The festival should have felt lighter.
Lanterns still swayed overhead. Music drifted through the streets. Vendors shouted their last deals, eager to empty wagons before dawn. Jax walked with the Vixens, half-listening as they debated the details of a future home that was no longer a dream—but a certainty.
"I want a master bath," Nyxian declared, hands animated. "A shower that fits at least five people. Or a bath that holds ten."
Bunny's ears twitched. "I want one of those pools you talked about. Standing water. Clean. Deep enough to float."
Jax smiled faintly. "Noted."
They laughed, teased, imagined. It should have been perfect.
Then the crowd thickened.
The sound changed—not celebration, but tension. Raised voices. A sharp bark of command.
Bunny slowed.
"I hate this part of the festival," she muttered.
Jax frowned. "What part?"
Llandra's expression darkened. "You really don't know."
Zee swallowed. "The last day is when they do the slave trading."
The words hit him like a physical blow.
They reached the edge of the square.
Wagons stood in a rough circle, heavy iron cages bolted to their beds. Inside were beastkin—furred, horned, scaled—some standing, some crouched, some gripping the bars in silent terror.
Chains gleamed in the lantern light.
Jax's breath went shallow.
It made sense, distantly. He'd read enough stories. Seen enough worlds. But seeing it—smelling it—hearing the auctioneer's voice rising over the crowd—
He took a step forward.
Llandra caught his arm instantly. "Jax. I know. But this is how it is. How it's always been."
"Then it's ALWAYS been wrong," he said, voice tight.
"We know," Nyxian said quickly. "But the Slave Guild is powerful. Especially in the Empire."
"They have money," Zee added. "Influence."
"They won't forgive interference."
He watched as the first group was hauled forward—male fighters, scars visible, jaws clenched. The bidding started high.
He couldn't breathe.
Then he saw the other wagons.
Smaller bodies.
Women.
Children.
His jaw set.
Bunny met eyes with a Bunny woman and what appeared to be her 2 Bunny kids.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"They do the men first," Bunny whispered. "Then the women and kids."
Jax turned away, forcing himself to walk, the Vixens practically dragging him from the square. They made it down the street before he stopped dead.
"Is there an orphanage in Solmere?"
They exchanged looks.
"There's… a school," Llandra said carefully. "It takes in children when it can."
That was enough.
Jax turned around.
This time, no one tried to stop him.
He walked back into the square with purpose, posture straight, expression calm—and utterly cold.
The auction was already deep underway. Ten fighters were gone. Sold fast. High prices.
Too late.
Jax ignored it and raised his hand as the next cage was opened.
"I bid."
The auctioneer blinked. "Name and price?"
"Jax Darquebane," he said clearly. "Match the current bid, add a gold coin."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Some knew of Jax, but many from out of town were not familiar with him at all. Especially those from the Empire.
Another bidder sneered. "Think you can keep up with these pockets?"
Jax didn't look at him, but looked at all of the others around the square. "I don't see anything of concern for me."
The bidding climbed.
Jax matched it. Every time.
People began to realize something was wrong.
He wasn't haggling.
He wasn't hesitating.
He wasn't backing down.
One man—a merchant with too much confidence and not enough sense—started pushing the price higher than it made sense to go.
Jax noticed.
He leaned slightly toward the man. "You willing to pay this much?"
The merchant smirked. "What? Can't afford it, beastlover?"
Jax almost smiled.
The bid rose again. And again.
But Jax noticed something on the man. His perceptions skills brought things to light that he otherwise would not see.
Sweat dripping from the corner of the man's face.
Eyes dilating with panic.
He can't afford the price he's bidding.
Jax hesitated—just long enough for hope to flicker in the man's eyes. But then, reality started to set in. He bid more than he had. And if he can't pay, he himself could end up as a slave.
Then Jax raised a finger.
"One copper higher."
Silence.
The auctioneer looked between them. "Do you want to counter that meager increase?"
The merchant's face drained of color. He did the math. Realized what he'd done.
He backed away without a word.
Jax won the lot.
After that, no one challenged him seriously.
They tried. Half-hearted bids. Angry muttering.
He bought them all.
Four adult males.
Twenty women.
Eighteen children.
When the final hammer fell, the square was quiet.
Due to Jax overbidding on most of the slaves early on, and the prices he was paying, many of the slave buyers left. So when he purchased all of the kids, he was doing so at discounted prices.
Overall, the Slave Merchants actually lost money, despite the higher prices Jax spent early on.
Disappointment was seen on their faces, and animosity toward Jax was high.
Jax stepped forward.
"Remove the chains."
The auctioneer hesitated.
Jax looked at him.
"They're mine."
The chains came off.
Some flinched. Some cried. Some didn't move at all, too afraid to believe it was over.
Jax knelt so he was eye-level with the children.
"You're safe," he said gently. "No one here owns you anymore."
He led them through the streets himself, the Vixens flanking him protectively, past stunned onlookers and whispering merchants.
At the school, the headmistress nearly collapsed when she saw them.
Jax placed a heavy pouch of gold on the desk.
"This funds the school for twelve months," he said. "Food. Staff. Supplies."
He turned to the adults.
"Anyone who stays and helps raise the children. You'll be paid. Fed. Housed."
He set down another stack of coins.
"Anyone who wants to leave—find family, start over—you'll take thirty gold and go with no judgment."
Some stayed.
A handful left.
No one was shamed.
As the night settled, Jax stood outside the school, watching lantern light glow in the windows.
The Vixens gathered around him.
"You made enemies tonight," Nyxian said quietly.
"I know," Jax replied.
"But you changed lives," Bunny said.
He nodded once. Still haunted by the ones he hadn't been fast enough to save.
"This practice ends now."
Jax was ready to make enemies now. No longer was he going to sit by and get rich while those around him suffer. If change in this world was going to happen, it would happen here in Solmere first.
Jax hadn't originally wanted to change things in this world. But now, he wanted to be the change the world needed. Whether it wanted it or not.