Liam sat atop the central ziggurat, trying to get a few moments to himself. Yet even here a few lopsided cheese wheels were stinking up the place. The loudest of which opened her mouth.

“Lord Alhusan, why didn’t you tell us Taloc sent you?” Asked Henrietta Vere.

Her starry eyes hadn’t faded, and she looked at him like a starving mouse might look at a block of swiss cheese. As a place of safety, and a home that could feed her indefinitely.

“Vere is not my concern. But seeing as how I can’t get rid of you, report the status of slavery within the Mark.” Snapped Liam.

“We’ve been purchasing any eclipsiarchs and preparing them for travel–”

Liam’s upraised hand interrupted her. Then he raised his index finger, slowly pointing out over the mountain of dead orcs.

“Ya know, I’m tired of reports and chit chat. Every slave within the city is to be freed. By the end of today, or I'll do to Vere what I did to the orcs. My mercy died in a noose.”

The words brough wondrous silence. As Henrietta blanched, and three military captains stiffened. Eyes flicking to the dead orcs and back to Liam.

“We can’t just deprive people of their proper–”

“Liberties? No you can’t. But hey, I get it, this is a big task. So I’ll provide you a mercy.”

“Thank you Lord Alhusam!”

“Delegation! I’m not going to search the city. The paladins will! Let the former slaves guarantee freedom for their kin.” Said Liam.

Henrietta put a hand to her forehead, suddenly feeling woozy.

“You aren’t moving. It’s going to take time to free all the slaves, you’ll have to make writs of seizure, then deploy your household knights. That’ll take hours, and it’s nearly ten o clock.” Said Liam.

He knew what needed to be done, and reached out to touch the ziggurat’s crystal. Fingers warming under the thrumming power of his own mystical might. Once he’d powered the ziggurat all its secrets had become known to him. These were weapons forged by Calypso working in tandem with Taloc. Powered by the petrified remains of thousands of eternally screaming magi. One more sick artifact of the war between gods.

A weapon he now aimed. The city was partially abandoned, broken windows and doors that hung askew, never to be closed again. He could have blasted one of those, but Liam needed to make a point. He found an auction house, little more than a hardened warehouse with bars over the windows and a platform in front, a place where slaves could be sold. Mana began to thrum, none of the knights really understanding what was happening. But the paladin captain, Loretta, and Henrietta Vere all recognized the feeling of violence. A bolt of concentrated thunder launched from the crystal, arcing through the air at a leisurely pace.

“Lord! Please don’t!” Cried Henrietta, falling to her knees at Liam’s side.

But it was too late, the platform evaporated, along with the entire storefront, one wall of the building was there one moment and gone the next.

“Lord Liam asked King Aldric nicely. It’s been five long years since then. And you assholes invented paired collars in that time. Liam died for you to live. Taloc’s patience is wearing on its last thread, and my patience is gone. Vere should have been the first to free their slaves. As penance for your crime of incompetence, you will pay every slave for their years of service. But don’t worry, I won’t start checking their purses until tomorrow. So you can work through the night if you need to.” Said Liam, finding a seat on the ziggurat’s edge once more.

Henrietta glanced from the auction house wreckage, from the broken storefront to the eviscerated stage. Then she ran, sprinting down the stairs with all the haste she could manage. While wearing a full dress, complete with embedded precious stones. The whole contraption jingled as she moved, an excessively impressive outfit, which now complemented her impressive speed. All the various captains followed her, unsure what else they could do, leaving Loretta, Liam, and the paladin officer alone.

“If the church is holding any slaves–”

“They aren’t my lord!” Shouted the captain, his promise confirmed by Loretta’s nod.

This was the first time Liam had a chance to examine the pair and they soon wilted under his gaze, averting their eyes. Loretta’s ears tucked, her tail hung low. Though it leaned towards the captain, as if seeking comfort from his touch.

“Captain, I don’t want to make an example of you. Best be certain. Would you stake your life on there not being a single collared slave within the dioces?” Asked Liam.

“Will, will you truly destroy Vere if there is?”

“Without a second thought. I killed the orcs, I charged your ziggurats. Your lives already belong to me. As does this city. Medusa’s gorgons can retake it, or I’ll hand it over to the felinids. If humans wish to remain alive then I’m collecting all cats as payment. Otherwise, I’ll repo the city. Be easiest if I start in the south and hit every home with the ziggurat. That should start a fire, while everyone is dealing with that I can level the mansions.” Said Liam.

The captain swallowed. “I see you’ve put some thought into this. Uhm, my lord, is there an exemption for human slaves? Murderers, rapists, and the like.”

Liam had long resolved that question with Arlet.

“Only with conditions. No slave is to be perpetually enslaved, there must be a set term in years or a monetary amount that equals the damage they caused. Their children cannot be enslaved for the parent’s crimes either. I have spoken.”

The captain gave a salute and marched away, maintaining the rigid discipline that was befitting a paladin captain. Loretta turned to follow, but Liam’s finger beckoned her, calling her to sit on the ziggurat beside him.

She hesitated, pupils narrowing.

“Ah, yes mylord?” She asked, voice cracking as she tried to reign in her thundering heart.

After all, she was a nobody. What could a Lightning Lord want with her?

“Loretta, what is that paladin’s name? And what are both of your affinities?”

“Uhm, Sir Oliver is a light captain, and I don’t–”

“Do not lie to me. If I had to guess, you’re an umbraquin of some flavor. Don’t tell me you ended up like an oreo with light and shadow affinities.” Said Liam.

By the way her spine straightened, he had hit the compass right on its center pin. Her eyes darted towards the ziggurat’s entrance, then towards the roof’s edge and lingering there a second too long.

“Loretta, I am ordering you to stay alive, and give your life in the purpose of bringing human-felinid peace.”

She shuddered, and mana passed between them. A hair thin waif that told Liam he had somehow compelled her.

Gross, I knew Nyota could command them… Didn’t realize the genetic compulsion extended to Lightning Lords. Or, maybe this is a byproduct of visiting the Ark?

“Look, Loretta, lets just say that human felinid conception is about to become possible. Won’t happen all at once, and it won’t be normal, no more litters, and pregnancy will be closer to a human’s. So if Oliver is coercing–”

“Perish the thought! Wait, how do you even know about us?” Loretta asked, ears turning to face Liam.

Cause you were shaking the whole damn watchtower!

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“Ahem, I doubt there is a paladin in Vere who doesn’t know. If you keep on like I saw, you’ll be one of the first felinids to carry a hybrid. Might want to go double check Sir Oliver’s work.” Said Liam.

Loretta’s hand flew to her stomach, lingering there before she turned and walked down the ziggurat’s stairs, nearly falling down its central shaft in shock. But only nearly. For even a shocked cat seemed to have nine lives.

—

Knights, paladins, felinids, slave traders, and everything in between ran through the city at a frenetic pace. All while Liam took a nap. He interred himself in the tallest boughs of Marquis Vere’s own orchard, after having flown invisibly and created a hammock with life magic, encapsulating him in a place where no one would disturb him. Then he slept. Remaining unconscious until noon of the next day.

He pushed his head out of the wooden cocoon, scanning the city with his mana sight. Over the past few months it had grown, and it was easy to identify certain immutable characteristics, like race, if they were a mage, their gender, and proximal distance. So it was easy to sweep the city and gain a bird’s eye view without leaving his tree blind.

Felinids mingled with humans throughout the city. Hundreds of slaves with equally as many collars. Most were undone. Most. When he demanded all. Vere had not taken his warning seriously.

Tufan Biliam Alhusam. Taloc’s Genocidal stormsword… Vere, I really hope you obeyed and there is something I overlooked.

Liam leapt from the cocoon, flying into the air and sweeping the city, most felinids had gathered around a large chapel, with a full contingent of knights templar and a few paladins. They knelt as Liam landed, though there were roughly thirty felinids with collars, a sight that brought electricity to Liam’s fingertips. Bleary eyes and exhausted looks greeted him, as if they’d worked through the night.

Why stay up all night? Oh… Thought Liam, staying his lightning.

“Paladin Oliver, I ordered you to set your house in order. Why do I find slaves present?” Demanded Liam, his voice rippling through the crowd like the sound of death himself, come to reap your soul.

“My lord, we lack the paladins to remove these collars, their control gems are missing, or the collars are paired.” Said Oliver.

His words were either the most convenient lie, or the truth, and Liam suddenly wished he had Ashera’s silver eye of truth-seeing. One eye lost seemed like a bargain to avoid these games.

“You’ve failed me, so we are going to play a sort of game. Winning is simple, bring every felinid in Vere to me. Losing is equally simple. Fail to bring them and I'll kill the city. Those ziggurats are Taloc’s weapons, not the Marquis’. Do not make me use them.”

“Yessir!” Shouted Oliver, quickly issuing orders to the knights and paladins who scattered.

Hundreds of eyes fell on Liam, and he swallowed his rage for a little longer. Collars were cracked, old injuries healed, severed fingers regrown, teeth replaced, new ears sprouted, and all other sorts of torture cured. All told, Vere hadn’t been overly cruel to her slaves, and far kinder than Talocandel or Blackwood. Though Loretta was the only umbraquin present. With not a single eclipsiarch in the Mark.

“Alright, come with me. We’ll start at the south side.” Grumbled Liam.

What followed was a pogrom through town, where Liam flew ahead of the crowd, and knocked on any door with a felinid inside. Resistance was slain, and heads taken, though the number did not expand into the double digits. Quite the relief as Liam worked through the city, searching in a grid pattern until he reached the city center, at which point he circled the center, working in a clockwise fashion until the entire city was swept. A surprisingly easy task given the hundreds of buildings present. Orchards meant Vere’s square footage was large, but not population dense, and a defensive wall mandated fairly harsh limits on population size, but there were still tens of thousands of people living here, and only a few hundred slaves.

Sir Oliver’s paladins were also astonishingly efficacious. They alone delivered two hundred felinids, cutting the search down by several hours and staying Liam’s temper. Most of these felinids were seemingly happy couples, free of collars. Though there were a few clipped ears that Liam mended. Dark clouds gathered as the sun began to dip below the horizon, and a flyover revealed the only felininds unaccounted for were inside of Vere Manor.

“Loretta, Sir Oliver, I may have to kill Marquis Vere, are you two prepared for the recoil of such an action?”

“Ah, depends sir! Will you also kill Lady Vere? If we have her then the city will fall into line, might bitch and moan for a while. I’m not quite literate enough to keep up with all the noble thees, thous, and thines to replace her.” Said Oliver.

Loretta’s face screwed up into a scowl. “I can't run a city!”

“Ha, thank you.” Said Liam, suddenly grateful to the couple.

They’ll probably be too busy with kids anyways.

“Cmon, let’s go pay the Marquis a visit.”

Soon enough Henrietta Vere found her way into the courtyard, curtseying to Liam. Her dress was the same gaudy thing he’d last seen her in, and there were a dozen felinids with her. All wore collars and shackles.

“Lord Alhusam, I have freed all slaves within my domain, these twelve were once free men, but they are currently serving life sentences after they slew–”

“--That’s a lie! It was self defense. The damn slaver was trying to kidnap my wife and these nobles never gave me a trial! They just slapped me in chains!” Shouted a thin man, his ribs visible through his ragged shirt, despite his broad shoulders.

In a way, he looked like Liam.

“Is that true?” Asked Liam. stepping closer to Henrietta Vere.

“Not at all lord! There was a trial, a score of witnesses confirmed the guilt of these men.”

“And that’s why you’re out here delivering the news to me and not Marquis Vere himself.” Said Liam, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, uhm. Tis not what it seems–”

“Stop, free the men. From this day forward there are to be no slaves. If a man murders another then a trial must be held, witnesses gathered, his own testimony considered, and an appropriate punishment held if he is guilty. Such is the law.” Said Liam.

“Very well.” Said Henrietta.

A slave crystal was produced from her pocket and the remaining slaves were freed. Cheers went up among the felinids as slavery seemed to truly end in Vere. Until she came to the last slave, the one who had spoken earlier.

When Henrietta touched the control crystal to its collar the metal band came free, she caught it and pulled it off the man, only for him to shove the collar around her neck, locking it and slapping the crystal out of her hands.

“Don’t resist.” He ordered, pulling her forward, trying to lick her face. “Why don’t you come with me, sweet thing. I’ll treat you nice, show you around your daddy’s dungeon.”

“Get off of me!” She shouted.

Two other convicted men moved to pick up Henrietta, trapping both her arms between them.

Liam’s growling voice injected ice into their nerves.

“What are you doing?”

The former slave smiled towards him, a familiar look twinkling in his eyes. Gone was his resemblance to Liam, no longer was he looking at a mirror of himself, now he saw–

“Cmon boss elf, i’m just taking some repayment~”

–Sarah. The eyes of a liar who had just sold their deception.

~a wind blade severed the man’s head.

“I fucking said NO SLAVES!” Screamed Liam, smashing the control crystal underfoot and ripping the mana from the collars so viciously that the steel twisted, contorted beyond use or repair. Metal collars now looked more like twizzlers.

The liar’s head rolled across the pavement, bleaching Henrietta’s faze as it stained the stone. She would have fallen if not for the two men holding her up. Men whose tails tucked between their legs, ears back as they avoided Liam’s eyes.

“Oliver!”

“Yes sir!” Shouted Oliver, stomping his boots and saluting.

“Execute anyone who retains slaves. Vere is a free city from this day forwards.”

To punctuate his words Liam summoned a dozen quartz obelisks. Not grand things like Egyptian pillars or the Washington monument, but pillars that were as tall as he was, inscribed with sapphire letters. Blue sparkled against the clear quartz, legible for all.

ON PAIN OF DEATH

NO SLAVES

OF ANY RACE

BY ORDER OF

LIGHTNING LORD LIAM

He hadn’t meant to inscribe the last word, but that was how he thought of himself, so it slipped in. Liam frowned, quickly thinking of four potential excuses.

“Henrietta, go get your father. He must be punished for his many failures. Do not make me seek him out.”

The redhead was still clutching her neck, staring at the slave’s severed head.

“Henrietta!” Snapped Liam.

She still didn’t move. Loretta stepped between her and the head, retrieving the girl from the two slaves as only an eight hundred pound panther wearing a woman’s skin could. Together they disappeared into the manor.

“Oliver, what does the Teutonic Codex prescribe as punishment if people ignore the first Lightning Lord?”

“Taloc smites the unfaithful if it is a single unforgivable offense. For a major rebellion-” Oliver’s eyes widened, mouth going dry. “Uh, he sends another to level the city…” Finished Oliver.

“Indeed, be glad that Liam never made it to Vere. Place these obelisks in front of each gate and the Marquis’ manor. There will not be another warning.” Said Liam.

“Yes sir!” Shouted Oliver, issuing orders to move the obelisks around town.

While Liam headed into the manor house. Something wasn’t right with the Marquis’ absence. Why run from a Lightning Lord with the power of flight? There was no logical reason…

Unless…

Henrietta hadn’t gone to get the Marquis.

She might have thought her face would be more agreeable, and far prettier than the elder Marquis’. Which was certainly true. At least in part.

Or, maybe, she did not know where the Marquis was.