Storm, Pyros, Aurora and the other dragons and griffins landed in the space outside the hidden city a few hours after leaving the village.
As the Kitsune slowly dismounted, Storm saw the other advisors led by Razor rushing out to meet them.
He had placed Razor in charge while he was gone, as she had the most experience out of all his advisors.
Grombrim had a mind for numbers and finances, but he was a gruff, blunt individual that had difficulty dealing with people.
He could run a construction project or dig site, but would have been terrible at negotiating a treaty or meeting with diplomats.
Augustus had years of combat experience and a mind for strategy, but had never run a settlement before.
His cold and emotionless demeanor also tended to unnerve newcomers.
Kalipso had run a settlement for many years, but as the Fey lived closer to nature than most.
She lacked many of the finer details required to run a larger settlement like the city.
Razor meanwhile was something of an peacemaker.
She knew how to negotiate with people, and her many years serving as the leader of the Griffin settlement made her wise and knowledgeable in matters of governance.
Storm often consulted with her when he was feeling lost when forced to make decisions on behalf of the city.
She was also something of an aunt for Orian and occasionally volunteered to babysit him so that the couple could have a night off.
All the advisors hesitated when they saw the poor condition of the Kitsune.
"What happened at the village!!
We can see the smoke all the way from here!!" Asked Grombrim.
"Not right now! They have been through enough of an ordeal!
Razor, please see to it that they all get a roof over their heads, and a hot meal!
I'll brief you all on the situation as soon as everyone has settled in!"
Storm left his advisors to help get the Kitsune settled in.
First thing he did was seek out Orian.
He found him in their dwelling, playing with his favorite toy ball.
Storm gently pulled the infant closer and locked him in a tight embrace.
Much to the little dragon's displeasure.
"I won't let anyone hurt you!!" Thought Storm.
The baby dragon squealed as Storm continued to hold on to him.
Aurora entered the dwelling a moment later and grinned.
"As cute as the sight might be, you might want to release your son before you permanently traumatize him." Said Aurora.
Storm looked down and realized what he was doing.
He released Orian, who immediately ran and hid between his mother's legs.
Aurora looked at the hatchling fondly before encouraging him to continue playing and making her way to Storm's side.
"Any reason why you're feeling extra clingy today?" Asked Aurora.
"Can't I want to spend some quality time with my son and mate?!" Asked Storm.
"The Slayer's threat is bothering you, isn't it?!" Asked Aurora.
Storm gave no reply and averted his eyes.
"You can't blame yourself for what happened, Storm!"
"You heard his threat, Aurora! He threatened to harm everyone I cared about!That includes you and Orian!" Exclaimed Storm.
"So we've got a madman on our tail. He wouldn't be the first one, or do you need me to remind you about the Lich?" Joked Aurora.
"The Lich, didn't target you in order to get to me! I can handle threats on my own life just fine, but when people threaten my family or my friends..." started Storm
She snuggled closer to him. Even Orian must have sensed his father's concern, because he left his ball and crawled closer to him.
"Nothing is going to happen to us and we will deal with this threat when he comes just like we've dealt with every other threat that comes for us. Explained Aurora.
The two dragons curled their tails together and planted a small kiss on each other's lips.
Beside them Orian retched in response, drawing both dragon's gazes.
"Did.... he just...?" Asked Storm.
Orian hacked up a half digested rat a moment later.
"Ohh!! I thought he was reacting to us!!?" Said Storm relieved.
Aurora just sighed.
"You go on ahead and brief the advisors.
I'll clean this up." Said Aurora.
Storm planted another kiss on Aurora's forehead, before getting up and walking towards the exit.
In response, Orian got to his feet and prepared to follow his father, but Aurora grabbed him by the tail before he could get far.
"Ohh no you don't, little one!! It's time for your bath!!" Said Aurora.
Orian whined in response.
After walking through the city for another hour or 2 to clear his head, he made his way to the meeting hall and called everyone together.
They all listened as the Matriarch talked about strange metallic buzzing machines that flew through the air and dropped off several warriors around the village, as well as the Slayer himself.
Most of the men had the traditional equipment of the knights and mages. But there were also some armored warriors that carried strange weapons that spewed fire much like a dragon would.
After dropping off the warriors, the flying machines flew around the village and continued to rain fire down from above.
After she finished her recounting of events, they once again offered her their condolences for the people she lost, before allowing her to return to her quarters.
"Flying machines, flame cannons and flames that can't be extinguished? I've never heard of any kingdom using equipment like that?!" Exclaimed Grombrim.
"Not a single kingdom, anyway. The machines sounds like something Arcadia would create? The fuel for the flames are most likely from Callahan, a nation that is well known for their advances in alchemy.
The knights are most likely from Stone Helm. But these nations have never worked together and shared their secrets like this!!" Said Kalipso.
"Well, they've clearly started doing so now!!" Said Grombrim.
"It doesn't matter who is responsible!! Just that we ensure this doesn't happen again!!" Exclaimed Storm.
He looked at each advisor.
"I want you to send out agents to the cities and find out as much as you can about this new enemy. Where they stay? Where they intend to strike next?
And find out everything you can about this 'Slayer'!! We were caught unaware by this enemy today!! We need to ensure this doesn't happen again!!
His advisors nodded in agreement.
We need to expand our network of allies. The wider our net, the more likely we are to discover something!" Said Storm.
"Won't be easy! The Slayer may be a sadist, but he knows what he's doing! The ruthlessness of his attack will frighten others, and may cause them to try and distance themselves from us!!" Said Augustus.
"Do what you can to reassure them. We can't afford to be divided right now. If the humans can set aside their differences and work together, then so can we!" Said Storm.
With the orders given, everyone set off to do their best to minimize the damage the news of the attack would cause.