Chapter 14: The Price

Somewhere deep in the woods, Mordred heard something in his mind.

"You are marked, Cerberus. From now on, you are mine."

Mordred cringed as he felt a force taking him over. His servants noticed and ran over to him.

"Master, what is wrong?" asked the griffin.

The Cerberus said nothing. He groaned and fell to the ground as he felt something possess him. His mind warped and changed as his body became that of a kitsune. The other creatures backed up.

"Dark Magic!" the chimera shouted.

The kitsune roared and looked at the creatures with red eyes. An aura surrounded its body, and it grew bigger until it was two hundred feet tall. All of the creature's eyes widened. They knew that they couldn't fight a kitsune, nor were a match for the dark magic.

"Scatter!" cried the Cerberus.

The creatures ran off as the kitsune roared. It growled, looking around for prey.

The voice inside its head whispered. "Leave them for now. There are others who will deal with them."

The kitsune growled and backed away.

Back at the palace, Sonic watched Tails twitch slightly, as his eyes remained locked shut.

"What's going on?" He asked Selim.

"I can't tell. He's clearly in Mordred's mind, but I don't know what he is doing to him," the female kitsune answered, looking at her mate in concern.

Sonic nodded, and watched Tails intently. "I hope he's okay."

"Nothing's gone wrong yet hasn't it?" Swift added, but he too was looking at Tails in concern.

Selim shook her head. Suddenly, Tails' eyes shot open and he gasped.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled. "What happened?"

"He's under...my control...but...it definitely...drained quite a bit out of me," Tails wheezed.

"That's great."

The male kitsune nodded and sighed. Now it was time for him to pay the price. A orange glow surrounded the kitsune. Tails couldn't see it but he felt something inside of him. A sort of dull throb.

"Funny, I don't-" he started to say, and then the pain exploded in his abdomen.

He screamed and fell to the ground, gritting his teeth in pain. An aura surrounded him, and grew brighter. Everyone backed away from the kitsune, wondering what was going on. Tails felt like part of himself was being pulled away from him. The pain stayed for a couple minutes before dying down. When Tails finally opened his blank eyes, something felt off, like something was missing from him.

Selim noticed the change also, and she gasped. "Tails...you...you're not immortal anymore."

"What?!" Swift and Sonic yelled in unison.

The male kitsune sighed and hung his head. "So this is the price."

"Oh, my dear..." Selim said, rubbing her head against Tails' neck.

Tails whimpered sadly and looked at everyone. Sonic walked up to him. "Are you okay, Tails?"

"I know it was a price I was willing to pay, but it hurts to know that you'll all go on without me," he said.

Everyone smiled.

"Live life as best as you can, my friend," the king said.

"Yes my king," Tails bowed.

Sonic smiled and walked out of the room. Percival looked at him. "What happened?"

"Well, on the bright side we may never have to deal with Mordred again. On the dark side, Tails lost his immortality," Sonic responded.

"He did?" The female griffin asked. "That's terrible." Sonic nodded. But he would still live a long time. Percival looked down in sadness. "Our friends keep having to pay for our actions. When will it end?" she asked.

"I don't know," Sonic said.

"Peace on Earth," Shadow said, as he walked in from a side room, "is not so easily gained." Both of the griffins turned to him. "I couldn't help but overhear the conversation," he added.

"What do you mean, Shadow?" Sonic asked the Phoenix.

"Think about it. There will always be at least one person who acts for personal gain. The real question isn't will there ever be peace? The question is how long can it be maintained?" Shadow said. Sonic snorted a bit.

"Since when did you get so wise?" he asked.

The phoenix smirked. "I have my ways," he said mysteriously. Sonic walked up to the knight and smiled. "So what's the plan now, my lord?" Shadow asked.

"We let Tails keep control over Mordred," the king said.

"Should we worry about his servants? They may attempt to find a way to nullify Tails' magic," Shadow asked.

"I agree," Percival said. "We could try to send them back to the Underworld."

"We'll have to find them first. And then we'll need to deal with Gawain and Galahad. They still work for Mordred," said the phoenix.

"Is there any way we can get those two wolves back to our side?"

"None that I know. We could talk to Nimue."

"Let's go see her, then," Percival said.

"Very well. Shadow, you and others guard the castle while we go see her," the king ordered.

The phoenix bowed his head as Sonic and Percival walked out of the castle, then flew towards the lake. Once they got there, they landed and saw Nimue. The unicorn walked up to them.

"What do you need of me sire?" she asked.

"We would like to know if there is a way to turn Gawain and Galahad back to our side," the griffin king said.

"It would be very difficult. They have some pretty heavy magic clouding their minds," she answered.

"What can we do?"

The unicorn thought for a moment. "I could not tell you at the moment, but I will look into this matter. Come back tomorrow and I should have your answer."

The two griffins bowed and flew back to the castle. They saw Silver and Swift land as well. The two dragons looked at them.

"Where did you guys fly off to?" Silver asked.

"We went to see Nimue," Percival told the dragon. "What about you and Swift?"

"Flying training," Swift said, smiling widely. Sonic looked sternly at Silver, who shrank under his gaze. "The kid wouldn't stop bugging me. I know you said not to take him so high in the air, but you know how he is." insisted the dragon.

Sonic sighed. "It's fine. Just tell me when you do so again."

The dragon nodded and turned back into a Pegasus.

"Sorry mom, dad," Swift said, looking at the ground in shame.

"We'll talk about this when we get inside," Sonic told Swift sternly. "Come."

The young dragon followed his father in shame. When they got to the great hall, Sonic turned to his son.

"Do you remember what happened last time you flew free?" Sonic said angrily.

Swift hung his head. "Yes...I was captured."

"Exactly! But it seems from your actions that you keep forgetting this fact!" his father roared.

"Dear..." Percival tried to say, but Sonic raised a talon for silence.

"Dad, I..." Swift tried to say.

"What would happen if they took you again? What if I couldn't save you?" the king cut him off.

"I'm sorry, alright!" Swift yelled. "I just wanted to go for a flight! Am I not allowed to do that?"

"Don't you raise your voice to me! At the moment, no! Not until I'm a hundred percent sure you'll be safe!" the king shouted back.

"Damn it, dad! Do you want my freedom to be taken away? Because you seem to be hell-bent on doing that!" The king's eyes narrowed, and Percival was in shock. "I know what you are going to say" continued the dragon as Sonic opened his mouth, "that I'm just some naive kid! But has it ever occurred to you that I'm trying to learn to take care of myself? That I'm trying to learn how to fight back?"

Sonic blinked. "No...it hadn't."

"Of course it hadn't. You've been so busy you forgot that I'm not an idiot!" Swift yelled, storming off.