Authors Note: well, shit. I was hoping to get this out sooner rather than later but between being back in college and working 50+ hours a week, my hands have been full. Enjoy as the arcs from here will be at least 3-4 chapters long sometimes more.
The Dragonborn found himself on the walls, his sword slick with the blood of traitors. The legionnaires around him were fighting as hard as he was. They couldn't let the drawbridge fall; if the Stormcloaks took the drawbridge, they'd have an open avenue to the city unless…
He looked at the lever controlling the drawbridge. The Stormcloaks had yet to reach it. They were holding strong. He thanked Talos silently for that as ran over to the lever and, picking up a discarded weapon, jammed it deep into the mechanism.
They wouldn't get in that way. Not for a while at least. A horn blasted from behind, deep and brazen as it resounded throughout the city and over the plains. Brand knew what it was – a call to retreat. Looking over at the walls he saw why; the traitors had ladders. By the Nine, he thought irritably.
"Retreat!" he called as loudly as he could, "back to the city!"
Legionnaires streamed down from the drawbridge and through the gate. He formed fire in his left hand, calling upon his magicka reserves. Sending a steady jet of fire, he melted the mechanism – he'd have to pay for its replacement. He knew that the Jarl would have his head over that. But he didn't care, this was war.
He joined his men in retreating. They had been quick in warming up to being under his command. "Onto the walls!" he ordered. "Defend the walls! Keep the traitorous dogs from our city."
As they approached the gates, they ground open slowly and they rushed in. At least two hundred legionnaires left under his command. Their holding the drawbridge had been brutal if short lived. Irileth ran up to him, a bloodied bandage wrapped around her upper arm, her steel sword slick with blood. "Why did you abandon the drawbridge?!"
"It is not abandoned, they cannot use it." he pointed out. "I disabled the lever controlling it, melting the mechanism together so that they couldn't lower the bridge and assault the gate. Now, their own way into the city," he pointed at the walls with Sunsinger, "is over the walls that are held by hundreds if not thousands of defenders. We will hold, we must will break upon the walls like water on rocks and we will send them to Sovngarde."
The Housecarl faltered before nodding. He had a point – they couldn't assail the gates now, all they had to content with would be their ladders. She ran off, back to where the Jarl would be. He watched her run for a few moments before he ran up the stairs outside the guardhouse. Once on the roof, he made his way to the walls. The soft twang of bows and whistling of arrows greeted him. He watched as lines of Stormcloaks running towards the walls were riddled with arrows, falling to the embrace of death. Imperial battlemages called upon fire and storm, supplementing their comrades with their magic.
Burning flesh and scorched ozone assailed his nostrils. If he had been any younger, any less experienced than he was now, he would've retched over the walls from the acrid smells. He sheathed Sunsinger and cupped both hands together. Calling once more on his magicka, a ball of blue-white lightning soon floated above his palms.
Lightning shot down, burning the air as it did so. It arced from Stormcloak to Stormcloak, cooking each one it touched in their armor. As they fell, smoke plumed from their corpses. He smiled as over a dozen Stormcloaks fell to his magic but he felt the noticeable drain. He couldn't use magic like that again for a while at least unless he had potions. But he hadn't packed any, not thinking he'd have to use his limited magical abilities.
The sun soon set and the Stormcloaks retreated to their camp for the day. They couldn't maintain a siege throughout the night with their numbers being noticeably thinned out by the defenders. Brand smiled softly before turning and leaving the walls.
He had to find Balgruuf. He prayed to the Nine above, as he made his way through the besieged city, that they had Imperial engineers in their ranks. Some of the buildings, he noticed, had been reduced to smoking rubble by the Stormcloak catapults. He swore violently under his breath until he saw Balgruuf standing by the well in the market. Irileth and many Companions were with him – as was an Imperial Legate he couldn't recognize.
Balgruuf saw him first.
"Brand!" he called over the constant chatter of those with him. Thank the Nine, he thought to himself. Brand stopped before the group, saluting as he did so. "My Jarl," he said gruffly. "The Stormcloaks have fallen back for the night."
"Good!" exclaimed the Jarl as the Legate beside him sighed in relief. "I want you, Brand, to lead a sortie through a hidden door and into the Stormcloak camp once the Moons are high in the sky."
"A sortie?" the order threw him off. He couldn't lead too many of them into the camp but if they were successful… It could do alot of damage. They could cripple the Stormcloaks in one strike. Kill some of the men, burn their supplies and even sabotage their siege engines. "Can you do it?" asked the Legate. He seemed wary of the Dragonborn and the respect he commanded.
"Give me enough men and it'll be done," he shot back. "But I could probably manage the same effect with the Thu'um."
"Why don't you use it more?" asked the Legate. "That sort of power could end the siege. There is no way they could defend against that Thu'um of yours."
"The Thu'um isn't completely reliable even for myself to use it so freely," he snapped. "If I summon a storm with the Voice there's no telling how many of our men get caught in it. And I will not have that blood on my hands, Legate."
Brand turned his attention to the Jarl instead. "How long do I have to rest and gather the men?" he asked solemnly. He'd have the blood of his comrades on his hands either way. He resigned himself to that fact silently. Praying for forgiveness by the Nine, he looked at his old friend.
"Two hours. That's all you get, my friend. Gods be with you."