Chapter 505: Fall-More
News of the attack on Riften reached almost every Hold in Skyrim in a matter of days, the event striking fear into the Jarl's who'd neglected purchasing adequate fortification even after Dawnstar's destruction.
Riften hadn't been destroyed, of course, they'd actually managed to force the dragon to retreat with their overabundance of siege weaponry. Along with the wandering mages they'd temporarily hired for the city defence.
Dragons were incredibly magically resistant, but that didn't mean immune. Enchanting weaponry to be sharper with Alteration magic, creating magical barriers to protect against the dragon, and even enchanting siege equipment to be more fire-resistant. All of these things assisted the city.
While a good portion of it had still been burned, it mostly extended to the slum areas of the city... Which, if folk didn't know any better, some would claim that Brynjolf had led the dragon to those areas so he could start renovating them... The only evidence to this however was how quickly Jarl Brynjolf had gotten people to start rebuilding, as if he'd already had plans laid out for it.
Other than the attack on Riften, the Stormcloaks had surged forwards and captured Fellglow keep after killing all the rogue mages that'd set up shop there.
While the fortress might be a ruined mess of what it once was, it was still intact enough to be used as a staging ground for any operations into Whiterun's territory. While Ulfric didn't wish to do a full-on assault, he was still aware of Balgruuf's change in attitude towards his faction.
Surtr had been offered a position as Thane of Whiterun, but the Nord rejected it when he realised that such a role would put him against the Stormcloaks, this was one of the reasons he'd elected to journey to the Greybeards...
General Tullius had begun moving his own forces as soon as the news of Jarl Skald's death had been made known. Dawnstar was still Stormcloak territory however, so as soon as his troops had become visible, the half-burned city had started to fight back.
Many of the citizens decided to stay out of it, but many more decided to fight against the Imperials, even with how outnumbered they were.
Soon enough, around two hundred civilians and one-hundred and fifty guards had been killed, and Dawnstar was claimed by the Imperials. The Jarl had yet to be decided, but they would most certainly be an Imperial puppet.
From there, Elisif had some Imperial forces go towards Winterhold to scout out the area for a potential invasion... None of them returned however, as they'd accidentally wandered into the forest of ice, of which, the trees of ice had started to sprout.
What sprouted wasn't anything organic, instead, they produced soul gem-like crystals that were entirely frost-attributed. As an added effect, they also made the area around the completely inhospitable, simply due to how cold they made it... Anything that got near without adequate protection was frozen completely solid... This was how Saya found the Imperial scouts, each of them frozen solid mid-stride.
Once this was reported to Jarl Korir, he'd called upon the Arch-Mage of Winterhold to make his intentions known... If the Imperials intended to invade Winterhold despite their complete inaction so far, the College would need to assist and pull its own weight.
Reluctantly, Savos Aren gave an unofficial promise to act should the Imperials attack without any provocation from Winterhold itself.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Michael had begun working on his own defences, powered by the Eye of Magnus within the Spire... He was eagerly awaiting the chance to use it, the only real problem was the fact that it only worked if the enemy was within eyesight.
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Michael and Saeko ride on Illococoo's back as she flies towards Northwatch Keep in her dragon form. While he couldn't touch the Thalmor embassy due to it being integral to the Dragonborn's journey, that didn't mean he couldn't air his grievances at another Thalmor outpost.
Not to mention the fact that Illococoo was a dragon... If questions came up, it'd be completely written off as another dragon attack, like the one on Dawnstar and Riften.
According to Brynjolf, their target was a Thalmor Justiciar by the name of Sarulian Lamptsi, a man who'd been received his position not long before the death of Ondolemar... Funny how both would end up dying at Michael's hand.
Saeko had been very persuasive in her assistance to rid Skyrim of any Thalmor, mostly due to the abundance of war crimes they'd committed in Hammerfell. She was certain they'd be doing similar things in Skyrim, only less public.
Soon enough the group the fortress, the Thalmor guarding each scrambling into action once they spot Illococoo's flying form.
"FO KRAH DIIN!" she shouts as she dives down, spitting a large burst of ice and frost at anyone stupid enough to get near her, each person either getting torn apart by the icicles contained within the attack, or simply frozen solid from the intense cold.
Michael and Saeko jump down once they'd close enough, the latter drawing her new Ebony and Dragonbone katana with glee, instantly slashing the throats of two armoured Altmer as she lands.
Michael himself had cast Winter's Curse on the courtyard holding a large portion of the Thalmor that was now streaming out from within the interior of the fortress, each person getting caught up and forced to attack the single person afflicted by the curse. He then throws a Fadebolt and finishes it up with a Tidebringer enchanted slash, causing a sharp swipe of pressurized water to behead every elf caught up in the courtyard, killing them all instantly.
Each kill produces a crimson light that enters Michael's body, the souls of his enemies getting stolen and stored within him for further use later.
"Think you can beat that, Saeko!?" he asks as his female companion cuts through a line of Altmer men as if she were Madara on a warpath.
"Easily! All without your tricks!" she replies, a sadistic grin on her bloodied face.
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