Not Alone (A Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Miraak was wearing his customary mask, so I couldn't see his face, but I was sure he was looking straight at me just as I was looking at him.

So he'd finally decided to show himself. After weeks of being an omnipresent but invisible threat, Miraak had finally openly joined the army that he had somehow managed to get together.

Suddenly I realized that a deathly quiet had fallen over the city, leaving no sound except that of wind and rain, which gave rise to a similar realization that the quiet should be filled with shouted orders and running feet. "Positions!" I shouted again, picking a soldier I knew was supposed to be stationed on the wall, not standing on the path beneath it and gawking and giving him a shove in the direction he was supposed to go.

My voice broke the veritable Spell of Paralysis Miraak had cast over the city and the Stormcloaks immediately burst into action, continuing their interrupted duties.

I shoved my way through a group of soldiers and past the rows of wooden spikes we had set up outside of the lower gate, trying to spot the Imperials while also carefully keeping an eye on Miraak. The thick rain hid their movements, at least from the ground.

Cursing, I turned and made a dash for the path to the top of the wall in the hopes that I'd be able to see better from up there. The ground shook as I cross the path, the tremor just enough to feel but not enough to cause me to stagger. Even so, I glanced once again at the rock trap. It held, but I had no time for relief or any more thought on the matter.

I reached a slippery rock wall that had been created when I had ordered most of the stairs burned. Shoving one armored boot into a fairly convenient foothold, I got a grip on the ledge and hauled myself up more or less quickly, then took off up the path until I found a decent enough vantage point.

The Imperials had finished mobilizing and were headed this way, the flickering of the few torches they had managed to keep lit slowly but steadily moving closer through the grayness. Thinking quickly, I estimated the time we had before they arrived and placed it at around two to three minutes.

Which, luckily for me, was just enough time to check on the archers on top of the walls. I jumped back down from my position and jogged back up the path, climbing the ladder just inside the gate. Captain Hilrine was standing in her position on the scaffolding, pointing her bow at different soldiers as she shouted orders, her strong voice carrying even through the multitude of noises. Her soldiers were nearly all in position, quivers on their backs and bows at the ready, watching the Imperials advance.

I didn't want to interrupt her flow of orders, but there was no other choice. Cutting her off in the middle of telling off a Stormcloak who had apparently somehow managed to forget his quiver next to his bed, I grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face me, hiding an amused look when she started as if to hit me with her bow but pulled back just in time, a horrified look on her face. "General," she gasped. "I'm sorry-"

I cut off that sentence too. "Tell your archers not to aim for the dragons. In this weather you'll more likely hit one of ours than one of theirs, and I don't need us to be firing arrows straight up, missing, then having them come straight back down into our ranks." I waited for her nod of understanding, then scurried back down the ladder after a quick "Talos be with you".

I glanced at the two companies I had stationed just inside the gate and caught sight of Captain Fjoth among them. He banged his waraxe against his shield in a salute and nodded as I passed between his companies' ranks, indicating that his men were ready.