[IC] Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros sighed in thought for only a moment. He looked up at the others. "We cannot know either way until we advance. Even if the defences are too hard to break through with soldiers, we still need to break through as a pack and get to Vile."

"Vile is closer than ever," Janius growled, facing ahead. "We gain little by waiting."

Sabine gripped her staff tightly. "I do not know. But...we came this way to avoid being overwhelmed."

Fendros scanned their formations. He could see a lot of blood and a lot of casualties getting healed. The few minutes of respite was a powerful thing. He wondered how much more they could gain.

[EliteCommander]

For Meesei, it did seem that the majority of her pack did favor advancing, and it was not without reason. There was uncertainty ahead, but they had gained a major advantage. The longer they waited to act on it, the more time their enemy would have to respond to it. Meesei could not deny Ahnasha’s logic in that. If the titan could be killed quickly by their enemy, it could be disastrous, but ultimately, there could never be any guarantees in battle, and Meesei had to make a decision.

“Then we move forward. Leave enough healers to stabilize the wounded we can save, but they should rejoin us as soon as they can. We will press on, and when we find the enemy, Ahnasha will send forward the titan to break through. All that matters is reaching the tower. Once we are there, once we stop Vile, all of us will be removed from this realm. Our soldiers don’t need to worry about retreating, just surviving until that point. Now, let’s hurry.” Meesei ordered.

Many of their warriors, regardless of the army of origin, were growing tired from the constant fighting. However, with their final goal so close ahead of them, it was hard to say that their warriors were not emboldened. They just had one more fight ahead of them. As they finally moved out of the pass, their ranks spread outward to accommodate the larger battlefield before them, and their remaining Senche cavalry formed up on their left and right flanks.

There were still mountains on their right flank, but the field opened up considerably to their front and left. They were on the side of the hill leading up to the mountain, with the path down and to their left leading down to the main battlefield of the valley below and the rear flank of the Daedric hordes. Straight ahead, on the other side of the open field, was a narrower path leading up to the tower: their final objective. And behind them were the Daedra that had retreated down from the pass, bolstered by some reinforcements from the main battlefield. Already, the numbers of the Daedra in front of them were about double that of their remaining force from the pass, and Meesei did not doubt there would be more Daedra to come from the battlefield below. However, there was nothing unique or surprising about the composition of the Daedric force. It was still mostly Skaafin, with a collection of some other Daedra. There were no new titans or other massive creatures, nor any siege weapons that were in place to be used against them. This attack could still work.

“Ahnasha, do it. We need to hurry if we are going to break through.” Meesei said, giving the order that Ahnasha had gladly been waiting for. With a smile and a simple thought, Ahnasha sent the titan flying fast and low overhead, cutting through the very center of the Daedric formation ahead with cold flames, from the first rank to the last. There was little need for any clearer of a signal to attack.

Meesei glanced back quickly to the rest of her pack, as well as Sabine’s. “Everyone, stick close and fight together. No matter what happens, we need to make sure that we can break through and make it up to the tower.”

[Muttonhawk]

They all had a good view of the battlefield from up on the hillside. Fendros' narrowed eyes panned across the field of tall curled horns rising up like reeds from the skaafin. "I've not felt this excited and uncertain since before our cure to the soul tearing gas."

"I prefer this..." Janius' comment perhaps came more from his beast form, soaked as it was in Daedric ichor. "Today we make them pay for threatening our family, and destroying many others."

Fendros' attention was drawn to their ranks to the left and right. Many had transformed, either to wreak more destruction, to regenerate, or just out of sheer rage. They were not as survivable in a wide plane such as this, but the shock was all they needed. They needed to break their enemy in one blow.

"It's now or never." Fendros reached behind his back to where Ahnasha was on the saddle. She gave her hand a squeeze.

Meesei gave the order. The Daedric titan cut a swathe.

Sabine finished weaving a spell she had been working on with their approach. In a wave of green magic spread from the top of her staff, she invigorated a crowd's worth of allies around her with a boost of energy. Fendros felt it tingle up his back and shoulders.

Janius let out a roar that was joined by roars and shouts of everyone around him. Nothing could be heard but their howling battlecry. Fendros' own contribution was completely drowned out as he kicked Leaps into a running charge.

[EliteCommander]

Despite being outnumbered by their Daedric foes, the roars, shouting, and battle cries from their side echoed louder across the battlefield. Particularly after the long series of battles they had been through already, Sabine’s spell gave them all a welcome burst of energy to reinvigorate their charge. Additionally, amid the shouting of their allies, three words sounded out above the rest: ”MID VUR SHAAN!”

Once again, Yerig’s shout empowered his allies, guiding their hands with the speed of the winds of Kyne. Even the Senche cavalry on their left and right flanks felt the effects on their claws. Meesei too led with her magic. She did not have a way of enhancing all of her allies at once, but she could weaken the enemy. From her position at the front of their charge, she formed long, potent dispelling chains that she lashed across a wide swathe of the Daedra in front of them, ripping through wards and erasing any magic that their own mages might have been using to empower them.

As they neared the enemy frontline, Kaleeth overtook Meesei to become the pack’s spearhead. There were no shortage of targets in front of her, most of which were Skaafin that she could have easily crushed several ranks deep. However, the prey she took in her sights was the largest one she could see: an ogrim. It was a being of muscle and fat a bit taller than a werewolf, but heavier than a giant. It had arms like tree trunks, and when it met Kaleeth headfirst in her charge, they both stopped one another in their tracks. The ogrim pushed against her and slammed its fist against her side several times. The loud strikes impacted hard enough that one could even worry about them fracturing dragonbone, but Kaleeth was undeterred. She grabbed the ogrim by its sides, sinking her claws into its flesh, and with a deafening roar she began to lift the ogrim upwards. Between her werecrocodile form’s natural muscle and the strength enchantments enhancing them, she put her full power on display. The ogrim was lifted slowly at first, but once it was hoisted over her head, the confused Daedra just flailed its limbs fruitlessly. The statement Kaleeth made was clear, and it was punctuated by her throwing the massive Daedra forward across multiple ranks of Skaafin. Certainly, its weight would do much more damage than just knocking them off of their feet.

The fact that Meesei’s pack intended to stick close together necessitated that they all stay close to the frontline, and whether she needed it or not, Do’rhajul made himself into Sabine’s bulwark against their enemy. He stayed close in front of her with Spellbreaker at the ready to be an impenetrable wall against any attack that might come their way.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius came through beside Kaleeth shortly after impact, cutting and crushing the skaafin around him in a single swipe of the dragonbone axe blade affixed to his arm. Left and right, the rest of the charge met the lines and bowled over or else viciously assaulted the enemy.

Jumping deftly over the a dying daedroth, Leaps-On-Elves opened his jaw as lightning sparked between his spines. Fendros held onto the saddle as best as he could. In a flash, Fendros saw the daedra in front of them jolted in a long line by a shot of Leaps' lightning. Many fell steaming in heaps. A xivilai struck by the bolt recovered his balance close by. He furiously hefted a huge double-headed axe in one hand and charged to behead Leaps, only to have his head flicked back by a black arrow to the eye, before he collapsed to the ground. Fendros nocked another arrow just as quickly to find the next dangerous target.

As remiss as Sabine was to get up close, there was little way to effectively push with the front line without joining the ranks. Do'rhajul was invaluable. She could strike around his immovable shield, leaving little room for the skaafin ahead to escape. Do'rhajul's boots crunched through a round area of frost that was left behind by the power of Sabine's spells.

The advance was not losing momentum fast, but something running caught the corner of Sabine's eye. "Look out!" Sabine shouted. A clannfear poised to leap at Do'rhajul's side was struck by an invisible force that corporated into Sabine's other packmate Tarna, one of her daggers lodged into the creature's unarmoured neck and her other arm held around its shoulders. The two of them tumbled to the ground.

"Stay down, Tarna!" Sabine redirected her staff to engulf some advancing skaafin with an ice storm spell over Tarna's head.

Fendros shouldered his bow and shouted over the clash of metal all around. "Push! Push all the way through!" He pulled his sword out and pointed it forward. "Take your vengeance!" He kicked Leaps forward to get close and cut into the lines himself. His sword bit into even the otherworldly armour the daedra wore.

[EliteCommander]

Despite how long they had been fighting, their charge into the Daedric lines was the most aggressive yet. Meesei’s pack formed a spearhead that started to threaten to split the enemy lines in two, while their Senche cavalry moved around the outside to harass them from the flanks. These Daedra were all that stood between them and the tower where they would end this battle once and for all.

While some might have been uncomfortable with it, the aggression suited Lorag. Empowered by Yerig’s shout, it felt like his claws were guided by the wind itself as they cut quick and deep into anything in front of him. Although the magic of the Thu’um was something new to him, the speed it offered was something he could intuitively take advantage of. His roars and savage attacks were almost a mask for the skill and experience that lay underneath. Even with the blood lust of his beast, he still approached each opponent with an intentional plan. Smaller opponents, like the Skaafin, received the most straightforward and aggressive swipes of his claws, but even then, he was strategic about the timing and angle of his strikes to make sure his armor could effectively protect him. For larger opponents, he tried to either isolate them as much as possible, or to position himself so that smaller Daedra blocked the path between them so that Lorag could not get easily overwhelmed.

Meesei, too, was holding nothing back. She swiped her claws across Skaafin in front of her in a flurry, mixed in with bolts of lightning and streams of fire. Her physical power mixed with magic made for an especially deadly combination, and one that many of her opponents were still not expecting. Skaafin mages scrambled to try and stop her, but against their wards, she did not even need to spend the magicka to break them. Charging in and skewering them with her claws worked just fine. She fought close together with Lorag on her left, and Janius on her right, matching her aggression to theirs and remaining alert to prevent any of them from getting surrounded. Meesei’s pack were pushing into the Daedra’s ranks faster than the rest of their frontline, so there was the danger of them getting encircled before they could break through completely.

Ahnasha’s titan passed above once again, raining down cold flame in a horizontal line deep into the Daedra’s ranks in front of them. Arrows and spellfire tried to meet the titan this time, but it was a difficult target merely to hit at its speed, and a few stray shots would not be enough to bring it down. However, among the Daedra was one spirit near the rear of their formation, glaring up in anger. It was the Breton spirit, holding the broken halves of her staff in both hands. Even with her fury, she still remained resolute and reasonably focused. She discarded the bottom half of the staff, then forcefully pulled the red crystal from the top half. Gritting her teeth, she charged her magicka through the crystal, which seemed to retaliate immediately with a surge of power through her own body. Its magic had the appearance of lightning with a crimson glow as it surrounded and pierced her body. Even she could not help but to scream out in agony as the crystal seemed to melt her flesh and fuse to her hand.

[Muttonhawk]

As if the shriek of pain and the crimson lightning did not attract enough attention, Fendros was already on the lookout between hewing at the Skaafin that tried to stop Leaps. He spotted the Breton ghost from his elevated position on the wamasu and was shocked at the sight.

"The ghost!" He shouted, pointing it out. "Ward yourselves!"

Sabine leaned around Do'rhajul to spot the spirit through the enemies between them. She tried to look closely at the face in case it was the one she hoped she would not be. The woman who captured her with Do'rhajul so long ago and had plunged her mind back into her old suffering self for a time. Sabine's grip on the Staff of Magnus tightened.

Janius' beast spirit gave him hubris. "Just let her try to stop us! She was defeated before!" He picked up his pace to fight his way towards the ghostly mage.

[EliteCommander]

As Ahnasha’s titan was starting to come around for another pass, the Breton ghost had finished her painful fusion to the strange Daedric crystal. The flesh on her hand looked like it had melted to become one with the crystal’s surface. The Daedric magic had scarred her body, especially her arm, as if she had been struck by lightning, but somehow, despite all of her pain and injuries, her spirit remained in one piece.

The Breton lifted her arm towards the sky, shouting in a rage at the titan above. “Traitor!” She screamed, her magicka flowing into the crystal, and from which the resulting spell surged forth. Any technique or subtlety she might have shown in the previous fight was replaced with pure, raw power as a storm of lightning surged forth into the air from the crystal. The spell was quick and sent a booming sound like thunder echoing across the valley. The sheer magical power of the spell could be felt far and wide, and for those fighting in the battle around her, even their hairs would stand up on their ends from the charge in the air. In terms of raw power, no spell Meesei, or even Neesa, had ever shown could match it. For the titan, the lightning’s power surged through its body from snout to tail in an instant. Once could not tell from the ground if it was immediately lethal, but instead of making another pass, it plummeted from the sky like a meteor, smashing into the side of the mountain at full speed.

The Daedric crystal’s power was now unrestrained, and its enchantment showed its full power. Though, it was not power that came without a cost. Just as when she had fused with the crystal initially, crimson-glowing lighting arced back down her arm and across the rest of her body. She dropped down to her knees with a shriek. Her simple clothing had mostly burned away, so the disfiguring wounds that the crystal’s power inflicted upon her were easily visible. Scars and burned flesh marred half of her body, to the point that it seemed remarkable that she was still “alive”.

In any case, the Breton spirit did not stop at the titan. She stood back to her feet and moved her gaze down from the sky to the battle before her. From her position higher up the hill, the warpath of Meesei’s pack was hard to miss. They were sticking close together, cutting through the center of the Daedra to the point that they threatened to split the Daedric lines in half. However, the spirit did not care for her Daedric allies, nor even Hircine’s champion. As soon as she laid eyes on one person, she was fixated on her entirely.

”YOU!” The Breton screamed, raising up the crystal straight towards Sabine. “Unworthy cur! That staff is mine! GIVE IT TO ME!” She screamed with an unmatched, unfettered rage. There were more than a few Daedra in between the mage and Sabine, but their fates did not seem to concern her.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine raised her ward and had to squint her eyes. The intensity of the lighting cast out to the sky was enough to make her forget that she was covered by Do'rhajul's shield, even if she had been the target.

The downward flight of the Daedric titan, however, slowed everything down. She had seen the stream of powerful lightning that the titan had shrugged off at the start of the battle near their oblivion gate. To think a spell from the spirit's crystal could have brought it down in one hit gave her a chill that shuddered her neck and shoulders. The titan landed and, for a moment, the battle was consumed by the noise of its impact. The ground shook as if struck by so many felled trees.

Fendros and Janius were just as speechless. No commands or cries interrupted the ghost's enraged demand.

Sabine felt her knees shake. She would have collapsed had she not had her staff to lean on. She tapped its magical power for the reassurance she needed, before calling out in a high voice. "Do'rhajul! Do not lower your shield!" Her voice breaking at intervals belied her determination. "Everyone else make space! Stay out of the way!"

With her staff pointing ahead and her feet planted firmly in the ground, Sabine drew up a ward and, in her other hand, cast an ice storm spell around Do'rhajul at the ghost by some way of disrupting her next move. Sabine knew she could not defend against everything the ghostly mage had, but Do'rhajul's shield and the power in the staff could at least buy time to find a technique to bring the ghost down.

Fendros, on the other hand, was looking at the problem with the rest of the pack's capabilities in mind. Namely, he called out to Meesei. "Alpha, what is that thing in her arm and how do we stop it!?"

[EliteCommander]

The crack of lightning against Spellbreaker’s ward was near-deafening. It cut through a line of Daedra between the Breton and Do’rhajul, felling every single one in an instant. The ward flared more brightly than it ever had, and arcing lightning struck any being to either the left or right of Do’rhajul. Spellbreaker still held, even against this mage’s power, though Lorag had not been able to retreat far enough back in time to avoid some of the collateral damage. Some of the lightning struck him, which even through the enchantments of his armor, was enough to send him to the ground as he tried to run back behind the protective ward. He only took a portion of the spell’s power, but he felt like he had taken a direct hit.

Even Meesei had moved back behind the protection of Do’rhajul’s shield. She was not confident that even her ward could hold up to that sort of power for long enough to protect her. “I…do not know!” She shouted back at Fendros over the roar of the battle. Meesei’s knowledge of magic generally did extend even to more esoteric spells and relics, but that knowledge still was not perfect. She did not know what kind of power this mage had at her fingertips, other than that it almost certainly came from Vile himself. The Daedric Prince may have even created it specifically for her. Whatever the case, Meesei did not have the answer this time. They would have to adapt without knowing its secrets. “I have never seen such a thing.”

One detail that any of the pack would notice was the consequences the crystal had for its user. The power of the crystal’s magic lashed back on the Breton, burning her flesh even farther across her body. The arm that was melded to the crystal had been partially blackened, and it looked like it was withering, though she still seemed to be able to move it. She kept the crystal raised towards Sabine, though with the path between them cleared her gaze was soon cast upon Do’rhajul. “And you…traitor!” She shouted. By this point, even hidden behind her mangled face as it was, her identity was fairly certain. It did present some questions, as Arinette was not actually meant to be dead. She was supposed to be held prisoner in the Daggerfall clan, but regardless, they would have to deal wither again, here and now.

If Arinette was not enough, the Daedra too were a growing threat. The pack’s allies were still pushing forward and fighting fiercely, but they were still quite outnumbered. Without the titan to help clear the way, even the magic they had empowering them may not have be enough for them to break through before enough Daedric reinforcements arrived from down in the valley. Meesei’s pack had pushed through as the spearhead, but now, the Daedra threatened to encircle and cut them off from the rest of their allies.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine cried out to Lorag when he was struck. She could not hear her own voice over the arcing magic battering Do'rhajul's shield in front of them.

They were pinned in place. They could not afford to remain here. With no other direct orders, Fendros took the initiative and brought up his own ward, casting it broad enough to cover Leaps-On-Elves' front. No one had time to ask what he was doing before he kicked Leaps forward, jumping them out towards where Lorag lay. But just as Fendros braced himself to hold against the collateral power of Arinette's lightning, he found no resistance at all. Instead, in front of his ward, was Sabine. She was braced with her staff held forward, warding what was soon likely to be the full force of Arinette's spell.

She shouted something back at Fendros. He could barely make out any words, but he knew what to do.

"Leaps!" Fendros shouted. "Get Lorag back!"

Leaps was already in the process of biting Lorag's forearm and dragging him back to the pack. The others could heal him.

Fendros ripped an arrow from his quiver, loosed it at Arinette, and saw it obliterated in mid air by the lightning spell. He cursed.

Sabine screamed out. "Why!?! WHY YOU!?!"

They needed a plan, and quickly. Janius was distracted, watching their rear for Daedra running around to flank them, Sabine was not in any position to act beyond defending herself. Fendros cursed again and dismounted to help drag Lorag's enormous armoured form to safety while he tried to think of their rapidly diminishing opportunities.

Meanwhile, Sabine's words crept into Fendros' mind. "Surely not..." he thought out loud.

[EliteCommander]

Lorag had taken quite a literal shock from Arinette, but it was not enough to knock him out of the fight. After Fendros dragged him back among the rest of the pack, he struggled back up to his feet. Unfortunately, ensuring his safety did not leave them with the time they needed to retreat back into their lines. Their allies behind them fought off the Daedra as long as they could, but the enemy’s numbers were simply too great. With their reinforcements from the valley below, a force of Dremora were able to cut through some of their allies behind them, isolating Meesei’s pack from the rest of their army. On their left and right flanks, Skaafin mixed with more bestial Daedra closed in on them as well, and of course, Arinette herself was to their front.

No matter which way they looked, the situation was seeming more and more grim. They were surrounded on all sides, and even Meesei did not have the power to simply push through any one of them. Perhaps with the Staff of Magnus it would be possible, but with the power Arinette currently wielded, the staff was needed to face her. All around them, the Daedra were dedicating an overwhelming force purely to finish off the Champion’s pack. Perhaps that was an over-commitment that would give them ground elsewhere, perhaps their allies would be able to take advantage to rescue them, but they would need to survive long enough for that to happen.

Meesei was the nearest to the right flank. Skaafin spearmen pushed forward, archers loosed a volley from behind them, and a pack of clannfear were sent charging forward at the same time, all focused on taking Meesei’s head as a prize. Meesei wanted to take down Arinette as quickly as possible, but the other threats simply could not be ignored. Before the clannfear could reach her, Meesei unleashed a wave of telekinetic force in a wide arc in front of her, stopping the clannfear in their tracks, staggering back the spearmen, and knocking arrows out of the air. With an enraged roar, she followed through with a powerful bolt of chain lightning that electrocuted most of the clannfear, and a few of the spearmen. One of the reptilian Daedra did escape the lightning and was close enough to leap for Meesei, but alone, she had no problem catching the beast in her claws. It tried in vain to scratch at her armor, while she brought her hands to its neck and snapped it in one simple motion.

Unfortunately, there was no easy way to deal with the numbers bearing down upon her. The spearmen resumed their charge as soon as they could, archers nocked their next volley, and more Skaafin filled in the gap her chain lightning had opened. Still, Meesei would do whatever she could. It was as if lightning coursed through her veins when she unleashed her next storm from both hands, though it was not targeted at the Daedra directly, but rather the ground in front of them. It was a flood of lightning that charged the ground itself, creating a wall of magical lightning between them.

“I will hold this flank myself! Just…look for any options you can find!” Meesei shouted back to the others. She did not see any means of escape, but her power was still considerable. If she could hold this flank by herself and demand disproportionate resources from the enemy, maybe the rest of her pack could find some kind of opportunities? She just had to put her faith in her pack.

The Daedra on the other flanks were no less aggressive than the ones Meesei was dealing with. As they were closing in, Ahnasha stood just behind Fendros, bound bow in hand, with an increasingly frustrated expression. “I can’t feel it. The titan…I can’t feel its mind.” She said, looking to Fendros. “We need a plan, here.”

At their front, Arinette shouted in frustration when Sabine’s ward proved just as formidable as her own spell. Regardless, she was undeterred. In pain and anger, she screamed as she started to sprint forward, straight at Sabine. It was hard to say what exactly her strategy would be, if she even had one in mind at all. She might have been a mage, but they really had no idea what she might be capable of, even in melee.

[Muttonhawk]

"I know!" Fendros responded to Ahnasha, frustrated and showing just a hint of fear. He pulled out his dragonbone sword and let his mind embrace their options. Whatever they needed to do, Fendros could not do it alone. "Ahna, can you use the dead Daedra here?"

Janius leapt for the right flank in a rage, striking aside weapons and foes alike with both hands. It was a wonder he still had the energy to fight so ferociously.

Meanwhile, Sabine let her ward restrengthen as Arinette fell into a charge. Sabine had the power this time, not the other way around, but she was still scared. There were no openings with such power as in that crystal. She didn't know what to do...

...But Fendros did. "Sabine! Ice the ground!"

It was an odd trick to use here, but she knew by instinct to do it. She brought the Staff of Magnus low above the trampled grass by her feet. With a quick focus of her preferred destruction magic, she planted the staff on the ground. A crackling wave of white rime frost exploded out across their part of the battlefield, carefully zoned with an unaffected area behind her. This gave the pack the solid ground that the enemy now very studdenly lacked -- short of those with clawed feet of course.

She followed up, too. With another strike at the ground, this time angled slightly towards Arinette, Sabine conjured spear-like icicles up from the dirt, angled at Arinette's oncoming chest as she slid unstoppably along the ice in her charge.

"Rhajul, Tarna! Now!" Sabine trusted one of her packmates to finish Arinette off when she arrived.

[EliteCommander]

As ferocious as Janius was, the numbers he was facing could easily be overwhelming. Naturally, Skaafin spearmen were at the front of the enemy charge, and he could not possibly deflect or avoid all of their thrusts. A Skaafin could not stab through dragonbone plate, but every attack came with a risk of them finding a gap between the plates. Not to mention, there were other types of Daedra surrounding him as well. After cleaving through enough Skaafin, Janius found himself with a Daedroth charging him from the front to try and tackle him, while a Dremora flanked him from the side with a heavy warhammer at the ready. Of course, Janius, too was not alone.

Kaleeth rushed in to help guard Janius’ flank. Though, she was not agile, and the Dremora had already been rearing back for a swing on Janius, so his hammer found a new target when it smashed into the armor on her neck. It was a hard hit, to be sure; almost as bad as a blow to the head. There was a loud crack on impact, though fortunately, it was not from a broken neck. She roared out in pain, and may have even been injured, but she was still able to retaliate. When she swung out at the Dremora, she was able to grab a hold of his head. Daedric armor was hard to get through, even for a werecrocodile, but in this case, she did not need to. She simply grasped his head and twisted until it was facing backwards.

On the rear flank, Leaps hissed and roared at the approaching Dremora, but slowly backed away and gave ground in fear. Their spears, swords, and hammers were known threats to him, and their numbers were intimidating. Every instinct wanted him to run, though he had nowhere to go. However, matters did change somewhat once he was no longer alone. Lorag bellowed out a roar when he ran out to meet the Dremora, running in front of Leaps to directly challenge their enemy. Leaps did not have as much fear about facing the threat in a group. Soon enough, there was a charge in the air as lightning started to pool in Leaps’ maw.

Ahnasha loosed arrows in the general direction of the enemy without much focus. The enemey was densely packed enough that pretty much any arrow shot would be guaranteed to hit something. The rest of her focus she put into considering Fendros’ suggestion. “Yes, but…I’m not sure any one or two Daedra would be enough. I…I have an idea. Just buy me time.” She answered. The bound bow disappeared from her hand as she reached into her bag and grabbed one of Sabine’s magicka fortification potions. She would certainly need it. Ahnasha moved back, hiding behind Leaps in the center of the group before she fell down to her knees. She closed her eyes to concentrate, which, of course, meant she would be exceptionally vulnerable if not protected. The technique she intended to use was related to one that could be used by mages who could attune themselves to the constellation of the Ritual, and she hoped Neesa’s teachings would be enough for her to accomplish it as well.

The ice did indeed give Arinette trouble, as Sabine had planned. Yerig moved to support Do’rhajul and Tarna, and all three were ready to finish Arinette when they had the opportunity. As the mangled Breton slid towards the spikes of ice, however, she raised up her healthy hand with her own magical power surging through it. Crimson red, thorned vines erupted from the ground in front of her to shatter the ice and clear away the spikes. By that point, Do’rhajul and the others had already started to charge her, and it was too late for them to stop, so they were caught with vines tunneling up out of the ground around them as well. A pair of thick vines wrapped entirely around Tarna’s legs to pull her to the ground, while their long, sharp thorns tore into her flesh. At the same time, a shout could be heard from Yerig nearby: FEIM! Vines had attempted to entangle him as well, but his shout allowed him to pass through them unharmed. As a vine tried to wrap its way around Tarna’s neck, he became corporeal and managed to cut it precisely enough with his greatsword to save her throat from evisceration. From there, he did what he could to cut away the rest of the vines to free her, as they could certainly take her life if he did not.

Do’rhajul too was faced with vines, but his reaction was as quick and efficient as one could expect from a masterful warrior. Before the vines could get any sort of hold around his legs, he spun around and cleaved through half of them with his ebony sword In one single motion, and the rest did not survive another slice. He was still in a position to be a threat to Arinette, but as much rage as she held for him as a traitor, her fury towards Sabine still eclipsed it. Arinette’s crystal glowed for a moment as she used some of its power to conjure forth a powerful Daedra to occupy him: a harvester.

The surge of power damaged yet more of Arinette’s body, but she still rushed forward with Sabine as her sole focus. As she was now close, she conjured a bound sword in her free hand. Others might soon be able to help her, but for the moment, it was just Arinette and Sabine.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius edged back and swung his axe hand in the air in an effort to make his two main assailants hesitate. A few spearheads clacked and cracked in the wake of it. He wanted to bite them all in two. He could not stop everyone, though, and he instead thrust at the dremora's chin to deflect its incoming mouth rather than open himself up by striking it more decisively. He braced for a hammerblow and instead heard it land on Kaleeth's armour.

"We...won't die here!" Janius roared. He impatiently ducked around the dremora to direct himself away from the pikes trying to hold him back, before leaping axe-first into the side of the dremora's maw. The dremora tried to snap shut on Janius' arm by quickly found its left jaw muscles cut through and running with blood. Janius then took the beard of his axe-hand and plunged it into the dremora's back like a pick axe. But he could only do so once before a spear was thrust under his arm. Let out a short, pained roar and grabbed the spear shaft, wrenching it out of the hands of the grinning skaafin that landed the thrust. Janius felt hot blood pouring down his arm already. He grit his teeth and pulled the barbed end of it with a dizzying wave of pain.

"We're past buying, Ahna," Fendros responded, turning around with his sword and ward spell at the ready. "But we'll steal some for you."

Janius and Kaleeth fought one way, Sabine's pack another, Meesei held the other way, and Lorag and Leaps were doing their best to contain what was left. Fendros could not help any one side without leaving another unaided. But, drinking down a couple of potions of his own, he could not do much sitting where he was.

He stepped up beside Meesei as she flung out spell after spell. "Meesei!" Fendros said. "Allow me!" He spread out his ward wide and brought a pulse through it that made it brighten nearly to the point of losing its transparency. "The pack needs help!" He shouted, and he paced forward. He could not go too fast or else risk the stability of his ward. Spears formed up and closed in. Fendros' ward brightened further. The points met the surface of the ward and made the shape of it divot against each spear, but it did not let them through. With nowhere to go but up and spells and arrows not faring any better, the spears left the Skaafin with no means of offence. Fendros drew back his sword, pointed it at a Skaafin sergeant dubious with Fendros' attempt at a stalemate, and thrust it through his ward. The dragonbone tore under the daedra's gorget and into its neck. It collapsed. Fendros picked another target.

The Skaafin were not so dull as to stay where they were, of course. They pulled away, out of range, and Fendros was forced to stay where he was or else be enveloped. He was not sure how long he could hold this fortified ward of his, but if there was any advantage to being born under the atronach, it was the time he could steal in situations such as these.

Sabine was no longer in control in that moment. She had a split second to do something. A clever trick was no longer possible in her mind. She brought the Staff of Magnus forward in both hands, fell into a fighting stance, twitched, and channelled magicka. A staff had a little more range than a sword, some memory of Lorag told her.

"Arinette! We are here to free everyone!" Sabine pleaded.

She sprung forward as soon as Arinette was in measure. A strong frost spell was ready to cast at the tip of her staff. A spell the likes of which would cause immediate thermal shock in a regular person. But she needed to touch it to Arinette for it to work. It might take a few attempts. There was no telling whether it would even have any effect.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei, in the time that she had been holding off the Daedra on her flank, had done as much damage as she could. She had become a veritable storm of lightning to control the area in front of her and spread as much damage as she could deep into their ranks. She had charged the ground itself with what seemed like pools of lightning to block off angles of approach, followed by powerful bursts of chain lightning into any Daedra brave enough to approach. She had chosen an offensive strategy as she felt that, against such numbers, keeping up such heavy pressure would help her last longer than a purely defensive approach. It was successful for as long as it lasted, though with less focus on her wards, she did take hits herself. Arrows did not break her armor, but spells that got through her ward had their effects. Enchantments could reduce, but did not eliminate the burns she received from both flame and lightning.

Meesei was surprised to see Fendros approach beside her, but she did not second-guess his decision. She knew what he could do, and she trusted him to succeed where many others would fail. With a silent nod, she backed away and allowed him to take over. He was right that the others needed help, and her power could deal with a horde like none other. Although, before she could commit to another attack, she had to back away into the middle of their formation and take just a moment to heal herself. Her burns did not show through her armor, but the wounds would get worse if she did nothing to treat them.

For Ahnasha, every moment the others gave her was valuable. The power she focused through herself rivaled that of the spell she had used to command the titan. It was exhausting, both mentally and physically. Even with potions to help, the exertion of casting such powerful spells one after another was pushing her to her limits. Still, there was no option for failure here. She had to cast her spell, and it had to work.

The dark blue tendrils of conjuration energy surrounded Ahnasha, then, once they reached a critical point, she pushed them outwards. It was a reanimation spell, but not one that targetted a single body. Rather, it was a reanimation field that spread out along the ground in every direction around her. Each body it encountered gathered the energy, which swirled around and penetrated its form to give life to the dead flesh. Ahnasha did not, and indeed could not discriminate on which bodies her magic resurrected, so everything from Skaafin to Dremora, from the smallest Spider Daedra to the largest Daedroth, and even some of the pack’s Elven and Lycan allies that had fallen within range of the spell, rose from where their corpses lay to rejoin the battle.

Ahnasha could not even count how many she had reanimated, but her pack soon found themselves with a small army of the undead fighting beside them. No longer were Janius and Kaleeth taking wounds from the opportunistic Daedra surrounding them, as the very Daedra they had been killing were now rising up from within their ranks to sow chaos among them. Leaps was frightened by the sudden resurrections of the foes he had been fighting, but Lorag stayed near and calmed him to allow Ahnasha’s thralls to take over as his frontline. And Fendros, having created a wall from his ward, was no longer fighting alone. With so many thralls to command, Ahnasha could not individually control any of them, but plenty enough of them joined in alongside him on their own.

As might have been expected, there were no words that would influence Arinette’s resolve. “Your souls belong to my lord, except yours…your life is mine!” The Breton screamed as she lunged forward with unmatched, burning hatred in her eyes. Every ounce of her willpower was devoted to slaying Sabine, to the point that she did not seem to care at all if she died in the process. In life, her zeal had been focused on serving Vile, but now, she was a spirit of vengeance towards the one she blamed for her death.

Ultimately, however, Lorag’s teachings had guided Sabine well. Particularly as Arinette had charged without regard for her own safety, Sabine was able to strike her before her sword could reach her. Arinette would have gladly traded fatal blows, but Sabine’s choice of attack quite literally froze her in place. The tip of Arinette’s blade stopped just inches short of Sabine’s throat as her legs were no longer able to carry her forward. Frost quickly spread across her skin up and down her torso, near the point of impact, while the thermal shock spread far deeper across the rest of her body. She gasped and struggled for breath, but the one thing about her that did not diminish was the fury in her eyes.

Even as her body finally started to fail, the crystal started to glow red once more as vines surged forth from the ground to try and ensnare Sabine and rend her flesh with their thorns. Using the crystal meant yet more pain and damage to Arinette’s body, but she would gladly give her last breath to spread as much pain and suffering as she could to Sabine.

[Muttonhawk]

As Arinette's sword slowed to a stop, Sabine's neck felt warm and choked. She dabbed at her collar and brought her fingers before her, finding no blood. It had just been her imagination. Though, Arinette's next spell, a surprise to Sabine considering her state, was readily apparent.

Sabine tried to leap away, too late. A vine coiled around her ankle dug in its thorns. She cried out through her teeth. Having seen the spell a number of times already, however, she did not panic. She used what came to mind to deal with both problems at once as best as she could. She brought a ward up close to herself with her left hand, and in her right hand she used the Staff of Magnus to charge a bright flickering spell at its end. She lowered the spell onto Arinette's elbow where the gem hand connected to her ghostly body, closed her eyes, and blasted the area apart with an explosion of magical fire.

She fell to her knees in pain.

The corpses rising to join the battle made Fendros flinch with his sword when he saw them. In a moment, the terror of sensing Daedra behind him as if he was the last in their pack standing was replaced with unusual optimism when he sensed the undeath in the pits of their eyes. With a grin, he shrank his ward to allow them to charge in. Not a moment too soon, too. He would need to take a potion to cast such a ward again.

Janius' reaction was not as restrained. He reflexively struck down a reanimated Skaafin with his off hand before he realised what was going on. Fendros' next order made it perfectly clear.

"Let's push forward!" Fendros raised his dragonbone sword as he caught up with Ahnasha and the others. "By Hircine, our hunt goes on!"

[EliteCommander]

Despite everything that had happened to her, and everything she had managed to do to Sabine past the point of her own doom, Arinette still tried with her last breath to form another spell through the crystal. However, Sabine’s spellfire tore apart the last shred of whatever was keeping her together. The backlash of power through the crystal turned her arm to ash, and left the rest of her body mangled and burned. The dim aura that marked the Breton as a spirit finally faded, leaving behind nothing but a body that was hardly even recognizable.

For a brief moment, Sabine just had the pain that Arinette had managed to inflict upon her. The thorns that had managed to find their way to her flesh had done what damage they could. However, that ended shortly after a large hand came to rest on her shoulder. It was the oversized paw of a werewolf, plated in dragonbone, and through it came a surge of healing magic to rid of anything that remained of Arinette’s last attack against her. “It’s alright. You won. She’s gone.” Meesei said softly.

Ahnasha hoped her pack would forgive her the fact that she did not immediately rejoin the fray. As soon as her spell was cast, she fell to her hands and knees in the center of their formation, gasping for breath. Her hands shakily went to her satchel for her supply of potions. First it was the titan, and now this mass reanimation spell. This battle was continually pushing her to her limits, then beyond them. However, with the undead now bolstering the pack’s numbers, the Daedra could no longer surround them so easily. On every flank, her friends were not only holding their own, but starting to push back.

Unfortunately, the outlook for the battle as a whole still was not fantastic. Their allies, both lycan and Dominion soldier alike, had fought exceptionally well. Far better than anyone could have reasonably expected of them. But, they were still reaching their limits. The wave of Daedric reinforcements from the main battlefield down in the valley had finally stopped, but those that were here now still significantly outnumbered the pack’s allies. The wall of Daedra between the Champion’s pack and the rest of their allies had only grown larger as they had been pushed back. Their lines were still holding, but they had taken losses, and it looked like the Daedra might overrun them entirely soon enough.

With Ahnasha’s undead to help occupy the enemy for a time, it was possible that Meesei’s pack could make a run for the tower. Although, if their allies did not hold out for long enough, the horde of Daedra could end up giving chase quickly enough to overwhelm them. If they stayed, there was still the possibility, even if it was unlikely, that they could do enough damage for their allies to win this fight, and hopefully have enough of their numbers left over to effectively watch their back.

The choice did seem to be a difficult one to make, if it was forced upon the pack. However, there was something else in the distance. It might have been difficult to notice at first, but the sounds of hoof beats echoing between the mountains only grew louder as time passed. In the distance, behind the Daedra, and behind even their own allies, the pack might have been able to make out figures cresting the hill from the pass. Dominion cavalry, riding in on a mix of physical and ethereal mounts. Running alongside them was an entire company’s worth of transformed lycanthropes. Werewolves, werelions, wereboars, and even werevultures above. And at the very front of the formation, riding upon a horse adorned in fine Elven armor, was a familiar Cathay Khajiit in ebony armor, pointing forward an Akaviri katana.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine felt her awareness rush back to her as the pain of her wounds faded from her legs. She was not sure of it beforehand, but coming out of it, she realised she had expected to succumb to the spell and die. She took a shuddering breath and stood up, giving Meesei a confident nod. "We are not done yet," she responded. "Tarna! Rhajul! To me!"

Tarna reappeared out an invisibility spell a moment later, mouth open and catching her breath with a dagger held out in front of her, dripping with ichor. "The Dunmer Fendros, should we do as he says?" She asked, a little overwhelmed. "Our chances are less than..."

The hoofbeats of cavalry overwhelmed the sounds of battle and everyone turned their heads. Fendros, though he ordered as he did to keep their slim chances up and morale moderate, had not expected they would have much help. He found his own heart lifted by the sight of reinforcements.

Fendros' smile grew in relief. "It's Ri'vashi. Ri'vashi's here!"

With a moment to spare, Janius opted to lift his snout and howl into air. The responses they heard from all across the lines rang in all the Daedra's ears.

Sabine brought her staff up with both hands. She had never felt more motivated in her life. Mist poured off the end of the Staff of Magnus as she launched bursts of icicles in a fan pattern to punch into the enemies in front of her. "Heal yourself, Tarna," she said between spells, "Then push with us."

[EliteCommander]

harging forward from the pass, Ri’vashi’s reinforcements split into two groups as they descended onto the battle below. Most of the lycans moved onto the left and right flanks, while the cavalry moved to make quick strikes and pick off stragglers. The attention that the Daedra had been focusing on the Champion’s pack was quickly shifted to their other flanks in response, though Ahnasha still kept her undead in between them and the enemy while they regrouped.

Do’rhajul returned to Sabine’s side, shield raised to protect her. Yerig followed suit, showing a few cuts and a tattered robe, but otherwise unharmed. On her other side, Kaleeth stepped up alongside Janius to the front of their formation, ready to be their spearhead once more. Ahnasha finally caught her breath enough to get back to her feet, and was at least able to conjure a bound bow for herself. Still, she stayed close to Fendros to let him be her protector. As much as she might have wanted to do more, she did not feel that she had any more miracles left in her for this fight. For now, she could be content just stepping back and taking a few shots with her bow. Half of the undead she had resurrected had fallen by this point, but it hardly mattered at this point. They had bought them the time they needed. Lorag was at the end of the line, on the other side of Janius, hanging back slightly to pounce on any opportunities the pair of them opened up for him.

Behind them, the drumming hoofbeats of the cavalry, with Ri’vashi at their lead, charged past. They moved quickly and constantly, attacking with lances and spells on any opening they could find. From their elevated positions on horseback, the Dominion mages could launch fireballs and lightning strikes into the center of the Daedra’s formation. The fact that they could change position so quickly meant it was difficult for any defending mages to ward against every attack.

Meesei joined her pack at the center, just behind Kaleeth. Their allies were already closing in on the Daedra on three fronts, and her pack would make for the fourth. She gave one more look to her left and right, to the frontline that her pack formed together. They had fought long, and could not have fought harder. In this battle, and in all before. Every battle they had fought, this entire war that had been forced upon them, had been to push towards this final resolution at the top of this hill. Vile was before them, and if this force of Daedra was the last obstacle keeping them from him, then they would just have to remove them.

Power coursed through Meesei’s body and lightning arced between her claws. Standing up straight and raising her head to the sky, she let out a vicious howl to overtake all others and signal their charge.