The Battle of Winterhold (5) : Hour of the Wall Fall

Orga's men started preparing. Before she rides in the soundless zone, she looked to the elves who didn't move one inch.

"Elf! What's your move?" She shouted at the Elf who cussed at her from a while ago.

He looked at her with a stiff face then pointed at the soundless zone.

"You Nords can send each other all to Oblivion, this is a suicide."

"Humph! Cowards!" Orga snorted at the face of 2'000 High Elf and 9 Arch Wizards included yet none said a word to her.

Walking in the Soundless Zone? No Elf was born to do such a daring act. Elves are all about Magic and in a world of no magic, there was simply no hope for the merkind. Those burly Nords may not find it as crazy as the elves who were shocked senseless.

As Orga rode in the soundless zone in front of her men, she diverted the route to the southeast away from the fight.

Still, the feeling of losing all the ability to hear sound was maddening. She knew that the only way out of this hell is through it. If she dared to run backward, she can pretty much see that hell arriving at the doorsteps of her clan.

The only group left was the Thalmor.

Nine Arch Wizards stood in front of the Soundless Zone with deep thoughts and frowns on their faces.

"Auriel's mercy! What sort of blasphemy did these humans create this time?"

"I can't even begin to comprehend. If it an Illusion Magic that blocks the Sound Waves then it is a petty trick but that… the Sound Waves are passing through the place yet carrying no sound."

"No, they are carrying all the sound yet they don't in a certain area."

"This is no normal magic, A Magic that can dispel other magic in a certain area is understandable but that block not the magic but the very possibility of it. It is dreadfully genius and geniusly dreadful."

"We made a huge mistake. The Nords are indeed nothing special but the Cursed Child has grown, he is 18 years old by now and all we thought of the possibility of him gaining something other than the Elder Scrolls that transcends sense. Those Magic Weapons, that Soundless Zone, this may only be the beginning of something very ominous."

"Yes, we were only distracted by that red-eyed girl. Damn, that was a good trick. There is more beyond these walls."

"We need to focus now, brothers and sisters. Look closely, these Magic Weapons are not in the Soundless Zone so we heard their sound from here. They fire from outside the zone and their effect remains which means magic can affect the inside of the zone but can't be used from inside."

"Just what in the name of Magnus did they do? I don't get the principal."

"It is like adding more limits to the limits of the Mundus set by Doom Drum, this is… it is beyond what we expected."

"More Limits, like panning the Spiritual Realm and the Immortal Energy? How can a vicious thing happen! It is as if those souls of the dead won't find its way back to their Spiritual Reside… what do the Nords call it nowadays? Svelbark, Svendark?"

"Sovngarde."

"Yes, that. Those who die in such a place won't go to that Sovngarde even if they died as valiantly as it is required. They are beyond the perception of Aetherius."

"This is madness! But the point is that we now should experiment fast."

The nine Arch Wizards kept discussing the possibilities and casting magic at the Soundless Zone. As they expected, the zone was beyond the perception of Aetherius (the Immortal Plane) which is the source of Magicka. That alone meant a lot to Elves whose spiritual beliefs are all about the connection between them and Aetherius. The land that was promised in their faith and what they seek to reclaim by breaking from the Prison of Lorkhan, Mundus.

To them, this was adding another prison on the prison. A sort of heresy, infidelity and blasphemy that is by no means acceptable. If it was the young mages and soldiers behind them, then those kids would have turned into berserking fanatics and went to kill everyone in Winterhold with boiling blood but the old Arch Wizards were more collective and shrewd. They withstood years upon years of kneeling to the Septim Empire of men and they kept their cool.

They knew that in front of such tyranny, they were powerless even with their years of wisdom and knowledge. They had to tread carefully and uproot the dangerous humans before the situation escalates.

"The question is, can we cast a spell at a target 800 meters away and land a decisive hit?" An Arch Wizard asked.

None could answer such a question. It is possible to reach this far but the magic will gradually lose its power as it travels. Those Magicka weapons installed on the walls of Winterhold had a range of 500 meters with a devastating and that can be called an amazing feat.

"We can." Another one replied and suggested something.

The Arch Wizards started to move.

***

Saarthal, which is now a double-walled fort, gave off the impression of being a very fortified place. The second wall was higher, thicker, more fortified and packed with men, unlike the first wall which was packed with normal troopers who stood silently.

The Non-Trooper recruits on the second wall were wondering the whole time about the ones on the front. They withstood the pressure of cannon shots passing from above them without being fazed. Surely, these were the elites from another camp as far as they could tell.

Still, many had complaints about the tactic.

Double Walled forts are not practical or used throughout history that much especially when the front wall is very poor compared to the second. One can only imagine what Alina has in store.

The attackers from the Dragon Hunt Alliance understood one thing, they are to protect themselves by taking over the first wall. The distance between the two walls was seemingly 15 meters which provided enough cover from the cannon fire.

The primary goal of the attacking horde was to secure their fallen relatives and rescue them before the second round of the cannon fire starts. Many realized that they may be walking into an ambush as half of the first wave was killed off and mostly the rest was left as a trap but they didn't know that the cannons have run out of juice when they stopped firing.

They rescue was somewhat successful. They were out of the range of arrows and Saarthal cannons didn't shoot a single time, the alliance started to regain some momentum with the hope of survival.

They couldn't hear each other no matter what yet the leaders of the clans started to develop some sort of signal as they kept onlookers on each other. The injured were lifted up and the non-injured were given a hand to stand. Some ran after seeking their relatives and some ran after being rescued but no one stopped them. Still, the attack force of the alliance was cut snapped down from 10,000 to 7,000.

If only they could regain the other 5,000 which were spread around by Orga Stormfist. Some of the clan heads supported her plan at first to pincer attack but now reinforcements were needed. The 3'000 Soldiers keeping the Imperial Fort in check and the 2'000 Soldiers protecting the Wayward Pass were to be called immediately.

The brilliant move that the clans performed was adapting to the cannon fire and come up with a loose formation tactic to minimize the losses. They even tied the Siege Ladders to the horses and let the run forward for the sake of saving weight.

Bringing a catapult or a trebuchet was important in a siege yet the Nords would rather use the Thu'um to shout down walls and gates, a battering ram would sure have been a good idea but the charge needed speed and the terrain was not ideal for such tactics.

The previous tactic was to shout the wall or blast it with magic but now the tactic was to race to the wall, horde it with all the ladders at the same time then use it as cover. Surely beyond the first wall was the end of the Soundless Zone.

The luck of the Dragon Hunt Alliance started to increase, a warm bolt of fire flew above their heads towards the first wall and barely grazed it causing a slight black mark on its wall. Those who looked back saw the Thalmor Mages creating arrays of Magic to devastate the wall.

The alliance soldiers were hyped to see magic on their sides and ran forwards faster. Right now, there was a massive blood vengeance between them and the Dare Troopers they need to settle.

A second bolt of fire tried to attack the wall's gate but the aim was kinda off and the spell even got intercepted by a lightning spell that came from Winterhold's direction. The interception was very precise and only took a second.

The Elves frowned as they couldn't point out the caster but they were clearly not able to challenge the half a mile between them and Saarthal.

On Saarthal's walls, Alina was preparing for another thing.

"They are in range. Give the blue signal and then the red signal. The green signal on my mark." She said as she aimed the [Skull of Corruption] on the first wall.

Not far from her, the leaders of the clans were arriving down the first wall. They were desperately pointing to the troops and making signals just for the sake of organizing the mess. Their petty struggle seemed what Alina needed exactly.

Skap the Old and Hagi Blackblade, leaders of the Nikkrs and the Blackblades ran and took cover in the wall. As their bodies collided with it, they started to finally hear some voices.

An inch away from the first wall was out of the soundless zone. The attackers started to realize what is happening and ran to the wall like who found water after being stranded in the desert for days. Cries, wails, cusses and curses sounded out from those under the wall to those above, the agony and pain were just unbearable to keep in after finally managing to hear once again.

"Curse them, curse those Firamanes and Moonblades to Oblivion!" Skap the Old was furious as he hit the wall with his staff.

His housecarls were desperately covering him with their shields and bodies expecting some retaliation from the troops above the wall.

"Don't waste our time! Bring those ladders to the wall, we've got to kill the ones above it before we… Wait!" Hagi Blackblades was shouting to the ones near him but suddenly stopped and asked, "Why are they not defending?"

He looked up the wall but his angle wasn't right so he pointed to one of his men in the back and the latter looked up. At that time, the sky was covered with Blue and Red lights at the same time and the man's eyes widened, he looked at his patriarch and shook his head with disbelief.

Hagi Blackblade pulled his man to the walls and told him to speak.

"There is no one above the wall, Patriarch. They all disappeared into thin air."

That was indeed the case. All the troopers above the wall vanished as if they weren't there, to begin with. On the second wall, Alina was holding the [Skull of Corruption] and waving it at the first wall. All those silent soldiers on the first wall were merely illusions made by her.

The real troopers were actually stationed and packed between the first and the second wall. Alina looked down and saw the reaction of those troopers.

On their lead was Jon's housecarl, Trudvar. They started to move some large chains connected to the wall and many men with sledgehammers started to break some logs jammed in the first wall.

*Crack* Crack* *Craa..a..AAACK!"

The unpleasant sound was heard across Saarthal and traveled to the ones on the other side of the first wall.

The land started to shiver for the change that was uncalled for.

More to that, the sound started to return to the world.

Still, the curses and the wails were all muted.

The Red Signal was for the 'Tower of Music to seize function. And the Blue Signal… it was to break the logs and release the chains supporting the first wall.

It was all a decoy.

There was no first wall, it was just a trap. A big massive trap that none would ever think off.

Those ladders fixed on the wall were packed with men trying to climb but they tilted backward as the wall tilted towards the ones seeking its coverage.

Away from the walls, the Thalmor felt the Soundless Zone disappearing and were about to cheer yet they saw what was happening to the wall. Orga Stromfist too, she was taking the mountain road up to the Shrine of Azura when she felt the change and saw the wall falling.

The wall was made of long pillars built by mudstone fixed beside each other and were mostly hollowed. They were pulled up and pinned by chains and large logs of wood, with the original tilt in the land in front of the original walls of Saarthal, the large pillars hand no other way but to fall towards one direction.

*Crack* *Crack* *THUD*

One pillar after the other, the walls descended on the attackers and formed piles upon piles of men and stone.

Hilda, Jonrad and Tyr swarmed down from the wall with their housecarls and walked through the open gates.

Hilda at the front holding her Great Dane Axe, Jonrad and Tyr with the Blade Katana and Sigurd who just came down from the tower with his Moon Saber.

"At the double boys! Those who lived are ours to weed out!" Hilda shouted and rallied all the men behind her.

On the wall, Alina held the last signal scroll in her hand as she tore it open and sent the final green signal.

***

On the beach north of Neo Saarthal, Wulfur's men informed him with the signal.

"It is our turn." He said.

"Finally! Who arrives first wins!" Hafthor ran into the cave and strange noises started to come out.

"Win what exactly?" Freyja asked as she raced him.

Wulfur shook his head and looked at Svidi.

"You go home with the others, we will finish this."

He walked in after Hafthor and Freyja in the cave and kept striding until he met Skadi.

"Mother."

"Your loyal steed awaits, boy. Hurry up and don't be picky!"

"Yes." He smiled as walked in further.

"The big one is mine."

"No, it is mine."

In there, Hafthor and Freyja were fighting over something yet Wulfur walked swiftly behind them.

"Neither of you will take it."

Wulfur climbed the large animal that was on the lead of its herd and patted it. The animal was covered with a large armor befitting its size bearing the insignia of the Dare Dragon Company.

The newest and the most exclusive [Dare Corp] team was about to be sent to battle.

The [War Mammoth Team].