The Reach - Hag Rock Redoubt
Adrienne was content to be silent for the majority of their late-night ride, dismounting as quietly as possible when Sinderion signaled for it and giving her faithful horse a little pat before padding off after the others.
Sneaking was far from her forte, and she stepped on a fair number of twigs and crunchy leaves as they progressed forward, but thankfully, it wasn’t really the case that full silence was necessary- they were still at enough of a distance that being seen was a larger risk than being heard. The group pulled to a stop and examined the redoubt itself.
Set into the surrounding cliff, she admitted that it would be no easy feat to breach. These old Nord constructions were sturdy as the people of Skyrim, stalwart and functional even after they had technically fallen to ruin. Neither of the paths in looked all that forgiving, and truthfully she was unsure of which would be better. Taking the side would mean narrower quarters and fewer enemies at once, but it would also make magic more risky, as being in an enclosed space with comrades around you s surely as enemies would make destruction a dangerous proposition. Thankfully, that was not her primary school, but she still used a lot of it.
On the other hand, a full-frontal assault would probably be near-suicidal. Unexpected, perhaps, and maybe the advantage of surprise would help them if the Forsworn had difficulty mustering their forces. But it there were archers at the ready… Adrienne swallowed. She had never much fancied the idea of being shot.
A baritone sound brought her back to the present, and she was looking around for the animal responsible before she realized that it was no animal, but Sinder. Her brows furrowed, and she looked steadily at him for several seconds, taut as a drawn bowstring. Whatever had prompted the noise seemed to leave him, though, and his next words were as thoughtful and quietly-vocalized as anything he ever said.
She didn’t really want to split the group; it was dangerous to go against an unknown quantity of enemies with anything less than full power, and if he was somehow caught… was it horrible of her that she feared his transformation almost more than she feared his death? No, perhaps not, for surely that must be what he feared more.
Her lips pursed into a thin line, the only outward sign of her anxiety. “Maybe… perhaps splitting up is not the best thing to do right now. We can’t know how many of them we’ll be dealing with, and the most important thing is for all of us to stay alive and find him.” This had been so much easier when he’d been around; the Mentor’s tactics were superior, but he had always emphasized living to fight another day, no matter what. She was no strategic genius, but she could at least do that second bit.
“A frontal charge would be unexpected, but I think we should go for the side.” She’d just have to be more careful; the closer quarters were better for Sinder and Drayk and probably Aria as well. Van would share her problems to a degree, but both of them had weapons they could use if they needed to.
Either way, the sooner they acted, the better. Adrienne busied her hands by taking a leather loop from her belt and winding it around her hair, intent on making sure the thick tresses would not bother her when the battle began in earnest. Shifting from foot to foot, she tried not to make her discomfort with the situation obvious. It was well known that of all the Sellswords, she was the least-experienced in martial matters. She had, after all, not learned her magic for anything other than academic reasons until a few years ago, since it was never something she needed in Daggerfall. Speechcraft and alchemy were her oldest skills; the rest had never really seen application until she met the Mentor.
Pressing the backs of her fingers to her cheeks both to warm them and keep herself alert with the sudden chill sensation on her face, she loosened her sword in its sheath and waited.