Whilst the forces of the Circle of the Broken Wing gather in preparation for a march west, Commander Julius Ravensfall has put out a call for individuals willing to meet up with members of the Liaran resistance and assist them in preparing the ground for the liberation of the city.

• Samuel of the Warrior - Dave H
• Booker - Dan
• Gidner Waycox - James I

The fountains of Liarus begin to explode as the tranquil waters of the Axia are replaced by Gidner's potent brew of alchemical draughts and predator blood. The populace rise up in a bestial fury against the Serradic invaders and for a time it seems that liberation of Liarus might be wrought in a single afternoon of primal slaughter. Then the tide turns. Samuel's warning to the Serradic occupiers gave just enough begin the marshalling of the men, and when the Leader's Right Hand reaches the cordon a disciplined legion begins an inexorable advance through the rage filled citizens.

During the chaos Booker takes the opportunity to flee the city, but not before calling down a miracle of the Traitor upon the comatose member of the All Seeing Eye, granting the god vision over whatever the enemy warrior should see.

Gidner meanwhile has stayed to tend those wounded in the battle. When he realises that the fight has turned into butchery of the citizenry he prepares a second alchemical concoction and applies it to himself, the complex brew surges through him, reacting with the red mist hanging over the streets, and turning the horde of predators into a pack, with Gidner as the leader. Coordinated and led with a cunning mind the Liarans begin to fight back once more and the Serradic casualties mount up. In the end however there is no-one who can stop Samuel, and where-ever the red mist thins the warrior strides forth to strike down those who have rebelled against his master.

In the end Gidner decides the battle is lost, even spending the life of everyone of his pack he might put every legionnaire down, but the Leader's champion would stand undefeated when the last Liaran fell. Instead the Battle Magister calls off his people, sending the surviving Liarans fleeing east, a great tide of refugees heading towards Acryn, their spirit crushed but their safety preserved.

With the slaughter done Samuel communes with the Leader. The god is well pleased with his chosen, and orders him to display the bodies of the fallen as a reminder to others of the fate of those who oppose the Empire. In return he promises that the bloodstained streets will soon gleam once more, wealth and prosperity will return to Liarus as settlers from the western cities will be despatched to make Liarus a true bastion of the Empire.

Booker returns to Acryn, bringing word of the early signs of disaster to the Civil Service and the Circle. The Civil Service is obviously disappointed with the news but takes some comfort that at least the Serradics paid dearly for their victory. Commander Ravensfall is aghast to learn that his intelligence failed him so badly as to put so prominent a Serradic agent on the mission; his army makes haste with all speed to lay siege to Liarus before the Empire can reinforce their depleted garrison. On the road they encounter Gidner, who provides what warning he can of Samuel's prowess, but the Circle still bloody themselves trying to dislodge the last remaining Serradics. Faced with the prospect of hurling his soldiers into a seemingly untiring human meat grinder, and the arrival of the first fresh troops from the Empire, Ravensfall calls off the assault and the armies of Acryn withdraw. It seems that Liarus will remain in Serradic hands until a plan can be formulated to defeat Samuel, the new Tyrant of Liarus.