The Thalmor were more than aware of the Redguard race's talent towards blades, which is why most of their victories were a result of strong unrelenting ranged attacks, of both physical and magical varieties.
In the same vane, many Thalmor had felt the sting of steel as their defences collapsed and gave way to the charge Hammerfell swordsman.
Saeko and Raiden quickly approach the Thalmor unit, each deflecting arrows with relative ease. But soon they get into range of the Mages, allowing the enemy to throw spikes of ice, balls of fire, and blasts of lightning...
Even with this however, the duo continue deflecting them... Much to the confusion of the Thalmor... The reason for this was 'Shunt', the technique not only deflecting physical force but magical force too. Making them all but untouchable when their focus remains.
Saeko snaps her sword to her right side, catching a lightning bolt far smaller than what she'd seen Michael cast. With the bolt caught, she sweeps her blade downwards, directing it to the sand below her feet, resulting in it quickly dissipating.
The Thalmor's initial attack steadily slows, wishing to try and conserve their arrows and magicka so that they could strike while the enemy was distracted. This just allows Saeko and Raiden to increase their pace however, speeding up from a brisk walk to a fast jog, all while still deflecting projectiles.
Thalmor warriors step to the front with elven shields bared as fireballs shoot over their shoulders. Only for Saeko to catch one of the spells with her blade and twirl her sword over, throwing it back at the enemy.
*BANG!*
The fireball explodes against the shield wall, allowing Raiden to dive into the middle of them, two Thalmor already dropping with their throats cut.
While the majority of the warriors were focused on Raiden, she dashed to the side, seeking out the archers and mages at the back.
*Ching! Ching! Clank!*
Three arrows embed themselves into the sand with a quick use of Shunt, she ducks under an ice spike and leaps at an archer who tries to block her blade with his bow, only for it to go completely through and cut into his chest.
*Chhhoooom!*
Two portals to Oblivion open up next to her, forcing her to leap to the side as a large icy fist smashes into the ground where she'd previously been standing, the Frost Atronachs slowly getting ready for another attack.
"CEASE AND SURRENDER GIRL! OR FACE DEATH!" a Thalmor mage shouts, readying two more spells in his hands.
"You are already facing death!" she retorts with a growl, slashing the throat of a Thalmor warrior and using his armoured body to block a green spell that renders it stiff as if it'd been frozen solid... This only allows her to carry it with even more ease however, the dead weight no longer dragging her down...
She steps forwards and pushes the corpse onto another Thalmor while performing a slight turn, allowing the blast of ice-cold winds to ruffle her hair, courtesy of the mage's missed Frostbite spell.
*Shing!*
The Thalmor mage falls backwards as both of his hands are cut off, Saeko doesn't stop however, thrusting her blade into his throat which instantly causes the Atronach's to dispel, leaving only a couple archers left, as Raiden had just finished off the last of the warriors.
"Any last words?" Saeko asks as she approaches the last remaining Thalmor archers.
"P-please... I-I was just following orders!..."
Saeko shrugs uncaringly, "You chose wrong." she states, cutting down all but one of them, planning on handing the man to the villagers so they could interrogate him, or hand him over to the Hammerfell military.
After the battle was done and the villagers thanked them, Saeko and Raiden walk back towards the desert, not accepting the offer of shelter for the night. "How many is that now? How many Thalmor have we encountered?..."
Raiden hums as he taps the handle of his sheathed blade, "It matter not, only how many people we've saved as a result."
Saeko nods, "I know that already, I'm just wondering how close we are to one of their encampments. Their retaliation was far too quick to be from the front lines. They have a forward base."
"Well, I think we should find allies before we assault a fortified Thalmor position. As far as you've come, neither of us are ready for that yet..."
Saeko nods, "Let's find ourselves some help then. Even the greatest Ansai didn't do it all alone, I think we can allow ourselves that much."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elsewhere :
A Khajiit hunting party stops in place from following their quarry as they spot something odd... The shrine to Azurah, Mother of all Khajiit, looked odd... Not how it usually appeared.
The polished stone comprising the shrine was scuffed and slightly blackened as if someone had dragged coal across it... One Khajiit approaches and frowns as he finds an Imperial sword at the base of it, the shine of the metal showing that it'd only been placed here recently. "Did someone taint the-" the Khajiit starts but doesn't get to finish as a scroll hidden under the shrine lights up upon detecting their voice.
*BOOM!*
A fiery explosion blows the Khajiit clear off of his feet, throwing him into the arms of his friends as they all look upon the completely destroyed shrine.
"W-what... How could one do this..."
Unbeknownst to this group, similar occurrences were happening all across Elsweyr, with almost every prominent shrine to Azurah going up in flames, and the Khajiit finding limited success in preventing or stopping this.
One thing was for sure however, someone had to be responsible. And with the amount of evidence pointing toward both the Empire, and a rogue group in the Aldmeri Dominion, the Khajiit had been set on a warpath...
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It's been a couple weeks since Michael and Megumin had been expelled from the College, yet nothing much had changed at the outset...
Michael continued living in Winterhold, studying magic, learning from his Spirits, and now working with the hired workers to create his new home. One might call this relaxing, or 'normal', were it not the fact that he was forced to work day and night at the Aetherium Forge, along with having Euroland Greymane help with the ebony 'circuits' as he'd begun to call them.
He'd created thousands of Symbols of Akatosh that he'd placed in the center of the granite stone bricks that'd be used to create the property. The process was both magically and physically exhausting, as he had to magically separate each brick so that he could deposit the Aetherium Symbols which were bound together with ebony 'circuitry', which was basically just a bunch of thin ebony strands that'd act as wires.
Each brick would need to be linked so that magicka could be carried through them and into the Symbols by the Eye of Magnus. The overall shape of the structure didn't matter, so long as the very top could funnel the magicka into the veil separating Oblivion from Mundus.
Michael was actually forced to go around Skyrim buying up whatever Ebony he could since he didn't have enough for the project. If anyone was aware of just how many Ebony artifacts, weapons, and armour he'd been melting down to gather the required material he'd probably have the whole of Tamriel ready to lynch him.
Luckily, despite how annoying it is to construct a massive spire made from stone, crystal, and metal. He didn't encounter any trouble from Jalr Korir who was more than satisfied with just the flow of workers entering Winterhold. Their very presence sent the town into an economic boom due to the fact that they too needed to feed themselves, along with purchasing accommodation that they could stay at while they worked.
Brynjolf had pulled out all the stops, so the workers that'd been sent were the best of the best. Most of them being paid by Skyrend, which itself had been increasingly more popular with the Civil War raging on...
Unfortunately, despite everything that was going well, some still attempted to stifle his efforts. A prime example is the Dark Brotherhood member's neck he was currently holding, the girl giving out sounds of choking as their feet flailed uselessly to find the ground.
"So, what's this about then? Who paid for my death?" he asks, despite the fact he was almost certain that the Thalmor were responsible...
"S-Silence... D-doesn't.. S-speak..." the girl rasps out before conjuring a Daedric dagger and attempting to stab it through his temple. Only for him to grab her arm with his free hand, gripping it tightly enough to break hers and force the knife to dissipate.
"That wasn't smart." Michael remarks, wondering what he was going to do with this one. Killing her would probably put the Brotherhood on a warpath against him. Sure, he could head to Falkreath and wipe them out, but was their destruction even worth the effort? He was sure they could be used... Somehow. "Why don't we start with your name?"
...
The girl doesn't move, instead opting to just glare at him, knowing that escape was all but lost to her. She'd misjudged her target and would pay for the mistake.
Michael hums in thought, "Let's get a look at your face first then." he says as he pulls the reluctant assassin's hood down, revealing her Altmer heritage along with her out of place black hair and amber eyes. "Didn't think the Brotherhood hired 'em this young." he remarks to himself as he looks upon the young elf's face.
Seeing the girl still not wanting to answer, he decides to employ his harsher methods. He draws an ebony dagger and begins prodding places around her body, not enough to draw blood, only to sting. "Maybe I should cut your fingers off to stop you wielding those daggers? Cut off a foot to stop you sneaking around? Or maybe, since you're so dedicated to keeping your mouth shut, cut your tongue out?" he asks, causing the girl to freeze at his last statement.
Apparently, she held her ability to speak in high regard...
*Thud!*
He throws her against the wall and places a foot on her chest, bending down to get easier access to her mouth, which he pries open by squeezing her jaw tight enough to almost dislocate it.
The girl squirms at this, but Michael continues, giving her a cruel grin as the ebony dagger approaches her mouth... Only to pause as something peculiar occurs...
The girl's eyes become speckled with black, which spreads like dye in water, causing both to go completely dark. Her lips then go a lifeless grey while her breathing slows to a crawl. Micahel had started to think she'd poisoned herself to avoid torture, until the girl... Or something else started speaking...
"Cease your actions, defiler, or await Sithis' wrath." the husky, almost whispering voice demands, prompting Michael to push down harder on the girl's chest with his foot, a curious expression on his face.
"Who's asking?"
"I am known as... The Night Mother."
Michael's eyes widen, "Oh? Then... This would be your Listener, right?" he asks, causing the spirit/wraith/ghost/whatever to pause.
"So you know of me? Then you would be wise to leave the girl alone."
Michael shrugs, "Hmm, I don't know. By the looks of it, your Listener came here directly after receiving your orders. I'd wager to bet that the Brotherhood members don't know her target... If I killed her here, wouldn't I be free of you?"
"Only until the next Listener is discovered. Then you will be hunted, caught, and delivered to Sithis. You will not know peace should you harm this girl." the Night Mother warns, promising disaster should he follow through with his plans...
"How about a deal then? he asks after a moment of thought.
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Faruk Ereng
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