Aloy wakes up in Meridian alongside the Sun-King Avad, not knowing how her got there. Together, they will experience adventures and emotions that will form strong bonds between these characters.
🧭 This story takes place after Horizon Forbidden West...
A swift arrow sailed through the tense air, hitting its mark squarely: the Thunderjaw's cannon, causing it to detach and, in turn, stopping it from firing.
"Take that!" the Sunhawk celebrated for her accurate shot, raising her bow. The entire audience turned toward her, impressed and surprised, but not as much as the two individuals who were risking it all on the battlefield. Suddenly, the Hawk of the Sun from Meridian's hunters' lodge had appeared among the spectators. It turned out that when she had analyzed the wall, she had discovered several ledges caused by its hasty construction, which had been perfect for her to climb to the top of the amphitheater without leaving her post. This was crucial for their escape. A hushed silence fell over the Sun Ring, allowing the two friends to communicate without any issues. The bullet that the beast was trying to fire at the king failed, punching a hole in the wall so that many rocks fell from their places, reaching the monarch who had huddled on the ground, protecting himself by covering his head with his hands. His action, albeit inadvertently, protected his head from the debris, but it also aggravated his previously fractured hand, causing him to cry out in pain. At least this gesture prevented his injury from being to the head. The cannon fell just inches from him, making him startle.
"Come on, Aloy, it's ours now!" Talanah exclaimed cheerfully.
"Talanah!" Aloy responded, surprised and very relieved by her friend's appearance. She had truly saved them.
"Did you think I'd miss a hunt of this level?" Talanah asked, grabbing three arrows from her quiver.
"Then let's do this!" Aloy replied. Thanks to the adrenaline and the excitement caused by her friend's sudden appearance, Aloy felt better. The pain from her wounds diminished significantly, giving her the strength to keep fighting. Now the tables had completely turned in their favor.
At this moment, their performance became a real spectacle: the members of the hunters' lodge fired arrows indiscriminately at the beast, which was already sparking, a clear sign that it would collapse soon. Nevertheless, it didn't give up and tried to charge at Aloy. She, sliding across the ground, fired a barrage of arrows at the blaze canisters beneath its belly. Aloy began to feel very fatigued, but there was very little left to defeat the machine. She would rest when she returned to the City of the Sun. Skillfully, the huntress ran across the sand toward the disc launcher that had fallen off minutes earlier, and she grabbed it firmly, emptying the entire clip into the Thunderjaw's face.
The beast fell to the ground, stunned for a few seconds due to the damage it had sustained in vulnerable areas, revealing one of its weak points. Aloy took this opportunity to plaster the machine with sticky bombs, which exploded as it tried to rise on its two legs, which were no longer moving fluidly. The imposing machine emitted numerous sparks, signaling that its time was about to end. The huntress ran toward the machine gun that had also come loose, using up all of its bullets to hit the data nexus. The Thunderjaw roared, very loudly, just as it received three precision arrows from Aloy in the eyes, marking the epic battle's final moments. The audience was astonished; there was not a single person in silence. Everyone applauded, drowning out the furious new leader of the Eclipse, who shouted in anger. Aloy turned just in time to see him shoot an arrow directly at the king.
"No!" she yelled as she saw the projectile pierce him, splattering some blood. The last thing Avad saw before everything faded was the Thunderjaw falling to the ground and a flaming mane approaching him, just as he felt a sharp pain under his left collarbone. He groaned in pain before collapsing. Aloy grabbed her Deathbringer and ran toward Avad while firing repeatedly at the ground. The shockwaves created large clouds of dust, accompanied by a few smoke bombs, obscuring them. At the same time, a large explosion blew up the wall leading outside and set the place on fire.
"KILL THEM!" The leader voice shouted. "NOW!".
Aloy carried Avad as best she could and ran, dodging the debris from the wall, to meet Talanah, who was waiting with the two Striders.
"Come on, Avad, hold on." she pleaded, terrified, thinking that the arrow might have pierced his heart "Please..."
"We need to get out of here!" the Sunhawk urged, helping her friend load the king onto the machine's back after returning her focus to her. Then, Aloy climbed on behind him, securing the device next to her ear, and encircled the Sun-King with her arms to prevent him from falling. "By the Sun!" she exclaimed, realizing how terrible his condition was. "He's been shot with an arrow," Talanah pointed out, worried.
"Our biggest problem is getting out of here alive! We'll deal with that after we're far away from here!" Aloy replied, camouflaging her fear with determination.
"Let's go!" Talanah shouted, hitting the mount's belly forcefully and accelerating into a gallop. A rain of arrows followed them, but fortunately, none of them were injured in the attack. The mounts did suffer some damage, but nothing that would slow down their escape.
"Hold on, Avad..." she whispered, filled with concern, holding him tightly "Please... you have to hold on."
They rode like the wind along the paths. Fortunately, none of the residents of Ocaso had the ability to follow them at that speed, so when they were at a safe distance, they felt secure. However, they did not slow down. This time, instead of heading south towards the Cernícalos Perch, they turned east to circumnavigate the lake. The last thing they wanted at that moment was more battles, so they would avoid crossing the waters because, apart from not wanting to encounter any Snapmaws, crossing the lake while carrying an injured and unconscious man was too complicated given their exhausted state. They halted a few kilometers further, after crossing a bridge pointing south. They reached a campfire, an ideal place to stop and tend to their wounds. The night had covered everything in darkness without them realizing it. The battle had been so intense that they had not taken any other features of their surroundings into account, and it was not until they arrived and sat by the fire that they realized it had gotten dark. Carefully, they dismounted the king from the machine and laid him on the ground. They needed to do something about the arrow that was stuck under his collarbone soon, before the wound worsened or the arrow penetrated deeper.
"By the Sun, that man had incredible aim, I can't believe he hit from the other end of the stadium. How awful!" Talanah exclaimed, surprised. "Ah... he looks really bad... Do you think... he'll survive?" she asked anxiously.
"I hope so, what a mess..." Aloy replied, rummaging through her backpack for healing herbs. "At least it didn't hit his head or chest," she added, concerned. The effects of the adrenaline had worn off. She felt exhausted and noticed how the blood dripping from her painful wounds soaked her clothes. Gently, she held his uninjured hand. "He's so cold..." she remarked. Aloy examined the king's wound. It didn't appear to be poisoned, so, very carefully, they immobilized the projectile in the wound using bandages and covered it with medicinal valley blush to ease his pain.
"I don't think it's too bad; it seemed like there's only blood, and its color and texture are normal." Talanah reassured her.
"Yes, I agree... and thank goodness for that because if it had been poisoned, we'd have even more problems, too many to deal with, in my opinion. I hope we can return to Meridian soon," Aloy said. They had run out of bandages because they had too many wounds to cover, so the Nora tore a strip from Avad's already tattered shirt to wrap her own bleeding arm, which was where most of her blood was coming from. Then they mounted the Striders again and rode towards the city on the mesa.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
