Execution

April 16th, 1701

Saint-Michel

The fires had gone cold, but the smell of smoke and blood still clung to the streets like rot.

The battle was over.

But the reckoning had just begun.

Rows of Elysean soldiers marched through the ruined town, their boots crunching on shattered wood and scattered debris. The rebel flags had been torn down. The walls repainted with the imperial crest. And in the center of Saint-Michel's town square, the rebellion's last remnants had been gathered like livestock awaiting slaughter.

Nearly two hundred men knelt in the mud—wounded, bruised, beaten into submission. Some still bled from bayonet wounds. Others bore black eyes, split lips, and cracked ribs. Their weapons had been taken. Their uniforms stripped. Many wore nothing but undergarments or rags. The Elyseans had made sure to humiliate them, parading them through the streets like trophies.