Once again, Dayan found himself crouched in an uncomfortable position, desperately fighting the urge to move and stretch his legs. The sun was gone behind the horizon, but the sky was still illuminated with its dying glow. Sasha was lying on her belly a few inches away, trying not to shoo away the creatures that crawled in front of her.
From their observation position among a cluster of trees, Dayan carefully took mental notes of what he saw; Twenty…twenty one, two, three, four, men, Orc and Redguard, ten horses, four tents, five sentries, two avenues of attack. Sasha nudged Dayan and pointed to Breton washing himself in the river. Dayan recognized him to be Zakariah Duvall. No visual confirmation was needed to locate Jacobi. He was most likely the source of the tortured screams of Argonian prisoners from a tent on the furthest end of the camp. To rush in and rescue the captives would risk exposing his team prematurely.
Unfortunately the Riders were to endure two more hours of overhearing the torture and eventual execution of the Argonians before Jacobi retired for the evening. His brother Zakariah was already asleep along with most of his troops. Dayan normally used the darkness of night as a tactical advantage to raid fixed encampments and if Roe were not been absent he might've considered the possibility, however once the alarm was sounded the Riders would immediately be overwhelmed. Using the light from the rising sun behind them, the Riders would unleash a volley of arrows into the camp. The Duvall mercenaries would have to retaliate by attacking across a river towards the bright and blinding light of the sun.
Hours passed and finally sunrise came.
A collection of scruffy looking men bathed themselves by the river while a small work party carried the bodies of the mutilated Argonians to a far end of the camp to be buried. Dayan waited for the mercenaries to begin preparing breakfast before initiating the attack.
One cooking fire lit…and another…and a third.
Dayan whistled, imitating the noise of a whippoorwill bird and drew back on the drawstring of his bow. Zakariah Duvall emerged from his tent and welcomed the morning. Dayan's arrow soared through the air and caught the younger of the Duvall's in the chest. Zakariah stumbled backwards grabbing hold of the canvas door flap and pulling the entire tent to the ground. Arrows pelted the encampment and by the second volley the alarm had been sounded but the origin of the threat was not yet recognized.
More arrows. More dead mercenaries.
"There! Across the river!"
Elgamil dispatched the astute mercenary with a throwing knife a moment too late. Soon thirty men charged across the river, some fighting through the pain of two and three arrows stuck in their bodies. Zakariah Duvall defiantly led the charge with Dayan's arrow still protruding from his torso. When the last of the mercenaries entered the river, Sasha, Mogakh and Elgamil emerged on their flanks and behind them while Amir, Dayan, Toji and Jayred occupied the front.
The mercenaries now fought hand to hand with their aggressors.
Amir stood firm with his long spear jabbing and swinging at those who attempted to surround and kill him. Like an elegant dancer, Amir twirled, putting the weight of his entire body behind each strike that tore flesh and sinewy muscle from bone. A distracting blow from the shaft followed closely by a spear point strike. One mercenary, thinking himself clever, snapped Amir's spear in two with an axe but the Redguard retaliated using the two broken halves as fighting sticks. Zakariah's sucking chest wound slowed him down significantly and Amir cracked the Breton on the side of his head then on the bridge of his nose. The lifeless Breton tumbled head over heels down into the river where Sasha and Mogakh stood back to back engaging a parade of enemy mercenaries.
White water mixed with blood splashed upon the shore as if a violent sea monster thrashed about beneath the surface. Jayred kept his leg firmly down upon the back of a mercenary, pressing his face under the water while he fought two of his companions above. Jayred tossed his smaller opponents about, chucking them like used garbage for Mogakh to finish off with his claymore. With most of the Duvall mercenaries engaged in the river, Dayan led a counter-charge into the water identifying Jacobi Duvall amongst the fray. The Redguard tackled the Breton onto the riverbank but Jacobi recovered quickly, rolling and simultaneously drawing his blade. Jacobi and Dayan tore at one another like animals, each one a skilled fighter in their own art.
The woods clamored with the sound of metal. Reinforcements! Dayan considered calling for his Riders to retreat. Surprisingly, Jacobi withdrew from combat and took half a moment to scan the perimeter, appearing to have no knowledge of what approached. Dayan curiously did the same. Heavily clad Imperial Legionnaires emerged from the trees with bowstrings drawn and arrows loaded. Behind them was Commander Coffee's 11th Cohort prepared for battle. Commander Coffee presented himself on a horse, a silver longsword in his right hand. He pointed the sword tip at Dayan.
"Put down the weapon and surrender Sergeant! All of you surrender!"
Both the Riders and the Duvall mercenaries paused from fighting one another to recognize the new threat. Amir was bleeding badly from his shoulder and fought to hold his weapon on guard. Jacobi aimed the tip of his sword at Dayan, then at the Legionnaires and back to Dayan. Sasha made miniscule inconspicuous movements, positing herself advantageously for when the combat resumed. Bodies floated like logs downstream, damning the flow of water as they piled up against the rocks. Moments passed without anyone saying a word.
"You are all under arrest for the slaughter of the workers of Site 11." Commander Coffee's voice boomed. "Now I don't care if you're the daughter or son of the Emperor himself, you have until the count of five to place your weapons on the ground!"
The Imperial Commander hadn't begun to count when Roe made his dramatic return. The Commander watched as the head of one of his Cohort soldiers rolled across the dirt in front of him. Almost in a state of disbelief, Coffee didn't give the command for his archers to fire. Roe then expediently removed Commander Coffee from his horse, tackling him to the ground. He slammed Coffee's head into the jungle floor over and over until it became flat and disfigured in his hands. Mogakh let out a fierce battle cry and pierced his claymore deep into one of the Duvall mercenaries. The rampage continued, mercenary fighting Rider fighting Legionnaire fighting mercenary.
Arrows from the first volley of Legion archers criss-crossed the camp, Amir fell instantly with arrows in his chest and neck. Jayred took an arrow in the back, Sasha in the thigh and Elgamil in the stomach. The first volley had done significant damage, but before the Imperials could reload, Dayan's Riders were upon them joined by their mutual allies/ enemies. The mercenaries charged forward into the line slicing wrists, arms, heads and faces as one after the other the Imperial archers fell dead.
Dayan and Jacobi squared off again – a reckless barrage of overhand attacks countered with kicks and punches to the midsection. Jacobi lunged his sword at Dayan who evaded but was tackled to the ground by a Legionnaire. The Redguard fought desperately with the Legion soldier clawing at his eyes and mouth. Jacobi stood over the two and sunk his sword into the back of the Legionnaire, pushing the blade through the man's back, out his chest and into Dayan's ribs. Jacobi removed his sword and kicked the lifeless body of the Legionnaire off his Redguard opponent and stood poised to finish him off. The rising sun illuminated the figures of mounted cavalrymen as they charged forward from behind the main line of Legion soldiers. An Imperial cavalryman charged ahead, lowered his lance and connected with great force breaking both Jacobi's back and the wooden lance. The last Duvall brother was tossed forward landing face first on the ground.
Dayan immediately came to his feet. The cavalryman turned his horse about, tossed his broken lance aside and drew his sword. He charged back towards the Redguard who waited for the precise moment to dodge the attack and cut at the horse's legs. The rider was thrown to the ground, too dazed to retaliate before the Redguard was upon him, tearing his helmet off and shoving a dagger into his eye socket.
Sasha unleashed a storm of fireballs, spooking the horses which threw off their cumbersome riders. Elgamil rushed to the fallen Legionnaires and eliminated them with an arrow shot to the head. Mogakh wildly swung his battle axe, crunching straight through the iron armour of the soldiers. Their strikes, blows, cuts and swings were methodical and repetitive. Elgamil stood over the body of a dismounted rider, poised to launch an arrow shot into the enemy's face when a silver claymore impacted her rib cage. Her body folded around the cut and she was thrown off her feet. It took Toji a few minutes to realize what had happened to his companion. He soon caught glimpse of her lying motionless on the jungle floor. As the battle raged around him, Toji slowly walked towards his fallen comrade and dropped to his knees. Roe provided cover, fending off attacks while Toji clutched lovingly onto Elgamil's lifeless body. Roe was knocked to the ground just moments away from being killed when the Khajiit let loose into a rage reminiscent of his moon sugar days.
The Legion soldier poised to kill Roe was decapitated with a single slice of Toji's scimitar. The Khajiit cried a painful saddened roar and pushed forward breaking the Legion lines. Faces were peeled away, throats torn open and body parts thrown all about. Sasha ignited a battling group of Duvall mercenaries and Legionnaires in a firestorm so large that for a moment it seemed as if it was midday. Bewildered at this vicious counterattack, the Legionnaires fell back to defensive positions, unable to halt their mounting casualties.
An arrow sliced through the air and cut open Dayan's cheek. A wave of anger the Redguard never had experienced before suddenly enveloped him. He went frantic, borderline insane. It felt like the gods themselves removed his spirit from his physical body and Dayan sat watching from up on high as he led a battle charge, swiping heads, cleaving limbs, crushing faces with his bare hands. Dayan took almost no interest in self preservation, not bothering to parry or block, swiping at major body parts, throwing kicks and punches when he could. He found himself minutes later with no more enemies to fight. The Duvall Brothers and their ruthless band of mercenaries were dead and the Legionnaires defeated. The Riders were victorious.
Dayan allowed his mind to focus for a moment and instantly the pain of his wounds shot up his nerves. He had been cut numerous times across the chest, in the legs and on his face. The blood oozed from the cuts in his armour and he became nauseous. He dropped to a knee and Jayred came running to assist him, a look of panic on his face.
"Are you okay? Stay right here, I think we got them all."
He began to fade in and out of consciousness. Using his sword as a cane, he helped himself up. Dayan managed to stagger a few feet before having to stop, succumbing to his overwhelming pain. Sasha quickly came to his aid, carrying him from underneath his arms.
"Where is Mogakh!" She asked.
"Amir." Dayan asked for his little brother.
"Amir's dead, where is Mogakh?"
Dayan pointed to where he had seen the Orc last. Jayred found him moments later, sprawled in the middle of seven dead Legion soldiers with four spears and a claymore protruding from his torso. Sasha carried Dayan back to their camp and laid him down on a bedroll before he finally lost consciousness.