AN: Some music to get your blood pumping:
[MEDIA=youtube]s3L0_ez0Dg4[/MEDIA]
Aloy had no idea what was going on. One minute, she had been the first to complete the proving. Then, a strange light had appeared from the sky, and out had fallen three men, two women, a cat, and a small creature whose identity she wasn't quite sure of.
Of course, all of those paled in comparison to the...other things that had fallen out of the light. Some looked just like monstrous people, but others...Well, she had no idea what, exactly, that antlered thing was, though given its fangs and claws, it probably wasn't very friendly.
Taking shelter behind a large rock, Aloy watched as the newcomers went to battle against the beasts. As she observed them, she couldn't help but stare on in awe. She had never seen the kind of weapons they used - one preferred a long blade with a small hilt, another used what she assumed was a larger hammer, the third used what looked like a...was that an instrument of some sort? As for the last one, he used what appeared to be a staff like hers, as well as a strange, bug-like shield.
Alo turned her attention to her fellow Braves-To-Be. All of them were huddled behind nearby rocks, unsure what to do - flee? Fight? Try to find a peaceful solution? Right now, she wasn't sure which option to take, though talking her way out of this struggle seemed unlikely.
A loud screech suddenly caught her attention. Turning toward its source, she found herself staring at what appeared to be a large bird, though further examination proved her assumption false - the creature had a variety of reptilian traits in addition to avian ones. The beast paid her no mind, instead focusing its attention on one of the people who had fallen from the sky - a white-haired one with cat-like eyes. Already, it was preparing to pounce...and with him surrounded by the strange humanoids, he was in no position to dodge the attack.
Acting quickly, Aloy took aim and fired upon the beast's wings. Surprised, the beast turned its attention toward her, let loose a terrifying cry, and charged. Rolling away just in time, Aloy knocked another arrow and took aim - she was not dying here. She would not die when she was this close to being able to learn more about her past!
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Groaning as I dodged a swipe from the Fiend, I swiftly took aim and stabbed at its central eye, hoping to blind it forever and, in doing so, give me more openings to attack. The beast jinked at the last moment, though, and all I succeeded in was cutting the side of its face. Refusing to mope, I used my glaive to parry aside another of its blows, groaning as I did so, before throwing a piercing pod at it.
Note to self: don't try blocking with the insect glaive, it won't end well.
The pod struck its mark and managed to pierce a major artery, rewarding me with a good shower of blood. Of course, with the pod lodged in the wound, the beast wound't die too easily - the pod would stop the bleeding until it was removed. I may have ensured the beast would die even if it escaped or won this battle, but I'd have to work if I wanted it to fall here.
Taking aim, I fired off the kinsect fluid within the glaive, once more targeting the beast's eye. This time, though, my aim was true, and the fluid found its way into the eye-socket, blinding the middle eye. A moment later, and my carapace-clad ally was upon the fiend, biting with unprecedented ferocity. I admit that the sight of the fiend's eye being destroyed was ghastly...but not the worst thing I had seen.
After the kinsect returned to me with attack boosting fluid (whose former nature as eye-fluid only mildly disgusted me), I charged the beast once more, ready to bring it down.
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Theseus ducked as the forktail made another swing at him. With a shout, he countered by slamming his Glass Royale into it's head, managing to crack a beast's nasal horn, causing it to shriek and back off a ways, giving him some breathing room. A shout from Zoe turned his attention toward the girl just in time to catch a bomb pod, which he quickly unleashed upon the draconid, sending it reeling. Before he could further exploit the opening, though, the Sapphire Star was struck by the beast's tail, sending him tumbling to the ground, and leaving him feeling somewhat sickly.
Groaning, the Fiver shot off a torch pod at the beast, igniting it and casuing it to flail about as it tried to douse itself, allowing the New World Hunter to hastily down an antidote potion, before once again charging to meet the beast in battle, though not before catching a piercing pod from his handler.
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Geralt brought down Aerondight with expert precision, severing the Alghoul's head from its neck. Another of the beasts charged at him, only to be set alight by Igni. Dispatching hte burning creature with a stab of his sword, Geralt looked for the next, only to flinch as an arrow pierced his leg. Pulling it free, he quickly dressed the wound, before firing a crossbow bolt at his assailant. The Eclipse Warrior fell to the ground a moment later, the life fading from his eyes. Bisecting another ghoul, Geralt turned his attention to the rest of the Eclipse, mentally grousing at his situation - even when faced with greater threats, mankind would not unite.
Parrying two more arrows and slaying another alghoul, Geralt charged toward the Shadow Carja, who were already busy fighting the necrophages. He had seen these warriors taking aim at those whose ceremony he had unwittingly intruded upon, and he was not about to let those children come to harm.
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I rolled to the side as the fiend charged, taking an opportunity to cut it as the relict barreled by. Turning to face me, it found itself staring at Viv, to which it responded by roaring. She cut it off with a head-butt of all things, before punching it hard enough to leave cracks on the rocks behind it. Not to be outdone, the fiend pawed her back, knocking her into a different rock, which shattered from the impact. It then threw a small boulder at my former ROB, which left her dazed.
...Oh no you didn't!
Letting out what could best be described as a roar, I charged at the relict, using my glaive to hoist myself into the air as it swiped at me. Falling onto its back, I started tearing away at it, causing the monster to thrash about in rage and anger. Pulling a page from Kratos and Talion's books, I guided the creature toward the Eclipse, using it as a bulldozer to obliterate the remnants of the Mad Sun King's forces. One of them was taking aim at Aloy when I ran him down. Another took aim at me, only to be brought low by an arrow...one which had come from the very Nora brave I had just saved. Nodding at the girl, who was still battling off a cockatrice, I returned my focus to the enemy forces, and used the Fiend to annihilate the rest of them. Having finally worn down the relict with the last charge, I slammed my glaive into its face, sending ti to the ground, then finished by driving the staff deep into its empty central eye socket, all the way into its brain. The creature howled in agony, then went still.
Exhausted form the ordeal, I made my way to Viv, who had regained her footing, but was wobbling quite a bit. I wouldn't have been surprised if the blow had concussed her - she needed to rest now, as did I.
Realzing I had forgotten something, I turned my attention toward my companions and the Nora braves to be. Geralt had slain the last of the Eclipse, but as he began to sheath his blade, an Alghoul jumped him, only to be batted aside and beaten to death by the Pukei-Pukei. Then, the beast began to examine Geralt, trying to look him over for wounds.
As for the Sapphire Star, he had done much to weaken the forktail, including blasting its tail off with a bomb pod and breaking its horn. Enraged, it charged him, only to receive a hunting horn to the face. The blow was hard enough to slam its skull into a nearby rock, sending the beast tumbling down. Based on the crunch I had heard when the hammer made contact, I was completely certain the beast was not getting back up.
Finally, Aloy was still locked in combat with the Cockatrice, but it seemed even her struggle was almost over. Bruised yet not beaten, Aloy let loose a trio of arrows, piercing the draconid's wings with ease. Enraged, it charged her, only to trip after taking a few well placed arrows to the legs. Crashing to a halt beside Aloy, the creature was helpless as she drove her staff through its heart.
At last seeing an opportunity to talk, I made my way toward the girl.
I had only walked ten paces when something leaped at me, pinning me to the ground. Looking up, I realized it was the Coelohim I had seen earlier. Others soon emerged from the shadows and proceeded to pin down Theseus, Viv, Zoe, and Geralt. Confused, Aloy knocked an arrow, only to be hoisted into the air by an Eclipse Warrior - Helis, to be precsie. The Leader of the Shadow Carja stared dismissively at the girl, readying to stab her with a knife, whilst his minions began setting up explosive charges. Enraged, I tried to find some way to escape, but the Coelohim holding me promptly grabbed my head and forced my sight back onto Helis.
Somehow, I knew what this meant - it wanted me to watch this.
Why? Why was this machine assisting Helis instead of focusing on me? Why was it pinning me to the ground rather than killing me outright, which would make sense from a programming standpoint. Why did it want me to watch Aloy die?
Just as Helis moved to finish Aloy, an arrow flew into him. Releasing the girl, he pulled out the arrow and parried another as Rost charged him. The Coelohim above me moved to fire at him, only to be caught by surprise when a bomb hit it. As it staggered, Zora leaped onto it, allowing me to grab my Glaive and swiftly dismantle it. Viv took the opportunity to punch the one above her hard enough to obliterate it, whilst Theseus' palico managed to distract the Coelohim pinning down the Sapphire Star and his handler long enough for the fiver to destroy both using his hunting horn. As for Geralt, his Pukei-Pukei companion managed to tear the drone apart, whilst the Witcher slew a smaller one trying to kill the bird wyvern.
Turning my attention back to the dueling warriors, I watched Helis shatter Rost's spear. Before he could deliver the killing blow, though, I threw a knife at him, managing to hit him in the ribs. Before either myself or Rost could kill him, though, the Coelohim I'd seen in Coeus second request crashed down behind the Shadow Carja Leader, before grabbing him and leaping away, hastily treating his companion's wounds.
With the combat dying down, I turned my attention toward the charges...which were very close to exploding now.
After making a gesture toward the White Wolf and the Sapphire Star about the explosives, I grabbed Viv and Zorah and ran toward the nearby cliffs. As I neared them, I received a notification from my nearby drones - the rest of the Nora had escaped. Good - those children, and the proctors of this trial, did not deserve to die.
Somehow, all of us just barely made it off the cliff as the bombs went off.
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!