After the War's End

Chapter 15

There was only one option left: Aloy ran toward the wall, followed by the Sawtooth. When she was close enough, she made a powerful leap toward the wall and planted her feet on it. She sprinted upward as far as her momentum would allow, and then, using her feet to push off and spinning in the air, she reversed their roles. She was no longer the prey. She was no longer the one cornered against the wall; now she was moving through the air toward the top of the machine. Holding her gleaming spear, she landed on top of the beast and thrust her spear into its back. The red glow in the machine's eyes dimmed, and the resonator on her Champion's Spear fully charged, glowing in blue. The audience cheered enthusiastically and yet conflicted. They had come to witness the death of the false Sun-King, but they also wanted a good show, and she was delivering. In the end, even if she defeated the machines, she wouldn't be able to leave. She was only delaying the inevitable—both their deaths. She turned toward the Thunderjaw just in time to see the machine she had sabotaged also falling to the ground in a smoky heap. "It's just you and me now." she muttered, grabbing her Forgefall precision bow and nocking three plasma arrows that ended in one of the giant's disc launchers. The Thunderjaw roared in fury. The spectators howled in anticipation. The Thunderjaw scraped the ground with one of its enormous paws, a sign that it was preparing to charge, just what she wanted. She fired three more arrows at its disc launcher, the weapon she intended to turn against it and inflict more damage, as it was one of its weak points. Finally, she fired one more projectile, but it bounced off its armor, causing minimal damage. The machine charged toward her in an attack that she narrowly dodged. She sighed with relief, hearing the sounds of the explosions from the cables and traps she had set, damaging the machine and putting it in a state of overheat. It was time to try to deal as much damage as possible during the countdown to overload. She turned and fired at its disc launchers, but they sprang to life, launching explosive projectiles at her, so her only option now was to run. Doing somersaults as she sprinted, she managed to dodge all of them except one, which lightly injured her left hand, the one holding the bow. But her real problem was to draw the machine away from Avad, who was hiding nearby. To accomplish this, she charged at the machine with her explosive sling from the Hunter's Lodge, causing some of its protective components to detach, including the disc launcher. Then, she delivered a powerful shot, causing the resonator to discharge its energy onto the machine. She fired a projectile at the blue target, causing it to explode. "Yes!" she cheered. It had inflicted significant damage, but her joy was short-lived. The machine attempted to charge her again, with the plasma overload about to detonate. This time, Aloy was much closer to being hit. She became nervous, anticipating its next move. The Thunderjaw moved its legs in a way that indicated it was gaining momentum and balance for a more lethal attack, the one that had killed Ahsis, the previous Hawk of the Hunter's Lodge. The Thunderjaw charged at her, spinning itself to deliver its tail strike. Aloy jumped, feeling the beast's limb brush against her hair. She was genuinely frightened, realizing she had been too close, closer than she would have liked.

"Come on!!" the leader of the Eclipse shouted angrily. "Finish her!"

The machine fired its disc launchers and front cannons simultaneously, making it very challenging for the hunter, who had once again become the prey. She drew another trio of arrows and released them with her right-handed automatic bow. The enraged beast ran towards Aloy, determined to finally eliminate this annoying adversary, and unexpectedly performed the spin attack, hitting her squarely and throwing her against the wall, causing her bow to fly several meters away. Then, the plasma detonated with a loud bang, catching the hunter in its blast. The audience screamed in surprise, with some even rising from their seats to get a better view. Silence fell over the arena. The beast roared, but to everyone's surprise, Aloy got up. Fortunately, the explosion hadn't hit her enough to trigger an overload. She needed to retrieve her weapon, as the Shadow War Bow, while powerful, wouldn't be of much use in corrupting the machine.

"Ah..." she moaned in pain. Her left arm was bleeding profusely from a deep cut caused by the armored tail of the beast. Furthermore, she had sustained significant injuries from her collision with the wall and the explosion, with sharp pain radiating from her ribs. But she had to keep fighting despite the pain. Failure was not an option, especially when Avad's life was on the line. The machine activated its other front-mounted machine guns, ready to remove her from the equation once and for all. Aloy wasn't sure if she could dodge all the shots. She bit her lower lip, bracing for the impending attack.

"HEY!" Avad shouted from the other side of the battlefield, drawing the gaze of all the spectators. He had managed to pull himself up by clinging to a piece of metal embedded in the debris. Expending the last of his strength, he hurled a stone at the colossal machine. The rock was aimed at its back, but due to his lack of strength and using his left hand, it struck the tip of its tail. Nevertheless, he achieved his goal, which was diverting the machine's attention away from the hunter so she could reach her bow. The downside was that now its red eyes were fixed on him.

"No, no, no..." Aloy muttered as she rushed to retrieve her bow. "This can't be." she lamented, sliding along the ground and grabbing her weapon. With a somersault, she propelled herself to try to reach the king in time, despite the stabbing pain. The monster's weapon activated, targeting the monarch who, groaning in pain, had once again fallen to the ground due to his lack of strength. Avad watched as the cannon aimed at him. Aloy was too far away to prevent disaster. She was positioned just behind, so even if she fired ten arrows, none would hit the cannon. She launched a couple of projectiles, but the Thunderjaw was already focused on its easy prey.

"No!" she screamed in vain. The weapon lit up, signaling that it was about to fire. Silence fell over the stands, and Avad covered his face with his hands in a futile defensive gesture, as if that would do anything. He closed his eyes tightly as he heard the cannon powering up. His moment had come, but at least he had defended the person he loved.

As I have shared an extra chapter today, Wednesday, to create more separation, I will upload the next one this Saturday ⏰