***

Tikal laid motionless strapped to her bed. She no longer had the strength to cry. Her dry red eyes matched the morning sunrise. * The doctor will be coming soon.* She heard some footsteps across her floor. Then she felt the ropes loosen. Her stomach clenched. She did not want to be examined again. Then a gentle touch to her back made Tikal a little curious. She looked over her shoulder.

"Grandma!"

"Shh….love" Then the elder echidna woman began to free Tikal's hands. Grandmother's hands had a hard time undoing the knots. Soon Tikal was able to sit up. She suddenly hugged her grandmother.

"Grandma where were you! They hurt me. Grandpa hurt me."

"My heart is overwhelmed. I was not here to protect you… forgive me love"

"I called you name…you didn't come."

" I was not at the palace."

"But you came to me earlier!"

"I felt evil when I was praying at the Shine. The Master Emerald allowed me to communicate with you. My old body doesn't move quickly. I'm sorry I could not have helped you."

The princess closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.

"We must leave now Tikal," grandmother said softy in her choppy weak voice, "We must pray at the shine for guidance."

***

The echoes of the Chief's heavy footsteps bounced down the hall of the Echidna Palace. The morning light cascaded through the arches that lined the hall. The dust lingered in the streams of light. By his side High General Nazel walked with a sense of deep thought.

The High General scratched his chin, " May I speak informally sir."

" Go on speak."

" You have convicted Sonska of rape and murder. But from what I understand, he was in love."

The Chief's right eyebrow lifted.

Nazel continued, " And murder sir?!! We all know he's deadly! Anyone who approaches him in combat is a fool… And on that night we caught him he was protecting Tikal, his lover."

The Chief stopped and crossed his arms. Nazel quieted down for a second to see if he was going to get a response. None came so he began to speak again. " Tikal mated with a foreigner. We know it is beneath her not only because she is an echidna, but also a princess. Still, you can't punish her for falling in love?"

The Chief began to walk again. A few moment of silence followed. Then he spoke.

"Those are all good points. Yes you are right. But you see I must punish him for taking my granddaughter. It would not reflect well on me if I let something like that go. And remember Sonska was our cover. With him gone it leaves us to be exposed. I had to burn him into the minds of the people. So they will have their focus on him even though he is gone."

"But sir," spoke Nazel, "You know she gave her self freely to him. Why say that it was rape?"

"Tikal is still a princess virgin or not. I still need her to be married. If the princes think she was taken by force they would have pity. They would think she had no control over it."

" Oh.." the High General said smoothly, " So why have you sent for the doctor this morning."

"To eradicate any trace of that Hedgehog."

Then a small echidna ran up to them clenching his bag. "I'm so sorry your majesty that I am late…I am here and ready with the potion!"

"That is find doctor, as long as it works." The Chief said abruptly.

Nazel walked up to the princess's door and entered without knocking. He gazed over the room. Then the doctor came in. Tikal was not there.

The chief rushed into the room, "Well, my granddaughter, you never ceased to inflict harm on me."

***

The sun began to go down in the desert but the heat did not seem to follow it. The hedgehog had no water for hours. Sonska vomited any liquids that were in his body a long time ago. He felt his skin itch. Then out of his nose a small male echidna crawled out. The echidna stood on his nose and stared at him straight in the eyes. "So this is what you get for sticking you pole in the wrong place!"

"Wha'?" questioned the hedgehog.

"I don't know what you were thinking--- no one likes you here." continued the echidna.

Soon another echidna, female, poked out of his ear. She sprung out and landed on his shoulder.

"Walkers! You're hideous! Nasty blue fur!"

Then a little echidna girl sat on his pinky, "Do the gods hate you? The gods are red and we are red, but you are blue… The gods don't like you."

Another echidna rode down a drop of sweat off of the blue one's forehead. The echidna bounced into his hand. " How dare you have sex with our princess! You're not royalty! And especially not one of us!"

Sonska's eyes narrowed, " I have defended your land from invaders. I have saved your children. How is it after all I have done you still hate me?"

Then in unison the echidnas spoke, "Hate you? We do not need to hate you because we are superior. We were chosen by the gods. That is what the ancient echidna writings say. And that's just the way things are. You chose to live here! Go by our rules or you'll end up dieing in the sandlands.—ha ha ha!" They giggled.

Then by the millions mini echidnas boiled out off his skin. Sonska tried to scratch them off. He ripped into his skin. The tore off his clothing and started to run franticly. He fell kicking up sand like a small tornado.

Two dark brown large dingo males and a light purple female hedgehog rode over a sand dune after hearing the insane noises. They saw a blue hedgehog shredding off his flesh, while spinning in the sand. The two dingoes turned their horses away. The light purple female hedgehog stared at him. Soon she took a deep breath and headed towards Sonska. She dropped off of her horse and approached him. His screaming was not understandable. The female began to chant a small song. She opened her hands. Her palms had a light blue glow. Then she touched him and his body made a throbbing motion and stopped. She made another chant and Sonska levitated onto the horse. She jumped back into the horse, rested Sonska across her lap, and rode off.