The fall of Deria

Sanryu goes down to the ground and observes all the enemies around him, the skaven are feeling a certain fear towards the boy. Berdo and Fenrya notice a curiosity however, Sanryu seems to be in a state of unconsciousness, since he hasn't said anything until now and even though his eyes shine with a blue glow, they seem to be empty.

'What happened to him?' Fenrya can't understand what's happening to Sanryu. And just when he thinks about the boy's state, the latter loses the blue glow that surrounds his body, it is also that light in his eyes, it abandons him, the same thing happens to the sphere, which disappears into thin air, leaving behind only a very small meatball made of meat and materials. Sanryu collapses to the ground, returning to a state of unconsciousness, apparently the effort used to use that power is enormous.

The remaining skaven don't know what just happened, but without wasting any further time, they rush towards the boy's body, not wanting him to wake up and the same thing happens.

"Don't you dare, rats!" But just when their prey is within reach, Lurue reaches their position, and with divine speed, kills all the remaining skaven around here. "Sanryu?" Lurue reaches down, grabbing the boy's body, wanting to check on him. 'And alive, fortunately, but the effort of that power has exhausted him.' The Goddess managed to see that blue glow of the boy, she and she perceived a presence that should not belong to a mortal.

Then Lurue observes the people present here, looking them in the eyes. trying to understand what was happening. The one who appears to be a wizard has lost a lot of blood, but still seems to be holding on. While one of the two tabaxi is in very bad shape, he has a wound on his side, he is most likely poisoned. The female on the other hand seems to be fine, no wounds on her body, but she is very tired.

"Is your name Fenrya?" Lurue asks the female, getting her attention.

"...yeah, how do you know me? Who are you?" Fenrya sees Lurue hugging Sanryu's unconscious body.

"My name is Lurue, and I'm tied to Sanryu, so you can already understand how I could meet you." Lurue hugs Sanryu's body even more, as if to demonstrate her bond with the boy. "I'm leaving, I'm warning you, more of these rats are coming." Lurue glances at the skaven corpses around her. "I advise you to leave if you want to save your life." Lurue lifts the boy's body, carrying him on her shoulder, as if Sanryu weighed nothing.

"Thank you for the warning, but I have already decided to die in my house, I have no intention of running away...but I would never have said that in my life, I would be able to meet, even just for an instant, a Goddess. " Berdo never changed his mind about his decision, determined to die in his house. But he says something that makes Fenrya surprised, Berdo has recognized Lurue as a goddess, even though the latter has eliminated her divine aura.

"You must be a smart human to have understood my race, I congratulate you, wizard." Lurue gives a small smile, congratulating Berdo on discovering her origins.

"Fenrya..." Fenrya hears her name called from behind her, and turns to Borz. "Flee... there's no point in staying here anymore... the Marquis has made his decision... now there's no point in staying here... not for you at least..." Borz gathers strength, and gets up alone, bearing the pain of the poison. "The skaven poison... is deadly... if there is no immediate treatment... so I will have your back..." Borz tries to speak, amidst many worries, from his wound, streaks begin to spread green, those streaks are the veins that have been infected by the poison.

"What are you saying?! And the mission? We still have to kill the Marquis!" Fenrya can't believe what Borz is saying.

"Look at him... he's already in a lot of trouble... and he's made a decision... I respect him, not everyone chooses to die like this... it does him honor..." Borz makes Fenrya look at her figure of Berdo rising from the ground, trying to keep himself upright. "I'm not going to murder a guy like that... and then we wouldn't have had any hope of winning... you've experienced it firsthand..." Borz places a hand on the tabaxi's shoulder, looking straight into her eyes. "Live, Fenrya...not for me, or for the memories of our deceased comrades...I know you don't care about them...but live for yourself, don't try to chase such a futile goal as the approval of our people... you don't need it. You're already a tabaxi, better than many others, get that into your head." Fenrya widens her eyes, hearing Borz's sentences.

"Not me! I don't know if what you say is right, but I can't say it now. That's been my goal all my life, you don't know what it feels like to be marginalized from the tribe, because of your imperfections... but I have decided that I will live, for myself, as you said." Fenrya places a hand on Borz's shoulder. "You are the only one I have ever respected in our tribe, unlike all the others, you had no prejudices about me, Borz. I thank you for this too, I will never forget you, know that." Fenrya will never forget how Borz always treated her as a member of the tribe, never feeling disgusted by his appearance.

"Good...now go! There's no more time...they're coming, I can feel it." Borz leaves Fenrya's shoulder, and warns the female tabaxi, to start moving away from here, the skave are returning.

"Okay, goodbye, Alpha Borz." For the first time, Fenrya calls Borz alpha, expressing her respect for the male tabaxi.

"Tabaxi, you come with me." Suddenly, Lurue appears behind Fenrya, grabs her like a sack of potatoes, under the goddess's free arm.

"What?!" Fenrya is surprised by the goddess's actions, not understanding what she wants to do. "What are you doing? Just because you're a goddess, you can't do as you please!" Fenrya struggles in the goddess's grip, but to no avail, as Lurue's strength is superior.

"I can it's like, just because I'm a goddess, little tabaxi. Now, it's time to go." Lurue takes one last look at the two men who remained behind. 'This does you honor, mortals, you will not be forgotten by this goddess.' And with these thoughts, Lurue quickly runs towards the city walls.

"So it's just the two of us left." Berdo starts talking to Borz, as skaven start coming in their direction.

"Apparently...I didn't think my last moments...would be next to a human...ironically, haha." Borz gives a sarcastic smile as the skaven surround the two. "I must admit...you are an honorable human...I didn't think there would be anything as good as you...in your race." Borz prepares for his last fight.

"This pleases me, and I must say that you are also very deserving, I am happy that you will keep me company in this last dance." Berdo prepares his spells, while the skaven are about to throw themselves against the two.

'Goddess Lurue, bring Fenrya to safety, please. She will definitely become a great tabaxi in the future, I'm sure.' 'Zaria...live your life to the fullest, you are a talented girl, and I'm sure you will become an exceptional sorceress...and you too, Victoria, in the future you will become the most skilled flame swordsman in the world, I'm sure. Good luck, my daughters.'

These are the last thoughts of two men, before starting their final battle.

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Lurue crosses the city, with a divine speed, which almost the skaven, cannot perceive her. As the goddess runs through the streets, she sees the skaven who are plundering Deria and killing her citizens and the few guards who did not make it to the square.

"Help us, please!""Mom! Dad! Where are you?! Uwahhhhh!!""N-No, please don't-BUWAHH!!""Oh, Goddess! Protect us all."

The civilians cry out for help, while the skaven massacre them, they beg for mercy towards the rats, but the latter do not know this emotion. Lurue doesn't stop, for any reason, she has no motivation to do so. First of all they don't believe in her, secondly she's not a heroine and thirdly that's how the world goes, the strongest chases away the weakest, this is her philosophy of life, after all she was born and raised in the midst of merciless nature.

Fenrya watches all of this too, albeit in a blurry way, given how fast Lurue is going. 'And too fast! I can't see around me well.' Fenrya is impressed by the goddess's speed, and she begins to have a certain respect for Lurue. Fenrya also hears the cries and desperate screams of the people of this city, but just like Lurue, she has a goddess-like philosophy.

The houses catch fire, debris from these structures collapses to the ground, causing explosions. The skaven raise victory shouts throughout the city, warning the fugitives that Deria has fallen into their hands... the first of many, perhaps.

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"Move!Move!" The large group of fugitives, led by Commander Jery, make their way towards the city gates, with little left to arrive. 'Who killed that abomination that stood before us?' Jery refers to a great monster, ten meters tall, with four upper limbs and four lower limbs, who barred the way to them all. 'He was killed in a swift and precise manner... like lightning.' Jery recalls a blurry figure smashing the monster's main head, with impressive ease.

With these thoughts, Jery sees that the walls are now visible, which means it's not long now.

"We're here, here are the gates, come on people, it's not long now!" Jery urges everyone to make one last effort to survive. And with the last remaining forces, the survivors manage to overcome the gates and escape from the city. "Towards the forest! Run! Run!"

This large group, runs safely towards the forest, to everyone's relief, this group managed to survive this invasion. "It seems there are no rats outside the city...they are only found inside Deria, it seems they have no intention of going outside of it." Captain Ros speculates that the Skaven do not care about the territories outside the walls.

"Better for us...we can't deal with any more of those things." The commander observes the remaining survivors; Of the hundred civilians, eighty survived. Of the hundred guards, half are left, same thing for the knights, ten are left. The soldiers were also reduced by ten men, and they also lost six adventurers, this escape cost the group a lot, but at least they survived the invasion. "Let's get away as much as possible, let's rest, we need to regain our strength." Jery orders them to distance themselves further from the city and then rest for at least a few hours, they need to restore their energy a little.

"We did it, miss! We're out of town, it's safe now." The old butler talks to Zaria.

"Yes, I think we were very lucky, but at least we are safe." Zaria catches her breath a little, after all she's not a great runner. 'I hope you were saved too, Sanryu.' With her heart in her hand, Zaria hopes that the boy has been saved from the clutches of those rats.

The people who survived, observe from the hill where they are located, the city of Deria, until recently one of the most important cities of this kingdom, and now it is reduced to flames and is half destroyed, invaded by a race of rats. Families cry, thinking back to their destroyed homes, their belongings that they will never get back but above all, they think of their loved ones lost in this catastrophe.

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Lurue walks out of town, with the two boys in her arms. Before long he reaches the surrounding forest. "This is where it should go." Lurue places the two on the ground, placing Sanryu's back against a tree.

"And now? What will you do?" Fenrya asks the goddess, what they intend to do from now on.

"First of all, I'll wait for Sanryu to wake up, so we can discuss that strange power of hers, and other matters too." Lurue responds to Fenrya, looking at the boy's sleeping face.

"I understand... I'm honest, I'm also curious about that power she used, it gave off a particular energy that is dominant." Fenrya admits that Sanryu's power is intriguing.

"I don't care if you want to listen to our discussion." Lurue has no intention of chasing away the female tabaxi.

And so, the two women wait for the boy to wake up, watching the surroundings to see if any skaven have followed them.