Summoned
A dark cloud slowly covered the sun, foreshadowing the rising threat that was falling upon the kingdom.
In the plains far from the castle, two figures were fleeing for their lives.
One was a young girl in a purple robe carrying a staff with a large green crystal orb on the top. Her long braided violet colored hair fell out of her hood and swung back and forth as she ran.
Gliding beside her was a white hedgehog. In his right hand he carried a large sword that looked like an ornate dagger. His silvery armor gleamed as the last of the sunlight vanished behind the cloud. Although his visor covered his eyes, two cyan glows could just barely be seen.
As the hedgehog and his friend raced across the open field, he glanced over his shoulder and saw their pursuer was up in the sky: the Black Knight on his Black Stallion.
"Merlina!" he shouted. "He's above us!"
Up in the sky, the dark warrior drew his sword and swiped it through the air. A black trail followed it and cracked open to reveal monsters of the Underworld. The moment they were unleashed, they swooped down and landed on the earth, stopping the two runaways in their path.
The Silver Knight hesitated for only a second before springing from his place and immediately slashed through the enemies.
"Galahad!" Merlina shouted. "Behind you!"
The said hedgehog knight turned around just in time to see a hoard of monsters advance on him. At the same time, Merlina unleashed a magic attack. It struck the row of the Underworld's minions and they disappeared in puffs of smoke. With the defeat of its army, the black streak in the sky sent out more monsters.
Using his own power, Galahad glowed a brilliant cyan color and flew up to the sky. When he reached another barrage of monsters raining down, he slashed at it with great force. While he managed to defeat the small flying enemies before they reached the ground, Merlina still had to deal with the larger ones that reached her level.
"Element: Earth!" she shouted.
She then raised her staff and commanded a swirling storm of dirt and stone to wipe out the monster's before her.
However, the onslaught of the Underworld army was just growing with no sign of ending.
While Merlina was distracted, the Black Knight landed on the ground behind her and charged forward. From up in the sky, Galahad caught a glimpse of what was going on.
"Merlina!" Galahad shouted.
Merlina wiped around and gasped when she saw the Black Knight just a few fet away from her and quickly getting closer. But before he could reach her, Galahad shot down towards him and slashed, his sword gleaming cyan. The Black Knight managed to see the oncoming attack and came to an abrupt stop. He quickly lifted his sword and blocked the Silver Knight's blow.
In a sword lock, the Black Knight growled in a low voice:
"You'll never defeat me, Galahad. You shall take my secret to your grave!"
The Black Knight then swung his sword and flung the Silver Knight away. Galahad managed to backflip and landed on his feet. He then slide back for a few inches until he reached Merlina. He looked up to Black Knight charging again and the monsters of the Underworld close in on them.
Despite feeling weary, Galahad slammed his hand into the ground and created a large barrier ornate glowing circle. The moment all of the Black Knight and his minions entered it, they all became frozen. Only Merlina remained untouched by Galahad's powers.
"Merlina!" Galahad strained. "Hurry, I can't hold this much longer!"
Merlina summoned her transportation magic. In a tornado of earth, the two disappeared. The moment the Silver Knight was gone his freezing circle disappeared. However, by the time they army could move again, he and the wizard were gone.
Frustrated, the Black Knight slashed his enormous sword and the monsters of the Underworld disappeared in small explosions of black mist. He then rode up to the cliff where three knights stood. One was a red echidna, one was a black hedgehog, and one was a violet cat. When he stopped in front of them, they immediately got down on one knee.
"I shall give chase," the dark knight stated, "Spread out and go after them. Slay them on sight."
Hesitantly, they all nodded.
The Black Knight quickly rode off in pursuit of the fugitives.
The cat then stood up and turned to her companions.
"Let's go," she said.
"Must we?" the echidna questioned. "Galahad is one of the Knights of the Round Table. And Merlina's the Royal Wizard."
"The King's orders are absolute, Gawain," the black hedgehog replied tersely.
"Yes, but Lancelot…"
"Without loyalty to the king we are nothing," the cat forcefully cut off Gawain.
Lancelot gave a small nod before silently walked off.
"Are you sure Percival?" Gawain asked. "Galahad is also your closest companion."
Percival said nothing; she didn't even look at her comrade. Not wanting to press the matter any further, Gawain simply turned away and headed out on his mission.
"Still, the king has changed." Percival silently confessed. "But Galahad, how could you betray us?"
Without another word, Percival set out in her search.
On the edge of a lake covered with mist, a tornado of earth appeared for a brief second before disappearing. As if faded, it revealed the two runaways collapsed on the ground with exhaustion.
Galahad's head swam for a moment as he slowly rose himself up to his knees. After exerting that much mind energy so suddenly, it wasn't surprising that he felt like there was a heavy weight inside his skull. Fortunately, the dizziness quickly subsided and he stood up.
"Merlina," Galahad looked over at the young wizard, "are you all right?"
"Yes," Merlina slowly got to her feet, using her staff to help support her, "but Galahad, what are we going to do about the Black Knight? And our King?"
"I…" Galahad hesitated and looked away. "I don't know yet."
Just then, from behind them, a voice gently answered:
"You must summon another knight."
The wizard and knight turned and saw a pink hedgehog wore an elegant light blue dress walking towards them with a graceful stride.
It was Nimue, the Lady of the Lake.
When they saw her, Galahad and Merlina immediately got down on one knee and bowed their heads.
"Lady Nimue," Galahad respectfully said.
"Sir Galahad, Merlina, I am aware of what has happened to King Arthur," the Lady of the Lake said in a solemn voice. "You both fought bravely."
"It wasn't enough," Merlina frowned as tears formed in her eyes, "My grandfather entrusted me to protect the king, and I failed."
"No," Nimue reassuringly placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder, "You still have a chance to turn the tides. You must summon another who can wield the sword of Caliburn."
"Caliburn," Galahad repeated, "King Arthur's first sword."
"Yes," the Lady of the Lake nodded.
"But how will that help?" the knight asked. "I thought only those of the royal bloodline could draw the sword."
"That is true." Nimue nodded. "However, before Merlin disappeared, he came to me and told me that the Black Knight would one day come to and take over Camelot. By that time, he had placed another spell on Caliburn. While King Arthur may be the only one in this world who can draw it from its resting place, the only other ones who can wield it must be from beyond this world."
"So," Merlina said, "we must summon a knight from behind the boundaries of this world."
"Precisely." Nimue answered.
Upon hearing this, Merlina immediately stood up, raised her staff, and stabbed it into the ground. Instantly, a summoning circle emanated from it and blue mist began to swirl around the wizard as she began to chant,
"Ifaras zaras yezaras…Ifaris zaris yezarik! O brave knight, swift as the wind, heed my call!"
The light from the circle shot up into the sky and a barrier parted the clouds. Only sunlight didn't shine through. Instead, a small blue figure fell out of the white hole.
Sonic the Hedgehog didn't know what was happening. One moment, he was just sitting in a chair at his house waiting for Amy to come so they could go on a "date", and then suddenly, he was randomly falling out of the sky. He screamed and flailed his arms wildly as the ground rush to meet him. Before he had time to brace himself for the impending pain, the hedgehog face-planted straight into the earth. The taste of dirt and grass filled his mouth and he immediately got up, spitting out the contents.
"Ugh!" he groaned. "Gross!"
The blue hedgehog then looked up and saw he his surroundings. On his left was a misty lake and on his right was a seemingly dense forest.
"What the? Where am I?"
From behind, Sonic heard a cluster of footsteps running in his direction. He turned sharply around and saw two figures that looked like friends of his and a total stranger.
"Wha…Amy? Silver?" the confused hedgehog raised an eyebrow, "What are guys doing here?"
Galahad stopped when he heard what Sonic had said.
"He knows I'm the Silver Knight?" He thought. "But how?"
"Being from a distant world," Merlina knelt down to Sonic as she took off her hood, "Please forgive my erupt summons."
Sonic just stared at the crowd in utter perplexity. Why were Silver and Amy acting so different? Amy would have run up and start hugging him to death by now and Silver would have said something like "the future is in danger". But they were just standing there looking serious, which was kind of creeping the blue hedgehog out a little.
"Guys, what's going on?" He suspiciously asked as he got to his feet, "And Silver, what's with the weird get-up?"
"Silver?" Galahad lifted up his visor to reveal golden eyes and a slightly baffled face, "I am Sir Galahad, Knight of the Round Table."
"Galahad?" Sonic rose an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait, did you say you were a Knight of the Round Table?!"
Galahad slowly nodded.
"Wait," Sonic mumbled as he began to connect the dots, "that's from the King Arthur stories. Then that means…"
"You are in the land ruled by King Arthur," Nimue answered.
Sonic's eyes widened in surprise. At the same time, they sparkled with wonder and amazement. He couldn't help but grin when he realized where he was.
"Really?! Cool!"
The blue hedgehog then turned to the Lady of the Lake.
"But…what are you doing here, Amy?" he asked.
"Amy?" Merlina questioned. "This is the Nimue, the Lady of the Lake."
The pink hedgehog gracefully curtsied as the young wizard introduced her.
"Oh," Sonic then remembered his previous adventure in another storybook.
"That's right," he thought, "no one is who I think they are here,"
"So," he cleared his throat and shrugged, "do you any of you care to tell my I'm here?"
"Come with me and I'll explain everything," Nimue gently gestured.
The Lady of the Lake led group to the center of the waters and they disappeared into the mist. A few seconds later, Lancelot appeared from the woods. The Knight stared out over the lake, only seeing the water ripple as the wind gently blew across.
"Galahad," he said solemnly. "Why? Why would you betray us?"