Chapter 542 - Battle For Winterhold (1) : The True Enemy
"Bring down those Archers!"
"Where are the Reinforcements!"
"This way, send them to the healers."
Fort Kastav was surrounded from all corners by almost a thousand raiders. The Fort's garrison, which wasn't over 200 Stormcloak soldiers, suffered heavy casualties since the morning at the hands of those murderous attackers.
Actually, these raiders were no ordinary band of road robbers. They were organized fighters some of them can even cast a spell or two. Their archers were good as well as they scaled the nearby mountain and rained the Fort's front yard with arrows. It didn't take the whole group of raiders too long to breach the first yard and push the defenders back to the upper yard and into the Keep.
More to that, there were monsters in the skin of men in their ranks. People who would turn into swarms of bats and corner the soldiers in the shadows biting their necks and drawing their blood.
Vampires!
"Shor's curses you all! We can't die here to… ARGH!" The soldier that spoke received an arrow to his neck and fell off the wall without a sound.
There was no glory in this slaughter, if Fort Kastav is lost then the safe land trade route between Winterhold and Windhelm will fall to the control of bandits. But what is going on? Why aren't the Troopers of Winterhold here?
The Stormcloak Commander had a lot in his mind rather than just securing the Fort but also the lives of his men were in grave danger. This was the time to abandon their post.
"Send the men to the Keep. Seal it behind you while I buy you time. There is a hidden door in the cellar that takes you to the northeast of this mountain. You'll find yourself near Winterhold." The Commander spoke to his second.
"Commander! Come with us."
"I said go! Give me a new shield and go!"
"… By your orders, commander… father."
The young Lieutenant nodded as he handed his shield to his commander, his old man. Carrying the burden of retreat on his own, the Lieutenant led what was left of the remaining hundred warriors in the keep and sealed it.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Fort remained standing with a sword and shield blocking the arrows and slaying the raiders. Under his feet, almost 40 corpses piled up.
The man surely was exhausted from the fight. He killed even more down the yard but this was his limit, he terrified the bandits just by standing over the Keep's gate and defending it like an impenetrable dam.
"So it is the famous hero of Eastmarch, Thane Ironbeard."
Over the ranks of the Raiders, a Towering Man holding a fearsome Battleaxe walked over towards the Commander.
Thane Ironbeard spat at the dead bandits and raised up his shield not even bothering to exchange words with the scum. This Towering Man was minimally armored but his aura was murderous and despite the scratches over his body, most of the blood covering him wasn't his.
"You aren't talking, huh? I see you are no longer buying time then." The man spoke then looked at the sky and took in a deep breath, "You smell this?"
The Commander was about to ignore and attack the large man but a certain smile that appeared on the face of that man made him freeze and think for a second.
"What… No!"
"Hehe. Yes… very Yes." The leader of the bandits replied, "It is the smell of blood alright. You sent your people to escape through the caves beneath the mountain. You just didn't think we know about them. Poor you! You don't even realize that we know about every little inch around this hold."
The man walked to the commander and raised his Battleaxe high going down with a mighty swing. The commander woke up from his shock in a bloody rage, he parried with the shield and countered with the sword forcing the bandit leader to defend with the shaft of his axe, the commander then bashed with his shield once causing the bandit leader to lose balance then charged with the shield once again and almost knocked down the bandit then with a strike of his sword, he stabbed the man at his naked torso.
It should have gone in, it should have torn through every muscle and organ but the sword tip barely grazed the skin. The Bandit leader held the commander's blade and kicked him with his full might.
Now that distance was made again, the bandit leader no longer wanted to have fun after this disgrace in front of his men.
"You Vampire Bastard!" The commander roared.
"Vampire? No." The Bandit leader held his axe firmly and conjured a dark power from within, the white of his eyes was slowly getting affected as it turned all black, "Not Vampirism."
The second his eyes turned black, his axe struck the commander at an unforeseeable speed. The commander's shield was shattered and his sword flew way as he defended. Disarmed, the old commander had nothing else but his fists and the shock of the unholy power that surged in his opponent.
"You!"
"If you want to blame anyone, blame Jon Dare!"
And the axe landed on the shoulder of the commander splitting him to the guts.
Fort Kastav has fallen!
***
"Tell me you know what is going on in the Hold. The Jarl is running around like a headless chicken and everyone is asking where Jon is." Alina spoke with a stressed face.
"We know a thing or two." Jullanar nodded patiently.
"Then… out with it."
"We have gathered information after asking the Jarl's men to raid the homes of those spy we knew of. They didn't know much but I bought information from the Thieves Guild and pieced everything together."
"And?"
"Those who attacked us are not bandits but rather Mercenaries. They come from Riften." Jullanar said.
"Mercenaries? I thought those bastards are all busy with the War?" Alina frowned.
"Yes. We thought so as well. Weird enough, those people were hired by Ulfric Stormcloak and that's how they took a free passage to Windhelm then took some boats a week ago and landed yesterday in Winterhold. You know the rest."
"And they attacked a Stormcloak Fort betraying their employee?"
"They did. We also couldn't determine which Mercenary Group they belong to as it seemed they registered themselves as various small mercenary groups to look insignificant. With the late rise of mercenary numbers, they slipped easily under everyone's noses."
"Tsk! We became sloppy." Alina said, grinding her teeth.
"Even you and Jon can't foresee things this far. Stop blaming yourself and think of a way out of this." Jullanar seemed saner ever as she said that.
The two were standing under the night sky on the roof of the college to overlook the big city that is theirs.
Winterhold, their dream.
Alina rested her hands on the cold stone fence as she took a deep breath thinking quietly. Slowly, Jullanar came closer and rested her head on Alina's shoulder feeling each other's warmth as their bodies stuck closer.
"Jon has been out for a month and here we are again. Maybe we should go to bed tonight and relax together a little bit." Jullanar suggested.
Alina let go of her stress for a little while and turned to Jullanar, accepting her love attempt and kissing her lightly as the two of them smiled.
"It is a tempting idea but let's leave that when we fix this mess."
Now that her mind is clear, Alina kept organizing her thoughts slowly. A reckless idea came to her mind but such ideas would save many lives. She slowly started considering it.
"Jull, give me a report of your investigation." She asked.
"I knew you'd want it." Jullanar handed a few pieces of parchment to Alina who looked at them all in one go.
Many information, messy situations, a lot of blank spaces where answers should be. Still, it was a start.
First, the Orb which Beth called the Eye.
Second, the Assassins' Ambush outside Saarthal.
Third, the Attack of the Bandits who have Vampires in their ranks.
The three events happened on the same day and it can't be coincidental, Alina's supernatural intuition told her that much.
Fate… Jon's last note delivered by Beth said that if she follows his instructions, she will altar her own Fate to something Greater and Maybe the Fate of Winterhold along with her. welcome to team Fate, he said.. Still, Beth was waiting for her in the open without security meaning that Jon knew there was a change in Fate but not necessarily how.
If Jon knew that he endangered Beth without knowing, he wouldn't sit still and leave no stone unturned until he caught those bastards and decorated the city wall with their heads.
Alina closed her eyes and focused on the Wind, the Wind that carries the Magic of Kyne. Slowly, she drifted into a dream and Time became a variable that changes based on her whims. She saw herself in Jullanar's embrace standing on the roof from the perspective of a third person then she saw Many other Paths leading to many directions.
Just like Jon's ability to pause the Space in his head and traverse through it, Alina can do such a thing with Time. Jon is a Seeker but she is a Seer.
To her, Forward is the Future and Backward is the Past but she can't determine exactly as there is no single clear way and they all twirl not only to infinite Futuristic Possibilities but also infinite Versions of Pasts. Only by seeking guidance from the Winds of Kyne could Alina become one of the best Seers in this Era, Crimson Moon the Red Witch.
And so, she traversed Time. She needed to know more and thus she tried to look as hard as she could but she was no Elder Scroll or else she might have uncovered all the truths by merely a whim. She needed more… mediums, information, destination.
Links upon links formed a large network of thoughts in her mind as she saw the bigger picture slowly. Her red eyes moved madly as if she was looking for the axis on which all this Conspiracy revolves around.
Who is the Enemy?
That was the question she asked and finally, the answer came.
A Vision.
Mystics like Alina are used to Visions as their senses are not fully their own. Now, this vision was vivid and very much alive.
She was standing on the roof of the college all alone. Just her and no one else, not even the Winds of Kyne were moving as they should.
The Sky… it was blood. Each and every part of the Horizon was just blood. She panicked but managed to remember that this is a vision even though it felt too real. Alina looked down at the city to find it back as if it was the same thing before Jon arrived and fixed it, the same ruins and the same poverty but it looked way smaller. There was smoke coming from the sea so she ran to the other side of the college and looked down to see the water of the Sea of Ghosts turned bloody as well with many many ships were broken and burning, their sails were carrying the names of everyone she knew in Winterhold but Jon's name was written the most.
The vision didn't end here. Alina heard a lot of shouting coming from the west and she looked over there to see as if the world shrunk and she can see Saarthal from the top of the College. There, she saw Jon standing on the top of the Tower of Music and fighting many beasts that flew in the sky.
Dragons!
They were too many… too many of them for him alone to handle.
He killed some of them but he was barely keeping up on this rate. Around him were corpses… corpses of his Family Members, Lovers, Friends… even… her.
The situation was bleak but suddenly… Chains. They dropped down from the bloody sky and bound Jon firmly. He then started turning into an ugly monster. He tore apart the Dragons as if they were nothing and ate them all and then abandoned the corpses of his family and friends walking away towards the bloody sea.
The Vision Ended!
*GASP!*
Alina opened her eyes wide. She was shaking… she was shaking too bad and her body became colder than what can be humanly tolerated.
She used too much of her Life Force just to see that.
"Alina! What the fuck…" Jullanar panicked.
Alina dropped to her knees in a pale face and a bad shape. Reaching a vision this accurate did not only put a strain on her but it almost threatened her life. She did something humanly impossible and tempted Fate for an answer.
A little bit more and she may have damned herself to Oblivion.
"What happened?! You were fine and…"
Jullanar tried to question her but Alina signaled for her to stop.
"Jull, listen… this is important… too important! Go find Wulfur… tell him to act quickly and secure everyone. They are after everything… everyone." Alina said as she begged for breath.
"What do you mean?" Jullanar asked.
Alina's grim face turned even more dangerous. She pulled Jullanar closer and spoke in her ears the true identity of the enemy and their purpose, the plot she uncovered by putting too much on the line. The identity of the True Enemy.
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