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Skyrim: Plaything	By : GE_The_Beast Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 21445 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This story is made for fun, profit and entertainment. In no way do I own anything discussed. I do not own Skyrim or The Elder Scrolls fandom in any way, nor do I intend any profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 34
- 35
- 36
Getting to the docks was easy. The place was abandoned, the guards not meeting opposition during the light of day. Though the east empire company warehouse looked to have some blood on the doors, they were able to reach the last boat in the harbor. Nazir and Arnjborn went belowdecks, where the sounds of some kind of fight went on. There were no screams, and Nazir was the first to come back up. “Two undead down there. Not hard to deal with.” The redguard muttered. “We will dump them in the river, but without Veezara here I don’t know if the river is occupied or not. These vampires can rule the water.”
“I can check.” Elayne whispered, using her shout to Detect Lift. The river was full of it. Fish and crabs were all over the place. They were feasting on something at the bottom of the river. She could see nothing there. “Nothing underneath us.” She whispered. Arnjborn was dealing with a corpse belowdecks, and it seemed safe enough on the boat. Looking up, she saw that the rest of the docks were nearly empty. From here she could see inside the warehouse. It was packed with undead. And possibly daedra. “Oh gods.” She whispered. “Get everyone aboard, now.”
“What do you see?” Adelaisa asked, taking hold of the rudder.
“Tell the guards to run.” Elayne whispered. “There’s more than forty undead in the warehouse.” There were only twelve with them on the docks.
With such winning advice, the guards did as bid. Remarkably good shape for Nords, she had to admit. But the thieves and assassins all took positions on the boat, and Adelaisa held the rudder. “Wind is blowing from the north, but we need to row to get faster. Any of you sail before?” Associated grumbling followed the request for manual labor.
Four oars were manned by the group, as Elayne found a seat with Babette and Serana on some crates near the back of the boat. Niruin, Vex, Brynjolf and Arnjborn were all working the long oars and forcing the boat forwards, while others were keeping an eye on the banks of the river. Sitting on top of the largest pile of crates was Gabriella, her feet hanging above both vampires. “You’ve been away too long.” Gabriella spoke up. “We need the whole family for what’s coming. Besides your hero stuff, the Night Mother said that the honor of SIthis is at stake if we fail.”
“If we fail, Sithis will never forgive us.” Babette stated clearly. “Can you let big sister talk?”
“Big sister?” Elayne was confused.
Serana cleared her throat, loudly beside her. “Oh!” Elayne chuckled. “Well, I suppose you aren’t going to bite anyone here.” Her hands worked the gag off of Serana’s face, pulling it from her teeth. The vampire spat, clearing her throat from hours of being silent.
“You’re the first full blooded Volkihar I’ve met.” Babette spoke clearly. “You seem rather kinky for what I normally expect.”
“This wasn’t what I wanted.” Serana insisted. “I can’t take this off.”
“At least you became a vampire as an adult.” Babette shared. “If I had boobs that nice, I would wear that too.”
“I’d like to see you say that when your ass is hanging out for the entire world to see.” Serana said, deadpan. “I haven’t been able to move my arms in weeks, it feels like.”
“Can’t deny you make it look good.” Elayne added, standing up. “I’m going to need a minute for things.” She stood up, heels making noise on the wood as she went below to the lower decks. Serana could handle being on her own for a little bit. As she went down the stairs she passed Sapphire, who was trying to get herself into a leotard much like the one Serana was wearing, being helped by Vex. The imperial lookalike was wearing a light elven armor, with a blue wig. A simple iron mask was fitted to her face, and she had a flaming dwarven sword. All in all, a close enough approximation. All of which was prepared with faux moonstone thigh bands. She walked by the pair quietly, not wanting to disturb them.
“How can she even move in these! They’re pinching me!” Vex muttered. “And these heels are ridiculous. I feel like I’m about to fall over backwards.”
“This thing has a built in,” Sapphire squirmed, raising the leotard over her body. “Oh gods! No wonder she’s a frigid bitch!”
“Kinky.” Vex chuckled darkly. “Get fully dressed, damn it. We gotta be ready for anything.”
She stepped past them, as Sapphire had her breastband ripped off by Vex. They barely noticed her as they fought over that. She just slipped past them, to the darkened back chamber of the storage hold of the ship. There wasn’t much use for this much depth. The ship wasn’t very large. But it was enough to try out her new shout. She still didn’t know what this did, after all. In the darkest room, she cast a candlelight spell. It illuminated a few bloodstains and two old crates full of pillows. A barrel of potatoes smelled terribly in the corner. She had something she needed to understand.
She settled onto the cold crate, shivering before grabbing one of the pillows and sat on that instead. Two more pillows went into her pack as a result of how nice that experience was. Once settled, she stared at the floor of the room, and considered her options. She had to go to Whiterun and somehow count on the Dark Brotherhood to escort her there. And then pray that everyone she had gathered at the summit would accept her peace. Or that Harkon would even show up. “Too much is riding on this.” She didn’t even need to defeat him now, but she had made the peace summit. That was before she risked her life stealing the elder scroll back. Gods, that was foolish. She almost died for greed. Well, she had three elder scrolls now. One of them would have the key she needed!
She had artifacts to hurt Alduin, but no way to force the dragon to fight her. They were prideful creatures, though. She also had learned a new Dragonshout from Captured Dreams of all places. Her understanding of the word Rel was odd. Even though it meant domination int he dragon language, for some reason this shout felt more like she was calling or summoning something related to it. Not actually dominating a creature. “No time like the present.” She murmured, considering. “Conjuration magic won’t summon something too big for a space, and if this summons something I can just assume it follows the same rules on magic.” She told herself that. Dragon Shouts affected reality in ways that magic could not, after all. Taking a deep breath, she aimed at the middle of the storage room, and focused her will. “Rel!” The shout took form, and just like any other conjuration effect it focused onto a single point. But what was conjured was humanoid. A very large humanoid, with wide shoulders and long furs covering much of their form. “Dragon priest.” She whispered.
It was wearing a mask, and with a start she realized that they were more ghost than flesh. The human seemed to look at their hands first, and then around at the room. “I am no Dragon Priest.” The man stated clearly. “Anything but a servant to them. I wasn’t sure that this would work. I can see Mundus once more!”
“Are you dead?” She asked politely. “Most Dragon Priests or people who wear that kind of mask are dead.” She bit her lip. “Or undead if you prefer.”
“I am in between life and death.” The man replied. “A wretched existence where I am bound to never die, yet never find purpose or escape.” The spirit stood tall. “My apologies, I have not introduced myself. My name is Miraak.” He spoke aloud, as if that meant something. It may have meant something in the Dragon language, but it wasn’t coming to her right away. “I am the-” He stumbled. “He knows! He knows what I’ve done!” The man trembled. “I will teach you the words to the rest of the shout to free me, before he can take my knowledge of it!” The spirit scraped the ground, gouging cuts into the wood of the galley. Her candlelight spell went out, just as he seemed to finish. He disappeared, but left glowing cuts in the wood in the dragon language. She read it all aloud. “Rel, Gaar, Kron?” Domination, Release, Victory? That last one seemed wrong in some way. The beginnings of another letter were being carved, when the conjuration effect ended.
“Lady Dragonborn?” She was interrupted by Brynjolf, entering with a torch. “I thought I heard voices.” He blinked, smiling down at Elayne from his position by the door. At some point she had gotten close to the glowing words and was inadvertently giving the Nord a look at everything under her skirts.
She stood, the thigh chain making that a technical process. “Do you always intrude on other people’s business?” He was a member of the thieves guild.
“I find it’s a personal gift of mine.” The Nord said with a smirk. “I was going to say that we wanted to talk to you before this, but that would be lying. You haven’t broken any laws, and you seem to give gold back to the poorest bandits that you have killed. Priests of Arkay speak your name in reverence.” He chuckled. “Of course, most of the rumors about you recently are about your skirts and what you might be willing to do.”
“You were going to steal my identity.”
“You are someone that can go many places. Though the hair was a hard one to hide trying to duplicate. Someone even joked about going into Oblivion to see where you had gotten it.” He jested, with some kind of enjoyment. “Speaking of which, you said you can walk Oblivion? How else does someone cross half a province in so little time?”
“You want to know how?”
“Of course, Lass! I’m no grand mage, and by our guesses neither are you. So how did you do it?” He asked, darkly. “Interested parties would pay heavily for something so potent.”
“It’s not something just anyone can do.” Elayne countered. He would be the kind of man to go looking for this. The thieves guild would sell out their own mothers for their greed. Or so her mercantile father had always claimed. He despised those that would take advantage of loopholes in law or trade guild rules. They were present in High Rock, of course. Prostitution and gambling rings were the ones you saw in the open. With a start she realized what she looked like. A high class prostitute, the kind you saw in Wayrest. “It takes risks. You’re talking about crossing over Oblivion. It costs magic to do it, and you need to pay a price to cross it.” Exactly the appearance of a member of the thieves guild in High Rock.
“What kind of price?” Brynjolf seemed adamant. Something in the tone of his voice made her feel weaker. Her stomach ached, and it was like she had become fatigued from one second to the next. The curse! The damn curse was back already!
“Listen, Brynjolf. Unless you have protection from an Aedra or have a pact with a daedric prince, there is no way you could use this method.”
“I still want to know.” Brynjolf insisted. “Perhaps you might want some help getting that collar off of your neck, eh? Thieves guild has some of the best in the business when it comes to breaking a lock.” He did make an excellent point on that. These people were good at breaking into locked treasures.
She needed a way to convince this Nord to back off. As well as not insult him so much so she couldn’t count on his aid later. “Listen Brynjolf.” She tried saying. But he seemed just as eager as before to have his information. “I don’t want to see other people suffering the way I have for this power.”
“But it is a power that a mortal can achieve.” He noted. “Come on, lass. Don’t be shy! You certainly haven’t been with the soldiers, chancellor Motierre, and certainly your female companions! With the way that vampire looks at you, it must be certainly some more than just friendship.”
“I am warning you to stop asking.” Elayne folded her arms. “You don’t want to attract the attention of daedric princes.”
“Warning ignored.” The Nord muttered cheerfully. “You’re a slave to Skyrim, right? This would be in the interest of Skyrim’s people to know.”
“Brynjolf, you don’t know what you’re asking.” She moved to step past him. The Nord moved to block her. “Move!”
“I don’t think I will.” He said. “If there is a way to cross this province that quickly, I need to know. Even if I don’t use it.”
“Brynjolf I will give you a damn blowjob if you stop asking!” She blurted out.
They both made eye contact after that, as she felt her cheeks redden and him to look amused. “Really?” He actually was considering it. “Even if I was into that kind of thing, what makes you think I would accept that? Vex and Sapphire are always interested.”
Elayne flushed. He refused her! He refused her offering to give a sexual favor? Why was she offended by that?! Anger flared, red and hot. She moved to get through the door again, and Brynjolf got in her way. Again. A short burst of a unrelenting force shout sent him head over heels back into the other room, as he skidded to a stop next to where Sapphire and Vex were sitting. “You’re lucky I offered!” She bellowed.
“Maybe I don’t want to be castrated with a rusty spoon!” Brynjolf replied, pulling himself to his feet. “Gods, that was a spell.”
“That was a dragon shout, you dumbass.” Vex chuckled. “Don’t mind him, Lady Dragonborn. If there was a backbone to stand and fight for anything he sold it a long time ago.”
It was odd to see someone dressed as her. The elven armor didn’t appear to be as nice as her own. Or maybe she just didn’t fill out the skirt like Elayne could. That was if she even could wear armor with the collar around her neck. She should probably be grateful she could wear clothing at all. She wasn’t even sure why she was still mad. Only that she was.
“We’ve got trouble!” Someone called from the upper deck. That got all of them scrambling up the wooden steps to the curving deck of the boat. “Ice flow! Someone blocked off the river!” They weren’t even halfway to Dragon Bridge. Elayne’s thighs quivered as she fast walked her way to the front of the ship. This chain was really preventing her from getting anywhere fast. Sure enough, a slim coating of ice was over the river. She thought she could see figures upon it, too. “Ambush!” Gabriella called. She had Nighteye as a power, after all.
Elayne pushed her way to the front, watching as spells were exchanged at a distance. People were rowing hard, but rowing upriver was not going to turn this ship into some kind of icebreaker. She hissed, seeing a few people on top of the ice. But they fell, arrows sinking into them. “I can clear that ice with my shouting.” She spoke up.
“Don’t give them a target!” Adelaisa yelled from her position at the rudder. “Magical ice like that just needs a little push! Someone throw a fireball!”
Of all people to throw one, it came as no surprise that Festus of the Dark Brotherhood would provide. Before the ship ever reached that part of the river, the ice barrier had broken up. The old man looked openly pleased at the idea of doing such things for them. “Gabriella, my sister.” He stated. “Point out any trees I can incinerate to flush out more prey.”
“Spells!” Arnjborn called from where he was rowing. “Festus!”
A ball of ice taller than a man moved slowly across the water from the treeline. A second one was cast from further away, but Festus blasted the area twice with fireballs. There was no answering spell after that. Over the next hour ice spike spells were thrown at the boat from great distance, forming a crown of icicles attached to the prow and sides. Elayne stayed in the back, standing with Vex and Sapphire. Sapphire hadn’t attached any sort of chain between her boots or restraints for her arms as of yet, but seeing her standing next to Serana was a nice sight. Both of them looked abashed to be wearing the leotards.
“This is what you wear every day?” Sapphire was already complaining. “You would have to be insane to think this was sustainable.”
“This isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had happen to me.” Serana insisted. “But being restrained like this for so long has been difficult.” An ice spike flew over their heads to bury itself uselessly in a crate. “I don’t want to say I’ve gotten used to it, but i could do with a little more coverage.”
“Why? This is nice.” Sapphire must have a really deviant idea of the word nice.
“Maybe if I was just wearing it indoors and away from windows.” Serana countered.
“Oh you should come by Riften! We would love to have you visit. You would fit in down in the thieves guild.”
“That’s nice of you to offer.” Elayne butted in. “But I’ve never been invited down there either.”
Vex ran her hand down Elayne’s bare back, leaving it against her hip. “If you save Skyrim? Come down anytime. We’ve got an experience that’s sure to thrill you.” Her words had the hair on the back of her neck raised, and Elayne suppressed a shudder.
“I have only been to Riften a few times. It seemed safer than the other parts of Skyrim and had less dragons.”
“All the dragons are along the southern mountains. They raid the farms hard.” Sapphire added. “Gods!” She ducked, as another ice spike hit the deck. “I think they are starting to get closer.”
“Dragonbridge is just ahead!” The ice spikes were only coming from the western bank of the river. Nothing was coming from the east, but Elayne had a bad feeling about it. “Get prepared to ditch the boat!”
“This is too easy.” Nazim said quietly. “Babette! Use a detect life potion!”
The best alchemist they had reached into her pouch, drinking. Her orange eyes flicked over the area. “There are dozens of undead under the water and in the trees. They want us to disembark. Probably assume they can fight us more easily there. The moment we stop the boat they are going to come out of the river and try to kill us.” She looked through the treeline. “Wait! Get down!”
Three creatures came out of the trees, their shape like that of the vampiric creature that Elayne had fought before. “Daedra.” Nazir came into action, twin scimitars spinning. The daedra Elayne realized were actually winged twilights. Not that it provided much comfort at how fast they were charging the boat! Two scaled tails fell to the ground as Nazir met them on their first pass, the creatures screaming in pain and agony. Nazir remained untouched, but had a terrible grin on his face. Putting his life on the line made the man happy. It was like watching someone dance, his blades glowing from enchantments as he carved claws, tails and wings from the flying Daedra. Niruin the thief helped, putting an arrow through one of them but it was Nazir that dealt with them. “Pah.” He laughed. “Not even a scratch.”
“They have daedra. They came from the east side of the river!” Adelaisa called. “Will there even be anyone at Dragonbridge?”
“The village is dark!” Gabriella clearly spoke. She had the best vision in the group at night.
“That’s because it was evacuated.” Adelaisa replied. “If it isn’t on fire or burned to the ground, all the better. Do you see anything on the east side of the bridge?”
“No lights. I don’t see anything.”
“Fuck.” Brynjolf muttered first. The imperial garrison had fallen. There would be no safety there. And she couldn’t run. Neither could Serana. “We’re going into an ambush!”
“If we go back to the bay they will just kill us upon open water. The only other port that has any kind of garrison left manning its docks would be Windhelm. And we would never make it.” Adelaisa pointed out. “Put on your manly britches, thief. Time to use that weapon at your waist!”
The river ran into multiple waterfalls before it would be close to Dragonbridge. They would have to beach the ship at the middle of the fork in the river. Where the river Hjaal and the river Karth met there was a fork. The water was moving faster, and even though they could see undead moving at the banks, the men and women working the oars kept the boat moving forward. “Push!” Arjnborn roared.
The prow of the ship slammed over a sleeping mudcrab, its body crushed by the impact. The wood scraped stone and dirt, sending a few people tumbling. “Disembark! Climb up the hill, now!” Astrid called over the din. “Arjnborn, Nazier, Gabriella. Cover the rear. Thieves, Imperial scum and everyone else get moving!”
Elayne had help from Brynjolf getting off the boat. He at least did that well. But now they were faced with a grueling ascent uphill to reach the road that went through Dragonbridge. Her chain between her thighs became the walking speed for the group. She and Serana were the slowest and by far the most trouble. Elayne was sweating, lifting her leg time after time as her chain kept her stride short again and again. Thank the gods it was too dark for anyone downhill from her to notice her lack of smallclothes.
She could hear the sounds of combat behind her, but just focused her feet towards the path ahead. By the time her heels struck cobblestone she was already feeling exhausted, and the fight was still ahead. At the top of the hill, it seemed as though Imperial fortifications had been prepared. Pickets and palisades were being established. There were a few tents. “What happened?” Elayne gasped, catching her breath.
“No bloodstains. They retreated.” Astrid spoke. “But we’ve got company.”
“Save Lady Serana! She’s here!” One of the vampires screamed in the night, as their fellows cried out with glee.
Dark shapes were crossing the bridge, and the boat down below had enough torches still shining to illuminate dozens of creatures climbing the hill. The bridge leading east over the Hjaal looked filled with creatures, too. “We’ve never been much for a straight up fight.” Nazir spoke. “Too early to break out the staff, Festus?”
“Daggumit you kids are making me waste my favorite staff on cheap fodder?” The old mage pulled out a full Ebony staff, its color and markings full of symbols of destruction. The wide circular head seemed to have promises of vengeance and pain carved cruelly into the ebony. But the old man waved it with fondness, as the dragon bridge filled with fire, his spell igniting creatures and making them leap off the side. Another wall of fire covered the hill below them, and for good measure both of the bridges leading east. It gave everyone a breather. “That will burn for a long time.” The old man looked almost peaceful, watching as creatures threw themselves off of the bridges into the churning waters below to avoid being burned. “Sithis honor me, that’s beautiful.”
There was a whistle from nearby. Up on the hill above them. A small candlelight spell appeared for a moment, before being snuffed out. It appeared again, but an animal skull was held in between it and the camp below. “What does that mean?” Nazir asked.
“It means the garrison are alright.” Elayne replied. “That’s a Forsworn sign!”
“There are Forsworn this far north?” Adelaisa growled.
“They keep an overlook at the top of this hill.” Elayne simpered forward, throwing her own candlelight spell up the hill. “And I think we finally got help.”
The crowd of thieves and assassins seemed surprised when a tough heavily knotted rope was thrown down the hill. Two more followed.”Being heroic has its friends.” Astrid smiled. “Arjnborn! Carry the vampire. Get her up the hill. Elayne, get started. Thieves get up that rope too. Festus! I want our path obscured!”
“Lady Astrid you ask a man much.” The old man grinned. “There won’t be an inch of this hill they will be able to find us in.” He started layering magic circles of flaming destruction. Because of course more explosions and flames were the answer. A winged twilight tried to fly above, but their archers put it down. It’s head and torso slammed into the hill as Elayne slowly climbed her way up. It’s body had a familiar dust coming out of it.
“Ooh, void salts!” Damn her greed, sometimes those were hard to come by! Rare alchemical ingredients were worth the extra minute she spent climbing. She wasn’t the last one up the hill, but only because the people at the top took pity on her and pulled the rope up to help her. At the top she saw a very crowded little campsite. A few Forsworn were milling about, standing with Stormcloaks and Imperial soldiers.
“Lady Dragonborn.” It was Legate Rikke, standing in a pair of high heels much like her own! “Glad to see you’re alright. Your friends here offered us a far more defensible position. And the Stormcloaks came out of their camp to help us when we told them that you were coming. We are your escort into Whiterun, but the roads aren’t safe.” The nord was smiling, looking around. “You brought some escorts yourself?”
Adelaisa looked ready to scream and shout about the nature of these people, but Elayne intercepted that effort. “Thank you. Thank all of you.” She said loudly. “I’ve been helped by more people valiant enough to stand with me against Alduin.” It wasn’t a lie. The Dark Brotherhood would help there. “They want me to survive too.”
“I don’t want to put much faith in those wearing Thieves guild armor.” Rikke muttered, looking over the rest without recognizing any of the odd combination of outfits and armors that the Dark Brotherhood were disguising themselves in. “Or ruffians.” Nazir’s bloodied weapons aside, they did look like an unlikely crew of people to be working together. “But we are one Skyrim.” Rikke smiled. “We have the Dragonborn! Break camp!”
The Forsworn waved a few spears ahead of the group, leading them through what had to be some of the roughest hill paths Elayne had ever attempted in her heels. She and Astrid had a lot of difficulty in the movements across the hills. It was only a few minutes into their trip that they heard a magnificent explosion. It had come from the fortifications. Festus couldn’t keep his glee to himself. “He he! I’d like to see a Battlemage do the same amount of devastation…”
“Most battlemages pride themselves on their ability to control a battlefield, not destroy a camp.” Rikke chided.
“Everyone’s a critic.” Festus muttered. Hopefully good-naturedly. “At least they’re dead.” Though Elayne agreed with Rikke, Festus did have a point. No vampires, daedra or undead followed them from that point forward. The combined force moved south, past a heavily fortified Forsworn camp at Broken Tower Redoubt, and then along the road to Rorikstead. The legion had taken it over, but the people had all evacuated. So too did their force of combined men and women move east. When they came around the bend of the road near Fort Greymoor, the valley was a different thing. Thousands of men and women were here. Hold Guards from every hold, with Imperial Legionaries and Stormcloaks moving freely amongst the camps. Fires burned, the smells of cooking food carrying over the din. Hammers were heard, both wooden and iron.
A line was being drawn in the hard plains of Whiterun. From Fort Greymoor to the Whitewatch tower north of the city a line of battlements and defenses were being constructed. They were little more than a long ditch, with palisade and wooden stakes. In the middle of the mess, the gates of Whiterun now hosted three giant siege weapons. The heads of these catapults were standing tall enough to be seen from the fort, and that was when Elayne saw the thousands of tents. Made in dozens of styles and coming in all shapes and sizes, there was a gigantic one near the center of the defenses. Elayne pointed towards it. “Driver!” She called to Brynjolf, just to aggravate him. “Can you take us to that large tent?” Horse thieves made excellent wagon drivers, it turned out.
Watching the thieves guild member grumble and take her orders was excellent compensation for earlier. Did he really think the Dark Brotherhood would castrate him for touching her? She was about to laugh that off before glancing at Nazir and Babette, who were discussing the best way to mount the two spiked tails of the Winged Twilights he had taken. Alright, maybe he had a point. She was feeling weak, tired and her stomach was wanting something she had no intention of getting in front of Astrid or Gabriella.
The Forsworn tents were mixed in with all the rest, surprisingly. More were trickling in all the time, closely guarding their hagravens and briarhearts from the locals. Or maybe it was the opposite, and they were keeping everyone else safe from the capricious old birds. But there were people hard at work, and it looked like wagons from every part of the province were arriving full of dry wood. Piles of it were set up along the battle line, and there was plenty of tension. You could feel it. The Markarth guards were hiding deep in Imperial lines, for instance. They might have all come together to fight, but that didn’t mean that old grudges would be forgotten. They were Nords, after all.
The large tent was not actually the Emperor’s tent as she had been hoping. It was a massive war room, with small tables along the sides and one larger table in the middle with a well worn map of skyrim upon it. People were laying out smaller maps upon the smaller tables, and small figures of horses and men were being used to weigh down the corners before staples were added to more permanently affix them.
In this room were a few officers, but chief among them was Tulius. The old man recognized her and gave a gruff wave. Standing next to him was Galmar Stone-Fist, looking cheerful of all things. “Welcome, Lady Dragonborn.” Tulius greeted. Unlike last time this sounded downright respectful. “You brought the bait?”
“I brought Serana Volkihar.” She responded, correcting him. “Where is everyone?”
“Up at Dragonsreach celebrating the High King’s marriage.” Tulius murmured. “Some Azura ceremony.”
“They’re beautiful.” Galmar spoke up. “The Grey quarter always was lit up during weddings. They all cast light spells around, and carry silver lanterns. Made a whole procession out of it. Though what Dunmer consider classical music leaves something to be desired.”
“On that note, we can agree.” Tulius nodded. “Now, how soon can we expect Harkon?”
“Considering I just stole from his fortress? I certainly hope he made landfall himself.”
“Stole from his fortress? You were in High Hrothgar not four days past!” Galmar scoffed.
“I can walk Oblivion, Galmar. I left Solitude by boat to move upriver and beat his forces here.”
“Good.” Tulius mumbled. “Someone here can use advanced spell theories.”
“Bah! Mages are only good if they’re-” Anything disparaging Galmar had to say was interrupted by an old friend pushing past the tent flaps.
“Legate Hadvar, sirs!” Hadvar bellowed. “Scouts report multiple armies are approaching Whiterun!”
“Multiple armies?” Tulius shook his head. “It’s Evening Star, who in Oblivion would be marching during the coldest month of the year!” he growled. “Report!”
“From the north and west, there are daedra and undead in massive numbers. Vampires leading them.” Hadvar said. “They’re going to hit us in the night. The watch wizard claims that there is a high chance of rain.”
“That means sleet and black ice.” Galmar muttered. “Reduced reinforcement capacity.”
“What about the second army?” Tulius refocused.
“It’s Draugr, General. Thousands of them. Every gravesite east of Ivarstead must have been emptied. Every ruin, there must be places we don’t know of too. There are dragons with them.”
“We’ve got the Dragonborn and every archer in the thrice-damned province! We can fight a few dragons!” Tulius growled. “How many strong?”
“Our scouts said that Riften is burning. Kynesgrove is leveled. The Dragons didn’t burn it, for some reason. Ivarstead is burnt to a crisp. Windhelm is too frozen to burn, but it is under siege.” Hadvar said, swallowing heavily. “They are coming for Whiterun next. Their army will be pushing the Valtheim towers tomorrow, and my scouts will be rerouting through the north passes.”
Galmar frowned. “Windhelm can hold for a short time. But if the passes to the east are completely blocked, then the only thing keeping us fed is the trade route to Bruma.”
“Riften? Kynesgrove?” Tulius was quiet. “By the gods. The Dragons are taking advantage of our move against Harkon.” He looked at her. It was the kind of look that seared the soul. “You’re more than just the ace in the hole now, Lady Dragonborn. Either you know how to stop this or we get sandwiched between two armies.”
“But what about all those people in Riften?”
“You said it yourself at the summit, Dragonborn.” Galmar spoke up. “When the dragons attack, they will burn and devastate us. Falkreath might be blockaded or defeated too, for all we know. It’s the weakest province.”
“I pulled almost all of my men from it. I have a few on the border station, and that’s all.” Tulius admitted. “Everything we already have to give is on the table.” He growled. “We can’t march on either army. Dragons are too mobile…” He started placing pieces on the board. “So walls won’t do much. We have a few ballista but nothing like we have at Castle Dour. Those will have to be priority.”
“We should hold the Reachmen in reserve.” Galmar muttered. “Against Harkon.”
“They’re going to think you’re slighting them.” Elayne pointed out. “Explain what you want and they’ll save their abilities.”
“Fifteen hundred spellcasters of all varieties sounds far more effective than a bunch of archers with steel arrows.” Tulius backed up Galmar. “Their lack of heavy armor and nordic resistances make them ill suited to fighting the vampires. We need heavy infantry to hold the line. The hold guards are in some part legion veterans. They can fight. But we can’t fight on two fronts.”
“The vampires will be on the plains once night falls. Battle could be joined in less than a day. They don’t have supply trains or support for their troops. Since they are dead, I guess.”
“Wrong.” Tulius poked at Hadvar. “Vampires need blood to survive. We just pulled every living breathing sentient from Solitude to Whiterun. If they’ve raised new vampires they will be blood starved in days. Though extreme, unless they sack Solitude, Markarth or the Reach they only have one source of blood. Right here.” The General gave a dark smile. “We finally have the fucking advantage over them. They can’t do a protracted siege. They will fall upon our lines like a river. We’ve got the advantage, Galmar. We’ve been fighting our entire lives. They have a ticking time bomb. Necromancy is like skooma. They think they have power until they run into something that’s been through it. Their troops will have an initial shock value, but unlike normal troops they can’t pull them back once they release them. The Forsworn will strike wherever the lines falter.”
“No plan is going to survive first contact. And they can transform into monstrosities.”
“That’s the Companion’s problem. Professionals at this.” Tulius murmured. “Which brings us to you.” He stared at Elayne. “I’m going to assume that this Harkon will come directly for you.”
“Two of the thieves guild have volunteered to be body doubles for Serana and I.” She reported. “They can run faster than most.”
Tulius didn’t even scoff. “Well, at least it plays to their strengths. I’ll use the bait and lead this Harkon right to the Western Watchtower. That’s where I want to fight this bastard. Away from the weak. I’ll be going into battle with you directly. Rikke will coordinate the defense once we get Harkon onto the ground.”
The Western Watchtower. Where it all began. Where she helped kill Murmulnir. A few spells and some poisons were the sum total of her participation there. Most of the killing was done by Irileth and the Whiterun guards. “That’s a good place.”
“I’ll be putting horses, bonfires and a few of my best there. The Companions will be represented, and Jarl Ulfrik has specifically requested to fight at your side.” Tulius glanced up. “Is that alright with you?”
“I would accept anyone to fight at my side for this.” She admitted with a smile.
“Don’t say that.” Galmar said in a grandfatherly tone. “You don’t want to strip the defenses of all those eager young men!”
“Those skirt chasers don’t know what they are doing!” Tulius roared, as Galmar chuckled at his own jab. “We will only send champions of their skill to fight with the Dragonborn. The High King of Skyrim will be going out with his Queen to fight, too.”
“Thank you.” Elayne said with feeling. “I didn’t think it would be this much.”
“You brought peace to Skyrim, and pointed all of our swords at another target? Gods, you might not be a hero of martial valor Lady Dragonborn,” Galmar gave a glance at the chain peeking out of her cleavage. “But you’ve stopped us bleeding for the wrong reason. Though I’ve got a question. You said you came by boat?”
“From Solitude down to Dragon Bridge.”
“Like Ysgrammor himself.” He chuckles. “You’re making it hard on the poor bards, Lady Dragonborn! Get settled. It looks like battle comes to us.”
“These dragons are going to be the hardest to predict. If you would advise us on how to defend against them, we would appreciate it.” Tulius asked. “If anything, any advice at all comes to you? It could save lives.”
Smiling, Elayne finally felt a little bit like a hero. The world felt like something was going right. Finally.
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Skyrim: Plaything