{{user}} and a line of other boys were pulled up onto the auction stage. The ropes binding their wrists were tight, but {{user}} flexed his arms slightly anyway, testing them, feeling how much they would give.

The tall anthro woman who had led them through the city had talked the entire way here, explaining how things worked in The Matriarch. {{user}} tried to remember everything she had said, sorting through the pieces in his head.

Slowly, he lifted his gaze and looked out at the crowd watching them.

Even from the stage, it was easy to tell that not all of the anthros gathered here were the same.

Some of the women were simply dressed in extremely expensive clothing fine fabrics, jewelry, and dresses that practically shimmered under the lights. They leaned against the railings casually, chatting and laughing as if this were nothing more than another evening’s entertainment.

Others stood straighter, more composed. Several wore dark business suits and carried themselves with a quiet authority that immediately made {{user}} think of government officials. Their expressions were calm and observant, studying the group of captured males with careful interest.

Then there was the third group.

Near the center balcony stood several anthros wearing long blue robes, their garments decorated with subtle symbols that caught the light.

The Church most likely.

{{user}} remembered the guide mentioning them earlier the Church of the Blue. The ones who believed life came from the sea and that they were humanity punishment or something.

{{user}} swallowed slightly as he and the other males stared out at the sea of towering anthro women watching them.

Dozens of eyes.

Maybe hundreds.

Some curious. Some amused. Some openly predatory.

Then suddenly, a voice called out from somewhere in the back of the chamber.

“Make them dance!”

A ripple of laughter moved through the balconies.

The boys on stage looked at each other uncertainly.

No one moved.

For a moment the room was quiet.

Then one of the attendants stepped forward.

She was a massive lioness anthro—easily towering over every male on the stage. Her golden eyes swept across the group as she took a slow, deliberate step closer.

Message received

Immediately, a few of the boys began moving awkwardly, shifting their feet and trying to dance as best they could with their wrists tied.

The crowd reacted instantly.

Giggles spread across the balconies. Some of the women clapped softly.

One boy spun in an exaggerated circle, earning a louder round of laughter. Another tried something resembling a clumsy breakdance move and nearly fell over.

More applause.

More laughter.

It was an auction as well as a show.

The air is almost sweet as {{user}} slowly wakes up. Their head feels heavy, their thoughts sluggish as consciousness slowly crawls back into place.

For a moment, {{user}} simply lies there.

Then their eyes open.

Darkness.

Their hands shift instinctively, brushing against rough wood on every side. The space around them is tight, far too tight. {{user}} tenses, their fingers pressing harder against the surface until the truth becomes clear.

They’re inside a box.

A wooden box.

{{user}} narrows their eyes and braces their shoulders against one side, ramming forward. The crate rocks slightly beneath the impact.

Good.

They try again, harder this time. The box tilts and scrapes against the ground with a dull thud before settling back.

Not strong enough to break it… but enough to move it.

Taking a slow breath, {{user}} begins feeling along the inside walls, testing each panel carefully. The wood creaks faintly under their fingers until, finally they found it, one side shifts slightly when they push against it.

The lid.

{{user}} plants their feet against the opposite wall and pushes upward with everything they have. The wood groans, resisting at first. For several long seconds nothing happens.

Then suddenly—

CRACK.

The lid jerks loose.

With one final shove, {{user}} forces it open and bursts out of the crate, pulling themselves upright as they gulp in fresh air.

They stand Sit for a moment, breathing hard, eyes darting around their surroundings.

{{user}} Eyes lock onto the crate they had just escaped from, the mark of an antro city.

The mark of the antro city, the biggest antro city in the world.

The Matriarch.

{{user}} exhales slowly.

So that’s what happened.

They had been taken in their sleep… shoved into a crate… and shipped off to an anthro city like some kind of package.

Great.

Rubbing the back of their neck, {{user}} looks around, trying to figure out exactly where in the massive city they ended up.

The Matriarch is enormous, divided into many different districts stacked and layered across the towering cityscape.

And depending on where you wake up…

Your chances of surviving here can look very different.

[Where are you?]

[Upper City] [Lower City] [Under City] [Sewers]

{{user}} grunted as they were shoved out of the temple doors, stumbling forward before crashing hard against the stone street below.

For a moment the world spun.

They groaned and pushed themselves up onto their hands, breath shaking in their chest. Cold air rushed over their skin as they slowly stood, shivering as reality settled in.

Their hands rose instinctively to their neck.

Metal.

Thick. Cold. Permanent.

{{user}} grabbed the heavy collar welded around their throat and pulled at it hard, the chain links rattling uselessly against the steel ring. It didn’t move even a fraction.

Hanging from the front of the collar was a heavy metal disk, similar to the tag on a pet’s collar. But instead of a name, a symbol had been carved deeply into the surface.

A symbol everyone in the city recognized.

A mark of a Heretic.

The same mark was fused into the iron bracelets locked around {{user}}’s wrists. Even worse, the same symbol burned across their forehead—fresh enough that the skin still stung where the brand had been pressed into place.

{{user}} was no longer owned by anyone.

But that didn’t mean they were free.

Heretic slaves belonged to no master… which meant anyone could claim them.

Anyone could capture them.

Anyone could hurt them.

And no one in the city would care.

Behind them, the massive temple doors slammed shut with a heavy echo that rolled through the street.

The message was clear.

They had been cast out.

{{user}} forced themselves to stand fully, their legs still shaky as they glanced down the long road stretching away from the temple.

Anthro women moved through the streets in the distance, towering figures passing beneath the lantern lights of the city. So far none of them seemed to notice {{user}} yet.

But that wouldn’t last long.

Not with the brand on their face.

Not with the collar around their neck.

{{user}} swallowed hard and took a slow step forward.

They needed to find somewhere to hide.

Anywhere.

Because in this city, a Heretic Slave wasn’t just unwanted.

They were prey.