Gallus bared his teeth and almost cursed. It would have been much easier if they could see a staircase from here, but as a silver lining, at least there was no opposition. After looking in either direction of the hallway for a few moments, he surmised that a staircase would make the most sense to be closest to the walls. As well, these halls possibly lead to the other doors at some point. He stepped through the door and shouted back to his group. "Ghita! Pa'sura! Get your packs in here!" Gallus beckoned the alphas of two prides under his command to file through the door. Gallus was not of the mind to realise the semantics of pride versus pack. "One of each of you, take either direction! Look for a staircase up or a doorway into the main chamber behind the enemy, and then send a runner to tell us! If you meet any resistance, come back here! Be quick, don't get trapped! We'll hold here!"

The prides dispersed and Gallus stepped back into the battle in the chamber. It was no less chaotic than before, but it appeared as though the enemy had blundered in trying to envelope his breakaway group. Gallus took the front and decided to have his formation be the anvil against Ri'vashi's hammer, lest they thin themselves out as well.

Janius shouted in triumph when the combined efforts of the mages broke one of the oil pots. Though spilt oil still dripped down from the overhang, it was far from damaging. He returned his efforts towards fending off archers as Ahnasha, Fendros, and Sabine approached.

"Any sight of Meesei?" Fendros shouted as he joined him in dispatching the combatants above them.

Janius shook his head. "Just stay alive! Don't get shot!" Janius reflexively raised his shield over Fendros' shoulder to intercept an arrow it was blocked with a metallic thud. "Like that!"

Fendros was visibly more cautious after that, taking cover more often than not.

Once the pack was united, they followed the lead of Lorag once again. With how the momentum was turning, it was likely that they would be pushing the enemy back behind the various doors soon.

Ri'vashi did not see Gallus splitting his own force during the battle, else she would have send a messenger to order him to remain at full strength for the fight. Luckily, it would not matter since Gallus' push from the right flank was exactly what was needed to send the enemy into a retreat once more. The enemy still had their archers above, but they also now had their own archers streaming in through the front door, as well as mages to put pressure on the floor above. The enemy archers still had the better position, but they could no longer attack with impunity. It was enough to allow them to press their numerical advantage against the defenders without having to worry about shielding themselves from above as often.

Slowly, Vile's forces began to retreat once more. Interestingly, instead of spreading through the various exits to speed up their retreat, most of the enemy focused on getting through one door at the back of the chamber. Ri'vashi was going to have a force attempt to flank around and cut off their escape when a horn sounded behind them. She knew the signal; it was a warning. They were being flanked, either in the courtyard, or by a an enemy force from outside the walls. At this point in the attack, it was not something they could afford to ignore.

Instead of attempting another attack, Ri'vashi backed off from the frontline and started to make her way quickly to Lorag, and hopefully Gallus, if they had already eliminated the enemy group they had surrounded. She knew what she was going to do, but she wanted to make sure the other leaders knew what to do as well.

It did not escape Gallus' attention that the enemy retreat was going through only one route. That meant that either the quickest way up was through that door or they wanted to be pursued through that way. Still, he could not do much from where he was without leaving the door he was investigating and risking the packs he had sent out.

However, when the horn sounded, Gallus' entire mindset changed. If they stayed put, they would be fighting on two fronts within minutes. Gallus was about to order to help eliminate the surrounded enemy in order to keep as much control as possible, but he noticed Ri'vashi deliberately heading their way. That grounded him from making any rash decisions. Once she was close enough and there was enough space left by the retreating enemy, Gallus and his pack broke from the formation to close the rest of the short distance.

"That'll be enemies at the gates! They're trying to circle around us!" Gallus said in case Ri'vashi hadn't come to the same conclusion. "We need to take the next level! What should we do?"

Lorag was occupied in combat with the enemy's frontline, but Ri'vashi could at least speak to Gallus. "We cannot afford to be surrounded, and we cannot abandon our soldiers still in the courtyard. If the enemy has been reinforced, we need to capture the keep and use it to stage our defense. Ri'vashi will take a force and head back to the courtyard to hold our flank. You need to clear the keep as much as possible, and try to capture or kill the General if you can. Try to reunite with Ra'jorr's group...and the Champion, if possible."

With the enemy in the entry chamber retreating, the archers and mages below were able to focus more heavily on those above. As such, the enemy archers were starting to thin in number, either because of injury, or simply retreating themselves. Lorag was finally able to look back in the direction of the horn and noticed Ri'vashi and Gallus. With obvious impatience, he rushed back to them so he could at least be aware of whatever plan they were making.

"The enemy...they're defending somethin' No other reason for them to all go through the same doors like that. Do'rhajul would be tryin' to split us as far apart as possible otherwise. We need to find out what they're protectin'." Lorag said quickly.

"At once," Gallus said to Ri'vashi before Lorag gave his addition. His insight was a useful reminder, but it didn't change his plans too much. "We'll keep the pressure up and find out as we go and we'll keep together. Soldiers!" Gallus turned and raised his hammer, "Form up and prepare to storm in!"

Gallus lead his group from the front with his pack as he went through the retreating passage way, following the retreating enemies. Lorag was technically under Meesei's command, which meant that authority over him fell to Ri'vashi as the supreme commander of the assault. The packs sent to find staircases would have to catch up when they returned.

Heading through the doorway, they faced only light resistance in the hallway beyond from those enemies who had been unable to retreat in time. Evidently, most of the enemy force had rushed as soon as they were out of sight of the entry chamber. With Lorag and Gallus leading the way, they followed the sounds of echoing footsteps to the end of the hall, where they finally found a staircase leading up to the next floor. It was a spiral staircase, and rather narrow, so they had Uthri and Kaleeth lead the way with shields. Lorag was expecting some kind of ambush, or at least a group at the top to trap them into the staircase, but once they were at the top, there was nothing. Evidently, the enemy had been in too much of a hurry to carry out such plans.

The staircase led into the middle of a hallway that split in two opposite directions, and unfortunately, Lorag could see that there were enemies fleeing in both directions. He did not know why they were splitting up now, and not before, but there was certainly a reason behind it. Neither group looked larger than the other, but to their left, Lorag was sure he had seen the enemy officer that had been directing the soldiers in the previous room.

Once other prides started coming up the staircase behind them, Lorag found one of Ri'vashi's officers and directed him to take charge of pursuing the enemy fleeing to the right. He intended to follow this enemy officer, as he was far more likely to be protecting something important; potentially the General himself. Lorag walked up beside Gallus with an intense look in his eyes. "If they're goin' to lead us to Do'rhajul, we're goin' to be the ones to find him. He's not gettin' away from me. They might try to keep splitting us up ahead, and we can't ignore anyone that might try to flank us, but I want us to stick together on this. I want a pack I can trust at my back to face him."

"Permission to join your packs?" A voice sounded from the stairway behind them. From the steady line of warriors climbing up the staircase, Ra'kalesh emerged and approached them. The leather armor protecting his torso before had been half burned away by the oil, so he had discarded it. As such, the burns on his back, shoulder, and upper arm were plainly visible. Large patches of his fur had been burned away, along with some of the flesh underneath, but the healers had given him their attention. There was no bleeding, and he did not seem to have trouble moving. The look in his eyes showed that he was obviously still in pain, but he was still in fighting shape. "Ra'kalesh has a...vested interest in seeing our enemy's General meet his well-deserved end."

They were getting split up further. Gallus didn't like the possibility of overextending but they didn't have time to be thorough and methodical any more. Not with Ri'vashi holding the gate. As well, Lorag's look hinted at being driven by revenge. The doubts made Gallus hesitate for a moment.

Ra'kalesh's arrival made Gallus double-take at the burns that the monk had suffered. Gallus was concerned for Ra'kalesh's safety, but being that they had both lost close friends in this battle, he could understand the motivation. "If you can still fight, you're coming with us," Gallus said to Ra'kalesh before turning to Lorag, "If we find the general, know that we'll be right behind you."

Gallus looked to the remaining soldiers under his command. "Let's keep moving!"

Partway into the pursuit, Janius had a thought that had him shout forth to Lorag in front of him. "Hey! What if they aren't protecting something? What if they've just been ordered to get at Meesei upstairs?"

Once they had started advancing, Lorag was not intent on stopping, though he still answered Janius as they moved. "Well, then it'd be the General they're protectin'. Either way, we've got to get after 'em!"

Behind Lorag, Gallus' and Meesei's packs were moving as a group, so Peiter and Sabine were together once again. It was not what Peiter had planned on for the attack, and he hoped that his fears did not manifest in reality. He just had to force himself to concentrate, and try to rely on his training. He had been doing well thusfar, but he did not want to think about what would happen if he saw her in danger. Sabine had already shown a bit too much lack of restraint during the battle before, so his own impulses were not all he had to worry about. She could potentially make mistakes because of him as well.

The enemy ahead of them had ran through another door, leading up another spiral staircase. They were just closing it behind them when Lorag threw his weight against it to suddenly bash it open again. The force of the door knocked a Bosmer behind it off his feet, and Lorag's hammer come down onto the head of a Suthay-raht beside him. He was armored with a helmet, but that did not stop the force from cracking open his skull. Lorag quickly executed the Bosmer with his steel boot, then turned his eyes towards another Khajiit on the stairs just in front of him that was thrusting an arming sword towards his neck. In an almost casual manner, he swatted her sword away with his gauntlet, grabbed her by the neck and, despite her struggling, slammed her head into the stone wall on the left.

Ahead of them on the stairway, it seemed that some of the enemy were remaining to attempt to hold off the advancing lycans. The enemy was greatly outnumbered on the stairs, but unfortunately, the width of the staircase meant that only two, maybe three people could be fighting on them at once. Although, if one could get a shot through the doorway, the fact that the enemy was at a slight elevation meant that an archer or mage could safely fire on them.

The space ahead of them was becoming narrow. It was too narrow for anything more than one or two packs-worth to be effective at once. Moving up the stairs ahead would be slow work as well. Although the other doors in the hallway were closed and likely locked, it was no use having the entire force in a queue like this. Gallus pressed himself against the hallway so that Lorag and Uthri could lead the way and so he could better see his soldiers. "Clear out these rooms!" Gallus said, pointing to the doors, "Leave non-combatants alone, tie them up if you have to, then join up with us once you're done!"

The last comment was already clear to the soldiers when the plan was presented to them before the attack, but Gallus felt that it was worth mentioning again. It didn't occur to him that it might have been just an indication of keeping his own emotions in check.

Uthri still had the energy to fight despite her exertion in the courtyard and in the opening chamber. She had discarded her spear again and was putting a short sword and shield to great use in the confined halls and staircases. Supporting her were carefully aimed shots by Fendros and Ahnasha, but Janius kept his spells at a halt for now. He had sustained, and up until now ignored, a burn from a spell in the keep's entrance chamber and Sabine was busy treating it. Sabine had wide eyes and was visibly having trouble healing the wound while they moved. The walking and running was one thing, the adrenaline from the battle was still affecting her.

By the time Gallus lost sight of his soldiers, one of the doors had already been hacked open with an axe. It was doubtful that there were any ambush forces within, but it didn't hurt to check.

The first door which Gallus' soldiers opened was nothing more than a relatively small storage room. Most of the crates and barrels were closed, and the rest seemed to have alchemical ingredients. When they moved on to the second door, however, the pair that was breaking it down was met with a fireball as soon as they had broken it open. The fireball exploded, singeing one, but giving heavy burns on the chest and face of the other. She dropped to the ground and cried out in pain as she moved to the side, out of the line of fire. Her injuries were not lethal, but she was incapacitated.

Inside the room, the Cathay officer was quickly giving orders to his soldiers to organize a defense, and place pressure on the door. "Focus everything on the door, we just need to hold them! You two, I want that in the General's hands yesterday; move it!" He shouted as two of his subordinates started to carry a barrel out of a back exit on the other side of the room. The uninjured warrior who had broken down the door was close enough to hear the shouting, and glance inside briefly.

"Sir, there are soldiers in here! That officer's with them." He shouted ahead to Gallus, though Lorag also heard from the stairwell. Unfortunately, being engaged in a melee with the enemy meant that he could not simply back away.

"What? Get in there, then! Get that room clear, I'll..." Lorag began, pausing as he delivered a blow from his hammer against the shield of the opponent in front of him. "...get back there in a second."

Kaleeth had not been close enough to the stairway to join Lorag, so she was able to rush to the door, but the moment she tried to step into the doorway, she had to back away to avoid being hit by another fireball. Ahnasha too tried to get an arrow into the room, but she could not get an angle without putting herself at risk from the spells and arrows flying out from within.

"We need a ward up here!" The soldier next to the door shouted.

Janius and Sabine exchanged a look when the call for a ward was made. Janius shooed Sabine with the back of his hand. "I'll stay up front. Go help them."

Sabine seemed to enter a state of focus and turned to get to the contested doorway. She didn't remember to give Janius a reply, but there was no time. Her hands went from yellow to glowing bright blue when she reached the door. She extended them and projected a rippling half-bubble against the next oncoming spell. She remembered her training with Meesei; don't just block everything out. Take in the spell's power without taking its harm.

The first fireball to impact made her flinch, but she succeeded in repelling its effects. She then crouched to allow Ahnasha and Fendros to fire back into the room.

Fendros tracked the origin of the fireball and had an arrow drawn already. The shot from this distance was easy. He released his arrow, aiming for the chest.

Watching on, Gallus flicked his head between the melee above and the doorway behind. "Stop whatever they're doing in there! Peiter, get up here and help Lorag out!"

"Lorag," Janius called out from behind the arcs of his hammer, "if you want to get back there, I can take over here!"

Seeing Sabine taking the lead at the door, Kaleeth saw the opportunity to help. She ran up directly behind her to stay behind the ward, but reached her shield arm around to place it in front of Sabine. "Okay, I'm here with you. My shield is better against arrows, so stay behind it if they aim at us. Now, we have to start moving forward. I'm going to move in front of you, and you can put the ward in front of me."

Ahnasha moved up to get into position behind Kaleeth and Sabine. She and Fendros had already been firing into the room, and at this range, they could be particularly deadly. Fendros had outright killed one of their mages, and Ahnasha had wounded an archer, at at least terribly frightened another. The mages and archers in the room had already began to seek cover behind their allies, and objects in the room.

The room itself appeared to be a laboratory, or something similar. There were many tables, with notes, maps, and other documents scattered around, along with alchemical ingredients, soul gems, and other magical items. There also appeared to be cages on the far left side of the room, though it was difficult to get a good look at the moment.

Peiter followed Gallus' instruction with haste. Lorag was at the bottom of the staircase, alongside another of the soldiers, but with his halberd, he could get in range simply standing behind the pair. On such a tight staircase, none of the enemy actually had polearms with them, since they would restrict their mobility. Hovever, Lorag was no longer intending to advance, and in their current position, Peiter had no problem moving around with it. As such, it gave him a distinct advantage. Immediately, he started to put pressure on Lorag's opponent, which would hopefully allow him to find an opening.

Meanwhile, Lorag did not take his eyes off of his opponent, but he did shout back to Janius. "Too much trouble, just get back there and help them."

"Yes, Lorag!" Janius offered nothing more before turning and jogging back to assist the push into the laboratory. He filed in behind Fendros and Ahnasha as they made their entry.

Sabine strode in carefully under Kaleeth's protection, absorbing whatever spells came their way and ducking down when enemy archers aimed their weapons at her. It was only a couple of seconds before the fighters behind them stormed in as well.

Fendros knew that it was too close-quarters to use his bow as he stepped in. He opted for his sword and shield, running in with the others. His objective was to get in close to keep pressure on the mages and archers before they could attempt to repel them. Of course, he was intercepted by an enemy defender, whom he aggressively opened up to with a slash towards his neck.

To keep an eye on the situation, Gallus leapt over to the laboratory door and peeked inside to try and discern what he could hear the enemy doing within. In particular, he tried to spot the officer. It wasn't the first he had dispatched today, and he didn't want this one to escape either.

As everyone was filing into the laboratory, they fanned out to make room for more to enter behind them. Mages knew to support the frontline with wards, so Fendros quickly found himself with a Dagi-raht mage behind him, ready to block incoming spellfire. Ahnasha kept her bow for longer than Fendros and stayed right behind him, firing into the enemy. Since she could conjure bound weapons, she could switch to a sword faster than a normal archer. Ra'kalesh stayed close to Janius to allow him to provide protection against projectiles as they moved forward.

Both sides were advancing towards one another, but with the layout of the room broken up by tables and other furniture, the concept of a frontline quickly broke down into individual and small group melees. Kaleeth, as per usual, opened up by surprising her opponent with sheer force by slamming into him with her shield. His guard was broken entirely, but there was a Khajiit mage beside him already preparing to electrocute Kaleeth.

Fendros' opponent parried his opening blow, then tried to shove him off of his feet with his shield. Though, perhaps more threatening than that defender was the Cathay standing behind him. The officer himself was going to be fighting against Fendros. For the moment, the Cathay was standing behind his ally with a silver longsword, looking for an opening.

---

Do’rhajul allowed Ra’jorr to fall to the ground, lifeless, then used his boot to give him the leverage to pull his blade from his body. It had only taken a fraction of a second and a well-placed blade for the General to snuff out his life, but as tragic as his death would be to his soldiers, they had at least fared better against the enemy. Five enemies, including the General, remained, and they were surrounded on three sides. Unfortunately, just as it seemed they would have their revenge, the door behind Vile’s soldiers opened.

The General backed up to the door, allowing what was left of his men to hold off the lycans. Two Khajiit walked through the door, carrying an apparently heavy barrel. “Is it ready?” Do’rhajul asked.

“Yes sir!” One of the Khajiit shouted, his eyes already widening in fear at the mass of lycans he had stumbled into.

Janius began to close in while trying to keep track of the situation as broadly as he could. The officer was the biggest threat, of course, but Kaleeth's opening caught his eye. It was a habit of hers to open up with shield bashing, and it often proved effective, but the two of them had yet to hammer out her habit of leaving herself open to other opponents while doing so. Janius threw a fire bolt at the mage that had her eyes on her to interrupt his aim. Janius clenched his teeth as he realised that his spell was travelling just too slow. Thankfully, Sabine stepped forward with Kaleeth and put up a ward from behind her.

"Kaleeth! Stay near Sabine!" Janius shouted to remind her.

It was not beyond Fendros' perception to keep in mind the officer nearby. He didn't like facing down two opponents like this. Nevertheless, he defended cannily against the initial attempt to knock him off balance. He placed a foot behind himself on the floor and resisted the push as best as he could with his sword hand and the rim of his own shield. Once he absorbed the initial force, he tried to twist the shield in the direction of the officer in order to put the defender between them. He swung over again for the neck as a follow-up, wary of the enemy soldier's blade. He just needed to make sure that his weapon didn't get stuck.

More as a distraction than anything else, Gallus threw his third dagger past Fendros and in the direction of the officer as he began to close the distance. With his hammer in hand he strode briskly into the melee and attempted to engage with the officer before Fendros could be threatened again.

Kaleeth certainly wanted to listen to Janius, but the enemy was going to make that difficult for her. Sabine had successfully blocked the incoming spell, and Kaleeth had put a gash across her opponent's chest after she pushed him off balance, but her opponent also had help. A fast-moving Suthay rushed in and immediately tried to stab her shortsword through her gut. Fortunately, she seemed to underestimate Kaleeth's wamasu scale armor, as the blade did not come close to penetrating. But, Kaleeth now had two opponents to deal with, and they were relentless together. It was all Kaleeth could do to protect herself, so she could not help Sabine with the enemy mage.

After Sabine had blocked the Khajiit's lightning bolt, he kept his focus on her with a constant stream of lightning. Fortunately, he did not outclass her in terms of magical ability, so he was not going to have an easy time breaking through her ward. But, he had other ideas in mind as he stepped closer to her while maintaining his lightning. He tried an unconventional strategy in the form of putting up his own ward, while simultaneously punching Sabine square in the jaw.

Were it not for Gallus, the enemy officer might have been able to intervene, but unfortunately for Fendros' opponent, his strike was effective. He had brought his own blade up in an attempt to parry Fendros', but he was forced to try to defend at an awkward angle against a powerful strike. Fendros' sword pushed back against his sword and sliced it across his own face. The bleeding it caused was horrendous, and it took Fendros' opponent immediately to the ground and out of the fight. He was not dead, but he would not be able to resist a killing blow.

Meanwhile, Gallus' knife did not have close to the force required to penetrate through the Cathay's mail, but it did force him to pay attention to Gallus. Though, that also meant that he was prepared for Gallus' attack. His longsword had considerably more reach than Gallus' hammer, so he attempted to make a swing to intercept Gallus before he could become a threat.

Kaleeth's armour saved her life for long enough for Janius to intervene. Contrary to his previous advice, they were both displaced from the safety of Sabine's ward due to her magical duel initiating. Fortunately, that problem seemed to be its own solution for now.

Janius decided to engage the Suthay with the short sword before she could land any more strikes on Kaleeth. He knew that the a swift and short opponent was not to be underestimated. With his shield low, Janius brought his axe down diagonally towards the Suthay's wrist.

The beleaguered Sabine had not been in an official magical duel before now. She was falling back on her training and keeping her ward strong, but she was tense. She didn't know what to expect. The weak spell that the mage was using seemed to be taking up all his time, so she thought that if she charged something stronger to...

She heard the clack of her teeth before she could bring her hands up to defend herself. The reeling sensation of stumbling back caused her to let out a small scream in fright. Then the pain and dizziness from the mage's fist set in. She might have shrunk away and run at that point. She was on the edge of panicking. If she hadn't listened to Meesei's training, then she might not have known to charge an ice wall spell in her hand as a reaction to getting struck in melee. She extended her right hand towards the mage's feet and blasted them with a powerful cold magic. It was no conscious thought that allowed her to stick his feet to the floor, it was days upon weeks of solid practice. Now that the mage was stuck, Sabine threw out an ice storm spell to sap his ward and then cast an icy spear at his midsection. She barely had the magicka left to restore her ward against any retribution. When she unconsciously swallowed, she very consciously tasted her own blood.

When Gallus made himself apparent in the corner of Fendros' eye, Fendros made one more attempt to quickly finish off his injured opponent. He stomped down on his enemy's sword to flatten it against the ground before bringing his own blade above the enemy's neck. And then, in a sudden rush of realisation, Fendros instead threw his other foot forward to kick the man unconscious. They might make use of captives later.

Under any other circumstances, the reach of the Cathay would have been a tremendous advantage against a lightly armoured human such as Gallus. However, the Cathay was not aware that Gallus had been practising against a Khajiit swordswoman of greater stature and skill than most beings currently in the fortress. Gallus halted his advance and backed off a step to let the sword pass in front of himself. He then feinted a step forward while holding his shield out to invite another strike. He intended to catch and parry the sword while stepping in properly and following through with his hammer. The side of the ribs was much easier to hit square-on from his height.

With Janius pulling away the attention of the Suthay, Kaleeth had the freedom to focus on the swordsman she was facing. Once again, she made full use of the advantage she had. Against a single opponent, only one who was very strong, or skilled and quick enough to outmaneuver her, could get around her physical advantages. This particular opponent had neither of those qualities. She stopped forward and waited for him to make a swing before parrying and bashing towards his head once more with her shield. He of course brought his own shield up to defend, but that only meant that it was his own shield that hit him in the head thanks to the sheer force of Kaleeth's blow. It might not have cracked his skull, but the impact actually made him dizzy.

Kaleeth could have tried to finish off her opponent, but she used the opportunity to attempt to help Janius instead. The Suthay was more than quick enough to dodge Janius' attack, so Kaleeth made a swing at her from the side. It did, of course, miss, but it could give Janius a chance to land a hit on her.

Sabine's instinct to fall back on her training served her well, as her attack was more than her opponent was prepared to handle. The ice at his feet took him off balance, and more importantly, lessened his focus. The Khajiit's ward was not as efficient at the moment as it could have been, and he could not redirect the magicka of her spell into himself, so both his ward and his magicka were drained to a dangerously low level. Unfortunately, while Sabine's ice spear was certainly enough to break his ward entirely, it was not a sustained spell, so it did not harm him after the ward was broken like a stream of ice would have. Meesei often advised Sabine to reserve powerful, concentrated spells to either break a strong ward, or kill the opponent after a ward was broken. To use a powerful spell on a weakened ward was magically inefficient, but as Sabine was still learning, such mistakes could be expected.

Nevertheless, Sabine's opponent was no longer a magical threat, as he had been too drained in blocking her spell. But, he still had the ability and willingness to fight with his fists. He made another swing for her head, but it would be less of a surprise this time. Seeing as he was a Suthay-raht, he was larger than Sabine, but she was still a werewolf, and could still naturally outclass him physically.

The Cathay officer was certainly not expecting quick thinking and fast movements. All of Gallus' preparations with Ri'vashi meant that the officer did not have the kind of advantage he was expecting. He was far less maneuverable than Ri'vashi, and did not have near the reaction speed, so Gallus would find the Cathay easier than he had perhaps been expecting to outmaneuver. Training with Ri'vashi had allowed him to prepare against one of the most maneuverable Cathay warriors in Elsweyr, so most others would be slow by comparison. Gallus' plan worked exactly as he had expected, so he had a clear strike on his ribs, many of which broke from the impact.

The Suthay's dodge made Janius try to re-evaluate how to handle her. Kaleeth's attack was an opportunity that he did not hesitate to exploit. There was no more thinking; the Suthay was quick, but not enough against two. Janius thrust the head of his axe forward to strike his opponent in the face before stepping up and swinging down on the dazed Suthay's shoulder.

Sabine charged an ice spike in a fluster after witnessing her ice spear doing no damage. She had hoped that the Khajiit mage's ward would have fallen before she cast it. By habit of timing, Sabine extended her hand to cast her spell, but a feeling of strain tugged on her now empty reserves of magicka and no spell came forth.

While Sabine may have had magical talent, it did not extent to fist-fighting. She timidly stepped back and leaned back to avoid the mage's punch. The mage had stepped over her ice wall and she had no more magicka to make more. As the mage stepped up further, Sabine tried to raise her arms to block his strikes and was running out of room in the laboratory. She was panicked and dizzy from the previous strike to her jaw, so she didn't have the focus to strike back with anything more than an easily blocked hay maker. "Help!" she shouted to whoever was at hand. She fumbled for her dagger in the meantime.

Now sure that his previous opponent was dead and the officer was engaged, Fendros was the one to turn his head to Sabine and move to assist. Unfortunately, with how the clutter was arranged in the room, it would be a moment before he could deal with the mage.

The satisfying sound of broken bones rewarded Gallus' hammer strike. What came next was the part that was not practiced enough by most; finishing off a crippled enemy. Gallus still held his shield up against the officer's sword to keep it back while he brought the hook of his hammer's reverse side around the Cathay's knee. Then, with a firm twist of his body, he lifted the officer's knee towards him while shoving against the officer's chest with the rim of his shield. Being brought to the floor would shock his ribcage further and make a killing blow much easier. He could never try such a thing against Ri'vashi, but the comparative slowness of his enemy made him momentarily overconfident.

It had only taken a moment’s distraction for Janius to be able to follow through with an attack that was unquestionably lethal. The axe cleaved through the Suthay’s neck and shoulder, and severed her body’s largest artery. The bleeding was enough to render her unconscious in seconds, and dead soon after. Unfortunately, where one fell, two joined the fray. The opponent Kaleeth had injured had again recovered, and now there were two swordsmen beside him. They were already advancing to attack the pair and make use of their numbers. Though, some of the other lycans were also fighting their way through the enemy on the right side of the room, and could potentially be in a position to flank shortly.
Sabine’s wild punch was indeed easily blocked for the Khajiit mage, though even a blocked strike from Sabine hit harder than he was prepared for. She came close to fracturing a bone in his forearm, but regardless, he was too absorbed in the fight to pay attention to the pain. He managed to land a punch straight on her nose before she could guard her head, then clawed at her armed twice before he switched to striking at her torso. He landed two solid blows to her chest, then to her stomach, then decided to tackle her to the ground.

The Khajiit was going to start trying to claw at Sabine’s neck when he noticed her dagger. Because Sabine was panicking in the melee, she could not grab it before he did. Since her hand was right next to the blade, he stabbed it straight towards her palm.

Overconfident as he might have been, Gallus’ attack was nevertheless effective. A Cathay was a hard target to topple, but the pain he was in from his broken ribs meant that he was not as focused as he could have been. As such, he overcompensated when Gallus pulled at his leg and ended up falling to his right. He was certainly not in an advantageous position against Gallus, but that would not keep him from trying to fight back. Already, the Cathay was taking a swing at Gallus’ ankles while on the ground.