Chapter 10: The Two Hedgehogs
They reached Rohan in seven days' time. Sorec turned back into Eran and looked at himself. The black scales had covered his hands, which were growing muscular. His fingers were starting to merge into three digits also as his hands started to morph into large paws.
"Oh, that's not good," he whispered before shoving his hand-paws into his pockets.
Eran saw Mystikra walk up to him. "Thanks for the ride. How do you like being a dragon?"
He shrugged. "I've been a dragon before, so it's nothing special."
The she-elf nodded and they walked into the town, looking around for Sonic and Shadow. She saw how her companion kept his hands hidden. If his hands are wounded, as he said, then he should let me look at them, she thought.
"What's wrong with your hands?" The she-elf asked him. "Are they still injured?" The human nodded, and Mystikra looked at him. "You seemed fine with them as a dragon."
"Um..." He backed away a bit.
Mystikra frowned. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Just forget about it. I'll be fine."
The elf sighed and followed him. A few minutes later they saw two male hedgehogs walk into a house.
"That must be them," Mystic told the human.
He glared at the hedgehogs as they went inside. His pupils narrowed into slits for a moment, then became round again. Eran nodded and walked up to the door. His pupils became slits again and changed color to crimson once the door opened and Shadow stood in front of him.
"May I help you?" The former Dark Lord asked. Mystikra stepped in front of Eran, as she could sense his anger rising and didn't want a fight to break out. "Who are you, she-elf?"
"I am Mystikra." She said. "This is my companion, Eran."
Shadow nodded. "And what do you two want?"
Mystikra was about to answer when a voice yelled, "Shadow! Who's at the door?"
"We just want some information about...the Dark Lord." The elf said as Sonic joined Shadow at the door.
Eran nodded. "He kidnapped my sister and used his magic to change her into a Balrog," He growled. "We need to know how to change her back and take him down."
Shadow sat down with Sonic and the two visitors sat across from them.
"You mean Shadic, right?" Sonic asked. They both nodded. Sonic sighed. "I don't think you'll be able to change her back. Shadic's magic is very powerful." An evil grin was forming on Shadow's face, and Sonic looked at his partner. "What are you grinning about?
Eran's eyes changed again and he clenched his fists. A deep growl escaped his throat. Shadow chuckled deeply and spoke. "You should not want to change your sister back." He said. "She is going to serve a great and noble cause when Shadic finds her. He will convince her to join his army, and she will be a great warrior of darkness. Why would you want to deprive her of that?"
Eran screamed/roared and flew at Shadow, grabbing him by the shoulders with his deformed hand-paws and pinning him against the wall with great strength. "Listen to me, you worthless hairball!" He hissed through clenched teeth. "You know a way to keep Shadic from controlling her. You know a way to change her back, and if you don't tell me, I will kill you!" That's when Shadow and Sonic both saw the dragon skin cape he wore, and they both recognized it instantly.
"Ancalagon," Shadow said. He laughed. "So...Melkor's dragon has returned."
Eran's eyes flashed crimson as his face morphed into a dragon head. He growled at Shadow and spoke in a deep, dark voice. "Tell me how I can save my sister." Eran snarled, tightening his grip on Shadow's neck. His claws began to dig into the former Dark Lord's flesh.
Sonic suddenly got between the two, tears in his eyes. "Stop this, please." He looked at his partner. "Shadow, I love you, but you need to stop this. I don't like seeing you this way. What happened to the man I fell in love with three thousand years ago?"
Eran hissed and slapped Sonic away. "Do not interfere, runt!" He growled.
The blue hedgehog sighed. Then he turned around and punched Shadow in the face, who fell to the ground unconscious. Eran's face turned back into a human's as he looked at Sonic.
"That felt good," Sonic said. He looked at the human and elf. "Since Shadow isn't willing to help, I'll come with you. I never agreed with what my partner and son did as Dark Lords."
"We thank you for helping us." Mystikra said after a moment.
"Hey, it's the least I can do."
"Sorry for calling you a runt." Claw apologized. "Hope I didn't hit you too hard."
Sonic looked at Eran. "You didn't. So...you're Ancalagon."
Eran shook his head. "I am not really Ancalagon, but I can use his skin to become him." He told the hedgehog.
"That's cool."
"Eh, nothing I haven't been through."
"Aren't you supposed to be a ghost?" Mystikra asked Sonic. "Elrond told us that you're dead."
"He did kill me," Sonic said as his body became transparent.
"As I assumed..." Eran said quietly.
"So," the ghost said as his legs became a wispy tail and he floated above the ground. "You want to save your sister?"
"More than anything." The human answered.
"All right. Let's go."
"What about him?" Eran asked, pointing to Shadow's unconscious body.
"Let's just leave him." Mystikra said. "We'll need to move quickly if we want to save Blade."
They nodded and left. Sonic took one last look at Shadow before shaking his head and floating through the door. Eran looked at the ghost. "If you're a ghost, how were you solid when we first saw you? I even hit you."
"I can become solid at will." The ghost answered. Eran nodded. He looked at his hand-paws and put them in his pockets. Sonic noticed this. "What's wrong with your hands?" He asked.
"They're injured," he lied.
Sonic raised an eyebrow and looked at the human suspiciously. Eran sighed and spoke quietly to the ghost. "The last time I changed back from the dragon form, my hands were like this." He said, hoping that Mystikra wouldn't hear. He pulled his hands out, and Sonic noticed that they were becoming paws. "I don't want her to find out because I don't want her to worry any more than she already is." Eran said, gesturing to the she-elf.
The human put his hands back in his pockets, and Sonic smirked. "You're becoming Ancalagon," he said.
"What?" Eran asked, sounding alarmed. Sonic nodded, and Eran gulped. "But...how?"
The ghost gestured to the dragon skin around the human. "This skin is enchanted to allow it's wearer to become Ancalagon, yes..." Sonic said, "but it is also cursed to gradually turn the user's normal form into that of the dragon, as well as corrupt their mind in dragon form."
"How do you know?"
"I can feel it's magic. Ghosts are sensitive to this kind of thing."
Eran looked at the skin and sighed. "Well...that's not good. I'll still need to use it, though. Shall we go?" Sonic nodded and watched as Erin turned into a dragon. He laid down as Mystikra got on his e dragon looked at Sonic. "Are you going to get on?" The ghost shook his head and became solid, then transformed into a griffin. Sorec was surprised. "You can shapeshift?"
The griffin nodded. "Here, I have more powers than my speed alone." He said.
"How can you..."
Sonic chuckled and flapped his wings; when he had the One Ring, it had given him the ability of shapeshifting, as well as immortality. The dragon took flight, and the griffin took off after him. After they had left, Shadow groaned and sat up. He looked around the house.
"Sonic?" He asked. "Are you here?"
He got no answer. Shadow frowned and walked outside, then gasped as he saw a griffin and dragon leave. "Sonic!" He yelled, running after them. "Come back, please!"
Sorec looked down at Shadow as they left. "Should we turn around and get him?" He asked. The griffin thought about it. "Well? If you don't answer, I'll turn around and fry him."
Sonic sighed and shook his head. "Why bother? He's just acting like a jerk."
"Oh. Well, can I still torch him?"
The griffin said nothing, causing the dragon grinned evilly. He swerved in the air, then breathed a wave of fire at the black hedgehog. Shadow screamed as the fire hit him, burning some of his fur off He fell to his knees and watched the two creatures fly away, then staggered back inside his house. Tears came to his eyes as he fell on the bed, sobbing.
"I'm sorry, Sonic," he cried. "I'm so, so sorry..."