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The dark sky rumbled on that black night. A sweltering, suffocating air that hovered in one place. Lightning flashed, illuminating the world for a few precious moments at a time. It was not yet raining but the air smelt of it. The storm would simply swallow up the stars and navigation would have to wait. 

At least for those on the ground.

So it was that a group of beastfolk were fleeing north. Away from the great calamity of their time. Yet even those with the keenest of night vision could hardly see once the storm caught up with them. Children whined, cooed by parents to be quiet. Others whispered, talking of the end times. That the Gods had abandoned them. That the fates had been cruel indeed to leave them so alone. 

They huddled down next to an outcropping of rock, sheltered on one side from the rain that poured down in great thick droplets. The elders recounted a time when the rain was that of blood and spoke cryptically of those who still dwelt in those forsaken lands. The children, after some time, were able to sleep, nestled close to parents and warm bodies. Even some of the reptilian folk were allowed to pile up next to those mammals that allowed it. For one of the few tenets of that band was to look out for one another. No one would be left out, no one would be forgotten. 

Because of that, they were far behind those that had left with quicker feet and hurried wings. Perhaps it was a shared sense of duty, a beastfolk sense of pride and the inner flame that commanded them all. Hope would keep them going, it had too. So they endured and they would go on despite it all.

So it came as little surprise when the sentries raised the alarm and an orderly panic overcame them. A raiding party had come after them. Otherworldly beings who sought only to kill and glut themselves. Daggers of stone and copper unsheathed in the night as the warriors hurried everyone along. 

The night air began to unleash a drizzle of cold rain as the lightning flashed. Then came a scream but not from behind. Thick bowed bovine and lion men ran for the front only to find certain doom awaiting them. 

They had never seen a creature like it but they knew it all too well. The legends had gone far and wide. Lightning illuminated its wild eyes, a mouth of sharp teeth, a few missing, while its elongated body ran with a silver streak along its back. A mongoose of living legend. He stood in the path, blocking their advance. Children cowered, women and men shielded them as the Maw watched with careful eyes. 

Elders came forth but before any could speak the Maw proclaimed, “You… Hunted… All sides but… Mine.” He padded a few steps closer. “Go… Run… I will… Buy time for… Small kin.”

Thunder rumbled overhead as the rain continued pouring down. No one moved, they did not understand. Then the Maw snapped forth his teeth and growled low, “GO!” he said, and jumped over the first few to where the sounds of battle rushed forth. 

On that night of flashing lights, a new legend was born, not of a killer who took the chance to prey upon those already being preyed upon- but of one who cast aside all differences to protect. The Maw Who Slew in Salvation, perhaps not entirely redeemed but for one fleeting moment in such a long life, did something that any could deem as good. 

So that beastfolk clan lived to survive another day and the Maw, without having even been asked why or thanked, was not heard from again by those people. Perhaps it was better that way. 

[hider=Summary]
A beastfolk clan are fleeing north but they are slow. A warband of demonic invaders nearly catches up to them but they are saved by the most unlikely of sources- The Maw, who’s fate is not known. 
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