Dragonborn Saga

Chapter 709: Strategy

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Corpse Explosion!

Usually, such a spell would rip the flesh and the bones and then detonate them together to create an attack that affects the target psychologically,l by the flesh and entrails of dead things, and physically by the bone shrapnels.

But there was another variation, a more sinister one with an intent for destruction and annihilation. This spell would overload corpses with an overwhelming amount of Magicka and use whatever traces were left of the soul to cause an arcane blast that is almost similar to the spell "Energy Burst".

So why use this version of the Corpse Explosion spell with a reliable alternative like the Energy Burst spell already exists? The answer is obviously for the extra flavor of toxic emissions caused by the Necrotic Energy that is quite fatal to the living and completely harmless to the undead.

And it was a BLAST!

The explosion shook the hearts and cores of those who live inside Saarthal so much that even the invincible Dare Tower felt the tremor from its foundations.

The explosion raised one hell of a dust cloud. A mix of snow, dirt, and debris as well as ashen flesh and fragmented bones. Its shockwave blasted many of those who were on the walls and knocked them off their feet but the battlements were thick enough to tank the blast. The gates, on the other hand…

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Houndmaster laughed hysterically and his high-pitched echo ripped through the eardrums of those who heard him.

The gates were nowhere to be seen and the gatehouse was wide open with nothing between the Vampires and the city of Saarthal.

It was time for a massacre, time for destruction, time for retribution against the living.

"KILL THEM ALL!" The Houndmaster shouted but since his entire team was used to opening the gate, he wasn't commanding his force.

He was giving way to the second team behind him, the Vampire Horde.

At the lead of the horde was an armor-clad knight with abnormally tall stature and shining armor. He held a greatsword that looked as bright as it was menacing with a razor edge that can devastate all things, living and dead. This was the leader of the second wave.

The second wave started and many vampires, dressed in their dark leather garments, sped through the burning field like grasshoppers jumping across a rice paddy and their aim was the gate. While the defenders were still stunned by the explosions, the Vampires would get inside and take them out without a shred of resistance.

And the bastion of the north shall fall.

But…

And since there is a "But", Alina was sighing in her heart at her opponent.

Things never go this smoothly. After all, she can predict it by looking at the general direction of the Vampires. She may have been surprised by the first wave since she was sleeping just now but as soon as she is awake and her eyes are seeing what is going to happen, she can react just fine.

She saw the explosion and realized that there were strange stigmas on the bodies of the Thralls and the Death Hounds, a stigma that acts like a Soul Trap, a bit illogical to apply on undead like the Death Hounds and even on the living Thralls but it surely something that is meant for maximizing the effect of a spell.

If it is exploding, the gate should be the target.

Alina gave one order that was enough to deal with this situation.

And now we can return to the "But".

But the Gate was… being closed?

In such a critical situation where the orders were to go ahead through the gate but the way ahead is getting blocked with a gate that shouldn't be there, many of the Vampires weren't sure whether to go ahead or retreat. That stunned them for a moment and that was a mistake that shouldn't happen in battle.

No one understood how there was still a gate left but if there was a gate, this means that things will get complicated at this rate and they need to get inside and prevent this from happening.

They rushed ahead by burning their blood and using it to perform the Blood Rush techniques, which teleports ahead in a trail of blood mist, and some vampires were successful enough to reach the gate and push against whoever was about to close it.

Yet for some reason, no matter how the vampires pushed, they didn't even slow down the gate until it was shut with a loud THUD.

And the world quieted down as the vampire looked at each other and finally decided to look up.

"Fire!" Yet the merciless word was uttered by Akara as she waved her hand down.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh*

A storm of projectiles followed Akara's command. It wasn't just crossbows that were fired but even volleys of arrows from behind the wall, spells of magic, and

"Scatter!"

They attempted to scatter but despite all the speed and dexterity a vampire can muster, it would be useless in the face of the overwhelming force and the cunning of a trap master. Alina could see it all from above as she created what can be seen as a kill zone.

But how did she do it?

Once she realized there would be a blast, she ordered that the gate be closed but not to be barred from inside. Once the Corpse Explosion happened, the explosion was powerful but not powerful enough to shatter the walls. It would still damage the wooden gate, the thinnest part of the gatehouse, but if it was to be left open, the shockwave would only force it open and since the enemy would be far away, someone as physically capable as Jax the Minotaur would shut it back quickly and with ease.

It was as simple as that, just leave the gate unbarred.

{The first team is on preparing to leave the barracks, the second is heading to the wall, the third is already defending the walls under Akara's lead, the fourth and fifth are defending Winterhold, the sixth is moving from Winterhold to Saarthal as reinforcement, the seventh is spread outside the hold, the eighth team is in position at the backlines.} Isha transmitted a report to Alina.

"And Team Zero?" Alina asked.

{Operating with the Dawnguard.} Mirren replied.

"I am not sure what's out there, ladies and gentlemen, but one thing I can tell you is that we have a long night ahead of us. Let's not spare anything we have in our sleeves tonight and see what the enemies have in store." Alina spoke.

On the other end of her telepathic transmission, there were Isha, Miranda, Mirren, Jax, and Akara as well as many other youths from the Nordic Clans in Saarthal. They prepared for defense and laid their traps with cunning and trickery.

***

The Nightmarshall watched the situation with a solemn face and still manifestations. As his reputation precedes, he is not a vampire of many sentiments let alone anger or disappointment. He is one who embraces the life of a vampire to a degree that few vampires ever achieve.

All vampires were once mortals, they accepted the vampire life to escape death via undeath. Unshackled from death they may think they are, but what they truly bound themselves to is a greater fear of death. This makes most of them as predictable as mortals and brings scorn and disdain from the more senior and mature vampires.

A vampire doesn't need to breathe and the only use of their lungs is to blow out air while speaking before filling them up again to speak more. Many of the young vampires would keep breathing despite their need not to and it would irritate the elders for such a bad habit since it is an imitation of the living but such habits are hard to die.

The Nightmarshall, on the other hand, was a cut above all the Elder Vampires. Not only did he not breathe, he never had any emotions, he never spoke needlessly, he didn't even move needlessly, and always stood like a statue or a frozen corpse. Looking at him, one would realize that he is something with a humanoid shape but he is barely a being or even an object of death by this point. Even the daedric creatures wouldn't be this strict.

That's how solemn the Nightmarshall was.

But after seeing the first two waves being handled out like that, even the Nightmarshall had to react and his reaction was merely a few words directed to his followers.

"They have a Seer."

A Seer!

Nords always respected the ability to look into the future and predict the flow of fate but even among the seers, nothing can be as powerful as a military commanding seer that can predict the flow of battle.

That's a troublesome ability indeed!

{What shall we do, Lord?} The Houndmaster, at the front alone with the leader of the second wave, stood helplessly while asking advice from their commander.

"A Seer sees, not hears." The Nightmarshall spoke, "Bloodscreamer!"

"By your orders, Lord."

By the Nightmarshall's left side, a feminine voice replied and something akin to a mirage fluttered with the wind and then suddenly faded as quietly as it was felt.

This mirage-thing started heading towards Saarthal.

At that moment, Alina's brows started to twitch and her eyes moved left and right. She saw something in her short-term vision but she couldn't determine its source. It felt like a shadow heading towards the city and it was crawling up her senses, she couldn't see a thing but she still felt its danger.

"On the walls, deploy the Magic Wards!" She spoke to Akara.

Back on the walls, Akara rallied the command instantly to the magic casters in the formation. They executed the command right away and a large interconnected rippling screen of Magicka was deployed.

Just then and there, a shadow rose from the area beneath the walls and the form of a Vampire Lord appeared enveloped in that shadow. With her menacing eyes, the Vampire Lord took in an incredible amount of air in her lungs, spread her torn-out wings as she floated above the level of the wall's battlements and she released that air with a harrowing wail.

At first, it made those who heard it feel a sensation of goosebumps creep up on their skin and suddenly the ripples on the Magicka Wards started to intensify. With the sound of shattering glass, one of the wards broke down and with it the mage who cast it was bleeding from his left eye and right ear before falling on his knees and passing out.

Then…

*Shatter* *Shatter* *Shatter* *Shatter*

All the remaining Wards started to break down and their respective casters were in no better state than the one first to fall. It was then that the situation started to spread.

It was a devastating scene and what followed was even more. The effect of the scream didn't only target the magic casters but it spread and became awfully audible to the point where everyone on the wall was holding their ears and gnashing their teeth from the pain.

It was like the cry of the banshee, so harrowing that it would demoralize those who hear it and stun them senseless.

"No, you won't!" Alina had to interfere this time by herself and put a halt to this attack.

She teleported instantly and on the foremost area on the wall, she stood tall with her red dress and long black hair fluttering in the wind. With her eyes exposed to the Vampire Lord in front of her, a Magicka pulse radiated from Alina's eyes with a dangerous red aura.

It was the most proper reaction to the sonic attack performed by the Bloodscreamer. Alina's attack was psychic and the Bloodscreamer had no opportunity to brace herself against this sort of attack.

In a second, the Bloodscreamer was knocked back off the place she floated at and was forced to retreat back to the side of the two other Vampire Commanders.

"That was unlucky." The Houndmaster watched the Bloodscreamer as she had to hold her retreat by falling on one knee.

"If you had done your job right, we wouldn't have been in this situation." The Bloodscreamer replied before turning to the Knight-like commander, "And you should follow the plan and kill that bitch."

"I don't follow plans, plans follow me, bitch!" The Knight-like vampire commander replied with explosive hostility.

Despite the robust defense of Winterhold's Guards and the Dare Troopers, things weren't exactly good for their side and the last move taken by the Bloodscreamer left many of the defenders injured. As for the vampires, they may have suffered casualties but it wouldn't make them feel disadvantaged just yet. The Bloodscreamer managed to maintain a big number of the vampire horde by making her move, after all.

At that moment, the Nightmarshall suddenly disappeared into a swarm of bats and reappeared behind his three lieutenants not too far from the wall. He looked up and his eyes met with Alina's.

"The Seer." The Nightmarshall spoke.

"We have to take that human down." The Houndmaster spoke the will of the Nightmarshall.

"It won't be difficult." The Bloodscreamer gazed viciously at Alina.

"Difficult is what I drink! Not blood!" The Knight-like Vampire commander spoke explosively.

As it seemed like going nowhere, Alina was watching those three carefully and once their leader, the Nightmarshall, showed up, she started to have a strange feeling of worry. She knew that this battle won't be as simple as she initially thought and until Jon arrives, she has to make sure nothing goes out of control.

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