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Chapter 16: The War in Molamse Part 1

Janice wasn't entirely sure how it had happened. She had been out on a quest of vengeance, to kill her masters and grew herself from slavery, to avenge all the innocents she had been forced to kill. She had succeeded in that and now it turns out that she had inspired the rest of the slaver population to follow suit.

It had started as riots in the slave quarters, a massive cesspit where the lowest of the low lived. Every building there had been built from the scraps of the higher classes. Makeshift shanty towns that stretched for miles and housed tens of thousands.

Fires burned heavily into the air of the first night as the city guard had moved in to pacify the riots. They had tried to talk down the slaves but we're quickly overwhelmed and forced to use deadly force. That only spurred on the slaves more and more until the rioting spread to the Champion's district where the gladiators were kept.

Once the source of entertainment for the city, the gladiators became a scourge to the masters. They quickly took the Champion's district and several surrounding areas including a militia barracks along with the armory, giving a source of weapons to the slaves. From there, the slaves had began to systematically take control of the city and kill every master they found. By the end of the second day, a third of the city was in the hands of the rebelling slaves and over twenty thousand were dead.

After that, the masters responded. As a show of force, all slaves that were stuck in master held districts were put to the knife and then the city guard was mobilized. They struck back in an organized and well trained fashion which quickly dispersed the mob of slaves that had never held a weapon before. Another day and another fourteen thousand dead; the slaves only held the slave quarters and even then were losing that fast.

It was on the fourth day that Janice had managed to make it back to the coliseum from the District of Kings. She had managed to accumulate a retinue of personal body guards made up of slaves that had struck down their masters and joined her along the way.

It was there at the coliseum that Janice learned of what was going on in the city and how the masters were now bent on killing every slave in the city and starting fresh. She had originally planned to flee the city, but the cause pulled at her, especially after she learned that Niik had been in a high class district with all the children.

She, her guard and any gladiator that was in the coliseum broke out and began to fight towards the slave quarters some two districts away. She cut a bloody path through the guards, who recognized her and often fled in terror.

The sight of Janice spurred on the beleaguered slaves, who fought with renewed vigor and surprised the city guard with a new offensive that drove them out of the slave quarters and to the edge of the middle class districts where only the massive walls that split the low class districts and the middle class stopped them. At that point, Janice was the undisputed leader of the slave rebellion and she had no real idea of how to win.

“We could climb walls in the night," Eeskit, a rat with a nervous twitch and one of Janice's more trusted advisors, said. He had been a particularly special slave, an assassin sent to kill or maim his former master's, a spice baron, competition. In the end he had stuck the jeweled dagger he carried into his master's back the moment he heard the slaves were revolting. Now he served Janice and was often responsible for the deaths of city guard watch captains each night. There was a large bounty on his head, second only to Janice's. He took a lot of pride in it. “Not hard. Me clan can do it. Open gates by morning." His whiskers twitched and he looked up at Janice with his black beady eyes.

Janice gave a look at the map of the city she had managed to find in a looted lookout tower. She had to get past the walls and into the middle class districts. There were still slaves there since the middle class citizens weren't rich enough to just kill off their slaves and have them replaced. Instead, the slaves were being rounded up and penned inside makeshift gulags where they could be easily managed and starved into submission. There were tens of thousands there, a whole new army.

“I say we bash right through the gates with force," a burly ox snorted. Gorston, another former gladiator crossed his arms and shifted his weight on his hooves. “Let me lead the charge and I'll have those pieces of wood splintered and apart before mid day."

“A lot would die in such an attack," Janice commented.

“Lot of them will die too," Gorston replied. “We were made to die, better to die fighting for a cause."

“Better to live to fight another day," Janice said right back and pointed a finger at the black of that must have been four times her weight.

Gorston bowed his head and shook a step back. “Just let me know when I can bash some heads in."

“You'll be the first to know," Janice promised and turned to Eeskit. The brown rat looked up at her expectantly while fingering the ruby on the end of his knife's pommel. “Go. Get the gates open."

“Yes. Yes. Me and clan will slice necks of guards and gate will open by morning," he squeaked and quickly turned to leave. In a moment he vanished, quickly followed by a small contingent of hooded rats, their bare tails flicking in excitement as they made their way towards the walls.

Janice then looked over to Gorston. “Know what to do when the gates open?"

“Bash heads," he snorted and grinned. The ox bent over and picked up his great axe that was leaning against the wall and left.

That just left Janice and few other slaves that were busy with their own things.

Janice sighed and sat down on a nearby stool that had some minor, but recent scorch marks. Just yesterday, this small house that served as her command center, had been in the hands of the city guard. Now it was hers and she was already thinking about where to set up tomorrow once they had taken a chunk of the middle class districts. Of course, she wouldn't decide until she was actually there, but she didn't like to keep her mind idle.

Janice was about to gather her things and leave when a messenger arrived. It was a small wolf, no bigger than a six year old child. His eyes were bright with hope, but his shoulders were scarred from what must have been the lashes of a cruel master. Still he came to barely a halt in front of her, his foot paws impatiently padding the ground.

“J-juhnice," the messenger said with a lisp. “A guest for- fer you." He smiled up at her.

Her heart melted a little. She remembered him now. Not his names, he was never given one, but he had been working in the furnaces under a bath house where he spent eighteen hours a day shoveling coal into a set of furnaces that heated the bath waters above. He had been decrepit then, but had made a complete turn.

“Oh?" Janice gave a smile and knelt down to be eye to eye with him. “And who might that be?"

“A master," he said, eyes glistening.

Janice followed the small wolf to a clearing that might have been a small park. There were about a dozen armed slaves in makeshift leather armor. They were surrounding a frightened otter in torn silk clothing. Behind them was what appeared to be a family as well with two children.

The otter straightened up the moment he saw Janice and moved to walk towards her, but was stopped by a rough shove from one of the slaves.

“He came to the front lines and demanded to speak with you," one of slaves said. “Was going to just gut him right then and there, but the little pup was watching... and his family. He gave a nod to the little messenger wolf who gave a shy grin.

Janice turned and dismissed the messenger, telling him to go get himself a sweet from the chest she kept with her in her bedroom and once he was gone, she faces the master. “I thought, with how things were going, we were eventually going to come to you. Not the other way around," Janice said, stopping and placing her hands on her hips, resting one on the hilt of her sword.

“And kill me and my family in my home?" The otter said with a nervous chuckle. “No. I don't think so. I'd rather keep fate in my control."

“Ok, fate man," Janice said. “Why did you come here?"

He cleared his throat, gave a quick glance around. “The middle class districts are as good as yours already. That's well known, but the rest of us... the masters, they won't let you take their homes so easily."

“Doesn't matter what they want," Janice scoffed. We'll take the whole city."

“With lots of blood," the otter said. “Many many more will die before this is over. Not so many will have to die though."

“Spit it out," Janice stepped towards him, but he surprised her and held his ground, albeit barely. “There's a war going on."

“Of course," he held up his webbed paws. “The sewers are the key," he reached down to his pocket. The guards raised their swords at the move, so he moved slowly. He pulled out a single key on a steel ring. “Literally the key," he grinned.

“What's your name?" Janice asked and looked the master up and down.

He gave a slight bow. “Shaniq al-Shul, but my friends call me Sha. You may call me that as well, if you will. My household is an old one and had built built much of the original city, including designing the sewers. I can get you anywhere you want in the city in exchange for the safety of me and my family."

The next day, the gates to the middle class districts were opened up and the slave army ran through, taking half of all the middle class districts by the end of that day.

Janice wasn't there on the front lines like she normally would be, instead, she was with Sha. He had brought many of his maps and they were going over them.

“Eeskit," Janice said, not looking away from the sewer maps. “Can you verify all of this?"

The rat had come back from his mission on the wall with a smile on his face a several thumbs tied to the side of his leather robes. He liked to collect trophies and the fingers in his collection regularly changed out.

“Rats in sewers?" Eeskit said with a twitch of his whiskers. “No need to ask. With traitor master's key. Sewers belong to slaves."

“Thank you, Eeskit," Janice said and looked at Sha. “If everything you say is true, then you and your family will not come to harm. If you're lying, you and your family will burn."

“Of course," Sha said and turned to the waiting rat. “Do not lose this," he said and handed the key to Eeskit.

“You don't lose your head," Eeskit chuckled and took the key. He inspected it and sniffed it before sliding it into one his many pockets that held everything from poison to more knives.

After two more days, the rest of the middle class districts fell, leaving only the high class districts. The slaves now had two thirds of the city, but it was daunting to look at what they had to face to get to the last bit.

The walls had been part of the old city when every day was a fight for its survival. The walls were over one hundred feet high and twenty feet thick of solid stone. The tops were manned by three solid rows of soldiers and not just city guard but actual soldiers that would have marched to war if Molamse had to. Up until this point, the slaves had not encountered any soldiers and Janice knew that in a straight fight, they'd lose no matter what their numbers were and so, she held back her forces and prayed that Eeskit came back with verification that the sewers were a viable way to attack.

Four days went by and Janice began to grow impatient. Her army was getting restless and Gorston was threatening to take his men and launch an outright attack. The bull was no tactician. He had been raised to kill and nothing else. If he wasn't killing, he was planning on when he would be killing next.

It was on the fifth day that Eeskit came back.

The rat was filthy. His clothes were caked in what Janice hoped was mud, but knew better. One of his eyes were swollen shut. His ear had a new bloody notch in it. His collection of fingers had also grown.

“You look terrible," Janice said through a cloth she held up to her nose.

“Never felt so alive."Eeskit said with a toothy grin. “Sewers belong to slave queen now. Eeskit said they would and now they are."

Janice didn't like being called the slave queen, but it was a name that was slowly catching popularity.

“Masters has some in sewers, but not many," Eeskit said and laid the key on the table. “Way to all masters now open. Eeskit and clan will lead way when queen orders us to."

“Thank you, Eeskit," Janice said. “Go tell Gorston the time nearly here."

“Of course," Eeskit bowed and scampered off, leaving a trail of filth and blood in his wake.

“You've become quite popular with them," Sha said. He plunged on a nearby chair. They HQ had been moved to the middle class merchants district where it was close to the front. “When this is over, you will be a true queen."

“Don't call me that," Janice pointed a finger. “I'm no queen." Her finger fell and she gave a loud sigh and ran her handthrough her shortly cut hair. “I don't intend to stay once this is done."

“All people crave power in one way or another," Sha said and sat upright. He had settled in nicely and even had been part of the planning for taking the high class districts, putting his knowledge to use. “It's just how they use it that matters."

“Like how you used your power to have slaves?" Janice asked pointedly.

Sha gave her a look that was a mix of resentment and sadness. His whiskers twitched for a moment. “I had but one slave to my name. Surak had been with my family since my birth and had watched over me more like a father than my own. He was out getting groceries at the market when the rest of the masters put out the decree to exterminate all slaves. Needless to say, he didn't come back."

Janice watched with some guilt as the otter looked down at his sandalled footpaws. His eyes glossed over for a bit.

“I'm sorry," Janice said.

“No," Sha said and raised a hand to stop her from saying anything else. “Surak once told me to never apologize for what I say if I meant it. To be a liar is the worse than anything else. You meant your words and I understand. I do. The masters killed my friend. Slave or masters. It doesn't matter to me who rules the streets. I plan on leaving and since the masters had closed the gates on their side, I need safe passage through your territory."

“Our deal is still there," Janice assured Sha. “When the city is free of the masters, you and your family will walk out of here."

“Thank you," Sha said and stood up. He put on a strong face. “Let's finish these battle plans of yours. The sooner you win, the sooner I get to leave."