The next morning, Kun'nuk'kles awoke. He blinked, and then sighed. "You're still here, aren't you?"

Um… yes. I'm afraid so.

"And you know exactly what's going to happen to me, right?"

Not me. Him.

"Who?"

Me.

"Oh. I don't suppose you're going to tell me where the next Chaos Spirit is, are you?"

No. But I will tell you that it is Chaos Blue, the Power of Speed.

"Well, that's more than I knew before…"

Whatever happened to the preservation of knowledge?

"That was when I had a fair idea of where exactly I was going. Now I haven't got a clue."

Hmm… a conundrum faces me. Should I tell him, and risk altering my creation, or… wait a moment, now I remember! This is how it happened originally! So… it would in fact be altering the timeline if I do not. All right, Kun'nuk'kles, you're near Chaos Blue right at this moment. It's currently in the body of a sea serpent. The coast you seek is to the east.

"Thank you…"

Oh, and one more thing… be prepared for consequences that should not happen.

"I'll try."

Kun'nuk'kles hoisted his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his staff, and jumped out of the tree. The membrane between his arms and legs unfolded, and he began to glide for a short distance. He then tucked his arms in and fell about 4 feet, landing on his feet.

Impressive.

Kun'nuk'kles could not help but smile. Apparently one of the Watchers was appreciative of his acrobatics. But the smile faded as he turned to the east, toward the seacoast. He walked on and on, but then, he noticed something. He was feeling… stronger than before. He remembered the words of the Chaos Spirit he had imprisoned as the Emerald… 'I am Chaos Green. I am Strength.' Could it be that he was… somehow absorbing the Spirit's represented trait? That shouldn't be possible. Maybe it was a side effect of the magic he had used to imprison it. It had never been tested before, and the effects could not possibly be predicted accurately.

Then, he took a look around. The vegetation was thinning, and the soil was becoming sandy. And, he could smell a slightly saline scent on the breeze. That meant he was close to the shore. But… there was still something strange, and not the feeling of strength. It was the vegetation. It was dying, wilting even as he watched. Soon, there were only dead stalks and withered leaves where there had once been healthy plant life. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. And then, he heard it: a wailing, triumphant cry, distorted by the surf. There was nothing between himself and the sea now but 120 yards of sandy soil. He dropped the bag, gripped his staff, and resolutely advanced upon the sea.

He stood on the edge of the sea, water lapping at his unshod feet. Kun'nuk'kles sighed. "Please… forgive me," he muttered, as he stuck his staff in the surf, taking a step back. "Ak'kun leoht! To'rikku su-shi-ki fel'loth! Chaos Spirit, I summon thee! Come to my presence, and meet thy doom!" shouted Kun'nuk'kles.

The crystal situated on top of the staff flashed, and a beam of light leapt into the sea, disappearing after an instant. Then, the surf swelled. A head emerged from the swell, scaled and reptilian. A long, serpentine neck and shoulders soon followed it. Kun'nuk'kles took up his staff and backed away as more and more of the creature emerged from the deep. Soon, the entire dragon had emerged, its skin a violent blue, with some sort of blue haze hovering just above the skin. It turned its head, saying, "Who calls Chaos Blue? Show yourself!"

Kun'nuk'kles stepped forward. "I do," he answered.

The dragon's head swung, and its huge eye focused upon him. "YOU? You would barely make an appetizer… but, very well… as is thy right, you may challenge me."

"Very well. I, Kun'nuk'kles, challenge thee to a duel, so that thy form and substance may be spared, whilst thy spirit become imprisoned in the structure of crystal!"

"Accepted. Begin!" shouted the dragon, and lunged forward to snap the echidna in two with its jaws.

Kun'nuk'kles leapt back, shouting, "Ak'kun leoht! Pyrosis co'chin! Flame wave!"

From the staff came a flash of light, and a wall of fire appeared before the dragon. The wall moved forward, engulfing it. The dragon simply ignored it and lunged again for Kun'nuk'kles. Once more, Kun'nuk'kles leapt aside. "Ak'kun leoht! Ectri'it li-ki'shi! Thunder pillar!"

From the staff came a crackling noise, and with a flash of light, three bolts of lightning, tightly entwined, lanced toward the dragon with a terrible noise, rending the very air itself. The dragon was struck by this, and screamed as the electricity coursed through its body. But it did not die. The blue haze about its skin grew more intense, and the dragon lunged for Kun'nuk'kles again, this time much, much faster. There was no time to escape. Kun'nuk'kles flailed hopelessly at the coming jaws… and the dragon was flung aside by the force of his blow. The dragon shook its head as it got up. "What in the… you! You have the Power of Chaos Green! Where is Chaos Green?"

"He has been bound within the Chaos Emerald," Kun'nuk'kles answered, quickly regaining composure. "Just as you shall be in moments!"

"No… he who fights and runs away shall live to fight another day… you will not summon me again! I will not come!" the dragon screamed, and dived for the ocean.

As soon as he had said this, Kun'nuk'kles started another spell. "Ak'kun leoht!" he snapped. "Ectri'it to-ki'shi! Thunder rain!"

From the staff, there was a flash of light. A beam of light shot up towards the clouds, and hundreds of small bolts of lightning flashed inside of them. Then, the bolts came down, each headed straight for the dragon. All of this took place within an instant. The dragon looked up, and screamed once more. Every single bolt hit. The rain of lightning lasted for perhaps 20 seconds, but left on the beach a charred and smoking corpse. "May I be forgiven, for what I now do…" Kun'nuk'kles muttered, sticking his staff in the sand.

"Ak'kun leoht. Ned-le ky'lyu. Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye. Imprison!"

The blue haze that had been over the dragon intensified and rose. It started swirling into one spot, being sucked into it. For a moment, the swirling light/haze looked like a face, glaring accusingly at him. And then, it was done. But then, there was an echo, as if a voice had spoken a hundred years ago and was only now being heard. "You win, echidna wizard. But know this; the time is drawing near; the curse of Chaos is almost upon you. May Fate have mercy on your soul, and let you be forgotten!"

Then, the air cleared. On the beach, being pulled by the ebb and flow of water was a brilliant blue gemstone, the exact same shape and size as the green. He went over to it and picked it up. "May Fate have mercy on me… let me be forgotten…" Kun'nuk'kles murmured, as he put it in the sack with the other Chaos Emerald.

Hey…I thought that the Chaos Spirits were aware that Kun'nuk'kles had been doing this?

Most of us were. Chaos Blue was a little slow on the uptake, though.

Ah.

Kun'nuk'kles sighed. Then, he counted on his fingers. According to this pattern… next would be… Chaos Purple… or Chaos White.

White. Definitely White.

That settled it, then. Chaos White was next on his list. Where would Chaos White be? In the sky, perhaps? How could he get to the sky to confront it? Perhaps… the Sanctuary… it was said that it could fly, if there was great need. What greater need than the entire fate of Mobius? And, if he hurried, he could get there by sundown…

Kun'nuk'kles hoisted the sack of gems over his shoulder, fetched his staff, and started walking to the north, along the coastline. It was quite a pleasant walk, with the salt breeze from the sea… but something was missing. The cry of birds… there were no birds. Kun'nuk'kles looked to the sky. Nothing wheeled overhead. In the trees, to his left, there were no birds, not even the sound of birds. And the trees were dying, still. It had slowed, somewhat, but it was still happening. If he could not succeed in this enterprise, the Island of the Gods' Messengers would surely be the first to die. And then, the rest of Mobius would soon follow. The Chaos Spirits would be alone, on a dead planet, for all of eternity.

He shivered at the thought. Not even the Chaos Spirits deserved that kind of punishment… in fact, Chaos Blue had been rather cordial, in an aristocratic sort of way. Some of the Chaos Spirits might even be nice, if they were given the chance… but there wasn't time for that. The signs had appeared too late to do anything about this destruction, aside from the Binding. Every other choice had been exhausted. No other way could undo the damage that had been done.

And then, he was there. The ancient ruins of the Sanctuary stood before him. Even as he looked at the colored tiles leading to the central chamber, he was thinking. Why had the Ancients left all this behind? What had been the purpose of the 8 pedestals, ahead of him? And what was with the golden hedgehog that was on fire in front of a god? Some of it had to do with some prophecy, of a blue hedgehog becoming as the sun, and then as the rainbow, but that had made no sense, even as a small child. And then, there was the Chaos Oath… written at the end of the hall, like an afterthought to the pedestals.

Roughly translated, it said, "The Chaos, Seven in number, Serve, for the Heart of Chaos is Power. To Control the Power, the Chaos must be United."

This made even less sense than the prophecy of the rainbow hedgehog who was blue and gold at the same time. But the Chaos Oath seemed important, somehow. Really important. Well, anyway, dusk was quickly approaching, ad it didn't seem like a good time to attempt to start this place aloft. He jumped up onto the central pillar. There was a sort of indentation, and it seemed like a good place to curl up for the night. He set the bag and his staff on a different pillar, yawned, and was asleep in moments.

Hmm. At this rate, he should be done collecting the Chaos Spirits within the week.

Should be. Won't, though.

Intriguing…