Chapter 7

Tirdas, the 5th of Second Seed, Year 202 of the 4th Era

Sofija nudged Daenerys awake. "My thane. The sun will be rising soon. It's time to break camp."

Daenerys blinked sleep from her eyes as she recalled why she was sleeping in a bedroll. Today was the day they hit Silent Moons. She sat up in her bed and looked around. Only one lantern was lit. "Thank you, Sofija. Scouting report?"

"I spoke with Ull just a few minutes ago. All clear. If they have any sentries at all, they don't patrol this far out." She lit a second lantern.

Daenerys slipped out of her sleeping bag. "Good. Wake Aana and have her get started on breakfast. I want everyone fed and ready to move out when the sun clears the horizon." She glanced around the room and spotted Raina still sleeping. "Raina! Wake up, girl. I need your help."

Raina muttered something and thrashed about before sitting up and looking about. When her eyes met Daenerys, she dipped her head low. "Yes, Lady Targaryen." Her handmaiden didn't even bother to get dressed herself. She immediately started helping Daenerys into her armor while wearing nothing more than her nightclothes. Helping a lady into armor wasn't a traditional duty of a handmaiden, but Raina wasn't a traditional handmaiden. Once Daenerys had her armor on, Raina started brushing and braiding her hair.

"Simple braiding today, Raina. No one will see my hair under a helm anyway."

"Yes, my lady." She started doing a braid that was simple for Daenerys, but still more complicated than most Nord women would wear on anything but their wedding day. While Raina didn't have the refinement that a handmaiden should have, she had quickly learned to braid hair the way Daenerys liked it. "M'lady, if I may be bold, some of them may surrender today. Show them no mercy. Bandits don't know mercy, so they shouldn't receive any."

"I doubt there will be any survivors." Silent Moons had already been on her list of Nord barrows to investigate while she was in the vicinity of Whiterun. When Camilla had brought it to her attention that Jarl Balgruuf had placed a large bounty on the camp, it had been an easy decision to hit the encampment. This was also going to be a field trial for her new recruits. She had split her troops into two. Fultheim would be attacking from the east. She was attacking from the west. What reports she had described Silent Moons as a sprawling ruin set on a hillside. It had several stone buildings and underground tunnels, but no exterior wall. She had taken out larger groups of bandits with less men. "If anyone survives, you already know how I treat bandits."

"I do, my lady." She sounded pleased.

.oOo.

The plan sounded simple, attack from west and the east and trap the bandits between them. However, the execution involved coordinating two different groups without any communication between them. Her group which included both their supplies and their two ballistae headed due east. As they were limited to the pace of the ox-drawn carts, they moved slower. Meanwhile, Fultheim had taken the other half of her forces and swung south to stay out of sight of Silent Moons camp. They would then approach Silent Moons from the east. The plan was for them to arrive at the same time, but Daenerys wasn't surprised when her scouts reported fighting up ahead. Fultheim's men had arrived before her, and some of the bandits had sallied forth, probably before they realized just how many men Fultheim had. As she surveyed the battle she saw they had an opportunity, but only if they acted immediately.

She grabbed her mace and lifted it high in the air. "Cut them off! Charge!" Compared to riding on a dragon or a horse their charge was a miserable slow thing limited to how fast they could run.

The bandits engaged with Fultheim's forces broke and ran before their charge had closed the distance. Obviously, they had hoped to retreat to the ruins of Silent Moons, but their retreat turned into a rout. Fultheim's forces cut down all but the fastest when they tried to escape. Faralda was with Fultheim's forces and she wasn't holding back based on the explosions. Her own forces arrived in time to chase the retreating bandits into the ruins. However, not everything went as planned. Her forces advanced too fast and she lost control of most of them. Only her new Imperials on detached duty stayed together.

"Sofija, with me. We'll link up with the Imperials and storm the main building before they can dig in."

"Yes, my thane!"

Together the two of them hurried over to the Imperials. She waved at their leader, Gaius Paulinus. He reminded her a little of Jorah Mormont in that he was old warrior that had only grown tougher and more dangerous. His nose was crooked and squashed and he would never be considered handsome, but he was as tough as boiled leather. He pushed his men hard and he pushed himself harder. He claimed no rank, but the other five Imperials jumped when he yelled and cursed at them. He saluted as she approached. "Dragonborn."

"Everyone is scattered. We're going to punch through and take the main building up on top of the hill before they can regroup and fortify. Understand?"

"Yes, Dragonborn." Gaius Paulinus turned to his men. "You heard her. Form up! Advance"

Daenerys fell in behind them as they fast marched up a very long set of stairs. They met almost no resistance until they encountered a mage at the top of the steps. "Step back!" Daenerys stepped into the gap. "Yol! Toor! Shul!"

The burning corpse of the mage flew backward and slammed into a hard stone wall. With him out of the way, they marched on in unopposed. What had looked like the main building from the outside turned out to be merely a shell of a building. The walls opened to a circular courtyard open to the sky. Rather than finding a set of stairs leading down into a barrow, the courtyard was dominated by a large circular firepit that was set up to be used as a forge. "Let's give it a quick search to be sure there are no hidden entrances."

Their search turned up nothing. When they left the building they found that the battle was mostly over. There were underground tunnels and chambers, but Fultheim had already stormed them and killed everyone inside. There were no barrows or crypts below, no word wall. She set her men to looting the place and circulated about them healing the injured. Despite the lack of a word wall, this action had been a success in many ways. There had been no deaths and no major injuries. The loot from the bandits along with the bounty that Jarl Balgruuf had placed on the camp would help keep her coffers full. However, as a first test of her larger force in battle it had been a disappointment. The battle had descended into chaos. Her troops had fought as individuals, not a single unit.

Later that evening she gathered her advisors: Fultheim, Lydia, Sofija and Faralda in her command tent to discuss the battle. Camilla would have been included to her 'small council', but Daenerys had left her in Whiterun with a couple of bodyguards to handle her business affairs.

Fultheim agreed with her assessment about the breakdown of battle order. "That is my biggest concern as well. We won, but we fought like a rabble, not like an army. We didn't suffer for it today because we were fighting undisciplined bandits. If we had been fighting a professional force, they could have rolled over us once we spread out like that."

Daenerys sighed. "Was I wrong to advance as I did when I caught them all spread out?"

"Hmm." Fultheim frowned and considered that. "No, I would have done the same. You found the enemy spread out and you took advantage of the opportunity. The problem is that I have been training your forces to fight dragons using your dispersal tactics. I've trained them to spread out. Those tactics might work well against a dragon, but in battle against a disciplined force it will get us mauled."

Daenerys nodded. She had seen the Unsullied fight and understood the point. The marching and fighting in step had a purpose, when you faced a line of men you didn't fight one of them, you fought them all. The Dothraki didn't fight in an orderly fashion, but they had the advantage of speed being mounted. They also didn't fight alone, rallying together and attacking in waves, even when those waves were seemingly random. Was there a way to train her men to fight fluidly like that without horses? Maybe, with years of experience fighting side by side, but it was simply asking too much of the men she had today. "I agree. My plan is to continue to attack dragons, explore barrows, and sometimes assault bandit camps. However, there is a good chance that we'll have to face organized troops sooner or later."

"More training will help. More battles will help." Fultheim sighed. "But you don't have time, so what we need is more underofficers. They need to be able to focus the scattered men around them and give direction. It would probably help in fighting dragons as well. Right now, we have two: Jenassa and Salim. We would need more. Ideally one for every four or five. Even if they're underofficers, that's more than most armies use, but if you want to spread out but keep order, that's what you need."

"Very well," agreed Daenerys. "Anyone stand out?"

Fultheim shrugged. "No, or I would have suggested them already. That mercenary that you turned down, Uthgerd the Unbroken, she had the experience and presence to make a good underofficer."

Daenerys shook her head. "She was also rejected from the Companions for killing a lad during a practice duel. I know mistakes happen, but I'm a Companion. It wouldn't be right for me to accept someone that they turned away."

"I suppose not," agreed Fultheim. "Lydia also has the experience needed."

Lydia frowned. "If that is the command of my thane, but you know the Thalmor will come for her sooner or later. The Khajiit spy, Fishbreath you called him, he's proof of that. She needs full-time guards and there aren't many I trust beyond Sofija to share that task with me."

Sofija thumped her chest with her fist saluting Lydia, but didn't say anything.

"I agree with Lydia. While I am sometimes impatient about being guarded, it is critical. I trust Sofija and Lydia with my life." She had no doubt that Fultheim was correct that good underofficers would help. She just couldn't conjure them out of thin air. "What about the Imperials on detached duty? Gaius Paulinus at least would make a good underofficer. Some of the others might as well. They're disciplined."

"I agree on Gaius Paulinus. I expect he probably was an officer before he was assigned to detached duty with us. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others were underofficer material. The real question is whether you are willing to put Imperial soldiers over your troops?"

Did she have a choice? "As underofficers of a small team? We don't have much to hide, and my forces can use the discipline and skills they'll bring." While it would give the appearance that her forces leaned to the imperial side, the benefits were worth it. "Let's start with Gaius Paulinus and two others." They could always add more later. "What about balancing them out. Would Ull or Val make a good underofficer?"

"Ull would be fine leading a scouting party, nothing else. Val is a good man and warrior. I recommend you keep him in the front when exploring barrows, but he'd make a bad officer."

"Very well. We're decided for now. Try out the Imperials and see if one or two of them can make underofficer. We'll keep looking for good recruits – no more inexperienced men that have to be trained up. Now, any other business?"

"I checked out the loot," said Faralda speaking up for the first time. "A few of the pieces have some minor enchantments, but nothing important. Also, there is not enough magical loot for everyone to get a personal choice. I think we would be better off selling everything and giving them an extra payment in gold."

Daenerys nodded. That was an easy decision to make. "Agreed. I will put Camilla on it when we return to Whiterun."

"I did find something else though," said Faralda. "It ties into the weapons with the interesting enchantments that I had never seen before, a lunar enchantment. Did you notice the forge? It's a hot pit burning on its own without fuel, like the Skyforge in Whiterun. However, this one reeks of lunar magic. There were some notes by the forge about experiments with the 'lunar forge' and that weapons forged when both moons align have special properties."

"That is interesting," agreed Daenerys. "On a clear day you can see from Silent Moons to Whiterun. I don't think it is a coincidence that there are two of these 'hot pits' so close together. I thought that skysteel weapons were just well-forged. Is skysteel enchanted?"

"Not really. All metals have a feel to them, and skysteel is distinct from steel, but it isn't enchanted." Faralda shrugged. "It's also possible that whoever was running the forge was making sacrifices. Using an enchanter's table and soul gems to enchant objects is the only enchanting method approved by the College of Winterhold and the Synod, but there are other darker methods. To be honest, you may be able to tell more than I could."

"How?" That made no sense. "You're so much better at reading enchantments than me." Of course, mer were usually better at reading enchantments than men.

Faralda chuckled. "Because I can't get close to the source. You could walk right into the forge where the magic is strongest."

"Ah." Daenerys thought about it a moment. "I'll give it a try later tonight when the moons are up and see what I can feel. I can also talk to Eorlund Greymane when we return to Whiterun. Now let's talk about our assault on Halted Stream Camp."

.oOo.

Two hours past midnight Daenerys took off her armor and laid it aside while Sofija, Faralda and Lydia watched. The moons were up and visible as she gingerly stepped into the lunar forge. While no amount of heat or fire had ever troubled her before, this was putting her affinity to fire to a greater test than she had ever tried before. This firepit was hot enough to soften metal, but she rather enjoyed the heat. It made her feel safe. She stepped out further and further to the center of the pit, looked up to the moons, and extended her senses.

"I think I feel something, but I can't tell. This may take a little while." She sat down crosslegged and meditated at the center of the firepit. She felt something immediately. She just couldn't tell what. She tried bringing up Yol, Fire, but that was a mistake. She immediately felt a wrongness to it and her head started to throb. No. Cautiously she tried Toor, Inferno, and had the same response. Shul, Sun, was even worse. Shul didn't just feel wrong. It seemed to make the power present angry. She gave up trying to meditate on words of power and instead offered up prayers of apology.

She opened her eyes and looked up to where everyone was watching her. "This was a mistake. Whatever power resides here is alive, and I offended it by accident. I think we should try an offering. Sofija, would you bring one of the corpses of the bandits? We can try that first."

Sofija thumped her chest. "Yes, my thane. I'll be right back."

"Daenerys," asked Faralda. "You don't know what you're feeding. Wouldn't it be safer to just walk out of that fire pit and for all of us to leave this place?"

"That… feels wrong." Oh gods, was she becoming a priest now? She was guessing, but it felt like she had trespassed, and she could either make things right or face the consequences. "I'm not giving it a living person. If a corpse doesn't work, we'll try a live animal. It will be fine." Although this was more a statement of hope than certainty. "I'll try meditating while we wait." Daenerys closed her eyes again and focused on her breathing and her magicka for a bit. She could feel air moving in and out of her lungs. She could feel her magicka flowing in and out. She could also feel something in the firepit. Ancient. Weakened. Offended. Hungry. Anticipating.

"My thane! I brought a corpse as commanded."

Daenerys opened her eyes and looked up and saw Sofija dragging the corpse of the mage that she had killed earlier. "She'll do. Toss her in."

Sofija took the corpse by the arms, Lydia by the feet. They swung her back and forth twice and then tossed her in. The dead woman's hair burst into flame immediately and her flesh charred. Her burning flesh smelled like pork for the short time she burned. The fire pit consumed the corpse quickly. Sitting in the middle of the pit, Daenerys felt like more than the body was consumed. She also felt the approval of the spirit of the firepit and its hunger. She was forgiven, but it wanted more. It offered power.

Daenerys licked her lips as she considered the offer. Did it merely consume that woman's body? Or her soul? Wasn't her soul already gone? What was the fire pit? Was it a daedra? She did need power. She was expected to defeat Alduin, the dragon who would destroy the entire world! How was she supposed to do that? They were just bandits. They had planned to mount the corpses on pikes before they left, as a warning to others not to turn bandit. Wouldn't this be a better use?

"Maybe," she said to the fire pit. "But not tonight. I will think on this, and I may return." Deliberately she walked away. While she did need power, she had no idea what it was that she would be feeding.

Everyone stared at her as she walked out, but they said nothing.

"It's alive. Daedra, aedra, spirit, I don't know what, but it's alive. This is a secret bound to us four. If anyone asks, I walked in and felt nothing. Swear."

"I so swear," said Sofija immediately, echoed shortly after by Lydia.

Faralda hesitated then nodded. "I so swear."

.oOo.

Daenerys had hoped they would be able to find Halted Stream Camp the next day. It wasn't an old Nord place and hadn't been on her list of places that might have word walls. Camilla had tracked down a list of all open bounties posted by Jarl Balgruuf and put them on a map. Halted Stream Camp was merely conveniently located. It was just a little bit east from Silent Moons Encampment. Taking out the camp would give her followers further combat practice and she could use the bounty and loot. Unfortunately, maps of Skyrim weren't all that accurate and there wasn't a road. She sent out scouts to find the way and used Clairvoyance to help. However, the lack of roads made travel slow, so they didn't arrive at the camp until after noon the next day.

The bandits at Halted Stream Camp shot a few arrows at them, but when they realized the size of her attacking forces, they all retreated behind their palisade. A short while later one man appeared at the top of the wall waving a white flag, which was the truce flag in Tamriel.

"Let him through. Let's hear what he has to say," ordered Daenerys.

As the man came closer, Daenerys realized he wasn't a man at all. He was a mer, a Bosmer to be specific, short with brown skin and dressed completely in leather. He also had more piercings than she'd seen before, three in one ear, two through his left eyebrow, another in his nose, and one on his lip that looked especially painful. "Hey there, we don't know who we pissed off bad enough to bring all this down on our heads, but we know when we're outmatched. We're just 'unters and miners tryin' to make a livin'. Any way we can just pay tribute? We know 'ow this fight would end."

Daenerys frowned. Was this Bosmer just playing dumb? "Jarl Balgruuf put a bounty on this camp for banditry and poaching. If you surrender, I can take you back to Whiterun to face his justice."

"M'lady that's not a fair shake. We're poachers, not bandits. Poachin' in Whiterun, that's 'ard labor in the bleedin' Jarl's chain gang for a few years, but bandits get their 'ead chopped if they're lucky."

The sound of a horn came from the far side of camp out beyond where Daenerys could easily see. "Stand! Until we know what is happening." She pointed to one of the younger Nords standing around with a sword in hand. "You, lad. Run see what's happened and report back.

The bosmer took off his hat and twisted it in his hands. "Bloody lack-ball cowards. We'll, I'm screwed now, aren't I?"

Daenerys eyed the Bosmer up and down. "Do you know what's happening?"

The bosmer shrugged. "Bugger them. They're makin' a ran for it out the bloomin' tunnel."

A few minutes later proved that the wood-elf was correct. They had tried to get out through an escape tunnel but ran into some of her men. The fight had been short and everyone who had tried to make a break for it was dead. Unfortunately, they had also killed one of her men and another one of her troops had only survived due to potions. That was the first topic when she met with her small council that night.

"So, we lost a man. Anything we could have done better?"

Fultheim shrugged. "No, our men did good. We'd spotted the pit, but it looked like a mammoth trap. We didn't know it connected to the mine. Too many men sallied from that one spot. Salim was on the spot and rallied our troops, they held the line until reinforcements came. I think it goes back to what we already know, we need more underofficers."

Daenerys nodded her acceptance. She didn't want to make too much of losing a single soldier. Battles weren't safe. "I already agreed about the underofficers. Fultheim, I want you to test the Bosmer we captured. I don't think he had strong ties to the poachers if they cut him free like that. We need scouts and archers. If he's any good, I'll talk Jarl Balgruuf. I can probably pay off his sentence as long as it is just poaching. We can cut him the same deal we did with Salim."

Fultheim nodded. "I'll give him a test, but if you make him a scout he could just ride out and not return."

"True, but he was honest about being a poacher, didn't try to deny it. He may be crooked, but I have the feeling his word is good."

"Very well," agreed Fultheim.

They talked for another hour, but the real discovery came after the meeting when Faralda showed her the enchanted items and other significant loot they had discovered. While Daenerys wasn't Faralda's apprentice any longer, she was still trying to improve her ability to sense enchantments by going over the enchanted loot with Faralda.

"And then there is this crystal." Faralda picked up a white crystalline orb "It has some kind of enchantment that even I couldn't pin down. Tell me what you make of it."

Daenerys took the crystalline orb without much thought. As soon as she touched the orb a loud feminine voice started yelling at her.

"A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON. LISTEN. HEAR ME AND OBEY. A FOUL DARKNESS HAS SEEPED INTO MY TEMPLE. A DARKNESS THAT YOU WILL DESTROY. RETURN MY BEACON TO MOUNT KILKREATH, AND I WILL MAKE YOU THE INSTRUMENT OF MY CLEANSING LIGHT."

Cleansing light was a major clue, but from her research into word walls, Daenerys knew who had a temple at Mount Kilkreath. "Meridia?"

Lydia gasped.

Faralda frowned. "The Daedra Princess, Meridia. Yes, that would fit. Well done, I didn't get that. Perhaps the crystal is consecrated to her?"

Daenerys studied the crystal in her hand, but it remained silent. "You didn't hear Merida speaking just now?" The clueless expressions on Faralda and Lydia's faces were answer enough. "I heard Meridia speak when I touched the crystal. She called it a beacon. She… invited me to cleanse her temple on Mount Kilkreath." Although it was more of an order than a request.

Faralda frowned. "No, I heard nothing."

Lydia put her sword away. "Neither did I."

"What do you intend to do about it?" asked Faralda.

Daenerys shrugged. "Nothing really to do. It would take weeks to reach Mount Kilkreath, and we're heading in the other direction. Although, there is a word wall by Meridia's temple, so we may go there someday. It's possible this beacon may be a key, like the dragon claws. For now we lock it away in a chest and forget about it."

"Tell no one?" asked Faralda.

"We'll tell Sofija, maybe Fultheim, but other than that, no. It won't do any good for anyone to know that we have a daedric artifact."

"That's certainly true," agreed Faralda. "Very well, another secret to keep."

"Your secrets are mine, my thane," added Lydia.

"Thank you." She was accumulating secrets at a frightening pace, but she didn't need secrets. She needed the ability to kill dragons. She needed knowledge and power. Did Meridia's offer to be the 'instrument of her cleansing light' give her any power? Or just more demands? For now it didn't matter. As soon as Eorlund Greymane finished her armor, they would be heading to the Greybeards and the Throat of the World was in the opposite direction. Meridia would just have to wait. At least for now.