There was something of a rush to catch up to their forces moving up the mountain pass, but as a relatively small group, they could move more quickly than formations of soldiers, even with some of their slower members like Kaleeth. Do’rhajul was, notably, sticking quite close to Sabine all the way up the path, alert and with Spellbreaker in hand. Despite the fact that she was perhaps the [i]most[/i] capable person in their whole army of protecting herself, he could not shake the feeling of responsibility he had to keep his leader safe and unharmed. 

The pack had managed to catch up to their forces moving up to the northern flank and started to lead from the very front of the formation, which was split on the left and right between the Dominion unit, and Hjergir’s frontline forces. Although, Meesei made sure to insert her pack in between the two, as she definitely sensed some…tension from one of the sides. Hjergir had once been a Stormcloak commander during Ulfric’s uprising, and some of his men may have once been loyal to him as well, so having to march alongside Thalmor soldiers had him perpetually sneering. Meesei was sure that the only reason there was not more tension among them was because the Dominion soldiers had no knowledge of Hjergir’s prior allegiance, though she did still expect some judgmental glares, at minimum. Although Hjergir himself, and many of his soldiers, used Dwemer metal in their armor, they were still adorned in traditional Nordic styles. Furs and pelts were common, and Hjergir himself wore, over his helmet, a bear’s head. They did have the look of the “savage men” the Thalmor tended to look down upon.

The first of the watchtowers was close to the beginning of the mountain path, so they did not encounter any meaningful resistance before they started to close in on the first tower. Meesei’s pack did not even need to lift a finger to deal with the small scouting parties they ran into along the way, but she stopped them all short of being in range of the tower. This was the first of four towers they would need to deal with, and would likely be the easiest. The tower was a fortified outpost, but not for the kind of military invasion this realm was currently experiencing. The Daedra had not yet received reinforcements, so the tower would likely just have its normal contingent. Based on its size there probably would not be more than twenty-five to thirty Daedra, against a whole unit of Dominion troops, Hjergir’s warriors, Khajiit cavalry, Rossarm’s mages, and both Meesei and Sabine’s packs. If they wanted to, they could simply charge straight in with their combined forces, but Meesei was not sure that was the best approach. 

“We need to decide quickly how we intend to attack, before they can be reinforced.” Meesei said to the others. They did have the advantage of numbers here, but the tower was quite a defensible position, even against a larger force. It was a large, stone structure with quite a few floors worth of stairs to climb within, a fortified door they would have to break down, and some light barricades around its base.  If they were to simply charge straight in, there would be some losses. They would not likely lose too many soldiers, but they did need to keep up a fast pace through the mountain pass for the next three towers. If, at any point, they needed to wait for reinforcements, then the enemy would have more time to fortify, and further fights would become even more difficult. They needed to mix caution and aggression to take each tower efficiently. For this tower, they would need to decide if they wanted to destroy it, or to capture it, and how they wanted to attack. They would need to move uphill while under fire from arrows and spells, but the defenders did not have the forces available to actually slow them down on approach. They would need to deal with any Daedra that might be manning the barricades outside, then either break through the door, or destroy the tower entirely. 

Near the gate, at the commanders’ table, a werevulture messenger soon landed. In addition to their scouting abilities, flying lycanthropes serves as far more effective messengers than any form of cavalry, especially for messages more complicated than what could be communicated by simple signals. Ri’vashi read the message quickly before relaying it to the others. “Our main force is proceeding into the valley, but they are being harassed by skirmishers and are facing frequent, suicidal attacks from small groups. The Daedra are trying to slow us down, give time for them to collect their army into a unified force. Our forces are having to move carefully to prevent excessive casualties. But, if we have to face the Daedric army all at once, we will be significantly outnumbered.”