Act I: Chapter 9

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Skyrim is huge.

I thought that exact thought, many times over the course of our journey towards Druadach. Wildlife roamed aplenty in the fields and forests. Wolves stalked deer, huge wolves. Bears stood on their back legs and looked at our procession of marching men. They usually turned around and ran off after they saw enough of us. Local Nords stood outside their houses and watched with their children. Some of the teenagers even asked to join, eager for glory and not knowing what they asked for. All of them were denied, and told to seek out the recruiting office in Markarth or whichever city they preferred. I will not send children to their deaths, not without them knowing exactly what they're getting into after being trained for months. I felt bad enough with the men in my possession now.

The days bled together and the sounds of thousands of feet hitting the ground at the same time rang in my skull constantly. My position as Legate and general of the operation offered me the privilege to ride the huge Clydesdale-like horses of Skyrim. Although I was constantly moving up and down the line of people, making sure the lines were being held and we weren't leaving anyone behind. I would always encourage bursts of illusion magick. Courage, Calm, whatever the situation called for. I rode past, and the men would stand a little straighter, would move a little more crisply.

When I wasn't doing that, I was reading magickal tomes as I absentmindedly rode beside the Jarl and Private Loren. I was actually surprised at how much time I was allowed to dedicate towards practice. I ran through the Adept illusion texts and I started to see the pattern in the art. The basics focused on a mindset you wanted to influence in others. As you progressed into harder and harder spells, the goal stayed the same but the effect became increasingly more complex. For example, 'Rally' was known as the introduction for true proficiency in the art. It expanded on the earlier spells and incorporated all of their aspects. 'Courage', 'Calm', and 'Fear' all played a part in the adept level spell.

'Rally' focuses on bringing out all of the good mindsets needed for battle like focus and courage, while expelling things like fear and fury. The trend continued as you moved up difficulty levels. The ultimate 'Illusion' spell, incorporated some 'Restoration' aspects into it. 'Call to Arms' is the pinnacle of 'Illusion' magick and actually distributed stamina, and small healing magick to allies in the area. It was perfect for me, a person who started late practicing magick but had the opportunity like leading men into battle. I knew that 'Call to Arms' was a long way away, but 'Rally' didn't seem impossible for me.

I drew many gazes from the men around me, and people started to talk of my proficiency. Loren and the Jarl would look my way every time I practiced expanding my ward or was holding a ball of rotating flame. They appreciated my work ethic, but I could see the nord coming out in both of them. They didn't like that I was so eager to work on my magick.

They spent most of their day navigating us towards our destination. Admittedly, all they did was talk about the same path we were taking over and over again. East out of the city and mountains along the main road that leads to northern Skyrim. The same road that would continue to Solitude. We wouldn't go that far.

The road followed along the Karth River, which eventually dumped off into the Sea of Ghosts near Solitude. We would jump off the road a little north of Karthwasten and move west back into the mountains to where our spies said Druadach Redoubt would lie.

It was projected to take us a month to get there, it took us that long to get off the road in Karthwasten. Then another two weeks before we hit the mountains. Everyday was the same. Wake up, train the men, breakfast, start marching, break at mid-day, train, march, break about an hour before sunset and set up camp, train, go to sleep, wake up and repeat.

Then about two days after trekking into the mountains, we ran into the first group of Forsworn scouts.

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I hopped off of my trusty steed and landed on the ground with a light thud. My joints ached from the long day of riding, but a burst of healing magick took care of it quickly.

There was a small crowd of soldiers, standing at parade rest and prepared to intervene should the need arise. I walked through their ranks to see a young boy dressed in the typical hides of a Forsworn agent. I sighed internally, at the predicament the child found himself in. No doubt, he thought himself a man.

"At ease." I said to the men around me, only one of them moved. The man standing next to the boy in chains, making sure he didn't run off addressed me.

"The boy was caught spying, our archer managed to clip this one. But the other two escaped." The legionnaire told me.

I looked around the boy's form for the wound, and found it on his thigh. It was on the outside, instead of the inside of the leg and not very deep so I knew he wasn't about to bleed out.

"Has he said anything?" I asked.

"Cursed us to Sovngarde and back, but nothing of merit." The legionnaire answered.

I nodded to the soldier and approached the boy on the ground. The sound of hooved behind me told me that Private Loren and the Jarl had most likely just arrived. I kneeled to meet the boy in the eyes. He glanced around nervously.

"Tell me, how far are we from the city?" I asked the boy simply.

The boy's nervousness fled him for a moment, and he smiled at me. He did not respond beyond that smile.

I summoned my magicka, and fed it into the boy. It did not take me long to latch on to the fear he was already feeling and draw it out significantly, enhancing it. The smile dropped from his face immediately.

"Answer me. Or I will feed you to my men." I lied. Of course that wouldn't happen, but Forsworn told terrible stories of the legion, and he was young.

I increased my hold on his fear and folded the magicka. The sound of piss hitting the ground reached my ears but I did not look away from the boy's eyes. I held it for a moment before shutting it off and switching emotions to courage. No doubt he would think he was being brave before his death. I was just manipulating him into giving me what I wanted.

"Kill me, I will be avenged! My people will not run, we are prepared for you, and we will take what is ours after we kill you." The boy said as he puffed his chest out and stared me down.

'Hook, line, and sinker.' I grinned as I grabbed the boy's shoulder and hauled him onto his feet. I switched his emotion back to fear and I unsheathed my sword before pointing it at his chest.

"How far?!" I said increasing his fear beyond what I had done earlier.

He fell to the ground and started to back peddle with his feet, trying to get away from me in a panic. "Two days!" The boy shouted.

I cut the magicka off almost immediately, although it didn't disappear from his system completely. I put my sword back in it's sheath and then put my knee on the boys chest to hold him down for what I was about to do. I reached down to the arrow protruding from his leg. I ripped it out without any care in the world. He yelled out, but didn't move because of my hold on him.

My hand went to the bleeding wound for a few seconds, and a yellow glow enveloped it. I focused on the muscles and tendons repairing themselves along with the blood vessels and skin. It took me about thirty seconds to heal the wound, even with him squirming around all over the place.

When I finished, I let the boy go and turned back to the men, who were staring at me with wide eyes.

"Let him go." I commanded.

"But sir.." The legionnaire started to object.

"His companions left him here so that they could escape. Whether or not he returns to his people will not matter in the long run. They know we are coming, and they think they can beat us." I told the soldier with a hard tone, not happy he was questioning me. "The outcome will be the same. Let him go, soldier."

I didn't look back to see if my orders were being obeyed, but I knew they were. I hopped back into the saddle just as Igmund and Loren rode up beside me.

"We march!" I yelled out and sent out a burst of 'courage' with my magick. The men around me let out a holler just as I started back towards the front of the procession.

When we were out of hearing range from the men, the Jarl decided to speak up.

"That boy could lead to the death of one of our men." Igmund said. "Are you sure letting him go was wise?"

'I do not kill children.' I wanted to say immediately, but I did not. They would think me weak for not being able to make difficult decisions.

"Then that will be another man to reach Sovngarde." I told him, using our heritage as an excuse. "There are some Forsworn who still follow our ways. Maybe one of our men will kill the boy and allow him to reach Sovngarde. I could have killed him then, or had him killed but would he have been granted access to Shor's halls?" I asked.

It was a shallow answer, and one that most intelligent people would brush off. They both knew that the best answer was to kill the boy, leave him on the side of the road, and go on about our conquest. But we were still nords, and there was weight to what I said.

"It would not have been a glorious death." Igmund answered me, reaffirming what I was hinting at.

Loren said nothing, but he knew. He could have spoken out and called bullshit, but the Jarl wouldn't have appreciated it. And my earlier reasoning for the men still held true. One boy wouldn't make a difference in the battle.

"Two days."

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"Today is the day."

I clasped my hand in the Jarls, and returned his infectious smile.

"Today is the day." I repeated back to him. The Jarl then started to ride over to where his men were waiting on him. I turned to Loren and repeated the same action to the man.

"You know the plan, I'll meet you in the middle of the city." Private Loren said before turning and hopping on his horse and heading towards the eastern road. I did the same and after a quick ride through the woods, I was met with three groups of around three hundred and thirty men give or take. The road only fit about fifty men wide.

I hopped off of my horse and moved to the front of the first line of my soldiers. They parted so that I could get through. When I reached the front of the line, I heard a shout to my right, and that was my cue to get my men ready because the Jarl was about to charge.

"For the Legion!" I yelled at my men, at the same time I gathered my magick and let out a pulse of 'courage'. They returned my chant with an enthusiastic yell. I had no idea how to properly pump up an army, so I let magick make up for everything.

"Forward march!" I yelled out, and I moved forward as a slow jog to set the pace.

I had yet to draw my sword, which might seem dumb to some people, but I was going to use the opportunity presented to me. Today I would make myself a legend, and that started with being the first person in the battle.

As I moved I started to step on countless arrows, which had been fired at us this morning as a warning from the Forsworn archers.

I heard the sound of a horn from my right, and the sound of seventeen hundred men yelling as they ran forward.

'Igmund attacks.' I thought to myself. 'We should meet little resistance as they react to him.'

My eyes scanned the sky waiting for arrows to start heading my direction. Instead, I heard the sounds of impact as the nords of Markarth and the Forsworn met in battle. I picked up the pace a little bit.

I saw arrows in the sky, but they weren't heading towards my direction, instead they were moving to my right, down the center road at the Jarl. Directly in front of me, I saw nothing but a bend that we were about to approach. I had yet to see a single Forsworn warrior, but I knew that right around this corner is when we would meet resistance.

I was correct, because just as I turned the corner I was met with a newly constructed palisade that blocked our path. On top of it, about ten men with arrows nocked and drawn in their bows stood waiting for me. Before they could loose the arrows, I stopped running and I summoned my magicka and made my will known.

"Shields!" I yelled to the men.

Red light coalesced as my red dragonscale shield ward appeared in front of me about ten feet tall and five feet wide, plenty big to cover my form. The arrows bounced off of my magickal shield, and I dropped the magick quickly.

A glowing and twisting red flame appeared in my right hand before they could get another arrow in their bow. I aimed at what looked like a gate, and fired. The ball of fire flew at the gate and hit right in the middle of it. The wall shook as the fireball exploded in every direction. The gate stood the first, but I immediately sent another fireball just as my men caught up to me and moved towards the palisade.

The gate blew open and there were shouts from the archers on top of the palisade.

"Loose." I heard from behind me. The twang of about fifty bows sounded out and arrows flew over my head. Some thudded into the wall, where they stuck. Some flew over the men on the wall. But the volley had taken out three of their archers, and given us a little reprieve.

I ran forward at a full sprint towards the opening in the gate. There were two men retreating from the wall back towards the city. I ignored them as I passed the palisade and looked around. There were still five men standing on a platform drawing arrows in their bows and about to shoot down onto my men. So I jumped up on the smaller platform they used as a stepstool and drew my sword. Two men fell to the ground without their feet attached to their legs with one swing of my sword. Their screams stopped when I ended their life half a second later.

I jumped up on the final platform just as the other three men looked in my direction. The one closest to me fired the arrow he had prepared. A small nudge of telekinesis and the arrow flew into a tree behind me. The man fell to the ground without a head as I reached him. The one behind him approached with a sorry excuse of a sword in his hand. He swung and I parried before throwing him to the ground below.

One of my soldiers ended his life with a quick jab of his sword just as I stabbed the last archer in the chest after a dodge of his swing. I wasted no time in hopping down off of the platform now that the palisade was cleared. My men were still marching and the first row of them had just passed into the clearing between the palisade and the city.

I took a good look at it as I got to the front of the lines again. They had added a new addition to the city in the month and a half since the initial reports we received from our spies, a wall. But unlike the palisade we had just taken, there was no gate.

'They meant to funnel us and control the fighting. Too bad that plays right into our strengths.' I thought as I noticed the wall.

I stopped, and so did the men behind me. I pointed to the open hole in the wall with my sword. Forsworn soldiers appeared, summoned from the two archers that fled from earlier, and poured out of the wall in front of us.

"There is our victory, men!" I yelled. I grabbed a significant portion of my magick, and sent it out to my men with a burst of 'Courage'.

"Take it!" I said.

The Forsworn warriors kept funneling out of the city and started running towards me. At least a hundred men sprinted down the fifty yards to our position almost immediately. My men passed me to get in front of me and protect me from their charge and then stopped at my command.

"Shield wall!"

My men's formation tightened as they prepared for the impact and set their feet. One lone Forsworn warrior was faster than the rest of his companions and reached the wall. He made a leap over the first line of men, where he took a shield to the head. He fell to the ground where a man from the second line moved forward and ended his life with a quick thrust of his sword.

"Hold!" I said with another burst of 'Courage' as the rest of the Forsworn hit the shield wall.

There was a mighty crash, and the sound of metal on metal rang out. I looked over the shoulders of my men, and saw a few on the front line fall. Their spot was immediately replaced by another man and sealed up the wall.

We held. I thought with happiness at the success of my men.

"Hold!" I repeated, and another wave of Forsworn crashed into us, but with less force. My men had yet to start to actively try to kill the forsworn. For now, they held the shield wall as men tried to break them up and get into the back lines. We didn't let them.

After a moment, when I knew that we had control of the wall. I started the true fight.

"Push!" I yelled.

The men in front of me lowered themselves and together they let out a roar as they beat the forsworn off of their shields. Immediately after that, bodies started falling as my men started thrusting their swords at the enemy.

We moved up twenty feet in the first push before I stopped us.

"Hold!" I commanded.

I stepped over the body of a Forsworn and one of my own men. I sent up a quick prayer and grabbed the soldier's shield and threw it on my arm. Another wave of Forsworn hit the shield wall. Once again, I waited for my men to recover before barking out an order.

"Push!" I yelled.

My world became that for the next twenty minutes. The Forsworn charged, the shield wall held, and we pushed up closer to the city. I noticed the men in front of me start to become tired. Sword thrust missed their mark, and feet slipped as legs gave out.

I started to worry about what that could mean for my men and started making plans for having the fresh men behind me step up and take their place, but the field between the palisade and the city wall didn't have a lot of room for the maneuver. I didn't need to worry.

A horn blew behind the Forsworn warriors who were throwing themselves at death and they reacted immediately by turning around and running back into the city. My men moved to pursue but I stopped them.

"Halt!" I commanded before turning around. "Second line, advance! First fall behind!"

The men moved to obey me and soon, I had fresh new troops ready to advance in and take the city. I took a moment to nod at every man who passed me to get to the back line and muttered words of encouragement and praise.

When the maneuver was complete, I took a deep breath before gripping the shield on my arm and moved to the front line where I took up the lead position on the line.

"March!" I said and set the pace.

The men met my pace easily as we moved into the city. As we entered, I noticed that for all of the improvements and preparations that the Forsworn had made to the walls and gates, they had neglected everything else and they didn't bother to change the layout of the roads. I knew that all I had to do was march straight along this same road and I would meet the center of the city. So that's what I did.

I saw more Forsworn running away from us, so I sped up a little bit but my eyes scanned between the wooden huts to check for an ambush. I didn't want to fall right into a trap. I highly doubted it, considering most of the Forsworn force was probably busy with the Jarl still but I wasn't taking any chances. We didn't meet any more resistance for at least another quarter of a mile. At that point, the sounds of the real fight became louder and louder.

We turned another corner in the road and being at the head of the soldiers, I saw the fight first. It was an all out melee, there was absolutely no order.

I smiled a little as my nordic blood flowed through my veins. I pointed my sword at the fighting and sent a massive burst of magicka towards my men in the form of 'courage'.

"Charge!"

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A/N: Boom!

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