Deepmere. The place held many memories for Azura. It had been her home where she discovered cultivation. Where she grew up, now she was here to burn it to the ground if she had to. Azura wouldn't shy away from her duty. She'd done much to reach this point. Now it was the final part of what she started so long ago.

Azura looked around at the gathered cultivators. She didn't need to make any speeches. They knew what to do and what was at stake. Today, they liberated the kin and killed anyone who would stop them. She couldn't' do it by herself, which was why they had nearly four hundred cultivators here. They only left sufficient cultivators behind to guard Azure Rest. The rest were here.

Azura took one last deep breath, then nodded to her friends and family as she stepped out of the mana forest. The watch on the walls would spot them soon. They could hardly miss so many even at this distance.

"MARCH!" Azura shouted and took off at a fast jog. She considered it a light jog. Any mage would have been convinced the entire army had some type of haste enchantment. The cultivators ran to bring the final blow to the city of Deepmere.

As they neared, Azura saw the mage's reaction. Panic. She could see the mages scrambling on the wall as they drew within shouting distance. Now, the part of the plan she hated the most. The talking…

Azura drew in a deep breath and augmented her voice with her ki. She didn't have much practice at this, so her voice was initially too quiet to reach the wall. The next moment, it seemed to shake its foundation. Close enough…

"MAGES OF DEEPMERE. I AM THE AZURE MAGEBANE. YOU ARE TO OPEN THE GATES AND SURRENDER TO US. WE WILL TAKE ALL THE KIN YOU HAVE WRONGLY ENSLAVED ALONG WITH SUPPLIES TO SEE TO OUR NEEDS. IF YOU DO SO, WE WILL LEAVE YOU IN PEACE. RESIST AND NOT ONE OF YOU WILL BE SPARED OUR WRATH."

A resonating voice came from the wall, amplified by some spell. "Uh, can you come back in a few days? We will have a representative present for your request by then."

Azura just blinked for a long moment at the ridiculousness of the request.

"NO, I WON'T COME BACK! ARE YOU STUPID?! OPEN THE GATE AND SURRENDER OR DIE! CHOOSE NOW!"

No response came for a long moment as more frantic scrambling on the wall was seen.

"Well, you see the thing is," the voice said hesitantly. "We are having trouble finding anyone to respond to your request. It would be really helpful if you could return in a few days while we sort this mess out."

The man was an idiot, Azura was sure of that. She knew that the majority of Deepmere's leadership had fled, but she didn't think it would be this bad.

"WHAT ABOUT THE COUNCIL? I'VE MET THEM. NOT ALL OF THEM COULD BE GONE."

"Well, yeah, you're right about that," the figure said, scratching his head. "It's just that they mostly left. That prick Arthos looted the treasury and marched off. Haven't heard from him in weeks. Grand Magus Arwin did pretty much the same after forcing us to patrol the walls till he returned. That was over a week ago. Last report, he was far from Deepmere, the spineless yellow bastard. The elves are almost all gone. The Archmage disappeared. And Lord Tarwin is the only one left. He's holed up in his manor. I've sent a runner. He might be able to answer your demands."

Tarwin… her grandfather. Azura glanced back at Elise, who was not far away beside Gerald, who held a rather large beam of metal. Before she could speak, the voice shouted again. This time, it appeared to be directed at some guard behind him. Did he forget his voice was being projected?

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"What do you mean he said hold the wall. Hold the fucking wall with what. My witty personality? That's the mother fucking Magebane out there! She could probably could fart and knock down the wall!"

Azura blushed, her hands covering her face, while a few snickers came from behind her. You guys are supposed to be on my side, Azura thought. She seriously considered just attacking.

"ENOUGH!" Azura bellowed. "WE TRIED THIS THE NICE WAY. NOW SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY!"

No answer came as the mages scrambled around. How did she ever fear these people? Azura gave them a chance. They had all agreed she had to do that. Now it was time for the fist. She stopped the flow of ki to her voice and turned toward the others. It was time. They all knew what to do.

"Gerald, prepare the Kin-A-Pult," Azura commanded.

A long silence came from the bear-kin before he sighed and grunted. "Do we have to call it that?" Gerald asked, hefting the metal beam he carried onto his shoulders.

"We all agreed it was a good name," Azura countered.

"I think you just declared that name after seeing it," Gerald countered.

"Tabatha, is Kin-A-Pult a good name for it?" Azura asked.

"The best!" The rabbit-kin said excitedly. Gerald just sighed again, and Gwen was silent. She hadn't been speaking much. Azura would have to cheer her up after this.

Azura didn't let Gerald complain anymore and leaped up on the left half of the beam. Gwen took the right, and Tabatha was directly behind Gerald.

"Ready?" Gerald asked, and they all nodded in return. Azura felt him gather his ki into his arms and legs. With a mighty heave, he launched the beam high into the sky toward the wall.

Azura waited until they were near the apex of their descent high in the sky.

"Now!" Azura shouted, and all three cultivators pushed off, soaring toward the wall. The force of their leap crashed the beam below them.

The wind rustled her hair as she neared the wall. A faint presence of the wards could be felt as they descended. Azura gathered her ki in preparation as they drew closer. She could feel Tabatha and Gwen mirror her actions. Together, they unleashed everything on the wards, protecting the area above the wall, the weakest point for the wards when they were nearly atop it. Tabatha's wind ki swirled around her fist, empowering her strike. Gwen's attack was pure ki with the hint of a chilly finality. Azura's Dao was that of blood. And she reached for it. Her connection to the Dao was tenuous at best. Yet, despite this, she managed to find a weak link. It was not as powerful as when she burned her ki, yet it was more than she should be capable of. Her ki erupted from her fist, slightly empowered by her Dao. The authority she invoked was a simple command. One she used before.

"SHATTER!" Azura commanded, her voice resonating around her. Her ki attack became something more. A peek at the true potential of a cultivator. She was so focused on her Dao that she didn't notice Gwen's and Tabatha's mirror expressions of shock at her attack. The wards bent and failed as they shattered, just as she commanded. Mages panicked as the three cultivators flew over the wall into the city proper.

With a burst of wind ki, Tabatha separated the three into different directions. Their goal was simple. Find groups of resistance and eliminate them, by any means necessary. While they did this, Gerald and the other cultivators would hold the majority of the mages' attention at the walls. The rat kin had another mission. They had already infiltrated the city, securing stockpiles of supplies and the largest concentrations of their kin. They were waiting until the rest of the group started their attack. It was a loose plan that allowed a lot to change. It would hopefully be enough.

Tabatha's wind ki pushed Azura far to the side, where she collided with a side of a guard tower with a loud smack, her ki sealing her to the wall. She quickly ran to the nearest window, where she hopped in. There, a mage was sitting on a latrine, his britches around his knees, his robe pulled to the side. For a long moment, the two just looked at each other.

"Please don't kill me!" The mage shrieked, raising his hands to cover his face, exposing other things.

"Stop! Cover yourself!" Azura protested, shielding her eyes. Why did all the awkward things have to happen to her? For a long moment, neither spoke.

"Just, uh, uh, stay there," Azura said. "Stay here for several hours and NEVER speak of this to anyone. Got it?"

"Yes, Magebane," the mage whimpered, shrinking in on himself. If he were any smaller, he would fall into the latrine on which he rested. Azura quickly exited, cursing her luck. At least she didn't land in a manure cart.

Leaving the privy, Azura reached out with her blood sense seeking the most numerous sources she could find. It was time to break the city defenders. Then, a visit to Grandfather…

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