After the War's End

Chapter 9

Aloy woke up, just like the days before, looking around to find where he was, realizing she was alone. In his place, she found a note he had left to avoid waking her, explaining the reasons for his absence. "Good morning, oh Aloy, the machine tamer." she smiled as she read it; it seemed like he had written it with a solemn tone accompanied by a touch of humor. "I've gone out to do some work that will take me all morning, but if you're around the palace, I'll be happy to spend lunchtime with you. See you. Avad." She smiled. She truly enjoyed the time they spent together, even if it was while working.

"Until then, I'll go down to the village to see if anyone needs my help," she said to herself. When she dressed in her Nora attire, loud knocks on the door startled her. She scanned with her focus to see who it was. It was Marad the Unbroken, but... shouldn't he be with Avad? That didn't look good, considering how insistently he was calling. A shiver ran down her spine. "Come in, it's open," she said, inviting him in. He entered the room quickly, highly agitated.

"Aloy! They've kidnapped Avad!" he exclaimed, gripping her shoulders.

"What?! How could this happen?" she exclaimed, very surprised.

"We were caught off guard! By the Sun! Several of the palace defenses were sent to aid the village, and they took advantage of it!" he explained in a disorganized manner. "It's a catastrophe."

"Where did you last see him?" she asked, trying to appear calm.

"We didn't meet today, but we arranged to meet in his office early. As I was getting close, I heard noises, like someone was fighting. In fact, I could hear Avad shouting. I ran in the direction of the sounds, but they had placed something at the entrance, and I couldn't open it. When I managed to get in by breaking through the barricade, it was too late... everything was in disarray, and there was no one. I hope they don't harm him," he explained, very nervous.

"I'll do everything I can. Take me to where the fight happened," she said without wasting a second, and they ran through the corridors until they reached the office. "Do you know if anyone touched anything? If they haven't changed anything's position, any trail they may have left will be easier to find."

"No, nobody. When I saw that they had already left, I went out to look for you and ordered that no one enter, for the same reason." he responded, sounding concerned.

"Okay, let's see what happened." she said, sharpening her gaze. "There's nothing missing. Okay, as soon as you enter, there's a damaged chair... The table has a chip; they must have hit someone with it... Books on the floor, next to the bookshelf; they must have pushed someone against it. There are papers everywhere, probably on the table before the fight started. There are quite distinctive footprints on the carpet. If I'm not mistaken, there should be a rope or something by the window that helped them get down."

"And? What did they do to him?" Marad asked anxiously. "What happened? From how I heard Avad scream, it sounded like they hurt him..."

"Based on the clues I've found, I think I can imagine what happened: Avad entered the room, and they were already waiting for him. Otherwise, he would have taken out some writing tools on the table." she explained, pointing to the furniture. "There were four of them, and I would dare say they were Shadow Carja, as the marks on the carpet match the shape of their bootprints, but I prefer not to rule out any options, in case it leads us down the wrong path. When he realized he wasn't alone, they had already barricaded the door with the chair, which is now damaged because you broke it to get in. Avad tried to fight them because he had no other choice. He was unarmed, as there's no trace of blood, and he didn't manage to harm any of the intruders. I'm surprised they didn't kill him... They were wearing armor because the footprints on the carpet are deeply imprinted, unlike Avad's, which are less profound, so his resistance was in vain; his attacks were stopped by the metal of their protections. He pushed one of them into the table, causing the chip you see, but another one grabbed him and threw him into one of his accomplices, who was near the shelves. This one took Avad, but from the momentum, he fell backward. The impact against the furniture made him hit the shelves, knocking the books you see on the floor." she narrated, bending down to get a better look at the books. "Afterward, among several of them, they loaded him onto the table, scattering the papers, and there they must have done something to keep him from moving. I suppose they tied him up or something similar. Then, they left through the window." she concluded seriously. "It takes quite a bit of imagination, but it's the most logical scenario I can think of given the clues we've found."