Journey to the Claim Pt. 3
The location of the attack on the Vanguard was still several days away, and deep within Oseram territory. Aloy had never been further than the mountain range just north of Pitchcliff, so she didn't know what to expect. All she knew was that she had to look for the ravine that Derrick had mentioned, which would lead them to the Vanguard and Erend's last known location.
The body that they had found on the road was brought to Pitchcliff for the people to bury. It turned out that the man — named Rosgrund, as they learned — was a skill forgeman, and was making weapons to help improve the outposts defensive capabilities in response to the machines getting worse. He would have his weapons tested on the local herds in the field by passing mercenary groups and then fitted along the walls, according to the Pitchcliff ealderman.
As the Oseram buried their fallen comrade, firebomb drinking style, Aloy pondered over this dilemma. It made sense that testing new weapons against so many machines would be the reason the man was targeted, but it was practically unheard of. Up until Daytower a week ago, she never believed the machines to have the aptitude to seek revenge for their fallen metal kin, but she supposed Hephaestus was the reason behind this development. All the more reason to find the AI as soon as possible.
They had crossed the northern mountains beyond Pitchcliff and delved further into Oseram territory. Aloy had never been this far before, so she treaded with strategic movements. She kept them to the hills on higher ground, her bow always ready, and always watching for machines. Of course they were unavoidable, but not all of them were looking to fight her and Vale.
About two days ago, they had found a Tallneck circling a large stone grey mesa in the middle of a mountain range. Vale had pointed it out, spurring Aloy into action. He stayed back as she climbed and hopped up the stone wall until she made it to the very top, where she was able to jump onto the machine's disk-shaped head without having to climb up it's neck. She overrode it's core control and downloaded their most precious asset in these new lands; a map.
Exploring the map with her Focus, Aloy was able to determine where the closest human settlement was. After overriding half a dozen Tallnecks in the past, Aloy was able to recognize the landmarks of human-made structures on the digital map, even though they were just tiny jumbled shapes. She could see all the roads and mountains and lakes and traced a path to their next destination.
Ironwood was a small fort town high up in the cold mountains. They had learned of it after passing by a heavily guarded Oseram caravan on their way to the south. The town was peaceful enough, and apparently the Vanguard's first stop when they marched out to deal with the machine threat. Aloy had hoped to get some sort of information here.
When they reach the gates — a large entrance made of wood and forged metal. Aloy can smell a hint of burning charcoal in the air, something she has come to associate with Free Heap. Their Strider mounts were left behind down the road and out of sight because Aloy didn't know how the people here were going to react to a tame machine, and most of the Oseram were builders, if not sellers. They might destroy their rides just to get the parts to work with.
Two guards clad in thick brown armour stare down at them as they approach. They're both holding weapons, heavy mauls that remind her of Erend's weapon, and their helmets are somewhat similar as well.
"Are you gonna stare at us all day or let us in?" Aloy shouts at them. The two guards jump and one of them shouts commands. A second later, the broad wooden doors open up for them, the hinges creaking under their heavy weight. A couple more men in armour are waiting on the other side.
"Do you know these people?" Vale asks with a curious quirk in his eyebrow.
"No, but I know the Oseram in general. Whoever has the loudest voice is the one that calls the shots," Aloy replies. In truth, she had been preparing herself for a lot of heated discussion. She once read a traveller's account to Oseram territory and recounted the ealdermen only responding when yelled at, to demand attention and command. The Oseram were a loud people. You had to raise your voice above all others to get your answer.
Inside the walls of the fort is a small community made up of round stone huts and big square stone structures. Aloy can identify a marketplace with its several merchant stalls of weapons, armour, food and other items to their right. The fort wrapped around the one side of the mountain, and on the other side of the fort was a big bridge that went over the gap to the next cliff, supported by a row of tall pillars of stone.
"Where are you two from?" a guard asks.
"From the south. We came here looking for the Vanguard. We heard that they had come through here," Aloy answers. The man snorts.
"You're looking for those pretty boys? Sorry lady, you're outta luck. They passed by about a week ago, headed for Mainspring."
"Except they didn't go to Mainspring. They went looking for a machine," Aloy corrects. "Did they stop here? Did anyone talk to them?"
"Erm, the captain had a word with the ealderman here. You can talk to him, if he even wants to talk to you." The guard points to the biggest building in town. It's situated down the centre of the road and off to the side, a big domed building with two chimneys billowing heavy smoke from their tops. There are banners flying on either side of the entrance with a symbol she's never seen before.
Aloy nods to the guard and starts making her way to the building. Vale follows without a word.
"He was… friendly," he says. She looks over and sees him giving the Oseram guard a dirty glare. It occurs to her that this was the first time meeting Oseram in their home territory, and she remembered reading the traveller's account on outsiders.
"You wanna know what the Oseram think about the Carja?" she replies. Vale gives his attention back to her and she says, "I couldn't repeat it, but it's not very nice. I think the idea of royalty doesn't run by well with the Oseram."
"Too be fair, I've never liked royalty either," Vale tells her. "But why remark their own tribespeople like that?"
"Jealousy. All the Oseram who moved to Meridian are doing pretty well for themselves, and the ealdermen don't like that. And I think there's still some tension from the Red Raids."
"Red Raids?"
Vale's tone of questioning stops her from moving.
"You don't know about the Red Raids? How the Carja took prisoners from all the tribes for blood sacrifice?" she asks. Vale looks at her like she has suddenly grown a third eye.
"No? Aloy, I live beyond a vast desert to the west. I doubt anyone bothered to cross it to look for people to kidnap."
Aloy nods and fidgets with her hair in embarrassment. Of course he wouldn't know the story of this land. He was a stranger here.
"Right. Sorry, I just thought everyone knew. I'll tell you some other time."
They continue their way to the ealderman's building in the centre of town. Aloy observes the structures and people as they walk. She hasn't been to new foreign lands in a long time and she takes in all the new sights and sounds that she can. It very much reminds her of Pitchcliff and Free Heap. There's the constant pounding of metal against metal and saws cutting wood; all the sounds one would associate with the forge. When they pass the marketplace, Aloy sees the armour stands and the armour that's mounted on them.
She doesn't recognize any machine plating on the armour. Everything is metal-shaped and strapped to brown or black leather, padded with thick fabric and came with a round helmet. Next to it, a giant square piece of iron and wood leans up against it. Aloy realizes it as a shield, but not like Vale's mechanized armament. These were simple and built with one purpose. They look heavy too. She imagines an army of men carrying shields like that. It would be like fighting a wall.
They come up to the path that leads to the ealderman's home and Aloy is about to mentally prepare herself for an exhaustive talk. But when she sees the lineup at the ealderman's door, she groans in irritation.
"There must be at least two dozen people in that lineup," Vale observes, which only serves to annoy her more when she sees that he's right.
"And I won't be able to cut ahead of the line this time, either. This could take a while," she says and turns to the mercenary. "You should go buy some supplies. I'll grab a spot in line and wait to talk to the ealderman."
"You sure?" he hesitantly expresses. When she gives him an affirmative nod, he gives the lineup one last look and lightly pats her on the back of her shoulder. "Good luck."
He steps away and leaves for the entrance and Aloy quickly takes her place at the back of the lineup before anyone else can step in. She knows it will be a while before she can get a chance to ask the ealderman about Erend, by nightfall even. But she's come a long way and any chance to discover what happened to her dear friend she was going to take.
It's just a big lineup of people. How boring can it get? She thinks to herself.
… … …
Hours later, she's just about ready to pull her hair out of their roots.
The line has barely moved. Only two people have been in and out of the ealderman's building and more people have taken their place behind her. The hammering of the forges has given her a splitting headache and it's gotten dark out. Torches and lanterns have been lit all around the town and they give the buildings dark shadows where people start to disappear into as they retreat to their homes. The air has cooled, making Aloy shiver unceasingly. She's a little more than grumpy.
Vale never returned. She supposed he was with their Striders, making camp somewhere around the outskirts of Ironwood. His company would have been nice, instead of the bickering people around her. But long ago she realized she couldn't retrieve him. She couldn't leave her spot in line to find him or send him a message with her Focus. She was alone surrounded by whole community of people and the irony of it made her feel miserable.
She's brooding so deeply in her own thoughts that she almost doesn't hear the screams and shouts coming from far away. The people in the line around her rise up in whispers and shouts as Aloy gets a hold of her bearings and looks around her. She hears the clanging of metal armour as a few town guards run by towards the gate that leads to the bridge.
Then she hears the most distinguishable sound she's ever heard; a machine cry.
More specifically, a Glinthawk's cry.
All concern about her place in the lineup leaves her in a snap as she drops into a run towards the gate. Men are situated in the towers above with bows in hand and the glow of flame-tipped arrows with them, poised to fire. A few guards huddle behind the gate, some of them holding duplicates of the square shield she saw in the market earlier.
"…Protect the caravan at all costs. We can't lose that metal!" one of them was shouting. Aloy is thankful she didn't abandon her old bow and arrows with her Strider. She grabs her bow from her back and joins them.
"What are you doing, girl? Go find a place to hide!" a guard bellows at her.
"I'm a hunter. I can fight!" she responds, two arrows already on the bowstring. "Let me join you."
The guard shakes his head. "Fine, but it's your own hide you're risking." He pounds his hammer against his shield to rally up his fellow troops. "Open the gates!"
A large wooden bar is lifted and the gates are pushed open to reveal the bridge. In the middle of it sit two big carts with piles of metal material in them. A few men already surround the caravan, although they're not wearing armour and some of them don't even have weapons in hand. They aren't warriors and they're in danger. It's her first thought to rush out there and defend them, but then a Glinthawk swoops by and she sees a problem.
Glinthawk are everywhere. She can't count how many there are because they're all flittering about in a flurry, trying to snatch the precious metal junk. It must look like a treasure trove to them, because they're greedily taking whatever they can. Metal pieces already litter the ground from fallen machines.
Aloy goes to work, timing her arrows to strike her targets with ease. As the flaming arrows catch the machines on fire, they plummet down into the rocks below. Some of them never come back up, but it's hard to see the tide of the battle turning at first because there's so many of them.
Aloy ducks and rolls when a Glinthawk dives out of the sky towards her. She doesn't dare advance any further without the guards and their shields. Thinking about that makes her wish Vale was here right now. She didn't realize how much of a great tool it was until she didn't have it.
But the unit of town guards move with their own haste and Aloy shoots down as many flying scavengers as she can before they manage to form a protective barrier around the caravans. Those who can't fight hide under the carts as the guards protect them with their shields. Aloy continues her assault and catches sight of one of the men attending the caravan. She can tell he's not a guard because all he wears is a white plain sleeveless shirt covered in grime and dirt and dark slacks. There's a black marking on his shoulder and a maul in his hand. She can recognize his face instantly and it brings back so many memories and emotions that she halts in her tracks.
"Olin?"
The man's bushy eyebrows rise on his forehead. "Aloy! What are you doing here?"
She points to the carts. "Find some cover! I'll deal with these machines."
She doesn't know why protecting him is the first thing that comes to mind for her, but she remembers that the reason he was still alive was he had a family, and they had fought together to rescue them once.
"No! Not while I hold steel in my hands," he shouts. To further prove his capability, he turns and finds a Glinthawk swoop in and smashes it into the ground with his heavy weapon. He hits it once more while it's on the ground and that stops it from moving.
Aloy spares herself the argument. She knows Olin isn't a true fighter, but his willingness to go into battle back when they rescued his family showed a good chunk of his bravery. He could handle his own.
Some Glinthawks attempt to snag a handful of metal from the pile and take off, but Aloy shoots them down before they can get very far. The loot they grab drops to the ground and scatter all over the place. Some of the caravan caretakers run out to recover the stolen metal and hide it with them under the cart to make sure none of the other scavengers pick up the loose scraps.
Aloy aims for a Glinthawk, but a bolt strikes it in the back. It clips the bridge railing before falling into the valley below, screeching as it goes. Aloy looks around for the source of the attack and is relieved to find Vale emerging from the gates to town, his shield cannon raised. He fires two more shots and downs two more machines. When a Glinthawk dives towards him with talons primed, he swings his shield and bashes the machine to the side and shoots it in the head.
"I'm gone for a few hours and this is what you get into?" he exclaims.
"Oh sorry. I have a habit of saving lives! Help me out!" she cries as she shoots down another flying machine. She can see another flock of Glinthawks making their way towards them from the mountain on the road ahead, about four of them.
"You forgot this," Vale hands her her new bow and the new quiver of the arrows she had crafted. "Figured you'd want it."
"Thanks," she grabs her new weapon and fastens the quiver to her belt quickly while Vale hovers over her with his shield. When she's ready, she sets a metal arrow on the bowstring. She pulls the tough weapon back until she can feel the bowstring hold and aims at one of the incoming Glinthawks. The machine is flying right towards her, lined up perfectly in the weapon's sights. In the blink of an eye, the arrows nails the machine square in the head, shattering the head plate and extinguishing the light in the machine's eyes instantly. It crashes into the side of the bridge and plummets into the dark unknown.
As the rest of the machines swarm them, the town guard work on escorting the caravan attendees across the bridge to the gates for safety. Their shields protect them for the most part, and they move in pairs to protect one worker at a time.
"We got Scrappers!" someone yells. Aloy looks across the bridge and sees a pack of small machines running towards them.
"They must be after the scrap metal too. Vale!" she shouts.
"I'm here!" he responds, right behind her. She grabs her spear.
"Let's deal with those Scrappers," she urges. Vale responds by grabbing his hammer from his back and they both charge side by side to meet the wave of new machines. As much as she wanted to use her new bow some more, using such a heavy weapon in a fast-paced battle was a poor choice, and the town guards seem capable of taking care of the Glinthawks. Most of their arrows find their mark and the flying machines are falling to the ground in burning wrecks.
Aloy jumps back as a Scrapper lunges for her and she plunges her spear deep in its side, a precision strike that fells the machine. She hears a scream and looks up.
A Glinthawk has snatched one of the workers that the guards are trying to get across the bridge. It's struck from above, grabbing the man by the arms with its talons. It rises into the air with ease and flies out over the dark valley.
"No!" Olin shouts, knowing what it is about to happen. The machine's claws unclamp from the man's arms and let him fall into the rocks below.
Vale acts quickly. He whips up a lasso in mere seconds and tosses it over the bridge's edge. The rope snares around the man's waist almost perfectly, but Vale is dragged right to the edge and grabs the railing with his free hand to stop himself from falling over. The Glinthawk chirps angrily and swoops in on Vale while he's unable to move.
It's wing explodes into pieces from one of Aloy's metal arrows, having enough time to draw her bow and fire. She quickly puts it away and rushes to Vale, grabbing the rope and helping him pull the man up to the bridge. Some of the town guards focus their attention on the Scrappers, which is a much easier opponent for them to deal with. On the ground, the Scrappers have no way to deal with the guard's heavy shields and are smashed to pieces with hammers.
When they finish pulling the worker over the railing, the last of the machines have been dealt with and the Oseram warriors bellow out in victorious cheer.
"You two… were a great help," Olin pants. "Aloy, I never imagined I would see you again."
"Neither did I, Olin," the huntress admits. "I'm… glad you're doing well."
"I'm doing more than well, thanks to you. And my family is safe," Olin looks around and cautiously says to her, "Did you ever find your mother?"
"Mother?" Vale speaks suddenly, standing right beside her. Aloy feels her face go hot and she shakes her head quickly, the pressure and attention overwhelming.
"We can talk about that later! I'm here for other reasons," she says quickly. Olin stares at her with an apologetic purse of his lips and a nod.
"Then what did you come to the Claim for?"
"Erend. He and his Vanguard came through here. I was hoping to talk to the ealderman to see what he knew about them," she tells him. The Oseram delver nods in understanding.
"Ah, ealderman Haverd. He's a busy man, but I know him personally. I can get you a chance to talk to him if you wish."
Aloy is surprised by the sudden offer. "Really? You can do that for me?"
"Of course. If I recall, I owe my life to you, girl!"
"And if I recall correctly, I remember telling you that you don't owe me anything. But… if you can get me an audience with the town ealderman, I guess I won't mind."
She smiles, and Olin returns the gesture.
"Very good. We'll get this cleaned up. You can meet me in front of the ealderman's home. I'll wait for you there."
The man leaves to attend the mess around the caravan as the workers return to clean up the metal. Aloy takes a step back toward the town before she feels a hand grasp her shoulder.
"What was that about?" Vale asks. She's frozen again, hesitating to tell him of this very personal secret. She gently pushes his hand away and turns back to him.
"That's… a story for another time. I'm sorry," she replies, and starts making her way back towards town. Looks like she'd be cutting ahead of that line after all.
Some Oseram world-building again and the next chapter has more, including new machines! What could they be?!