In the instant that the gate began to open, Fendros knelt up and drew back an arrow. "Now!" he commanded as he aimed for the Altmer officer and loosed. A wave of more dark slits shot through the night sky from behind him in alignment with the sound of his own bowstring. The officer that was his target was distracted by the opening gate just enough to shift out of the way of his arrow, but their shots were merely meant to draw attention away from the gatehouse. Fendros did not stop to curse his miss before firing again with the archers around him.

They would be able to get perhaps two more volleys off before they would need to withdraw. Fendros kept the corner of his eye open for anyone running out through the gate. Get out of there, Ahna!

The mist rolled on past from behind Gallus with a haunting abruptness, despite the gentle wind carrying it. It blocked all vision beyond perhaps fifteen metres, with anything around ten metres away being no more than vague silhouettes. Still, they knew the direction to go. The horn sounded and the sound of a moving army began. Gallus stood up with his pack and began to march quickly behind Ri'vashi's lead.

Though magically exhausted from the ritual spell, Meesei did not have time to wait and recover. She had already prepared a magicka potion beforehand, and drank it promptly as soon as she set the fog in motion. It would recover her magicka by the time she reached the fortress itself. The soldiers around her began their charge as soon as the horn was sounded, and as soon as she was able, she motioned for her pack to follow. They would need to move quickly, for Meesei intended to lead from the front.

As soon as they entered the clearing, Ri'vashi's soldiers immediately joined into their planned formation. The heaviest armored warriors were at the front, with all of those on the very front line being shield bearers. As well, Ri'vashi had ensured that many of those just behind the front were Cathay, Cathay-raht, or simply tall. They would not only be able to use their spears easily over the heads of those in front of them, but their shields could help better protect those behind them. At the center of their formation was the vanguard of their initial assault: Snishi and two other Senche-raht from the Orcrest clan. Fully-equipped, they were among the most fearsome combatants available to the Khajiit. Snishi was armored in overlapping metal plates, connected by chainmail, with layers of cloth underneath. The armor was extensive, covering the majority of her body and head, including her underbelly. It was a very expensive set of armor, certainly, considering that one could purchase a house and a decent plot of land for the same price, but there were some advantages to the intense focus on military Ri'vashi had enforced in her clan. Even without being lycans, Senche-raht were massive in terms of size and strength, and if an enemy force was not prepared, they could break through nearly any defensive line almost without effort. In this case, that was exactly what they planned. With the fog concealing them, the enemy would not see them until they were nearly upon them. Whatever defensive line the enemy had established within the gates, the Senche-raht would break through.

There was some disarray in the seconds following the opening of the gate, and the first barrage of arrows and spells from Fendros' group, but it did not last long. The defenders were well-disciplined, and followed their officer's orders without hesitation. By the second volley, those who were not wounded returned fire on Fendros' group, since they were not yet obscured by the mist. Evidently, the fortresses defenders were prepared enough to have practiced firing from their walls, because they knew exactly where to aim for their first volley to be on its mark. Fendros' group consisted of nine people, including himself, and two were wounded in the very first volley. One, a Bosmer woman, was hit straight through the stomach by a steel-tipped arrow, while another was burned in the explosion of a fireball. Neither were dead, but if Fendros intended to save them, they would need to be pulled back into the mist immediately.

Ahnasha, meanwhile, came running out of the front gate as fast as her powerful legs would allow. The defenders in the courtyard had not reacted quickly enough to stop her, but those on the walls would not let her go so easily. As soon as the Altmer officer saw the werewolf sprint out into the clearing below them, she ordered a group of archers to fire upon her. Though, Ahnasha did not intend to make it easy for them. She started out running straight ahead towards the mist, which would be the shortest distance to safety. However, once she felt enough time had passed for an archer to nock an arrow, she pulled to the left, towards Fendros' group. As a result, the first volley missed by a wide margin, but they only became more accurate from there. She dashed and dodged to the side as much as possible, which made her a harder target to hit, but also caused her to take longer to reach safety. The mist was advancing towards her just as she was sprinting towards it, but just before she could make it into the fog, one of the arrows found its mark. It hit in her upper back, or possibly the lower neck, and caused her to roll forward onto the ground. The fog rolled over her moments later, obscuring her from both the enemy archers, and Fendros.

With the spell discharged, Sabine quaffed down her own magicka potion and joined Meesei's side. The pair of them soon joined with Janius and Kaleeth while they loped along with a ladder between them and a few other soldiers. Kaleeth's strength would ensure that their ladder would be brought up quickly and held fast while they climbed.

Fendros flinched as their group took return fire. He turned to see about the sounds of pain from the wounded and immediately pointed out two of their number. "You two! Take the wounded, get them back to the healers! The rest of you, one more volley!"

They set up to shoot once more and then Fendros noticed Ahnasha's escape. At that point, their purpose was all but fulfilled. "Loose! Pull back to the rally point!" The last set of arrows let fly and they immediately began to retreat.

That was when Ahnasha crumpled to the ground. Fendros' first reaction was that of fright. He didn't see what struck her, but as the fog rolled over he knew that this was the only chance he would have to find her. He suppressed the urge to call out to her and began sprinting through the fog to her position. The other archers would find each other easily once the wounded were dealt with. He hoped he would be able to find her and help her with a healing potion.

Once Fendros waded through the fog enough to get near to Ahnasha, the sight he was greeted with was likely a relief. Not only was she alive, but she was already rising to her feet. There was the broken shaft of an arrow sticking out of the back of her neck, but all things considered, she did not seem too much worse for wear. The neck was, of course, not a good place for any creature to be hit, but werewolves had tough skin, and quite a bit of muscle underneath. By the fact that she was not bleeding to death, it was likely only a flesh wound. Ahnasha's first reaction upon seeing Fendros' silhouette approach was to raise up her claws defensively, but she relaxed once she recognized him.

"It's not silver." Ahnasha said as he approached. "Ahhhg, but it still hurts. Get it out of me, I need it to heal. We have to...form back up with the rest of the pack, in a hurry."

Meanwhile, the main force was roaring towards the front gate. The archers and mages on the walls were firing blindly into the mist, but hardly any of their attacks found there way onto more than a shield, piece of armor, or most often, the ground. It was less than thirty seconds for them to cross the clearing, and as soon as they were within range, the mages in the backlines fired every explosive and area spell they could onto the gatehouse just above the front gate. Their goal was to delay the enemy from using their oil pots for as long as possible. They could not stop them forever, but they could let enough of their soldiers in to hopefully capture the gatehouse itself quickly.

As soon as they were at the gate, and just beyond the fog, S'nishi and the other Senche-raht ran ahead of the shield wall, and at their speed, they gave the defenders only seconds to react. They had formed a shield wall of their own, but even the strongest of Cathay-raht could not hold against the three juggernauts. A volley of arrows was let loose as soon as the Senche-raht were visible, and while they were not difficult targets to hit in the slightest, the arrows mostly bounced off of their armor. For S'nishi, one arrow did find its mark directly on her chest against chainmail, rather than plate, but between it and the padding underneath, it penetrated only slightly into her body. She did not even notice it. The three slammed into the defending lines at full force, either crushing their victims beneath their weight, or throwing them aside. They ran through a wall of spears, but the defenders found it difficult to get their weapons into any gaps in the armor.

Following immediately behind the Senche-raht was the frontline itself. Three large holes had been opened up in the enemy's defenses, and Ri'vashi was going to be sure to take advantage of it. As her forces started to spread out into the courtyard, she personally led the attack into one of the breaches to split the enemy force and ensure their lines could not reform. For Gallus' pack, however, they had a different task. They were among those who were meant to fan out to the sides, get up on the walls behind them, and secure both the wall and the gatehouse. In fact, Gallus was leading that group. Until they succeeded, the oil pots would be a threat to their reinforcements, and the enemy would be able to fire arrows and spells at them from their flank.

Upon approaching Ahnasha, Fendros was somewhat relieved but didn't stop to express it. He immediately shouldered his bow and gently pushed at the back of Ahnasha's head to get her to lower down more. "Hold still," he said immediately after she finished speaking. It would do no good to be slow about removing the arrow, so Fendros was somewhat forceful in trying to pull the wound apart and tug at it. Knowing their enemies, it was likely a barbed and wicked arrow shape. He needed to be careful to remove the shaft without leaving the arrowhead within. Their fellow soldiers parted around them to rush for the gate, but Fendros did not break his concentration.

It was a few painful moments for Ahnasha before Fendros spoke again. "Got it..." Fendros pursed his lips and pulled strongly on the arrow, removing it in one tug. He held it in front of his face for a moment before tossing it aside and leaning down to see Ahnasha's now wolfish face. Fendros looked to Ahnasha with wide eyes and almost laughed, "I think you win this one, Ahna. I couldn't top that. Don't you dare do it again." Fendros paused as he remembered to catch his breath. "Do you need a potion?"

Gallus was at the head of his pack. He had seen the layout of the fortress and he knew exactly where to go, even through the mist. As soon as he passed under the gate -- something he did as swiftly as he could due to the potential boiling liquid from above -- he dodged to the left. He skirted along the wall a short few paces with Peiter right behind him until they got to a jutting section of it. Around this was the enemy lines, but they were shocked beyond cohesion by the Senche-raht impacts. Gallus didn't waste time to allow them to form up again. He lead his pack around the stonework until it revealed itself to be a staircase. It was roughly two three people wide, so Gallus and Uthri stood side by side as they ran up the stairs, three at a time. The archer at the top of the staircase was desperately distracted trying to shoot the Senche-rahts below and didn't notice Gallus until a shield bashed into his side and sent him falling off the wall itself. "Cut to the gatehouse! Irenya, get those ones further up the wall!" Gallus shouted.

Uthri clashed with the defenders at the crenellations while Gallus shouted, leading the charge with a warcry that turned all their heads. The rest of the group other than the pack piled up as fast as they could. "Uthri! Work the walls the other way!" Gallus directed enough men to support Uthri while the rest were behind his pack during the advance to the gatehouse itself.

Against Ri'vashi, Gallus was of course outmatched by strength and skill. But against the defenders on the walls, armed at first only with bows and whatever weapons they had time to drawn, he could combine his speed advantage with what the defenders lacked. Though not the most powerful, he was still a pack alpha. The first after the one that fell down the wall was struck by his spear in the neck after a feint, while the next had the faculties to defend himself for a time until Gallus overwhelmed him. Blood was scattered against the stones below as they advanced. The allies with them were taking turns fighting up the wall alongside Gallus and it was getting close to Peiter's turn.

Ahnasha grunted and growled as the arrow was being removed, but her werewolf form at least had good pain tolerance. For the average person, it was better to leave an arrow in the body in the short term to prevent excessive bleeding, but the regenerative properties of lycan physiology made them somewhat different. If the arrow was not silver, then their bodies would be able to heal fairly quickly, so it was better to simply remove it to allow the healing to take place. If it was silver, then they would not heal nearly as quickly, but the arrowhead would also be doing more harm by staying in the body. In either case, removing the arrow was preferred.

Reaching behind her back, Ahnasha felt of the wound to see how much it was bleeding. She looked at her hand for a moment, then grunted and shook her head. "I'll be fine. Best to save it. Let's hurry, we need to find Meesei and the others. They should almost be to the wall by now."

While Uthri was leading a group of soldiers to eliminate the archers on the wall, towards where Ra'jorr's forces would be scaling the wall, the rest of Gallus' pack, along with a healthy complement of soldiers, was advancing on the gatehouse. A few arrows from the archers were fired towards them, but they were not terribly effective. Many of those attacking with Gallus at the very least had heavier armor, or at the very least, shields. A full volley would certainly have done some damage, but in close range, the archers could not coordinate it. Those with arrows already nocked could fire, but they all had to quickly switch to their sidearms to deal with a close-quarters threat. There were some properly-equipped warriors at the gatehouse, but they were outnumbered by Gallus' force.

While the archers would not be as effective at close range, the enemy mages would not be nearly as limited. Though, the same was true of both sides. As soon as they were within sight of the gatehouse, Irenya and some of the other mages cast explosive fireballs and clouds of ice towards the oil pots to hopefully further delay their use. The Altmer officer, however, had her sights on an important target as well. She had witnessed Gallus giving orders, so she aimed an ice spike straight towards him. While his shield coupld protect him, if he managed to block it, Irenya was not one to take chances. She saw the Altmer charging the spell, and since she was on the frontline with Gallus, it was only a quick movement to get in front of him with a ward raised.

Irenya's ward successfully absorbed the incoming spell, though for Peiter, it also gave him an idea. While afraid to be fighting on the frontline like this, his training was keeping him focused. While mages were threatening them at a distance, the archers were putting away their bows. So, they just needed protection from magical projectiles. Stepping up beside Gallus, he held his halberd over Irenya's shoulder. "Irenya, you can advance in front." He suggested. He could push his halberd through Irenya's ward from behind, so he and Gallus could try to take down the Altmer officer while Irenya protected them from her spells.

"Right," Fendros stopped preemptively rummaging open the pouch that held his potion and stood up with Ahnasha. The two of them proceeded towards the vague direction of the wall behind those still advancing, Fendros keeping his bow and an arrow ready for any surprises. They reached the wall and had to run parallel with it through the fog until they spotted their pack, but the ladders were already beginning to be raised. They found Meesei nearby to Sabine and Lorag, just next to Janius and Kaleeth as they were heaving their ladder up. It appeared as though Kaleeth was doing most of the work.

"We're ready!" Fendros announced to Meesei as they approached. "Ready for your orders, alpha."

"Was that you coming out of the gate, Ahnasha!?" Janius asked in loud disbelief. "What did you do?"

Gallus only heard the crack of the ice spike being cast beforr he reflexively started to raise his shield. Thankfully, wherever it might have landed otherwise, Irenya warded the spell. Gallus did not pause to thank her and instead focussed on the officer that cast the spell. Time was taken to fight towards her, thanks to the wall acting as a bottleneck.

A few outmatched defenders later and Gallus was in a position to strike out. He shouted, "Take the others! I've got this one!" With Irenya and Peiter covering him from other threats, Gallus looked to the Altmer officer and opened by flipping his hand over on his spear and throwing it at her with full force. If it didn't kill her, the disruption would allow him to close the distance and attack with knife and shield before any more spells could threaten from a distance.

Coming up to the wall with the others, they were still obscured by the mist. Though, at the base of the wall, they could just manage to see to its top. Ahnasha looked at Janius, but before she could speak up, she saw silhouettes moving on the wall above. "I'll tell you later. We need to move!"

"Yes, get onto the wall, hurry." Meesei said as she climbed onto the first ladder that Kaleeth raised. "We need to quickly clear this side of the wall and secure our flank."

As she made it about halfway up the ladder, Meesei saw one of the silhouettes stop at the top of it. In the mist, the archers could only fire randomly in the hopes of hitting something, but on a ladder, it did not matter whether or not they could see their targets. Meesei saw the bow starting to draw back, aimed directly at her, so she decided to accelerate her ascent. Now that she was at least partially up the ladder, she was close enough for her bolt escape spell to bring her the rest of the way. As a mass of lightning, Meesei bolted upwards, straight through the archer. The electricity stunned him and caused his arrow to fly off randomly into the mist, while Meesei ended up directly behind him on the wall. As soon as her feet touched the wall, she turned around and kicked the archer off of it. Most of the attention of the defenders was on the front gate, so the majority of them had not yet noticed them scaling the walls. But, since a few of them had already seen the ladders, that information would quickly spread.

Peiter and Irenya split off from Gallus once they were close enough to the gatehouse. Since they were running into warriors, rather than mages, Peiter moved in front of Irenya with his shield raised, and his halberd held high. Among their enemies at the gatehouse, most were archers who had switched to their swords, so there were only a few who seemed properly equipped for close quarters fighting. Peiter saw one of the other lycans in their group clashing with one of those warriors, and decided to help. He charged forward with his polearm aimed for the his opponent's heart, though he telegraphed perhaps too much, as his enemy had plenty of time to move his shield to deflect his halberd. Fortunately for Peiter, his ally took the opportunity to thrust in his own spear for far deadlier effect. Even if Peiter did not land the killing blow, he supposed it was only the end result that mattered.

For Gallus, his thrown spear was not immediately lethal, but it was not entirely off its mark. The Altmer had been forced to attempt to dodge. Not only did it prevent her from being able to stop Gallus' advance, but the spear hit her arm, and cut a large gash across it. The wound was deep, and while the spear had hit at too much of an angle to impale it, her arm was disfigured to the point of being useless. Blood poured from the wound, and while she still used her good arm to throw a fireball in Gallus' direction, it was not particularly well-aimed.

The rest of Meesei's pack began to clamber up behind her with Kaleeth and Janius steadying the ladder. Fendros squinted his eyes against the flash of Meesei's lightning form. What widened them again was a screaming archer tumbling towards him. He raised up an arm and succeeded in deflecting the archer to one side, but the archer reached a hand out in the pause and grabbed at the side of the ladder. Fendros and those below felt a lurch as the ladder was pulled off-balance. Thankfully the ladder did not fall to the side as Janius and Kaleeth heaved it back. Fendros did not hesitate to pull out a dagger and dispatch the latched-on archer, watching him fall the rest of the way without a scream, although the delay cost them a little more time. Fendros found the top of the ladder after Meesei held her own for about half a minute longer, drawing his bow and an arrow despite the fog being just as thick up on the the wall. Janius and Kaleeth followed once the rest had reached the top.

As if the fireball was displacing a cloud, Gallus' body twisted away in the middle of his charge and the magical projectile flew past his shoulder. He barely perceived the detonation behind himself light his enemy up in a brief orange glow as the flash reflected the glint of the dagger he had drawn. The paces remaining to the captain were closed in but another moment as Gallus leapt with his shield arm shooting forward. If his aim was right, the rim would strike the captain square in the upper chest and knock her back. That moment of imbalance was where he intended to follow through and sink the dagger into the most convenient chink of her armour available. It may have been too quick a death to avenge Miranor, but the gatehouse was too valuable to tarry on sentiment.

The Altmer officer, while a skilled mage, was not the most competent in melee combat, and coupled with her injury, she could not make an effective defense. Even as she tried to conjure a bound blade, Gallus' dagger found its mark in her lightly armored chest. Unfortunately, the loss of their officer did not cause the remaining soldiers at the gatehouse to falter any in terms of their cohesion. They had orders and training, so they would fight all the same. At the very least, Gallus' force did not have to be quite so aggressive in their attack any longer, as those defending the gatehouse seemed to have given up on trying to use the oil pots, and were instead focused solely on the battle at hand.

Peiter, perhaps unintentionally, was staying close to Gallus. Though they were on the attack, his method of fighting was primarily defensive. He tended to stay farther back and wait for openings to use his halberd from a distance. If an enemy wanted to attack him, they had to advance farther forward than usual. Irenya, meanwhile, was keeping him, and those around them, as protected as possible. She stayed behind Peiter and looked for any hostile that looked like they were going to gain any advantage over her allies, then used destruction to keep them back, or kill them entirely.

On the far wall, on the other side of the gatehouse, Meesei's group was quickly making their way up the ladders. They were not yet encountering as much resistance as Gallus' or especially Ri'vashi's forces, so they had the opportunity to place themselves in strategic positions. Meesei had held her own by herself until the others could make it up onto the wall. The enemy archers had their arrows deflected away by telekinesis, while any who wanted to close the gap were kept back by a frightening array of spells. Fendros was up with her shortly, and Ahnasha was not far behind. Though, seeing as she was in lycan form, Ahnasha did not take the ladder. Rather, she climbed up the same scaffolding she had used before, then jumped onto the wall directly next to the enemy. She had already latched her jaws down on one of the archers' throats before they saw her and desperately tried to draw their blades.

As the rest of Meesei's pack made it up onto the wall, she ordered one of her other officers to bring part of her force along the wall towards the gatehouse to provide support for Gallus and his men by crushing the enemy between them. Meanwhile, Meesei and her pack would lead the way towards the keep to secure the eastern wall, and flank the enemy that Ri'vashi's force had started to stall against.

Gallus observed the officer fall to the ground with a wound that would soon kill her and then backpedalled behind his own lines to regain awareness of the situation. The enemy did not break, unfortunately. More fighting would be required for this objective. Gallus wiped his knife on the leather if his coat if plates, sheathed it, and took out his hammer while his allies continued to contest. He could retrieve his spear later.

"Beat them back! Take the parapet!" Gallus shouted in the gatehouse, raising his hammer high to point. The soldiers' efforts were split into fighting up the stairs on the gatehouse to capture those on the roof and forcing back ground so other enemies had to retreat to the wall. The defenders were fighting skillfully and bravely with a low rate of casualties on either side, but they were outmatched and out-equipped by Gallus group.

It was a gruelling fight to finally capture the gatehouse properly, upon which time Gallus sent a runner to Ri'vashi to inform her. As per the plan, he was to sweep the rest of the walls between themselves and the ladder teams before reuniting with Ri'vashi's force in the courtyard. With the snarls and struggles of what might have been enemy Senche-raht clashing with their own, Gallus hoped that the momentum would continue without too much trouble.

Meesei's flashing spells were joined by the comparatively harder to see arrows launched from Fendros' bow as soon as any target made itself apparent. He was in a state of focus in all the chaos. Painful screams and the clash of steel picked into his ears, but he felt secure in the knowledge that the tide was still in their favour. The imposing stronghold was proving to be surprisingly less of a challenge than before.

As soon as Janius and Kaleeth ascended, they lead the way with Lorag to start cutting their way to the walkway to the keep. Janius' role was primarily defensive, shielding and raising wards while the physically strongest of their pack pushed out in front.

Since the hostiles guarding the gatehouse had nowhere to which they could escape, they fought to the last man. It took some time, but they were surrounded by Gallus and Meesei's forces, and killed. On the western wall, Ra'jorr's group was having similar success, allowing them to have three flanks on the courtyard. Although, from the keep, more soldiers were pouring both into the courtyard, and onto the walls, so there was certainly going to be more resistance.

Once the walls were cleared, Peiter and Irenya regrouped with Gallus, then moved back to the courtyard to help try to break the stalemate. Gallus was ordered to their right flank to help attempt to break through there. Their resistance was much stronger, and more organized than what they had faced at the gatehouse, but Meesei's group was advancing more quickly along the wall, so they would soon be in a position to flank them. Unfortunately, the enemy had a surprise in mind that would complicate their plans, in the form of of the fortress' most skilled guardians.

Using the buildings to hide their advance until the last moment, Do'rhajul's elite troops sounded a horn, prompting the frontline that Gallus' men were fighting to suddenly retreat. It would give them the opportunity to try to outflank the enemy's center, had the counterattack not came just as quickly. From the alleys between the buildings, the elite troops stormed forward in a phalanx formation with heavy shields and armor, and silver-tipped spears. Their attack would have been damaging enough by itself, but the biggest threat came seconds beforehand. Without warning, two Senche-raht quite literally appeared in front of Gallus' ranks. The enemy had evidently used spells of invisibility to cloak the two massive Khajiit, which, while it would have taken a considerable expenditure of magicka, made their attack all the more devastating. They were not quite as heavily armored as the allied Senche, but they were obviously well-trained, and even had silver caps fitted over the largest of their teeth capable of delivering an almost unnecessary amount of damage. To Gallus' left and right, the Senche-raht barreled through at least three ranks of his men, crushing and tossing them aside. Then, only seconds later, the enemy phalanx clashed with what remained of their front.

Meesei witnessed the sudden attack, but as distressing as it was, she was at least in a position to do something about it. They had been able to advance more quickly than those in the courtyard, so her forces were in a position to flank the enemy. She ordered some of her force to continue pushing along the wall towards the keep, then turned to her own pack and those she had told to stay with her. "We have to help them! Get down the stairways and contest their right flank. Archers, form a firing line on the wall and try to disrupt their phalanx with arrows from elevation. If that fails, shift focus to the Senche-raht."

As the fight on the walls was all but won, Uthri rendezvoused with Gallus to make whole their forces again before they all formed up to reinforce the right flank.

Gallus was already trying to keep his eye out for any silver at the time of the counter-tactic. It seemed so odd that not even the officer at the gatehouse has anything silver to defend herself with. That's why he opted not to rush when the enemy sounded a retreat on the right. He instead had his lines form up and advanced as one. That was all for naught in the face of the hidden Senche-rahts.

Gallus' head flicked to each side in turn as he witnessed the shock against the lines. Two great holes had been torn in the formation in an instant. The new line of unmistakably silver-armed troops advancing towards them would spell their doom if he couldn't think of something.

"Get around them! Go for the legs! You, you, and you!" Gallus shouted and pointed to three adjacent soldiers, before pointing his thumb to the Senche-raht on the right. "Transform and deal with that one. Keep it off the others!" Gallus turned to reveal something of a crazed look to his pack. "We have to get the other one! Mages! Irenya! Use your frost!"

Gallus didn't leave room for protest as he jogged towards the remaining Senche-raht. He already had a knife out and was holding it by the blade. Ri'vashi may have doubted their battlefield effectiveness, but this was a big target with big eyes.

While Gallus' resistance was desperate. His confidence seemed to help keep his line from breaking and running completely. Meesei's timely reinforcement would ensure that the enemy phalanx could be met properly.

Fendros did his best to snipe at the enemy's front, though they were well armoured and any shots that did land did not phase the soldiers around them.

The melee fighters, including Janius, affirmed and rushed down the staircase to form up on the right. Many of them did not have spears, but this wasn't the first time that Meesei's pack had faced a line of silver spears.

As for Sabine, seeing the ambush below made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. By the plan, Peiter was down there. She couldn't let him be found by the Senche-raht but she couldn't go down to help him, either. Instead of following Meesei's orders to target the phalanx, she brought her palms near to one another close to her core. A familiar billowing of steam began to show as her power gathered into the best way she knew how to help Peiter. She had her eyes fixed on the Senche-raht below. With a small, desperate shout, Sabine pushed her arms forward to let an icy spear fly towards the Senche-raht she saw. She didn't mind draining most of her magicka to help Peiter.

Though the situation was still grim, Gallus' men were reinforced quickly. Coming down the ladders, Lorag led the charge against the phalanx, flanking them to relieve pressure from their allies' near-broken frontline. Apart from Lorag himself, all of those taking the lead in the attack wielded shields to help at least keep them protected from the intimidating line of spears. Without being able to match their reach, it would be difficult to get any sort of breakthrough, and even with the additional pressure they were providing, Gallus' frontline soldiers would not last long. Lorag did not have a spear, but his hammer could be almost as useful in this particular situation. His suit of steel could stop the thrust of a spear entirely, and a single swing of his hammer could knock aside all of the spears he was running into in order to prevent them from landing any precise thrusts against his joints. As soon as he did, he brought his hammer around and swung for the closest hostile in the phalanx. Their tower shields offered a lot of coverage, but a full-force hammer strike from someone like Lorag could still potentially break the arm of the person holding it. Unfortunately, for anyone he injured, there was another right behind them to take their place.

Among those who stormed down from the walls to reinforce Gallus were Ra'kalesh and Do'ajee. While Do'ajee was armored in mail and wielding a fairly standard shield and spear, Ra'kalesh's armaments were most peculiar, in that he was not armed at all. His armor was mostly light cloth and leather, apart from two steel vambraces covering his forearms. He had a shield, but it was on his back, so he did not appear to even be using it at the moment. Kaleeth was running alongside them, and was not sure what to expect from him. However, once he reached the phalanx, he demonstrated rather quickly. One of the enemy soldiers, expecting an easy kill, thrust his spear directly for him. But, with a swift, deft movement, Ra'kalesh parried away the spear with one of his vambraces, then, with his free hand, grabbed a hold of the spear's haft. Before his opponent could react, he grabbed the weapon with his other hand as well, then pulled upwards and pushed forwards, jamming the blunt end of the spear into his opponent's throat. Unfortunately, with the rest of the phalanx around him for protection, none of Ra'kalesh's allies could follow through for the kill without being stopped. With her mace being as short-ranged as it was, Kaleeth particularly could not help, but it did inspire her with an idea.

Kaleeth stood at the edge of the enemy spearmen's range on the frontline, guarding with her spear. She could not attack them, but they could, and were, attacking her. However, once she was confident enough in her prediction of an enemy's thrust, she suddenly let go of her mace and grabbed a hold of an enemy's spear, just as Ra'kalesh had. While not nearly as graceful as him, she was able to use pure brute force to yank the weapon out of his hands. Unfortunately, Do'rhajul's elite troops were well-trained enough to know that they could not match a lycan in a contest of strength, so he simply let go of his spear and allowed another in the phalanx to take his place. Had he not, she likely would have pulled him straight to the ground.

From the center of their lines, more reinforcements came in the form of the Senche-raht, S'nishi. Though she had been in the thick of the fighting, the only scratches the massive Khajiit had received were to her armor. Those that Gallus had ordered to handle the other Senche-raht were not faring particularly well, so she made that one her priority. Having to run around her allied soldiers gave the Senche-raht enough time to see her coming, so he was able to turn to meet her head-on, but as a lycan, S'nishi still had the definite advantage in strength.

While Peiter was at a complete loss for what he could do against such a powerful opponent, Irenya followed Gallus' order immediately. She opened with a frost storm across the Senche's legs, then a stream of ice right at its feet. The mail and metal plates that the massive Khajiit was armored with were effective against physical damage, but there were some types of magic for which armor was ineffective. An ice storm, which could simply seep in between gaps in the armor without any precise aiming, was among those spells. If she could disable its legs, then there would be little it could do to harm them. Meanwhile, Sabine's ice spear found its mark straight in the Senche-raht's side. It hit mail, rather than metal plate, so the powerful spell was indeed able to pierce directly through. Unfortunately, its effect was likely far less than Sabine desired. A Senche-raht simply had so much mass that, unless it was precisely aimed at a vital area, a single attack could simply not hope to bring it down. The ice spear had caused it to bleed, and may have even caused some organ damage, but in the short-term, the Khajiit was still fighting just as effectively.

Ahnasha, however, managed to be a bit more disruptive. Not wanting to waste her transformation just yet, she decided to make use of the advantages it provided. The Senche-raht, identifying Irenya as the biggest immediate threat, started to rush towards her, but was interrupted when Ahnasha made a running leap onto his back. She did not expect to be able to hold on forever, but as long as she could stay on his back, she would do what she could to tear away pieces of armor to get at the flesh underneath.

For Meesei, she did not go anywhere immediately, but rather stayed next to Fendros and the other archers, holding her hand close to her chest. She had dispelled her lightning form, and was instead beginning a new spell in her hand. It was not lightning, as usual, but rather had the characteristic mist of frost. However, whatever spell she was charging, it was doing so very slowly. "I will deal with the phalanx. Just...make sure they do not target me. This will not be easy." She said quickly to Fendros. By the tone of her voice, it was clear that she was having to place an immense amount of focus into her spell.

With what they were armed with, Janius expected that they would barely be able to hold against the phalanx. However, all the efforts to disrupt it were provided effective at slowing it down. The holes in the lines were closed up too quickly for Janius to get stuck I and start fighting, so he applied pressure by tossing small explosive fireballs from a short distance when the opportunities arose. It was all he could do until friendly lines could properly contest against the enemy here.

Just as Gallus hoped, the frost spells managed to slow down the Senche-raht just enough for them all to start dealing with it. The addition of Ahnasha's beast form clinging to its back was not unwelcome either. Gallus continued his little plan, listing around the Senche-raht slightly until he was at the correct angle. Then, not beholden to the Senche-raht's immediate attention, he raised his right arm and bent forward, flinging a dagger through the air and directly into the Senche-raht's eye.

"Peiter! Stay on this side with me!" Gallus shouted from within the Senche-raht's freshly made blind spot. "Bring it down! Get its legs!" Gallus already had his hammer out again, this time with the spike end held forward. "Uthri! Cover Irenya!"

Fendros loosed another arrow into the phalanx as Meesei spoke, but he took in every word. He began to remove his shield from his back. "I'll do what I can," Fendros said. He was unaware of exactly what Meesei was going to do but it felt powerful. He positioned himself between Meesei and the edge of the wall with his shield raised, ready to block any arrows or direct spellfire.

Sabine was now looking distressed at the apparent lack of effect that her most powerful destruction spell had on the Senche-raht before her. What's worse was that she could see a Peiter-shaped silhouette in the remains of the mist with a halberd frighteningly near the Senche-raht she had just struck. Ahnasha and some mages were wearing down the armoured hulk, but one swipe of its paw looked like it could break someone's neck. Breathing quickly, Sabine tried charging up another ice spear between her hands. It was painfully slow while she waited for her magicka to naturally fuel what she did not have in reserve.

Hearing a loud growl of pain after Gallus' knife found its mark, the other Senche-raht tried to break away to provide help, but S'nishi was able to keep him firmly in place. She reared up on her hind legs, then threw her full weight onto him, knocking him on his side. While the werelions helping her did what they could to try and wound his legs, S'nishi clawed and snapped at his throat. Though, her opponent was not going to give up without a fight. With his front legs, he clawed at S'nishi as well, and ended up biting down at the top of her shoulder. Even his jaws could not bite through steel, but he was ripping the bindings holding the armor to her body.

Meanwhile, Gallus' directions were enough to give Peiter focus. He stuck close with Gallus, trying to stay out of the massive beast's newly restricted line of sight. The fact that he wielded a polearm meant that he could attempt to attack from a reasonably safe distance, but the Senche-raht's legs were armored, primarily with mail. He aimed for what he assumed was the knee (though it was actually the ankle, in a digitigrade creature), but his thrust struck high. He had enough force behind him to penetrate the armor, though only an inch or two, which was not a great deal on this particular opponent. At the same time, Irenya let loose another wave of frost magic towards the two legs on the far side from Peiter and Gallus. Ice crystals were starting to form on his legs, which were visibly bleeding by this point.

Ahnasha had ripped away enough of the Senche-raht's armor to start tearing into his flesh. She had started ripping into the back of his neck, and might have been able to finish him off, but she was quite unexpectedly interrupted. From the center of the phalanx, just beyond the frontline, several glass bottles were thrown, towards both of the enemy Senche-raht. They were each about a quarter filled with a blue liquid, but as soon as the bottles shattered, they erupted into clouds of blue gas. One of them broke against the side of the Senche-raht, directly beneath Ahnasha. The moment she took in a breath of the gas, she knew exactly what it was. As quickly as she could, Ahnasha jumped down to try to get clear of danger, though her body was already starting to shift back into its normal form. Before the battle, Sabine had prepared some potions to resist the suppression gas, and Ahnasha had taken one, but unfortunately, it seemed that potion was no longer effective against their enemy's new formula.

The Senche-raht's wounds were taking their toll on him, but he was not dead yet. While he could not see Gallus and Peiter, there was one threat he could see dead ahead of him: Irenya. With Ahnasha finally off of his back, he knew that, as a mage, her attacks were now the biggest threat to him. With singular purpose, the Senche-raht took off in a charge towards her. They were all fairly close, so he did not have much ground to cover, and there was nothing Uthri could do to stop his momentum. Irenya just barely managed to dive out of the way of a fearsome swipe from his massive claws, but as she was on the ground, trying to scramble to her feet, he followed through with another. His paw did not hit at an angle, or off center, nor did his claws simply graze her. It was a direct hit to hear head and upper torso, led with his claws, that smashed her at full force straight into the ground.

Fendros' eyes widened at the events below. "Meesei," he said as clearly as he could with his back to the still spell-channelling Meesei, "They have gas. Ahnasha's been turned back!"

It was what happened directly after that had a more immediate impact. Gallus tried to swing down hard on the Senche-raht's hind leg to pierce through its armour and disable it, but it began to charge before he could reach it. Its direction was clear. Uthri tried to intercept and thrust into the Senche-raht's neck, but her strike was not aligned and she simply didn't have the mass to stop him. She was swept aside with an impact that knocked the wind out of her. Uthri watched on as the last distance was closed and shrieked, "Look out!" Irenya was staggered to the ground and everyone began to run to strike the Senche-raht down, but the next blow had a sickening sound to it.

Sabine could see what happened from where she was and the shock made her concentration falter. She gasped and let her spell dissipate before she could cast it, not that she had the magicka for it anyway. In a fluster, she instead began to rapidly fire ice spikes in the Senche-raht's direction. She tried aiming for the weaker armour but the distance and the movement coupled with the stress of the situation did not help.

Gallus and Uthri attacked desperately and viciously once they caught up. Gallus charged in, grit his teeth, and bobbed down beside the Senche-raht's hind leg. His hammer's pick swung in with full force into his enemy's thigh and he let his full momentum rip and tear at whatever caught purchase. Uthri screamed in fury and charged with wide, berserk eyes as she sunk her spear as hard as she could into the Senche-raht's underbelly.

Already wounded and disoriented, the Senche-raht could not react quickly to the combined attacks arrayed against him. His legs were already both frozen with ice, and burning in pain when Gallus' hammer found its mark on his rear leg. Unable to keep his balance, he finally collapsed to the ground. He tried swatting back at Gallus, but with his wounded eye, his swing was inaccurate. He was left entirely open for Uthri to start disemboweling his stomach, with Peiter doing the same shortly afterwards. Ice spikes from Sabine started to punch more holes in his other side when they found their way to weaker parts of his armor. Between them all, he had already lost enough blood to fill a Human, and every attempt at resistance he gave became weaker and weaker. While still dangerous to those immediately around him, he would not be getting up again, and he would likely bleed out soon.

Despite the Senche-raht's defeat, it would be immediately clear to anyone that saw her that there was nothing that could be done for Irenya. She had been hit by the Khajiit's full might, and it showed in the damage to her remains. Irenya was dead, and the only consolidation was that it appeared to have been an instant death.

Meesei, meanwhile, did not react at all to Fendros. Her concentration on her spell was absolute, and it was uncertain if she had even heard him at all. The frost spell she was charging was, evidently, intensely powerful, as it had enough energy behind it to make Fendros feel cold just standing beside it. Finally, after a preparation even more difficult than the ritual she had just performed minutes ago, she walked out from behind Fendros and set her sights on the phalanx below. She seemed to be having difficulty even just walking a few feet, let alone keeping the magicka of her spell coherent. Taking in another deep breath, and with an even more strained expression, her other arm erupted in lightning, which she released quickly in the form of bolt escape. In an instant, she blinked as a veritable bolt of lightning from her position on the wall, straight into the heart of the enemy phalanx. She shocked and stunned each of the soldiers she passed through, though that was only a side-effect of her plan.

"What the-" One of the soldiers began, but he scarcely had time to even look at Meesei before she released her blizzard spell. It was a whirlwind of ice and frost that cut through any physical defense, down to their very bones. At its center, directly next to Meesei, the enemy soldiers had no hope of escape. Small shards of ice cut into any small opening in their armor, while the cold itself started freezing the water inside their very bodies, causing massive internal bleeding. The fact that their formation had been so tight meant that most of them had nowhere to run. Those at the edges of the phalanx could get away, but with their formation broken, the momentum of the fight had very abruptly turned against them.

Meesei's spell had been no more powerful than a blizzard from any other master mage, but rather, its most exceptional attribute was that she had charged it in such a way to allow herself to cast another spell simultaneously. It was a demonstration of one of the new abilities Meesei had mentioned attaining in a previous conversation. Of course, to accomplish the feat drained her almost entirely of magic. This would be another of her magicka potions spent.

The Senche-raht's final swing was dodged as a reflex by Gallus. He stepped back quickly as his packmates punctured the large Khajiit and guaranteed his demise. One quick look at Irenya's remains made his face darken for a moment before he quickly turned and raised his hammer. "Form up! Form up!" he shouted to the tatters of his forces. There was a sternness to his expression that was as stony as a wall. It looked strong enough to suppress turmoil from within and without. "Get in line! Stand fast!"

In contrast, Uthri shouted as she stabbed the Senche-raht over and over. She finished as she turned to run over to Irenya, sliding to her knees and dropping her bloodied spear. She reached out a hand and stopped it hovering over Irenya. If any clue of Uthri's previous joviality had been present, it was gone in that moment that she realised her friend's fate. She was transfixed on the edge of weeping in spite of the sounds of battle around her.

"You four! Get spears in to help S'nishi, now!" Gallus' commanding voice continued to ring out in the background as the soldiers tried to rally into formation. "Uthri!" She didn't respond to Gallus. "Damn it! Peiter! Help her up!" Gallus' shout was punctuated with hammer-point gestures to Peiter and Uthri in turn. The deep red blood dripping off the spike gave a certain weight to his argument.

The formation was at least partially restored, and not a moment too soon. A huge bolt of light streaked across the previously daunting enemy and broke up some of the phalanx. As the destination suddenly burst into a maelstrom of mist and ice, Gallus knew that it could only be Meesei. He decided to push the advantage on the point of impact.

"Hear me!" Gallus raised his hammer, "Refused formation! Advance on that breach! Double time!" Gallus lead the way as his line advanced from the middle first in jogging strides, forming a rapidly charging chevron. "Attack!" The battle joined with the broken formation for better or for worse.

The four spearmen ran to S'nishi's aid, though it was not particularly needed at this point. S'nishi had her opponent pinned, and with her lycan strength, there was no getting up for him. Once she managed to sink her teeth into his throat, she was able to finish him off quickly. Though, she did not get away without injury. In their struggle, much of the armor on her left side and neck had been stripped away, and she now had two large gashes where his silver-tipped teeth had cut across her shoulder. She would survive, but was now much more vulnerable to injury.

With the phalanx broken, and most of its members dead at Meesei's hands, the momentum of the battle had rapidly shifted. The enemy that Gallus' frontline had been fighting were now routed to the point that they no longer had any frontline to speak of. Gallus' forces would be able to push forward almost without resistance, and would easily be able to flank the enemy stalling Ri'vashi. It was a victory that could quite possibly lead to them capturing the entire courtyard.

Peiter was tasked with helping Uthri, but he was not faring much better. He knew what had happened, and it brought the horrific nature of the battle into clear focus for him. This was what he had feared going into the battle, and if it could happen to Irenya, what would stop it from happening to anyone else? The only thing keeping him somewhat sane was that he was forcing himself not to look at Irenya. "Uthri, we...need to move."

Meesei simply walked back into her allied lines as she drank her next magicka potion. Even after the spell dissipated, the ground on which she walked was coated in a fine layer of ice. It was not her preferred element of destruction, but it was what was needed in the moment, even if it did sap her of all her energy. She would need to be conservative until her potion could restore her magicka. She shouted orders to her pack, and the rest of her men, to get back up onto the wall to push towards the keep. They still had a plan to follow, and with her forces split, progress on the wall itself had stalled. They were far behind Ra'jorr's group on the opposite side, who looked as if they were closing in on the keep's west entrance.

Perhaps mercifully, Ahnasha had not seen what happened to Irenya, and as soon as she was back to her feet, she was focused on getting herself back into the fight. She conjured up a bow, then started to make her way back up to the wall where she would be the most useful. As she was running to the stairs, she spotted a transformed werelion that had evidently been killed by one of the Senche-raht. Without so much as a second thought, she cast a spell to reanimate the body. A lycan fighting without concern for its own safety could be incredibly fearsome, but it did not cross her mind how horrible it might seem to the lycan's friends to see her body reanimated through necromancy.