Early Release, Yes!
"Do you know who you are?"
"My name is Terrene."
"And it is you, Terrene, you would be the one to defy me?"
"That all depends. Are you good, or are you bad?"
"Foolish girl, there is no good, or bad. There is just me."
Chapter 1
The Lost Emerald
The echidna hit the treasure hunter fast, and hard. He hit him again, making his lose his breath. But the treasure hunter managed to keep it together, he readjusted his lucky hat and said, looking at his rival, "Dimitri." He spat out blood.
The bright echidna commanded for the treasure hunter to be let go. As he did, he got up and looked his enemy in the face.
"Knuckles Echidna, we meet again." Dimitri spat in his face. "Kill him."
The echidna who had beat the treasure hunter now grabbed him, and positioned him to be thrown from the volcano edge. The treasure hunter shouted, "Dimitri! You have no idea what that thing can do! It belongs with the Brotherhood of Guardians!"
Dimitri chuckled and admired his new prize, a small, green emerald. "And you have no idea what I can do." Dimitri climbed down the giant mountain that was the volcano.
Knuckles was thrown right in the middle of the active ash and heat. He yelled but quickly remembered what was in his pack. Pushing his body outwards he latched on his shovel claws to his hands and glided through the poison-filled air. His shovel claws dug into the dirt of the volcano walls, and he gasped in relief, "I hate that man."
Knuckles Echidna:
And the Search for the Lost Emerald
"It was late-middle Mobian. King Arthur charged his knights to find the sacred artifact. A sword to be precise. And we can see, in ancient writ, we have a description of the sword, it was said to be around ten stones long. That's about five feet, from the tip of the sword to the hilt." Knuckles explained to a much attended classroom.
As he described it, he drew it on a chalkboard. "It says there was a centerpiece fashioned inside the sword, containing a jewel, or emerald. And this would be where the base of the steel met the handle."
Knuckles stopped to think, except I'm no expert in the Arthur period. That would be my f-.
"Professor."
"What?" Knuckles looked around, it was the dean.
"If I may have a word." The dean was a porcupine.
"Certainly." Knuckles closed the door of his classroom behind him.
"There are some men here who would like to speak to you." The porcupine led the echidna to the dean's office.
"You don't say?" Knuckles saw the two gentlemen dressed in suits. "What are the APF's doing all the way here?"
One of the men answered as they shook the echidna's hand, "Urgent business, from the president herself."
"Really?" As the echidna slouched back on the porcupine's large chair, and the two men took a seat in front of the dean's desk. Knuckles said, "And what does President Sally want from me?" The echidna gave the dean a look that meant- "I saw this coming somehow".
One of the two threw a document filled with papers and photographs to the echidna. One of those pictures-Knuckles did recognize, "Dimitri."
"The Relic, professor. That is what we believe he is after." One of the two said.
Knuckles shot him a look, "The Relic. The Heavenly Relic." He scoffed, "Gentlemen, I think you've wasted your time here."
The dean smiled at the two, "It's a myth. A story for children."
"Story or not, "One of the two finely dressed gentlemen started, "It is of significant value to old Dimitri, therefore it is of value to the Acorn Government."
"I just met the man, not two weeks ago. Dimitri only cares for power, not this focus locus nonsense." Knuckles stated.
"Be that as it may, he has sent half of his army away from Echidnopolis. One of our spies just went dark there. Another, our informant was helping us track Dimitri, until he as well has gone dark. We think he was captured." One of the two explained. "We need you to pick up where he left off."
Knuckles shrugged.
"You're expertise in this regard might be able to help us, and recover both of our informants. We know Dimitri was after the Chaos Emerald. We think it will lead him to the Heavenly Relic." One of the two said.
Knuckles began to excuse himself, "Even if I was able to recover the emerald, I would still be blind out there. I'm sorry gentlemen but it's my father you should be speaking with."
"We have. He was-"
"Don't tell me." Knuckles stopped, he rolled his eyes at his faraway father.