Disclaimer: I don't own Skyrim. If I did, there'd be more than one quest involving Blackreach (probably a whole quest chain) and you could set up a house there without mods. Insofar as I can 'own' anything in a fanfic, I do own Kisyra, Satyana Rethon and any and all other original characters, content and plot.

Thanks to thyvillain, my beta-reader. I had the beta-read version sitting here for a bit before I got around to making the changes and posting it. Life made it hard to do even those changes. But here's the chapter now.

Author's Note: Another chapter with minimal Kisyra and Serana (Indeed, because this chapter goes back a bit, there's no Kisyra or Serana at all). On the plus side, this should be the last chapter with absolutely no/minimal Kisyra and Serana for a while.

Author's Note Two: This chapter does in fact go back a bit and cover time between Chapters 9 and 10. A mite confusing, yes, but the narrative flow works better this way (I promise!).

Author's Note Three: I realize I'm throwing a lot of OCs at you. Where possible, I always try to use canon characters in fanfiction, especially from Skyrim with its rich cast, but there just aren't that many named Legion and Stormcloak (soldier) characters, apart from the Hold by Hold commanders, and top tier and the second in command for each force. Plus Haddvar and Ralof. A handful of others, but none that I can easily relocate. So, hand in hand with my enlarging of Skyrim, my increasing the population of Skyrim and increasing the size of the armies themselves, I am creating some OCs to give faces to all those thousands of NPCs I am indirectly creating.

This won't be a 'Loads and Loads of Characters' Story, like George R.R. Martin or Steve Erikson (I like both of those authors, and several other authors that have such stories, don't get me wrong), but I will include a running Dramatis Personae of Original Charaters on my Tumblr, which has been referenced earlier in the fic, and will be updated as needed with new posts.

If they're not on the list, they're in the game, somewhere. However thanks to the amazing resource that is the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP), finding out most if not all known canon details about a character is easy. Seriously, you should just check it out for the awesome lore info, which cross-references sources from every game and every other bit of ancillary material they can find to give us as complete as possible a picture about places, peoples and events in the Elder Scrolls Universe.

Jarl of Blackreach

By Alkeni

Chapter 11: The Battle of Peak's Shade Tower

Sun's Dusk 3rd, 4E 202

Jarl's Longhouse, Falkreath, Falkreath Hold

"You can't let this...this Stormcloak rabble run roughshod over my hold, Skulnar!" If Siddgeir had been a more aggressive person, he might have tried slamming his fist on the table between them. As if was, Skulnar was thankful for that. It would have made the Jarl's insistent, almost petulant whining even more intolerable.

Skulnar was glad to have anyone who wasn't Dengeir running things here in Falkreath Hold. Even if the man hadn't been a sympathizer of Ulfric's, he was a paranoid old man at best – but that didn't mean he was especially fond of Siddgeir either. He'd really rather have had Thadgeir in the Jarl's throne, but the older man was unabashedly apolitical and uninterested in power.

As far as I'm concerned, that makes him the best choice for the job right there.

All things considered, General Tullius and Falk Firebeard had probably made the best move they could in arranging for the abdication of Dengeir and the ascension of Siddgeir, but Skulnar really didn't appreciate it.

But I'm a Legate in the Imperial Legion, sworn to the service of the Emperor and to my lawful superiors. It's not really my place to judge a Jarl's fitness to rule.

And that was the kind of thinking that had kept him in the Legion, even after so many of his fellow Nords – even some in his own family – had gone over to the Stormcloaks. Even other legion veterans had gone over.

I don't like the Thalmor, or the ban on worshiping Talos anymore than Ulfric does. But I'm a soldier in the legion before I'm anything else. I swore an oath, and I'll keep to it. The Empire isn't perfect, but its far from bad enough to make me go back on my word.

"I have no intention of just letting them run roughshod over Falkreath Hold, my Jarl." Skulnar answered, none of his disdain for Siddgeir showing in his tone or his posture. "As soon as I got the message, I sent word to my forces at Falkreath Watchtower and Bannermist. They'll get here before the Stormcloaks can take both Helgen and Fort Neugrad, assuming they can even manage that much." All told, that would give him just under 2,500 soldiers to work with.

But that still leaves 2,000 soldiers in Fort Neugrad. If I'm lucky, I can pin the rebels against the Fort...

But Skulnar knew how unlikely that was. Fort Neugrad's fall was very likely. The only question was if Tribune Hayn would feel he could make an effective stand, or if he'd abandon the fort rather than squander the men defending it.

There was nothing Skulnar could do about that. Not from here. Not in time. He looked back over the map.

"And then what? Do you intend to try to hold them at the walls?" Siddgeir just didn't know when to shut up. "Falkreath's walls aren't designed for holding off an invading army."

"My Jarl, its Skulnar's job to hold Falkreath for the Empire and for you." Nenya said from behind the young Jarl. "I'm sure it will be best if we allow him to do his job the way he knows how." The Altmer steward looked to the Legate. "If there's something the Hold can do-"

"I appreciate the offer." Skulnar said. "But for the moment, no. Though once I withdraw all my soldiers from the western half of the hold, I'm afraid we'll be leaving a great deal of territory unprotected. If the Forsworn decide to make a few raids out of The Reach, or if bandit activity in the area picks up..."

"I'm sure we can redeploy the Falkreath Guard to help make up for some of the slack." Nenya replied. "Shall I draw up orders to that effect, my Jarl?" She looked to Siddgeir as she spoke.

Siddgeir nodded and gestured uninterestedly. "Yes, yes. See to it." He turned to Skulnar. "I do hope you really do know what you're doing, Legate." He stepped away from the table, and Skulnar looked away from the Jarl and his steward, turning his attention back to the map.

The message to Bannermist would include orders to send a message on to Fort Sungard to request more forces. The two cohorts there were the only troops anywhere else in Skyrim that might be able to get to him in time to do any good in the immediate future. He also had sent a seperate message to Sungard, just in case, though he didn't think it was needed.

But I'll be lucky if they're willing to shake more than a handful of centuries free without Legate Admand's approval. Keeping a lid on the Forsworn and Stormcloak sympathizers in the Reach isn't a cheap task.

Skulnar let his hand pass along the route between Helgen and Falkreath. There was only one spot to make a stand. Peak's Shade Tower.

Sun's Dusk 4th, 4E 202

Helgen Ruins, Falkreath Hold

To call what had been Helgen the 'Helgen Ruins' was no longer entirely accurate. The place still was only a shadow of what it had been, but the people that had moved into the ruins and the surrounding territory – survivors of Alduin's initial attack, refugees from elsewhere in Skyrim and people just looking for a fresh start – had spent much of the last year making the place liveable again. Parts of the old Keep had been cleared out, wooden patching to cover holes in walls and ceilings, and even the outer walls of the town had seen some – though far from enough – work.

Still, here and there, broken pieces of tower or the still un-demolished skeleton of a burned out building littered Helgen, and there were only a handful of permanent structures actually build.

The Helgen Ruins, then, were still a long way from recovery.

And like it or not, I've set that progress back.

It was unavoidable, Thorygg Sun-Killer knew, but it didn't make him like it any more. He'd grown up in the hinterland around Helgen, and had often come here on market days with his father and older brother to sell their farm's produce.

"My men will set up camp within the old walls." Thorygg told the old woman sitting across the cheap wooden table from him. "There's enough room for them, and if you need extra tents for your people, we can give you-"

"Thorygg, nearly a hundred people fled the town when they heard you were coming." Ulrika Bear-Arm said as she interrupted the Stormcloak officer. "Granted, only that miserable wretch of a thane Bjord actually made off with a pile of gold, but what we're not lacking is space to house the people here."

Thorygg nodded. Rather than surrender the essentially undefended Helgen ruins himself, Bjord, a thane named by that bastard Siddgeir and appointed to administer Helgen had taken the few members of the Falkreath Guard in town and all the gold they could carry and ran for it. Others had taken that opportunity to flee as well.

Imperial Sympathizers, all of them.

"I understand." With Bjord gone, it had fallen to Ulrika Bear-Arm, and a handful of other respected leaders of the community to hand the town – and more importantly, the strategic position it represented – over to the invading Stormcloak armies. "I promise you, when Falkreath Hold is liberated, that gold shall be returned and put to use rebuilding Helgen as it should have been."

"Spare me." Ulrika replied caustically. "I've had enough of promises, from both sides of your war. All this war has done is made my life and the lives of my family and friends harder. I don't care who wins, but don't go around saying you're 'liberating' anything." The old woman stood up from the table. "I trust your soldiers will be paying for anything they decide they need from the people here?"

For a moment, Thorygg's mind flashed back to his grandmother scolding him when he tried to take a second sweetroll before everyone else had had their first.

"There will be no looting or confiscation. We will pay for any and all food and supplies." Thorygg added, after a moment, "And I will hand any of my men that break that rule over to you and the people of Helgen for just punishment."

Ulrika scoffed, but nodded, acknowledging his words.

Once Ulrika was gone from the chamber, Thorygg sighed. He had made very clear to his officers and to his men that the common people in the land they liberated were to be treated well – some might well need to be punished, for acts committed against the people of Skyrim, for collaborating with the Thalmor or for, after the fact, plotting with the Empire behind the battle lines, but Ulfric had made clear that he'd wanted a clean war.

Thorygg agreed with and understood the true High King's arguments, even if it did make his job harder. Maintaining the iron discipline the Legion did wasn't possible with his soldiers, and even the Legion's discipline wasn't perfect.

Turning to one of the soldiers in the room with him, Thorygg put that thought to the side. "Gather the officers." He told the woman. "We can't linger here in Helgen."

"Yes sir." The soldier didn't salute, but Thorygg didn't need that. Even the 'sir' was something only some of his soldiers added.

This certainly isn't the kind of army I expected I'd lead. Thorygg had been in the legion during the Great War, like so many officers in the Stormcloak Faction. Some small part of him still wished for the discipline from the Legion that he'd been used to as a rank-and-file soldier, but only a small part of him. Though it had its downsides, the fire in the blood of his men, untamed by the methods of the Legion, was exactly what was needed to liberate Skyrim.

It didn't take too long for the thirty-two men that made up the officers of his force to arrive in the room.

"After we made it through the pass, Gonnar sent word ahead that more reinforcements are coming – two hundred from Riften, another hundred from Ivarstead and a hundred more each from Faldar's Tooth and Treva's Watch. They should be here in another four days, barring the troops from Riften. But," Thorygg continued, looking over his men, "I don't intend to wait around for them. Now that we have Helgen, we need to take Fort Neugrad, now, before the soldiers there can create problems in our rear. I intend to leave three hundred men here to hold Helgen and take the rest to Fort Neugrad. Once the Fort is taken, and the reinforcements reach us, we'll push ahead to Falkreath." He smiled, "By then, the Legion will have gotten their act together, and we can show them how the True Sons and Daughters of Skyrim fight!"

As expected, his words elicited a cheer from the officers, all of them eager to close battle with the Legion.

"You three," he pointed to three of his officers, "Your units will be the ones tasked with holding Helgen. If the Imperials come in force, don't lay down your lives holding the city. Keeping our men alive is more important than territory, for the moment." All three nodded – he'd deliberately chosen men who'd served in the legion for the occupation of Helgen and who understood tactical retreats and withdrawing in good order. Just under half of his officers had no patience for such things.

They have their place too.

"Tolgan Iron-Strider." Thorygg nodded to the man as he addressed him. "Your men will serve as a screening force to the North and the West. If Balgruuf – or even one of his officers in the Whiterun Guard – decides they want to get involved and sends soldiers south from Riverwood, I want it known as soon as possible. Otherwise, I want you screening the approaches from Falkreath. Do not engage the Imperials."

"Understood." Tolgan nodded. If he was annoyed to be out of the main thrust of the fighting, he showed no sign of it.

"Are two and a half thousand men really enough to go against the four Cohorts holding Fort Neugrad?" Another officer asked. "Our numbers are hardly overwhelming, and they hold a defensive position."

A barking laugh from one of the others was the first response. "Calling Fort Neugrad a defensive position is cattle-shit. Its walls are full of holes, and the supply situation there is terrible. Their morale for a sustained fight doesn't exist."

Before an argument between his officers could begin, Thorygg brought his fist down on the table lightly. "Taking Fort Neugrad will not be an easy task, but neither will it be impossible. It must be done if Falkreath Hold is to be taken, and so we will take it. But I don't intend to simply run in there and fight them in a frontal assault against the walls, even weak as they are. Not just that anyway."

"The old tunnel under the pond?"

Thorygg nodded, "The Imperials will almost certainly have it guarded, but they'll be forced to divide their attention, which is exactly what we want them to do. And there's only so many men they can use to plug up the tunnel at one time."

It wasn't a perfect strategy, but this wasn't a mass battle in an open field. This was an assault on a fortified position. It didn't need to be elegant or complicated. It just needed to work.

"Are there any further questions?"

Sun's Dusk 5th, 4E 202

Fort Neugrad, Falkreath Hold

"Tribune, there's still time. We could make it out and follow the Praefect to Falkreath."

Brellas Hayn, Tribune in the Imperial Legion and Commander of Fort Neugrad turned to the centurion standing next to him. He knew full well the man wasn't making his suggestion out of cowardice, and so didn't reprimand the soldier.

"I'm not sure that's still true." Hayn replied. "But even it was, I Cohort will remain here and hold the fort against the Stormcloaks. If they want Fort Neugrad, they're going to have to pay for it."

When he'd received word from Legate Fasendil about the oncoming Stormcloaks, Hayn had known his situation was untenable. With the walls still in a terrible state of repair and his supply situation always on the edge...

If his fort's walls had been better, he'd have been willing to stand up to the Stormcloaks, keeping all four of his cohorts with him. Even if they tried an attack through the tunnels, the walls would have kept them from really pressing the offensive on both sides.

But Fort Neugrad's walls were not better.

"We can't hold the fort. Not with one cohort, and not with four." Hayn continued. "Praefect Amir can take the other Cohorts through the mountains to Falkreath. He's more than capable of that. But I will not abandon my command. If any of your men-"

The centurion shook his head, "You picked I Cohort for a reason sir. We'll do our duty." He frowned, "I can't say I'm thrilled by the prospect of dying just to delay the Stormcloaks and bleed them, but if that's what I need to do, I will."

Hayn laughed, a grim, humorless laugh. "I'll tell you this in confidence, centurion: I'm not all that thrilled by it either." He turned his gaze south, to the cluster of wooden structures beyond the walls of the fort. Neugrad the village had seen better days, like so many places in Skyrim, but it still held almost eight hundred people.

Well, had.

A little over half the people of Neugrad had chosen to stay. Probably some of them because they prefer the Stormcloaks. Damn rebels have supporters all over the province.

Hayn forced himself to dismiss that thought. Yes some of them probably did prefer Ulfric's rebels, but others just weren't interested in abandoning their homes, for any reason. And it was probably safe for them to do so. For all that they were rebels and traitors, they'd shown little predilection for pillage and plunder.

This wasn't that kind of war.

"Are the barrels of lamp oil in place?" Hayn asked the centurion.

"They are."

"Good."

Hayn returned his gaze to the northwest. The Stormcloaks were coming.

Sun's Dusk 5th, 4E 202

Fort Neugrad, Falkreath Hold

"When do we launch the attack?"

Thorygg turned to the officer next to him. "Soon. Our men sent through the tunnel should be closing with the enemy shortly." Thorygg had sent three hundred men around a secondary path through the mountains to the rear of the fort. Their orders were to take the tunnel under the pond into the Fort's prison. Obviously, they couldn't all go at once – they'd have to take it in groups, staggered. Eventually though, the Imperials would be thoroughly outflanked and facing two attacks.

Sun's Dusk 5th, 4E 202

Fort Neugrad Prison, Falkreath Hold

Dripping wet and shivering just a touch, ten Stormcloaks pulled themselves from the water and into the dry part of Fort Neugrad escape tunnel. All of them were wearing lighter armor and carrying merely shields and swords – this was the place for light soldiers, not heavy forces.

"Let's go." One murmured then, drawing his weapon and shaking himself off a little.

It didn't take them long to find the Imperials covering the tunnel – five soldiers, shields at the ready were waiting for them, blocking off the hallway completely.

"For Skyrim!" One of the Stormcloaks shouted, then charged in, swinging his sword. The others were right behind him, and battle was joined.

Swinging their blades, most blows were caught on the shields of the legionaries, but a few connected – and in turn, the Imperials stabbed out with their weapons, thrusting into the enemy. With a groan of pain, one rebel staggered back, bleeding from his gut, but the Imperials were giving ground in the hallway, falling back as one, unwilling to risk breaking their defensive wall.

More Stormcloak soldiers were through the tunnel now – but in such a narrow hallway, nineteen wasn't any better than ten.

"Die, rebel scum!" One of the Imperials thrust his sword under a Stormcloak's shield and drove it upwards, into his enemy's stomach. A kill, but a costly one – he opened his defense just enough...it was only for a few seconds, but one of the other Stormcloaks took advantage, slicing at the exposed soldier's arm – the Imperial fell back, and the defensive line broke.

The Imperials fell back in good order, but with one of them injured, the line was broken – the stormcloaks pursued them, another ten in from the tunnel, more on their way.

Sun's Dusk 5th, 4E 202

Fort Neugrad, Falkreath Hold

Thorygg was in the thick of the fighting as soon as it began. Once he was sure battle had been joined in the prison below, he gave the order.

"Attack!"

As one, nearly two and a quarter thousand Stormcloak soldiers, armed with bows, warhammers, swords, axes or maces charged against the pockmarked walls of Fort Neugrad. They were met by a storm of Imperial arrows, some connecting with shoulders, some with shields, some with the heads or chests of their targets. But soon Stormcloaks responded with bows of their arrow, and a duel of archers began over the heads of the clashing ground forces.

Wooden barricades served only to delay the Stormcloaks, but they were short work for the warhammers of the front line of the charging soldiers.

They were met by the most heavily armored of the Imperials, each one carrying a sheild almost as large as themselves – the solid wall held, but as Thorygg swung his own Warhammer at one of them, he realized something in the back of his mind – there weren't enough soldiers.

It was too late to give orders now, as Thorygg sidestepped a stab from an Imeprial, but something was wrong. "Keep pushing them! Show them what True Nords can do!" Thorygg yelled to little effect over the din of battle, but his call was caught by others and carried across the clashing lines.

With a mighty roar, Thorygg swung his warhammer again and the Imperial fell back into a half-crouch. He used the shield at an angle to cover himself – it saved his skull, but not as his arm as Thorygg heard a sickening crack and then swung again in the exposed opening, sending the Imperial flying back a few feet as the warhammer connected with his chest.

His own attack coincided with the Imperials falling back from the gaps in the walls, the archers dropping down from the walls and running back – behind them, a full cohort formed into a square. With almost perfect discipline, they broke their ranks enough to let the Imperials coming from the walls to take up slots into the square, or fall into its center, in the case of the archers.

"Press the attack men!" Thorygg cried out, the red mist of battle upon him. The soldiers sent through the tunnel should be well on their way through the prison now – there could only be so many guards, and the Imperials seemed to be sending no more men down there...

Almost the entire attacking Stormcloak force drew up short on the attack as fire burst from the prison, structure, a few stones in its walls and ceiling even going up with the fire, crashing down, smoking, on the open square in the middle of the fort. The stench of burning lamp oil – lots and lots and burning lamp oil – assaulted Thorygg's nostrils as he realized just why the Imperials hadn't seemed to be sending any men into the prison even as it too was under attack...

Sun's Dusk 13th, 4E 202

Peak's Shade Tower, Falkreath Hold

He had gotten the reinforcements from Fort Sungard. Three hundred men, the better part of a cohort. He'd have preferred more, but he was happy to take what he could get. The Stormcloaks couldn't be much larger than his force, assuming they took losses at all at Fort Neugrad. But they'd also likely to have had a handful of reinforcements as well.

Whatever it was that had happened at Fort Neugrad, it seemed to delay the Stormcloaks. But now, perched atop his horse, Skulnar could see the Stormcloaks coming. They were advancing one long front along the road, the clear path from Helgen to Peak's Shade Tower.

His own force, all 2,800 men, were assembled, most of them in a deep line, shields locked. His archers were behind the line, and his battlemages, what few he had, were lined up on the flanks, alongside his cavalry.

The Legion in Skyrim didn't have as much cavalry as he'd have liked, but on the plus side, the Stormcloaks didn't have any, bar some couriers and scouts. Skulnar had never ridden a horse before he became an officer in the Legion, and horses were just not a common part of Skyrim's military tradition.

Apart from the open plains of Whiterun Hold and the Rift, there also wasn't much place for mass cavalry battles, so such a lack made sense. Even here, some of the most open terrain in eastern Falkreath was filled with rocky hills and choke-points, not to mention being framed by mountains to the north and south.

"Stand ready men!" He shouted to his soldiers from his position on the left flank. "We will hold the Stormcloaks here! For the Empire! For Emperor Titus III! For the true High Queen, Elisif!

Sun's Dusk 13th, 4E 202

Peak's Shade Tower, Falkreath Hold

Tolgan hadn't been at Fort Neugrad when it fell, but he'd seen the after effects of the cost. The Imperials had fought hard and well, and even with the five hundred reinforcements from the Rift, they still only had 2,800 or so men. More had survived, but their injuries either required time or were too much for them to be able to fight. No soldiers had been left behind to cover Helgen – Thorygg had planned to leave some, but the costs at Fort Neugrad had been much more than he'd expected.

Up ahead were the Imperials, massed and waiting for them. This would not be like the battle of Fort Neugrad. The Imperials weren't outnumbered, and wouldn't be easily surrounded like before. And if they had no fortifications, even damaged ones, they had their formidable shield wall.

"Arrows!" One of his men cried, and Tolgan looked up as a hail of arrows flew from the Imperials, arcing up and down towards them. Only the leading-edge could hit the Stormcloak line, but even as that thought was going through his head, Tolgan and many of the soldiers around him had raised their sheilds to cover themselves as best they could. Even as a second volley shot towards them, the archers of the Stormcloaks returned the fire, and then what few mages – less even than the decimated battlemages of the Empire – the Stormcloaks had were also firing blasts upwards, towards the enemy, or summoning those strange beings of ice and flame they could call up, or what appeared to be ghostly wolves and bears to clash against the Empire's forces.

Of course, the Empire's mages were not slacking in their response, - soon, the middle area between the armies was filled with explosions of magic and dueling summoned monsters. Tolgan's hand inched towards his axe even as he raised his shield against yet another volley of arrows.

"Charge men! Forward!" Tolgan faintly heard Thorygg shout the order, and along with the other officers and men around him, picked it up.

With practiced skill he replaced the axe across his back with his shield and drew the weapon high, raising it up, "For Skyrim! For Ulfric Stormcloak! For Talos!" His battlecry was echoed by all the men around him and he charged ahead with his men at the imperial line.

Sun's Dusk, 13th, 4E 202

Peak's Shade Tower, Falkreath Hold

Rona Mallius watched as the Stormcloaks charged, the sheer weight of their attack rendering the few remaining summoned forces of the battlemages all but useless. Raising her shield up against one last volley of arrows, Rona felt several from the volley clatter against the tough hide and wood of her shield, one sticking in.

"Damnit!" But she didn't have time to rip the arrow out or even snap the shaft. Battle was joined, the two armies clashing, the Stormcloaks pressing against the Imperial line.

Moving quickly, Rona blocked one rebel's axe blow with her shield, feeling the reverberations down her arm, then stabbed out with her sword. Her blow found purchase and the blade sank deep into the Stormcloak's thigh as he tried to dodge the blow. With effort, she freed her blade in time to block another blow with her shield, then stabbed again.

Sun's Dusk 13th, 4E 202

Peak's Shade Tower, Falkreath Hold

Skulnar gave the order for the Cavalry to hit the flanks of the Stormcloaks as soon as the battle lines closed. But he was off his horse after giving that order. Clad in heavy armor and blocking blows with his steel shield, Skular and the elite coterie of his guard crashed into the Stormcloaks, initially cutting a swath into him before meeting firmer resistance. Men on both sides started to fall around him, blows raining down on him and his shield.

"For the Empire! Push them back!" His cry, and the cries of his legionaries were met by battlecries of equal fervor by the Stormcloaks. "For Skyrim! Break them! Attack!"

Sun's Dusk 13th, 4E 202

Peak's Shade Tower, Falkreath Hold

Tolgan didn't know how long battle had been joined as he swung his axe at the side of an Imperial, hearing a crack of ribs as the man fell, bleeding and broken. Paying no mind to the foe, Tolgan moved onto the next Imperial, ignoring the pain in his side from a glancing blow by an Imperial's sword.

Though he couldn't see it, the formations of both armies had started to break, as discreet units broke past the respective lines and began to cause havoc in the middle of the formations, and even where the lines clashed, there was no single shield wall for the Empire anymore, but a number of smaller ones, with individual soldiers like himself among the enemies. Arrows still found purchase from both sides, but the volleys were gone, aimed shots the order of the day – and friendly fire, such as it was, was beginning.

Even with more mages and with its cavalry, the Empire was still holding the determined Stormcloaks at a draw...

Sun's Dusk 13th, 4E 202

Peak's Shade Tower, Falkreath Hold

"They're holding the rebels." Amir said softly, looking down from the rough and rocky outcropping of the hill onto the battlefield below.

The Redguard Praefect, formerly the second in command of Fort Neugrad, turned to the 1,200 -odd men that were still in fighing shape after the hard march through the mountains. Most of the rest had lived, but frostbite and other injuries or illnesses were keeping them back in camp with the civilians that had fled with them.

It's time they pay recompense for Tribune Hayn.

Amir had no idea what had happened with either army since Hayn had ordered he take his the three cohorts the long way around to Peak's Shade Tower. Both of them had, correctly as it turned out, expected that would be the place where Skulnar would choose to halt the Stormcloak advance.

But the Tribune would have died before surrendering his command. And if the Stormcloaks were here, then Fort Neugrad had to have fallen.

Amir turned to his men, "We left Fort Neugrad on orders! Now we can pay the Stormcloaks back in full! For the Emperor! For the Empire! For Tribune Hayn!" Even as his cry was echoed, Amir had drawn his scimitar – the one concession he gave to his heritage, as he quite prefered the weapon – and began a charged, jumping down the short distance to the main slope of the hill.

Sun's Dusk 13th, 4E 202

Peak's Shade Tower, Falkreath Hold

Thorygg didn't see the onrushing Imperials until they'd crashed into his flank.

The Stormcloaks were well and truly entangled, whole chunks of their forces enclosed by Imperials, but fighting on – just as in turn, imperials were surrounded by Stormcloaks. The sun had moved in the sky, but Thorygg wasn't sure by how much just yet – he'd not taken the time to figure it.

When he saw his flank under attack as he bashed an Imperial out of the way, he realized what had happened.

They suckered us. They didn't leave Neugrad because it was hopeless...they wanted to draw us into a trap...

"Fall back!" He called out, yelling as loudly as he could over the din of the battle. "Fall back! Fall back and regroup! Stay together men!"

He could only hope he managed to salvage enough of his army from the fiendishly clever trap to hold Helgen against their counter-assault...