บท 398: Singing with Swords

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."

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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...