Aloy flew her overridden Waterwing to the beachhead opposite the island where the rocket was. Thankfully Waterwings and Sunwings were extremely similar and Beta had been able to patch together an override from one to the other. There wasn’t enough time for Aloy to find the cauldron that contained the official override code.

Seyka hadn’t been idle and was waiting for her, machine kneecap and synthetic membrane in hand. Aloy jumped off her mount and showed her how to attach the pieces together to form the diving mask. It was not long before dawn and the air was crisp and fresh and the sky was inky and star strewn.

“Ready?” Aloy asked.

“Oh yeah,” Seyka’s eyes were alight with excitement, “I’m dying to try this out! The best of both worlds right here.”

Aloy laughed and put her mask on, mounting the Waterwing. She felt Seyka climb up behind her then kicked the machine into the air. She kept a safe distance from the launch tower, climbing higher and higher and further out over the water until it went from soft teals to navy blue.

Seyka rapped her on the shoulder. “What are you doing?” She asked in a muffled voice.

“It needs to be deep enough to dive!” Aloy cried, directing the Waterwing down to the water, its machine beak slicing through the surface, its wings folded tight, Aloy and Seyka hunkered down to be as much a part of its aerodynamic as possible. Water engulfed them but their hold on the Waterwing was fast. It flicked its wide tail, its body darting through the water, moving fast, even more so than it had been in the air.

Aloy couldn’t speak to Seyka but as she wasn’t flailing about and panicking, she suspected the mask was working perfectly. The Waterwing swam deep enough to be completely unnoticeable by the missile sentry tower, passing beneath its field of vision, coming up on the island not far from the rocket’s base.

The Waterwing used its wings to scrabble on the sand, sitting upright and spreading them to catch the sunshine. Aloy pulled her mask off and twisted to look at Seyka. “Are you okay?”

Seyka planted a kiss on her lips then leapt off the Waterwing. “Am I okay?” Seyka’s excitement was almost out of control. “That was amazing!”

Aloy was reeling from the kiss, stunned more than anything. “Ah…yeah…” She shook her head and dismounted. “Listen, before we do anything else, scan the Waterwing with your FOCUS.” Seyka did so and Aloy linked the two together. “Unless its destroyed, you can call it by tapping your FOCUS twice quickly.”

“What about you?”

“My Sunwing is still around up there but with that sentry tower operational, I’m not going to risk it.” Aloy turned and looked up at the large rocket. “We’ve got to climb that. I think Londra will be in that tower but if we go up through it, the sentry tower will target us.”

“But he’s not going to risk automatic fire at his rocket.” Seyka nodded. “Agreed. Well…that scaffolding looks rusty and decrepit…let’s do this.”

They both took off at a run, choosing different paths to clamber up the scaffolding that locked the rocket in place. Aloy was pleased there was exertion to mask the rapid beating of her heart. She saw Seyka leaping through the air, grasping the ledge above, pulling herself up with fluidic agility.

Just what was it she was feeling?

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Aloy,” Seyka hung out from the side, looking over the rocket, “this thing is huge! Why isn’t Londra taking more Quen with him? Wouldn’t it make sense to have a congregation of one eyed worshippers?”

“Sooner or later they’d figure him, and his lies, out,” Aloy huffed, pullcasting herself up and Seyka snorted at her machine assistance, “but that rocket wouldn’t be able to hold many people. It’s full of mining and salvaging equipment for Londra’s meteorite snatching and auctioning operation.”

“Then why’s he taking my sister?” Seyka cringed. “Hold on…never mind…I know why.”

Aloy couldn’t argue with that and matched her pace to the rocket’s bulbous curve and an air bridge over to the tower. They stood with their backs against the rocket and looked at the rusted metal.

“Think it’ll hold?” Seyka asked.

“I think we’re about to find out.” Aloy breathed and clutched at the railing. The bridge had once been enclosed by glass or clear Perspex but the ravages of time and violent weather had shattered all of it, leaving it exposed to the sharp air flow. Railings remained, two that ran along above Aloy’s head that would have supported the top of the tunnel and one of either side with ribs every few feet linking them all together. The problem was, was that many were broken, parts of the bridge only held to the rest of it by two or even one metal rod.

“Maybe I should go first.” Seyka offered.

“I’ve got the shieldwing,” Aloy pointed out, “if I fall, I’ll coast to the ground or even to the building. If that happens, I’ll knock out the sentry tower and you can come up that way.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

Aloy edged out along the bridge, holding onto any railings she could, on tip toe to grasp the ones above her head and trying to balance and minimise her weight and lightness of tread. The bridge creaked and groaned, the metal shifting beneath her feet but astonishingly, it was relatively stable. When she was halfway Aloy realised the latter portion was far less damaged. She tapped her FOCUS.

“I think it’s safe for you to come across that first bit now. I’ve got more support here.”

“Right behind you.”

Aloy inched further and further along then froze as she heard the sound of the sentry tower powering up.

“What’s it firing at?” She cried, unable to see it so close to the tower.

“A flock of Waterwings…It’s taken out half of the…oh shit! Incoming!”

Aloy lunged for the strongest portion of the railing, twisting to see a damaged Waterwing screaming through the air, slamming into the air bridge. The metal flexed and groaned, the railings snapping like twigs and the portion of the bridge connecting to the rocket broke free and began to fall, Seyka clinging to a single tenacious rod that began to bend from her weight.

“Hurry!” Aloy cried as she tried to pull herself to safety but there was simply nothing for Seyka to hold onto as the rod bending at a right angle, the brave midshipman falling to her death. “Seyka! Tap your FOCUS!”

She could barely see amidst her red hair flung about by the breeze. She yanked it back as Seyka disappeared from view, her breath stalled and her heart frozen. A split second later, the Waterwing tore through the air, Seyka on its back, whooping in delight.

“Seyka!”

“I am never taking this thing off!” Seyka laughed.

“Look out for the sentry tower!” But just as Aloy heard it power up, Seyka diving out of the way, another angry voice reached their ears.

“Deactivate it before it hits the rocket…and get outside and deal with the heathens!”

“Aloy,” Seyka brandished her bow, “get to the tower! I’ll cover you!”

Aloy scrambled, recklessly at times, across the remains of the air bridge, heading for the ruinous ledge it was attached to the tower from. She could hear weapons fire above and the scream as the Waterwing twisted and dove through the air, avoiding red hot metal fire.

“Damn fools! You hit that rocket and I swear I’ll eject you into space!”

“What a charming personality.” Aloy muttered as she reached the ledge. She turned to Seyka. “I’m safe! Get down here!” Before Seyka did so, an arrow flew through the air and there was a screeching yell and a body fell from above, striking the ledge she was on, Seyka’s arrow through his heart. The Waterwing hovered over the ledge, unable to land. Seyka jumped from its back, Aloy pulling her under cover. “Looks like you’re a natural when it comes to flying.”

“Just so long as I get to make a sailor out of you.” Seyka beamed then sighed at the dead Quen. “It’s Ovran. There’s still Vayha above. I couldn’t get a clear shot of him.”

“Well, we’ve got to go higher as I think the control tower for the rocket is above,” Aloy tapped her FOCUS, “so we’re bound to run into him. Ready?”

“Ready.”