As soon as I reached Dragonsreach, I rushed to deliver the news to Balgruuf.
"Jarl! Ulfric is coming. The Stormcloaks will invade by tomorrow!"
"Truly!?"
"Ulfric has finally lost his mind!"
The servants, the guards, and Proventus were all visibly shaken.
Balgruuf, however, tried his best to maintain his composure. With a grim expression, he spoke.
"I have already sent word to General Tullius. Reinforcements should arrive by tomorrow. The Stormcloak assault will be fierce, but..."
"Then we shall stop them."
"Leave it to us!"
At Balgruuf's worried words, Irileth and the guards spoke up in unison.
"We will lend our strength as well."
"That's right!"
Lydia and Ha-neul added their voices, and Balgruuf looked deeply moved by their dedication.
"I am deeply grateful for your devotion. Everyone here is already a hero of Whiterun."
Balgruuf spoke with resolve, but internally, he prayed fervently that this crisis would pass without disaster.
He wasn't the only one praying.
But their hopes were in vain.
A massive Stormcloak army, mustered from across the holds, had gathered at Windhelm and begun their march toward Whiterun.
Four officers, 120 infantry, and 13 cavalry were mobilized for this operation alone. They even brought out the catapults that had been stored beneath the Palace of the Kings in Windhelm.
Maintaining a steady pace, the column reached the farms surrounding Whiterun around midnight.
Preparing for the siege, they first established a camp and secured the catapults they had dragged all the way from Windhelm into the ground.
"Commander. The catapults are set up."
"Good work. Load the stones."
At the officer's command, the soldiers moved busily until the siege engines were fully loaded.
Soon, he gave a hand signal. Soldiers armed with axes simultaneously cut the ropes of the catapults.
—Whoosh!
The throwing arms, which had been held back by sheer tension, swung violently forward.
The massive stone projectiles traced a long arc through the sky, flying toward Whiterun.
Under the green moonlight, the thin chirping of crickets wove through the silence.
At Balgruuf's request, we decided to spend the night in the guest quarters of Dragonsreach.
He said something about feeling safer with 'heroes' nearby.
However, with the knowledge that the rebels could attack at any moment, falling asleep was an impossible task.
I just lay there with my hands clasped behind my head like a pillow, staring blankly while listening to the ticking of a clock.
I don't know how much time passed before Ha-neul broke the silence.
"Mister, are you awake...?"
Since the guest quarters were two people to a room, Ha-neul and I naturally ended up sharing. There were two separate beds, obviously.
"Yeah. Not like I could actually sleep."
"Hehe, me too."
She seemed just as anxious as I was. A war is different from fighting dragons or monsters; it's person against person.
A battle on a completely different scale than anything we'd faced so far was waiting for us.
If I were some combat-obsessed lunatic, my heart might have been racing with excitement, but as a normal person, I was only filled with worry.
"If I make it out of this alive..."
"Stop right there."
I cut her off immediately before she could finish that classic death flag.
"I'm bored, talk to me! What do you think this battle will be like?"
She was relentless with the questions.
What would it be like?
Whiterun's guard count had been cut by more than half after the previous dragon incident. Even though the fight took place at the Western Watchtower and didn't directly damage the city, the loss of life was severe. If the rebels attacked before the Imperial reinforcements arrived, the city would fall in an instant.
"We just have to hope the reinforcements get here fas—"
—BOOM!
A massive explosion echoed from beyond the room mid-sentence.
"What was that!?"
"Sounded like something collapsing."
Ha-neul and I bolted upright, startled out of our wits.
Don't tell me they're here already. We were still in our sleepwear, so we hurriedly threw on our gear and sprinted toward the main hall.
When we arrived, there was a hole in the ceiling of Dragonsreach and a boulder the size of a gym ball was embedded in the floor.
Debris from the castle walls was scattered everywhere.
We were the first to arrive, but others soon swarmed toward the source of the commotion.
Balgruuf, appearing in his undergarments, stared at the boulder.
"Looks like they're using catapults... Ulfric really intends to take Whiterun for good."
A soldier came sprinting into Dragonsreach shortly after.
He was gasping for air as if he hadn't stopped running for a second.
"Huff, huff—It's an attack! A massive rebel force has arrived at the city gates!"
"Cowards! A surprise attack at dawn!"
Balgruuf ordered the guards to evacuate the citizens. My companions, Irileth, Rikke, and I all ran toward the front gates.
The sight outside Dragonsreach left us speechless.
Several houses had been partially destroyed by the catapult stones, and the line of Stormcloak soldiers visible over the walls was like a swarm of ants.
Flaming arrows were flying in from the distance, intended to set the buildings ablaze.
"Aaah!"
"M... my house!"
Panic gripped the citizens. We left the evacuation to the guards and headed for the entrance with Irileth, Rikke, and a small detachment of soldiers.
Citizens shielded their heads to avoid the falling arrows and stones, following the guards' lead into the Dragonsreach dungeons for safety.
When we opened the main gates, we saw the guards desperately holding the line to block the rebels.
The outermost barricades had already been smashed, and the Stormcloak forces had advanced right up to the wooden bridge leading into Whiterun.
There is a short wooden bridge at the entrance of Whiterun.
If you pull the chains connected to the pulleys above, the drawbridge rises and seals the path. However, against an army that large, it was uncertain how long it would hold.
The Stormcloaks were leaning ladders against the structure that housed the drawbridge controls, trying to force it back down.
Whiterun guards were kicking the ladders away and using arrows and swords to hold off the rebels scaling the outer walls.
We climbed up to the drawbridge structure. I summoned an Orcish Bow and began raining arrows down on the Stormcloak mob.
They were so tightly packed that even if I aimed loosely at the crowd, I hit someone nearly every time.
With my Magicka reserves high, I summoned a Flame Atronach and started spamming Firebolts alongside Ha-neul.
"Augh, hot!"
"Someone put me out!"
Because they were bunched up, once one person caught fire, it spread to those around them, making my Magicka expenditure incredibly efficient.
A fierce back-and-forth ensued. While the attention was focused on the front, a soldier managed to sneak a ladder onto the flank and climb up.
"Haha! I'm the first one in! Gwah—"
—Squelch.
The man, carrying a war hammer on his back, made a grand entrance only to be immediately cut down by Lydia.
Lydia picked up the dead warrior's corpse and hurled it down at the soldiers climbing the side ladders.
—Crash!
"Aaagh!"
The climbing soldiers lost their balance and tumbled down along with the body.
In a siege, the defending side holds a massive advantage.
Fundamentally, defenders hold the high ground, allowing for a wider field of view. This makes it possible to track enemy movements at a glance and quickly relay situational reports or suppress threats.
Additionally, since the opponent must attack from below, we could use the battlements and structures as cover.
In short, we held the initiative.
Like this.
I immediately hid behind the rampart after firing an arrow. While hidden, I nocked another arrow, quickly stood up to fire, and ducked back down.
This method allowed for one-sided attacks. It wasn't just me; about a dozen guards and Legate Rikke were also fighting desperately with their respective weapons.
It seemed like the defense was holding for a while, but we were gradually being pushed back by the Stormcloaks' overwhelming numerical superiority.
Still, I pulled the bowstring until my fingers felt like they would burst, trying to take down even one more enemy.
On the other hand, Eloise didn't have much to do besides healing the injured and providing buffs.
While she was fulfilling her duty as a healer perfectly, the situation was becoming increasingly grim.
The rebels' momentum was building, and more enemies were reaching the top of the walls. Despite our height advantage and the trump card of the Dragonborn, the sheer difference in numbers was turning the tide.
Eloise felt she had to do something.
She didn't want to just stand there with her hands folded, but she didn't know how to use a bow. Desperate to help in any way, she picked up a loose stone and threw it.
"Hya!"
She was naturally clumsy, so her accuracy was poor and the force behind the throw was weak.
But that's the beauty of a siege; such weaknesses are mitigated. Her stones gathered acceleration from gravity, making them enough to harass the climbing enemies, and her low accuracy was irrelevant because of how many targets were bunched together.
"Get back! Stay away!"
"That annoying wench!"
She threw whatever she could get her hands on, though she never forgot to heal the guards whenever an injury appeared. When the loose stones and debris ran out, she even grabbed fistfuls of dirt and threw them into the faces of the enemies.
We resisted as long as we could, waiting for the reinforcements—but then—
—Whirr... CRASH!
A catapult stone suddenly shifted direction and slammed into the upper part of the drawbridge.
The first shot missed the vital parts, but once the rebels realized the bridge was the key, all three Stormcloak catapults targeted the wooden bridge.
Projectiles flew through the air, and eventually—
—CRUNCH!
"No!"
"The bridge!"
A direct hit smashed the control mechanism. The pulleys, no longer locked, allowed the drawbridge to crash down.
"FOR SKYRIM!"
Having finally cleared the way into Whiterun, the Stormcloak soldiers roared and flooded forward like a tidal wave.
Quick to assess the situation, Legate Rikke drew her sword and shouted.
"Prepare for melee combat!"
Lydia, Ha-neul, and I gripped our weapons with grim determination.
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