Horizon Zero Dawn

Chapter 8

A wounded Brave cried out in pain while a healer put salve on his flesh wound. Children were crying, mothers and widows alike grieving, and of course braves were dying. Lanzra, Teresa and Jezza, the 3 Matriarchs, were praying to all mother. There were many things to pray about at this dark hour. The gates of the inner wall of Mothers Watch had been barred with stones and boxes filled with various objects. Since the Cult had breached the outer wall, the siege had been a stagnant skirmish. We had lost most of our Braves in the fight for the outer layer, where the Cult had overwhelmed them. We had received no word from Mothers Rise or Mothers Cradle. About a day or two ago we received a bird from Mothers Watch, saying that the cult were raiding their lands, so they had put everyone behind their walls. It seemed that the bulk of the Cult force was here, besieging Mothers Heart. The Main Embrace gate sent us word 3 days ago that the Cult had encamped on both sides of the Wall, meaning that the Cult had destroyed one of the other embrace gates. Elana came and sat down next to me,"Are you afraid of death?" She asked with a hint of fear in he voice.
"I think we all are, Elana. Some of the proud and stupid amoungst us don't, like Bulbous Battle Bane."
"Yeah," she said laughing,"Bulbous really does love a good fight doesn't he?"

The hours passed painfully, I was scared to the bone and always wondering if my end was near. Thinking of that always disturbed me and made me want to retch, so I tried not to think about it. When dusk came creeping over Mothers Heart, no one slept. The Matriarchs tried thier best to calm everyone and get them to sleep. I put my head back on my feather pillow and pulled my sheepskin blanket over me. I closed my eyes, but sleep would not come to me. So I lay awake staring mindlessly at the stone roof of Mothers Womb. Not long after that my eyes slowly fluttered to sleep and I was plunged into darkness.
I was in a camp, the camp that got 30 Braves killed. The chief told me too go and search the tents. I tried to tell them that it was a trap, but the words wouldn't come out my mouth. I screamed, still nothing. Then the Chief turned into a burning charcoal figure. Then all the braves around me started turning to ash. The ash then came and spiralled around me, like a tornado. And it engulfed me.
I was in a dark room, it had 12 men of the Cult standing in the circle. 12 other people knelt before the Cult men with knives at thier throats. There was a fire in the middle of the circle. The Cult men started chanting something in a tongue I could not understand. The fire started moving in a strange way, it took shape like a snakes tongue.
I woke suddenly shaking and sweating. Most everyone was up and my sister rushed toward me,"Luke," she wet a red towel and pushed it against my forehead,"You were muttering in your sleep, and shivering. We asked one of the healers what to do, but he told us just to leave you until you woke."
"Anara, I'm fine. It was just a bad dream, that's all. Can you fetch me some water, please."
"Sure."
Anara left in a hurry to the mountains fountain at the back of the long, stone hall. When she came back, I gulped down the water.
"Slow down, brother. This is not the last time you will see water," she said with a chuckle.
"What of the siege?" I asked.
"Jezza has sent birds to all the sacred land to call for aid, even though she knows the Cult has besieged most of the Mother's settlements. There has been no further explosions since yesterday." Anara started to cry then.
"Are we going to die, Luke?"
I was shot aback by my sisters question. My sister was only 10, and she was thinking about death.
"No, no, we are not going to die, ok? The Braves will protect us. Mother and I are here to protect you, okay?"
He embraced her in a hug, she was shivering and sobbing. A explosion went off and everyone around started screaming and children started crying.
"Everybody stay calm!" shouted Jezza.
I left Anara on the ground and walked over to my mother. I had to step over a few sleeping and wounded people before I reached her.
"Good morning, Mother."
"It is not really a good morning is it now?" she answered with a chuckle.
"Has there been any news of the siege, or sieges?"
"We only have 30 Braves left garrisoned here, Luc. It's only a matter of time until they kill us all. A old forest dweller once told me that the fear of death is much greater than the death itself, but fear of the unknown is the greatest of them all."
"Exactly what does that have to do with our conversation?"
"It's just that, Luc, death may not be as bad as it seems. In time, if a miracle doesn't spark, we will all die."
That conversation ended as she finished, I got up from the wooden stool and grabbed my bow and arrow. I walked up the slope to the exit of Mothers Womb, wounded Braves lay on wooden sheets as they cried in agony. A few Braves were praying to All Mother. Two Braves were standing guard at the exit, but they didn't seem to care who went out. The Braves opened the great wooden gates for me. Outside was a mess, Braves stood crouched behind burned down houses and on the ramparts. Arrows lay in the ground all around me, the dirt street was blackened by fire and burning wood. There were a few houses still intact, and Braves would sit in those for breaks or war counsel. The new warchief, Gustin, was sitting on a tree stump around a fire with a few of his fellow Braves. Ash and soot were in the air, and the Braves were covered in it. It was better camouflage instead of the blue jerkins.
"Aahh, Luc. I thought you weren't going to pitch up after your last watch," Gustin said with a weary look.
My last watch had indeed been horrifying. The Cult leader had come out from the Cult tent line, and started threatening us. The next thing I saw was flaming pots flying across the grey sky. They exploded in mid air, sending sharp pot shards flying at us. 2 pot shards had embedded themselves in a Braves face. The rest either missed because there was few Braves, or hit a Brave in the leg or torso. I had retched then from shock.
"You can always trust me, Warchief."
"Your watch is till mid-afternoon, you know the drill. Keep your eyes peeled, and whatever you do, don't die. You are good example for the rest of the boys and girls."
I turned to the wall and walked toward it. Braves were situated on the ramparts and at the foot of the wall where no arrows or explosives could hit them. Most of the Braves had bandages somewhere on thier body where they had been wounded. The flight of stairs leading up to the ramparts was falling apart. I walked up the with caution and eventually was at the ramparts. I crouched and hid behind one of the embrasures. Between me and the left tower, 5 other Braves crouched. Between me and the Barbican was a distance of about 3 meters. I had always wanted to become a Brave. Being a Brave is one of the highest honorary titles in the Sacred Land. The portcullis was closed with the gate closed behind it, it was blackened from the explosions and ash. I took a peak at the enemy camp. It was a mess, there were palisades situated all over the camp with arrow slits. The tents were in a deformed array, and the Cult had burnt and desecrated the entire outer sector of Mothers Watch. There must have been 200 Cult men in the camps, and 50 horses. Catapults were being built too. Two trebuchets stood tall amongst the Cult camp, the trebuchets arms filled with a barrel. I crouched back behind the embrasures again, and I waited.