Merry (early) Christmas! My gift to you is one chapter from each of my stories. Thanks for your interest in them!

 

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“I’m sorry, where did you say we’re going?” Hammerleaf furrowed his brow in that adorable way that meant he was completely lost. Swordsinger suppressed a smile, which was not hard to do, given the latest orders.

 

“Fort Greymoor.” Swordsinger slapped the orders onto the table and rubbed her head.

 

“On whose orders?”

 

“Our new division commander. I cannot believe they promoted Jaunty!”

 

“You mean Dragonscorcher, don’t you?”

 

“And how did they come up with that name? The only thing that fop has ever scorched is his dinner!”

 

“You think he makes his own dinners?”

 

“Point.” Swordsinger plopped onto her chair and rubbed her head again. “This is stupid. We have the south wrapped up. We need to press north, not waste our time on an outpost in the middle of nowhere. Greymoor is useless – it’s not anywhere near anything .”

 

Hammerleaf chuckled as he sat in the seat opposite the desk. “You don’t have to convince me. “

 

“I know I don’t. I’m just bitching. Oh, we also got our response to our suggestion about capturing dragons.”

 

“They weren’t interested.”

 

“Not even a little. I don’t think they believe us about the dragons coming back to life.”

 

“Well, it is hard to believe if you haven’t actually seen it happen.”

 

“Another point.”

 

“I didn’t realize we were keeping score.”

 

Swordsinger wrinkled her nose at him then shifted the papers on the table. “Guess we should get this over with. The sooner we capture Greymoor, the sooner we can move on to a real target.”

 

Hammerleaf laughed. “Right. Like Sungard.”

 

Swordsinger winced. “Don’t even joke about that. If we get tangled up with the Foresworn…”

 

“This war will be extended for years, if not indefinitely. I agree. “

 

“They aren’t relevant to this war. We can just go around them and deal with them later. We can ignore Markarth for the same reason – it’s buried behind Foresworn territory. We should be focusing on Morthal.”

 

“Well, to sort of be fair, the Imperials’ defense is based on exactly that logic. They have fortified the northeastern border pretty heavily. If we were able to break through the Foresworn lines quickly, their underbelly would be wide open.”

 

Swordsinger grimaced. “Sure, the Foresworn have only been immovable for, what, thirty years? No problem.”

 

“I don’t disagree. But that’s thinking too far ahead. For now, we’re just taking Greymoor – it might not be integral to the long term plan but having Imperials there would be a possible annoyance for Whiterun and Falkreath. Might as well clean it out.”

 

Swordsinger sighed. “I suppose. All right, gather the company. Let’s go waste our time.”

 

Hammerleaf pushed himself to his feet and gave her a mock bow. “As you command, oh fearless leader.”       

 

She gave him a rude gesture as he left the room.

***

Swordsinger gazed over the plains at the distant fort. She had been hoping the Imperials would have just abandoned the thing, but it seemed well-fortified. She tapped her helmet against her leg, annoyed.

 

“How do you want to do this?”

 

She glanced up as Hammerleaf stepped beside her. “Well, there are thirty-eight of us and probably a couple hundred of them. I say we rush the gates.”

 

“Funny. Come on, I know you have some stupid plan.”

 

“Stupid? If a plan works, it’s not stupid. By definition.”

 

Hammerleaf snorted. “If you say so.”

 

“I do say so. Now, let’s go piss off some giants.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Right over there, I can see their bonfire from here. Should be simple enough. We’ll just attack their mammoths. That will get the giants and the mammoths coming.”

 

“So you have chosen suicide. That is an unexpected plan.”

 

“Not suicide. We’re going to make sure the giants know it’s the people in the fort’s fault.”

 

“Mm hm. And how do you propose we do that? They’re just going to see us running from them, not the people in the fort.”

 

“That’s why we’re going to run to the fort.”

 

A long pause. “All right, I’m calling it. You have clearly gone mad. I’m taking over the company.”

 

“Shut up. Who are our three fastest men?”

 

“Flea, Poke, and me.”

 

“Great. The four of us will get into some of that Imperial armor we’ve been lugging around while the rest circle around the fort.”

 

“Why? What’s on the other side?”

 

“The postern door. While the Imperials are distracted by the giants and mammoths, they’ll remove any defenders and we’ll slip right out the back.”

 

“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

 

“Okay, we’ll go with Plan A. You take squads C and D and rush the front gate while they rain arrows down on your heads. We’ll try to cover you even though they have walls and we have only scrub brush.”

 

Hammerleaf rolled his eyes. “Or we could just cut off their supply lines. They’re stranded out here in the middle of nowhere. They’d have to surrender eventually.”

 

“Really? You want to do a prolonged siege for this useless fortress?” Swordsinger narrowed her eyes as she studied Hammerleaf’s face with mock suspicion. “That sounds like something Jaunty would want us to do. Are you secretly working for him?”

 

“Don’t you mean Dragonscorcher?”

 

“It will be a peaceful day in the Deadlands before I call that fop Dragonscorcher. Are you ready?”

 

He sighed. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

**************

Swordsinger rubbed her hand against her thigh as she stepped in front of her Company and looked down at the mammoth-trampled remains of Flea. She started to speak, then paused to clear her throat before trying again.

 

“Flea was the fastest man in Skyrim and the best scout I’ve ever seen. He could walk right up to an enemy camp without them knowing he was there.” She had better control this time – only a small pause to gulp back tears before she continued. “I curse the vermin that live under these plains that created the hole that broke his ankle. He is already missed. To Whisperfoot! A true Nord!”

 

“Whisperfoot!” The company toasted and drank as Swordsinger turned away.

 

Hammerleaf touched her shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”

 

“Yes it is. It was a stupid plan. I should have listened to you.”

 

“It was a great plan, it turns out. We lost only one soldier. Any other plan would likely have led to far greater casualties.”

 

“Maybe. Or maybe they would have surrendered without us losing anyone if I had just been patient.”

 

“I don’t think so. They had the well and a lot of dried food, it turns out. Trying to wait them out would have taken months, possibly over a year. Look…” He gripped both her arms, waited until she looked up at him. “Flea is in Sovenguard and we took the fort in a day. This is a good day. People die in wars, as you’re well aware. Not everyone in the company is going to survive this.” He tightened his grip. “No matter how hard you try, even you can’t be everywhere at once.”

 

She shook her head as her jaw tightened. “We’ll see about that.”