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

[Muttonhawk]

When Ahnasha entered the room, Darahil had been writing something at his desk while the runner was speaking. Her entrance caused him to look up with a look of slight confusion as to why a lycan in its beast form had barged in. The runner was notably less stoic, jolting at Ahnasha's presence.

There were a few seconds where Darahil sat still and simply looked at Ahnasha, digesting the news. He calmly put down his quill and looked to the runner. "You should take lessons from Ahnasha here and get to the point as quickly as she did," he said to the runner, before looking to Ahnasha and standing up. "This is not a good day to have the strongest of the clan's fighters out in the mountains. How long until the enemy reaches us?" Darahil didn't wait for an answer before he walked quickly around his desk and towards the stairs. He gave the runner one last instruction, "You, find Vera in the school chambers, explain the situation quickly, and tell her to meet me in the main chamber." His pace increased, "It is time to call to arms. It has been too long since our home defences have been tested so."

Harriet had already been untying some of her armour while she ran back behind Meesei. The warband gave curious looks at the nature of their arrival.

Oswall breathed in to ask Meesei something, but Meesei spoke first, and her message caused Oswall's eyebrows to lower in anger. "There is what!?" The question would be left unanswered as he immediately turned around and barked at the warband. "All! Hear me! Equipment off!" He gestured to a spot under an outcrop, "Pile it up! Bury it in snow! Prepare to transform! We are needed back home!"

The last detail of Oswall's orders pushed a noticeable rush onto the entire warband as the situation dawned on them. It got to the point where they were virtually tearing off their armour and belts. Weapons, clothing, bags, and other equipment were unceremoniously piled up in the small natural divot under the outcrop. It eventually grew to a size where the hurried attempts at covering it with snow were somewhat futile. This changed when a number of the warband began to shift into their beast forms. With their larger hands doing the work, the snow was shifted in short order until the pile was covered sufficiently. It would not serve in the long term, but they didn't have the luxury to account that far.

Oswall himself sported a beast form that was visibly aged in fur colouration, but no less physically imposing than any other clan lieutenant. He gave a howl to the sky, to which the entire warband joined in. Such a cacophonous peal would be heard for miles around as it echoed off the Jerralls. Oswall then broke into a full sprint on all fours and the warband streamed behind him like a great wave of fur, teeth, and claws. None but Harriet and anyone else not under his rank overtook him in his path, though he was keeping up a blistering pace on his own.

The warband was headed home. Nothing short of divine intervention would stop them now.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei was carrying nothing of consequence on her which she would need to bring along, especially considering that Galsek was now dead. Harriet's collar was built to handle a transformation, and its enchantment could be activated by a specific phrase from Meesei, so she was ready to transform along with the others. Meesei drank her remaining magicka potion and buried her equipment with the others before quickly transforming.

The warband set out as quickly as possible towards the clan, though as usual, Meesei was cautious. She stayed near the front and kept a sharp eye out over the horizon. She could certainly believe that Galsek was lying in some fashion, even in death, so she could not rule out the possibility that they still might be ambushed. There might be no lodge or lycan hunters, or perhaps the lycan hunters were coming for them, instead of the clan. Anything was possible, so she was on her guard. Running up alongside Oswall, she spoke to him between breaths. "Stay alert...an ambush is still...possible."

Ahnasha rushed up alongside Darahil as he left the room, with notable impatience in every step. "It is hard to say; it depends on what path they take up the mountain. It was a large group, so we should have enough time if we hurry, if they are coming here at all. We could not wait around to see which direction the hunters were going. They could either be heading west, towards us, or east towards the warband. I send another runner to warn the warband. Still, we need to form the defense. I will be at the gates soon, there is...something I must do." Ahnasha explained, not waiting for confirmation before she suddenly sprinted off in the direction of their room.

The heavy footsteps of Ahnasha's beast form could be heard echoing down the hall as she ran towards their room. Kaleeth, who had been rubbing Leaps' stomach while Sabine put Rhazii to sleep, looked up curiously as the sound grew louder. Suddenly, Ahnasha burst through the old Ayleid door, immediately waking Rhazii with the noise and causing him to cry. For once in her life, however, Ahnasha actually did not care about upsetting her son.

"Sabine, Kaleeth, you need to get to safety, as far from the entrance as possible! There may be lycan hunters coming here, a large force of them." Ahnasha shouted the moment the door was open.

[Muttonhawk]

Oswall gave an affirmative nod and snort, but didn't deviate in any other way. It seemed that despite his shock at hearing about the enemy hunters, he was still assessing the situation as he was going. By any informed estimate, it would still be a while before they reached the clan.

At Ahnasha's entrance, Sabine displayed surprise that quickly became immense frustration as Rhazii began to cry. Ahnasha's tidings changed her reaction once again to a slightly fearful focus. Sabine stopped and quickly swaddled Rhazii into some cloth before picking him up and moving out of the chamber with everyone else. She didn't know exactly where she would go, but she was moving all the same. "Where is everyone else?" Sabine asked frantic with worry above Rhazii's cries, "What happened to the Argonian you were following?"

[EliteCommander]

"I don't know, Meesei sent me to follow another. It's how I found the hunters. The other I was with went to warn the warband." Ahnasha explained quickly. As they reached the main chamber, it was obvious that word of the potential attack had already spread through the clan. Groups of people were heading in all directions; some deeper into the ruin, and others towards the entrance. The majority of them were not quite in a panic, but there was obviously fear in some of their eyes. They did have a defensible position, but the fact that they had never been attacked in such away meant that they really did not know what was going to happen. They still had their fortifications, and a defensive force, but it was worrying that so many of the clan's warriors were away. Ahnasha just hoped that Turala was able to warn Meesei and the others in time. If they could defend until they arrived, then they could counterattack and hit the hunters from both sides.

Kaleeth had picked up her mace and shield, and had quickly donned her armor before leaving the room. She was holding them somewhat nervously as she followed the other two. They had kept Leaps locked in the room, as that was likely where he would be safest. "Where do you think they will want me to go? Should I get another weapon?" She asked.

Ahnasha shook her head. "You should just stay with Sabine, Kaleeth. Just try to help protect Rhazii."

"O-okay." Kaleeth answered, lowering her head despondently. It was a feeling she hated, being useless like this. She had been training as hard as she could, but she just was not good enough to head into these fights against such tough enemies. At least, no one else seemed to think so. She hated that others would be risking themselves while she stayed back and did nothing, but at the very least, she could stay with Sabine and try to keep Rhazii calm.

Looking around for a moment, Ahnasha pointed to one of the groups heading deeper into the ruin. "Follow them, it looks like they are going somewhere safe. Please just...keep Rhazii safe."

[Muttonhawk]

Even with the urgency of the situation and Rhazii's crying, Sabine stepped up to Ahnasha's imposing form and placed what little of her arm she had available in not supporting Rhazii around Ahnasha's torso. "Keep yourself safe as well, sister," Sabine said in a demanding tone. When she stepped back, her brow was wrinkled in worry, but she was determined enough that her lips were pursed. Sabine then took Kaleeth's arm and began to follow the group that Ahnasha pointed out.

The group appeared to be mostly free of weapons, and completely devoid of any who looked like warriors. Craftspeople, labourers, children, and the infirm were tacked on, all being led by a confident looking High Elf in simple clothes and a sword on his belt. Sabine caught up with the leader as they were moving. "Where are we going?" Sabine asked. For some reason, having the nervous Kaleeth around seemed to make her more confident with engaging other people.

The High Elf gave Sabine a glance. "You haven't been told? You must be new. There are some doors that can be barricaded further back in the ruins. We will stay behind them, and if the worst comes, we may unseal the doors deeper into the ruins and retreat through there." The High Elf sniffed, as if he wasn't worried that it would come to that, or at least wasn't showing it. "Most of the creatures and traps that we'd otherwise encounter have been dealt with, but it's not exactly liveable. Darahil reckons there's another entrance somewhere that might serve as an escape. Might."

"...Okay." Sabine wasn't exactly sure what to make of that, but it gave her hope that the clan had at least planned for this eventuality. Sabine edged back from the High Elf so she could talk with Kaleeth, "Sister, I don't like this."

Back with Ahnasha, the atmosphere was alert, but not overly panicked. There was concern on just about every face, but most people were quiet as they rushed about. They knew what to do now that the alarm had been raised. Groups of non-combatants were gathering with some odd sacks of provisions to take to the back of the ruin, while warriors donned armour and carried about barricades and weapons near the gate. The only figure that seemed not to be walking around at the gate was Darahil. He was pointing and directing orders at various teams of warriors and mages, securing defences and briefing on strategies. Soon enough, Vera came forth from the general direction of the school rooms with a bunch of leather armour and a sword in a scabbard under one arm and a round wooden shield in the other. Behind her were a couple more lightly armoured warriors that appeared to be pack mates of some description.

What was alarming to one who would watch carefully is the relative lack of strength on the present fighters. Though they seemed to have enough people to almost match the coming warband in numbers, they would be outmatched in skill, experience, and equipment if the fortifications didn't hold.

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth clutched her weapon and shield close to herself. She was one of the few among this group which was actually well-armed, but she seemed to be even more frightened than most. She was worried about what would happen if these hunters broke through the defenses and forced them to run, and guilty about what that would mean. She didn't like that she was here hiding while Ahnasha was at the entrance risking her life for them. She wanted to help, but she knew that she would just end up getting herself hurt or killed, wouldn't she?

"I don't either. I don't want to hide here while the others are dying, but...what can I do? I can't fight, not well. Janius says I'm getting better, but...I haven't been fighting that long. All I can do is transform and let my beast spirit do it, but it isn't careful at all. I was hurt so, so badly last time I fought, but...I don't know, what should I do?" Kaleeth asked, almost begging for an answer.

As Ahnasha made her way to the entrance, she started noticing how agitated she was starting to feel. She had transformed simply to get here, but the longer she stayed in this form, the more restless her beast spirit became. It wanted blood, and she was yet to deliver on that need. That would not be an issue when and if these hunters arrived, but until then, it was becoming harder to think clearly.

Ahnasha approached Vera and Darahil, doing her best to retain her concentration. At least if she was thinking about violence, her beast spirit would have something to look forward to. The defenses they had were...adequate, but that wasn't completely encouraging. They would be rather reliant on their fortifications to give them an advantage, so they needed to make sure they did not fail. She looked towards the cave beyond their fortifications, reflexively letting out a low growl as she thought about the hunters running in through it. Vera and Darahil seemed capable of preparing their defense, but there was still time, so she could still find some way to help. She knew she should spend no time idle until they arrived. She had to try to do something, to think about the problem like Meesei would.

"The...cave, leading up to the fortifications. It is pretty narrow. They won't be able to overwhelm us with numbers, since only a few can fit through at a time. But...they know that. This entrance...it is the only one, right? Remember, anything Galsek could know about our defenses, he told them. We have to plan for that. Is there any kind of weakness you can think of, something that would make defending harder? Because they will exploit it." Ahnasha asked.

[Muttonhawk]

Between Kaleeth's outward concern, Rhazii's crying, and her own share of the worries, Sabine was beginning to feel closed in. She didn't respond to Kaleeth for a few moments while she realised just how anxious she had become. In a stray lucid thought, Sabine didn't want to be trapped by her anxiety any more. Even if it was just the help given to her by the ritual keeping her going, she channelled as much focus as she could into mental resilience. Even then, it was hard. She didn't make eye contact with Kaleeth as she found a response. "Ahnasha will come back if anything goes wrong. She will know what to do." Sabine's voice was straining not to stutter, "Let's just keep going."

Vera and Darahil gave looks of mild disapproval at Ahnasha still being transformed while idle, but now was not quite the time to raise such issues.

Darahil spoke first. "If there is another entrance to the inhabited parts of the ruin, we would have found it by now. The only other openings are the vents from the forge and the dining chamber, but they are vertical drops, too narrow for an attacker to fit through. The only other potential entrance would be through the unexplored parts of the ruin, and that would hold the danger of traps we have not yet disabled, let alone discovered."

"Oswall is the one who is intimately familiar with the defences of this place," Vera said to them both, buckling on some sturdy looking leather armour as she spoke. "We must admit, we may have to improvise in some regards. We will have to hold them at the gate as long as we can and wait for the warband to strike them from behind. If they get through the gate, which is the weakest point if they had the sense to bring a ram, we will have to start moving everyone out into the unexplored ruins while holding a fighting retreat. If what you said is true, we have little chance of beating them back on our own. They are likely trained to fight us and confined spaces favour them over our beast forms."

It was clear that Darahil and Vera were planning to save as many lives as they could. Either they didn't have the acumen, or they weren't willing, to take any risks to give them an edge if there were any. Darahil glanced to some warriors piling up quivers by the base of the defences and looked to Ahnasha. "While you're in that form, use your reach and pass those quivers up to the men up by the arrow windows. Unless you have anything further to add, of course." Darahil may not have been deliberately trying to sound caustic, but he didn't seem to make an effort not to.

[EliteCommander]

“Okay…okay.” Kaleeth answered, closing her eyes briefly as she tried to slow her rapid breathing. Sabine was probably right, she they just needed to keep themselves safe while the warriors and mages fought. If the worst happened and they were attacked by something, Kaleeth could at least try to fight back. In these confined corridors, it would be hard to run from a werecrocodile.

Ahnasha did start to pass up quivers to the archers, but she did not stop thinking. Darahil and Vera seemed like they were just going to rely on their more obvious defenses like the gate. It was possible that they could hold out with what they had, but there had to be more. Darahil did mention that there might be alternate entrances through the unexplored section of the ruin, but she would at least be able to have an idea if the hunters were trying that route. She knew when the hunters left, so she knew roughly the maximum amount of time it should take them to reach the ruin. If they were taking an alternate entrance, it would take them even longer, so she could warn Darahil and Vera. Regardless, despite her beast spirit’s constant distractions, she tried to think about what other options they had. She thought back on strategies that Meesei and others in her pack had used, and tried to think if there was anything she could make use of now.

”Okay, have to think. I need to…I need…ah, get out of my head beast!” Ahnasha tried to think, but her mind was just filling with thoughts of the hunters, and violence. She wanted to rip their foes to shreds with her bare claws, and she was having a hard time thinking of anything more subtle. If she transformed back, she would not be able to take on her lycan form again, but right now, she had a feeling her mind would be more valuable than her body.

After the quivers had been passed up, Ahnasha forced back her beast spirit within her mind and allowed herself to shift back into her normal, Khajiit form. Having not killed anything, it was more of an effort than usual, but once she was back to normal, there was no chance of her transforming again for about another day, against her will or otherwise. Now, at least, she could think clearly. ”Now, let’s see, what are our options? Meesei…she likes to use her magic, to be creative with it. We have mages here, though I don’t know what they can do. Meesei is probably better than any of them, but…well there are a lot of them here. With their skills together, we can probably do a lot of the things Meesei could, we just need to make sure they have a supply of potions. Now, what can we do with them? Maybe combine them with the warriors somehow? Let’s see…Lorag, he just loves sharing stories from his Legion days. Maybe…” She continued within her mind, her eyes scanning around at their warriors, particularly the more heavily armed an armored ones.

”Hmm, this is…it’s kind of like a pass, actually. The cave is narrow, only a few can fit through at a time. A shield wall would work here. Spears, shields, heavy armor. We’re lycans, so it’s not like they can physically overpower us, no matter how well trained they are. Or, well, we really don’t want to put anyone outside the gate. They wouldn’t be able to get back in. But it is a good backup plan, if they break through. We could fall back to…that hallway. It’s narrow like the cave. But, come on, what else? What if they try an alternate entrance? The unexplored section would take a while, so I’ll know if they’re trying that, and the vents…OH, wait, vents. That gives me an idea. The cave…it doesn’t have vents.”

Ahnasha quickly approached Darahil and Vera once more, obviously having something important to say. “I have an idea. You have lookouts near the entrance, correct? We can build fires in front of the gates, light them once the lookouts spot the hunters, and have the mages ensure the smoke only heads up the cave, and not towards us. That will cut their visibility to nothing, and might even suffocate them. They will never expect us to attempt to smoke them out. We can set traps, like runes, through the cave and…maybe some flammable oil within sight of the gate. If they have a ram, we need to focus on destroying it. These gates are our best defense, so we need to keep them strong for as long as possible.”

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine and Kaleeth eventually came upon a chamber that didn't seem to have an obvious purpose except for holding non-combatants. Their group stopped here, and Sabine decided to find a place to sit and finally get to rocking Rhazii back to sleep. Upon further inspection, the room had four doorways. The one they entered through had one of the Ayleid's old but strong metal gates opened around it. More people were streaming in, but it looked like there weren't too many left to come in. The doorway directly opposite to the entryway was another Ayleid gate, but it was locked and chained shut, complete with extra boarding to fortify it. Only a small round window into blackness gave any clue as to where it went. The other two doorways seemed to be symmetrical to each other on either other side of the chamber. One led to a caved-in passage, while the other lead to another empty chamber that some other non-combatants were occupying. Most of all, however, the inspection yielded a sense of vulnerability in how few fighters were assigned here. Their hopes were well and truly with those at the gate. Sabine continued to try and hide her worry in an effort to keep both Rhazii and Kaleeth calm.

Ahnasha was given immediate attention despite the rush Vera and Darahil were in while mounting the defence. Her suggestion caused Vera to look to Darahil, who looked thoughtful for a moment. Darahil glanced to the gate, craning his neck to assess the viability of the gambit, then looked to Ahnasha. He didn't quite give a smile, "This may indeed help us. Caldris!" A familiar Bosmer in light armour leaned out from atop the walkway over the gate. Darahil looked up to her, "Have your men gather firewood from the forge and place it a short distance from the gate. We shall fill the caverns with smoke when they arrive."

"Won't that smoke us as-?" Caldris began to ask.

"-Leave that to my followers, just get the fire built!" Darahil turned to Ahnasha again, "Let us hope we can build it by the time they arrive. As for everything else, I have some students placing runes upon the walls, but they are proving slow. I will go out and expedite the process." Darahil then began to walk towards the open gates, leaving the rest of the points unnoticed.

Vera seemed to take some sort of cue to do address the rest of the points instead. "I can have some of my men try to find oil, but we do not have an awful lot of it. It would only be a small area outside the gate. As for the ram, I think it would be easier to kill the soldiers rather than the carved tree-trunk with handles they would likely bring. I cannot imagine them bringing anything heavier through the cave."

After barely half an hour of hurried preparation later, a sentry came sprinting through the cave, taking a particular route to avoid the runes that had been placed. He entered the chamber in front of the gate shouting to-arms and announced the hunters' arrival. Vera's men had just finished upending a large pot of oil in a slick layer in front of the gate before they got everyone inside and barred the gate. There was a tense silence then, as everyone listened and waited.

The first trace of footsteps through the cave, however distant, immediately made Darahil commit the first move. He launched a ball of magical fire onto the pile of gathered firewood and set it alight. Some foresight had granted the warriors carrying the wood to splash some oil upon it before they finished, so the fire caught quickly. "Now!" Darahil ordered, short and sharp. Just as quickly, a tangible charge of magical energy collected in the area as all the mages on the walkway pushed a spell out in front of them. The displacement of air made it feel like a light wind was coming in from the defender's backs as the magic created a draft to direct the rising smoke towards the mouth of the entrance cavern. The occasional explosion of runes being set off punctuated the noise coming from the cavern as clumsy and blinded footsteps set them off.

With the closer noise, Vera called out, "Draw!" Those who carried bows drew them back and trained them upon the cavern mouth.

A lone lycan hunter, heavily armed and armoured, and separated from his comrades, came forth with a stumble, coughing and spluttering from the cavern mouth. Vera held a crossbow in her hands, but she didn't order anyone to fire. Insead, she nudged Caldris on the shoulder beside her. The Bosmer loosed an arrow from her longbow and struck the invader in the neck. His attempt to raise his shield was too late as he fell. "Hold!" Vera urged.

Then came the rest.

The rest of the lycan hunters who came forward did so as a collective, fanning out with their shields raised properly. "Loose!" Vera shouted at once.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha scarcely had time to gather some light leather armor before the sentries warned of the incoming hunters. As per the plan, they lit the fires and had some of their mages fan the smoke up into the caves. Once the smoke thickened, it reduced visibility considerably, as evidenced by the sounds of explosions coming from the caves. It seemed as if at least some of the hunters were unable to detect the rune traps before falling prey to them.

Conjuring up her bound bow, Ahnasha stood with the other archers, waiting for the first of the hunters to come within sight. Although, she did not expect that to be only a single hunter stumbling through the smoke. Caldris felled him quickly, but his allies soon followed through more organized, with their shields raised to protect them from the incoming volley.

The wall of smoke was providing some measure of a disadvantage for the defenders in that it blocked them from seeing the hunters until they drew close enough. This meant that they did not know the exact positions nor composition of the enemy force, but overall, it was still helping the defense much more than it was hurting it. While the mages and archers at the gates could not see the exact positions of the enemy through the smoke, the cave was not all that wide, so if the hunters wanted to move a large enough force through, they would have to be moving fairly close together. This meant that just firing into the smoke would still have a good chance of hitting an enemy. Not only that, but just as the defenders could not see the attackers, so too could the attackers not see the composition of the defense until they were already very close. While in the smoke, they would not know how to hold their shields to provide the most coverage against incoming arrows and spells. Lastly, if they could hold back the hunters and keep up the fires for long enough, then the attackers would have a very real chance of suffocating in the confined caves.

As soon as the order was given, Ahnasha fired not an arrow, but a spell. Taking advantage of her skill in illusion, Ahnasha used a fear spell on one of the frontline hunters. She tried to pick out the one that looked the most nervous and uncertain, but there were no guarantees that the spell would be successful. Being lycan hunters, she could believe that many of them were likely strong-willed, but she would not expect that all of them would have such mental fortitude. If she could get the spell to work, then it would not only open up a hole in their defense when her target fled, but it would cause even more issues in their ranks once the target tried to flee through the smoke, towards his advancing allies.

Not waiting to see the results of the spell, Ahnasha fired her first arrow. Since she was a rather precise archer, she did not fire into the smoke at the more vulnerable hunters behind, but rather at those in the frontlines. Their shields were raised to protect their vital areas, so her arrows were aimed at their feet. If she hit, it would not be lethal, but it was very likely to open up her target to subsequent arrows.

[Muttonhawk]

The first volley of arrows was not as effective as it could have been. Most glanced off the shields or the armour behind them. In the narrow area, only one enemy was felled with a shot to the arm at just the correct angle, followed by another shot to the neck.

The target of Ahnasha's fear spell immediately froze in place when he was hit. She could see his eyes widen and his knees begin to shake as the line advanced ahead of him and closed the wall in front, but he started to stumble back until he turned around to get to the entrance of the chamber. Without his shield, he was hit in the thigh by an arrow. His struggle to stand made him a threat no longer. Ahnasha's arrow took another mercenary in the leg, disabling him, but he simply fell in behind the shield wall while his comrades advanced.

As if sneaking in behind the shield wall, a pair of crossbow toting hunters suddenly sprang up from behind their allies. They shot up at the defenders for a split second before ducking out of sight again. The bolt aimed at the first target whistled past his ear narrowly, but the other target was not so lucky. A small puff of burning steam rose from the struck bowman's shoulder as he began to scream in pain and buckled to the ground. Another defender took his place after pulling him behind cover, but the screaming lingered while a mage tended to him with healing. The silver bolt would kill him if he was unlucky.

Through the tumult, the disciplined mercenaries continued to rush in. They were coughing loudly, but they were able to hide themselves behind their long shields well enough to survive and recover. It was not just mundane soldiers that came through. Before long, an armoured figure that carried no shield or weapons stepped into the chamber with the smoke curling around her in a bubble of sorts, repelled by some magic of her making. She immediately sought the source of the smoke and began to blast it with a spray of magical frost.

Behind her, a sight that the defenders dreaded came through; a group of six heavily armoured mercenaries came clanking forward in a rushed march. In their arms, they carried a single long log, reinforced with metal bands, and whittled to a blunt point at the front. The shield wall closed them in as they advanced the ram towards the gate.

"Mages! Open them up!" Vera's voice carried across the walkway. The wind that was blowing the now shrinking smoke through the cavern began to weaken slightly. It was replaced by a more direct form of offensive magic. The shield wall around the ram was pummelled by an avalanche of explosive fire spells. The mercenaries did the best that they could to stay in formation, but the impacts were opening up windows for the defending archers to shoot into. As the best archer present - possibly disputed by Ahnasha - Caldris took the opportunity to fell three more mercenaries as they struggled to keep composure. One her targets was carrying the ram, so the orderly advance was interrupted as it slumped to one side with the falling body.

The crossbows leaped up from behind the shield wall once more. The first took a defender in the chest, causing her to stagger and fall backwards off the walkway. Ahnasha spotted the other trained right at her.

[EliteCommander]

Taking no excessive risks, Ahnasha ducked behind cover to avoid the incoming crossbow bolt. Just as the attacking crossbowmen could hide behind their shield wall, the defending archers could use their fortifications to the same effect. Though, the enemy archers and mages were the only ones who could actually harm the defenders at this point, and since most of the others were focusing on halting the ram, Ahnasha decided to focus on them.

Ahnasha peeked out for a moment to get a sense of the enemy positions, then charged a different spell in her hand. It was one she had been reluctant to use in public view, given its nature, but given the situation, she felt it was necessary. In studying that tome during the journey to Bruma, she found that for life extension, she would have to understand necromancy. As such, she had learned from the tome a particular spell: reanimation. She still only knew a weaker version of the spell, so it would not last that long, but she hoped the surprise of it would be enough. Exposing herself for just a moment, she stood up and fired the spell at a corpse in an area that was still somewhat covered by smoke. Ducking back into cover, she directed her new thrall to attack one of the crossbowmen. She hoped that no one who was close enough to react had noticed the reanimation, since the hunters making the shield wall had their faces mostly or completely covered by their shields, and the crossbowmen were hiding behind them.

Once more, Ahnasha shifted her position slightly while behind cover, then nocked her bow. The smoke had diminished somewhat, but there were still fires present, and the smoke they created could still open up opportunities for the defenders. However, she had saw the mage trying to extinguish them. She was in front of the ram and bore no shield, so she was a target Ahnasha could hit. Even if there was a shield bearer in front of her, Ahnasha had elevation. She leaned out of cover, loosed an arrow at the mage, then ducked back, shifted positions slightly, and nocked another. She repeated this as quickly as she could to fire reasonably accurate shots in rapid succession. Her target was armored, but Ahnasha was using a bound bow, which meant it was made from daedric materials. The arrows flew faster, hit harder, and were let apt to break than standard wood and steel. It could still not penetrate sufficient quality steel, but if the arrow hit any weakened area, such as the joints she was aiming for or thinner points in the metal, then they could pierce through into the flesh. And of course, they could pierce all but the highest quality of light armor. If she could take care of the mage, then she would move on to focusing on the crossbowmen. Even if she could not kill them outright, preventing them from firing on her allies would hopefully allow them to keep the ram at bay. If not, they still had the oil trap they could trigger.

[Muttonhawk]

A mercenary corpse that had previously been laying face down near the fire with arrows between the chinks in his body armour slowly rose up to its feet with a groan. Unlike the other mercenaries around it, the walking corpse hung its shield arm lazily to one side while it drew a silver sword from its belt. At first, no one noticed the corpse with the arrows still sticking out of it as it shuffled towards one of the enemy crossbowmen. When it got within a few metres, some shouting could be heard for the mercenary to raise its shield and fall in again. None thought anything was particularly amiss until the corpse thrust its sword into the back of the crossbowman who was trying to reload. Ahnasha's gambit had paid off. With another shout, a couple of mercenaries around the undead thrall brought axes down upon it. The thrall put up a pitiful defence and was disabled to the point of uselessness. The confusion seemed to unnerve the lines. Now they had to look out in front of and behind themselves.

While the barrage against the ram team by the mages was devastating, it could not last forever. Several mercenaries lay dead or dying, but still they found numbers to replace those that had fallen. The ram marched on and reached the gate. The first thud against the gate carried a shock that could be felt up on the walkway.

Vera's voice screamed out immediately in response to the impact "Darahil, the oil! Now!"

Before the ram team could register what was going on, Darahil flung a small fire spell down at the base of the gate. What followed was a blue and orange light that gave the entire chamber a bright hue. The carnage of the scene was inhabited by a series of pained screams as the ram team was exposed to the sudden conflagration. It was hard to listen to, even for the most jaded of the defenders, but it bought time and exposed the attackers as they dropped the ram and fell back.

Ahnasha's arrows, much like the other arrows that had made their way to the mage at the back of the cavern, seemed to bounce off despite their accuracy. With each hit, there was a tell-tale shimmer of white magic indicative of shield alteration. It was unknown how long it would last, but Ahnasha's arrows only seemed to succeed in breaking the mage's concentration as she flinched with the arrows. However, her frost spell did not require as much concentration, and the smoking pile of wood they had set was soon reduced to pitiful wisps.

Now that she was unoccupied, the mage began to march forward. One hand was raised in a ward to deflect oncoming threats, while the other hand was swatting away the mercenaries who were on the ram and were desperately running back. The expression of the mage was impossible to see behind her helmet's visor, but there was a demeanour of impatience about her as she stepped closer to the abandoned, burning ram. This time, she launched a whirling orb of cold magic at the oil fire. The orb expanded as it moved forward and extinguished the flames as if they were hit by a snowstorm. She pointed forward and barked an order for the shield wall to advance and pick up the ram again.

Darahil was watching on and grimaced as he saw the display of powerful magic. The entire defence on the walkway felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end as power gathered in both of Darahil's palms. Sparks of lighting jumped from his robe to the ground and between his fingers as he prepared a spell while looking firmly at the enemy mage. This would not be stopped by a mere shield spell.

It was then that Ahnasha could spot the second crossbowman lining up his next shot. As if he could pick another target, Darahil was exposed and glowing with power.

[EliteCommander]

Overall, the battle was not going terribly, but it could certainly be going better. Ahnasha's arrows had been ineffective against the mage, so she had been able to extinguish the flames. Smoke still lingered in the cave for the moment, but it would now begin to diminish. As well, the ram was at the gate, but the fire trap had been effective in either killing, or forcing the retreat of those carrying it. Honestly, even though the ram was right next to the gate, Ahnasha felt that it would make it that much easier to defend. If the hunters wanted to grab the ram, they would have to run up so close to their fortifications that even a novice archer would have a hard time missing. And, since they were directly beneath them, they could not use a shield wall to effectively protect the ram bearers. Anyone who grabbed it would be extremely exposed, as long as the defending archers could continue to shoot back. That mage, however, could potentially disrupt that plan.

With a keen eye, Ahnasha could see the crossbowman taking aim, and she did not even need to look in order to guess at whom. Darahil had the power to incapacitate, or even kill the biggest threat on the battlefield, which meant he needed to be protected. Her arrow was at the ready, so with as quick of a reaction as she could muster, she loosed it at the crossbowman, though she did not stop there. She did not have time to make her aiming subtle, so the crossbowman would certainly have seen that he was her target. So, he could either accept death, or evade. Assuming he took the latter option, he would likely be able to re-aim and shoot Darahil before Ahnasha could shoot again, so as soon as she loosed her arrow, Ahnasha cast another illusion spell, this time at Darahil. It was a spell of chameleon which turned him mostly invisible, though not completely. However, it would remain active while he charged his spell, and would mask him and his magical aura. The crossbowman would had to have looked away if he dodged, but looking back, Darahil would no longer be readily visible, and with some of the smoke still in the air, it could be difficult to spot or shoot him accurately. He might even think that another had eliminated him. And of course, Ahnasha was not going to let up her volley, though that did make her a more obvious target. She did not have the magicka pool of someone like Meesei or Darahil, so she would need to give her magic a rest for the moment.

[Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha was not a moment too late with her shot at the crossbowman. He had been so focussed on his target that he didn't notice he was being targeted himself until Ahnasha had already shot. He tried to dodge away, but the arrow struck through his light armour and punctured his chest. He fell backwards and loosed his bolt uselessly up at the stone ceiling.

Ahnasha's shot gave Darahil the moment he needed. He was determined enough that he almost didn't notice his entire body taking on a transparent, glass-like appearance from the chameleon spell until his own spell was unleashed. His hands slowly made a flowing gesture until he gathered all of the spell's power between them both, then pushed the power forward with his arms outstretched. The power flew straight out in a crackling, sustained beam of pure energy.

The lightning beam struck the enemy mage, who had seen the spell charging and desperately tried to produce a powerful ward. The spell was so powerful that the mage was pushed back a step by its force. Her ward lasted a mere moment before shattering audibly, sending her flying backward and onto the ground. Her body shuddered, but her core was burned so suddenly that she barely got the chance to scream. Darahil stopped the spell then. His shimmering outline fell to one knee as he caught his breath and took cover again. The enemy mage had a scorch mark in the middle of her cuirass that bordered a hole to a smoking hole where her heart should have been. Darahil would need time to recover, but he had eliminated the biggest threat yet.

The trade-off for using all of their magical resources for the moment was that now the archers bore the full weight of delaying the ram. Many mercenaries were wounded, but there were enough that they were able to assemble a team and start striking the gate again. In the futile minutes that followed, Vera saw that there would be no stopping them breaking the gate. She turned to face the defending side and pointed out to all the defenders in reserve. "Form up! Prepare to repel them!"

The defenders lined up in formation. Those that were strong enough to transform did so and waited with flat ears for the oncoming assault.

[EliteCommander]

While it did not seem like they would be able to stop the enemy from getting through the gate, Ahnasha certainly did not intend on letting them through without giving them as hard of a time as possible. For those directly underneath them, manning the ram, there was no real defense against the archers above. It was not as if they could hold their shields above their heads while carrying the ram. Some of their allies attempted to do just that, but they could not cover enough angles to protect them fully. Enemy archers and crossbowmen attempted to strike her down, but she only needed to expose herself for a brief moment to fire an accurate shot at such a short range, and always from a different spot on the fortifications.

Ahnasha did not even bother to keep track of how many of the ram-bearers she and the other archers killed, or at least wounded beyond the ability to fight. Some were armored and harder to kill, but even most steel suits were not designed to handle extremely close range longbow shots from such a high angle. Ram-bearers were hit left and right, but regardless they made progress. The gate beneath them weakened with every successful hit, and Vera was already preparing the secondary defense. Ahnasha had hoped they would be able to repel the hunters at the gates, but at least their defense so far had not been useless. The hunters had been stalled for a while on their fortifications, and had likely taken many more casualties than they had been expecting for the first stage of their attack. Comparatively, the defense's casualties had been fairly light, and most of their fighters were fresh and unfatigued. They had their plan for a fighting retreat mapped out to give as few flanking options as possible. Galsek had likely mapped out the interior of the ruin, so at least their commanders would know the layout. Though, Vera and Darahil would still know it far better than they, and could possibly use that to their advantage, as there could be features of the ruin that even Galsek was unaware of. However, Ahnasha knew of no such traps or surprises which they might have planned and would just have to trust in their orders when and if it came time.

Ahnasha elected not to abandon her position just yet. When the attackers broke through the gate, they would be charging through directly beneath her. They would be entirely unprotected against arrows from above, and if they did turn their shields to face her, then they would be exposing themselves to the other defenders. She would be free to kill essentially as fast as she could nock and release an arrow, though it was a choice that would pose considerable risk to herself. The fortifications would protect her from being shot from behind, but staying above the gate made escape a risky proposition. As long as Vera's frontline was close enough to the gate, she could jump to safety in an emergency, but if they were pushed back too quickly, she would be jumping straight into the enemy. She hoped that her choice would be effective enough to allow their defensive lines to hold, or significantly impact enemy morale. She had to wonder how many of the attackers would be willing to charge through the gate if they saw enough of their allies being felled in front of them by arrows from which they could not defend.

As the ram landed another solid hit on the gate, Ahnasha glanced to her left and right at the other archers on the fortifications with her. The more of them remained to attack from above, the better chance they had of holding them at this position. Ducking behind cover, Ahnasha tapped her bow against the planks beneath her to grab their attention, then aimed her bow down at the space just behind the gate and gave a nod to try to signal what she intended to do. She wondered how many would be willing to take the risk to remain with her.

[Muttonhawk]

Each strike against the gate by the ram sent a wave of flinches across the defending force. Those that had been ordered up to press their body weight against the gate were barely keeping it held shut.

On the outer side of the gate, many mercenaries were falling, but most were carried back into cover in the further reaches of the cavern. More filed in to replace them. Now that a shield wall had been established, a greater proportion of archers and crossbows made up the following waves. Each new archer put pressure on the defenders on the walkway, some even found their mark and forced manpower to be diverted to carrying the wounded down to be healed.

Unfortunately, sharp eyes would notice that the defenders were not the only ones with access to quick healing magic. Familiar figures were beginning to join the enemy, free of their previous wounds. Any shots that didn't kill were being remedied out of sight.

Ahnasha's attempt to communicate her intentions was not picked up by many over the sounds of other orders and movements, but around three other nearby defenders understood and readied their aim at the area behind the gate. One of the defenders was Caldris, who remarked to Ahnasha, "We've far too many arrows! Shooting from there takes too long!" She dragged a full quiver from the outer wall of the walkway for both of them to use. Caldris had a certain madness in her eyes that belied her cold demeanour outside of battle, "This will make it less fighting and more fishing! Ha ha!"

Far off to one side, Darahil and Vera were descending the walls to assist the force on the floor. While climbing down, Vera spotted the archers forming above the gate and shouted, "You up there! Don't remain too long! We cannot hold the gate for long!"

Caldris gave only a quick nod.

The next strike against the gate came with a resounding snap. The wooden barricades were compromised now. "Form up! Form up!" Vera shouted, "Stand fast!" The few blocking the gate backed off. They would not be strong enough to hold the gate now, and even if they were, the gate would soon break apart and leave them vulnerable.

Another thud. The gate caved partially in, but it still stood. Another thud. The gates were struck permanently inwards and the defenders could see the mercenaries beyond. One final thud turned out to be more of a scrape as the gates physically surrendered. One snapped off its hinge and fell to its side, the other hung lazily open. The defending formation put their spears forward and met the oncoming warcry as armoured attackers streamed in. A few threw silver knives or spears which did little except scratch the front line, though one lycan was taken by surprise and took a spear to the chest.

Caldris and the other archers began shooting as soon as they saw the attackers' necks. Caldris was killing at a frightening pace, striking one and having a new arrow readied in the same second. The other archers were slower and less prepared; most of their arrows glanced off helmets or pauldrons, but a few fell to their efforts.

[EliteCommander]

As Ahnasha had hoped, their position was effective, particularly for herself and Caldris. The hunters had broken through the gate, but they were stepping into an even more dangerous fight. Caldris had plenty of arrows to work with, and Ahnasha's bound arrows were essentially limitless as long as her magicka did not dwindle to the extent that she could not maintain the spell. The attackers were passing only a few feet underneath them, and at such a close range, their bows were strikingly effective. In a normal fight, arrows lost some energy in flight before finding their target, but in this case, they were striking as hard as they possibly could, at ranges too close to miss. Their armor was not designed to take hits at this angle, nor at such strength.

Seeing as the hunters had healers as well, Ahnasha aimed for lethal shots as much as possible, though even disabling shots could be devastating here. The gates were serving as a chokepoint, so wounded attackers would not be able to make it back to their healers nearly as easily. If they tried, they would be blocking their own reinforcements through the gates.

Even after only a few moments of fighting, the number of casualties caused between Ahnasha and Caldris was potentially startling. As fast as they could nock their arrows, they could kill or disable an attacker. The fortifications were protecting them from behind, and they could not even attempt to defend against them without exposing themselves to Vera's frontline. Despite the front gate being breached, this was likely the best position they were going to have; not only in terms of inflicting enemy casualties, but in cutting down their morale. Ahnasha did not know what motivated the hunters to fight, perhaps devotion to Vile, or just the notion that lycans were beasts to be destroyed, but with the smoke gone, the attackers could see clearly what they were stepping into. They could see a shield wall of lycans holding off their frontline while arrows felled their allies left and right. She wondered how strong their devotion to the cause was, and how long they would have to hold before at least some of the hunters decided to flee. No matter the answer, Ahnasha continued to fire as fast as she possibly could. The hunters were better equipped and trained than many of the defenders, but between her and Caldris, they might have enough of an impact to allow Vera's line to hold. If not, they could at least thin out their ranks.

[Muttonhawk]

The moments that Caldris, Ahnasha, and the nearby archers had was enough to fell many of the charging attackers. For those moments it seemed like the defences would hold. The defending lines were striking the enemy down on the end of spear, sword, and claw alike. That was until a small clay pot flew narrowly over Ahnasha's head and into the lines of her allies ahead. The pot broke readily on a shield and splashed flaming liquid all over the nearby area. It wasn't the only one. More broke along the walkway or flew across to the defending lines, engulfing enough defenders to make the lines flinch and ebb with screams. While Ahnasha wasn't looking, the enemy must have brought in tools to assist the assault and pushed further up to the walkway.

While the previous situation might have been enough to break the assault if enough time was given, the lack of discipline and training in the defending lines faltered with the fire. The assault notably pushed the defenders back. Soon, the mercenaries would have enough room to cut off the walkway from the rest of the defence, so the archers and mages remaining began to swiftly find their way down. Caldris was no exception, patting Ahnasha's shoulder to get her attention. "We've done all we can without getting trapped! Come along!" Caldris didn't wait. She took a running leap off the walkway and broke her fall with a deft roll. Before another blink she was back with the other archers and searching for a position to fire from.

A short distance back, Vera was shouting orders to keep the formation and maintain resolve, but with the extra space, the skill that the mercenaries possessed began to sway the battle. The wounded defenders were being carried further back, but replacing them were more replenished mages. Their magic might be later than needed now, but they were not too late to help.

[EliteCommander]

The fire pots were not something Ahnasha had expected. The attackers could not angle them to land on the fortifications themselves, but that did not stop them from throwing them directly at the defensive line behind them. She cursed herself for not thinking about that before. Their defense would be much more effective with something like bars going to the roof of the cave spaced close enough together. Given the size of the clay pots, herself and Caldris might have even been able to shoot them down, but the damage was already done. Their lines were being pushed back, and they had to retreat from the fortifications. Perhaps after it was all over, they could improve their defenses, but for now, Ahnasha just had to focus on surviving.

Like Caldris, Ahnasha leaped to safety behind allied lines before they were pushed too far back. If there was a silver lining to the oil attack, it was that it also slowed the hunter's advance, since they had to deal with getting around the flames as they pushed forward. Both her and Caldris made it to safety behind their lines, but now she had to find a way to remain useful. She was an archer, not a frontline soldier, and this ruin was far too close range for either side to effectively arc shots over their allies. The arrows would be too weak to cause any serious damage if they tried. She looked around for something to give her just enough elevation to fire over her allies. Perhaps a crate, or something else to climb on. Preferably something that would still allow her to duck down for cover. Once she was in position, she could focus her shots on the enemies who were attempting to exploit the holes in their lines. She was now also keeping a sharp eye out for more oil pots. She almost hoped that the attackers continued to make use of them, as their mages could potentially ignite them before they could be thrown and cause more damage behind the enemy lines. Failing that, her and Caldris could potentially give some protection against them for their lines. Being that they were moving targets in the air, it was not a simple shot to make, but with both of them being skilled archers, she was confident they could do it.