The sounds of clashing steel echoed throughout castle Acorn, the crescendo of noise bouncing off of the walls in a cacophony of sound that was too loud to ignore.
And in the large dining hall of the castle, the source of such a din was taking place.
Amadeus Prower once again sidestepped another of King Elias's wild, frenzied sword swings, this was too easy, the young king was tired, emotional and frenzied, swinging his sabre at the Mobian general with a feral, animalistic fury.
But no matter what the king could attempt to do to Amadeus, he would always be able to block, parry or dodge his blows, merely toying with him like he was his prey.
It was almost…comical such a primitive display or anger, but Amadeus could not allow himself to become unfocused, he wanted to show Elias that no matter what, he would not be able to beat him in combat so the people of Mobius's demands could be met peacefully.
"Are you ready to listen to your people now your majesty?" Amadeus spoke in a stoic, yet rather irritated tone to the king.
"SHUT UP!" Elias yelled as he once again charged at Amadeus.
The young king however, wasn't in the best shape for combat, his face was covered in bruises and cuts, one of his eyes was black and swollen from when Amadeus had punched him and his nose was swollen and broken, his lip was busted and his hair was messy and unkempt.
Amadeus however was completely unscathed, Elias had been unable to even land a blow on him throughout the 10 minutes that they had been duelling for.
Well…to call it a duel would be a bit of an overstatement, a merciless beat down would have been more appropriate to describe the fight between the two as Amadeus slapped Elias around like he was a mere child being chastised.
Elias only saw one result that this fight would end in, and he didn't like it…
He feebly tried to thrust at Amadeus, only to have his blade parried aside for what seemed like the 50th time, but this time… something else happened.
Elias cried out in pain as he felt the edge of Amadeus's sabre pierce his wrist, the sharp metal digging into his flesh and severing a tendon.
"Arrrgghh!" he screamed as he dropped his sword from the shock that the roaring wave of pain delivered.
The sabre was sent clattering to the floor as Elias dropped to his knees, his good hand clutching his damaged wrist as he tried his best to hold in his cries of pain, but even then he couldn't help but let out a couple of small whimpers of agony as he clutched at the laceration on his wrist.
He felt the warm, sensation of his own blood leaking from the injury and he then froze in horror as he felt a cold, sharp blade lightly pressed against his neck, just above his carotid artery.
He looked up and saw the cold, hardened, face of Amadeus looking down on him as if he was but a lowly menial to be punished, his Sapphire blue eyes piercing into his own and further into his soul.
"Do…you…yield?" The general growled in a low, terrifying voice that would scare even the most hardened and brave hearted of people.
Elias knew that if he tried to fight back now, Elias would plunge the blade into his neck, sever his carotid artery and leave him to die, choking on his own blood and ichor
Elias took a deep breath and sighed,
"Y-yes…just don't hurt my family…" his lip trembled, tears threatening to spill from his eyes, he had failed… he had failed his kingdom, he had failed his family and he had failed his wife and daughter.
Amadeus's face softened, he removed the blade from Elias's neck and he said in a more calm, collected voice,
"Thank you Elias, your family will not be harmed in the transformation of the kingdoms government, you and your family will be allowed to act as representatives in the new Republic, but your authority as royals as well as your command over the country will be stripped away and handed to the people. Is that understood?"
Elias nodded, looking at the floor miserably in defeat. He had lost, the kingdom would be dissolved and he would have to hand over the crown of the Acorn's to the people.
But he then heard the door burst open and a confused, shocked voice yell,
"ELIAS?!"
He looked towards the door to see his sister standing in the open doorway, a look of shock and horror on her face.
Sally looked down at her defeated brother and then up at Amadeus who held the sword that would most likely have killed her brother if she hadn't gotten here as soon as possible. Her face-hardened to a scowl of rage and hatred towards Amadeus and Rosemary and she stepped forward, eager to attack but her brother stopped her almost immediately.
"SALLY STOP! Amadeus is right…"
Sally's face turned to one of shock, how could he agree with the man who had organised a riot, broke into the castle and from hat she could see… very nearly killed him,
"Elias, get away from him!" she angrily exclaimed, wanting him to step aside… he was a traitor! Amadeus had organised a riot, broken out of a maximum security prison and now had staged a fully blown insurrection against him and the kingdom!
But Elias wouldn't move, he needed to get his sister to see reason. He didn't want her to exacerbate things even more then they already were, he physically held her back and yelled,
"ENOUGH! Sally… Amadeus is right, this kingdom… it's corrupt, it's really corrupt. We dragged the people of Mobius into so many horrific wars and events that have led to the deaths of thousands if not millions! The people won't stand for us anymore Sally… it's my decision as king to form this republic… I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of us… I abdicate the throne."
Sally looked at her brother dead in the eye, surely he couldn't be serious? They had ruled this land for hundreds of years and had been helping the people of Mobius ever since then! He couldn't throw it away! Especially to these traitors!
"Elias…you can't just give up the throne! What about all we've worked towards? What about dad? Do you think you'd be able to look him in the eye after you'd disgrace everything we stand for by doing this?"
Elias looked down, he knew what he had to do! But Sally was right as well! He couldn't just let his family down… but he knew what was best for the kingdom as well as his family.
"Sally, this is my choice as king and I won't go back on it… not for anyone, not even you."
The Princess looked upon him shock and rage, what had Amadeus been saying to him to make him turn his back on the throne?
She opened her mouth in order to scold him for his foolish decision but she was interrupted when an excited, child called out with glee,
"MUM, DAD!"
Through the open doorway, rushed in a small 8 year old fox with unbelievably silky, golden yellow fur, a white muzzle and chest and with two long, bushy tails that followed behind him as he rushed thuds sounding out as he ran over to the group of 4, his shiny white-pointed shoes glimmering in the light.
Rosemary immediately turned towards the little Mobian and held out her arms,
"Tails! You're here!" she happily exclaimed as the small fox jumped into her arms, wrapping his arms around her.
Amadeus grinned happily at his son, he always loved seeing his child so gleeful and joyous.
He walked over to his wife and son and ruffled the fur on his son's head, the boy's canine ears flattening against his head as his father did so.
"Hey there son, you're certainly energetic tonight! Did you deal with Sonic?"
Before Tails could answer his father's question, a third voice entered the two's conversation, this voice was that of a teenager, energetic, yet with an air of cockiness and smugness,
"I'm not sure general, what do you think Tails?"
Everyone in the room snapped back to the door, and in the aforementioned doorway stood the hero of Mobius, the bane of Doctor Robotnik, Tails's adoptive older brother Sonic The Hedgehog.
Amadeus's face hardened, he had already gotten here? He slowly reached back for his sabre but was met by the hedgehog chuckling and saying,
"It's fine general, I'm not here to fight you!"
Amadeus's face was still hardened, but he lowered his sword. Feeling his son's worried gaze.
He allowed Sonic to approach his son, Tails upon seeing his older brother leapt at him and pulled him into a warm hug, Sonic chuckled again at the young boy's actions,
"Easy there Tails, I presume that things have been sorted out between you and Elias general?"
Amadeus nodded at the teenager, pointing towards Elias.
Sonic approached his old friend and his face immediately softened when he saw his bloodied, bruised face.
He winced ever so slightly,
"You may want to get that checked your highness,…" he said cringing at the wounds the young king had sustained in his duel against Amadeus.
Elias chuckled back weakly at his friends statement, wiping some blood from his nose using the sleeve of his coat,
"Yeah…I know. Either way though Sonic, I have come to my decision on what to do with the kingdom."
…...
Once again, that is where I will leave it, thank you for reading and I will see you in the next chapter!
