As soon as Sabine started to cast her spell, the Nord with the tower shield dug the bottom of the shield into the dirt in front of him and, along with the Redguard, crouched down behind it to protect themselves from the wave of frost. Similarly, Do'rhajul crouched down so that the ward from his shield could protect his legs. Although, neither would allow them to cross the now-frozen ground unimpeded. Once the frost wave had passed them, the Redguard peered up from behind the shield, her hand glowing with a violet energy. Just in front of them, she conjured a frost atronach, which, of course, would be entirely unhindered by Sabine's spell. Meanwhile, the Nord leaned around the shield, crossbow in hand. Ahnasha and Sabine could easily hide behind the nearest trees, but Leaps did not have either the knowledge or ability to do the same. In fact, only the frozen ground in front of him kept him from charging straight at their enemy. 

The Nord was both surprisingly quick in aiming his bolt at the wamasu, striking him directly in the center of the head, though the Nord briefly looked disappointed at that result. As any Argonian hunter would know, the skull of a wamasu was thick enough to protect against nearly any normal kind of weapon, and since Leaps did not possess the same weaknesses as the rest of the pack, the silver bolt was even less effective than normal steel. If the Nord had researched the Wamasu before this ambush, he would know Leaps' weak points, and he was likely skill enough not to miss too many more shots. In the meantime, however, Leaps reacted quickly and violently. His entire body surged with electricity, and he opened his maw to unleash a torrent of lightning at the Nord, forcing both him and the Redguard woman to duck back behind the shield, which seemed insulated enough that the electricity was not passing through to the people behind it. 

Ahnasha's storm atronach hovered over the frozen ground, sending a bolt of lightning at the incoming frost atronach to stop it in its tracks. Once Leaps’ attack ended, however, Ahnasha spotted another violet glow from behind the Nord’s shield, and her atronach became unresponsive. It did not take long for her to realize that the Redguard was using a command spell to attempt to take control of her storm atronach. It prevented Ahnasha from even simply dispelling the atronach, so she had no choice but to concentrate on her own command spell to try and keep control of her Daedra, lest they end up with two atronachs trying to kill them. With Ahnasha occupied, it was just Sabine and Leaps that had to defend against the frost atronach and Do’rhajul, who had been moving around the frozen ground in order to approach from a different flank. 

Yerig did not seem willing to engage in conversation with Janius, as he said nothing before feinting a strike at Janius’ head, then thrusting at the joint in Janius’ armor near his left shoulder. Each of his movements was quick, precise, and efficient. Though he might have lacked protection, Yerig could move a greatsword with the grace of a dagger. Janius might have been able to identify some of his style from all of his training with Nords over the years, but Yerig had clearly modified it into something all of his own. Janius would need to be prepared for whatever surprises the old hermit might have. 

If he was looking closely, Fendros would see a flash of surprise across the Breton’s face when he put up his ward. He had likely been expecting a relatively simple victory once Fendros was separated from his allies. However, Fendros’ opponent was disciplined enough not to set into panic. As Fendros advanced forward, the mage threw a constant stream of frost at him, attempting to break through his ward. As much as the fight so far had been dictated by their enemy, the pack did still have some potential advantages. Do’rhajul had undoubtedly prepared based on what he knew of their abilities, but his information may have been somewhat outdated. Meesei, Fendros, and Sabine had all developed skills they had simply not yet used in battle against Vile’s forces. 

Not to be deterred, Meesei sent out a burst of electricity at Arinette, one powerful enough crack like lightning, but as Meesei had feared the Breton was able to, with apparent ease, direct the magic into her staff. The woman grinned, exuding confidence with every detail of her expression. She did not show the same kind of fear or nervousness that many of Vile’s followers had come to feel upon knowing they were facing the Champion. She seemed to have total confidence in her victory, and indeed, the Staff made that a frightening possibility to Meesei. The Staff of Magnus was a relic that could hold the power of a divine being, and as powerful as Meesei was, she could not hope to overwhelm what the relic could handle. If Meesei was correct, continuing to use spell against the Breton would just feed into the Staff’s power, as was immediately evidenced by the fact that Arinette used the magicka held in the staff to create a wave of flame across the ground. Meesei was able to ward it, though the end of the flames was heading in the direction of Sabine and Ahnasha.