Army of the North Pt. 3

The northern land that lay beyond the Central Kingdom was a long, wide range of mountainous terrain and tall, stiff pine trees.

It made for a beautiful landscape. Huge cracks in the slopes and the melting runoff from the mountain created rivers and ravines that dropped in huge waterfalls into gorges below. Man-made paths were built into the side of the mountains that ran under cliffs and through tunnels, behind the walls of water that flowed eternally. A mist rose from the crash of water, making everything damp. But the road is made mostly of rock and stones and allows water to flow freely in between the empty spaces.

Where they wander now is right under one of the biggest waterfalls they have come across so far. The naturally formed overhanging cliff is so large a Deathbringer could have marched through there, and trees and grass have found there place underneath here. It's a breathtaking sight, a natural wonder.

But at the moment, Aloy hardly felt anything but wonder.

"Vale, can I…?"

"No."

"But I just—"

"Stop."

"…But can we just…"

"Aloy!" Vale finally snaps and stops to face her. "What happened back there is not your fault. There's no way we could have predicted what was gonna happen."

"But they'll be looking for you," she exclaims. "They'll reinstate the bounty on your head. They'll probably raise it!"

Vale sighs. After the Tallneck had walked through the city and escaped its confinement, where people had gone to honour it and worship the gentle machine, Aloy had this cloud of guilt following her around and she couldn't get rid of it. They had just learned that the Central Kingdom had announced a warrant for Vale's capture, and his ally Chesser had eliminated it just before allowing them to see the Tallneck up close. There was no doubt in her mind that people would link their visit and the Tallneck's escape together and be searching for them to get answers. Or arrest them for the destruction of a temple and some property damage.

And the border wall. How could they forget how the Tallneck blasted the wall apart? And with a function that nobody in the world had ever seen before?

"We just need to avoid Central for a while. Once they calm down, I'm sure it will be fine," Vale says before continuing down the path. Aloy isn't satisfied with that answer. She knew Vale was annoyed with this inconvenience. That his own people would be looking for him. And it was her fault. If she hadn't trifled with the machine, things would have been fine.

She runs to catch up with him. "I still feel terrible about it."

"Well forget about it. Why don't you use the data you got and try to figure out where we're going?"

Aloy does as he says because there's not much else for her to do and dives into her Focus, pulling up her file of maps she had gathered from previous Tallnecks. What amazed her about this new map was how accurate it was despite the Tallneck being still for so long. She was worried that the map would be outdated. But then Aloy remembered how the Tallneck in the Cut has provided her with the latest terrain data after being frozen for years, and it was because of all the new data it had received from machines had yet to up uploaded to the old map. Once she had revived that machine, it had downloaded the data and provided her with up to date information, including the bandit clan that had settled in Stone Yield. This new data was no different.

But now she had a new entry to upload to the map legend: human convoys. The Northern kingdom would be patrolling its land, and Aloy and Vale had to avoid them to prevent conflict and starting a war. They could be marked on the map through the eyes of machines, which was then sent back to the Tallneck and recorded. And because Aloy had access to that data, she could see every human sighting within the given area. They would probably have to find another Tallneck at some point to reveal more of the map, but for now they had to work with what they had.

The location of the collapsed Spire was here in the mountains in North territory. Aloy relied on Vale to show her the way, since he knew the land better. The mountain passes were dangerous as they were beautiful – if they were caught in a storm, they would be delayed, and according to Vale the danger would be worse the further they went. The mountains would become cold, and avalanches were a risk in the unstable slopes. Nothing would be easy about this journey.

"Strange," Vale muses, stopping near a cliff along the path just before it bends around the corner. He peers over the edge cautiously and Aloy joins him. At the bottom of the ravine is only water and darkness, but the water flows further downstream and down the mountain.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"There's normally a waterfall right here."

"Maybe it froze up?" she proposes, but Vale shakes his head.

"No, we're not high enough yet. This isn't right…"

"Did you wanna check it out?"

"No. There's no quick path up there, and we got more important issues anyway," Vale replies and continues walking. Aloy is surprised. A disappearing waterfall sounded like a big issue, especially in a world where big changes were happening. She made a mental note to investigate it later, if they had the time.

She continues to look through the map on her Focus and comes across a blockade. On their current path, they were due to run into some patrols at the bottom of the mountain path. Judging by the distance, she estimated that they would reach them in a hour, which didn't give them a lot of time. The terrain was hardly good enough for an ambush, and to turn around now and find another path would waste precious time.

"There's a patrol of Northern soldiers ahead," she tells him. "Is there a way around them?"

"Along this road? No," Vale plants his hands on his hips and curses quietly. "And they will likely be guarding the road to intercept travellers. Merchants like to use this route because not a lot of machines occupy it."

It was true. The only machines Aloy had seen were Glinthawks in the sky above, too far for them to be detected. And there were Snapmaws in the rivers below. Aloy swore she saw another kind of machine down there as well, lurking in the deep water, but her Focus couldn't pick it up at such a far range. Any chance of running into machines would be Shell Walker or Behemoth convoys, which they had yet to come across.

"Are there any bridges or caves we can go through?" she asks.

"No, no bridges, but… wait," he snaps excitedly and turns to her. "There might be a way. I think there's a Cauldron here."

Aloy's eyes widen. "A Cauldron? Are you sure?"

"I'm certain. They're big triangular doors, right? A few Watchers guard the entrance. It's hidden in a crevice down the road," Vale explains.

"Cauldrons are usually hidden in mountains. It might be worth our time to explore it, if it'll allow me to override machines I've never seen before," Aloy ponders, nodding her head. "Show me where the entrance is. I can get us in there."

"Right. Follow me."

The trail starts to steep downhill and Aloy keeps her constricted bow in her hand, a metal bow taut on the bowstring ready to fire. She suspected that the Cauldron would be guarded by more than just Watchers. In fact if it was anything like the last time they tried to enter one, they would be facing a small force.

But as always they were prepared, and better equipped than last time. Aloy was eager to put her bow to use, having put some weave mods on its that increased its power and handling. It was much like her powershot bow; it already had the power and accuracy. She had been able to craft a new kind of arrow as well, something that could punch through the machine metal hides.

Vale had shown her when they camped out last night. Fire arrows were easy to make; they required a roll of linen and a bit of blaze. But the metal arrows offered a chance to really put the storm into the fire. Vale showed her how to make a flare – which required a sparker and some blaze, and a unique little metal vessel in the shape of a small cylinder with a vented lid on it. When he ignited the blaze with the sparker, the flames and heat escaped out the of the lid, bright enough to light up the area. Aloy watched in awe as the little vessel turned red from the heat and promptly melted into a puddle of molten metal.

Then he showed her how to apply this new tactic to her arrows. With the ventilation pointed towards the arrowhead, he wrapped the flare to the metal arrow shaft with wire. She could ignite the blaze by scraping the tip on her brace just like her normal fire arrows, but this flame was more lethal. It could burn through anything and do twice as much damage. Aloy was looking forward to seeing what it could do.

A large cavern appeared on the road not half an hour of walking later. There were still no signs of any Northern troops, but neither of them wanted to risk peaking ahead and they delved into the cave.

Aloy could see blue lights as soon as they entered. Around the bend, flashes of blue wave around the cave walls. The air was humid and water dripped down the walls of the cavern, reflecting the light of the machines. Out of the corner of her eyes they twinkled and played with Aloy's senses. She was really starting to hate caves.

The two hunters peek around the corner and find what they're facing against; Watchers and four other kinds of machines she's never seen before.

"Redeye models," Vale whispers, the light on his Focus on. "And Nightcrawlers."

Nightcrawlers? Aloy peers over his shoulder and finds the machine that he's speaking of. A large body consisting of six legs walks around with two large components on its sides. Aloy gives it a quick scan with her a Focus and finds a battery cell on its underside. It's a little bigger than a Charger and there are four of them guarding the entrance to the Cauldron door, which is a small triangular door on the other side of the machines.

"Good thing I have my shield," Vale says and looks up at Aloy. "Ever fight a Nightcrawler before?" She shakes her head. "Stay behind me and wait for an opening. If we get our timing right we can take 'em down fast."

"I'm right behind you," Aloy whispers, her hands tight on her bow. Vale grabs his helmet and holds his shield forward.

Aloy shoots the Watchers in the eyes to kick things off, and they're down before the Nightcrawlers can spur into action. The huntress stays behind Vale as they advance forward. One of the machines raises the components on its sides and shoots.

But it's not like any missile Aloy has ever seen. A wad of some strange substance splatters on Vale's shield as he blocks it. It glows an eerie orange colour, and a thick line attaches it to the machine. Vale struggles as the machine pulls on the line with its pointed legs, dragging him closer.

"Aloy, take the shot!" he exclaims. She finds a place to strike in the machine's eye, destroying one lens with a metal arrow. The machine doesn't fall but it snaps the line and stumbles back.

Vale is tackled from the side as one of the machines jumps at him. He rolls back and kicks the machine off, rolling back up onto his feet and bringing his hammer weapon down on the machine's head, splitting it into pieces. Aloy sidesteps quickly as another machine spits its weird sticky substance at her and shoots her bow, landing an arrow in one of its legs. The machines jumps at her with legs spread wide, leaving the battery cell underneath exposed. She slides underneath it while firing an arrow and lands her shot perfectly, killing the machine with a single arrow.

Two more machines remain. Vale blocks a gob from the same projectile from one of the machines with his shield, performing a spin while whipping out his rope. The line flashes bright blue with electricity as he tosses it out, ensuring two of the machine's legs together. He gives the line a vicious yank and pulls the machine closer towards him, within striking distance and smashes its body with his hammer.

Aloy turns to face the last Nightcrawler, but she exchanges her bow for her spear instead. The machine spits at her but she jumps away and charges at the machine. The Nightcrawler lunges at her, but Aloy finds an elevated stone to jump off of and flies over the machine. She then twirls her spear and jabs the sharp end into its backside, twisting it and ripping apart wires. The machine jolts and jumps back as sparks fly from its body. She grabs a javelin from the stash on her back and throws it, nailing the machine right in the face. The tip of the weapon bursts into a cloud of icy mist and covers the machine's face with ice. Aloy quickly grabs her bow and fires a metal arrow while it's stunned. The arrow shatters the machine's metal head, practically making it explode on impact into a cloud of mist and metal dust. The last machine collapses to the ground in a shower of sparks, bringing them under darkness once again except for the faint glow of the door's electronic node.

"Let's see what this door is all about, shall we?" Aloy says as she reaches for her spear. Vale meets her at the door, looking up at it with hard concern.

"It doesn't look as big at the other ones…"

"It's a back door. The main entrance is probably somewhere else," she replies factually and casually puts her spear up against the node. As soon as the door opens, they both enter carefully with their weapons drawn.

A long corridor draws out in a slight bend. At the end is another door which reveals a large room where floating handling crates weave in a line and disappear behind a light wall. There are no other exits.

"I bet those crates go somewhere," Aloy says. "Let me see if I can get that shield down."

She searches for a node to hack, finding one along the far wall where the crates hover to. The node takes the shield down but leaves them without a way to reach the crates that hover well out of their reach.

"We can climb the wall there," Vale points to some odd round ledges on the wall that look perfect for climbing. Aloy traces the path with her eyes and follows it up the wall and across the ceiling where they can jump on top of the crates. She starts climbing, and within minutes she finds herself swinging onto the floating metal boxes, with Vale finding a way to pull himself up with his rope.

"These crates must go somewhere," Aloy mutters under her breath.

"These crates are full of something, some kind of liquid I've never seen before," Vale mentions, looking down at the crate with his Focus.

"It won't remain a mystery for long. The Cauldron probably uses it for something," she responds. The tunnel they drift through is long and narrow, forcing them to duck their heads. Blue panels of light brighten the tunnel for them, but there is is black metal walls and wire that snake down the sides. They fly for maybe ten minutes before Aloy spots a yellow light at the end of the tunnel.

The larger body of the Cauldron is revealed. Much like Cauldron Sigma, an enormous tunnel circles around the mountain's centre. A myriad of moving machine arms, components and crates can be seen throughout the foundry floor, and a few machines patrol the winding routes. The odd thing that looks out of place are the large pools of bright blue liquid all around. A large machine with three metal prongs dips into the pools and pulls back out. The machine has several large tubes and lines hooked into the back of it filled with the same blue substance that flows into the wall out of sight, further into the Cauldron.

"Is that chillwater?" Aloy asks.

"I'm not sure," Vale replies and catches the worried look she has giving. "Is that normal?"

"I definitely haven't seen that anywhere else. Cauldron Epsilon had something similar, but it didn't lead to anything good." She looks ahead of their path and finds the crates entering a large room and docking against the bay, meaning their trip was about to come to an end. When they stop at the docks, they jump off and escape past the large autonomous machines that pull the crates apart to reveal the contents inside. Tubes of the same blue liquid are stacked together neatly and are carefully pulled from the crate and emptied into a trough. Upon closer inspection, Aloy discovers that the liquid is hot. Extremely so, and she backs away from it.

"It hotter than an Oseram forge," Vale says, "that's been running all day."

This definitely can't be good for us. "Looks dangerous. Better not get too close to it."

Aloy looks back across the main foundry for anything that might lead to the centre. A large tunnel forks off to their right and goes deeper into the mountain. She points at it so Vale can follow.

"That's where we have to go."

"Lots of machines in the way," Vale mentions, gazing down across the path to all the patrolling machines on the main floor. Aloy can spot them all: Watchers; Shell-Walkers and more Nightcrawlers. They couldn't fight them all, and if Hephaestus was watching them then they would be swarmed within minutes if they were detected. He probably already knew the second they went through the door.

Aloy takes another look around and finds a way around the machines. There was a second level higher up that they could navigate if they climbed around the equipment.

"I know a way. Follow," she tells him and makes her way towards the path. The large mechanical arms that are busy at work don't pay any attention to them as they approach. They pull machine parts from a conveyor belt and drill them onto a pod covered in armour. Once it's complete, the pod rolls back and disappears behind a door, giving them the opportunity to run across before they start building another pod.

Beyond that is a bridge that takes them across the gap that separates them from the farthest wall where they could climb. Handle bars and ledges glowing with yellow light align the ceiling all over the tunnel. They could navigate the entire tunnel that way, but Aloy doubted either of them could endure that with enough arm strength. As they cross, part of the wall in front of them opens up and a hovering machine appears from it, followed by more floating pods.

"We need to reach those crates," she grunts, picking up her pace. She had to be careful: one slip and she would fall three dozen feet.

The floating machine leads the pods to the lineup that's already moving. It's slow, which gives them time to catch up and drop down on top of them. The crates merge into the lineup and continue flying through the Cauldron, meanwhile Aloy searches for anything that might lead closer towards the Cauldron's heart. She spots a smaller tunnel that cuts into the wall, perfect for them to disappear into. When they pass by the next nearest platform, they leap the gap and find their way to the tunnel.

It's completely dark inside save for the few blue lights that illuminate their path and the light that pulses in the metal walls. The tunnel is straight, which means they can see the bright light at the end.

"I think we're close to the heart," Aloy says, giving their surroundings another scan. There's no machines near them and the signal from the core is stronger.

At the end of the tunnel they arrive at the heart. Three pylons stand around the centre and large circular energy field protects the machine being created inside. Aloy observes the machine from where they emerged from the tunnel. She doesn't recognize the machine… or machines at all.

"Three at once?" she murmured, confused. "How is that possible?"

The three machines that the Cauldron was weaving together were exact copies of each other: four legs; a tail and a pair of eyes with pointy horns on their heads. There were no unique components on them or any canisters on their bodies. In fact, they seemed kind of simple.

"The core will be underneath, same as last time," Aloy says. Vale already has his shield in his hands and he surveys the area with a grim expression.

"I thought there would be more to it than this. I don't like it." He glares at the machines as he says this. Aloy can't help but think the same thing when looking at them. The three machines stood in a circle inside the energy field, facing the centre as the building machine above them whirled around their heads.

"Let's take the shield down and deal with them quickly. We'll need to get out of here fast if we don't want to get spotted by Hephaestus," Aloy says and repels down from the platform. Vale starts planting traps around the area as she takes out the two Watchers out on patrol. She climbs up the pylon and lodges her spear into the node, waiting for the downloading process to end. When the node clicks and the energy shield drops, the three machines inside roar and start moving.

Vale shouts at them the get their attention, firing shots from his cannon. One of the machines crouches and leaps into the air towards him but he jumps out of the way. Aloy grabs her bow and starts firing metal arrows at the other two machines. One of them braces itself as a cannon appears on its back and starts firing at her. She jumps into cover behind one of the metal barriers surrounding the centre platform and grabs her blast sling. She lobs a few bombs as the machines try to get an angle on her, but she keeps them at bay.

Vale manages to push back the other machine with the others using the flames on his hammer. The machine already has a few scorch marks on its body from a couple of hits it took and jumps back as Vale swings. They were pushing them into the corner. This fight would be over quickly.

But then the machines start to move into a defensive position. One of the machines backs up as the other two get in front as they block the incoming bolt shots and arrows. The protected machine than starts to change shape as its limbs start to shift and metal parts move all at once. The two machines in front start to change their forms as well and back up to merge with the other machine. Parts click together and wires cross over each other as they form one bigger machine that comes to a stand on two legs, overshadowing both Aloy and Vale.

"That's new," Aloy quips. The newer, bigger machine charges at her at a speed she didn't think was possible for such a large beast.

She only avoids its massive heavy claws because Vale pushes her out of the way and she feels the air whip by from its strong swing at her. Vale fires a couple of shots, but they hardly make the machine flinch as it turns to face them. With another swing, it lunges at them with its claws but they both manage to step out of the way. While Vale backs away and fires more shots, Aloy goes to her Focus again, finding that the combined machines now have a weakness.

On the back of the machine, an energy vein connects all three machines together and glows with red energy. A few plates protect it, but with a couple of well-placed shots they could split them apart again and defeat them.

"Aim for the back!" Aloy shouts out. She grabs her blast sling and lobs a bomb while the machine's attention is still on Vale, landing a perfect hit on the machine's lower back. The large beast turns around and stomps towards her as a cannon sets on one of its arms. Aloy jumps behind some large equipment sitting near the walls of the foundry floor to escape that cannon shots. Metal shrapnel explodes behind her as she barely avoids getting hit, and she grabs her bow again to hit it with something that would knock those cannons off its arm.

While the machine's attention is on her, Vale comes up from behind and jumps onto the machine's back and clings to the plating as the larger being starts spinning around, trying to reach him with its big arms. With the machine distracted, Aloy waits for her chance to let loose her arrow, finding the right moment when Vale stuns the beast with a few shots from his shield cannon point-blank in the back of the neck. Her arrow sticks to the component and blows it right off the brackets. Like clock-work, Vale jumps off the machine, but not before placing a blast charge on the machine's back right along the spine. When the charge explodes, it shatters the armour and wires on the machine's back and forces it to fall apart. All three machines fall to the ground, all severely damaged with sparks jumping from their bodies.

Aloy runs to the fallen cannon before any of the machines can act. With a grunt she picks it up and aims and with several slow but heavy shots, destroys the machines one by one until the barrel of the cannon is glowing red hot and the robots are barely unrecognizable piles of scrap metal.

"A machine that combines with other machines…" Aloy murmurs, trying to understand the powers behind this new ability. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Neither have I. They must be new," Vale replies as he mounts his shield on his back and points to the core as it rises from the ground. "You wanna do your thing so we can get out of here?"

"Yeah," Aloy gets up and finds her spear. When she plugs it into the core, she finds a bunch of information on other machines she's never seen before and software guideline codes the hack each of them. There's a large machine with a long nose and large ears, a machine that looks like the one they just fought – the larger version, and two more that look like big fish. They're identical, except that one of them has two split fins on the top while the other has only one. "Cauldron Foxtrot. This'll help me Override all the new machines in the area. There's got to be more Cauldrons in these lands with more data."

"Can we think about that later? I'd rather not linger here. Remember what happened last time?" Vale spoke up. Aloy nods. The download finishes and the platform around them starts rising into the air.

"Where do you think the main entrance is?" Aloy asks.

Vale shrugs. "I'm not sure. With any luck, somewhere where we can see the Spire. There's a shortcut through the mountains that I know of that not many people don't. If we can reach it, getting to the Spire will be a lot easier."

"What if the North soldiers are patrolling it?"

"They wouldn't bother. It's kind of… high up. You'll see."

Once the platform reaches the top, the large triangular door opens up for them. It's still bright out and a cold draft sweeps through the air and sparkles of snowflakes blow into the Cauldron. They were high up, near the snowy mountain peaks, but beyond the mountains the peaks drop down into smaller hills. Vale points up to the peak closest to them, where the peak is rounded out into a small flat plain at the top.

"We close. The trail ends around the other side of that peak."

"Then lead the way."

They had to trudge through thick snow to get to the trail that Vale knew about. If Aloy had known that it would be so high up she would have brought her winter furs. There was an ugly wind that whipped around them and bit into her cheeks and nose ears, but by now she was used to it and she would have to put up with it.

Aloy recognized the slim trail along the mountainside almost immediately when she spotted some man-made railing along the cliff made out of wood and machine wires. The path led up to a rocky crag that was climbable. Further up the trail the wind brushed up against the side of the path, but it was blocked by a large wooden wall that was big enough to act as a shack for them.

"Who built all this?" she asks. Behind the shack is a small pile of wood, ready to start a fire. Vale stops and stars down at the wood, as if contemplating where or not to start a campfire. But he looks back up at her.

"I did. After I found Minerva, I made trips back and forth between her and the other kingdoms. I didn't want to risk coming across Northern troops so I built the path up high."

"Not very convenient…"

"I think it's worth the trouble. Haven't run into a single soldier up here."

They continue without warming up. The path descends a little and comes to a large chunk of ice that arches over a gap. The ice gleams and glitters in the sunlight and it's beautiful to look at the formation as they come up to it. Aloy can't help but admit it.

Vale suddenly comes to a stop and falls to a crouch, signalling her to do the same thing. He's peering over the edge under the bridge of ice with a glare. Aloy crawls up next to him and tries to spot what he's looking at. It's not hard.

"Northern soldiers," Vale curses. Down below them, four soldiers in metal armour and lances walk through the snow. Aloy doesn't see any insignia's or crest that label their loyalty, but their armour is dark in colour with red highlights. "The hell are they doing up here?"

"What was that about not seeing any soldiers up here?"

The man sighs. "Shut up. This isn't good. The North must be digging into every corner of the land…"

Aloy pulls up the map from the Tallneck. The markers for the human convoys have moved. With the exception of the one right under them, there aren't any other convoys nearby, which she would have expected around the snowy peaks.

"Nothing shows on the map. They're probably just really bored with their normal routes," she says.

Vale shakes his head. "No, this path is too much trouble. They must have been sent here with good reason. And whatever it is, it's not good for us."

"When is it ever?"

"Come on. We're not too far from the end."

They cross the bridge of ice, which is plenty wide enough for them to walk on without fear of falling off. The wind makes it a little unsteady, pushing them to the side and teetering off the edge, but they make it. The path crosses to the other side of the mountain where the wind doesn't reach them and Aloy can see support beams that hold up the snow that's drifted over and the frozen lanterns hung from chains frozen into the ice walls. Without the howling wind, it's almost quiet the rest of the way.

As the path curves around the peak, Vale comes to a steady stop. There's more forest and green pine trees beyond the land below as the mountains grow smaller. Aloy's gaze trace the outline of the horizon until they come upon the most noticeable landmark; an outcropping on the hillside, maybe three miles away. There's a large building that stretches along the length of the hill into the trees, but the longer Aloy looks at it, the more she realizes that it's not just a old ruin.

It's the fallen Spire of Minerva.

And it's surrounded by campfire smoke and soldiers.

"No…" Vale gasps.

"Is that what I think it is?" Aloy asks, finding more and more lit campfires. They dotted the whole hillside, surrounding the fallen tower.

"The Northern army. They've captured the Spire."

So I want to apologize for the lack of an update. There's a combination of work, stress and health that have prevented me from writing and updating as often as I want to, but I managed to finally spellcheck this chapter before finally putting it up. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come, but I'd like to thank all my readers so far for bearing with me on this journey so far, your comments are so encouraging. I intend to finish this fanfic, cause I got a lot more planned for it.