Complete preparations

The hive hawks had arrived with the storm cloud nearly a day ago, its size nearly triple what it originally was. The clouds gathered as they moved, slowly growing.

When they arrived at the fortress, Athos stopped what he was doing for a few seconds just to admire them, before ordering them to move the storm cloud to the center of the fortress. The hive hawks began to spin in circles releasing strong winds to keep the cloud still above the fortress.

They had been on this unbroken cycle ever since, increasing the cloud's charge every time they had spare mana. Some of the mage skeletons with an affinity for water and air also helped, increasing the cloud's size to its current size.