Bloodsoaked Fort

Main Cavern

Mistress Nightshade watched as the ammunition arc before come crashing down against the wall of the distant fort. "Analysis?" she asked the Sword-Master nearby.

"Based on the specs of the Fortress of Baereghel, they increased the height and the thickness of the outer wall, they have also built six archer towers and mounted a dozen Scorpions on the outer wall as well. The main gate appears to be reinforced with strips of Iron or Steel. The defenders appear to be well trained and they appear to have Undead among their ranks as well, but they are common unthinking kind, not fully sentient. Unless they have a Bone Lord as well, they will be easy to defeat. Until we attack though, we will not know the extent of the improvements until we attack though." the Sword-Master responded.

Nightshade continued to study the distant fort, she was sure they would have a magic shield but they had not deployed it for some reason, instead, they were taking the brunt of the bombardment. "Continue the bombardment for another hour and see if we can crack the walls before sending in a wave of troops. Eight battle flags will go in, have four on standby to support them." The Sword-Master bowed before darting off. Mistress Nightshade just continued to watch and wait. Jacob watched as another volley slammed into the wall, the attackers had eight catapults and Jacob wished he had sent an infiltration team to try and sabotage some of them, but they would have been wasting their lives. Sending stealth attackers against Drow, he might as well had asked them to slit their own throats.

The bombardment had begun nearly 18 hours after they had arrived, this Mistress Nightshade was patient Jacob would give her that but so far not very inventive once she got here. The Wraiths were being held back and were patrolling the grounds of the fortress for any Stealthed attackers but none had shown up so far. They were practically useless for siege work or the open battlefield, but monitoring for Stealthed attackers or enclosed spaces was another story.

Jacob looked down at the base of the wall where the Elementalists of the Earth Splitter Tribe continued to infuse the wall with the strength of the earth itself. Repairing and reinforcing the wall as they besiegers continued to rain destruction down on them. Brox had broken them into three teams of 6 and had two teams resting and recuperating at all times. "Inform me of any changes and let me know if you need any help," Jacob told Brox as he hunched over and walked to the nearby stairs and down to the inner fortress. The two squads of the Dawn Guard quickly formed up and escorted him back toward the keep.

Darkfang Hold

Sosa looked at the assembled forces at her command, nearly 1,000 of her own clan member and 200 Legionnaires. All communication from the Bloodsoaked Fort had stopped a little over a day ago. The good news was that the portal anchors were still active and working so as soon as her forces were ready they would march. They were waiting for some stragglers and equipment from another Hold to arrive so they could depart.

"With you worrying and nearly biting off every other clan members head, I am starting to wonder if you are pregnant sister," Dolbrug stated.

Sosa glared but stroked her stomach as well, "Someday when we are in a more stable time, hopefully. I am sure you would make a wonderful uncle brother. Now when are you going to get married and fill the Hold with little nieces and nephews? Or do I need to talk to our uncle about that?"

Dolbrug blushed and looked away, "When I find someone, I will let you know sister you have my word. As you said though, it's not the most peaceful time and I don't want to leave a widow behind. Now go rest SIster, I will deal with everything else, we have a long day coming ahead of us."

Bloodsoaked Fort

Outer Wall

Jacob braced his shoulder as a couple of arrows slammed against his shield, he quickly peeked around the edge before thrusting Moonlight into the throat of the Hobgoblin that had almost crested the wall. The Hobgoblin gurgled something just as the Duergar next to Jacob shoved his spear into his gut and twisted it. The light went from his eyes as he keeled over and feel below as Jacob filled the space with his shield as several bolts and arrows slammed into him.

"Ready?" someone called behind Jacob, so he immediately placed Moonlight back in its sheath and grabbed the catch-pole, which was a long stick with a forked end. He shook it once to signal the other guy he was set, "Now!" Jacob moved his shield slightly and guided the fork to the ladder as they pushed it off the wall. Screams filled the air as the invaders crashed below braking bones and bodies.

Jacob quickly placed his shield in the void, now that the ladder was clear enemy archers would try to fill the space with their ammunition. Jacob's partner quickly replaced his spear with a Crossbow and loaded an Explosive Bolt. He hip-checked Jacob to signal he was ready to fire and Jacob quickly moved out of the way. The Duergar quickly sighted a cluster of archers and fired at them. Jacob saw the bolt slam into the Goblin's chest before it exploded sending flame and shrapnel into his nearby friends.

Suddenly a Meteor slammed into a nearby section of the wall sending 6 of the Dawn Guard crashing below. Jacob snarled as the invaders started cresting the wall. Jacob charged triggering Hemorrhage then Battle Stomp causing massive damage to the stunned packed War Slaves. These slaves were not like the ones before, they were hardened vets in the Sister's wars. Most were in the high 30s to low 40s and they did not break easily and almost always withdrew in an orderly fashion. Suddenly a cry sounded from the wall and horns sounded nearby.

Alert...

Rally Call of the Dawn Guard (Duration 5 minutes)

All Damage is increased by 15%

All Defense is increased by 10%

Resource regeneration increased by 25%

All nearby allies deal an addition 10% Damage

Alert...

Jacob watched as Thorgron led a squad of the Dawn Guard to help seal the breach. Suddenly war horns sounded from beyond the wall as the enemy commander recalled her forces. Jacob and the Dawn Guard killed any remaining enemy troops on the wall as the rest fled. "Alright lads, if you ave wounded call for a healer. Otherwise, start clearing the wall of the enemy dead." Thorgron commanded as he cleaned his sword before putting it back in its sheath. Jacob was walking along picking up the corpses and tossing them beyond the wall, automatically looting them. "They won't mind if you leave that for them to deal with my king," Thorgron said softly.

Jacob snorted and derision, "We are in this together my friend. One way or the other. Leave the squad to babysit me if you must, but why don't you go and watch over your wounded. I am sure Brox will want yours after action report. I know I will expect an update from him as soon as I get back to the Keep." Thorgron smiled and then quickly saluted before turning to the nearby sergeant and started whispering in her ear. Jacob ignored them as he continued to pick up corpses. Any wounded were to be killed on site, they had learned the hard way if they cared for enemy wounded as soon as they could they would attack those caring for them.

Under a pile of corpses, he found a broken and bloody Dawn Guard, Jacob assumed he was dead until he checked his stats and saw that he was at 5% health and dropping, "Healer!!" Jacob called out and one of the nearby squad ran over immediately began casting spells. Jacob slashed at his wrist and jammed it into the guy's mouth to add his own form of healing. Once the Priest nodded his head Jacob pulled away and started to check the nearby enemy corpses. All of them were gone except one, Jacob quickly tossed him off the wall. A short high pitched scream filled the air and abruptly cut off.

15 minutes later and three more close saves, Jacob had finished cleaning off the 15-foot section of the wall he had been at. He had talked to the Dawn Guard members he had spent the most time with while the squad assigned to protection nearby as the First Cohort started to relieve them. Standing orders for those coming off the wall if unhurt were to get some food, then clean armor and check weapons, before grabbing some rest if they could.

Walking back to the Keep Jacob saw Cathrine and the Death Head Warriors preparing for their time near the wall. During this rotation, they would be part of the reserve force but not on the wall itself. She was standing near her cousin and talking to him when Jacob approached. She quickly broke off her conversation to check with Jacob, she was moving gingerly so Jacob dove into their psychic link to find out what was wrong. He growled when he found she had been struck by a poisoned arrow on her last rotation and it was not fully healed yet. Jacob slashed his wrist again and jammed the open wound in her mouth. Cathrine looked annoyed but started drinking right away. The Priest Jacob had been working with before on the wall also cast a Cleansing spell on her to help speed the healing process. Only after the Priest nodded his head that she was well on her way to healing did Jacob move away and toward the Death Knight.

"I wish to have a word with you," Jacob told the Death Knight. The man rolled his eyes and Jacob snarled and snatched him up by his throat. Jacob felt his talons start digging into the Death Knight as he brought him closer to his face, "You will listen carefully Noble Undead. You will ensure my wife's safety, if she dies I will destroy you and your friends here. I will rip you all apart one little piece at a time. I will then send all your heads back to her father in apology for your failures. Is that understood?" Jacob asked the man who was trying to breathe and nodding his head frantically in acknowledgment.

With a growl, Jacob dropped him and Cathrine dragged him away. Both the Death Head troops and the squad of Dawn Guard soldiers had ignored the confrontation. "What the hell were you thinking?" Cathrine said.

"I am trying to protect my wife's life. You have certainly protected mine many times, yet if I protect yours, its wrong. Guess again dear one, I might reluctantly be ok with you being here, but it doesn't mean I won't do everything in my power to protect you while you are here. That guy did not care what I was saying until I grabbed his attention firmly. He now knows I was not fucking around and now so do you." Jacob replied and Cathrine was pissed but also understanding.

Jacob took a deep breath and let the tension out before grabbing her up and kissing her firmly and would not let go until she started to melt against him. Cat calls and whistles soon filled the air bringing a smile to both their faces as Jacob grabbed her ass and pulled her more firmly to his armored body. "You are mine, just as much as I am yours, remember that dear one," Jacob said as he pulled away from the kiss.

Cathrine had a cheshire like grin on her face, "As soon as this siege is broken I look forward to being reminded who my ass belongs too." she said as she sauntered back to her men, much to Jacobs embarrassment and more catcalls.

Mistress Nightshade frowned at the distant fort, they had beaten back 5 waves of attacks so far and the cost was mounting with each wave. The Sword-Master quickly joined her as the last of his subordinates checked in with him. "Lady, we have the final count of our casualties. We have 350 dead or missing, 157 critically wounded, and 383 with light wounds. The healers say that it will take them three days to get all the wounded in peak condition again. None of the infiltration teams made it over the wall successfully. Of those that approached, we have 6 dead and 5 critically wounded."

Nightshade ground her teeth in frustration, "Stand down from assaulting any more, we will rest our troops for the next 12 hours. I will report everything that has transpired to the Council at which point I expect a plan to breach that wall." She said as she walked away, a dozen Drow quickly following her back toward the main camp.