(Reyvin's pov)
Moments after the housecarl brought us the news, Sybille and I found ourselves atop the wall, looking over the new and much better equipped force of Reachmen standing across the field, their usual bone and hide covering iron and steel obviously not originally fitted for their use.
Bloody Thalmor can't even do that right.
Even now that they were joined by a dozen witches and two hags hiding behind flesh golems I could see the fear in their eyes, my earlier work having shaken the zealous mob so thoroughly that even their priesthood couldn't lift their spirits.
I look to Harald and say with certainty "We only need to hold this assault back long enough for the King to arrive and victory is ours."
He nods seriously and stands atop one of the stone battlements, drawing all eyes to him "Warriors of Skyrim!" he quickly gives a thankful nod to the present Dunmer as an afterthought "These cowards think they can come here, invade our lands, and sacrifice our brethren to their heathen gods!"
I feel a wave of hatred simmer from among the crowd.
"They think that we will lie down and die just because they finally got their hands on actual weapons for once!" The Thane guffaws and the feeling of amusement and derision spreads through the ranks.
"Well look at them now!" he points an open hand to the enemy army "Shaking in their boots, only the threat of their disgusting masters keeping them here!" The Thane grins "I say we put them out of their misery, and while they languish in the halls of the Daedra, WE WILL FEAST IN SOVENGARDE!"
A roar of approval echoes from atop the walls, just as the Forsworn army starts marching forward.
"How nice of them to give us time for a speech" I quip and look at Sybille "My dear madam" I grin as I bow "Would you care to... enlighten them of their folly?"
She visibly cringes and gives me a glare "That was disgusting"
I say nothing but my grin remains.
She shakes her head, an amused smile tugging at her lips, and heads for one of the towers.
As the enemy gets closer they send out archers to provide covering fire, they get in position and ready themselves but just as they are about to start loosing their arrows, a wave of Magicka spreads from atop one of the fort's towers and a massive mage-light, fueled by dozens of soul gems appears and blinds the entire enemy force while leaving most of ours untouched.
The Nordic archers whoop merrily as they start picking off the blinded Reachmen, not ones to be outdone the Dunmer pull out crossbows and start mowing the barbarians down, their armor being of no use against the draw weight of the elven weapons.
The enemy witches try and target the tower but Sybille stops any of those attempts by casting wards from her comfortable spot under its roof, all the while she leisurely sipped wine, not even deigning to stand and further infuriating the Namirans.
Soon enough the ladders were placed against the walls once again, and the all too familiar grinding melee inevitably ensued, the Nord warriors behaving as if this was a routine and bashing their enemies down while the mercenaries focused more on killing as many as possible.
I focused on taking down any of the more dangerous targets, constantly shifting my position to where it looked like our lines were weakening. As I cleaved yet another Briarheart I heard a low rumble that sent a shiver down my spine.
That is a lot of Magicka...
I signaled the Dunmer to follow me and quickly descended into the town while gathering all of the reserves, they were confused at what I was doing but the urgency of my commands made them follow me to a specific spot below the wall.
Just as I arrived the high concentration of Magicka I was feeling detonated and an entire section of the wall blew up, sending up a cloud of chipped wood and dust all while making space for five men to pass shoulder to shoulder.
A Hagraven guarded by a pair of armored flesh golems stood in front of the freshly opened passage, a wicked grin on her face, and mockery in her eyes. One quick look at my men told me they wouldn't get in formation in time, so it fell on me to buy that precious time.
I locked my eyes with the hag's, channeling a burst of Magicka through them to make her flinch, and took a deep breath.
The mockery in her eyes turned to fear as the shout left my mouth "FUUUUUUS RO DAH!!!"
A wave of force exploded in front of me turning everything it reached into a fine red mush.
Later on, I would find out from Scorch's memories that on the outside it looked more like I shouted out blood and guts instead of pure force, much to my disgust and amusement.
A shield wall formed behind me and we met the maddened Forsworn head on.
Things become a blur, and I begin to fight cautiously, conserving my strength for the long slog that awaited. Whenever they gathered in larger numbers I would throw a fireball to remove them, if they were overwhelming the Nords I would cast a blizzard to hinder them, all the while empowering myself and cutting apart anyone foolish enough to approach me.
It felt like hours passed as I stood atop the breach, potion bottles littered across the corpses surrounding me, and tired warriors pushing each other against the Reachmen to stop any from entering the town, I did not even have the time to take a breath as another group came in.
Cleave a Briarheart in two, force more Magicka to flow through me.
Dodge a lightning bolt by shadow walking, channel even more Magicka and blow up the offending witch.
Thoughts become a blur as instincts kick in.
Dodge a spear, cut its wielder in the legs, roll to the side, and let the ice-shard impale another Forsworn.
Absentmindedly overcharge a fireball into another group.
Scorch sends me the image of approaching legionaries.
This meant I no longer had to hold back, didn't it? I think with a bloodthirsty grin.
Without a care in the world, I draw even more Magicka from my rings and down the enhanced potion of destruction I had copied dozens of at this point.
Once again I feel like I am burning alive, but once again it is a good burn, with a deep breath and a snarl, I cut apart another pair of fools while rushing out the walls.
They all look at me with surprise, I give them no chance to react, heads are blown off with firebolts, and a mutter I do not hear leaves my mouth as a tall antlered figure made of shadow and accented with purple glowing lines emerges from my own shadow and starts butchering the Forsworn with axe and spell.
I sense Magicka to my right, witches still firing at the tower, Sybille standing up now, looks ragged, target found.
I shadow walk through the confused barbarians and appear behind one of the witches, not giving her a moment as I slit her throat with my dagger.
Another is impaled before they even notice me, but this time I am not playing around "Tiid!" Leaves my mouth as I decapitate another and disappear in the crowd.
A furious screech and I see the final hag pointing at me, two massive golems of flesh running at me. I grin and rush them with reckless abandon, both try and grab me but I am too small, one soon loses its left leg, while the other is turned into a pincushion by enchanted ballista bolts.
I run atop the falling golem as it crushes a dozen of the barbarians and jump at the hag intending to impale her.
A spike of earth emerges from the ground and I am forced to drag myself away with telekinesis.
She tries to freeze me, but once again my speed makes her pitiful magic useless.
I respond with chain lightning, not targeting her but her guardians. Thinking I have missed she doesn't raise a ward in time to stop the arcing red lightning from destroying her foot and part of her leg.
She screams at me and starts throwing fireballs in her fury.
A simple cast of resist elements combined with my regalia makes normal magical fire feel like a nice breeze and I rush straight through the conflagration without slowing down.
She... no IT, for I will not consider something with this disgusting of an aura to be a person, only has a moment to look surprised as I gut it with my blade-staff, I twist to the side and a spear of ice impales the hag, causing the spear's caster to scream out.
I turn to the source of the sound, causing those who surrounded me in an attempt to save their precious priestess to flinch away in fear as they are met with my dreadful visage. Completely covered in blood, it flowing off me like a river, as my robes and crown do their utmost to channel that appearance into pure fear.
As I focus on my next target, another witch, I hear her whimper in terror, but there is no mercy waiting for any of them today, not from me.
Once again I begin butchering them, my compassion long since dried out upon feeling the residue of their rituals and coming face to face with the results.
My hands become a whirl as I swing my staff and cast spells all at immense speeds, whispering the thu'um to slow time or evade when too many attacks were launched at me.
Arrows start to fall around me as the defenders attempt to support me, I ignore a Reachman running at me and impale another witch, the arrow I saw coming hits him in the eye.
Soon I am standing atop a pile of corpses, no one daring to approach me any longer, and as the haze of combat leaves me so does my maddened state.
I slump against my staff, and the final witch standing yells at her pawns to kill me now that I was tired, but I do not show any worry and remove my mask, merely giving her a pitying smile.
She seems confused for a moment, until twin blizzards of impressive size and power shred through the ranks surrounding her, and a fully armored Torygg decapitates her without even looking while rushing to my position.
"G'day Torygg" I croak, the constant shouting still having done some damage even with my crown. Before he responds I look over the field and nod in satisfaction, while sneakily dismissing my bound shade, hoping no one saw me summon it.
Barely two thousand Reachmen were at all likely to flee, and those were mostly weaklings. The rest were slowly getting surrounded by a mix of the defenders sallying out and the Legionaries mowing them down like a well enchanted blender.
The King gives me a long and tired look "Reyvin" He sighs and wipes the sweat from his brow "Was it truly necessary for you to rush out like this?"
I grin a tired grin "No."
He groans "Then why for the love of all the gods did you feel the need to do it?"
"Seemed fun" I shrug and a familiar laugh erupts from behind the facepalming young King.
"Told you he was completely insane." My fellow college mages and my apprentices ride up to our position.
"Yeah, yeah Bor. Laugh it up" I smirk and add teasingly "At least I actually did something other than ride around for days."
He grumbles and I descended the pile of burnt corpses, pretending that it was just snow crunching under me now that I wasn't going on a rampage while everyone gave me some very mixed looks.
"Uhm... Teacher"
"Yes Marco"
"Did you..."
"Did I...?" I smirk at him and he shifts uncomfortably.
He points all over the place while his face takes on a green tint.
"Oh them?" I grin "Yup."
"You seem tired Court Mage" Ingvar Firebeard also joins us "Maybe you should regale us of what happened here while we all take a rest?"
"I don't see why not" I start walking to the town and wave for them to follow, completely ignoring the screams of pain and terror coming from the Forsworn "Might as well have a nice feast after all this mess."
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Felt like writing a 'zone' scene... so I did!
Roses are red
Roses are a flower
Give me stones
Or your cheeks will feel Reyvin's power.
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