“What the hell are you doing?”, a man's voice startled them. The boy turned, pale, thinking the worst, but he saw that it was not a soldier, but a villager they had known a couple of days ago, during his stay in the village. “Did not you leave yesterday?”. Due to the fright, the boy had stopped crying, although he still did not dare to speak, for fear of returning. “Well, it doesn't matter, where is your father?” he asks. He swallowed and nodded with his head, but without looking, at the square. “Damn it… Shit!”, he exclaimed suddenly. The two survivors had seen them and were running there. “You have to get out of here! Bloody hell! I already told them these would end like this if we did not betray them!”, he picked up a sword that was lying on the ground nearby. “What is really a pain in the ass is that people who have done nothing wrong end up involved! Turn around!”, he ordered them, pointing to a street that led to the same place as the alley they were trying to take in the first place. “If you continue down that street, you will reach the forest, there you can confuse them! Go, run! I will manage with this pair of bastards!”

With that renegade he started running to meet the two assailants. The young man, meanwhile, pulls his mother by the wrist to force her to move forward and they run down the street, circling the building to her right. Not without first bending down for a moment to pick up Mr. Bear.

After a few streets they slowed down. It did not seem to be anyone in that area. The little one was in shock and did not react. Still, tears kept falling down her cheek. The mother walked away with a lost look, trying to process everything that had just happened. It had not been five minutes since they left the inn. Half an hour ago, they were all asleep…

The only one who remained, more or less, firm was her son, who clung to his father's last words so as not to die. He wanted to be worthy of the trust he had placed in him. In a childish feeling, he thought that if he complied with his last will, he would not be truly dead.

In that area of the village, it looked like the butcher shop was already over. The noise of the battle was muffled by the buildings they were leaving behind. Either they had killed them all, or they had fled, as no one was seen or heard. On the right, they had a series of houses. Typical of the area, a couple of floors and built with wood and mortar. On the left, a warehouse, possibly the one that should have stocked the luxury hotel due to its white stone finish. On both sides there were small fires that burned strongly.

Despite the apparent calm, the brother did not want to be entertained, the faster they got out of there the better, so he sped up.

Suddenly, a big bang followed by a big expansive wave made them fly a few meters. An explosion inside the warehouse had blown up the wall, expelling rubble and blue flames. The boy had had time to protect Nayla with his body, but he had to let go of his mother's hand.

It took him a few seconds to recover from the impact, which had left him quite sore. His ears were whistling and his head was spinning. He checked that his sister was okay. She did not look hurt. Then he looked at his mother.

She was sitting on the floor, conscious, leaning with one hand, her face in pain. He approached her, holding Nayla by the hand, as fast as he could.

“Mom, are you okay?”, her eyes showed concern.

She took a few seconds to answer, and when she did, she said it restlessly neutral and serene.

“I stay here, son …”

“What are you saying! Come on, get up!”, the brother let his sister go and took his mother by the shoulders. “We have to get out from here together!”

“No son, I can't run away anymore…”, she said as she looked down at her feet.

The boy followed his eyes and watched in horror as the bone in one of her legs broke and pierced her flesh. A strong apprehension and anguish made him almost vomit, and he withdrew half a step, unconsciously, trying to avoid an arch. Nayla, who had let go from him and went to look for Mr. Bear, who had fallen a little farther on, approached her mother and hugged her, without saying anything, weeping silently. The mother caressed her head, trying in vain to avoid tears.

For a few minutes, they helped her lean against a wall in the apartment building, and before he parted, Nayla gave her Mr. Bear, now dirty and muddy. Upon receiving the doll, she could not stand it any longer and burst into tears, hugging his daughter tightly and telling her how much she loved her. She motioned to him to come over as well and wrapped him with her arms. Kissed them both, until a noise near them brought them back to reality.

The mother let them go, and very seriously, she passed the knife to her son.

“I hope you do not have to use it, but it will be more useful to you than to me”, she told him. “And do not blame yourself for anything. Nothing that happened is your fault. None of us would have been able to do anything about it”, she swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment. She was strong, but she was the most panicked at the time. “Now run! Run! Get out of here with Nayla! Survive!”, she pushed them away from her, with a lot of pain. “If you do, neither your father nor I will regret it!”

Without saying anything, not because he did not want to, but because his words did not come out because of the knot in his throat, he grabbed his sister in his arms, without her resisting the slightest, and started running towards the forest. From where they were, the end of the village could be seen and, past some fields, the grove could be seen as well...

Nayla looked over her brother's shoulder as they walked away from their mother, who was waving at them for a few seconds, until she broke down in tears again. But before they were too far away to see him, a man came out of the building where she was leaning and approached her mother with a depraved smile. The last thing she saw was the man ripping off her mother’s clothes as she tried to resist.