Despite Tomas’ attention grabbing statement, it wasn’t until the next day that everyone was back at base. The wounded had to move much more slowly than before and those that were still on their feet, waited at Scalding Spear for the reinforcements from Memorial Grove and Arrowhand that arrived too late to fight the machines but able to care for the wounded and bury the dead. There were hardened warriors and chaplains that went white at the sight of Scalding Spear’s ruins.

There wasn’t much left.

Drakka, an assertive Desert Clan soldier from Arrowhand, quickly assumed command. He might have been resented for his boldness except he didn’t claim to be the commander, only to command and organise. He promised to look after the survivors and made sure to leave soldiers from Arrowhand to guard the Wound in the Sand, a well that watered all of the Desert Clan, fed by an ancient underground pipe system. He choked a little when he discovered that those who had not died of their wounds had been treated by a former Carja sun priest, but he was gracious enough to realise that a dozen more would have perished if not for Eamon.

When it didn’t feel like they were deserting the Tenakth, Aloy and the others headed back to base. Tomas snatched the blood sample out of her hand and darted away without so much as a ‘thank you’ or ‘be right back’. Aloy didn’t have the energy to berate him. Zo ordered them all to sit. She had been told, in no uncertain terms, that she was not to be involved in the fighting. It grated against her assertiveness but Gaia had warned her that a blow to her abdomen might start premature labour or miscarry the baby. That had been enough to keep Zo at base but she had not been idle. When they arrived, following the wounded that had been sent home earlier, Zo had food prepared for them, ale poured for Erend and medical supplies for those who needed them.

“Eat first.” Zo warned Aloy when she opened her mouth to speak.

“How’s Kotallo?” Aloy asked quietly.

“I managed to stop the bleeding then put him in the rejuvenation capsule for an hour to accelerate the healing.”

“Just an hour? Stick him in there for days and he could have a new arm.” Aloy mused.

Zo leaned down. “He’s rather…uncomfortable…with confined spaces.”

“Oh.” The term ‘frightened’ didn’t apply to Kotallo and they didn’t dare say it out loud but there was a knowing wink between them. “Besides, a new arm would take weeks to reconstruct.”

“How do you know?”

“The capsule told me as much. Kotallo asked that all minor injuries be healed but for the capsule not to attempt a new arm.”

“That wound is a badge of honour and of triumph for him,” Aloy nodded, “but after all he went through to make an artificial arm…”

Zo squatted down in front of her, worry in her eyes. “Did it really turn on him?”

“His own arm tried to kill him.” Aloy closed her eyes. “It could have been worse…it could have gotten into his blood stream and…” She shuddered at the memory of Tunk’s Nemesis violence. Her back was bruised and there was still grit in her mouth.

“Try to eat and drink, Aloy.” Zo warned. “Tomas needs time to process the blood.”

Aloy was no good at keeping still so after Zo wandered off to look after others, she got up and visited everyone in the base. Morlund was very quiet, still in shock, grieving for Stemmer’s death. Abadund told Aloy all the things that the base needed…because that was his way of dealing. Silga had her head down, working on streamlining the communications between them all.

Soka and Gera were the last to return from the ruins of Scalding Spear. The Tenakth were their tribe and though the Desert Clan were not their own, they could not walk out when so many needed help. Though they were used to battle and welcomed it even at an early age, they were shaken by the ferocity of the attack and of how so few now remained of the Desert Clan.

Eamon had been designated their healer and he had returned with Soka and Gera when there was little more he could do. His face was pale but he was holding up better than Aloy had given his slight frame and quiet demeanour credit for. Perhaps it was because he’d lived through the Red Raids and seen the horror of an insane man using machines to slaughter hundreds.

Teb and Nakoa had seen the worst of the Metal Devil and they’d seen HEPHAESTUS come to the rescue. They’d watched a dead man rise and attack Aloy and they’d defended a tainted, heathen tribal stronghold and tended their wounded. To say that their reality had been turned inside out was an understatement. Even after the fight for Meridian and the Spire, there hadn’t been the same kind of overthrowing of all they knew. This was different because now, they knew what was at stake.

Still they had faith and believed in her.

Aloy wondered if she deserved it.

Tunk’s body had been transported to the base but because he was Banuk and because the Cut, their home, was amidst ice, snow and cold, Ikrie and Naltuk had taken it up the mountain the base was within. Aloy approached the stone plinth reverently. Ikrie was weeping silently. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tended his body and Naltuk went through the shaman motions of Banuk burial rites.

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Aloy didn’t know what to say so she turned to leave.

“It wasn’t your fault.” She heard Naltuk say and turned back to him, his dark brown eyes serious and sad. “What happened…it wasn’t your fault.”

She held his gaze. “It wasn’t Alva’s, either.”

Naltuk nodded. “I know…”

“Her act was one of lethal decisiveness,” Ikrie said softly, “but because of it, Tunk is at peace and not a puppet to be abused by that monster.”

“I think Alva needs to hear that.” Aloy recalled Alva’s face, broken with grief.

“We’re about to hold the rite of passing,” Naltuk waved towards Tunk, “if she wishes, she can come and say farewell.”

“I’ll get her.”

Alva was in the data processing room. It was her sanctuary. As a Diviner for the Quen, she had a thirst for knowledge and data that was downright insatiable. Aloy had never known anyone that soaked up information like Alva did.

When Aloy went into the processing room, Alva had her back to the door, working on the display from her FOCUS.

“Alva?” Aloy crept in. “You okay?”

“No, I’m not okay…” Her voice was broken and she turned to Aloy, her eyes red and her face as pale as death. “I’m not okay…” Aloy’s logic and words vanished in the face of grief. “I’m a Diviner for the Quen! I studied hard to become one and once I was granted a FOCUS, I was never without my contingent of guards, protected at all costs.” Alva wiped at the tears but they kept coming. “I’ve never even killed a rabbit before! I feel bad when I step on a lizard!”

“For someone with aim like yours…”

“That’s just Quen training.” Alva admitted. “When the fleet was sent to San Francisco, the officers put myself and the other Diviners through their paces.”

“They wanted you to be able to protect yourselves.”

“No,” Alva shook her head, “to protect the Legacy.” The Legacy was the historical account of the past and the data and technological advancements to help the Quen into the future. Unfortunately for the Quen, all their FOCUSES were older than Aloy’s which meant much of the Legacy was lost to the Quen. So much so that the Quen believed Ted Faro was to be revered and Elisabet Sobeck was his assistant and a minor functionary. It was one of many mistruths that Alva had to unravel after Aloy gave her an updated FOCUS and she began to learn just how much of what the Quen believed was false or misleading.

It was why she hadn’t returned with the fleet to the Quen homeland. Alva knew the moment she stepped foot on the docks, her FOCUS would be taken from her. All knowledge that contradicted the Imperial Family’s dictates, challenging their beliefs and hold on the people, would be deleted and Alva would likely suffer brain washing conditioning to make sure she wouldn’t or couldn’t tell others what she’d learned.

“I’m not sure what to tell you,” Aloy admitted, “for me, I’ve been killing things all my life.”

“And I’ve never judged you for it or even thought it was wrong.” Alva insisted. “But when I saw what Tunk was doing…when my arrow hit him…” She sobbed, her hands over her face. Aloy watched, uncomfortable and uncertain. “I wish I had your strength.”

“My strength?” Aloy wanted to laugh.

“Yes. You’re not falling to pieces after Scalding Spear…after Tunk. You just get up and keep going.”

Aloy frowned. “I guess…I’ve always been this way. It’s a different life when you have to hunt for food, skin rabbits, kill machines before they kill you…and from there it’s not a hard leap to killing humans.”

“You’ve killed quite a few, haven’t you?”

“Bandits,” Aloy shrugged, “violent souls who think nothing about capturing, torturing and killing anyone in their way…and the Shadow Carja. Lots of Shadow Carja…”

“Your first?” Aloy blinked and stared at Alva. “Do you remember your first human kill?”

Aloy opened her mouth but she had to pause and think about it. “It was…at the Proving,” she bit her lip, “when the Shadow Carja attacked and slaughtered young Nora braves, trying to get to me.”

“How did it feel?”

“I don’t know,” Aloy paced around the room, “it all happened so fast and it was them or us. The jump from machine and animal killing to human killing was a little too easy to make…but then there wasn’t time to think about it…”

“No, Aloy,” Alva stopped her pace and caught her gaze, “how did it feel?”

The question stumped Aloy. She took a half step back, surprised by the question and even more so, by her reluctance to think about it. “I…didn’t feel anything.” She swallowed. “I’ve never been one for excess emotions. A bit like my life, travelling light…and Rost wasn’t overly emotional either.”

“He’s the man who raised you?”

Aloy nodded. “A good man who never wavered in right and wrong and who killed bandits and saved my life when I should have died…but I don’t remember him laughing a lot…or ever. Or crying, never crying. Even when I hit a bullseye or jumped from one ledge to another…he’d just nod or say ‘good’. I guess I got used to it. And it’s not like I had friends to play with, laugh with…”

Alva sat on a desk and gazed at Aloy. “You must think I’m an emotional explosion…”

Aloy laughed softly. “No, if there was an emotional exploder in the base, it’s Erend. He’s a ball of emotion. You’ve always been the upbeat one. Irrepressible.”

Alva smiled at the compliment. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be that way again.”

“Ikrie and Naltuk are ready to perform last rites for Tunk,” Aloy opened the door and looked at Alva, “you need to be there…for Tunk, for them…for yourself.”

Alva nodded and walked out of the door. Aloy watched her go, hoping she was doing the right thing. She was going to follow when she caught sight of a white face beyond a door, pale blue eyes looking away, stepping back into the shadows. Aloy swallowed and walked across the common room to Kotallo’s preferred workspace.

“Hey Kotallo,” Aloy said softly, feeling her insides tremble, “how are you?”

“I am much recovered.” Kotallo replied, swiping his FOCUS display aside.

“Sorry, I’m interrupting…”

“No,” he held his right hand out to stop her then let it fall by his side, “you are not.”

Aloy began to wish she hadn’t tried to start a conversation. She wasn’t much good at small talk.

“What were you looking at?”

“Schematics for a new arm.”

“Really?” Aloy blinked. “After what Nemesis did to your old one?”

“Tomas offered to print me an artificial arm once before.”

“I remember you said you didn’t like the idea of it.”

“I still do not,” Kotallo nodded, “however, once Nemesis is defeated, to remain so,” he glanced at the space where his left arm should have been, “diminished…would be a senseless way to be.”

Aloy gazed at him as he looked up, his Tenakth paint giving him a fearsome appearance though she knew there was a gentleness within that only she had truly seen.

“You say it like it’s a certainty.”

“I told you,” Kotallo said, taking a step towards her and it took all of her courage not to recoil from the warmth and familiarity of his presence, “I give whatever is left of my life to your cause. Should we succeed, we do so together and if we fall…”

“We do that together too.” Aloy finished.

Kotallo gave her a rare smile. “Indeed.”