The weekend of the Spring Equinox celebration had finally arrived and with it, the last of the snow had melted.
The event in question was scheduled to run for 5 days and nights with each night having a specific, large event.
Creatures from far and wide came to the city to attend the celebration and Storm had even allowed the human Trading Consortium begrudging access to the city.
The human traders were wealthy and eager for non human arts and crafts and his people could use the business.
In order to get past the 'no gold' part, the traders would bring goods for appraisal and would then be granted 'tokens' with which to redeem items at the celebration markets.
At the end of the event, his citizens would bring these tokens to the treasury and they would be reimbursed by the state in gold.
What these humans didn't know was that Storm had placed the Nogitsune on high alert and they were currently watching the trader's every move, with orders to apprehend or even kill if they acted suspiciously.
Storm and his family were walking through the area where the celebration market stalls were set up.
He'd seen little of his 2 sons in the days leading up to the event. When they weren't working at the Regimen teaching classes to the younger dragons, they were out in the city doing who knows what.
When he tried to ask them what was taking so much of their time, they simply smiled and said 'he would see' at the event.
The current event for the evening was the 'Maker's Challenge', a Dwarven event celebrating the craftsmen of their race.
Anyone could register for the event, who then needed to create something for exhibition.
The item could be a weapon, gadget , or even an work of art or a new toy for children. Brenda and a panel of engineers would judge each item with the winner receiving a prize in gold, as well as a commission to create further inventions for the settlement.
Storm had high hopes for the event and had instructed Brenda to especially be on the look out for inventions that could improve the lives of the city denizens, or their army.
He and his family walked slowly and examined each stall's offered goods before moving on.
As they reached the central park where the contestants were displaying their creations for the event.
A strange buzzing sound suddenly started at the outskirts of the settlement. Storm found the sound particularly irritating, like a mosquito buzzing in one's ear
"What manner of invention did they create for the event that makes such a racket!!" Complained Storm.
The Kitsune survivors from the village attack reacted with panic when they heard the noise.
"I don't think it's part of the event, father?" Stated Chrome.
A series of explosions rocked the city, followed by the alarm bells warning of an attack.
People screamed and started running.
Storm immediately began issuing rapid orders.
"Orian, Chrome!! Cover the civilians!!"
"Aurora!! Evacuate every non combatant into the mountains!" Ordered Storm.
He took flight without another word and began scouting out the situation.
At the same time he contacted the commanders of the flying units mentally and issued orders for them as well.
It didn't take Storm long to find the ones responsible for the noise. They were angular machines with a sharp nose that held one of The Order's flame cannons, the machine was entirely encased in thick steel plates.
6 sharp blades extended from the top of the machine that were rotating so fast that the blades were a blur much like the wings of a hummingbird, it was these blades, and the power source connected to them that was making this buzzing sound.
2 large pipes connected to the back of the power source and were regularly expelling steam from it's inner workings.
A long bar at the back extended from the rear like the hindquarters of a dragonfly, several platforms filled with knights were extended from either side of the machine.
They gently hovered close to the ground before taking to the air again as their passengers dismounted.
Storm cursed and contacted Augustus and Grombrim mentally to warn them of hostile troops in the city.
As Storm flew past one of the machines, one of his heads lashed out and bit the 'tail' off one of the machines.
The machine spun out of control before dropping to the ground and landing on a group of knights.
The machine exploded and the screams of burning men could be heard echoing through the city.
Storm began picking off the machines as they flew around the city, occasionally seeing one of his sons or another dragon also targeting the them.
While he was chasing another one through the air, one of the machines flew past him from above.
He just barely saw something jumping off the machine before something heavy struck him at high speed from above and forced him to crash into a house below him.
When he got to his feet, he saw a man dressed from head to toe in plate armor that seemed like it was forged from gold.
A helm with a open visor covered his head, the skull of a young dragon was attached to the top of the helm and flowing from his back was a cloak that seemed to have been made from dragon scales.
A large tower shield with the Emblem of the Order was strapped to his left arm and in his right hand was a large golden spear
He was a middle aged man that looked to be in his early 50's with a full beard of white hair and a scarred face.
"Calamity, I presume? Although your appearance seems different to what our reports said?"
Storm snarled.
"Am I correct in assuming that you are this 'Slayer' I've heard so much about?" Asked Storm.
The man nodded his head.
"Good!! Saved me the trouble of having to hunt you down, human!!
You will pay for what you have done!!!" Yelled Storm.
Storm roared out in rage and rushed off to engage with his nemesis.
He fired a high energy blast at his opponent, but the slayer simply struck the floor with his shield and a large dome formed around him and shielded him for the blast.
The breath exploded as it struck the barrier, but the flames simply split around the dome without piercing it.
One of his heads tried to catch him between his jaws, but the man went down of a single knee and jabed with his spear, forcing Storm to retreat as his nose was bloodied.