EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak was ready to go on the attack. He had already started shifting his mace back into the form of a sword to better deal with the mage. But, just as he was about to take action, the man suddenly collapsed to the ground. He had not seen any of the others attack him, but yet he was seemingly lifeless on the ground, for no discernible reason. Ssarak supposed that one of the others could have harmed him in some way before he arrived, but he did not have enough information to go on for the moment.

Regardless, as Ssarak looked around the area, he saw no other threats. Whatever misfortune had befallen Lyn's hunt was, it seemed, over. Now that he could afford the time, Ssarak devoted his attention to Meirin. He put away his shield and sheathed his blade before walking up to her. Just moments prior, he had been a fearsome warrior, roaring like a ferocious animal to instill fear in his enemy, but in an instant, he had become gentle enough to place his armored hand on her shoulder with her hardly being able to feel its weight. With his free hand, he reached up, pulled off his helmet, and held it under his arm. "Are you alright, Mei? Were you harmed in the fight? What happened here?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I was just about to head to bed as well. Goodnight.

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."