A caribou soldier had entered the throne room, looking like he had ran a marathon. King Dainn was busy talking to Prince Blueblood on what had happened in Ponyville when he barged in. They were all alone in said room. His princess slaves are in his room, reading for his daily fucking. The king was already annoyed at the soldier's arrival. "YOU HIGHNESS!"

"We will talk about this later." He said to Blueblood. Blueblood wasn't pleased by this, but nodded in agreement. "What is it?" The king said to the soldier. "If the nobles want their voices heard, then they would have to wait."

The soldier kneeled. "I'm sorry, your highness, but I have urgent news coming from Stalliongrad."

Dainn raised an eyebrow. "Well, speak. What's the matter?"

"Well....Stalliongrad is being besieged. The defenders have fallen. Governor Sextus...was killed in action."

The room was dead silent as the soldier delivered his news. The soldier couldn't see his superiors face, as his head was looking down. "Care to repeat that?" The king said. He could literally hear the venom and coldness coming from his tone.

The soldier gulped. "I.....said that Stalliongrad was captured by some unknown forces. We tried to send in some reinforcements, but they have destroyed some of the Gateway's in the city was destroyed. We tried to open up another one, but.... but...." Dainn stood before, his fierce glare baring down on the poor soul. Not the caribou was trembling in fear. "Please my lord, I-" Dainn's horn lit up, and in a flash, a laser punctured the soldier's stomach. The soldier's eyes went wide, before hitting the floor with a pool of his own blood.

"Fuck, you almost drenched my suit." Prince Blueblood commented.

King Dainn turned around towards his throne and sat upon it, and anger look in his face. "I can't believe this has happened again." He started to rant. "Don't those resistance bitches know I am a god to them?!? I would have burnt that city to the ground long ago if I so chose."

"That maybe true, your greatness." Blueblood started to say. "However, I don't think it's the resistance that we should be worrying about. I know for a fact that they are being helped by someone. I would bet it’s the same one that attacked the village."

"I was just asking about that." The king said. "What happened in Ponyville?"

"It was a massacre, your highness." Blueblood started to retell what had happened. "It was clear that these.... things were organized than any resistance I have hunted down over the years. I've fought bravely alongside the General, but alas, it was not enough. Some of my men wanted to escort me out of there. I told them that lives are at stake, but they said that I was a prince, and thus and heir to the throne. Every fiber in my veins told me to say behind and fight, but they were right. I escaped, like they told me to do."

The king looked at him in the eye, seeing any sign of lying. As far as he could tell, he was telling the truth. He sighed. "Well, then this is a serious problem. Whoever, or whatever, is doing this, must be very smart. They have already raided it once, and stolen the Elements. Then they did it a second time, and obliterated General Fabius's army. And now this." He looked at Blueblood. "IF we don't do something so, this could get out of control."

"Precisely." Blueblood agreed with him. "I would go to Stalliongrad and negotia-"

"NO!" The king exclaimed as he got up from his throne. "I don't care what they want, I am a god. And a god doesn't not negotiate with rabble!" He sat back down. "Send a message to Legate Lanius. Tell him that I need him and his army here."

"Legate Lanius?" Blueblood questioned. "Are you sure you want to.......summon him. I mean, He's not very......" He tried to come up with a word for him. "Great, when it comes to survivors."

He grinned. "Exactly. I want everyone to know what happens when you cross a god. Now, go send that message. I want him here within the hour." Blueblood nodded and went on his way, closing the door on the way out. The king shifted a little to get comfortable. "Whoever is doing this, must be really smart if he planned this from the beginning." He murmured to himself. "I must be careful. Who knows what he could do next."

"And your curtain I won't get cancer?" I questioned Xucruroth. It was a strange, and possibly stupid question, but I was curious. I didn't read enough hocus pocus theories to know how magic works. I used magic a lot ever since I got here. I wanted to know if I had cancer because of this. That would be bad if I do get cancer

You’re probably wondering what had happened? Well, we won.

I know you guys wanted a full awesome siege. Trust me, I wanted one as well. From my perspective, it was awesome to me. Like I said, it felt like I was in a fantasy-type siege, where a group of heroic knight storm an evil castle to save a princess or some shit like that. However, the entire time was just me fighting my way towards the castle with my homies behind me. When I got to the castle, Sloth and his company of assassins killed the one in charge, and proceeded to kill anyone else in the castle. Really, there wasn't anything important about the siege.

The defenders decided that enough was enough, and got the hell out of town before they were killed, or worse. They got out from the back gate that lead into the city as well. Some of them that stayed there surrendered to us. I decided to lock them up until I decide what to do with them. Kat wants to hunt down the ones that escaped, but I was against it. I know we are at war with them, but sometimes you got to have to show some human compassion to them.

What can I say? I guess I want to hold onto something that makes me............me.

Eventually, we did find the civilians of the city. Apparently, there was a large tomb-like place located in the back, in the garden. Inside said place, there is actually nothing, except for a large lever. Seriously, whoever designed this place must have been a complete moron. I pulled the lever, and half of the floor opened up, revealing a secret passage. I went down said passage, hoping that it would lead me to something.

I had half hopes that it is some sort of treasure, like a golden burger with golden fries. There is such a thing!

But alas, I didn't find that. Instead, I found the civilians. They were inside a large cavern of sorts. Now, this is where things get a little complicated. Unlike the ones I saved in Ponyville, this one was a mixed group of pro-slavery and anti-slavery. Hell, when I got down here, I smelled musk and semen. I even saw some stallions and caribou civilians fucking any female they had. They all stopped when they saw me and a few of my homies boys, say boys drew their weapons. Some tried to fight us, but I subdued them all before the Dremora's charged at them, which mainly consisted of punching them in the face.

It’s amazing how much you can accomplice by punching people in the face.

I ordered my guys to storm the passage and separate the males from the females, and vice versa. I told them to not kill anyone, but I did tell them to punch someone if they get too aggressive. Thankfully, no one resisted us. In fact, there were some that weren't brainwashed like the rest. I still didn't trust them. Once we gotten back outside, I ordered them to put the males in cells, just in case. The ones that said that they weren't brainwashed were complaining, but ultimately accepted what I was doing. I can't take any chances. Hell, I even put the red collar ones in jail. You can never be too sure. I told the remaining females to not be alarmed, that I was here too free them.

They screamed like girls and ran around like headless chicken. I actually saw this coming.

Fortunately, Nightingale came to me just in time. To be more precise, I found her. She was hidden in some shrubs. The only thing that gave her away was the giggling after all the girls ran around. She followed us here, saying she didn't want to be left out of a fight. She joined Sloth and his assassins when the whole battle was going on. She managed to calm the girls down and explained that me and my army are part of the resistance, which was a lie. This lie seemed to calm them down. I soon told them to return home, and don't do anything stupid. Some of the females wanted some of the males released from prison, saying that they weren't brainwashed like the rest. I was hesitant on doing that, but Nightingale assured me that if they're telling the truth, then I could release them. In the end, I agree with them. However, I will have guards posted twenty-four seven around the city, just in case.

In short, we captured the city. The walls were destroyed, but we have magic. Magic can fix things, as I have learned during my time here. Actually, they can't fix anything, but hey. You know what they say. "You got to cast magic to make magic." Or something equitant to that. However, that doesn't mean that it is over. Not by a long shot. They did try to strike back at me, and........you know what, I'm going to tell you about it. Trust me, by the time you'll read this, you'll be shiting yourself.

Anyways, me and Xucruroth were already inside one of the rooms of the castle, which was some sort of alchemic room or something. Nightingale flew away to tell the members of the resistance what happened here. There were different types of plants inside the room itself. Some of them I recognized because they look the same as the ones on Earth, while there were others that were mystery’s to me. There was one plant that all blue, which had large blue leaves with a bulb and several petals stick out of each one. The label on the pot said "Poison Joke". According to the book that we found, it was a plant that is similar to Poison Ivy, but with different results. Instead of having a rash, the plant would "joke" the victim with funny things. The castle was different than what I expected. Nothing was ruined, mainly because we actually didn't damage it during our assault. There were modern appliances that replaced what you see inside a medieval castle, like instead of torches that line up on the wall, there were light bulbs instead. A large lamp-like device hung inside the entrance of the place. Hell, there was even a large kitchen with modern appliances in it, like a toaster.

"For the last time, Marcus, you can't. Get. Cancer." Xucruroth said to me in a matter like he was teaching a baby. "Magic isn't contagious like some mortal disease. It is something that flows through us all, like a breath of fresh air. A natural way of life." He was currently examining one of the plants, the Poison Joke. I was stand off to the side, leaning against the wall. My armor was a little beat up after all the fighting going on. My falcon, who I now named Norm, was perching on one of the windows. He flew back to me after the siege was over. There were some cuts and scars from my battle earlier, but they didn't bother me. I had a bandage on my forehead for when a caribou hit me in the face. In the end, he learned his lesson on how not to punt a human in the face.

Especially if he's missing said face.

I breathed in a sigh of relief. "Thank god for that. For a second there, I thought I might die." Dying is bad. Everyone knows that.

Xucruroth looked away from the plant and gave me a look that says "The fuck you saying?" "Why are you afraid of magic? It's not like your kind possess it."

"Actually, we don't." I told him. "We don't believe in magic, mainly because it never existed in our world. That doesn't mean we dismiss it. There is a lot of pop culture popularity around the ideas of fantasy." Like the Elder Scrolls series. "But it’s just that. Fantasy."

"......." Now he looked at me like I was a maniac or some crazy hobo. "I don't know who is stupid. Your kind or you?"

I chuckled. "Takes one to know one." I stood back up once again. "I heard you captured a Gateway. Mind telling me what you're going to do with it?"

"Experimenting." He said. "The Gateway is a fascinating thing. It functions almost like an Oblivion Gate, with a few missing factors. My hope is that we use this Gateway as a sort of transportation for our troops, getting them to where they want to go. Perhaps we could even ambush the enemy with it."

"You think it would work?" I asked. Xucruroth is a really smart person. He knows more about magic than anything else.

"It will take time, but we will make it work." He answered. "In fact, I should return to the other mages." He left the room, leaving me alone in said room.

I decided to leave the room and see how everything is going in the city. Before I could leave, Nightingale emerged from the door. "What's up, Night?" I said to her.

"Nothing much." She said. "It's a little crazy, though. I never would have imagined you pull it off."

It was easy, that is true. We just came in and wreaked everybody. I would have expected a grand siege or something. Guess we can't have everything we want. "Yeah. It seemed easy to me."

She snorted and laughed. "Easy? You practically wreaked them. I've never seen so many caribou running with their small tails between their legs. It was hilarious." She calmed down a little. "Oh, there is one thing that I have to tell you."

"And that is?"

"I did as you asked and sent a message to my boss what you did. They are coming here in an hour."

Now this was good news. "How did you do that?" I asked. I mean, it's not like she sent it like ma-

I mentally slapped myself in the face. Of course its magic! What else?

"Unicorns aren't the only ones that know teleportation. Our kind knows a special magic that’s been used for generations." She started to explain her strange power or something. "We call it 'Shadow Travel'. This allows ability to blink to places we want to go."

"Is it hard?"

"Meh. It hurts your head like a bitch, but we get used to it."

"Really?" I asked. I would have expected them to.... I don't know. Not answer me at all.

She nodded. "Yep. I managed to tell Storm Strider about you capturing the city. She flying over here as we speak."

"I would do that." A mysterious feminine voice said. By instinct, I twirled around at the suppose attacker, sheathing my Razor in the back of my pants. I faced the attacker.

"Wow there! I am not here to fight you." The person, or pony who was speaking to me was a pegasus mare of average height, thought a little taller than me. She had a grey coat that match a thunder could. Her mane and tail had a mixture of yellow, blue and white. She was wearing a golden armor with a large broadsword on her back. Although calling it armor would be calling a bird a dragon. It showed her mid drift and some of her boobs. Not fully exposed, but slightly. She had also a slim body as well, with two packs of D-cups. She had green eyes that scanned me.

Nightingale was standing there with her eyes wide open and her jaw hitting the floor. She quick saluted her. "Ma'am, y-you got here quickly than I expected."

"Well, I heard through the grapevine that someone captured Stalliongrad before you sent that letter to me." She walked over to me and gave me a look over. "When I heard that there was some sort of demon army sieging Stalliongrad, I didn't think it was possible. Now you proved me wrong." She looked at me in the eyes. "Although I was expecting someone more..........menacing."

"You saying I'm not menacing enough?" I said with my arms crossed. I don't know if I should take it as an insult or a compliment.

She laughed. "Na, you're too cute to even become menacing." Nightingale was laughing out loud and rolling on the floor. My cheeks were blazing hot. It's embarrassing when some hot alien calls you cute.

Not that she's hot or anything, I'm just saying

She stopped laugh after a while and held out her left hand. "Well, now that we got that out of the way, let's introduce ourselves. The name's Storm Strider, leader of the Resistance."

I shook my hand with hers. "Marcus Asher, leader of......." I acually don't know what to call them. I mean, I know who they are, but I don't know what to call my new army. I tried to think about what to call my army, but nothing came up. So I decided to blurt it out. ...."The Blood Legion." Actually, that’s not a bad name. I might call it The Burning Legion or something from pop culture, but then that would be boring. No one copyright it, or else I'm going to hunt you down!

"That's..........actually a cool name." She said. Ha! Told ya! "Well then, Marcus. You wanted to talk to me about an alliance, right?"

"Oh, yes." I said. "Do you want to go somewhere so we can talk?"

"Yeah." She answered. "Follow me. I'll show you to my office. Or what used to be my office." She went out the door. I started to follow her to wherever she's going. I heard the flapping of wings coming towards me, which means that Norm started to glide towards me. I lifted my left arm and the falcon landed on it, then started to skip towards my shoulder.

Things are finally going forward for me.

We arrived in a room, or her office if she called it. I have to admit; the office actually looks pretty nice. The walls were painted a light blue instead of the boring grey colors I've seen since I got here. A green couch sat in the left side of the room close to the wall. Two chairs sat opposite of each other, with a small round table in the center. A large desk sat in the end of the room. From what I could see, it was oak in nature, like it was cut up from the forest. Some papers laid along the desk, mainly things that are downright retarded like "Prop 28: Should bitches have bigger butts?" Yes, that's what it says. On another side of the wall, there was an assortment of BDSM stuff, like whips and fluffy hand cuffs and butt plugs. There was also a red velvet heart-shaped bed; It also smelled of musk and semen.

"Fuck. This place smells." Storm said as she and I entered the room. "The least they could do is keep my office clean." She went over to her desk and sat down, clearing the papers on the desk and putting them in the garbage can. She bent down to the bottom of her desk, the sound of glass hitting glass hit my ears. "Now where is- HA!" She got back up with a bottle of yellowish liquid. The label said "Las Pegasus Hard Cider." "I knew it would be here." She got out two glasses of shots and put them on the table. She then opened the bottle and pour it into the glasses. She offered one of them to me. "Want one?" She asked.

I grabbed the glass from her hands, still eyeing her. I was paranoid back then, you can't blame me for being suspicious. I looked at the contents in the glass. It seemed normal. I sniffed it. Smell normal, had an apple flavor to hit. I then started to drink the contents down. It tasted........strange. It had an apple flavor to it, but I could barely feel any alcohol. Maybe that just what it is in their world.

She took a swig of the glass and shuttered. "Celestia, that hit's the spot." She put her glass down and stared at me. "So, you want an alliance with us?"

"Yeah." I said.

She stared right into my eye. I could tell from the look in her eye that she had seen some shit, and knows what’s right or wrong. Hell, she might even be older than me. "Might I ask why?"

I sighed. "Look, I don't know much about this world, nor its inhabitants for that matter. So I need someone, or a group of.... ponies, to help me understand this world, and try to save it from the caribou."

She nodded. "I could guess that much. Nightingale told me about you, and your little army. My instincts tell me that I should just run away and....." She poured another glass and drank it down. "I don't know what to do anymore. I tried everything to help Equestria, but we're already thinned out as it is. We have no support, no armies and no discipline. The only thing that keeps it alive is me." She gave me a look, the type where you don't trust someone. "So I'm going to ask you again. WHY are you helping us?"

My mind was already racing for an answer. Should I tell her what Odin told me? That a great darkness would enshroud the earth and I was supposed to be a "guardian" of sorts. I use the term guardian loosely. From what I have, I guess I could have been this darkness. Then again, I trust a bearded unicorn.......Pegasus.......thing in the sky, and there's all this crazy shit going on. So maybe he trusts me, and me along. Maybe it was the best for her to not know what's really going on. "Look, I know that you don't trust me, or anything that I say." I started to say. "You're right to not trust me. Hell, from what you saw, I can't blame you. But know this” I tried to convince her. "These caribou are bad news. No one wants them to rule over them, but they do it anyway. Especially you gals. They made you nothing more than objects to be used and thrown out if they get bored. Where I come from, if someone is like that, we just declare war on those dick weeds and destroy them. That's what I want to do; to save Equestria and the world. If you don't believe me, then there's the door. I'm not going to stop you."

She soaked it all in and....thinking. I could tell there was a conflict going on in her head. From the look in her eyes, she didn't trust me very well, but she also trusts me on what I said. There was also admiration and respect I saw as well.

But above all things, there was hope.

"That was a worst speech if ever I heard one......"

Yep, she said that.

".... But I could tell that you did something special for our ponies, and what you did for us. When I looked around the street, I saw civilians rebuild the place, no chains on them. There was even a few of your guys that helped as well." She said with honesty. "I don't know what to think. On the one hand, your guys are a lot scarier than anything that I saw in my army days. On the other, you did exactly what I said. I have to admit, when Nightingale said that you were leading some demonic army, I was skeptical. There's never been a demonic invasion for thousands of years. Added to the fact that the Gates of Tartarus were closed during the Fall, let’s just saw you got my interest. I gave you a job to do, and you did it." She then outstretched her left hand, a smile on her face. "I think you convinced me enough. I, and the rest of the resistance will help you."

I was...surprised. I always thought she would reject my offer, and just leave the place. I guess I convinced her that I'm no threat.

"Convince" being a..... you know.

I shook her hand. This was actually the first time I've ever felt a ponies’ fur, which was soft than any pillow in my life. Almost like I was feeling a fluffy pillow. However, she tightened her grip on me, hurting my hand a little. She looked me in the eye, a scary glare in her eyes. "However, know this,” She started to say in a harsh whisper. "I'll be watching you. If you do anything that I don't like, I will seriously kick your ass so hard that you'll fly to the moon and back. Got it?" I quickly nodded that I almost felt my head come off. She brightens up again. "Good."

I was starting to think that this was a bad idea to begin with.

I decided to change the topic to get away from the weirdness. "Soooo, what do you want me to do now?"

She was opening her mouth to say something, but something else interrupted us. A soldier, a stallion Pegasus, stormed right into our meeting. From what I could tell, he was of the same age as Storm, and a little bulkier. His coat is a light red with a mixture of orange and blue mane and tail. He wore the same armor as her, but it had a few small scratches on it and a large one coming down his chest plate. His right eye was light brown, while the other one was milky white with a scar coming down horizontally. He was breathing heavily, slouched over while his left arm grabbed the nearest thing, which was a cabinet. It looked like he had to run a hundred miles to get here. From the look on his face, something was up. "Thunder, what's wrong?"

"Sorry........sis..." He started to say between breaths. "For..........disturbing.......you, but.........we.........got......trouble." Did he just call her sis? Well, now I know that they are both brother and sister.

"Slow down. Take a deep breath. Tell me what's wrong." She said, getting up from her chair and grabbing hold of him. She leads him to the couch and help him sit down. I decide to help him as well. I went over to her desk and bent down, searching for a drink for him to.... well, drink. I must say, she had a large collection of assorted booze, some with names that would get copyrighted in my world. There was a bottle of water that was conveniently placed inside. I took the bottle and made my way towards him. I handed him the bottle and he took a big gulp of it. The bottle was completely empty by the time he finished.

He took a couple of deep breaths before telling us what was up. "I just go back scouting out the area, when I see some movement in the distance. I went to investigate, and I saw large army heading this way."

"How's that bad?" I asked him. I think I could handle an army trying to recapture this place. Hell, I have a Daedric army for crying out loud. If there is an army coming towards me, I say let them come."

"You don't understand." He seemed worried, and looked like he saw a ghost. "This isn't some normal army. This army is led by........him."

I still didn't know what he was talking about, but Storm did. Her eyes were wide as plates, which was funny considering they were wide to begin with. She was trembling, the color on her fur disappearing before my eyes. "You........you don't mean......" She said in a trembling voice.

"Yes." He answered, his head held low. "It's him."

Now this is where shit gets real. I've never seen Strom Strider scared before in my life. Then again, I've only just met her. She was walking around the room like she had just lost her head. Then she started layer down on the floor in a fetal position, repeating the words "It's all over."

This was getting stupid. I helped her up, then slapped her in the face multiple times until she was back to her senses. "Calm down! Snapped out of it!" I did this for a few seconds until she was back too normal. "Now, tell me who you’re talking about."

She took some deep breaths before speaking. "Legate Lanius. Otherwise known as the "Beast of the East." Unlike the other caribou, he's ruthless to the core. He takes no prisoners, whether they be mare or stallion. Young or old. He doesn't care. He once slaughtered the entire population of Baltimare for rebelling against him. In Equestria, we know him as the "Butcher of Baltimare."" She looked me in the eyes. "You must have really pissed off Dainn if he sent him to take back Stalliongrad."

'.......Well shit. I'm fucked now.' I thought. I was actually feaking out at this point. "Can you excuse me for a second?" I stepped outside and did the only rational thing I could do.

Grab a pillow and scream into it.

I screamed right into the pillow. This wasn't a scream of frustration. It was a scream of a scared person.

'Why do things happen to me? Why?!!?' I thought. After about several minutes of being a pansy, I went back inside the office. Both of the siblings were watching me. Taking a deep breath, I turned to face her brother. "How long until he gets here?"

"Not for several hours. Last I heard, he was somewhere in the Zebra Lands dealing with tribal rebels. He'll muster up his troops and take the Gateway to Canterlot. Then it's at least a four hour walk to Stalliongrad."

"Good." I said. "It'll take us enough time to prepare our defenses."

Storm looked at me with wide eyes. "You don't mean-"

"I'll take him on." I simply said. Back then, I was actually scared shitless. If a man, or caribou at this point, is named the "Butcher of Baltimare", you run like hell to the hills. But not me. I was committed at this point. Sure, I was scared, but I faced tougher battle in the pasts, and those to come. Besides, I can't just abandon these ponies to their fate. If some caribou murder was coming after me, I won't back down. I'll fight him to the very end.

Especially since I had something I never thought I had at this point.

Spoiler alert: It's awesome!

Her brother, who had a second bottle of water, spit it out the moment I say I'll fight him. "Are you crazy!?!?! There's no way you can defeat him!" He yelled.

"I can, and I will." I answered him with my arms crossed on my chest. "If we give up now, he'll just slaughter us all. We need to hold him here."

Strom Strider looked at me like I was crazy. "Your nuts if you think you can defeat him. There's a reason why he's Dainn's attack dog. No one can defeat him. We tried holding him at the bank of the river surrounding Stalliongrad, but he just slaughtered us all. I barely made it out alive from that battle. He stormed the city and slaughtered us all. What makes you think you could kill him?"

I merely smirked. "Obviously, you haven't seen what I have." With that comment, I left the office with a stunned siblings and a plan in my mind.

We have survived worse. I just hope that the Dremora are ready for more.

After sometime, I managed to find Venom, Kat, Xavier, and Tirek and told them what we need to do, who was coming and how we could deal with the problem. We were in what I assume is some sort of conference room. There was a long table that stretched across the room with some number of swirling chairs beside the table itself. Some papers were scattered around the place. There was also a little bowl of peanuts on the table. Norm pecked at the bowl, trying to crack open the peanuts and eating them. A flag was presented in the end of the room. You'll never guess what it is. It's a red flag with a yellow hammer and a horseshoe crossing each other. A yellow star was on top of it as well.

Yep. It's that kind of flag.

"Wow. Only one day here and already your becoming a popular target practice." Venom joked. Well, to be fair, I didn't know if she was joking or being sarcastic.

"Maybe they might come from my autograph next. I'll be the next Billy Cosby." Venom seemed confused at what I said. "It's someone from my world."

"Still, this is bad news for all of us." Kat said. "We may have been successful so far, but maybe our luck has finally run out."

"Not if we act." Venom said. "I'm telling you, hiding behind the wall isn't an option. We must make our stand on the fields of battle!"

"I doubt we can succeed if this Lanius is famous in Equestria. We are better off holding him here than on the battlefield."

Venom was about to retort, but Xucruroth stepped in. "I hate to agree with Kat, but he's right. We can hold him off here at our expense."

"You think we can do it?" I asked him.

"We have managed to rework the Gateway to our disposal. We can now connect to Paradise and all of its resources. We even have troops being made as we speak. By my calculations, we could have at least two thousand more before he arrives." He answered me. This was actually good. If we now connect to Paradise, we could bring in as much supplies as we want. That way, we can at least try to hold out. But what will that actually achieve? Sure, we'll have supplies and reinforcements, but then that means our enemies would get the same treatment as us. We got to have to come and face them at some point.

Tirek snorted. "We could try, and be wiped out in a matter of minutes." He turned his attention towards me. "Send me out there. I could drain them until their nothing but husks."

I shook my head. "They may have figured out our helping me, and might have some sort of magic to counter it." I stated. He's been with me for a while. If some of the survivors said anything about him to the king, then they might have found something to counter act it or something. He was disappointed, but I could tell that he was a patient.... thing. "So we all in agreement to hold out here until either their army breaks or Lanius is killed?" They all nodded. "Alright. That's what we'll do then. We'll need trebuchets and boiling oil to help us, as well as anything else. Dismiss." They all left towards their own objectives, with the exception of Tirek and me.

"It looks like your taking control of the situation rather well." Tirek commented. "I must say, I am impressed."

"Perhaps you shouldn't." I said. "It's just luck that got me this far." I pulled out a chair and sat down, my left hand holding my head. "Now I'm sure that my luck has ran out."

"Luck has nothing to do with these past few weeks." He looked me in the eyes. It was actually creepy and scary, considering that his eyes are red. "The last few times were easy, I'd admit. But you know how to fight and how to solve situations. Your young, but have a fight spirt of a warrior. If this Lanuis wishes to fight you, let him. I know you can defeat him."

Now I looked back at him with hope in my eyes. "You really believe in me."

"Nope."

If I was way stronger than him, I would have just kicked his ass for making that comment.

".... but I have a feeling you will win." He started to trot out of the room, not before looking back at me. "You may be part of something great that even I do not know." He closed the door, the sound of his hoove steps disappearing.

I merely just sat there pondering on what he just said. Maybe luck had gotten me so far, and now it's just ran out. At the same time, I think I did everything by myself. Sure, I had help, but I helped with the escaped slaves now living in the castle and the civilians in Stalliongrad.

Norm finished all of the peanuts and flew to my right shoulder. I petted him with my left hand. 'I hope he's right.'

I really hope he's right.

'That idiot mortal is going to get us all killed someday.' Xucruroth thought as he studied a book about magic in this world. Flipping a page, he continued to read some of the spells that were currently in the book. 'I guess it's not as bad. I get to continue my experiments.' It wasn't like he hated what the new master was doing. Hell, if he had a chose between Mehrunes Dagon or staying with Marcus, he would choose Marcus. The young man was tough, and determined to do whatever it takes too free these ponies form their caribou masters.

It was funny. On Nirn, they were considered monsters. Now, they're saving people like heroes. At least they get to kill something.

He was currently in an office of sorts. It wasn't small or big, but it did serve its purpose to him. He sat on a large, swirling chair that was close to a large wooden table, which he suspected is some type of mahogany. Around him were posters of some sort of team called Stalliongrad Smasher. He and his mages took shelter inside a large arena he found. He founded it after the battle had calmed down a bit. The large sign that was almost ruined said it was called Stalliongrad Hooveball arena. From what he could gather, the play a game called Hooveball, which was funny considering that the ponies he meets didn't have hooves on their legs. He shrugged it off as another stupid thing in life. He and several other mages decided to use this place so they can work on the Gateway. He was telling the truth when he said that the Gateway was finished, allow them to connect to Paradise. However, that wasn't the only thing he was doing.

The book he was read was picked up during the raid on Ponyville. The title read as "Unicorn Magic and You: A Guide to Unicorn Magic." Originally owned by Twilight Sparkle, it was now in the hands of him. The book was written by a pony named Star Swirl the Bearded. The ponies consider him to be a wonderful mage, who made over seven hundred spells in his time. He was fascinating how spells worked in this world. On Nirn, it was considered a fact that magic was both hard, and dangerous. For a mage, it would take years before he could perfect one spell. The unicorns learned this magic from birth, and much easy to use. These include levitation and teleportation. It also says that the two other ponies’ races have something called "inherit magic". Different from Unicorn magic, it comes from inside one’s self. For example, earth ponies are known the be as strong as a Nord and can apparently "make" a good harvest happen. Pegasus can manipulate clouds and the weather in this nation. It was strange, and impossible feat for any mage, but for them it seemed natural, like breathing.

He was interrupted from his musings when there was a knock on the door. "Enter." He said, closing the book he was reading and putting it away. A Kynval entered the room, balling his left hand into a fist and putting it on his chest before bowing. "What is it?"

"We have the prisoner you asked for." He said.

He smiled, not the kind smile, but a smile that had malicious intentions in it. "Send him in."

The Dremora nodded, exiting the room. He heard some shouting in the Daedric language he was familiar with. The door once again opened. Two soldiers entered the room, one of them were holding a chain. The Dremora pulled the chain a little bit, letting a caribou enter the room. It was the same caribou he met during the raid in Ponyville, a slaver if he remembered correctly. Now he stood before, chained like a dog. Bruises were all over his body; one of his legs had a large cut across it. His face was almost swollen to the point that it hardly resembles a face. A large scar ran across his chest, indicating where the mage made his "Experiments."

He smiled. "Ahh, Mister Xautas. So nice to see you again." He said with honeyed words.

The caribou looked up and saw who was speaking to him. "Yooou." He said with venom in his voice. It was also cute the way he said it, with as much hate in his voice as he heard. He was surprised to see that the caribou was still sane after all the fun they had. His screams were music to his ears. It didn't matter to him. He'll break him at some point. "When I get out of here, I-” He was interrupted when a fist collided to his stomach, making him knell to the ground. One of the Kynval punch him to shut him up. Xautas clenched his stomach.

"Don't be like that." He waved his hand to dismiss the two Daedric knights. They nodded and went on their way. It was just him and Xautas. "After all the things we've been through,” He walked up to him and lifted his head with his armored fingers. "You would at least show me a bit of respect. Is that what all slaves do when they bow to their masters?"

"Fuck you, you fucking freak." He snarled at him, before spiting right in his face. The Daedra felt the spit in his face, lifting a finger to wipe it off.

He chuckled. "Well then." He lifted his left hand and brought it down on the kneeling caribou. The hand hit his face and sent him spiraling on the floor. "Perhaps I should remind you who is in charge here." The crystal on his staff glowed.

The caribou's eyes went wide, before he started screaming in pain. He clenched his heart as he felt pain in it. The Daedric mage smiled in delight. He managed to put a crystal gem in his heart that would allow him to do that. If the slaver tried to do anything funny or disobey him, he would activate the gem inside him, causing him to cultivate in pain. If he activated it for too long, the heart would explode within his chest.

He disabled the spell, the glowing crystal on his staff dying down. The caribou took a couple of deep breaths when Xucruroth walked over to his prone form. "Let's be clear on this: I am your master, and you will do as I say. If I tell you to breath, your breath. If I tell you to shit, you shit." His malicious grin returned. "And if you do not obey me,” He activated the spell on him once again, the caribou once again crying in pain. "there will be consequences." He disabled the spell once again. "Do I make myself clear?" The caribou whimpered, murmuring something under his breath. He activated the spell once again. "Am I clear!?!?!"

"YES! YES! FOR THE LOVE OF OUR GOD KING, YES!!!" He yelled in pain as his heart felt like it was about to explode.

He smiled. "Good." He disabled the spell, allowing the caribou to breath once more. "Now, I have a job for you." He went over to the desk and got one of the books, showing it to the caribou. "Do you know what this is?"

"It's a book." Xautas said.

"Yes, it is." The Dremora mage replied. "It is a spell book made by someone named Star Swirl the Bearded. Perhaps you know of him?"

The caribou nodded. "He's a famous pony to everyone. He created spells that seem too powerful for anyone to have."

"And do you know where these spells are?" He questioned the caribou.

"In a tower in Canterlot Castle. It's supposed to be heavily guarded." The caribou answered. "No one but the King can access its knowledge."

"That is where you come in." He said to him. "You are a Slaver, yes? That means you have connections?" The caribou nodded. "Good. I want you to retrieve the spells that are locked in the tower. Get every last one of them, understand?"

"B-bb-but what if I get caught?" The caribou questioned.

"That is your problem, not mine." He snapped back at him. "If you die, then I'll just find a new one to use. There are more out there that will do a more excellent job than you."

The caribou wanted to shout at him, to defy him, he could see it in his eyes. But he knew he couldn't do that. He knew the consequences. With a head hung low, he sighed. "I’ll do it."

"Splendid." Xucruroth said with a smile. He walked over to the caribou. Xautas cowered in fear at the site of the mage before him. He expected the Dremora to hit him or something. Xucruroth merely grabbed one of his antlers and channeled a spell into it, his hands glowed before the antler. This took a few seconds before the glow died down. He stepped back. "There. This will allow me to telepathically communicate with you, and would allow me to see what you are doing. So don't get any funny ideas and go to the authorities." He pointed to the door. "The Daedric soldier in the hallway will escort you out. Go to Canterlot and bring me back those spells. If anyone asks what happened to you, say you have escaped. Now go." With that final command, the caribou went out the door. He saw him and his escort disappear in the hallway, the of both his hooves and footsteps echoed as they walked.

Xucruroth walked over to his desk and sat down, opening up the spell book and studying the spells.

Downtown Stalliongrad was in a craze, if craze could be a word to a mortal. Everywhere, Dremora were running around, fixing anything that could be of value and sharping their weapons for their next engagement. Some of the mages were using magic to fix homes and buildings, only for it to be salvage later on. The Dremora now occupy the lower section of the city since they captured it. The mortal ponies who use to live there were now relocated to the upper city centers that the nobles used to live in. When they heard that they were going to have another battle, they got to work. They fixed up the walls that had been damaged during the siege, the mages doing some of the work to repair the wall. Some of the Dremora's in the market place were building siege equipment like trebuchets and catapults. Scamps did most of the back work for the Dremora, since they were the lower caste of Daedra to them. Others were repairing buildings and gates and such.

Located on the far side of the market center where they destroyed the Gateway, a tavern stood. The windows were damaged, but some of them were being replaced by newer ones. The inside of the tavern was what you'd expect a tavern to be. The walls were somewhat damaged from the siege, some of the pictures broke or burnt. The floor had some debris. The Scamps were cleaning the floor and doing whatever they can. The Dremora were sitting around, drinking various drinks the ponies have and having a good time. The mortal ponies how used to occupy the place called it The Red Pony. Now it was occupied by the Dremora as they hung out after working all day. Some were drinking local beers and ales, talking about what had happened, while others were eating their meals. It was a shame to them that the ponies were herbivores, so they had to get some meat at Paradise after the Gateway was working again.

Several Dremora were gathered around a tale, laughing at one Dremora how was telling a story. "...Wait, wait wait. It gets better." The one who was telling the story said between laughs. "So I aimed my bow at the Nord who was climbing the mountain, and fired it. IT was supposed to aim for his head, but the storm flew the arrow way off its course. I thought I missed him, but guess what happened?"

"What happen?" One of them said.

"It struck his knees." The others gave a tremendous laugh, bang their fists on the table. "And that....and that's even the half of it!" He said between fits of laughs. "I went back into town in my disguise so I could tell that stupid guy that summoned me to that I killed him. Turns out, he was still alive, in a tavern of all places. I walked up to him and asked what happened, and he said." He cleared his throat. "I used to be an adventurer, but then I took an arrow to the knee." He said in his best intimidation of a Nord.

The table erupted in fits of laugher. A few of the Dremora were falling from their chairs and covering their stomachs as they laughed. Others were banging their fists on the wooden table.

The laugher died down. "By the Princes, that was fucking funny!" One of them said.

"Yeah. It was." He peered over to another table. Surrounding said table was a group of Daedric soldiers. Although there was something.... off about them. One of them kept shuffling for some reason. The others were looking around, almost as if they were cautious. "What about you guy's. What do you think?" He called over to them.

The group was startled, a strange concept to a Dremora. He even saw one of the soldiers jump up and onto a lap of another. "We-” He said in a hit pitch voice before coughing. "Yes. It is a great joke. I especially like the part where you......stuck an arrow to someone's knees." He said in a low tone. "Yes. That's it."

The Dremora eyed them suspiciously. Something was off about them. He can't put his finger on it......

He shrugged off as being drunk.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we must and..........kill things." The soldiers from the table got up and left as soon as they can. He could have sore that they were running to the door.

And did one of them had an orange tail behind his ass?

"I've got to lay off the sauce." He murmured.

The alleyway behind the Prancing Pony was abandoned, save for several individuals in Daedric armor.

"Whew." One of them said in feminine voice. "That was a close one." It removed the helmet from its head, which revealed to be a familiar orange mare. "Guess we were luck they were drunk or something."

"Indeed." Rarity said as she removed her helmet. "They are not the most..." She waved her hand as she tried to find a word for them. "great gentlecolts when it comes to something like this. I particularly don't like the joke they made about that poor soul." She looked up at her mane. What once was elegant and curly, it was not a mess. "Not to mention that this helmet is destroying my mane." She whined.

"Let's just be glad they didn't notice us." Bon Bon said as she removed her helmet. "I don't want to think what will happen if we got caught."

"You girls are complaining about that?!?" Lyra said as she removed her helmet. She breathed in a big breath. "I can't understand how they breath in these things. It's like I was tripped in a tomb or something." She wrinkled her nose. "And that smell as well. I don't want to know what I smelled in there."

"Yeah." Bon Bon said. "Not to mention that this suit is heavy. How do they put up with this?" She turned her head to Applejack. "Applejack, are you sure this is a good idea to do this? If Marcus finds out, we-"

"He ain't." Applejack said firmly. "Look, I know ya'll want to just let Marcus and his goons try to fight for us, but I ain't sitting back at the castle with my flank to the floor while he fights our battles. This was our war to begin with. Those caribou basterds just use us as fuck toys for their sick desires. We've been raped, humiliated, and Celestia knows what else." She put her hands on her hips. "I don't know about you gals, but I ain't waiting back at the castle like some damsel in distress. I'm going to fight the caribou with Marcus, whether he likes it or not."

"Applejack, dear,” Rarity started to say. "I know you hate the caribou for what they did to you and your family, but we're not exactly fighting material."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? We faced tougher enemies before, like Tirek."

"Well,” Rarity started to explain. "There were times where we saved Equestria, but that was only because we used the Elements. And Twilight was the one that saved us after we were tricked by Discord." She put one of her fingers on her chin, lost in thought. ""Then there was the Crystal Empire. Spike was the one that saved it. Chrysalis was blown away by Shining Armor and Cadance's love shield while we were captured. Then Star Glimmer tried to go back in time to stop us from existing. Then there was-"

"ALRIGHT! I get it! We got luck!" Applejack yelled. They were lucky that no one heard them. "Ok. So we did use the Elements to save Equestria, but now it doesn't matter. We can still save it even if we don't have them."

"I wish I could agree with you, dearie." Rarity say in a sad tone. "I wish I could do something instead of sitting around doing nothing. But like I said, we can't do it without our friends and the Elements. We don't even know where they are” She crossed her arms to her chest and sighed. "Last I heard from Rainbow Dash, she was sold to Sorin and his goons."

Applejack couldn't help but clench her fist. "When I get my hands on him, He'll regret he'll even be born." She looked towards her friends. "I'm still going to fight. It might get bloody, but these caribou had it come for a long time." She put her helmet back on, walking out of the alleyway and onto the street.

Rarity, Bon Bon and Lyra watched Applejack leave. Rarity sighed. "I guess we could accompany her. Who knows what might happen to her." She too put her helmet on and ran out of the alleyway.

Bon Bon almost put her helmet on when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Lyra wear a worried look on her face. "Bon Bon, I'm scared."

She grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Everything’s going to be alright, Lyra. Just stick with me when the time comes." Lyra nodded. Both of them wearing their helmets and exiting out the alleyway.

Do you know the phrase "the calm before the storm?" Of course you do. I means that shits going to get real soon. However, to me, there was a calm before the storm. Literally in this case.

The sun had reached the mountains by the time we were at the walls, the skies darkened all around us. The stars started to pop into existence, each one of them twinkling bright. It's almost like they were watching us, either for entertainment purposes or because they have nothing to do. Here we were, preparing for a battle with an evil (or insane) commander in a land of somewhat sunshine and rainbows where ponies walk on four legs and talk and go into musical numbers for no reason.

This almost sounds like some bad cartoon show, or a worst fan fiction story.

Stalliongrad was dead quiet, save for a few souls still on the streets. The walls, once damaged during the siege, had be fixed again thanks to Daedric magic. It almost looked like it never fell to begin with. All around me, Dremora were preparing for what is to come. As before, they had a wide variety of weapons they were holding. A majority of them had shields, while some had heavier weapons like war hammers and greatswords. The blues ones that had no shirts (who I learned are called the Xivilai) had duel wielding weapons like swords and axes. Several mages were clustered together. These weren't all the mages. The rest were with Xavier in a place called Stalliongrad Hoofball Stadium. Apparently, hoofball is a pony equivalent of football back on Earth. The game was weird considering they didn't have any hooves to begin with. I dismissed it as a pony thing. From what I heard, he planned on releasing a big, powerful spell on the caribou. Not any normal spells like fireballs. These were an equivalent to apocalypse stories. On the city walls, Daedric soldiers were reading themselves as well. The archers had their bow and arrows on their backs. Like the armor and weapons, the arrows were of Daedric origin, black with a red vein-like protrusions. The bows like similar to the composite bows from Eastern civilizations of old. However, it was more jagged and had two blades at the front. I had almost mistaken it for a melee weapon.

Did I mention it rained? Again?

The dark clouds covered the sky, thunder sounding above us. Or something like that. Much of Stalliongrad had gone dark, save for a few lights in the higher district areas. I could only suspect that they were survivors trying to find a place to hide. The streets were dead silent, save for the pounding of the raindrops on everything it touched. The rain drizzled on out armors, making a sound that is like a drum. To be fair, it both excited me and scared me at the same time.

That was a calm before the storm.

"I see something on the horizon!" A Daedric soldier said. I went over to the edge of the wall to see what he was talking about. I couldn't make anything out, being as it was dark outside. It was almost like I was staring into the void, nothing existing except of Stalliongrad. The only thing that allowed me to see into the darkness was the flashing of thunder and lightning in the sky. I saw something move when the first flash came. A minute later, another flash came, seeing a couple more shadows move over the fields. Another one came and so on. On the last flash, I saw something that made my heart stop.

A HUGE FUCKING ARMY WAS AT OUR DOORSTEP!!!!

Rows and rows of caribou soldiers dominated the field. It was almost like they were grown here like weeds. There must have been tens of thousands of them. The caribou weren't the only thing here. There was a mixture of ponies in their as well, probably brainwashed or something. There was all a row of strange bull like creature wielding golden armor and wielding giant axes the size of a Toyoda. Behind them were siege machines they brought with them. I could make out three trebuchets, four siege towers and six or so ladders. From the looks on their faces, they were extremely pissed at us.

"READY YOUR WEAPONS!!" I shouted. Kat said the same thing in the Daedric language. The archers started to grab their arrows and put it on the strings of the bow. They then drew the bow back, aiming at the army below. The trebuchets that we made were ready and loaded. We had maybe ten of them compared to the three they have, but I doubt it would stop them. A few of them had their rocks on fire. Everyone else got their weapons ready, including me. I withdrew a Daedric greatsword from my back. It almost looked the same as the Daedric swords, but completely different from design. I was more straight than the sword, added to the fact that it had both its sides serrated, making it look like a fork. A red glow illuminated from the blade and the grip, which was typical to Daedric weaponry. I wasn't wearing my regular armor this time around. I decided to wear the standard Daedric armor like everyone, with the exception of the helmet. It actually isn't that heavy than I thought, being made from a material from another dimension. Maybe it was because I been training a lot that I can lift even the heaviest armor in existence. Or maybe it's because this world is so fuck up that I can't even tell what's heavy anymore.

I put both of my pinky fingers in my mouth and whistled. From out of the sky, Norm flew onto my arm. I grabbed a piece of paper from my.... I don't know what you would call it. Armor pocket? Satchel? I didn't matter. I attached the note on one of Norm's legs, securing with a small rope. "Take this to Xavier." The falcon nodded. He soon flew off to the opposite side of the city. 'I hope this plan of mine works.' I thought.

It was a standoff, much like those American Spaghetti westerns of old. Except we were in a fantasy type world with magic and such instead of the Old West, and we were facing off an army instead of some cliché bandit. No one moved or fired. The Dremora archers were getting itchy trigger fingers, almost ready to released their arrows. I signal them to hold fire. It was a stupid thing to do, but I noticed the caribou army hasn't assaulted us yet. This either meant that they are afraid of us (which is highly unlikely), or some bullshit commander is going to give some boring speech about "surrender to us or you'll be killed" or "we are superior than you guys, even though you killed a few great generals and have some strange magic" or some bullshit equivalent to that.

This went on for some time, neither of us moving an inch. I then notice something out of my eyes. The caribou parted way for another one of their kind. However, this one was different from the rest. Decked in full red armor, this caribou stood up above the rest. He was at least taller, and stronger from what I could tell than that of his counterparts. He was wearing a metal mask-helmet thing. The masked itself looked like an old man to me, with a tenticale-like beard going all over the place. He had big antlers coming of the helmet, twice the size of the caribou here. Another set of horns came out the sides of the helmet, metal made than organic. In his hands was the largest weapons I have ever seen. It looked like a cross between a spear and a sword. Runes appeared on the sides of the blade, glowing an eerie red. The end of his spear had a dagger-like weapon.

If I had to take a guess, this must be the Lanuis guy everyone’s talking about. I gulped.

He didn't do anything of sometime, staring at the walls and all my troops manning it. He then walked towards the wall, alone. The Dremora got their arrows pulled back and aimed at him. Not matter how must was aimed at him, he continued walking. Either he was a complete idiot or had some steel balls. Once he was some distance to the wall, he shouted something in a low and deep voice, enough for me and everyone else to hear it. "I wish to speak to whoever’s in charge."

Told you he was going to make some bullshit speech! "And why do you want to talk to him?" I shouted back.

"So I would know the name of the warrior that I will do battle with. As warriors, we must know each other before we fight. It is a most honorable thing to do." He said simply. "I am Legate Lanuis, commander of the Sixth Legion, second hand to his Majesties Army, and of the Marediterranean. I am also known as the Butcher of Baltimare to some." He pointed his sword staff at me. "Now you know my name, I want to know yours."

I was hesitant to do that. What if it was a trick of sorts? Is he trying to distract me while his men flanked me? Is there an assassin waiting for me to drop me guard? The questions ran in my head. walked If this guy was trying to distract me, he was doing a damn fine job. For all I know, there could be a regiment of caribou that had climbed over the wall and are currently attacking my troops as we speak. However, if that did happen, someone would have notified me about this. It was still weird that he wanted my name so he could kill me. Then again, I was in a furry-like world that sounds like something out of a shitty fanfiction story. So, I mentally said fuck it, and told him how I was. "My name is Marcus Asher. I'm new to this world. I have only fought for two days, and my army are called the Dremora's, finest soldiers throughout the universe." I don't know if the Dremora are the finest soldiers in the universe, but he doesn't know that.

The caribou general was silent for a second, before he spoke up again. "Well, Sir Marcus of Asher, it is an honor to meet someone who has resisted our occupation, and defeated some of our troops." Was he.... complementing me? "I must admit, when I was summoned here by the king to put down a rebellion, I thought he was joking. The I heard rumors of a demonic force on the march, and Stalliongrad falling." He chuckled. "Truly, I have finally found a worthy opponent."

I was so confused right now. This caribou was giving me credit for killing his kind. These people are insane. "Thanks....I guess." I said to him in a confused tone. I then cut straight to the chase. "Look, I'm only going to ask this once. Turn around and go back. No one needs to die tonight." Yeah, I tried to be reasonable to them. Despite what they do, I at least tried to avoid bloodshed.

Lanuis laughed at my reason. "That is funny." He said between laughs. "If I had a nickel for every time someone said that, I would be rich." He then stopped his laugh and gave me a mean look. "You aren't the first one to say that, nor will you be the last." He then started to make some boring speech about himself. "You may think yourself a general, but you are wrong. A general does not plead with his enemy, or beg for his life. He fights. Like any true warrior. As you may or may not know, I am the greatest general in his majesties army. There is a reason why I'm called the Butcher of Baltimare." You know, for a murder, he sure does brag a lot. "You see, like your band of rebels, I-"

I had just about enough of his ranting. I grabbed a bow and arrow from a nearby Dremora, who was not happy after I took it. I loaded in an arrow in the string, pulled the string back, and aimed at the caribou. I couldn't tell if he was aware that I was going to shoot him under that mask of his, but I hope to God or however is up there that he does. I soon released the arrow upon him.

The arrow, either by sheer luck or the wind, struck the caribou in the neck. His whole body froze. I soon saw blood coming out of the arrow and his neck. He kneeled down first, before falling down to the ground completely.

The Dremora's cheered, proud that I killed someone. I had to say I was happy at first, but that was before I saw something that made my blood run cold.

The body disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'He could use magic?!?!' I thought as I searched for the real Lanius. I didn't know he could use magic. And I think Storm Strider didn't know either. Who could blame her? She only heard him by reputation.

I soon spotted the general, right on top of a FUCKING HILL!!! He was still the same as his smoky counterpart. The only thing that was different was the long, red cape strapped to his back. I could tell if he was smirking at me because of the mask.

He pointed his sword at me and shouted. "CHARGE!!!!"

The storm has finally come.

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this thing took longer than expected. My old computer died a few days ago, and I had to wait to get a new one. Hop this makes up the delays

This was going to be one big chapter about the second battle, but I decided to split it up in another chapter. The next one would be the final battle between Marcus and Lanius.