In the room four men sat around a square table, these were the leaders of the Dragon Fury Bandits. The leaders were made up of three Generals and the Bandit Prince. The Red General, Fyre Rond, was a middle-aged man standing six feet three inches tall. His hair was thinning on top, and he wore leather armor over a green tunic and dark brown pants. He sat at the table with a knife on his hip.

To his right was the Black General Tebu Tahazi, an older man in his mid-fifties standing at an even six feet; he wore the same outfit as the Red General. The Yellow General, Evan Starg, sat directly across from the Black General and to the left of the Red General. He similarly matched the other two generals" uniforms.

The only difference between the three generals" uniforms was the single lizard scale in each one"s helmet. The Red General had a red scale the Black General a black scale, and the Yellow General a yellow scale.

The Yellow General was also the smallest of the generals. He was only five feet seven inches tall. Unexpectedly he was also the strongest, in raw physical power, of the three Generals. He liked to use a large club in battle, smashing his enemies into paste. The Red General was the most vicious and unrelenting with his spear; while the Black General was the most nimble and cunning favoring large knives and hidden weapons.

The Bandit Prince, Luther Long, wore green princely robes. His presence and bearing was almost ethereal. He was known for his incredible speed and sharp sword. Some said he could command the wind itself when he attacked. He was the youngest of the men here but no one looked down on him. At twenty-seven-years-old, he had the presence of a man three times his age. He was elegent with an incisive mind.

"How is the looting going?" asked the Prince.

"My lord, our commanders have reported there are no problems looting the hunter villages who are attending the contest. We bought off, bullied, or killed the soldiers the Lynwood family hired. Tomorrow is the last day of the contest and we"ll be able to surround the attendees of the contest. Our plan to enslave the rebellious villagers and the Lynwood merchant shouldn"t be a problem. The strength of the hunters is pathetic," the Black General answered.

"I want to make this Atlas Lynwood my foot slave. I"ll teach him humility. He could have sided with us and had some real power in the mountains. I"ll break him. He has a daughter, correct?" The Prince asked.

"Yes, Xena, she"s thirteen and an accomplished hunter," the Black General said.

"We"ll keep her as insurance against her father. Who knows, when she gets older and if she"s good looking enough I might give her as a reward to one of you to do with as you please," he said.

"We should train her up as a maid so she knows her place. Don"t let her sit as a little princess," laughed the Yellow General.

"Of course, we"ll turn these mountains into our stronghold. When my brother arrives, this will serve as the foundation stone of our new Empire!" the prince said.

"Will your Kingly brother arrive soon?" the Red General asked with great hope.

"Three to four more years and he"ll be here. He"s still fighting hard battles right now. Once he crosses the Naidin Ocean, his progess should be much smoother. Right now, our job is to prepare these mountains for his arrival. As soon as he arrives he will want to begin to campaign!" said the Prince.

"At last we"ll be able to remove the dishonour of being bandits and live once more as a true army under our king!" The Yellow General said with anger.

"When we"re strong enough, we"ll take revenge on our enemies. They think they can destroy my Dragon Kingdom? They"ll soon learn to regret the tragic future they have chosen themselves," the Prince said.

"I"ll put that Rebel Raezon"s head on a pike!" said the Red General.

"We"ll have our revenge eventually. Right now we must focus on our current situation. We"ll force those hunters to become foot soldiers for us. With their knowledge of the forests, we"ll make this forest impenetrable," The Prince said in a frenzy. He could already see their future successes.

The table erupted into laughter as all four men spoke unendingly of coming glory and revenge.

The Hunter Contest already finished the first four days of the compet.i.tion. As Atlas Lynwood expected, the River Village Hunters took first place in every event. This was without River Snake or the Village Chief of the River Village Clan taking part. The best hunter of the contest turned out ot be the seven-year-old son of River Snake, River Mist.

Atlas invited River Snake, his wife, Tok, Tik, Mist, and the Village Chief to his tent for a private discussion. Atlas was very nervous because this would be his first time meeting the Master Hunter since the contest began. During the entire compet.i.tion he remained aloof and was hardly around. To ensure his attendence, Atlas Lynwood emphasized the meeting represented the future of the Mountain Clans.

When Mist and his elders arrived at the meeting, they noticed Xena Lynwood was also in attendence. She seemed especially made up wearing the most elegant and girly clothes. Her presence made sense as she seemed the most likely person to inherit the Lynwood Clan Leader position. The Lynwood Clan was the creation of her father after all.

Atlas came to the opening of the tent and personally welcomed all of his guests. He was especially respectful of Tok, the Master Hunter. While towards Tik he was friendly. Tik watched the contest everyday in Atlas" booth. He was a relaxed young man. Tik saw Xena and got a little excited.

"Do they want to build a marriage alliance with our Masters" Village through me? Haha, what an unexpected harvest," he thought to himself.

After everyone took their seats, Atlas hesitated for a moment before beginning.

"My friends, I have asked you hear this evening to discuss something of the utmost importance to our Mountain Clans. I would like to propose a marriage alliance," Atlas said.

With a twinkle in his eye Tik thought, "I knew it!"