16

The next morning, I walked out into the desolate courtyard, wrapped in a thick, hooded fur jacket, with a pack of supplies over my shoulder. The early morning sun cast a yellowish glow across the fort, giving me my first daylight view of the damage. The remains of the command office were like the blackened bones of some defeated giant, a smoking monument to so many deaths. The rest of the fort bore varying levels of damage, from crumbled walls to charred stone. It would have to be extensively repaired if it was to ever serve as an Imperial fort again.

Liman approached me, lines of exhaustion etched into his face. He had changed clothes at least, and no longer wore his bloody white cook's uniform.

"Thank you for staying guard so late last night," he said wearily. "I didn't get very much sleep. I've been up since before sunrise."

"Have you managed to contact the Legion?"

"Yes, we sent a messenger bird. I told them of the attack and requested more soldiers as soon as possible. I didn't know what else to say."

"That's enough. They should respond right away. If they hurry, they might be here in just a few days."

"I hope so. I don't know how long we can hold out here."

"I think we'll be okay for now," I said, trying to sound supportive. "We have enough food to last, and Reinhardt said all the wounded are going to be okay."

"But ... what if they attack us again?" Liman asked.

I could not think of an easy lie, so I just shrugged uncertainly. "I don't think they'll bother to attack us again. No one here is a threat to them." It was not very convincing, but it was all I could come up with. The truth was that if the fort was attacked in force again, everyone here would be killed. If an entire regiment of Imperial Legion troops could not fend off an attack, what hope did the rest of us have?

The other survivors had been busy already this morning, taking care of the undesirable job of burying the dead. There were too many bodies and not enough survivors, so the work would take much of the day, and I was very glad not to be a part of it. Thankfully, no one asked me. The ground was not frozen solid, but it was still very hard because of the cold, so digging the graves would be difficult, back-breaking labor, and frankly, I was not suited for it.

But right now, what else could they do?

I found Gaea outside the fort walls, walking along the edge of the tree line. She had a noticeable limp, but did not seem to be in any pain. She smiled slightly when she saw me and waved me over.

"I was looking for tracks in the snow," she said when I came close. She pointed toward the rocky ground that surrounded the fort and then gestured to the south. "There are some tracks here, but none of them lead into the woods. It almost looks like they came along the shore and then circled around this way to attack the fort from the north."

"That doesn't make a lot of sense," I said, looking at the tracks. "You'd think they would have gone around and attacked the south side of the fort."

"Yeah, the guards would not watch that side as closely because it faces the sea."

Together, we walked along the perimeter of the fort, trying to make sense of the scattered tracks. Some areas did not have snow, so it was hard to make an accurate guess about what direction they had been going. But it seemed to me that Gaea was right; the attackers had originally come from the south and moved around the fort to deliberately attack it from the better-protected north side.

"I guess you're in charge here now," I said as we headed back toward the fort.

"Seems that way," Gaea said morosely.

"You could have been here when it happened," I reminded her. "We both could have been here. If we hadn't been sent to Raven Rock, I think we'd both be dead right now."

Gaea nodded and then chuckled cryptically. "It's ironic, really. We were sent to the mine to warn them about a possible attack. And it turns out the attack was actually right here. Pretty terrible coincidence. Captain Carius must have gotten some warning about an attack and just assumed it was directed at Raven Rock."

I must have paled a bit at the mention of Falx, and Gaea quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Sasha."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I said.

When we made it back to the fort, Gaea frowned when she saw two of the Imperial Cultists carefully trying to pick their way through the ashes of the command office.

"We have some bad work to be done today," she said softly, as if to herself.

We didn't even know how many bodies were buried in the ashes. Retrieving the bodies and burying them would be a dirty, painful, sickening job. Identifying the remains would likely be impossible, and many of the remains would never be recovered at all, having been completely incinerated in the blaze.

"Reinhardt Red-Spear and I are going to one of the Nord villages," I told her. "We need to know who's responsible for this."

"Some of the others are already saying that the Nords did it," Gaea sighed. "That we should attack them and burn their villages as soon as the reinforcements arrive."

"I was afraid of that. You don't agree with them, do you?"

Gaea shook her head. "I don't think the regular Nords had anything to do with it. We haven't had any problems with them the entire time I've been stationed here. But I've heard rumors about that cult of werewolf worshipers. And Liman said that the people who did this wore wolf skins, so it must have been them."

"That's what me and Reinhardt are going to figure out."

"Listen, Sasha," Gaea said, lowering her voice. "Be careful around Red-Spear. I know he helped us yesterday. I mean, he probably saved my life. But I don't think you should trust him. Something about him just ... doesn't sit right with me."

I nodded. "I know what you mean."

"He showed up here at fort pretty often, and he always seemed to make a point of remembering everyone's name. I always had the feeling he was spying on us or something. I don't think Carius trusted him either, but we didn't have any real evidence against him. I just think you should be careful around him."

"I will," I promised. "Reinhardt's hiding something, but I don't have any idea what it could be. Like you said, he was a huge help for us yesterday, and he killed one of the berserkers who attacked us. So he can't be working with them. But he knows more than he's letting on."

"Yes, that's exactly how I feel about him."

Just then, Reinhardt Red-Spear seemed to materialize in the courtyard, as if our conversation had conjured him. He walked over to us, wrapping a strip of cloth around his hair to tie it in a ponytail. His longsword was strapped to his back, and he had several small pouches hanging from his thick leather belt.

"Good morning," he said somewhat gruffly. "Did you tell Gaea?"

"I just did. We can leave whenever you want."

"As soon as possible, I guess. Although I would rather stay here and help out."

"We'll be fine," Gaea said. "You helped us more than enough last night. All we have to do now is bury our dead. Sasha thinks that going to the Nords will help us learn who's responsible for this, and I agree with her."

"We may learn something," Reinhardt agreed. He tightened the cloth and brushed his hair over his shoulder, looking through the gate to the woods beyond. "But it would be prudent to have as many people here at the fort as possible. It seems selfish to leave when there is so much work to be done."

"We need to tell the Nords about what happened," I said. "Because when the Legion reinforcements arrive here in a few days, they're going to be looking for some payback. At the very least, we need to give the Nords the opportunity to tell us that they're innocent. "

Reinhardt hadn't thought of that. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded. "Yes, you have a point there."

"You should get ready," Gaea advised. "I'll help you pack some supplies. We don't have much to spare, but you'll need all the help you can get."

"I'll go get us some warmer clothes and maybe some more weapons," Reinhardt said, and headed off towards the guard's quarters. I had the distinct feeling that he had deliberately left us because he suspected we had been talking about him.

"Come on," Gaea said. "I know Red-Spear knows the way, but you better have a map with you, just in case."

We went to the Cult offices and Gaea helped get me a map of Solstheim, as well as some other supplies. As we were leaving the building, one of the Cult members approached us hesitantly, looking downcast, as if unwilling to look us in the eyes. I recognized him as the amateur spellcaster who had used restoration spells on the wounded the night before.

He was a lanky man with closely-cropped hair and a somewhat wizened, thin-lipped appearance, although that may have been due to the trauma he had suffered through in the past day. His brown Cult robe was dirty and smeared with ash, and I saw dirt caked under his fingernails when his hands poked out of his large sleeves.

"Excuse me," he said in a tired voice. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you, but I heard you say that you're traveling north?"

"Yes," I said. "I think the Nords might be able to give us some information about who attacked us last night."

The Cult member nodded and shrugged meekly. "I know this might not be the most appropriate time to ask about this. I mean, there is so much suffering right now. It's selfish of me to even ask, but can you do something for me?"

Curiosity got the best of me, so I answered, "What is it?"

"It's my fiance," he said. "She went north several weeks ago to do some missionary work among the Nords. It's part of our work in the Cult, you know. She was supposed to return a few days ago, but I haven't received word from her in some time. If you visit some of the villages, can you maybe ask around about her?"

"Sure I can," I said, feeling sorry for him. The Imperial Cult, for all its faults, does at least attempt to foster positive behavior in its followers, so I could see how it bothered him to ask such a favor. Especially at a time like this, it seemed self-centered for him to worry about his fiance when so many people had died. But it cost me nothing to help him out, so I agreed to it.

"Thank you," he said with a relieved sigh, a weary smile momentarily flashing on his face. "Thank you so much. My name is Jeleen, by the way, and my fiance's name is Mirisa. She is a Redguard, and she is perhaps only a couple years older than you are, but much taller. Maybe the Nords have seen her or know where she is."

"I'll keep an eye out," I promised.

Gaea and I left the Cult offices and headed for the guards' quarters. As we walked, Gaea said, "Jeleen should consider himself lucky that his girlfriend hasn't returned to the fort yet. If she had been here last night, she could have been killed."

"You're right, but it doesn't hurt to agree to help him. I probably won't run into her anyway, so it doesn't matter. We're not going to every village, we're just going to Thirsk."

Half an hour later, Reinhardt and I were both ready for the trek north. Reinhardt donned a backpack with some food, a few medical supplies, and some oil flasks and flint to start fires with. He unhooked his sword scabbard and fastened it to his belt so he could walk with his hand upon the hilt. We both wore thick fur-lined parkas with gloves and heavy boots. My own sword hung at my hip, and I had six knives concealed on my person. In addition to our map and some money, I also carried a short bow and had a small quiver of arrows on my back, even though I was long out of practice with a bow. Reinhardt claimed to be a terrible archer, but he felt that one of us should carry a ranged weapon, just in case, so the responsibility fell to me. Thus armed and supplied, we left the fort.

As we headed up the hill and into the trees, Reinhardt turned to me and said conversationally, "At least you and I will have some time to talk privately, without anyone around to listen in on us."

"Yes," I said. "We have lots to talk about."