The hunters all twisted to the direction that the arrow came from trying to find who fired it.
Unfortunately for them, a flight of arrows came from the opposite direction a moment later and struck their exposed backs.
A shrill shriek sounded ahead of the formation as the Griffins led by Razor jumped from their hiding places above the clifface and dove at the hunters with outstretched talons.
Meanwhile a load roar sounded behind them as Aurora jumped from her hiding place and rushed at the unprotected mages at the back.
"We're surrounded!!"
"What should we do!?"
"Form a circle and protect the mages and archers in the center. " ordered the knight.
As the hunters hurried to do so, the two forces collided.
Storm used the momentary distraction to shift into his true form.
He announced his presence with a bolt of lightning at the center of the formation.
"He's a damn dragon!!"
"And he breathes lightning?!! How is he doing that!!"
The knight took a step forward and drew his massive sword.
"Support me with magic but keep your distance! I'll deal with this abomination. "
He took off in a run and closed the distance between them. A single griffin saw this and tried to bar the knight's way.
He landed in front of him and swung a talon at him, but the knight deflected the strike with the flat of his blade, before slashing at the Griffin's other front leg.
The Griffin shrieked in pain and fell on his side as the blow drew blood.
While the Griffin thrashed on the ground to try and get to his feet again, the knight raised his sword to decapitate the vulnerable Griffin.
As the sword descended towards it's target, Storm grabbed the Griffin by the tail and pulled him behind him and the sword struck the ground.
"Stay behind me!!" Bellowed Storm as he faced the knight in front of him.
He eyed the glowing runes on the sword suspiciously. Runes of that nature usually meant an enchantment was placed on the weapon and that made this opponent even more dangerous.
It wasn't uncommon for hunters to place enchantments on weapons that made that weapon especially lethal to a specific type of creature.
If the sword had been enchanted to deal with his kind, then his hardened scales wouldn't offer anymore protection from this sword than a piece of parchment would.
This meant that Storm couldn't afford to let even a single strike get through until he was able to identify the enchantment.
Seeing his opponent's hesitation, the knight closed the distance and tried to strike at one of Storm's legs.
Storm rose up on two legs and the blow passed by harmlessly underneath him.
Putting all his weight to the front, he descended and intended to crush the man in front of him underfoot, but the man moved out of the way at the last possible moment.
They circled each other for a moment watching for an opening, Storm kept his body low to the ground and his wings outstretched.
His tail and hindquaters were slightly raised defensively as he prepared to strike the man with his tail.
As the man saw Storm beginning to twist for the attack, he jumped straight into the air and the tail passed by underneath him.
Seeing this, Storm lunged forward and closed his jaws around the man's middle.
He dropped his sword as Storm began to shake him around violently. He bit down hard, trying to bite him in two but the heavy plate armor did a good job of protecting the man within.
He drew a short sword from his belt and slashed Storm at the side of his mouth, causing him to drop him on the ground.
He swung a claw at the man before he could recover and sent him flying several feet backwards.
As the man struck the ground back first, he rolled onto his feet and stopped his backwards flight with his sword by planting it into the ground.
The man's breastplate had been crushed and was restricting his movements and his breathing.
He raised his hand to it's edge and ripped the dented armor off, exposing his under armor that was still undamaged.
Seeing the danger, the archers and mages redirected their fire and launched several spells and arrows at Storm.
Most battered harmlessly against his heavily armored hide but a few of the arrows punched holes through the membranes of his wings, drawing blood.
He hissed in pain and prepared to retaliate with another lightning blast but before he could do so, a blur from the treeline drew his gaze.
Augustus was flying through the air as he jumped from the trees and over the defending warriors. He drew back his bow string and fired 2 arrows simultaneously into the archers below.
As he hit the ground, he rolled and holstered his bow, while drawing 2 elven short swords from his belt. He then proceeded to dance through the ranks of the exposed men, cutting them down mercilessly.
"It's a Ashenari!!" Yelled one of the men.
"Stop him!! Or he'll massacre us all!!"
The knight tried to move towards his men but angry roar from Storm drew his attention back to him.
They charged at each other again. Once he was close, Storm lunged forward and tried to bite the man, but he dodged to the side and the attack missed.
He struck with his sword at Storm's exposed neck but the blade shattered as it made contact with his scales.
"Boss!! Here!!"
One of the men threw a large axe at the knight and he caught it out of the air.
Before he could strike again however, Storm heaved his neck and knocked the man away.
As Storm turned to continue the assault, he failed to see a mage run up to his side.
He pointed a staff at him and and a beam of energy flew from the tip and chained Storm to the ground.
He tried to break free, but a second mage came from the opposite side and fired a second beam at him, securing him to the ground.
"We have him!! Kill him quickly!!" Yelled one of the mages.
The knight took off in a run and lifted the axe overhead to deliver a deathblow to Storm's exposed head.
He thrashed to try and break free but the spells continued to hold Storm in place.
Seeing his predicament, Razor beat her wings down hard and sent a miniature tornado at one of the mages.
As it connected with him, it lifted him into the air, breaking his concentration and ending his spell.
With a heavy heave, Storm broke the only remaining spell constricting him, then turned and bit down on the knight before he could dodge.
Storm tasted blood as his teeth dug into the man, then with a heave of his neck he threw the man into the air.
Opening his mouth, he bathed the man with as much lightning as he could muster.
The man screamed and and convulsed as the lightning arced through his nerves and muscles, then suddenly fell silent as his heart stopped.
Storm closed his mouth, cutting off the lightning, and the man fell to the ground lifeless.