Victory or Sovngarde

Chapter Eighteen

Outside my command tent, the soldiers were making merry. Dancing around the fire, sharing drinks, regaling their old war tales. They laughed, drank, sang, and made fools of themselves.

I, on the other hand, was about as far from "merry" as anyone could get. Unused to being in command, hunching over a table covered in maps, notes, and other things related to war was one of the last things I ever thought I would be doing. I was not used to being the one behind all the planning. I was usually the one who executed the plans, boosted the troops' morale by claiming to be the leader when I was little more than figurehead.

The flaps to my tent parted, and Marina stepped inside. She held a pewter cup in her hand, and she wore a concerned look on her face. She set the cup down next to me. "Water. You should stay hydrated."

I took the cup and drank. "Thank you."

Bobbing her head, she unstrapped her helm and laid it on the table in front of her. The braids in her hair fell into her face, and she tucked them behind her ear. "Do you have an exact plan, Ylva?" she asked, motioning towards the cup. "Keep drinking."

"If I wanted to be nagged, I would've brought my husband along." Regardless of my irritation, though, I took another drink from the cup. "And no, I don't have an exact plan." I leaned over the map and pointed to an "X" marked in charcoal. "The main camp is here, right in the middle of the volcanic tundra. The terrain is rough, and the climate is far warmer than the rest of the Hold."

"They probably chose this location because they couldn't stand how cold the rest of Eastmarch is. The Thalmor are used to the warm Isles."

"They didn't choose it because of its wildlife. There are bear dens everywhere, giant camps in every basin, and frostbite spiders crawl out of any dark crevice they can find. Aside from the Reach, this place is the most dangerous in all of Skyrim."

"Do you remember this from your youth? I know you were raised in Eastmarch."

I shook my head. "No, I remember it from my mercenary days. One of my clients was an alchemist, and he insisted on hunting giants for their toes' alchemical properties. I still have a scar from the last encounter."

"So we should be wary of the giants?"

I nodded, looking at my map and pointing out known camps. "As long as we don't hurt their mammoths or get too close to their treasure, they should leave us alone."

"If I may offer a suggestion for taking the prison camp itself..."

I stood straight and motioned for her to continue. "I need all the help I can get right now."

Marina used a stubby piece of charcoal to circle the location of the prison camp, only a mile from our position. "Our scouts reported the camp is surrounded by a wall, and a strong one at that. We've speculated they used the prisoners to build it."

"They forced them to build their own cage." I sighed and braced my knuckles against the table. "What else?"

"Even though the wall is strong, and there is only one way in or out, there is a ridge on the south side of the camp." Marina stroked the charcoal in a wide arc around the bottom of the circle she had just drawn. "Here. It's unguarded, and it's an easy shot into the camp from there. We could position our archers on the ridge to pick off the men watching the gates."

I nodded along as she spoke. "Excellent. We could have a small force of fighters waiting just outside the gate. When the archers take out the guards, we'll make our attack."

It was Marina's turn to nod. "Once we're inside, we should free and arm the prisoners. With our combined forces, taking out the Thalmor should be easy."