Meanwhile, with Harry and Alene...

They raced down the twisting corridors, trying to catch up with Sonic and the others. After five minutes, they came to a huge set of double doors. They were bolted and locked with a large metal padlock.

Harry was still carrying Ewnon's sword. He inserted its tip into the lock and picked it. It fell to the floor with a clatter. Alene lifted the heavy bolt and shoved it away. The doors swung open.

There was no one in the large room. But there were signs of a struggle. Several spears lay abandoned on the floor, and the remains of a huge glass chandelier lay shattered in the center of the room. There was some blood near it.

Harry surveyed the mess. "I wonder what happened here?"

Alene knelt next to the chandelier. "Someone was trapped under here." She pointed to some bloody streaks on the stone floor. "But then they were dragged out."

"That was me," said a voice. Harry and Alene whirled around.

Standing in front of the open doors behind them was a black hedgehog. But it was not Shadow. Her spines fell to her waist, and were streaked with purple.

"My name is Starlight," said the hedgehog. "Your friends fought here and I lost." They noticed that her leg was in a splint. "But I am not here to fight you," she continued. "Your friends said that they were going to rescue Nine, who is with Kerrigan. Are you going to help them?"

"Well, of course!" said Alene. "Which way did they go?"

"They went into the courtyard out back," said Starlight, pointing. It was raining softly outside. From here a huge tower was visible. "They went up the stairs. But it's a trap."

"Then we have to help them! Kerrigan's known they were here since they entered! We know it's a trap!" said Harry impatiently. He and Alene turned and ran out into the courtyard.

"Wait for me!" called Starlight. They stopped and turned around. She walked, limping slightly, over to them.

"I may have a broken leg but I can still fight," she said determinedly. "Your friends showed me the true meaning of friendship, honor, and mercy. It's only fair that I help them too." She looked at them, and the look in her eyes told them she was going whether they liked it or not.

Harry nodded. They turned and entered the tower.

Meanwhile, at the top of the tower...

The black bird lunged at Sonic. Sonic rolled underneath him and just missed hitting him with a punch. The bird flipped elegantly and landed on his feet.

"So you can fight a little," admitted the bird. "But I am Skarlath. You shall not win!"

With those words he flapped his wings furiously, blowing feathers into Sonic's eyes so he could not see. Sonic frantically pulled the feathers out of his eyes, but by then Skarlath had swooped down and picked him up. He carried him higher and higher. Sonic could do nothing.

He's going to drop me! realized Sonic.

Then Skarlath did drop him, but not because he had intended to. A rod had hit him squarely between the wings, and Skarlath dropped Sonic in pain. But Sonic did not fall. He was caught by Rouge instead.

"Don't get feathers in your eyes!" she lectured him as she put him down. Then she returned to the battle.

By now there were only two eagles still standing. Skarlath hovered about that battle and saw that it was useless to fight.

"SKKKRRREEEE!" he screeched. Then he flew away out the window angrily. Seeing this, the other two eagles followed him.

Sonic and the others stopped, panting. Tails sat down on the floor, exhausted.

Knuckles and Rouge looked around. "Where's Saermore?" Knuckles asked.

Retio looked sad. "He was taken."

"Oh," was all that Knuckles said. They sat in silence for a moment.

Suddenly the throne that had been sitting against the back of the far wall moved. It fell sideways, revealing a trapdoor covered with dust. The others stood up and walked curiously over to it.

It was made of polished stone and had a heavy iron handle. It took Sonic, Knuckles, and Retio just to lift it. Underneath there was a ladder leading down to darkness.

Retio grabbed two torches from the nearby wall. He handed one to Knuckles and started down the ladder. Sonic also took one and went down after Retio. Tails followed him, then Rouge, and lastly Knuckles bringing up the rear.

It was lucky they had brought the torches, for they soon lost sight of the light that had been coming in through the trapdoor. It was darker than the darkest night beyond the small area of light their torches gave off. The tunnel was smooth and cut deeply into the stone of the castle. Its polished surface reflected the light and made it seem like there were more people in the tunnel than just them. The effect was eerie, and the group stayed silent.

Suddenly they came to an abrupt halt as the passage ended. It branched directly to the right, but a faint glowing was coming from that way. Retio held his torch up, but he could not see what was making the glowing. The group continued forth.

As they got closer, they could see that the passage ended again, but this time there was no branch. Instead, there was a glowing mass of... something pulsing gently. It hovered about three inches off the ground and filled the corridor. Sonic thought he could almost hear it pulsing.

"Chaos!" hissed Knuckles. "I can smell it."

"It's a portal!" realized Retio. "But where does it lead to?"

Sonic studied the portal. It was flashing through various colors of the spectrum.

"Wait!" said Tails as Sonic stepped forward to the portal. "We don't know what happens. Why don't we try throwing a torch in first?"

Everyone agreed with this, so Sonic flung his torch in. There was a small flash of light, and the torch disappeared.

"Seems safe enough to me," said Sonic. "Don't portals usually work like that?"

"How should I know? I've never been through one," pointed out Retio. "But I suspect that we have no choice. It seems like Kerrigan is herding us here... if we go back I think we would find the trapdoor closed."

"Then we'll continue forward!" declared Sonic. Retio stepped into the portal and disappeared. Tails followed him, then Sonic, Rouge, and lastly Knuckles.

Sonic fell. He fell through air, then water, and then it seemed through solid rock. The back ground changed colors in the blink of an eye, and voices whispered all around him. Sonic could not hear what they were saying, but they were there.

Soon he landed softly on solid ground. He could not see the others through a grey mist. It was not raining, but the sky above was black. Small streaks of purple lightning flashed through it. The mist cleared a little and Sonic could see the rest of his friends. They regrouped. All around then grey mist swirled silently, blending in with the grey ground.
"As far as I can tell, we're standing on a narrow strip of land next to a cliff. There's only one way to go - forward," whispered Retio.

Sonic looked back. The portal was still there.

The party continued forward boldly into the gray mist. They formed a single file line and moved slowly, careful not to fall off of the land strip. The purple lightning began to flash more and more frequently. Most were nervous.

They continued like this for what seemed like years, although it was really more like ten minutes. Then ahead the mist cleared, and they came to an island on the strip of land. In the center of it were two rectangular pools. The pool on the left glowed a dark blue, while the pool on the right glowed deeply green. The waters were serene, and both were made out of an odd sort of black stone. The pools were smooth and perfect.

Sonic and the others walked up to them curiously. The pools seemed harmless, although one could never know. Sonic looked into one and saw his reflection against the bottom of the black pool. It was like looking into a mirror, without the silver background.

"I think they're okay," said Sonic to the others. "But I would not touch them or drink from them."

The others gathered cautiously in front of the pools.

Sonic glanced in both pools. He saw only his reflection.