Chapter 16

So many preparations. She wondered how it came to this; an outcast living her entire life within reach of only one person, to being asked to lead a small war. The Carja didn't have much, and their weapons were rudimentary at best. Petra had seen to their training, but being as they'd only been gathered a few days at most, there was little time before the Lock and his men would know they were there and fortify against their attack.

There were so many preparations, but no time. Every minute they waited, the Carja in Meridian were being murdered in the name of revenge. Hostages, but they were finite, and then the Oseram would have nothing. Neither would the free Carja, Aloy thought.

They wanted to attack at first light. Aloy realized how little sleep she'd had. For three days, the most she'd done was nap on the back of the Stormbird. She knew it was obvious, with the way she needed things repeated to her, her slow gait. Erend noticed, at least, and he drew her aside.

"There's a few hours left before dawn," he told her, voice low. She could only stare at him numbly. "Go get some sleep. Use my tent, I'll make sure no one bothers you."

She emitted a long sigh, leaning against him. "Come with me," she pleaded.

He chuckled, regret in his voice. "If I did, you wouldn't be getting much sleep at all." He pulled her towards a tent nearby, opening the flap to reveal a bedroll inside. She was rejuvenated to see that her spear was there, her gift from Avad, resting nearby. The bedroll looked so inviting, her mouth almost watered.

"Go," Erend reassured her. "I'll see you in the morning."

She collapsed onto the bedroll, asleep before Erend let the flap fall shut.

No one woke her. It was the sun glinting on her face that roused her from a dreamless sleep, and she sat bolt upright. Her head pounded, but she knew it was from lack of sleep, and will fade. Her body was rejuvenated. She wondered if it was a side effect of the Mending Metal, making her feel more awake than she really was.

Grabbing her spear, she rushed out of the tent. A thousand Carja minutemen responded to her appearance, faces turning towards her in a wave as far as the valley wall. Murmurs rose and weapons were taken up. Aloy smiled. They were ready.

The Stormhawk stirred, turning to regard Aloy with interest. It didn't look like it'd moved all night. Petra was examining one of its cores, and she jumped when it moved.

Erend was there, getting up to join her. She noticed he'd rolled a barrel up to the tent. Had he been sitting there all night? If he had, she couldn't tell. He grinned at her with that heavy-lidded expression of his, hefting his armor and pulling on his helmet. "We're ready when you are."

She looked around once more. Even Namman was there, she'd assigned him to be in charge of the healers and had given him the medical box she'd picked up from the Stormbird's nest. They'd gone over the items for most of the night before. Petra hopped off the Stormbird and retrieved her cannon. Aloy hefted both her spear and her rifle.

It was time to take back Meridian.

The sun was just over their shoulders, giving the Stormhawk the benefit of surprise. It hurtled out of the sun, crashing down onto one of the cannon turrets before the alarm was even sounded. After it had landed on the second turret, the city seemed to awaken. The other cannon turrets twisted to aim at the machine, and the general rancor of warriors readying for battle melded with the screech of metal as the Stormhawk tore apart the Oseram's weaponry.

Aloy waited until the canon she was aiming at began to fire on the Stormhawk. She had climbed to a high vantage, using a large boulder to support the weight of her rifle and hold it steady while she watched through the reticle. A squeeze of the trigger, and she gasped as her shoulder sang with the jolt it gave her. A fireball lit at the exit point of the gun, and she could see the turret she'd aimed at fairly crumble beneath her shot. She couldn't help but laugh with excitement. It worked! There were screams of men as the cannon tumbled from its supports, crashing to the ground. Even the Stormbird seemed momentarily surprised before attacking another turret.

That was the signal. The Carja, furious and injured and desperate, sent up a roar of unity, following Erend with hope in their shouts. Petra emerged from the crevasse she'd scouted beforehand as the Vanguardsman led the first wave of attackers through the valley. The Forgewoman took aim at the city gate, reinforced with Oseram steel, grinning from ear to ear as she opened fire.

Aloy could hear Petra's cry of frustration as the gate buckled, but did not give way. She considered firing at it with her rifle, but another canon was leveling at the Stormbird, and she had to take it out first. She needn't have worried. With a swing of his hammer, Erend splintered the door, and with another, it was felled. She saw him and his throngs of fighters disappear into the city.

The Oseram weren't going to be taken that easily. Most of their cannons gone, the men had rallied beyond the gate, ready to meet Erend's primary attack. Petra was busy making holes in the walls with her cannon, through which the Carja archers began letting loose arrows, felling Lock's men through the portals.

Aloy stuck her tongue into the corner of her mouth, setting her sights on the last of the cannons. Something exploded in the center of the city, but there was no fire. A concussive wave poured out from the site, sending sparks before it and felling men and stone behind it. When the force hit the Stormbird, it fell out of the sky without so much as a flash of light, stiff.

Aloy stood up straight, alarmed. When the wave hit her, it blew her hair into chaos, and her rifle grew so hot she had to drop it. Petra, as well, seemed affected, and with disgust, threw her cannon aside before marching through the shattered gate. So, they had technology that killed machinery. Aloy tapped at her Focus, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it stuttering but functional. She leapt down from her vantage point, hefting her spear. Things were going to get personal.

When she entered the gate, most of the work had been done. The Carja were less trained and less prepared, but still much more numerous. Most of the bodies, she realized with relief, were Oseram. She tried not to look at the ones who were Carja. She would mourn later.

She headed towards the palace, not letting herself be distracted by the skirmishes. There were empty cages, and she balked at them, not relishing the memory of herself, once, in a cage. It seemed some of the prisoners had been set free already. She came across the downed Stormbird, coughing at the amount of smoke that poured from its prone body. At least it'd had its revenge.

The steps towards the palace showed that it'd been the most heavily guarded. Carja were pressing in, but the Oseram were a stout people, and in a knot made formidable allies. Aloy danced through battle, stabbing with her spear, relearning to move on a leg now without flaw. For every Carja that fell, she helped cut down seven. "Out! Those without armor, retreat!" She yelled, desperate to save those she could. "Help the wounded!"

Most of the Carja fell back, fighting, and she covered their retreat as best as she could while ascending the stairs. Petra joined her, and she was glad to see the forgewoman had obtained a spear herself, though seemed less comfortable with it than her long-ranged weapons. "I saw Erend get through!" She yelled, pointing. "We'll handle the rest of 'em. These Carja can be pretty good fighters when they're pissed enough!"

Aloy rushed up the stairs, glad to see barriers had already been hammered to pieces on her route. She was concerned that Erend had gone on alone to face Lock. She found them on the parapet, where only a short while ago, they'd feasted in celebration.

Lock wasn't entirely different from what Aloy had imagined him. An older man, white board bushy over his heavyset chest and belly, he was wearing armor that looked like it'd belonged to someone much bigger. His wispy grey hair peeked out beneath a metal helmet in the shape of a boar's head. He was very unhappy looking.

Erend had dropped his hammer, his hands raised, open, standing opposite of Lock when Aloy stumbled to a halt by him.

"Ah ah ah!" Lock barked when he saw her, lifting his hand to show her what he held. Aloy recognized it… the same kind of ignition device Dervahl had used. That was why Erend had dropped his hammer. "You thought I came to just sit here and ruin the Carja's day? Idiots, this will be the end of Meridian and its blood-soaked history."

Aloy stiffened. "Lock," she said. "You knew the Carja had nothing to do with Ersa and Dervahl." She carefully set aside her spear, her eyes on the trigger. "It was you who'd sent Rath after me."

She saw Erend shift his weight out of the corner of her eye, and Lock rolled his. "Of course I did," he told her. "When we found out that Erend had left the Vanguard, we knew it was our chance to strike. It would have been much easier with Erend and his Vanguard on our side." He sneered. "But I guess you just weren't that great of a liar. Now we all end here together."

She had to buy more time. Perhaps Petra would get the Carja to safety before the trigger was pulled. She held up her hands. Only a few more steps before she could possibly reach Lock. "You've done it though, even without the Vanguard. The Sun King is gone, his city was in ruins before you even attacked. Let the Carja free… I will take them to the east. Meridian is yours. There's been too much death here, why continue the trend with your own life?"

For a moment, it looked almost as if Lock would consider her offer. He rolled the trigger between his fingers. "An Oseram on the Sun Throne," he sneered. "What's next? A Nora woman?" He shook his head. "Sorry, huntress. It's a shame to end your story here with me, but ya gotta admit, it's a pretty beautiful place to d-"

An arrow suddenly shrieked past her shoulder, exploding through Lock's forehead. He dropped like the turret she'd destroyed earlier, and she dove for the trigger. When it landed in her palm, the Nora fell practically on her face with a gasp of surprise and relief. She turned to look at Erend. He was eyeing his bow with a stunned expression of respect.

"Just what did you DO to this thing?" he asked her.