---

  Chapter 18

  The heat of the Sundom wrapped around Aloy like a heavy cloak, the golden sands stretching far beyond the horizon. The roads winding toward Meridian were alive with travelers—Carja merchants in bright silks, Oseram traders hauling metal contraptions, and Sun-Priests murmuring prayers as they passed. But Aloy barely paid them any mind.

  Her Focus pulsed with activity. The trail she had been following—the path Olin had taken—grew colder with every mile. Something wasn’t adding up.

  She slowed her Strider as a cluster of machines came into view. Grazers and Broadheads picked zily at patches of dry grass, their metallic bodies reflecting the midmorning light. Among them, a Tallneck strode in the distance, its massive head scanning the nd. Its presence should have been reassuring, a sign that this stretch of the Sundom remained untouched by corruption.

  But Aloy’s gut told her otherwise.

  She tapped the side of her Focus. "Let’s see what you’re hiding."

  A web of data lit up before her eyes—machine paths, movement markers, and heat signatures. Most of it was normal, but one detail stood out. Near a shallow canyon ahead, the ground was disturbed, as if something had been dragged across the dirt.

  Aloy urged her Strider forward. The path dipped into a narrow ravine, shaded from the sun. At the bottom, she found the remains of a body, slumped against a broken Watcher.

  Her stomach tightened. The corpse was fresh—no more than a day or two old. A man in Eclipse armor, his body eerily intact.

  But his Focus was melted into his skull.

  Aloy exhaled sharply. "What in the—?"

  She switched her Focus scan to deeper analysis. The device had fused with the bone structure, wires cing into the frontal lobe. Burn marks ran along the temples, as if it had short-circuited from the inside.

  No signs of an external kill. No wounds.

  She reached out cautiously and tried to remove the Focus.

  The moment her fingers brushed against it, the dead man's eyes twitched.

  A sharp, static-filled noise rang through her Focus. Aloy stumbled back, her heart hammering.

  And then, just as suddenly as it started, the noise cut out. The body went still.

  She clenched her jaw. "That’s new."

  The Hunt Through the Canyons

  A sound behind her made her spin, bow drawn.

  A figure stood at the top of the ravine, watching. The sun at their back masked their face, but the silhouette was unmistakable—robes, a mask, and the faint hum of a Focus.

  An Eclipse scout.

  The moment Aloy moved, the scout bolted.

  "Not this time," she muttered, vaulting onto her Strider and giving chase.

  The pursuit led her through winding passages and narrow stone paths. The scout was fast, but Aloy had speed and precision on her side.

  She aimed, loosing an arrow. The scout veered sharply, causing it to miss by inches. He knew the terrain, ducking through hidden crevices and using the environment to his advantage.

  Then she spotted a weak point—an outcropping of rock above.

  She shifted her aim and fired a shock arrow at the edge. The bst loosened the rock, sending debris crashing down. The scout stumbled, giving her the opening she needed.

  Aloy leaped from her Strider, tackling him to the ground.

  "Start talking," she ordered, pinning him down. "What were you doing here?"

  The scout thrashed but said nothing. His mask concealed most of his face, but his Focus flickered—then, abruptly, his entire body stiffened.

  A sickening noise followed, like something inside his head had short-circuited. The light in his eyes dimmed.

  Aloy let go and recoiled. The scout y still.

  "Damn it," she muttered. He was dead.

  She turned her Focus back on and scanned his body. Just like the corpse in the canyon, the Focus had fused to his skull.

  But this time, she caught something—an override signal. A command that had activated the second he was captured.

  She clenched her fists. A built-in contingency. The moment they were caught, the Focus triggered something in their nervous system, frying their brains.

  Someone was making sure no one talked.

  Aloy took a shaky breath. "Sylens is going to love this one."

  Meridian – The Gathering Storm

  By the time Aloy arrived at the gates of Meridian, the sun was beginning to set. The golden spires of the city gleamed against the sky, a stark contrast to the mysteries weighing on her mind.

  At the entrance, Ersa was waiting.

  "About time you got here," Ersa said, arms crossed. "Erend’s been worried sick."

  Aloy managed a smirk. "I can handle myself."

  Ersa’s sharp gaze studied her. "I don’t doubt it. But whatever’s been happening out there—it’s stirring up trouble. You’re walking into a storm, Aloy."

  Aloy exhaled. "Good. I’m getting tired of chasing ghosts."

  Ersa gave her a knowing look, then gestured toward the city. "Come on. Let’s get you to the Sun-King before you pick another fight."

  Aloy followed, but her mind wasn’t on Avad. It was on the bodies in the canyon. The fused Focuses. The override command that had wiped them out the moment she got too close.

  Someone was pying with fire.

  And she was going to find out who.

  Sylens & Adal – A Private Conversation

  As night fell, Aloy found a quiet moment to activate her Focus.

  "Sylens," she called.

  A moment ter, the blue-hued hologram of his face appeared. "I was wondering when you’d check in."

  Aloy didn’t waste time. "What do you know about Focuses being fused to people’s skulls?"

  Sylens’ expression darkened. "More than I’d like."

  Aloy narrowed her eyes. "And Adal? What’s his connection to all this?"

  Sylens hesitated—just for a second. Then he sighed. "Adal is… like a son to me."

  Aloy blinked. "You’re kidding."

  "I’m not," Sylens said smoothly. "He’s intelligent, resourceful, and he understands the importance of knowledge."

  Aloy folded her arms. "And what exactly is he looking for?"

  Sylens smirked. "Now that is the real question, isn’t it?"

  Aloy scowled, but before she could press further, Sylens’ signal cut out.

  Elsewhere, across the Sundom, a different Focus connection fred to life.

  Adal stood atop a ruined tower, watching the stars. He pressed a hand to his Focus and smirked.

  "You’re getting soft on me, old man," he said.

  Sylens’ voice hummed in response. "And you’re getting reckless."

  Adal chuckled. "I call it being thorough."

  The transmission cut.

  Adal exhaled, his expression unreadable. He turned his gaze back to the horizon—toward Meridian.

  Things were falling into pce.

  And soon, the real game would begin.

  ---

  AN: It always amazed me how the ever so careful AI HADES didn't put a mechanism to prevent the Eclipse from telling his information so I just thought of a way he could monitor everything and also prevent that . Hence the fused focus