The morning after

Iris and Theos watched as the sun slowly rose in the sky, and that when it's light touched the werewolves they would burn away to ash in mere seconds. After there were no more werewolves, Iris told Theos,

"You can probably remove the collar now, go and tell the rest that it's safe now." He nodded, and went to carry out her orders. Minutes later crowds of former slaves started exiting the colosseum, no longer wearing the collars. When they saw the sun rising, signaling their first day as free men and women, a thunderous cheer roared out as they started celebrating. Iris watched as children found their mothers, families found each other after being sold to different masters, and men and women embraced each other. When she saw this she felt an intense longing for Leo, when,

"IRIS!"

With her senses she heard it before anyone else, but soon several people turned to the man who was yelling, while Iris raced to his arms. As Leo wrapped his arms around her, she finally felt relief, as he stole her lips. He kissed her again, and again, it was as if he was trying to make up for the whole week they didn't see each other. Eventually he stopped kissing her, and suddenly had a serious face as he asked,

"Is it true?" As he placed his hand on her abdomen. Iris realized that he already knew about their child, though she felt a brief sense of loss at not being the one to tell him, she swiftly dismissed it and said with a radiant smile,

"Yes, it's true. You're going to be a father." When he heard her confirmation, Leo felt a sudden rush of emotions. He was never really sure about believing Andrews words, and only felt rage at what he stated he intended to do. But now that he heard it from Iris, and was able to calm down, he felt as if he was the happiest man alive, and the previous nights experience was nothing more than a dream. He soon had a smile to match hers, as he kissed her again.

It was this point that Leo suddenly noticed the growing crowd watching them. He separated from Iris, and looked at all of them. He saw every race he knew of, humans, dwarves, beastmen, and he finally got his first look at elves as well. He could also see what looked like a several mutants in the crowd as well. Iris noticed what he was looking at, and started explaining the situation to him. When Leo understood what was going on, he nodded and jumped up onto a nearby roof to look over them, and said,

"My name is Leo. I understand most of you have heard of me by now, that I'm the champion of Artemis, and that I'm not human." At his words those gathered started whispering. When Leo heard this he decided to demonstrate, and removed the cloak he found before transforming. Those gathered watched with horrified fascination, as he grew in size and sprouted hair, becoming the exact same as the beings they saw the night before. After making his point he changed back and wore the cloak once more. He then continued,

"I rule a territory to the north centered around the ancient city of Asdarge. For those who have nothing and wish to start over, I offer you a place at my kingdom as free men and women. Currently there we have the dwarven refugees from Tirdaral and the traveling caravans, as well as several beastmen from their surrounding villages. Any who wish to return to their homelands, or do not wish to journey with me, I wish you luck and good fortune to your new lives." When Leo was done speaking they dissolved into their own discussions.

He went back to Iris, who introduced him to Theos and some of the others she became aquatinted with that night. Soon a brown haired woman entered his vision, and Leo turned to see Alice rushing towards him. She wrapped her arms around him, and said with some desperation,

"I'm so sorry! I never thought they would capture you for no reason. If you didn't bring me to the castle then you wouldn't have been locked up, and whipped." Leo shook his head, and said,

"You can't predict or dictate others actions, don't blame yourself for the cruelty of others." When Alice heard his words, contrary to her previous thoughts, she started crying once more. Leo then had a serious expression, and truthfully said to her,

"I killed the royal family, even the king." At his words she didn't know how to react. On one hand her father treated her like livestock to be fattened and sold at the highest price, on the other he was still her father. After a few moments, she had a hardened look in her eyes and looked Leo in the eye and said,

"I won't say they deserved it, but what happened was a result of their own actions." As she said this Iris pulls her into a hug as well, as she understood about bad fathers just from the few minutes she met hers. Leo turned to Theos, who immediately stood as if to attention, and said,

"Will you follow me?" Theos looked confused at Leo's question, and said,

"Of course my king." Even though he didn't know Leo, what he saw showed he was someone worth following. Leo nodded, and said,

"Even if the city's destroyed we're not safe yet, there should be dozens or hundreds soldiers in the surrounding country side. Help organize some groups to keep a watch out, and get some people to start going through the wreckage of the city, because we'll need food and supplies for the trip north." The man bowed at Leo's orders, and went to carry out his words.