shyly.

"Wow, that's great!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, taking his hands, feeling very proud of the progress he was making with the machines.

"I wanted to take you to a place I've seen, and I realized that we would clearly get there faster on one of these." he explained. "But first, you have to put this on." he ordered, handing the huntress a Carja silk scarf. She took it and looked at it confusedly. "Wait." he said approaching her. "It's for your eyes, I don't want you to see anything beforehand."

"Mmm okay," she muttered, unconvinced, hoping the journey would be short. Sight is an essential faculty for a hunter. Gently, the king blindfolded her, careful not to tangle the silk with her hair, and, after making sure she couldn't see anything, he took her hands and helped her mount the machine. "Wow, this is harder than I expected," she admitted, laughing. They rode slowly. Aloy could feel that they were going downhill, but she wasn't sure where they were headed. After several minutes, the strider stopped gently.

"I'm going to help you get down." he said, taking her by the waist and hand. 

Carefully, the young woman dismounted from the machine. "Now wait a second." he asked. Aloy could hear the king's footsteps crunching in the snow and moving things she couldn't identify. Even more intrigued, she waited, holding her right hand with her left. "All set." thought the Sun-King as he looked excitedly at his surprise. Surely she was going to love it. Satisfied with the result he had achieved, he turned to the Redeemer, a sight that caused the smile to vanish from his face instantly, and his hands began to tremble. "A-Aloy..." he stammered, seeing a serrated teeth less than six meters away from her with blood-red eyes. It hadn't made any noise, it hadn't roared, and it was there, about to strike Aloy with its paw. He let out a trembling sigh as he visualized his brother falling to the ground. "Aloy!" he shouted with a force that surprised him. "Watch out! Get down! On the ground! Now!" Avad firmly gripped the hilt of his sword as she threw herself to the ground as the beast swiped at her with a roar he recognized instantly. "HEY!" he shouted even louder, hitting it in the snout with a stone. The beast looked at him with its eyes glowing blood-red, and proceeded to attack him while roaring again. Instead of cowering, he also launched himself into the attack, driven by a force that had taken possession of his body. He would do whatever he could and more to defend the person he loved.