EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The area where the new addition to the fortress was being constructed was, as they had predicted, quite empty at such a late hour. Ahnasha did not smell nor see anyone as she sprinted through. She ran up the scaffolding on the wall as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. Too much movement, and the eyes of one of the archers might be drawn towards her. Once at the top of the scaffolding, she took a running leap towards the wall itself, and even in her lycan form, was only barely able to grab a hold of its edge and pull herself up. Were it not for her muffle spell, the noise would certainly have drawn the attention of the archer only a few feet to her left. Luckily, he was too focused on watching for attackers outside the stronghold to notice the few loose stones she displaced.

Outside the fortress, there was no one who would be able to tell how Ahnasha was faring. Even Meesei could not sense her any longer at that distance. All they could do was wait. Not wanting to stay on the wall, Ahnasha dropped down into the fortress as soon as she could. As she feared, there was not a bustle of activity in the courtyard of soldiers either running to get in defensive positions, or grab their weapons and armor. If she was successful, their attack would still be more difficult than before, thanks to the delay. All of the defenders on the walls were watching the forest like hawks for signs of movement, but there was no one scanning inside the fortress for intruders. To them, they had already eliminated the potential saboteurs as a threat.

Luckily, the gatehouse was easy to pick out at a glance. It was located directly next to the gate, built into the wall itself. Surrounding it was the aftermath of Miranor's attempt. Along with the burned and mangled corpses of a few defenders, two werevultures were dead in their lycan forms, and had been shoved up against one of the nearby walls. Another looked as if he had tried, or had been forced, to shift back, but was killed mid-transformation. It left him in a grossly disfigured state that Ahnasha had never seen before, and hoped to never see again. Thankfully, the door to the gatehouse was already open, so Ahnasha did not have to break her invisibility to get inside. There was a body in the far corner of who Ahnasha assumed to be the former gate operator, along with a living Khajiit soldier who had evidently taken up that role for the time being. With the silence of her approach, however, he did not have any time to react before Ahnasha was upon him. She grabbed his head in her hand, breaking her invisibility, then smashed it against the stone wall with all her strength. Needless to say, he did not get a chance to scream.

Ahnasha began to crank open the gate, which, due to her current level of strength, did not take long at all. As well, fortune seemed to smile upon her, because she was also able to rip the crank out of the wall without it closing again. It meant she would not be forced to remain and defend it, but she still had to escape. Now, she was visible, and the defenders knew she was there, and exactly where she was. Just above her, on top of the wall, the Altmer officer momentarily shouted in confusion to get the gate closed, but once she realized what was happening, she gave a quick nod to the soldiers beside her. Without any chance for resistance, they slit the throats of Miranor and the other werevulture. If there were any among the archers with Fendros who had been uncertain when Ahnasha left, it was now clear that she had not intended to rescue them. It might have been possible for her to do so, but instead, she allowed them to die so that the attack could continue.

The moment Meesei heard the gate start to open, she stood up and extended her hands in front of her. Energy pooled around her into an intense aura, so much so that her eyes were glowing white when she opened them. She was obviously struggling at this point to maintain the spell, as manipulating so much power at once was difficult for any one person, even Meesei. She let out a burst of energy all around her, which repeated across every soul gem they had placed. Immediately, a thick fog materialized all across the forest. Then, with a wave of Meesei's hand, it started rolling towards the fortress.

Seeing the mist was all Ri'vashi needed. Motioning to a soldier nearby, she signaled the war horn, and with it, the beginning of their assault.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

In all honesty, Ahnasha had not actually expected Fendros to agree with her, but she had planned on going ahead regardless. No one in their right mind would attempt an infiltration mere seconds after another failed sabotage, but if there was anything they knew about the fortress' commander, it was that conventional strategy would not work on him. "Fendros, you're in charge. When the time is right, give me my distraction." She said. Ahnasha cast upon herself a muffling spell to make her movements entirely silent, then a spell of invisibility to follow.

As quickly as she could, Ahnasha began her transformation. Her magic muffled the sounds of her transformation, so the only evidence that it was even taking place was her clothing suddenly becoming visible as it fell to the ground beside her. Fendros would see a few footsteps in the tall grass, but as she ran beyond it, there would be almost no way for him to track her movements. He might spot the scaffolding slightly buckle as she climbed atop it, but otherwise, the only way to determine her success or failure would be to watch the gate, and the reactions of the defenders on the walls.

Though concentrating on the ritual with her eyes closed, Meesei was perhaps the most knowledgeable of the current situation. She, like most of her allies, heard the shouting and threats of the enemy officer, but the ritual she was performing also had other side-effects. Both herself, and every soul gem they had placed, were surrounded with an invisible, but powerful magical aura. Her spell was rooted in old forms of magic, often said to be connected with nature itself. As such, she could feel the energy of every living thing within the aura, and she could feel one closing in on the fortress. "Just...hold. Continue to maintain the spell for a little while longer." Meesei instructed.

Peering out from behind her tree, Ri'vashi watched the scene before them unfold in horror. Not only was the plan itself in jeopardy, but the surviving infiltrators, those who had volunteered to take on such a dangerous and important mission, were only a flick of their captors' wrists from death. They deserved to live, and she wanted to save them, but she could see no options she had which would not make matters much worse. "Until the mist is in place...we hold here."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha's heart was pounding as she was inching closer to the walls in the tall grass. Her orders were to wait until the gate began to open to give the distraction, but something was obviously going wrong. She could hear distant shouts from within the fortress, but the gate was still holding shut. However, if they were to reveal themselves without the mist to quickly follow, they could be cut down from the walls, and if they forced the mist to be cast early, it could compromise the entire assault.

Before Ahnasha even had time to make a decision, her worst fears were confirmed. From within the fortress, a group of the defenders stepped up onto the walls, obviously intending to make themselves seen. With them, in their normal forms, were Miranor, and one of the Khajiit on her team. Both of them were bloody, and being dragged with knives pressed to their throats. An Altmer wearing what appeared to be an officer's garb stood alongside Miranor while two of her men restrained her. "We know you are out there!" She shouted. "What, did you think you would be able to mount such a petty attack against our defenses, beasts? Surrender yourselves, or your these rotten birds shall meet their end!"

Ahnasha clutched her fists almost tightly enough for her claws to break her own skin, baring her teeth as she glared up to the Altmer on the wall. Miranor's team had failed in there mission; there was no denying that now, and no changing it. The defenders were aware of their presence, but also...distracted.

"I can do something about this." Ahnasha whispered to Fendros. "From that scaffolding, I can make the jump to the wall, and I can be invisible. This doesn't have to be like this; I can do something about it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The rest of Miranor's team was ready in only a few moments. She looked to the side towards them, then exchanged a brief nod. Closing her eyes, she gave something akin to a sigh. "We are ready." She said.

"May Hircine watch over you." Meesei responded briefly, but with an air of confidence about her demeanor. The werevultures positioned themselves in a circle underneath an opening in the canopy above them while the warriors assisting them readied five potions of invisibility. In as close of timing as they could manage, the warriors poured the potions down each of their throats, causing each of the werevultures to disappear before their eyes. Immediately, everyone cleared out from around them to give them the space to take off. With near-perfect invisibility, the only sign of their departure was the wind kicked up by their wings, along with a few disturbances to the leaves above them.

Starting the next part of the plan, Meesei fed a burst of energy into the soul gem on the pedestal in front of her, which would be detectable from each of the soul gems linked to it. It was the signal for the mages to begin the ritual. For the others, they needed only to feed their raw magical energy into their gems; it would be Meesei performing the actual spell. She sat down, cross-legged in front of the pedestal and closed her eyes. She had instructed the others that she was not to be disturbed for the duration of the ritual, as her part in it required significant concentration. Already, she was beginning to glow with a faint white aura.

For Ahnasha and Fendros, they were far enough in front of Meesei and the werevultures that they did not actually have confirmation that they had taken off, but Ahnasha knew the timing was right. She had actually moved up, along with Fendros and a few of the others, beyond the treeline and was laying prone in a field of tall grass. It was well-past sundown, so darkness had already shrouded the area. As lycans, they could see quite well in the dark, which normally gave them an advantage when fighting at night. However, many of their opponents would be Khajiit, so that advantage was somewhat nullified. They would have to assume that the guards would be able to see them easily if they came out of hiding.

Ahnasha's team was meant to engage the enemy on the walls as soon as they saw the gate start to open. She did not see the werevultures fly into the fortress, but when she saw the commotion among some of the archers just above the front gate, she knew they had arrived. If they had been seen, that meant they were right on top of the gatehouse. She expected it to be any second before the gates started to open, but as each of those long seconds passed, she became increasingly worried. If they had made it into the gatehouse then they would be able to open it immediately, but if they had not...

"This is taking too long." Ahnasha whispered to Fendros.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter held a confused expression. "I didn't think it would be that important." He said, holding up his hands almost defensively. "Don't worry, there's no way I'm going to stir up trouble this close to the attack."

---

As planned, the majority of the warband stayed up through most of the night, and apart from a few sentries that slept in shifts, slept through the day. By late afternoon, they had packed up their camp, established a forward position for their healers, and began preparing Meesei's ritual. Every movement the warband took was preceded by a dozen teams of scouts scanning every area through which they moved. They covertly disabled both magical and physical traps, and ensured that no enemy patrol would discover their presence. The soul gems were arrayed in specific positions just beyond the tree line, with all the mages who would be participating hiding among the foliage around them. The soldiers were split into three main attack groups, with the primary force lead by Ri'vashi in the center, and two smaller forces on either side that would assault with ladders when the time came.

With the main force, Ri'vashi was near the fronline, and Gallus' pack was directly behind her. The majority of Ri'vashi's pride were not warriors, so only two were with her now: a Bosmer mage and a Pahmar-raht warrior. They were not officers, so they did not attend meetings as she did, but they showed no lack of confidence, even at the front of their forces. Given that all of their forces were hiding, they were not in a formation at the moment, but they were all ready to form up in an instant. Most of the soldiers around them were just as heavily armed and armored as any professional military. They did not have a uniform, but plate and mail were common among their ranks, and almost everyone with hands was wielding some kind of polearm. Peiter was clutching his halberd tightly to his chest as he stood next to Gallus. While they did not normally wear thick armor, both he and Irenya had taken thick cloth gambesons from the armory. In the heat and humidity, they were excessively uncomfortable, but definitely preferable to being unarmored. Everything around them was quiet, which left Peiter with the time to worry about Sabine.

On the right flank, Meesei's was temporarily split in two. Ahnasha and Fendros were with a forward team consisting mostly of archers and mages. They were in hiding at the very edge of the forest, as close as possible to the clearing. As soon as the gates were open, their role was to rush forward and provide covering fire for the werevultures' escape. It would be dangerous, but they were equipped with an array of scrolls and potions to help them get to safety. Meanwhile, Meesei and the rest of her pack were positioned next to one of the soul gems in preparation for the ritual, which Meesei would be leading. The rest of the soldiers she would be leading were in hiding, similarly to Ri'vashi's group, though it was perhaps not a necessary precaution. Their sentries would warn them of any incoming hostiles.

Miranor and the rest of her werevultures were also with Meesei's group, and they were already preparing to take off. All of them were transformed, and having pouches with their supplies strapped around their necks and torsos. As soon as they took off, Meesei would begin the ritual. All of the mages positioned at each of the soul gems would begin to pour their energy into the gems. Since they were all linked, Meesei would be able to manipulate it all at once. As soon as the gates were open, she would be able to use it to create the mist.

Miranor was the first to be ready, so she approached Meesei and her pack. Her head had light white feathers fine enough to almost look like fur, while the rest of the feathers on her body were near solid black. Even without the ability to show her emotions facially, there was some nervousness to her movements. "It is almost time. I would ask you to wish us luck, but I'm...hoping we will not need it. May the lord of the hunt guide us all." She said. With their avian features, it was often difficult for werevultures to speak, but Miranor had plenty of experience with her beast form.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Not really. She's not that upset, just briefly uncomfortable.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think it may be time to skip ahead to the attack.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei put her arm around Sabine and continued to smile. "Well, I will admit that I have been...teaching you more quickly, so to speak. Moving between lessons faster, and such. But, it is true; you have been reaching milestones faster than I did. You can make of it what you will, but I believe you have wonderful potential as a mage."

Kaleeth, meanwhile, hugged Janius enthusiastically. "Congratulations. You might have only won by a small amount against someone with only a few years of training, but...that doesn't matter. You'll always be impressive to me." She chuckled. "I just hope your...new interest in magic doesn't mean you won't have enough time to practice with me."

---

Peiter narrowed his eyes, obviously skeptical. "That...doesn't sound true in the slightest. How long have I known you, Gallus? That's not even a good lie for you. You should know I'm familiar with the scent. Besides, why would we need to experiment to make a new scent mask if our alchemists can already do that? Who was it? One of the soldiers, I'm guessing. There aren't that many Humans or Elves here, really, so there couldn't be that many options."

Leaning closer to Gallus, Peiter again started to sniff the air to attempt to figure out the scent.