The magelight was bright, not only that, it also pierced through the dense valley fog. Its sheer glow outshone even the faint early lights. Ashav reckoned it would be visible for at least five miles, likely longer if not for mountainous terrains obstructing visibility. There was no way in Oblivion anyone wouldn't be alert, and it would certainly go for the Forsworns. The attackers were out about, twenty minutes? Less than thirty minutes for sure. Their element of surprise left faster than Ashav expected.

"I don't like this." He frowned. He convened with Daelin and his scouts around a map, talking as Jorwen and Farid joined in. "It was too early, they should have no idea what's coming at them. Now they can dig in and setup a proper defense."

"We could call the retreat right now, minimize losses." Daelin suggested.

"Thoughts, anyone?" Ashav asked aloud.
[hr]
The pair of archers went out of sight when Edith climbed on shore. As soon as they left view, and she found dry ground, sounds of river water was replaced by frantic shouting and noises of projectile launched in the distance. She heard Dumhuvud above the rest, shouting obscenities at his own men. Moreover, it was not hard for the party of six to hear dying screams. The question was, who was killing who? 

"Doesn't sound good." Lucex whispered. 

“Definitely not.” Relmyna added.

“Alkosh's whiskers, what is the point of sneaking around the bushes?” Tennant's low growl boomed. He rubbed his knuckles together, seven feet of raw muscle hunched over awkwardly to the onlooker but his steps were cautious as a predator. “I say we go join the fray, maybe even catch these witchmen from behind.”

“Yes, you would know about catching people from behind.” Relmyna smirked.

“Carefully what you say girl.” The wrestler said. He turned to the Dunmer girl, and coincidentally, Sadri, who was not far from her. “My fists may catch some knife ears by accident, and-”

“Hush.” Edith interrupted them. She held her shield up in a defensive posture, while they were in knee-deep grass, and taller shrubs paced no more than several feet around her, she still managed a reasonable stance while a sharp light, one with artificial glimmer of man-made magic rose into the air. Accompanying the light was the sudden silence from the fighting afar. Whatever fight happened before, it could no longer be heard. 

“Let's keep up the pace, come on.” Leading the way, Edith began clearing stubborn branches with her sword. She also took the group to a slight jog. The light that hung on the sky provided a certain degree of illumination, and the darkest corners of the woods were just barely visible right now. Her steel armor clanked, her boots thumped the dirt beneath, and if she alone couldn't be obvious enough, the five people behind her would surely raise suspicion. They were clumsy in this kind of terrain, or at least not traversing it as fluent as the Reachmen could. One every few roots, leaves and uneven earth would slow her and the others; a large root that she failed to see at the last moment nearly sent her on a tumble forward, if not for Lucex quickly catching her.

Recovered from her near fall, Edith was set to hurry forward again. But the thick plant growth that accompanied their trip so far ended abruptly, and what replaced it were clearing, boulders and a fire pit nestled not far of two rotten doors. The doors were placed on the surface of boulders, and it matched the description of the abandoned mine entrance mentioned earlier. Around the fire sat four Forsworns, three men and a woman, two with swords, one with arrows and one more mage sending out flames into the pit. Edith crouched behind the treeline, she waved the others to spread out around her and keep low behind the clearing. As they took up positions, the double door of the mine opened and two more Reachmen emerged. They could be vaguely heard talking about something smoke related. One of the newcomers then palmed what looked like a makeshift smoking pipe and the mage lit it with a fire spell. 

“Lucky bastards, I could use a smoke right now.” From beside Edith, Relmyna scratched her head and lamented. 

“Then let's take it from them.” Tennant urged. 

“Woah there, big guy. There's six of them, six.” Relmyna raised one open hand and another with one raised finger. She put one hand and one finger down, now four raised. “How about we do that when there's four?”

“We'll run into the others sooner or later, and here is safer than the mines.” Edith shook her head. Her eyes glanced around, making sure others were ready to fight. She noticed Sadri had been using the chain-mail well, albeit adjustments had to be made in the form of a sash around the waist, hopefully it'll do him some good soon. There was Jonimir, who was on the receiving end of chicken soup, but she heard someone else decided to pull another practical joke on the Redguard. She could not see much of Jonimir from this position, but she assumed the mage was ready as well. Then there's Lucex, she, or was it he? Anyways, Lucex already had bow and arrow aimed at some unfortunate Forsworn.

“Alright, here is the plan.” She asked the group to inch closer and slowly pointed to each enemy. “Lucex, stay here and nail the mage. Everyone else, wait for Lucex's signal and spread out on your approach.”

Lucex nodded and wasted no time finding a thin slit between the leaves, the tip of his projectile poised in line with the Forsworn mage's chest. He inhaled a deep breath, letting in out and steadying his arms with the bow. On the second breath, he loosened his forehand grip ever so slightly as a small puff of air came out. The arrow was pulled back, the string released and steel found its way, straight into the Forsworn's knee.

“Oh, it's a guard's life for him.” Relmyna snorted as she sneaked far to the right. One of her daggers was in hand, she thought about rushing forward with it. But the smaller blade would do no good against a proper sword. She might throw it, but they were more than enough distance for a good hit. So the Dunmer girl waited.

From the middle, Edith busted out with Tennant following. Her shield held level with her torso. As the enemy realized they were under attack, their archer quickly shot back an arrow of his own. It impaled center on Edith's shield, reinforced wood and steel prevented in from going any further. Another Frosworn, a woman with two swords, brought both blades down on Edith. Once again, her shield was in the right place as she countered with a fast shove. The Frosworn stumbled.

“Take this one, I'm going for the archer.” Edith shouted to Tennant, and rushed by. The Imperial man seized the Forsworn as she recovered, his left hand a vice-grip on her neck and his right clamped on top of her head. The Forsworn tried to change her direction, hopping to swing her swords around and cut Tennant on their way. But Tennant had already spun himself behind his enemy, and he also twisted both hands in opposite directions. The Forsworn's windpipes snapped, her head nearly turned back completely as she crumpled to the ground. 

Up front, Edith rammed her shield powerful enough to rip the bow from the archer's grip. She followed up with a low slash, the sword cutting through leather trouser and impact against the leg took him down on his back. She hesitated for a moment, a perfect moment to bury the tip of her blade in flesh. Instead, she opted with the shield rim against forehead, not killing but granting a serious concussion.

Three down, three still standing. Relmyna waited, perhaps too long. The target she picked ran by unnoticed, and went to attack Sadri. Fortunately, Lucex was ready again, and his arrow impacted the groin of the Forsworn. There was a moment of pure surprise on his face, then painful scream as he clutched the injured region and collapsed to his knees.

“Watch out!” Relmyna warned, mostly at Sadri, who was the nearest to the target. She stepped closer and threw the dagger into the Forsworn's backside. It was enough to put him on the ground and stop any more screams.
[hr]
If the flankers were lucky, the main assault was anything but. At Tsleeixth's urging, Dumhuvud and Orakh fell apart, and they returned to advancing forward. As they got closer to the redoubt, the trail started to steepen, pushing the ram and carrying ladders were beginning to take their tolls. If that was not enough, almost everyone felt shadows moving parallel to them, somewhere in the bushes. A couple of anxious mercenaries even took shots with arrows and spells, but none were certain if they were effective. 

Not advancing for long, someone already tripped a snare and earned a dart in their neck. It was quiet and sudden, and most almost didn't notice. The mercenary, third most forward and no more than a shoulder apart from Sadann, dropped dead on the trail. His eyes were blank, a stare stuck in momentary shock as death claimed his soul. A healer came by and pronounced him dead shortly after. His body was left in a ditch, blood still poured from his mouth by nobody dared to clean up the corpse.

Then, a while longer and just before the redoubt came sight. Another mercenary apparently noticed an uneven shape on the trail ahead. 

“Stay back!” Sadann barked, he remembered seeing a shape of that kind. And a past acquaintance was unfortunately enough to step in one. “That's a-”

The mercenary never had time to process his warning, as he vaporized in an electrical blast. He stepped in a lightening rune, and one rune so powerful that all he had left was a pile of ash. Thankfully, this incidence left no corpses to deal with. Even more fortunately, the rune could have caused half dozen of casualties; at least it only inflicted one.

When the redoubt, a dense line of wooden walls appeared on top of a slope, the mage light from earlier had gone from the night. As Ashav expected, their enemies, alert but not certain of their bearings, stood with torches on their walls. In front of the walls gathered about a dozen fighters, many with torches in hand. Some of these fighters resembled the stalking shadows.

From top of the redoubt, the Reachmen could apparently see the mercenaries coming. However, it wasn't clear how much they could see. After running into two deadly traps, Dumhuvud and Orakh both agreed to light a couple of torches, maybe that's how they were noticed. By the sight of it, the Forsworn misjudged their size, as only the dozen or so fighters came down the slope to greet them. Still, these fighters attacked swiftly and with grim determination. As many of the enemies dashed in with torches or magical flames, it became clear that the ram was once again the target.

Dumhuvud and Orakh both sent out their own orders, both orders the same; fend off any fire-bearing Forsworn and drive the ram into the palisades. For now, at least on the slope foot, the missile troops positioned on wooden turrets would be out of range.