Storm and his army finally stood before the gates of Twin Rivers.
It had taken them almost a week to hike through the rough terrain.
But their journey had finally ended.
His entire force was assembled outside the settlement, save for the Kitsune.
They were using a different route and Storm would link up with them at the Hunter stronghold.
Storm felt like he had traveled back in time.
He stood before this settlement 50 years ago with the intentionto destroy it.
Now he was here again to do the same once again.
He always had a deep seated hatred for this place after his clan was attacked.
Even if they didn't directly partake in the slaughter, they had sheltered and provisioned those that did.
Seeing this place standing again, caused all his old hurts and anger to resurface.
The town was bigger than the first time he came here.
The entire village was surrounded by a wooden palisade wall.
A single watchtower was placed in the center of the village where archers could cover the entire town.
A single canal had been constructed to direct water from the two rivers that earned the place it's name through the village
This time, he would be more thorough.
Not a single building would be left standing after today.
He would scour this blight from existence and ensure that it can never be rebuilt again.
But first, there were common courtesy to consider.
He had to give the defender a chance to surrender, and potentially prevent a bloodbath.
He took a step towards the gates, before an arrow fired from the tower from an archer that had lost his nerve and had allowed his fear to guide his actions.
Storm made no attempt to dodge the arrow and simply grabbed it out of the air when it came within reach, before snapping it in half with two of his clawed fingers.
He opened his mouth and began to charge up a bolt of lightning.
Realizing the danger, the archer frantically ran and jumped from the tower as Storm obliterated it from existence.
Several screams rang out from behind the wall.
A moment later, Storm saw several faces peek out over the wall as the hunters and guards took up defensive positions.
"Send out your commander so that we can discuss terms of surrender!!" Called Storm.
A moment later the helmed face of an armored knight peered out over the top of the gatehouse.
"There is nothing to talk about, monster!!
We will never surrender to the likes of you!!"
"Don't be hasty, 'commander'!! You've seen the size of my forces!
You cannot prevail!!
Surrender! And I promise that none of you will be harmed!" Called Storm.
"Your word has no worth, Calamity!!
Word of your villainous deeds have reached our ears!!
We would rather die fighting than be penned up like animals to feed your hunger!!" Exclaimed the knight.
Storm shook his head in disapproval.
"Are you really going to throw your lives away like this just to satisfy your foolish pride!?
You're outnumbered and overpowered!!" Said Storm.
"We will nake up in valor, what we lack in numbers!!" Exclaimed the knight.
Storm rolled his eyes.
Out of all the different kinds of hunters to deal with, paladins were by far the worst.
Their 'holier than thou' attitude was extremely grating to deal with and negotiating anything out of them was almost impossible.
"What have we even done to you, Dragon!!?
Why do you come here to destroy the homes we've worked so hard to build?!!" Yelled the knight.
Storm bared his teeth.
"You're standing in my way!!
And you are supplying the ones that attack our homes and kills our families!!" Said Storm.
The knight spat on the ground.
"Spoken like a true monster!!
We're in your way, so we must be erased?!
And as for the hunters, what do you expect us to do?!!
Many of us loathe their practices, but we are as much at their mercy as the rest of you!!" Defended the knight.
"Sometimes all that is necessary for evil to prosper is to turn a blind eye.
And I will no longer sit and do nothing!
This is your last chance!
Surrender and you will be spared!!" Said Storm.
"You have our answer , devil!!" Said the knight.
"So be it!!" Replied Storm.
He turned around and walked back to his awaiting army.
He turned and looked at Dust'an.
"Smash it down!" Storm ordered.
The former feral grinned in response.
He clawed the ground in front of him, then lowered his head and charged the gate like an angry bull.
"Fire!!!" Ordered the knight.
Several arrows flew from the wall towards Dust'an, but they all bounced harmlessly off his hard scales.
When he collided with the gate, the entire wall shuddered, before the large doors fell inward and hit the ground with a loud boom.
"CHAAAARGE!!!!!!" Yelled Storm as he took off running towards the village.
His army roared in response and took off after him.
Several dragons and Griffins flew up and began to strafe the walls in order to distract the archers.
The screams of man and beast echoed through the area as the two forces collided.
The Dragons and Griffins led the charge, using their large bodies to break up formations
Next in line were the dwarves.
In their solid plate armor and with their large shields, they created a solid wall of steel that no arrow could pierce.
Behind them were the Rakasha led by the twins.
Using their larger bodies, they reached over their shorter kin to strike at anyone that tried to break the Dwarven shield wall.
Their faster gnoll kin led by Wolf meanwhile skirted the battle, using their superior speed they rushed past enemy lines before turning around and striking at the enemy's exposed flanks.
The back ranks consisted of Augustus's Ashenari rangers and Kalipso and her fey.
The elves rained down death from afar with their arrows, while the fey darted between the ranks and sowed chaos with their magic.
The druids meanwhile stayed back and used their magic to heal any wounded.
The more aggressive of the druids however changed into bears, wolves or other predators and joined the fighting with tooth and claw.
With their wall breached, the battle soon began to turn against the defending humans.
But they were fighting with a determination that suprised Storm.
They gave ground only when absolutely necessary and continued to fight despite the odds arranged against them.