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A desperate knock on the door of Mallory's room woke up Alexander. Mallory was still sleeping softly in his arms though, it took more than that to wake her. She was no longer knotted, but still cuddled up close to him. "What is it Amber?", he asked quietly so as not to wake the tabby. She was not a morning cat.

"It's urgent!" Came the reply in a high-pitched voice. "Is Mal not up yet? Can you wake her?" It really must be important. Amber was the only person who was brave enough to wake Mal, especially after the incident. But even she tried to avoid it.

"Alright, give me a minute", Alex said reluctantly. He grabbed Mallory's shoulder, shaking her lightly. "Hey honey. Amber has something for you." His voice in her ears was gentle, and his familiar deep tone made her smile. But she still didn't want to wake up.

"Is it urg-", Mallory started to ask before Alexander gently cut her off.

"Yes it's urgent. I already asked." He knew her. She really wished she didn't have to wake up though.

Mallory sighed, reaching up to rub her eyes. "Alright alright. Ngena." With that last word the door clicked as it unlocked. "Come on in Am. What have you got for me?" She hoped it was muffins. That was the only good urgent interruption. Something told her that wasn't it.

Indeed there were no baked goods when Amber Bennet opened the door. Just the mouse with her slightly chubby frame covered in her short coat of very light grey fur. She did spice it up a bit though with her hair. Curly and colored a strikingly deep blue, she shaved it on her right side but kept it long on her left.

The usually cheerful mouse had a very upset, almost distraught look on her face this morning. Well, she did until she saw Mallory anyways. The cat was showing a lot of fur, her blankets largely discarded in favor of her big wolf keeping her warm. Seeing Amber's distraction, Mallory grabbed a blanket and pulled it over herself. She wasn't opposed to her oldest friend seeing her like this, but she knew that Amber wouldn't be able to get through a sentence when she was like this.

"You said it's urgent?" Mallory prodded her along. She resisted the urge to call the mouse a useless lesbian, even if it was deserved right now.

"Y-yes, sorry! It's just, I received a message a few days ago, an emergency beacon from one of my friends from- from before. I didn't know if it was real or a mistake though until today. One of our informants said that there's a prisoner fitting his description and... and...", Amber sniffled, clearly shaken.

"It's alright! Take your time, we're here for you." Mallory was glad she hadn't teased a moment ago. She had a good idea what could be making Amber so emotional, but she had to confirm. "Regular criminal or inquisitor?" Her voice was quieter now and Alex gripped the cat's shoulder to support her.

Amber took a deep breath, closing her red eyes for a moment as she steadied herself. Opening them again she gave them their answer, her voice cracking as she spoke. "Inquisitor."

Whatever hope Mallory had held out on was dashed. "I, I'm sorry Amber. But you know there's almost nothing we can do when the Church is involved like that. I wish there was but-" Mallory was cut off by Amber raising a hand.

"I know", she squeaked, her voice nearly gone. She cleared her throat and continued. "I know. I'm not asking for that. But his work, it could be dangerous in their hands. Not just for us, but for everyone. If he was right and if someone was insane enough to try it they could cut off all Lunar power forever."

With that revelation the room went completely silent. The moon was the source of somewhere around 90% of the world's magical power. There was some from other rituals, some innate to all life, but nothing that could rival the outpour that the moon sent down almost every night.

"All of it? Do you think it would work? And you think he would break?" Mallory pressed Amber for details. This was the kind of thing she should be woken for. She just wished it hadn't been.

Amber nodded. "Yes all of it, and knowing him I'm sure he could manage it. And normally I would say no, he won't break. He's one of the strongest people I know, but... but...", the mouse was breaking up again, struggling to form words.

Mallory finished Amber's sentence for her, "Catherine." Amber could only nod. That bitch lynx had been the bane of Se Lalin from her first command at the Church. No one in a generation had actually come as close to finding them. And no one had her reputation for cruelty.

"Alright, give me ten, I'll be out in the hall. And tell someone to bring me some breakfast there. Amber, tell your crew to break out the rock collection. I hope to not need it, but we should prepare." Amber nodded again, turning to head back out into the hall. "And Amber", Mallory said seriously. One of the mouse's ears flopped over as she turned her head back to the cat. "I won't let her hurt you."

---

Catherine drew a single claw down the center of the mouse's chest at an agonizingly slow pace. He screamed, thrashing in his bindings as he was flayed open. The lynx stopped her movement, but left the claw deep inside of him. "Now now now, don't do that. If you keep moving around it will make a jagged cut. If you stay still it will be a clean and pretty line. Don't you want that?"

Her voice had the same honeyed sweet tone one would expect of a schoolteacher, but when she was talking about cutting him open it held none of the comforting qualities of its counterpart.

"F-fuck you", he gasped out, coughing weakly. They hadn't fed him since he had arrived, and that had been days ago. Or was it weeks? Months? He'd have believed any of those. With no windows, no natural light at all he had no way of knowing. The only things he was sure of was that he couldn't tell her what he knew, and that he was never leaving here.

His little outburst earned him a sharp backhanded slap. That wouldn't be so bad on its own, but his movement in response yanked on his open wound. He'd lost more blood since being captured here than he had in sixteen years of being a slave. Only the Church's healing magics kept him in one piece enough to still be alive at all. An endless cycle of torture and healing without a moment's respite

"I will be honest with you, rodent. I do not hate your kind. I think you make lovely slaves. I know you are all properly submissive deep down inside." With every sentence she finished Catherine pulled her claw down another inch, slicing further and further into his fur. "But I HATE when you get all uppity. When you hide things from your superiors. When you forget who is in charge." That last word came with a yank that cut open at least another two inches, her claw embedded right over his solar plexus.

"However, it does not have to be this way. You do not even HAVE to die down here, forgotten and alone." Her remaining hand, the one not claw-deep in his chest, moved to show this off in an interesting way. It slid down his short fur to his exposed cock. He braced himself for a fresh torture. It wouldn't be the first time he had been attacked down there.

The searing pain never came though. Just a gentle caress. The first gentleness he had felt in ages. A soft groan left his lips, the noise making Catherine smile. "See? You could have more of that", a gentle stroke. "Or more of this." Another torn inch, prompting another scream as part of his belly was opened.

"I know which one you want. I see how you look at me. Your kind are all the same, needing domination, control. Luckily for you, I am the answer." She was stroking his cock more firmly now, her big hand wrapping around his semi-hard shaft entirely. It was hard for him to really enjoy it with his injury, but he also hadn't gotten off in days. It was impossible to deny it completely.

"It would be so much more simple for me if you'd help. Of course I could rip the secret of every last cipher and code out of you one by one." She paused her speaking and he tensed up as he braced for another cut, but it never came. He could have kissed her for that little mercy. He knew he shouldn't think like that. But with no sleep, nothing to eat, it was so hard to think straight, much less properly resist her.

Catherine knew what she was doing. She had broken tougher specimens than this in shorter amounts of time. The only reason this one was special was his research. They had been keeping tabs on him for a long time. He had always been just one breakthrough away from being useful to them, so he'd been allowed to continue living. Until now.

"Your reward wouldn't just be my hands either. When I say we would provide for you it wouldn't just be an unlimited budget. It isn't just be all the food you can eat. It would be me working with you. It would be me working you." Her tone was so enticing. And seeing her disrobe every day HAD been the only positive part of these days of torture.

He screamed aloud as Catherine yanked her claw down, pulling that sharp little weapon out and tearing his skin down to his navel in one motion. "Or I will gut you like a pig as many times as it takes to make you crack and tell me everything. Then when I am done I will cut out your tongue, gouge out your eyes and toss you in the middle of the woods to die. If I am feeling nice." She licked the blood off of her claw, that feline tongue wrapping all the way around the sharp weapon to show off both of the options she was giving him.

"So what will it be? What will you choose, Julian Bennet?"

---

Mallory entered the central meeting room at a brisk walk, her robes flowing behind her. She had expected the room to be abuzz with activity, but the tone was somber. That wasn't a good sign, especially after the ritual last night had gone so well. Today was supposed to be a day of celebration.

The feline witch sat down next to Amber, knowing she might need to provide emotional support. The mouse was thankful for that, moving her own chair a little closer to Mallory's. The room was completely silent now, and probably would have remained so if not for Mal breaking the tension.

"So what happened?", she asked simply. A murmur ran through the room before an arctic fox girl stood. They all quieted down for her.

"Inquisitor Catherine captured Julian Bennet, he's being held at the church in Halcard-" the fox's briefing is cut off by a grey rabbit.

"Bennet? The same as ours? Are they related?" She asked. Mallory leaned over, putting an arm around Amber's shoulder.

"I can tell them if you-" Mallory starts, but Amber shakes her head, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

"No, I should tell them." She stood up, determined to get through this. "Julian and I were both slaves at the same laboratory. We were... assistants of some sort, doing the dirty work and menial chores that the researchers didn't want. I would grow mana crystals and transcribe the verses they needed while Julian did calculations and saved their chalk writings. We both learned everything we knew there in bits and pieces."

Amber did not look like she wanted to talk about that time. "I never would have been able to escape without his help. We hadn't been allowed a last name as slaves, so we both took the same one before we split ways. He is my brother, even if not by blood."

She sighed, her lip twitching before she steadied herself. "But that's not the reason he's in trouble. He continued the research he had been helping with on his own. Research on self-perpetuating spells. If he was right, and he always was, a spell could theoretically use ALL latent magic to sustain itself, forever."

That made everyone pay attention. All latent magic would mean the end of their concealing spell, the end of their way of life. For many of them the church would ensure it was the end of their life completely.

The grey rabbit spoke up again, "So what are we going to do about it then? What would this spell require, what precursors would they need to collect? Does it need to be cast at a specific time?"

Amber was less certain of the answers here, but she was noticeably more at ease now that the questions were less personal. "Well they would need a huge amount of power to kickstart the process. So a large quantity of mana crystals probably, as well as performing it on the full moon. Significant amounts of salts as well, but we know the church already has those on hand."

Mallory finally cut in. If she knew anything, she knew magic. "A self perpetuating spell needs some catalyst, or barring that something to control it. What would provide that here?"

Amber shook her head. "That was always the mystery. If he's cracked that though they could only be a month away from casting."

"We'll need to interrupt their production of mana crystals, AND cut off sales to them from outside." A slight red panda pointed out. "My crew and I can handle sales, but we still need someone to interrupt their production." It was no surprise that Sapphire was going to take on the crystal trade. No one knew the markets better than them.

The choice for infiltrating the church was also unfortunately clear. All eyes turned to Mallory. She had sworn to never go back there, but here she was. "I suppose that's me then. Alone of cour-"

"NO!" Amber shouted, surprising everyone at the table. Amber never shouted, so the outburst certainly got their attention. "I'm coming with. I know how to sabotage the crystals most effectively."That raw emotion shown made Mal think this wasn't just about her expertise. She wanted to turn this into a rescue mission too, but knew as well as Amber how unrealistic that was.

"Can I point out the obvious?" Asked a tall stag. "Two former slaves travelling on their own would stick out like a sore thumb. Especially you two." Amber's blue hair was of particular note.

"We'll... we'll disguise ourselves as slaves. Take an "owner" with us from our ranks." Amber suggested, surprising Mallory. The mouse hated her time as a slave even being mentioned. To emulate it normally seemed out of the question, but so would Amber's next move.

Reaching for her own chest, Amber grabbed her necklace. As she pulled it out of her shirt the pendant on that simple string was revealed to be a mana crystal. When she took it off her glamour fell away, that blue hair shimmering back to a golden blonde while significant scars all around her wrists were revealed. They almost made her look like she was wearing handcuffs even when she was free.

Mal was the only one who had seen her like this and murmurs spread through the room. Her point made, Amber put it back on, restoring her usual appearance. Only Mallory was close enough to hear her sigh of relief.

"It's settled then", said the arctic fox. "Amber, Mallory and, uh, your assistant-"

"Alexander", provided Mallory.

"Yes, Alexander, your wolf. You three will go to the church directly to sabotage. Sapphire, you'll work to interrupt the supply. We'll scry for more information tonight to see if anything else can be done." She sighed, "I just wish we had two of you Amber. We'll grow some crystals of our own as a backup without you, but your expertise will be missed." The value of that backup even with Amber would have been rather doubtful, but it was something. "Good luck to you all."

The room came alive with activity and little conversations of preparation. Mallory walked Amber out with a hand on her shoulder as soon as she could get free. The moment they were out of the room full of prying eyes Mal hugged her, orange arms holding the mouse girl tight. "Will you be alright?"

Amber nodded. "I had to see them for most of my life, I'll make it now." She said quietly. She didn't mention how seeing those scars had made her nearly puke. Even if she could still feel them from time to time, being out of sight really did put them out of mind. Made her feel more free.

"We can cover them with ropes or something while we're out on the road. I could cut your hair short so you don't have to see it either", Mallory offered, but Amber shook her head.

"No, the hair doesn't bother me much. And I'll, well I'll make due." She leaned into Mallory's shoulder. "Thank you though. You're a good friend."

Mallory purred in response. Genuine relationships like this were still rather new to her, so any approval was greatly appreciated. "It's the least I can do", she said sincerely. "But we should go tell Mast- Alex about everything." Best not to call him by that title out here.

Amber shook her head as she pulled back from the hug, heading down the hall. "I'll never understand why you would WANT that. All the power and freedom in the world and you still submit to someone else?"

Mallory blushed under her fur. "Well I just... it feels nice ok? I know that I'm safe with him, that he would never actually hurt me. And because I'm safe I can just give in and forget my problems."

She sighed happily, thinking about long nights with her wolf. "Actually that reminds me, I have a linguistics question for you." The cat had been mulling over her impromptu erotic spell all morning, but she wasn't much good with the book knowledge that most mages required.

Amber perked up at the mention of one of her areas of expertise. "You cast another spell without checking first? You know that habit is going to get even the Mighty You in trouble, right?"

"I mean, yeah, but it wasn't anything destructive this time. Worked too. So there, guess I am Mighty. How did I say it, uh, "Marem putatis dona, patientiam" I think? I cast it while... I mean, you know." While getting railed she meant. Amber could figure that one out on her own from the wording.

Amber stopped on a dime, turning to Mallory. The look on her face was incredulous. "Are you TRYING to get pregnant? Spirits above Mal, you didn't let him cum inside or anything, right?"

Mallory quickly realized this might be bad.

---

Catherine scrubbed her paws, chanting a repentance spell. She hated this part of her job, the rituals and the formality. But the raw thrill she got when she was in COMMAND made it all worth it. This little rat had lasted longer than she would have thought. Whoever had trained him, given him those old scars apparently hadn't finished the job, had let him grow back stronger than before. Fools.

Then again, if they weren't natural predators like her could they really be blamed for failure? Failure was the natural state of prey and domestics without powerful predatory leadership. At this point she finally noticed a male red fox kneeling at the entrance to the washroom.

"What is it you bring me?", the lynx said bruskly, drying her hands as she did.

"Mistress, there's word that a beacon was in the prisoner's hideout. We're not sure where it goes to, but it's alerted someone." He repeated the information from memory, not too concerned about the big lynx strolling towards him.

He should have been. She grabbed him roughly by the throat, lifting him up with a single arm. His eyes went wide as he grabbed at her fingers in a desperate bid for release, legs scrambling uselessly beneath him.

"And I am just learning this NOW? Those moon freaks will be causing trouble." She dropped him, leaving the fox to stagger backwards, rubbing at his throat and gasping. "But I guess it's already too late. Give the order to kill any cultists on sight. No captures, no questions. Understood?"

The fox nodded frantically, his throat still hurting too much to speak.

"And move our rodent friend to my secondary quarters. He's ready for phase two."