A gentle breeze blew through the valley outside the gates of Mother's Heart. The travelers from Meridian had gotten an early start on their trip home and were making their way through the Embrace. Despite their hangovers, there was no sleeping through the celebrations that rang through the village as the youth left to ascend the mountain for the Proving. People cheering, drummers drumming, and singers singing. Erend had awoken with a dull headache and a miserable groan, remembering how he, Bash, and a freshly-bathed Gil had stayed up into the wee hours, drinking until the taste of the ale no longer mattered. The two of them were equally displeased to be awake, but Olin urged them to rise and get on their way. Olin had been rather impatient to leave as they ate a plain breakfast of bread and cheese and gathered their things.
The food and fresh air were working to dispel Erend's dull headache. He closed his eyes for a moment to breathe in the rich air. It smelled... lush, healthy - like wet earth and greenery after a fresh rain. The morning dew still hung thick upon the grass. The air here was nothing like the dry desert air in Meridian, which would caress your cheek one minute, and whip sand in your eyes the next. Like a vengeful mistress.
He opened his eyes and scanned the countryside, looking for machines and relishing the abundance of plant life. The ground was covered in thick green grass, with patches of a taller red variety. Trees were scattered here and there in the meadow, with forests at the borders. In Meridian, the ground was mostly dust and dirt, with the occasional hardy tree or bush. There, the cactus was king, and the landscape was littered with them.
Erend wished they didn't have to leave so early that morning, but Avad had instructed him to make their visit brief. Tensions were still high between the Nora and the Sundom, and the Sun-King needed all the protection he could get from those who opposed his rule. Further shortening their trip was the extra time it took them to reach the Sacred Lands. The delegation had intended to arrive two days earlier, but a pack of scrappers had injured Gil in battle, and later, they had to make a wide, arcing detour to avoid a pair of sawtooths. The Nora would be busy with the Proving today, anyway, their celebrations lasting into the night and even the following day.
"Take a good look, Erend," Olin said from the head of the group. "We won't be seeing foliage like this for a while, once we get back to Meridian."
"I know, Olin; it's a shame. I was starting to get used to plants that don't make me itchy, or stab me with needles."
Reverent Irid spoke up. "Every tree, bush, and flower under the Sun has a purpose, whether we can see it or not."
Erend mumbled a curse about cactus under his breath.
Bash heard him. "You only hate cactus because you keep crashing into them in battle. I keep telling you to pay more attention to your surroundings."
"So you're telling me you pay as much attention to the damned plants on the ground as you do to the machines tryin' to kill you?" Gil asked.
"Of course not. I may not be staring at the ground while a longleg is trying to ram me, but you don't see me sitting around the campfire picking needles out of my legs, do you?"
Erend and Gil both glared at him, but kept quiet. They had both learned arguing with Bash was pointless; he was pretty much always right, and could manipulate any conversation to his advantage. His intelligence could be annoying.
Erend glanced back at Mother's Heart as it slowly shrank into the distance. Vivid memories of their brief stay bubbled up in his mind. His first disappointing look at the village as the disgruntled guards opened the gates. Talking to Matriarch Teersa, the only welcoming elder in the village. Rescuing Irid from a hail of tomatoes. Meeting the outcast Aloy, learning of her difficult childhood and her determination to win the Proving. Something stood out about her. Was it her fiery hair, the freckles crossing the bridge of her nose, her bright green eyes? Her small, lean body? As much as Erend was beguiled by her physical appearance, it was her mind that left him with the feeling he had been intoxicated by more than just the ale in her presence.
She spoke bluntly and was openly opposed to several Nora customs. The Nora religion seemed like absolute balderdash. Children's stories. Their deity was a mountain, or something, which they were instructed to never leave. What good would that do? Isolated communities could survive, as the Nora clearly had, but they were missing out on trade and sorely underdeveloped. Compared to the quality of life and basic amenities that the people of Meridian enjoyed, the Nora were poor savages.
Maybe that's why he had taken such a strong liking to Aloy. Being outcast all her life had certainly given her a healthy skepticism of Nora ways. Erend saw her as an equal among a tribe of dullards. It would be a huge shame if she never made it to Meridian, not just to see him, but to experience what life could be like in the civilized world. He hoped he had given her enough of a glimpse of it to make her want to visit, if the opportunity ever arose.
He stared at his boots as he walked, feeling morose. It was likely he would never see her again. What was she doing right now? Was she still battling for first place, or was the Proving over? A well opened in his heart, a hole of an unfulfilled wish to see her succeed. He would probably never know. He and his men were the first to visit the Nora from Meridian in years, and the Nora never left the Sacred Land.
A strange sound echoed down through the valley. Erend turned back toward the distant gates and looked up at the mountain. Smoke rose in curling pillows through the air. A brief flash of light signaled the next explosion; the sound came rolling down the mountainside as more smoke rose in the air.
His boots were already thumping the ground as he snarled a command. "The Nora are under attack! Gil, stay here and protect Irid. Olin, Bash, back to the gate!"
His men followed, but they had traveled a decent distance back through the Embrace, and it took them ten minutes to reach the base of the mountain again. None of them spoke as they ran. Bash ran ahead, his feet light, while Erend and Olin pounded the dirt behind him, struggling to regulate their breathing. Erend's fears circled and swooped like glinthawks in his mind. Who was attacking the Nora? Could they defend themselves? Was Aloy alive?
To his dismay, the gates were closed.
As they approached, breathing hard from the run, two Nora guards posted high up on the wooden wall drew arrows and aimed in their direction. Erend raised his hands. He could hear frantic Nora running on the other side of the gate. It was chaos. The guards seemed to be waiting for instruction; their leader was preoccupied with the situation on the mountain above. Erend spoke. "Please, let us back in! Whoever is attacking you, we can help!"
"Silence, outsider!" shouted one of the guards, a grizzled old brave. "We should never have let you into the Sacred Lands in the first place. All-Mother is outraged!"
"I swear we -" the feathery whiff of an arrow silenced Erend's tongue as he flinched in reflex.
"The next arrow will not miss, Oseram. Leave this place." The guard turned to speak with another male brave who had approached him on the wall.
The younger newcomer spoke, his face grim. "We cannot allow outsiders to wander free in the Embrace while we are under attack, Dorn. Ginn and Mace will escort these people to the main gates." His gaze as he turned to Erend's party was sharp, unfriendly. Behind him, high on the mountain, smoke rose steadily into the sky. The sounds of panic continued - erratic spurts of running feet, crying children, shouting. Erend could practically smell the fear. The young brave turned to give orders to his men below.
Erend turned to Olin. "There has to be something we can do...!"
Olin lifted his hands in a gesture of helplessness. If the Nora wouldn't let them in, what could they do?
Erend addressed them imploringly. "Please - we can help. We came here to forge a new relationship with the Nora -"
The man held up a hand. "Enough. The Nora will handle our own problems." He disappeared below the top of the gate wall.
"Fffffuck!" Erend spat. His fingers clenched into fists as he loosed a gamut of curses and swung his greathammer into the ground, where it stuck, pointy end in the earth, his heart hammering away. Where was Aloy? What was happening up on the mountain? Who was attacking, and could the Nora repel them? Thoughts fought for dominance in his mind, rising to the surface, only to be replaced by another. It was maddening to be so close to the battle that was taking place, yet powerless to participate. Here he was, one of the best soldiers in Meridian in the protective service of the king, being kicked away like a mangy dog.
He considered forcing his way through the gate when the men assigned to escort him came through it, but realized that would only do further damage to the relationship that he was supposed to be forging with the Nora. Great job he'd done so far. In a moment of inspiration, he rummaged in his pack.
The older Nora, Dorn, stood there with the two younger braves assigned to escort them.
"We have spare medical supplies," he said to Dorn. The old Nora looked apprehensive. "Here, take them," he insisted, pushing bundles of medicinal herbs and bottles of potions into Dorn's hands. "If you won't allow us to defend you with our lives, at least use these to heal your wounded. Please!"
Dorn relented. "If you insist," he said, accepting the gift. "Thank you. Now go. Ginn and Mace here will escort you to the main gates."
The two younger Nora eyed the group they were to escort. Their expressions made it clear they would rather have remained at their posts. Erend couldn't blame them. He would have wanted to be closer to the action, too. Any chance to affect the outcome of the situation was preferable to none. The gates closed and the two young men strode forward in silence to lead the men away from Mother's Heart.
The Nora set a manageable but hurried pace, making sure the outlanders could keep up with them. Eventually, they reunited with Gil and Irid.
"What is happening on the mountain?" Irid asked Erend in a quiet voice so the Nora would not overhear them. Gil slacked his pace ahead and fell in with the two of them to hear Erend's reply.
"We don't know. I think the Proving was attacked, but they wouldn't tell us anything. One of the guards blamed us."
Gil spoke. "They think we brought the attackers with us."
Erend shook his head. "Actually, they think we pissed off All-Mother by stepping foot on their sacred land. They think their own goddess brought this upon them."
"It's not uncommon for a deity to smite their followers for their transgressions," Irid said. "The Sun can not only warm our tired bones, but also burn us."
Erend waved Irid's musings away. Religion didn't interest him. "Regardless, they wouldn't accept our help. Sent us packing. Obviously." His sour expression was smoldering with frustration and worry. "Let's just get our asses home. The Sun-King is waiting for us."
The group continued on toward the main gates in silence.
After passing through the main gate and leaving their Nora escorts behind, the delegation from Meridian pressed onward until they reached Daytower. The stone fortress, elevated on the cusp of a low mountain in the middle of a pass, marked the eastern edge of Carja territory. Shadows grew long as the sun began to slowly sink into the west. Although the fortress had no rooms for rent, travelers were permitted to sleep around one of several campfires inside the gates.
Olin, Gilgrund, and Reverent Irid settled down beside a fire to rest while Bashir left to hunt for their dinner. Erend climbed the stone steps to the small market and kept going until he reached the top, where soldiers stood watch over the land on both sides of the fortress. The man he was looking for, a man of average height with long black hair and a round face, was standing with a soldier on a covered balcony overlooking the western side. The soldier spotted Erend; his companion noticed his gaze and followed it.
"Erend! Good to see you again."
"Captain Balahn. How's it going?"
The man shrugged. "The usual. Not many travelers these days. The roads are getting too dangerous. Machines all over the place." He motioned for Erend to follow him and began a casual stroll around the area, leaving the soldier standing guard at his post. "I didn't expect you to come back through Daytower so soon. Did everything go okay with the Nora?"
"Things went about as well as we expected. The matriarchs managed to keep their people from mobbing us, and one of them seems legitimately interested in repairing our relationship. It's going to take a lot of work to establish trust, but I think we can eventually open up a trading route with the Nora. They could certainly use it. Have you seen their villages?"
"No. I've never been inside their gates."
"Let's just say they get by with the basics. Their buildings are basically logs strapped together with machine cording and not much else. No running water or plumbing. I wouldn't expect that at an outpost like this," he said, indicating Daytower, "but you know it's everywhere in Meridian. They could learn a lot from us, if they're willing."
"I wonder. Would they see it as a blessing, or a curse? They shun everything from the metal world and anything that appears to be advanced."
Erend shrugged. "Hard to tell with that lot. My gut says they would reject it. You know what else they rejected? Our help. Did you see the smoke rising from All-Mother mountain this morning?"
"We did. What happened?"
"I think their rite of passage was attacked. We were more than halfway back to the main gate when we heard an explosion and saw the smoke. Ran all the way back to Mother's Heart just to be turned away and told the Nora would deal with their own problems."
Balahn stopped walking. "The Proving was attacked? By whom?"
"We don't know. They wouldn't tell us a thing, but the Nora in the village didn't know anything more than we did anyway."
Balahn rubbed his chin. "It could be bandits. Their presence seems to be growing. I wish I had the men to snuff them out, but we barely have enough to defend the tower. They usually prey on lone travelers, or small groups of them. If they have enough people to attack the Nora, then the bandit tribes might be working together - and that's a huge problem. For everybody."
Erend looked at his old friend. "I know. They should have let us help! They would barely accept the medicine I shoved into their hands. Who knows how many could be wounded or dead..." Aloy's face appeared in his mind, her expression open, her eyes curious and imploring. His heart sank for her. To live your whole life as an outcast, only to perish during the ritual that would make you part of the tribe... It would be a cruel fate.
Captain Balahn looked to the east, toward Nora territory, then back at his friend, shaking his head. He was noticeably discouraged. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault they're a tribe of stubborn old hags." Erend crossed his arms and started walking again. Balahn followed. "Part of me thinks we should just storm in there together and install some intelligent leadership. Free them from the rule of those who are holding their people back. I know their matriarchs are nothing close to Jiran, but those people are living in squalor and ignorance. It's pathetic."
"I didn't realize it was that bad. Is there really that big of a difference between their villages and Meridian?"
"Night and day, Cap. Night and day."
"That's a shame. But it's not for us to decide how others live their lives."
"I know. But it feels like they should at least be given a choice, you know? These people don't even know there is another option, another kind of life. How would they know? They don't leave the Sacred Lands their entire lives!"
"That is pretty bad," Balahn agreed. "Turning a complete blind eye to the rest of the world and what's out there because your religion says 'stay here.'"
"I just... wish there was something more I could do." Erend scratched the back of his head. "I spoke to this redhead girl. She grew up an outcast but was going to run in the Proving for a chance to join the tribe. I just spoke to her last night, and I don't even know what happened to her."
"Let's hope her goddess was watching over her."
"She didn't... seem to really... believe in the goddess."
Balahn looked shocked. He had never heard of a Nora who did not believe in All-Mother.
"I'm telling you. She was very perceptive and intelligent. This girl knew the matriarchs were full of brainwashing nonsense and wasn't afraid to tell me she thought some of their rules were dung. I hope she didn't live a life of isolation only to die the day she tried to join the tribe. I really... hope she's okay." He turned from his friend to look out at the sunset in an effort to hide his glistening eyes.
"You and I both know the Nora never come out here, but if I hear any news at all, I'll send word to Meridian. I promise."