*Spark!*
With Avilla completely in panic, Deneris, Jebas and Getrahan doing their stuff, the Emperor had his work cut out for him as he flew in a straight line, heading for the palace.
Avilla had the smallest expanse of land, making it the smallest Kingdom.
It had only one city, Villa.
Yeah, whoever named it must have had the worst naming sense, or was just lazy.
But Villa was seven times bigger than Kingsmere.
Viewing Avilla from above, the city was built in the shape of a stretched semi-circle, which was then segmented into slices.
Four wrecked watchtowers stood right behind the crescent city wall.
Right now, the Emperor ran through the middle of the city as he quickly destroyed the last watchtower standing, which was right in front of the Royal Quarters.
With no delay, he struck down the palace doors with lightning and noted that no guards were around.
He sped up into the palace, only to find it devoid of sound, not even a single person in sight.
The Emperor frowned. The royal family had fled.
Quickly, he cast his eyes over the place.
They began their attacks about two minutes ago. No matter how fast they reacted, they couldn't have gone far.
Befitting of an Emperor, he began to notice tracks, and with haste, followed the trail of clues.
With the King dead, his kin were to follow, killing out the lineage completely.
—------------------------
"Hurry, hurry. We don't have much time"
In an underground passage, devoid of light and full of dust, was a line of people.
The one at the forefront and the one at the end held lights, while those in between, five children and two women, moved with careful steps, scared faces, and shivering bodies.
With the King absent in the wake of a siege, these two women, his wives, quickly got their heads together and fled as fast as they could.
So long as the King was alive, he would return, and so would they.
But they had to make sure his heirs lived, as that was their guarantee for a bright future.
Unfortunately, their future wasn't guaranteed at all.
*Break!*
A hand broke through the ceiling, and before they could react, it grabbed the head of the guard standing at the end of the line with a torch in hand, and then…
*SNAP!*
His head was turned 360 degrees at a speed faster than they could follow, faster than the man could even scream.
The hand had such a force that the snap blew out the fire in the hands of the now dead guard.
Then and there, any thought of attack or resistance vanished from the minds of everyone else.
Two children peed themselves subconsciously, while the mothers had their children hide behind them.
As they stood silently, watching the hand drop the dead man, a commotion spread at the front of the line.
"What are you doing?!"
One of the wives yelled at the top of her voice when she noticed the surroundings getting darker.
The guard at the forefront ran off with the torch in hand. He didn't dare to look back as he shouted…
"I'm sorry, but I believe I've done enough. I'm not going to die for you two selfish mongrels!"
By the time he finished his words, he was more than twenty steps away, and those left were plunged into utter darkness. They didn't see the hand going back into the ceiling.
The kids were already frightened, but now they were downright terrified.
They began to sob as tears leaked from their eyes while their fists tightened on their mother's dress.
Then one spoke, a girl.
"Mom *sob*, mom *sob*, a-are we going to die?"
The mother rubbed her hair and spoke softly…
"No sweetie, everything's going to be fine"
The girl couldn't see her mother, but felt that her mother must be holding a smile at the moment.
Right on queue…
*BREAK*
A few steps away from them, the ceiling broke into pieces.
But that was just the beginning.
*BREAK*BREAK*BREAK*BREAK*
The ceiling was broken consecutively towards their position.
When it got to the ceiling right above them, the mothers pulled their children close to shield them from harm.
But…nothing happened.
As they began to wonder…
*BREAK*
The same sound hit their ears once more, but this time, it echoed, because it didn't happen near them.
More question marks popped over their heads.
Just then-
"AHHH! NOO!"
-a blood curdling scream reverberated.
The wives recognised it as the voice of the guard who fled.
Inwardly, they felt a bit of satisfaction that he had met his end, a gruesome one at that.
Then, they told their kids to close their eyes.
As they awaited their turn, what came next wasn't what they expected.
"Come out"
A deep voice called to them.
With a puzzled expression, they moved towards the parts where the ceiling had broken and looked up to see a man with a regal visage as his body crackled with white lightning.
With his arms folded, he spoke
"So you are the late king's wives and his heirs"
"Late?" one wife impulsively muttered.
"I killed him" the Emperor said.
She clenched her fist. They were done for.
"Well, I guess that's enough for pleasantries-"
He opened his grip and Shredder appeared within.
"-Let me send you on your way"
He raised his weapon to smite them, when-
"Wait!"
-the second wife gave an urgent shout, causing the Emperor to pause.
He gave her a puzzled look.
"I hope it is not mercy you're expecting"
The wife made a nervous gulp but pushed on.
They were at the brink of death, what else was there to lose.
So she shouted.
"I don't expect mercy. You can do whatever you want to me. But please, spare my children"
"Do the same for mine!" the other wife shouted.
The Emperor tilted his head with the same puzzled look.
"You wish for me to spare your children so they can one day kill mine?"
"No, not at all. I'll have them swear to forgo all acts of vengeance or revenge to either you or any of your descendents"
The Emperor nodded.
"Then do so"
She grabbed hold of her kids and looked them in the eye, while the other did the same.
"Johan, Theron"
"Yes mother" both boys answered simultaneously.
"I want you to listen, and I want you to listen well"
The boy's eyes were moist with tears, so they just nodded.
"I want you to live. Do you understand me?"
"Yes" they said weakly.
She shook them and spoke with a burning gaze.
"I want you to live. So before I go, I need you to promise me something. And speak clearly this time"
"We promise"
"I need you to promise me that you will never seek revenge of behalf of your father and I"
"We *sob* promise"
"That you'll never seek to harm the Emperor or any of his descendants"
"We *sob*sob* promise"
Her gaze softened and she hugged her children as tight as she could, and said…
"Remember. Always remember that I love you"
The tears they held back gushed out as they tightened their arms over their mother and cried out all the injustice and pain.
For a whole minute, all five children cried their hearts out.
After that, their mother released them from their grasp, before cutting her hand.
She used five fingers to touch the blood.
"Johan, open your shirt" she said.
The boy complied, watching as she placed her fingers on his chest, and then…
"Ah! It hurts" the boy spoke in panic.
She nodded.
"I know"
After a few seconds, she withdrew her hand, leaving her fingerprints on the boy's chest.
Afterwards, she did the same to Theron.
She looked into the eyes of her lovely children and let out a very heavy sigh.
Only then did she stand to her feet.
"It's done" she said to the Emperor.
The Emperor glanced at the other woman to find her pacifying her weeping daughters, while her son let out silent cries.
With no change of expression, he said…
"It's time"
The other mother promptly got to her feet and had her eyes make contact with the first.
Both women were light brown in complexion and were wearing torn gowns.
They had torn it themselves to allow for faster movement.
While they normally fought for the king's attention, at the end of the day, they gave each other nods of acknowledgement.
With that, the Emperor made his move.
Using his lightning, he pulled the children from within the passage.
Their cries became louder and they called for their moms.
The mother of Johan and Theron had her eyes follow her children as they were taken, leaving one last piece of advice.
"Be strong, my boys. Be strong"
With that, the Emperor took them away, before speaking to the mothers…
"For the first time in a long while, I actually find myself in admiration of such courage. As such, I wish to kill you here"
"You're not taking us prisoners?" one asked.
"I do not want to see you be sullied by mongrels among men. So…what do you choose?"
"You may do as you wish" Johan's mom answered.
The Emperor nodded.
"Very well then. I'll make this as painless as possible"
The next instant.
*CRACKLE!*
