Chapter 26: Fused Spirits

Lamorak swung around to see Knuckles lying ominously still on the ground. He transformed back to his normal form and ran over to him and began to shake him. "Knuckles! Knuckles! Get up!" he shouted, but it had no effect.

Sonic and the others ran up then. The werewolf reverted to his normal form and they saw he wasn't breathing.

Percival looked at Sonic. "Is he..."

Sonic was shaking, both with rage and grief. "No...not Knuckles..." Percival walked over to him and laid a wing comfortingly over him. He screeched in rage and turned into his Dark form. Everyone was shocked at this sudden transformation.

"Sonic...are you okay?" Tails asked.

Sonic screeched at him. "Knuckles just died! How can I be okay?"

Tails gulped and looked at the king. Suddenly, Knuckles' body started glowing. Everyone looked at him, wondering what was happening. Within Knuckles fading subconscious mind, he opened his eyes. He saw a person that looked just like him, and he gasped.

"Sir Gawain? Is that you?"

Gawain smiled and nodded.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you dead?" Knuckles asked.

"I am dead," Gawain said. "This is just my spirit. I came here to fuse my spirit with you; you're nearly dead, and if you fuse with me you will survive."

Knuckles looked at him. "Let's do that," he said, and took Gawain's hand with his own. As soon as they did, a blinding flash of light appeared and they were gone.

Outside of Knuckles' mindscape, the glow around Knuckles faded and he groaned, then stood up. Lamorak gasped. "Knuckles! What happened? How...?" He stuttered. Sonic was staring at Knuckles in shock along with all the others.

"Gawain's spirit has fused with me," the werewolf said. "He and I are now one."

Everyone gasped. Sonic turned back to normal and stepped forward. "Gawain's spirit...fused with you? Can we talk with him?"

Knuckles thought about it. "I am not sure," he said.

Suddenly, he heard Gawain's voice telepathically in his head. Let me take control.

He closed his eyes and let Gawain take over. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes.

"Hello, my king," Gawain said.

Sonic gasped, then smiled. "Gawain, it's good to have you back! So...you fused your spirit with Knuckles to save his life?"

Gawain nodded. "Yes, I did. I'm still dead, I'm just using Knuckles' body as a host. He and I have merged spirits, so he will be much stronger."

Sonic's smile disappeared and he sighed. "I'm sorry...you wouldn't be dead...if I'd made it in time to save you."

"It's fine, Sonic. I understand. I couldn't do anything to defend myself, anyway. Don't worry, though, I'll be here in spirit."

Sonic smiled again. Then Percival stepped forward. "How was your spirit able to come back?"

Gawain took a breath and began to explain. "When the Black Knight killed me, I became a sort of ghost. My spirit couldn't rest in peace and when I saw that Knuckles was about to die almost the same way, I saved him."

You did the right thing, Knuckles' voice said telepathically to him.

Percival smiled. "Thank you," she said.

Gawain nodded and then let Knuckles regain control.

Knuckles shook his head, and sighed. "Well...I'm just glad I'm alive," he told Sonic. "What happened to Morgana and the others?"

Sonic ground his beak. "They ran...and they took the Sacred Swords with them.

Knuckles' eyes widened. "We have to get them back! With the Sacred Swords in the wrong hands, Morgana could take over Camelot!"

"I agree," Percival said, and looked at Sonic. "What shall we do, my King?"

Sonic spread his wings and screeched. "We can no longer afford to wait for Morgan to come to us. We must confront her once and for all. We shall take the battle to her." He paused before continuing. "But, there is one thing we must do before we go to Avalon." He looked around at everyone. "We must go to the Lady of the Lake, Lady Nimue."

Everyone's eyes widened and they nodded.

"We should head there now," Knuckles said.

Sonic flapped his wings and flew into the air, followed by everyone else. Lamorak was carrying everyone in his Roc who couldn't fly. They flew for miles until they got to the lake. Nimue saw them and smiled.

"Hello, Sonic. What can I do for you?" She asked.

"We need your help Lady Nimue." Sonic told her. "Morgana...she's taken the Sacred Swords."

Nimue's eyes widened. "Of course I'll help. What do you want me to do?"

"Is there a way to seal the sword's power?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not," she said. "The sword's powers are extremely powerful."

Sonic sighed. "Then what can we do?"

"You will have to get the swords and bring them to me, and I can cleanse them so that they are not corrupted."

Sonic nodded. "We'll do that, then."

Nimue nodded. "Go to Avalon and take the swords back. I will be here when you return."

Sonic nodded, then he spread his wings and flew into the air, closely followed by the others.

The rest of the mythical creatures looked at him.

"You, Silver and Shadow can use Chaos Control to get us to Avalon, right?" Tails asked.

Sonic nodded.

"Yes." They all said. Knuckles pulled out all the Chaos Emeralds, which he had grabbed at the last second before they'd gone to Nimue's home. Sonic, Shadow and Silver each took an Emerald, circled around the others and pooled their Chaos Energy together.

"Chaos Control!" They shouted in unison, Then everyone disappeared in a flash of light.