Storm and his family worked with the rest of their troops to clear out the remainder of the Order's men still located in the city.
The damage to the outer quarter of the city was extensive and the death count high.
Based on the Order's actions, they had no interest in capturing the city, only in doing as much damage to property as they could and in killing as many people as they were able.
Just like with the Kitsune village, the fires could not be put out via normal means and water only seems to help spread the fire.
Currently all they could do was contain the blazes and keep them from spreading while Brenda examined the fuel in the hopes of finding a means of extinguishing the fires.
Storm was currently inspecting the damage around the city with his son Orian while he waited for his advisors to gather.
He had set up an emergency meeting with them for later so that they could discuss plans.
Chrome had excused himself 30 minutes ago to deal with a 'personal matter' once the danger to the city had passed.
As Storm inspected a damaged house that would need to be rebuilt, a frantic cry from the sky drew his attention.
He looked up and saw Chrome's griffin friend flying towards them as fast as his tiny wings would allow.
"Sir! Sir! You need to come quick!! This is an emergency!!" Called the griffin.
"What is it, Quicksilver?" Asked Orian.
"It's Chrome and Quill's mom!! They are murdering each other!!" Exclaimed Quicksilver.
Storm and Orian followed the Griffin out of the city and higher up into the mountains, past even the Griffin sky quarter.
As their destination became clear, Storm had a suspension what was going on between Chrome and Xenia and he couldn't help but smile.
Several caves were located higher up the mountain, almost completely inaccessible to anyone that didn't have wings.
This made them popular with aged Dragons and Griffins and several had already been claimed by prominent members of the species that wanted to get away from the bustling city below for some peace and solitude.
There was one cave that stood empty however, the cave had a beautiful view of the sunset as well as the countryside and this made it a highly contested option.
Several different people had petitioned Storm to use the cave as a permanent residence.
But Storm was unable to choose someone without offending other prominent figures, so he decreed that the cave remained open for use by anyone for short periods of time.
It had since become something of a 'honeymoon' cave for new couples and Storm suspected that more than a few eggs had been formed in between it's walls.
As Storm landed at the mouth of the cave, he saw that Quill was already standing by the entrance with an amused grin.
"You actually brought back help?! I tried to tell you that wasn't necessary!?" Asked Quill.
"Our friend and your mother are busy fighting to the death!! How can you be calm about this?!" Exclaimed Quicksilver.
"I told you it's not to the death!" Exclaimed the small manticore.
In the back of the cave, Storm could make out his son as well as another large creature, but it was impossible to see what exactly they were doing.
Though Storm could make a reasonably accurate guess based on the sounds coming from the back of the cave.
The sunlight suddenly shifted to a particular angle as the sun lowered closer to the horizon.
Revealing more of what is going on in the cave much to the adult's dread and the kids curiosity.
"Ohhh!! What's that!?" Asked Quill.
"And why is he..." asked Quicksilver.
Storm and Orian frantically covered the impressionable hatchlings eyes.
"Uhhh... we really should give them some privacy!!" Stated Orian.
"Why?" Asked Quicksilver.
"I wanna watch!!" Stated Quill.
"You'll understand when you're older!!" Stated Orian.
"And absolutely not!!!" Said Storm as they led the two reluctant hatchlings back to the city.
As he passed them off to a caretaker, Storm couldn't help but think that he and Aurora had better expand their home soon.
Before attending the meeting with his advisors, he had one last stop to make.
He went to a heavily guarded warehouse where several of his men were holding the Humans from the Trading Consortium that had attended the celebrations.
They too had taken losses from the battle and several had been injured. With tensions currently hot right now due to the attack.
Storm had placed them under guard as much for their own protection as it was for his people's security.
He spoke at length with the Nogitsune that had watched them during the celebration and they unanimously agreed that it was highly unlikely that they knew about the attack, or that they were aiding the Order's men.
He searched through the throng of people until he found the leader of the men, who was currently inspecting a man that had received severe burns on his face and chest.
As he saw the dragon approaching, the man quickly got up and rushed over to him.
"Listen to me, Calamity!! We had no idea the Order was planning to attack the settlement!! You have to believe us!!" Stated the man.
"I can assure you, Rudifus. If I thought your people were in league with the Order, then you would already be dead. We've already investigated and you all have been cleared. " Stated Storm.
"Then why are you keeping us prisoner!!?" Exclaimed the man.
"For your own protection. Just because I investigated and found you innocent, doesn't mean others of my people will give you the same courtesy.
Things are tense right now and my people are angry. You and your countrymen would be an convenient target to release those frustrations on. " Explained Storm.
"So how long are we going to stay!?" Asked Rudifus.
"That's why I'm here, I'll release you, but urge you all to pack up immediately and leave the city.
Sorry that we have to cut your trip short, but it's for the best that you return home. We can discuss another collaboration date once things have cooled down. " Explained Storm.
The man nodded his head.
"We understand, dragon. We'll leave as soon as we've packed up and stabilized our wounded."
"How many people did you lose?" Asked Storm.
"3 traders dead, several more wounded. All by Order knights when we encountered them."
He shook his head.
"Calamity... you should know... most humans don't do this sort of thing... there are rules of engagements about these kinds of things...
Rules meant to protect independent traders like us, Rules that forbid striking non combatants.
The Order broke those rules today and I will be taking this information back to our people, there will be consequences for the Order because of this, I promise you that!!" Stated Rudifus.
"On that we agree." Stated Storm flatly as he left.