Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's Note: Just thought I'd take a sec to thank everyone who's reviewed so far. Seeing what you think of my story does a lot to help motivate me to write, so I really appreciate it. Also, I think I've reached a point in the story where I have a firmer grasp on the direction it's going in, so with luck you can expect updates from me more frequently.

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Wii (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Four: Rituals

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

With a wicked smile and a terrifying glare, Sonic resumed his attack. This time, however, he got in as close as he could to Sally, and launched a dizzying array of blows. Despite her best attempts to block the assault, the princess found herself overwhelmed. Her stomach, her legs, her arms, her face…each one was battered over and over again in such rapid succession that she could barely keep track of which one was being attacked at what time. Finally, the hedgehog delivered a final blow to the center of her chest, knocking her off her feet and onto her back. The dust kicked up from her fall floated in the air, and silence followed it. For a moment, the hedgehog waited for Sally to move. She remained still. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Sonic approached her cautiously, low to the ground. "Don't die yet..." he growled. "I'm having too much fun…"

He hovered over her limp form, eyeing her with equal measures of bloodlust and uncertainty. Closer and closer he moved towards her, looking at her open mouth and closed eyes. "Did you really go down that easy…?" he asked softly, a strange feeling in his gut as the distance between their faces closed.

Suddenly her eyes shot open, and her legs flew upwards, closing in on the hedgehog's body like scissors. With her enemy trapped, Sally swung Sonic over her, slamming his face into the ground. Releasing him from her vice, she lifted herself upwards on her hands, only to slam her legs back down onto Sonic's back. She then rolled herself forward into a stand, looking back at the hedgehog as he rose to his feet and waited for him to retaliate, arms raised in readiness. Though she knew he would attack again, Sally wished he would not. Every inch of her body ached from his punishing barrage, and she did not know how much longer she could go. The fact that her opponent was someone who stirred deep emotions in her did little to help. "Please, Sonic…" she panted, "Don't do this!"

"Stop calling me that!" he shouted in frustration, charging her again. This time, however, Sally anticipated his strike and moved in before he could begin attacking her. Acting as swiftly as she could, she grabbed Sonic's hands by the wrist and held on tight. It did her little good, however, for as soon as he saw his fists were unusable, Sonic simply slammed his head down on Sally's as hard as he could. As hard as their heads collided, however, the princess would not let go. "I'm escaping these lunatics, and I swear even if I have to beat you senseless to do it I'm taking you with me!" her mind shrieked as her body weakened.

Sonic prepared to head-butt the young squirrel even harder, but Sally was ready and launched her knee into his stomach. Even as he lurched from the blow, Sonic still prepared to attack once more, and so the princess kneed him again. Over and over her knee collided with his stomach, yet still he would not yield. Rather than show his pain, though, Sonic merely laughed. "You're good…I knew you'd be fun…"

Despite his jovial attitude, Sally could see that he too was tiring and so, no matter how badly her body screamed at her to collapse, she refused. "If I can hold on just a little longer…" she thought, "I can get both of us out of here…"

The wind whipped around the two combatants as they faced off with each other as if watching their battle in excitement. Neither one conceded an inch to their foe, both ceasing their attacks temporarily as they watched and tried to anticipate the other's movements. Struggling against Sally's hold, Sonic thrashed his arms about to no avail. "You really do have some fight in you, Princess…" Sonic laughed excitedly, "It's a shame I'm gonna have to beat it out of you!"

Without warning he suddenly opened his arms up wide, thus forcing Sally's arms to go with his, and swung his legs upward through the newly created gap. With a hard kick, he pressed his feet down on Sally's chest and began pushing against her. Sally found her arms stretched near to breaking off as the hedgehog pressed down on her harder and harder. Slowly but surely, she could feel her hands loosening their grip. "No…" she grunted as, one by one, her fingers fell from his wrists. "NO!!!"

Her pained outburst echoed throughout the gray and murky sky as Sonic at last broke free, flipping off her chest and landing several feet away from Sally, who despite her best efforts lost her balance and collapsed to the ground. Even as the squirrel desperately tried to get back up as quickly as possible, Sonic kneeled to the ground and placed his hands in front of him. "Time to finish this…" he said menacingly.

That was when he flipped himself into a roll with such speed that he soon became like a buzz-saw, spinning over and over again. His quills acting now as razor edges, he cut through the dirt ground like a knife, heading straight toward Sally, who still lay on her back struggling to overcome the pain rippling through her every limb. Seeing the deadly attack coming her way, she abandoned standing for the moment and instead tried to roll out of the way. Though she succeeded, the spinning hedgehog simply turned around to try again. Finally getting back on her feet, Sally's mind raced to figure out a way to counter the deadly Sonic Spin, only to find herself out of time as Sonic came at her again. Just as she prepared to dodge him again, however, a voice erupted, seemingly coming from all sides: "ENOUGH!!!"

The ground shook as the voice spoke, and Sonic came to a stop less than an inch from Sally, his face now planted in the dirt. From behind him, a shadow crept along the ground like a serpent and slithered next to the fallen hedgehog. The form of Amodeus emerged from its dark shape, with a rather embarrassed-looking Lilith in tow. "Hey Blue…" she muttered sheepishly.

"Hey Riruff…" came the muffled reply from the face-planted Sonic.

At last able to stand still for a moment, Sally came to realize just how badly she had been hurt. Her legs felt ready to break in two, her arms as if they had all but fallen off her shoulders. Escape had eluded her again. She simply could not fight her enemies in her worn condition, nor was attempting to run again going to do any good. "Get up…" Amodeus ordered dismissively of Sonic, though his gaze was on Sally rather than the hedgehog.

Sonic obeyed the command, but no sooner had he stood on his feet then he began to charge again at Sally. He only managed to get one step closer, however, for Amodeus swiftly blocked the angered fighter's path with his staff. "Your fight is over, boy…" he warned sternly.

Though Sonic grunted in frustration and cursed under his breath, he made no further attempts to attack. "Looks like you got your ass kicked, Blue…" Lilith whispered with a suppressed chuckle.

"Har dee har har…" he grumbled.

If Amodeus heard their light-hearted chatter, he did not show it. Instead, he approached Sally as casually as if they had known each other for years. "As for you, Child of the Source…" he addressed her courteously, "I hope your journey into the Deadlands was…educational…"

Sally did not miss the implication of what she had been told. "You mean those…'Echoes'…don't you?" she shuddered at the memory of the ghostly creatures.

"Ah, so my arrogant disciple managed to do something of worth after all…" the shaman noted with amusement. "Yes, my dear. I take it you know where these particular Echoes came from?"

The princess nodded. "Then perhaps now you better understand our mission." He pressed on. "All this death…this destruction…that scars our beautiful Mobius could all be stopped if Daxis were to be free again. I hoped, if you could understand that, you might come to see why he must be released."

Her tired legs ready to buckle from underneath her, Sally found that Amodeus' words mixed with her own exhaustion to create a deep, boiling rage. A quiet fury in her voice, she spoke softly but strongly, "Let me go…release your hold on Sonic… and abandon your insane mission…"

"What is she rambling about?" Sonic asked in a whisper to Lilith, and then remembering his earlier unanswered question, added "How does she know my name?"

Amodeus sighed in genuine disappointment. "I see you are…un-swayed…"

Teeth gritted, fists curled, Sally shook her head.

Again, Amodeus sighed sadly. "Very well. I had hoped we could have done this the easy way…but I see you leave me with no choice."

Without turning to look at his two followers, he commanded them, "Sonic, Lilith…I am returning you to the Temple's main hall. I will be in the lower levels preparing the Ritual. See to it I am not disturbed."

They both nodded obediently. "I am truly sorry it had to be this way, my dear…" Amodeus said, and just as he had done before, he brought the bottom of his staff to the ground, creating a burst of light that engulfed all four of them.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"No…no…no…"

This was the frustrated mantra of Knuckles the Echidna as he turned over page after page after page in the Book of Myths. True to his word, this had been the task that had taken up almost every waking hour of the Guardian's time since his meeting with Sally the previous day. Even now that the announcement had been made public that she was missing, most likely kidnapped, Knuckles forged on, though concern now gnawed at the back of his mind and his patience was wearing thin; he had long since lost count of how many pages he had covered with no signs of a clue to the source of Sally's ominous nightmares.

"Are you still going at it?" Julie-Su asked wryly from the other side of the room. Sitting on the floor of his house's living room in an almost meditative stance, the gigantic tome laid out in front of him, the red-furred fighter turned to his soul mate with a weary gleam in his eye. "I thought for sure you'd have bolted on some crazy mission to find Sally the second the news hit the streets." The ex-Dark Legionnaire continued. "I know that's what I'M going to do once my weapons are all loaded."

With a sigh, Knuckles answered, "You have no idea how bad I want to…", then turned his gaze back to the book and continued his seemingly futile mission and continued, "but I don't doubt there's a connection between Sally's disappearance and her nightmares. If I could just find some information on anything that could've caused those dreams, we'll be better equipped to deal with whomever it was that kidnapped her."

"And then we beat the tar out of them?" Julie-Su asked as she patted her holstered blaster.

"And then we beat the tar out of them." Knuckles echoed grimly.

Still looking through the voluminous text, he turned to a page that was strangely sparse, especially when compared to every other page he had read thus far.

The Order of Daxis

Though never definitively proven, there have been rumors for almost as long as Mobian civilization has existed of a dark cult known as the Order of Daxis. The size, purpose, and methods of this cult are unknown. It is said that the Order is centered around a mysterious ritual called the Blood Pact, about which there is even less information than on the Order of Daxis itself. All that is known of the Blood Pact is a single sentence that has been found in every location the Order of Daxis is said to have been spotted at:

"That which is written in blood can never be forgotten."

These were the words that stared back at Knuckles from the paper on which they were written, and as soon as he read the last sentence, the echidna instantly recognized it: it was the exact same phrase Sally had said the voice in her nightmares had spoken to her. "Julie-Su!!!" he shouted excitedly. "Come see this!!!"

"You finally found something?" Julie-Su asked, equally excited as she flew to Knuckles' side and kneeled down to look at what he had discovered.

"There!" Knuckles pointed out to her.

To say the pink echidna was disappointed was an understatement. "That's it?" she sighed. "And it only took you how many pages to find it?"

Knuckles simply grinned. "If you think I was keeping count, you're crazy!" He continued, "I know it's not much, but it's a good start. At least now we know now to look for this 'Order of Daxis'".

"I suppose so…" Julie-Su agreed.

Just then, a loud knock came from their door. Both echidnas immediately rose to their feet and went to answer it. Upon opening the door, they were greeted by Geoffrey St. John and Hershey Katt.

"Geoffrey? Hershey? What are you two doing here?" Julie-Su asked, slightly embarrassed at the sight of two of Knothole's Royal Council members at her door just as she and Knuckles had been planning their rogue actions. "Please, come inside!" she hastily added.

"Thank you," Geoffrey said as the four of them all moved into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. "I assume you two heard the news about Princess Sally?" he asked, to which Knuckles and Julie-Su both nodded silently.

"I was actually just doing a little…research…to help out on that front." Knuckles replied warily, unsure if he should tell the skunk about his own plans to find Sally.

"Glad to hear it." Hershey said with a smile. As she did, though, the two echidnas noticed her exchange a nervous glance with Geoffrey. Immediately, a bad feeling welled up in the pit of Julie-Su's gut.

"This can ONLY be good news…" Knuckles thought sardonically.

After a brief sigh, Geoffrey laid his hands on the table in front of him. "We have reason to believe it was Sonic who kidnapped the princess." He said with some restraint.

It was not enough, however, and Knuckles immediately snapped back, "What in the world makes you think it was Sonic?"

"The fact that no one's seen him for three days, combined with the fact that we know he came to the Lake of Rings some time last night, that's what!" Geoffrey defended.

"That's not a lot to go on, sir!" Knuckles retorted.

The Guardian did not dislike Geoffrey; he did not know the skunk well enough to make such a judgment. However, he had not forgotten Geoffrey's antagonism toward Sonic, nor his protective streak when it came to Sally. Together, those feelings had served to cloud his judgment before and had led the former commander to go after Sonic while the true enemy hid in plain sight. Particularly given the incontrovertible link between the Order of Daxis and Sally's nightmares he had just learned of, Knuckles was in no hurry for a repeat. Trying as ever to play mediator, Hershey spoke up. "We've sent Rotor to retrieve an old device of his, one that can lead us to Sonic. We were hoping you and Julie-Su would come with us to look for him."

Turning to Knuckles, who was in an intense glaring match with Geoffrey, Julie-Su placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should go with them…" she suggested.

"But, Julie-Su…"

"I know it's not your first choice," she said before Knuckles could finish, "It's not mine either. But they've got a better lead than us, and besides, the worst thing that happens is we find Sonic; at least then we'll have his speed on our side."

The two looked at each other for a moment. Though Knuckles wanted to protest, he knew Julie-Su had a point. Frustrating though the situation was, the Guardian focused on what the best way for finding Sally was, and he knew if anyone could do it, it would be Sonic. "Alright…" he conceded softly. "We'll go with you."

The atmosphere instantly relaxed. "However," Julie-Su piped up, "there IS something WE have to tell YOU." Heading into the living room, she quickly returned and placed the Book of Myths, still opened to the page about the Order of Daxis, in front of Geoffrey.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

With only the crystalline walls of Amodeus' underground temple to watch them, Sonic and Lilith stood in the center of the enormous room, hands only a few feet apart. "Garnt Su Het Worep…" they chanted in unison, eyes closed in focus.

Slowly but surely, a strange blackness began to grow between their hands, taking the shape of a sphere as it grew. Sparks of electricity cradled its form, and the larger it grew, the more active the sparks became. Soon the black sphere took up all the space between Sonic and Lilith's hands, tickling their fingers and palms with small shocks. Soon, however, Lilith began to feel the energy waver and tremble. "Sonic…?" she asked, opening her eyes to see if her partner was alright. The orb dissipated, its black energies fading into the ether. Sweat resting on his furrowed brow, Sonic stood in frustration, his eyes still closed, his breathing heavy.

"Are you alright?" Lilith asked, immediately closing the space between them. "You usually handle dark spheres easy. What went wrong?"

Sonic had to appreciate the concern he heard laced in her voice; growing up with only her and Amodeus as company, the hedgehog had very few people to care for him, yet she had been by his side as long as he could remember. Opening his eyes and clearing the sweat from his brow, he answered, "Yeah, just….I'm really excited. It's finally gonna happen, y'know? We're finally gonna bring Daxis back!"

Immediately Lilith's concerns vanished. "Too stoked to focus, huh?" she laughed.

Sonic smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." The smile quickly vanished, however, and with full serious he went on, "We've been waiting for this moment our whole lives, Lil. What's gonna happen to us now?"

"I don't know…" Lilith answered honestly. "…but we've come this far. Worrying now won't do us any good, right?"

Sonic nodded, though the bat could tell he was not fully convinced. Seeing that, she gave him a playful shove. Sonic wobbled slightly, only to quickly recover and shove back, though a little harder than he meant to; even then, in the midst of their play, he was distracted. Much as he disliked lying to her, the hedgehog knew it was best not to tell Lilith another concern, equal to that of his thoughts on their future, that slept in the back of his mind and disrupted his concentration. The rush he had felt while fighting the Princess, the fact she knew his name, her resilience when he thought for sure she would have fallen…all these things and more kept the Child of the Source lodged in his thoughts, thoughts that both excited him and frightened him. Something about her stirred him, and no matter how hard he tried, Sonic could not understand what it was. "It's like Lilith said," he tired to assure himself, "there's no point in worrying about it. Once Daxis is back, she'll be out of sight, out of mind…and out of life."

Chuckling at his own punch line, Sonic was taken by surprise as Lilith retaliated, pushing him so hard he fell to the ground. "HEY!!!" he blurted in surprise. "Oh, that is IT!" he gleefully exclaimed, recovering quickly and tackling Lilith.

The two tumbled across the floor, laughing all the way until they came to an abrupt stop. Sonic now rested on top of Lilith, who lay sprawled across the floor. Instinctively, her wings wrapped around the hedgehog, covering him like a blanket. The hedgehog could feel her warmth on his body, could see the smile on her face, the twinkle in her eye, and he knew. "This is where I belong…" he thought with a feeling of security. "…and there's no way some Princess can ever change that. Never…"

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

The light faded, and once again Sally found herself in a new location, a small room dimly lit by dozens of ceremonial candles that lined the edges of the floor. The walls were made of a strange, misshapen mass of what looked like solid bone. However, it was what lay right in front of her that struck the princess the most. There, only inches from where Sally now stood, stood a painting of a lizard draped in a red cloak. Its face, however, was what had grabbed Sally's attention: it was the skull she had seen in her nightmares. It had an elongated snout, like that of a horse, only with no lower jaw and razor teeth like a lion. Where one might have found ears, the skull had small wings, and horns as sharp as daggers sprouting from the back of its head. Most of all, it had eyes of hateful crimson that almost looked like small flames. "Daxis..." Sally whispered in realization.

"To gaze at his visage is to know salvation," a voice came from behind, reminding the princess Amodeus was with her. "This is his sanctuary, Child of the Source."

Slowly, Sally turned to face the shaman, who stood several feet from her. As soon as he entered the squirrel's vision, she attacked. "The staff..." her desperate mind reasoned, "If I can get the staff, I can escape..."

Alas, the princess did not make it far. The moment she began to charge at him, Amodeus simply snapped his fingers. At that, the walls began to throb and shift as if somehow alive, and from them, strange tentacles emerged. Like whips, they lashed out at Sally, wrapping around her arms and legs. At first, they felt cold and slimy, but quickly they became hard as stone, holding Sally in place. "You should show some respect." the shaman said as he approached her.

Struggling as best she could under the grip of both the tendrils and her own fatigue, Sally was surprised when Amodeus spoke again, with a far softer tone than she had heard from the goat any time before. "It's not too late, Child..." he said, "Swear loyalty to Daxis, and your soul will be spared."

"Explain..." Sally demanded bluntly, no longer in any mood for subtlety.

"You are going to die," he answered with equal bluntness, "to release the Fourth Walker and save this world. When you do, your spirit will either be lost to the ether, or more likely in your case be forced into the realm of the treacherous Aurora. Either way, you will be damned for eternity..."

A sadness entered his expression, and his face seemed to pulse along the route carved by his scar as if recalling the pain felt when the injury was first received. "I have seen too many good souls condemned to that. None deserve so cruel a fate, least of all she who will return us our savior," he continued, "Thus, I give you this one chance to save your soul. I beg of you, join the Order...give yourself to Daxis, and you shall be spared."

Sally's only answer was a cold glare and to continue her futile attempt to break free. "Please!!!" Amodeus pleaded desperately.

Though struck by the sincerity of his feelings, Sally's response was unchanged. Seeing that she would not change her mind, Amodeus turned from her. With an ashamed voice, he whispered, "Very well...I am sorry I could not help you."

Again the shaman snapped his fingers, and again the walls morphed to fit the unspoken command. No longer held by tentacles, Sally was now laid flat on her back on a horizontal table that looked almost like the open mouth of a crocodile, with razor teeth dotting its edges. Her arms and legs were submerged into the table, and small, spindly claws held the back of her head down, leaving her almost completely immobile. It was a markedly unpleasant sensation, to be...trapped...so thoroughly, one that truly made Sally's fur bristle. Hovering over her immobile form, Amodeus drew his staff once again, causing a frightening realization in Sally's mind as she finally got a good look at the skull on the top of his staff: it was the same skull in the painting, from her nightmares...it was the skull of Daxis. "The ritual begins in rememberance...Erebemme Oruy Sempior..." Amodeus whispered as he removed the skull from his staff and placed it square on Sally's chest. Suddenly, the skull's fangs seemed to bite down into Sally, and she felt a numbing shock rattle her very being...

The rope was being cut. This wasn't where she was supposed to be. This was exactly where she was supposed to be. Her thoughts a jumble, Sally's attention was forced to focus on the fact that she was high up the side of a building, supported only by a rope that was being cut by...Sonic? "No, it's not possible...he would never...but...weren't we fighting before...?"

All such attempts to reorient her thinking ceased as Sally felt the rope go limp in her hand, and her fall began. "This has happened before..." she realized as the wind cutting against her descending form began to feel frighteningly familiar. It was only when she felt the thunderstorm of pain as she collided with the hard pavement that the princess realized all that was happening was only a memory. Just as that idea began to assert itself, however, the scenario changed. The whole world seemed to...drain away...leaving only a blank white. A total black. A blank white. It changed with every second, though as she began to feel her body lose all its feeling, Sally wondered if the passing of time was even real anymore. Soon, her thoughts began to become unfocused...disparate strands of consciousness drifted in and out of her mind, a loss of cohesion almost in rhythm with the fluctuating light and darkness.

"I have waited so long for one such as you, Child..."

A voice...a booming voice...yet it was not a voice, for Sally did not hear it...she felt it pound through all that was left of her perception.

"What would you do to protect your kingdom?"

"Anything...", Sally's half-asleep mind tried to speak, only to find a voice no longer existed to say the words. Yet her answer did not go unknown.

"Anything? And What would you give to protect your loved ones?"

"Anything!" the honest but unchecked sentiment repeated itself, again managing to register with the other entity.

"Listen wEll...you are trapped now between life and death. Soon, your spirit will pass on. If you die, your kingdom will fall. Do you wish for this to happen?"

Sally knew the answer without even having to think. "NO!!!"

"Then hear my will: I will bind my life force to your blood, restoring you to your body, and you may carry on the fight to protect that which you love..."

"And...in return...?" Sally's mind managed to force out as a small burst of clarity flew through her.

"Simple: when your spirit tires of the living world, you shall return the gift to me, and allow me to leave this realm of nothingness at last."

Something deep within Sally's very being sensed an ominous undercurrent to the proposal, but such concerns were fogged and unclear, unable to overcome the din of fear stirred up in the princess by the thought of losing what she loved.

"Do you accept the terms of the blood pact?"

Her fear struggled with her doubt, until at last they simply merged into the only answer Sally could make sense of: "Yes."

"Very well. You shall have no memory of our encounter until the time comes to fulfill your promise, lest it influence your spirit unfairly. Now...We shall write our pact in blood..."

From the ever-shifting shadows and lights, a mysterious hand took form. Sonic...Tails...Bunnie...her father...all her friends and family, everything she had ever known...it was a hand comprised of all these things, things she could protect if she could just reach out and grab it. Ignoring that she could not feel her arm, Sally willed herself to take the hand, to save them all. A jolt of feeling flowing through her mind told her she had succeeded.

"The pact is sealed. Live again, child, and know this: though you may not remember this moment, you have made this choice of your own accord, and I will not forget that. Now Live...Live..."

The voice faded, and suddenly Sally felt everything come back; her sight, her hearing, her feeling...she knew they had returned, for through her slitted eyes she saw a familiar blue hedgehog kneeling over her. She heard his voice, distraught and sincere, whisper tearfully, "Come back, Sal...I love you..."

She felt his lips upon hers. "Sonic...?"

With a violent shock, Sally was returned to reality. She still lay upon the mouth-like table, the skull still rested on her chest, and Amodeus still stood over her. "Do you remember?" the shaman asked.

Sally did not, could not, answer at first. All over, she felt sick. Her tired body was reeling from the shock sent through it by the force of the returned memory, and a terrible guilt now hung in her heart. "Are you finally starting to understand?" Amodeus asked after a few moments. "You chose this path. You took the great Daxis' gift of life, and now you must return it."

Struggling just to speak, Sally coughed, "He...tricked me..."

The goat's fist landed within an inch of her head. "TRICKED you?" he roared indignantly. "He SAVED you! Do you believe that, if your promise was forged only in deceit, we would even be here right now? Do not try to hide behind your own weakness and claim it as trickery, you ungrateful Child!"

Sally gulped fearfully. This was the second time in the short period she had known the shaman that his mood had snapped ferociously at even the implication that Daxis was anything other than perfect. Before, she had been in a position to use that to her advantage, but now, restrained and exhausted, it was terrifying to witness. Perhaps more frightening than that, however, was that she could hear a certain truth to his words. How could she have been so weak? How could she allow her emotions to override her judgment like that? Amodeus lifted his fist with a deep growl. "But perhaps I judge you too harshly..."

The goat opened his fist, moving it in a strange pattern across his body, and muttered something under his breath that Sally could not make out. "The Promise is remembered," he said, returning to his previous calm demeanor with frightening ease. "Ot Het Xten Set'p."

Sally remained as defiant as she could, but her mind and body were quickly losing the will to bother. Placing his hand into the fold of his crimson robe, Amodeus brought out a bejeweled dagger in his right hand. Its ruby-encrusted hilt shone ominously in the candlelight, which seemed to be stronger than it had been before. "After all, you are the key to the beginning of this planet's rebirth. I am sure you can be forgiven your...failings..."

He then brought the knife down upon his left palm, cutting across it as deeply as he could. The shaman then placed the bloodied hand down upon the four spots on the table where Sally's limbs would have been if they were not trapped beneath. Though his hand did not move, when the goat returned it to his side, there were now strange crimson markings where his wound had been placed. "That which is written in blood can never be forgotten..." Amodeus said lowly. "The ritual continues in connection...Toccenn, Degrib, Polcemet..." "

The bloody symbols glowed, and Sally could feel a burning sensation running through her. As the seconds passed by, the burning grew stronger. Before long, it had gotten to the point where Sally felt as if she were being eaten away at by flames. Trembling uncontrollably, the princess stubbornly gritted her teeth. Amodeus shook his head sadly. "Stop fighting it, Child...this pain is only your ascendance as the ritual uses your body to bridge the world of life and the world between, an action of cosmic proportions. You can not hope to stop it, only to accept it."

"Never..." she gurgled. "I can't...I can't fail again...I have to be strong..."

A bizarre mist began to emerge from the symbols, and Sally's pain became even greater. The strands of mist began to merge together above her, creating a bizarre whirlpool that spun almost lazily directly over the skull of Daxis. The spin changed quickly, however, with its speed gradually increasing with each second that passed, and the faster it spun, the more Sally's agony grew. Desperate to shut out the hurt, she closed her eyes and bit her lip, trying desperately to think of something, ANYTHING else. Yet all her mind kept coming back to was that terribly memory, that moment when she had surrendered herself to her fears and allowed this nightmare to begin. "I have to be strong!!!" Sally tried to remind herself, but it was sentiment that felt increasingly hollow as she could feel her very soul quiver from its suffering.

Tears formed in her eyes.

"I have to be strong!"

She could feel all the anguish well up inside of her, begging for release.

"I have to be strong."

It was if there was no barrier between her and all the pain in the world.

"I have to be strong..."

She wanted to move, to writhe, yet even this was denied to her.

"I have...to be..."

No. She could not pretend any longer. Strong? Sally no longer knew what that meant. All she knew was that it hurt. It hurt so badly she just wanted to be gone and never have to feel anything again, if it only meant the pain would go away. "I'm weak..." she lamented, and at last a painful howl erupted from inside her. Even Amodeus cringed at the sound of it. The whirlpool began to grow, and soon a haunting light began to emerge from its center. It then gave way to a shroud of darkness. A ray of light, a shroud of darkness, a ray of light...

Through the fog of torturous pain that now gripped her every nerve, Sally heard a voice:

"So...you've come to me at last..."

To Be Continued...