Storm woke up to someone shaking him violently.
"STORM!! STORM!! WAKE UP!!" Shouted Aurora.
Storm opened his eyes slowly,
still groggy from the deep sleep.
He looked around and found himself back in his nest with Aurora by his side.
"What happened?" He asked her.
"You were shaking heavily earlier! Are you alright!" She asked.
".... It's nothing... Just a bad dream..." Replied Storm .
She stared at Storm suspiciously.
"You scared me there for a minute!! I couldn't wake you up, no matter how hard I shook you or called.
Almost thought you were having a seizure of some kind. "
"It's all right!! It was just a dream! I'm fine now!! You can relax !"
She eyed him suspiciously, before turning around and promptly closing her eyes to sleep again.
Storm however couldn't sleep, his mind kept returning to the dream he had earlier.
"What was that? Could that have been in the past? Or is this supposed to be the future?" Thought Storm.
He knew from his lessons on history, that there were several large battles between the humans and the assembled magical creatures.
"Could this have been one of them? And who were those two dragons?" Thought Storm.
He knew their history quite well, but Storm had never heard of these 2 figures in his dream before.
"Another lightning dragon!! Is it possible I'm not the first with these abilities?!
And what was that silver dragon?
Another new subspecies?!" Thought Storm.
He almost discounted the theory immediately though.
If there had been something as unique as another lightning dragon in those old histories.
Then they would have appeared in the stories told afterwards.
"If not the past? Then could this be the future?
Is that blue dragon what I will turn into? And what of the silver dragon? Is that Aurora?"
He thought back on the silver dragon in his dream. She certainly resembled Aurora to an extent, but her grace had been multiplied 100 fold.
He thought on the biggest difference between the two.
"No wings!? And yet, she flew as well as any other dragon I had seen.
What could have happened to her to lose her wings? Was it natural?
Or were they severed in some way?" Thought Storm.
He shuddered as he thought of the possibility of her being injured so badly.
He vowed that he would do anything to ensure that it did not come to pass.
"Maybe Razor or Kalipso can help me figure out this dresm?!" Thought Storm.
He vowed to go seek their counsel at the earliest opportunity.
For now he will keep what he saw away from Aurora.
"I don't wish to trouble her with this knowledge! This is my burden to bear!" Thought Storm.
Eventually his exhaustion bested him and he fell into a light slumber.
"THOSE DAMN CRAVEN JACKALS!!!!"
An angry voice woke Storm from his slumber.
Whoever was shouting continued to shout increasingly more inventive insults.
Storm bared his teeth and dug in his claws in annoyance as the volume of the voice continued to increase.
Beside him, Aurora stirred and raised her head.
"I think you should go check out what is going on?!" She said.
"Do I have to?!" Groaned Storm.
She gave Storm a light push with her snout.
"Go on!! Think of it this way! The sooner you're done, the sooner you can return!"
"I'm going! I'm going!" Grumbled Storm.
He got up and followed the sound of the voice.
"Someone had better be dying!" Thought Storm.
As he came around the corner, Storm saw Grombrim standing opposite a young dwarf that had yet to grow a proper beard.
Grombrim was red in the face with anger as he was shouting at the poor dwarf opposite him.
The young dwarf seemed terrified of Grombrim's fury and kept his head lowered in an apologetic manner as Grombrim continued to rant.
When the young dwarf saw Storm approaching, what color he had, left his face.
He seemed to resign himself to either getting shouted at by Storm as well.
Or getting eaten.
Based on his facial expression, Storm guessed that the dwarf hadn't decided which fate would be more merciful.
"What the hell is this racket for Grombrim!! Some of us are trying to sleep while we can!!" Shouted Storm.
"Ahh!! Calamity!! You have excellent timing!!" Said Grombrim.
"As if I had a choice in the matter!!" Storm thought
"We need your help getting a shipment back."
Storm blinked a couple of times in suprise.
"A shipment?"
"Yes, I made a trade with the nearest dragon settlement for a shipment of rare glass in order to fix this place up.
Unfortunately we just received news that the delivery was ambushed by a pack of gnolls that has been making a nuisance of themselves for the last couple of years." Grombrim explained.
"Gnolls? What are they doing attacking one of our shipments?
I thought they are supposed to be cowards?" Asked Storm.
"They usually are but this particular pack is different.
They've caused trouble for us in the area before but they're becoming increasingly more brazen.
I suspect they have a powerful leader that is bullying them into this. It's the only explanation that makes sense.
Gnolls were a species of beast-kin that were known for their cowardice.
Resembling bipedal hyenas or jackals, they wielded primitive weapons and hunted in packs.
Due to their innate cowardice, they only attacked when they heavily outnumbered a foe or if their opponents weren't able to defend themselves.
They took a fiendish delight in bullying unarmed people, often chasing such a person for miles, deliberately prolonging the chase to increase their prey's dread and hopelessness.
When they inevitably grow tired of the chase, they corner their prey before moving in for the kill.
Sometimes, a pack can overcome their cowardice by having a strong leader that can bully the lesser members into obedience.
"If they've begun hitting us, then we need to act quickly! We need to make an example of them, or we might soon have others trying the same."
"I agree! So what do you say to a good old fashioned hunt?!" Asked Grombrim.
"Should I ask Augustus and his elves to join us?" Asked Storm.
"That won't be necessary! I've already told some of my boys to muster! I imagine they'll be eager for the opportunity to get out and stretch their legs.
You can ask that 'she-dragon' of yours to join us. You two can treat it as a date or something?"
"Fighting gnolls isn't our idea of a romantic time out, Grombrim. "
Storm went to go get Aurora for the mission.
A few minutes later, Storm and Aurora met Grombrim and the 10 dwarves that he had chosen to accompany him.
They had switched out their mining gear, for equipment more suitable for warfare.
Everyone carried a axe and small shield as well as leather or chain mail armor for protection.
"How far was the ambush site?!" Asked Storm.
"A few hours march from here, we won't need to fly. We can march the distance.
"Then, let's get moving ." Said Storm.