Amy was beginning to think she had made a very big mistake. While her wing of the castle wasn't exactly bright and colourful, it was a breath of fresh air in comparison with the West Wing. Her ears pinned against her head in fear and nervousness, as she walked down the long corridor, her jade eyes widened. The place felt lonely. And it looked downright depressing. The walls were scratched and bare, though it was clear from the empty picture hooks that still hung there that hadn't always been the case. The rug beneath her feet was faded and worn, torn in spots by the Werehog's claws and spikes on his red shoes. Even the air was heavier somehow.
Heck, she even found the hammer that she found on the wall. She blinked at where it was on the wall which was a strange place. Amy was about to take it but she decided to leave it alone in case she made a loud noise.
She was on the verge of turning around when she saw light at the end of the hall. A door had been left slightly ajar and through it, Amy could just make out what looked to be a huge suite. Curiosity overtaking her fear, Amy walked forward and slowly pushed open the door.
Instantly, she wished she hadn't. if the hallway had been unnerving, this room was ten times more. Everywhere she looked she could see evidence of Sonic's temper. Curtains hung in shreds from their rails. Vases that must once have been beautiful lay shattered on the ground. On the huge four-poster bed, a grey coverlet lay, faded and covered in dust, clearly long since used. As her eyes drifted over the room, she saw the reason why. Tucked in a corner was sort of giant nest made from torn bits of fabric, feathers and some kind of purple dust that sparkled that have been shoved together. Amy felt a rush of foreboding at the sight of such a wild and animalistic area in the castle.
She turned and shouted as she found herself staring at a pair of bright emerald green eyes. For one long, tense moment she thought someone was staring right back at her – until she realized that the eyes belonged to a young hedgehog boy captured in what was clearly a royal portrait. Her heart thudding, Amy leaned forward. The hedgehog's face had been slashed beyond recognition, that part of the canvas in pieces. But the eyes had been left untouched. Amy leaned still closer. They looked so familiar…
Her breath caught in her throat as Amy realized that the reminded her of the Werehog's eyes. Vanilla's words came back to her. A hedgehog prince of a fellow, she had said. This must have been the hedgehog prince she was referring to. She glanced again at the portrait, looking for clues to the past. There were two other hedgehog's in the portrait- a handsome king and beautiful queen. And though the queen's image – which included kind emerald eyes full of laughter and love, long flowing purple hair with matching lavender fur- was still pristine, the king's – cold blue eyes and navy blue fur – had been slashed, as well. Amy wondered what the young hedgehog boy in the portrait must have been like, what anyone would have been like, growing up with parents such as those, inside these castle walls.
As Amy dragged her jade eyes from the portrait and tamped down the odd feeling of melancholy that once again formed in the pit of her stomach, her attention was drawn to the far end of the room. Huge doors had been left open, revealing a large stone balcony on the other side. But it was what was in front of the doors that caught her interest. Amid the chaos and destruction of the room, the table would have stood out just based on the fact it was still upright. But it especially caught her eye because of the glass jar that sat on its surface.
The jar was made of delicate glass, blown so thin it seemed as though it could break with the slightest of touches. Intricate patterns had been etched into the jar's side, looking like frost on a windowpane. And inside, floating as if by magic, was a beautiful red rose. It glowed, the colour rivalling that of the most beautiful sunset Amy had ever seen.
As if in a trance, Amy made her way to the table. Slowly, she reached her hand towards the jar. Amy's fingers tingled as she moved them closer to the smooth glass, unable to resist the sudden rush of desire to lift the bell jar and touch the rose's silky petals. Her fingers inched closer…closer still…and closer…
"What are you doing here!?" The Werehog's voiced roared over Amy. Shocking her out of her trancelike state. Sonic appeared from the shadows, his emerald eyes blazing, his large hands clenched with barely controlled rage. He looked at the glowing rose and the fire in his eyes grew wilder. "What did you do to it?!"
She quickly backed away from the table. "No-not-nothing" Amy stuttered, her heart thudding in her chest.
The Werehog kept coming towards her. "Do you realize what you could have done?" he snarled "You could have damned us all!" Lashing out, Sonic's claws tore into one of the thin columns that accented the balcony doors. There was terrible ripping sound and the column began to crumble, pieces shattering and falling close to the glass bell jar holding the rose.
Panic filled Sonic's eyes. Not looking back Amy, he threw his body over the rose, desperate to protect it. "Get out!" he roared over his shoulder.
Amy didn't need to be told twice. Turning, she fled back the way she came. She ran through the room and out of the open door. Then she raced down the long hallway, knocking the big hammer of the wall, but she turned back and picked up and ran down the stairs. She barely registered the shock looks of Silver and Shadow as she passed them on the landing, and when they asked where she was going, she didn't stop to speak to them. "Getting out of here!" she cried over her shoulder and kept running.
Because that was exactly what she was going to do – get out. It was what she should have done already. But she had been distracted by Silver and his dinner entertainment, and then the castle mystery had lured her in further. But she was done with all that. She was going to get out of this place, with its talking dishware and enchanted candles and clocks, and get back to her father. No matter what.
Unfortunately, the castle didn't want to see Amy leave just yet. Hitting the bottom of the grand staircase, she ran straight towards the front door. To her dismay, the door seemed to see her coming, and before she could reach it, the bolt slid shut. Tails, the tall gold coatrack, slid in front of the door a moment later, blocking Amy's exit.
Amy's pace slowed. What was she going to do now? She didn't know the castle well enough to go running through it blindly trying to find other exit. Then, just as she was about to give up hope, she heard the sound of a dog barking. Turning, she saw Chip, the Chihuahua pixie turned piano stool, who had the run of the castle. He barked wildly as he gave chase and for a brief moment, Amy was worried he was going to pounce on her.
But to her surprise, he ran right past her and scooted through a smaller door that was built into the much larger main door. Amy nearly cried out. Her way out hadn't been blocked. Once again picking up her pace, she shimmied through the smaller door, but not before grabbing her cloak from a befuddled Tails. Behind her, Amy heard Vanilla's tea tray across the floor and Silver shouting. Still, she kept running.
It didn't take Amy long to find Dash. The big animal had made himself quite comfortable in one of the stable's roomy stalls. Hearing Amy's footsteps on the cobblestones, he looked up mid-mouthful of hay and cocked his head as if to ask, What are you doing here?
Throwing the saddle over his back, Amy didn't answer his questioning look. She pulled him out of the stall instead and quickly mounted, hammer still in hand. Then she gave his sides a kick. Dash didn't hesitate. He broke into a canter and headed towards the castle's gate.
Moments later, they were safely through the gate and back into the woods that surrounded the castle.
But it didn't take long for Amy to realize she had traded one terrifying situation for another. As Dash cantered along, she caught a glimpses of shadows out of the corners of her eyes. They gradually grew larger and more clear, and by the time Amy heard the first howl like roar, she already knew that she and Dash were being followed by a pack of dark aura creatures.
Urging Dash on, Amy tried not to panic. Dash was a big horse with heavy hooves and he was fast when he needed to be. If they could just get close enough to the village, she was sure the creatures would back down of the sights of civilization. As long as they didn't run into any obstacles before then, they should be okay.
And then Dash ran right out onto a frozen pond.
Beneath his hooves, the ice groaned. Amy leaned over and saw cracks begin to appear. Small at first, they grew larger as the horse slipped and slid across the frozen surface. Shouting encouragement, Amy tried to calm Dash, who was growing more and more panicked as the ice began to give out beneath him and the dark creatures closed in from behind. Amy felt the horse's powerful haunches bunch beneath him and she grabbed a fistful of his mane. Then…he leaped.
Amy's breath caught in her throat as they hung, suspended in the air for a moment, before Dash's front hooves landed on the pond's edge. A moment later, his back hooves followed. But the cry of relief Amy wanted to let out caught in her throat as the first of the creatures, seeing a chance, attacked.
One creature's large jaws snapped as it went after Dash's back leg. A moment later, another creature joined in. Dash kicked out and bucked wildly, trying to defend himself. On his back, Amy clung on his mane desperately. But Dash was just too strong and powerful. As his hind legs rose again flew into the air, she was knocked out of the saddle and went flying into a nearby snowbank.
Getting to her feet, Amy had remembered the hammer she was holding that she could defend herself with.
The creatures, seeing a new and potentially easier target, closed in. Amy raised her arms and bashed one on the head and faded into dust. She repeated the same action and destroyed another one. Despite her efforts, more kept coming from the ground. Amy backed up, her heart pounding and fear flooding over her. Hearing a howl like roar from above, she saw the biggest dark creature that was carrying like a large log, ready to attack her. It stared at her with cold, hungry eyes.
Then she heard a yelp and thud, and a thud, and there was a flurry of movement behind her.
Turning, she was shocked to see Sonic. He had leaped into the middle of the pack of creatures with long stretchy arms as if he had attacked them. Several of them backed away. The largest creature – the alpha – was still on his feet, gripping onto his log. Sonic's back was to Amy and she could see some bad injuries on his back. One after another, the smaller dog like creatures attacked. The Werehog would pick them up and make them smack against each other and throw them away as they turned to dust. He was using every attack he had left. The wounds were starting to bleed and his head was hanging lower and lower as he grew tired. Amy wasn't sure how much fight he had left in him.
Then the alpha attacked.
The big creature had smack Sonic with his log and he flew into a tree, as he groaned in pain. His emerald eyes found Amy's jade ones. He growled as he picked himself up from the ground. Ran on all fours and used his stretchy arms to grab onto the tree ledges and flew right in front of the alpha. The alpha tried to attack him but Sonic was way too fast as he jumped up and punched it in the face. And again the creature tried again but Sonic jumped again and kicked it again in the face with his spiky shoes, but this time Sonic wrapped his powerful arms around the creature's waist and pulled it over his head and made contact with the ground…and it faded into dust.
Sonic's shoulders had been tensed and high, slumped. And then he collapsed in the snow while groaning and panting in pain. Where his wounds touched the ground, the bright white powder turned red.
Amy stood, unable to move. She was as rooted to the ground as the trees around her, looking down at where the Werehog lay, she knew this was her chance to run. There was no way he could follow her or even try to stop her. Not in his condition. As she watched, he whimpered again as he stayed in the snow trying to get his energy back. His emerald eyes met her jade eyes again for just a brief moment. But it was long enough for Amy to see the pain and vulnerability in them and for her to make a decision: She wasn't going to leave him there, hurt in the snow. She couldn't. not after what he had just done for her.
Racing over, she kneeled down beside him, pulling off her cloak and laying it over him. "You have to help me" she whispered gently. "You have to stand…" Putting her body under his shoulder, she pushed up, letting Sonic lean on her like a crutch. He roared in pain and grew heavier as the sensation overtook him. Amy shivered. She needed to get him back to the castle – before it was too late.