*1st of First Seed (March), 4E 199 - Winterhold*

  It was all official now. The forces of the so-called Dragon Hunt Alliance have marched in the hold of Winterhold Winterhold from the west and will arrive at Neo Saarthal by tomorrow. The Jarl and the DDC (Dare Dragon Company) have issued a warning and let everyone behind the walls. The three main settlements of Winterhold City, Saarthal Fortress and Whispering Town have all fortified themselves according to regulations and the drills which were installed in case things like that happened.

  The main battlefield was, of course, going to be west to Neo Saarthal.

  Winterhold’s landscape was a really good factor and its supportive role is critical in the defensive plan. As the hold was really tight on roads especially in the eastern side, an army of 15’000 can only move in a large field or it would lose the numerical advantage. This made both Winterhold City and the Whispering Town safe for now.

  Of course, the defense forces of Winterhold had to be ready for any fast raids from the back if the enemy wanted to send an attachment through the mountain roads, that’s why Alina made sure to leave a 1000 Dare Trooper in a fortified area near the Whispering Town and Winterhold City to protect the south.

  The remaining 7000 were fortifying Neo Saarthal.

  It was known that the combined forces of the Firemanes and the Moonblades were only 3000 men while only 1000 should be working for the DDC so Alina made a public recruitment announcements and some propaganda to cover the sudden increase of the numbers as a Local Militia consisted of 4000 men to cover up any legal issue that might occur later on.

  The mercenaries that Alina managed to hire were none other than the Companions and they sent 300 strongmen whose value rivaled 2000 normal soldiers.

  ***

  The initial attack plan of the ’Dragon Hunt Alliance’ was to rely on the defense holes in Neo Saarthal and break through its walls. The city was newly built and its defenses shouldn’t be that perfect just yet. Still, things proved challenging.

  The estimated number of the defense forces of Winterhold should be over at the very least 5’000. Attacking with 15’000 should be akin to bullying.

  The ’Dragon Hunt Alliance’ was not an official campaign or anything rather than a bandit raid. The laws of the Empire and the Kingdom of Skyrim forbade such an unlicensed force to gather in one place, which meant the clans forming the alliance have a little time to act and be done with the threat of Winterhold and Jonhild Firemane.

  The main reason why they were doing such a bold thing was the two Hidden Clans that were annihilated by the Firemanes and the DDC which are the Bloodsail and the Black-Bone clans. Those two clans involved themselves against Jonhild Firemane and disappeared from the face of Nirn because of it. This was why Jon was rumored as the Cursed Child between the Clans.

  The other force at play other than the Hidden Clans was the Thalmor, they pretty much have a massive grudge with the Firemanes and Jon’s family. Leaving such a dangerous person alive was out of the question.

  The Thalmor used the same tactic they used 18 years ago when they chased Hilda through Skyrim. They were involved under disguise as mercenaries wearing leather armors and black robes.

  By doing so, they gathered 9 hidden clans with animosity towards the Firemanes and participated in the chase 18 years ago.

  These clans were Wind-Wolf, Ice-Hair, Far-Winter, Ironblood, Thorn-Shield, Blackblade, Stormfist, the Kragr and the Nikkr. Nine of the most notorious clans who had a long history of violence and bloodshed.

  These clans alongside the Thalmor have all gathered in the western borders of Winterhold near the ancestral home of the moonblades.

  The old Patriarch of the Nikkr Clan met in the central tent with the other leaders, he was infuriated for some reason.

  "Damn them all to Oblivion. I thought this was the end of that Moonblade brat yet he chose to abandon his home and flee! AAAH!" Skap the Old slammed the table in front of him.

  "What’s with the old fool?" A certain young girl sitting among the leaders asked.

  "Old blood with the Moonblades. Sigurd Moonblade has killed three of his sons." A middle-aged man replied.

  These were the Young Ogra of the Stonefists of Whiterun and Hagi of the Blackblades of Riften.

  "Would you please quit making a ruckus. We can’t delay any longer than this." Another figure entered the tent and spoke, it was a tall woman with golden skin and pointy ears.

  "This is not your business to decide, elf! We move when we want to move." Skap the Old tried to let his frustration on the High Elf woman.

  The woman’s beautiful face showed a calm smile and nodded. She then turned to the other leaders.

  "I suppose that we all are aware that time is of the essence and as you all know, we sent many people to gather information about Winterhold yet it has been three days and no one returned."

  "I don’t like it." Orga Stormfist said.

  "In that case, let’s do with what we have. The people of Winterhold must be very wary and has already started their defensive measures. Even though we cut the roads, we can’t cut the sea in front of their [Dare Fleet]. The road between Winterhold and Neo Saarthal is a mountain valley between two cities so it can’t be raided which means we have no hope in cutting their supply. Sadly, we don’t have time for that and we will need to finish them off in one day." The High Elf took the lead of the meeting anyway.

  "Let’s just blast the walls with any spell or shout it down." Tofa Far-Winter said.

  "A nice idea that we surely will be using." The High Elf remarked sarcastically, "What we don’t know is how Winterhold will respond. I am sure they are very well prepared to face us with all what they have and that includes Master Wizards from the College of Winterhold. My master will be arriving tomorrow with Ten of Arch Wizards who just arrived from Alinor to oversee the operation."

  The Nords didn’t comment on that.

  Ten Arch Wizards is an overkill. Winterhold’s College has only five not including the mysterious woman that appeared at the Battle of Forsworn Jon-Dare and fought the Vampires forcing them to retreat.

  No matter how much distrust the Nords had towards the High Elves, the number of Arch Wizards showed the power of the Dominion. Of course, that was nothing compared to the war machine of a large nation but it was still a lot.

  Winterhold needs a true miracle to stop this force.

  "At the meantime, we have our Battlemages and your Voice Masters. I am sure any interference from above won’t be necessary." The High Elf said, "Now to the important part."

  A map was laid down on the table.

  "This is Neo Saarthal as our scouts could draw from afar. The one who designed the city was clearly not an expert so he made two later of walls with ten meters between them and bridges to link the front and the back battlements. The two walls are connected to the mountains that were somehow cut cleanly by some magic we don’t know about to make it impossible to climb. One of the reasons that took us too long to decide a campaign was the unknown methods and of Winterhold."

  "What about that?" Orga the Young pointed at the center of Neo Saarthal.

  "A tower of some sort. If my guess is correct, Winterhold is trying to use some large scale magic but the basis is wrong. First of all, the tower is not complete as they built its inner parts hurriedly without focusing on the outer stone part. It is mostly exposed and whoever goes up there will be hunted by any good mage." The High Elf said.

  "Shouldn’t they know that too?" Orga questioned.

  "Of course, but they are desperate. Their good ships can’t work against a large scale land attack so we are expecting that they will flee using the sea in the end. We have no method to stop them if the battle was dragged to the sea and frankly we have the time but as long as the Arch Mages arrive tomorrow, there will be no escape for them."

  The High Elf was confident and so were the Clans.

  "What if they tried to face us on the ground?" Orga asked.

  "Then it would be their funeral." The reply was immediate.

  "You sure?" Orga the Young questioned, "As far as I know, the Firemanes, the Moonblades and the Company of Winterhold are no easy opponents. They will fight with everything they got and will fight desperately."

  Orga the Young of Clan Stormfist was questioning a lot. At first, she seemed an immature brash young girl but in reality, she was a shrewd and a scary person.

  The High Elf woman kept her cool in front of Orga’s piercing gaze and smiled wider.

  "No matter what happens tomorrow, the result is set in stone." The High Elf said and turned to the others.

  "Tomorrow, we will rush Neo Saarthal and Winterhold, the battle plan will be decided at tonight’s meeting once the last of the scouts return. And as promised, the Clans can share all the Gold and Silver inside those walls. Our aim is any Magical Tomes and Scrolls so we won’t be sharing your loot. I hope everyone here is pleased with our deal."

  The Nords smiled and looked at each other in a cheerful air, the word ’Loot’ was indeed music to their ears.

  The High Elf woman sneered in her head and walked out of the tent. Orga the Young kept glaring at her then clicked her tongue.

  "I don’t like that bitch." She said.

  ***

  Back at her tent, the High Elf woman dropped all masks. She massaged her stiff face that was already hurt from putting on a fake smile all day long.

  She sat on her table preparing her reports to the High Ups who were interested in the matter regarding Jon Dare. She wasn’t feeling good about the whole thing from the start as every time the Thalmor went after Jon, they were always bested by him.

  He had an advantage, something they don’t know of and they can’t tell what is that. Many evidence was there, the mysterious fleet, the cleanly cut mountain, the spies that disappear the moment they step foot in Winterhold. Nothing was normal.

  In her opinion, they shouldn’t have pursued Jon Dare from the start. A human with a strong fate like that should be avoided but it was all too late now, the best course of action is to eliminate him.

  She was about to continue writing the reports but a voice interrupted her.

  "My Lady, it is Calion."

  "Come in." She said and looked up for a high elf in leather armor to walk in.

  It was one of her subordinates. A confident man but somehow he seemed flustered.

  "What is it?" She asked.

  "Eh…… my lady…… Jonhild Firemane was sighted in Winterhold."

  "What?" She jumped up from her chair with her eyes wide open.

  He is here? The vampires let him go or did he escape?

  The High Elf woman didn’t know how to react but she remembered something.

  "Wait! How can that be? Haven’t all our spies get caught?"

  "Yes. It was not the spies’ report. It was the scouts’."

  "The scouts?!"

  What was strange about it was that the scouts were mostly stationed a mile away from Neo Saarthal and Winterhold hid in the terrain and using their spyglasses to monitor the enemy.

  "Yes…… he was very notable as he made a flashy entrance."

  "A flashy entrance!" The woman was taken aback, "The fool! He should have kept himself hidden if he wanted to fight us seriously."

  "Well…… here is the thing. The scout said that Jonhild Firemane looked at him right in the eye from a mile away then…… he made a rude sign."

  "A rude sign?"

  "Yes…… a middle finger sign."

  "Ah! You mean he flipped the bird?"

  "…… My lady…… I……"

  "I was once a soldier, Calion. Don’t worry about it. So, is there anything else?"

  "……"

  "Calion!"

  "Excuse me, my lady. He left a message for you."

  "Who? Jonhild Firemane? For me?" She was taken aback once again. "Where is it?"

  Calion felt awkward before replying.

  "In the sky, my lady. He wrote it with some Magic."

  The woman narrowed her eyes and stood up, she walked out of her tent to see Orga the Young waiting for her.

  "So…… if it is not her ladyship. Ahahaha! I knew something was wrong about you."

  Orga laughed hard as she pointed to the sky.

  Indeed, there was a red cloud formed as words flying towards the ’Dragon Hunt Alliance’ camp.

  The words were clear as day.

  [Fuck Off, Elenwen!]

  Elenwen’s face froze. She, the Thalmor Ambassador, was keeping her identity a secret from those Nords to keep no physical evidence about the Thalmor’s involvement but now…… things went rather open.

  Her stiffened expressions became indifferent as she looked away.

  "Jon Dare indeed…… I’ll fucking kill you."