Storm continued to discuss preparation plans.
Storm intended to march out with every combat ready warrior currently available.
After retaking Twin Rivers, they would march onwards towards the hunter stronghold and lay siege.
If they were lucky, the stronghold would be eliminated in the next 2 to 3 weeks.
Grombrim and Augustus accompanied him as they toured the additions that was made to the caves.
Apart from the newly constructed mines, they had also expanded the living space available in order to accommodate the new dragons and Griffins that had joined up.
Most of the newly recruited dragons were of the younger, more hot blooded generation of dragons.
Many of them Storm remembered as hatchlings when the attack on his home happened.
Now they were all young adults eager to prove themselves and make their mark on the world.
There were 2 recruits that Storm was less than pleased to see however.
"What are you two doing here!?" Asked Storm.
Standing in front of him was his younger siblings Pyrite and Lapis.
"We wanted to help out with your fight." Said Lapis
Augustus said that he needed every able-bodied dragon who could fight, so we signed up." Explained Pyrite.
Storm gave a venomous look at Augustus.
"Is this true!!?" Asked Storm in irritation.
"I warned you that he would be upset about it." Whispered Grombrim.
Augustus did not seem troubled at all and stood his ground.
"I stand by my decision.
They are at the proper age to make such a decision on their own and they have no physical or mental defects that would disqualify them from recruitment.
Therefore I approved their request. "
"Absolutely not!!
They will not set a single talon on a battlefield!"
Have I made myself clear!!" Yelled Storm.
He twisted around and marched away from them.
"Don't worry about it lad and las, he'll come around.
He was just caught by suprise." Said Grombrim
He rushed after Storm, leaving Augustus alone to do damage control.
They explored the newly constructed village and Grombrim showed him the condition of the gnolls and the other beast-kin warriors.
Due to the convoys the Gnolls had managed to ambush, the condition of their arms and armor had greatly improved.
The senior members of Grombrim's warriors were overseeing the combat drills and worked around the clock to teach them how to use their weapons properly.
It was here that Storm found the Rakasha chieftain brothers.
They stood back to back while 6 other Rakasha had them surrounded.
Both brothers were almost 10 feet tall and made the other Rakasha seem pitifully small despite none of them being smaller that 8 feet in height.
One of the brothers had fur as white as snow and black stripes covering his body, he had a simple leather harness tied to his chest that held the scabbards of the 2 unadorned curved swords currently in his hands safely on his back.
The swords they held were almost as tall as Storm in human form and would have normally taken both hands to lift.
But both tiger brothers wielded one in each hand with ease.
Around his waist he had a simple brown belt and loincloth and a long cat like tail twitched occasionally as he carefully studied his opponent's movements.
The red-orange furred brother, seemed much more ferocious than the other one.
His face was twisted into a frightening snarl and his tail was swinging from side to side like those of a agitated house cat.
Like his brother, he had a leather harness, leather belted loincloth and two curved swords.
His swords seemed older and with more history attached to it, that the relatively plain and unadorned ones his white furred brother used.
Several scratches covered the flat end of the swords and a line of golden runes were carved into the start point of the blades near the hilt.
He had slightly more armor than his brother, with two leather bracers covering his wrists, and a single leather pauldron on his left shoulder.
Several of their opponents suddenly rushed forward.
The white tiger stood his ground and blocked the first strike with the flat of his blade.
He pushed back and threw his opponent off balance, then sidestepped and slashed the second opponent across the back as he rushed past.
His 3rd opponent tried to strike him in the chest, but he ducked underneath the blow, while twisting his own sword at the same time and catching his opponent in the belly with it's edge.
His first opponent recovered from being pushed back and rushed at him again.
They exchanged several blows, before he disarmed his opponent with a rapid flurry of blows.
As the tiger man's sword hit the ground, the white furred brother twisted his sword upwards and stopped inches away from his opponent's throat.
The red furred brother, meanwhile chose not to wait for his opponents to come to him.
With a roar, he rushed forward and launched a flying kick at the lead opponent rushing at him, sending him flying backwards.
He blocked the blows coming at him from either side with his swords, before pushing them back.
He tripped one opponent as he staggered backwards, then slammed him back into the ground by striking him with the hilt of his sword.
Planting his swords into the ground, he pounced the last opponent and unleashed a flurry of blows to his face
As he got up and retrieved his swords, Storm approached the pair.
At the same time another tigerman holding a staff rushed forwards to tend to the wounded.
"That was some impressive fighting. " said Storm.
With their battle rage now subsiding they seemed to notice the dragon for the first time and eagerly approached.
"You are the leader of this tribe?" Asked the Red furred one.
Storm nodded his head.
"I chall....!" Exclaimed the red furred brother before he was cut off with an elbow to the chest from his white furred brother.
"We talked about this, brother!! No challenging the leader to a 'friendly duel' the moment we lay eyes on him!!
It paints a bad picture on us!!"
The red furred seemed to almost be pouting in response.
"Forgive my over eager older brother, dragon!
Word of your exploits have traveled far and my brother loves to test himself against worthy opponents!"
"It's all right! I don't mind it!
We could arrange a time that is appropriate for us both some time in the future."
The red furred brother grinned like a pleased cat that had an entire bowl of cream for himself.
"My name is 'Paja'" said the white furred brother
"And my name is 'Raja'." Said the red furred brother.
"And we are the twin fangs of the Sha-Batti tribe." Finished Paja.