King Acorn stared sullenly out into the glassy wastes, his blue eyes radiating despair and frustration.
I'm so sorry, Sally. Putting my faith in him caused such pain. I can never set it right.
He shivered, though the air was not cold. Nor was it hot. The void was a horrible place, it offered only the bland constancy of crystal.
He had stopped counting the days of his imprisonment. Somewhere out there in the distance was a tall crag, shaped like a fang, where for years he had marked their passage, one after the other. Then those years had begun to bleed together, into an endless eternity. He had lost all track of time. Time had no meaning here.
Time is a lie, he thought angrily. There is only now, our memories exist only to haunt us. To remind us of our mistakes, to taunt us with what has been lost, with what we would have be once more.
He drew his dagger and scratched what he had just realized into the crystal. There were a thousand such places, where his scribbling marred the landscape. He'd revisit them every now and then.
Some of the ravings he had carved in his darkest moments scared him. Those he avoided. One of the most treasured he visited every day. It read simply: "Hugged my daughter today. I won't give up."
I had it all. I misplaced my trust. I won one war and lost another…
He felt the tap on his shoulder and rose to his feet in a rush, spinning on his heel. Fear made him raise the dagger but an invisible force ripped it out of his grip and sent it flying into the wastes.
Naugus chuckled, the sound raspy and unsettling. The old wizard's wrinkled face was set in a grim smile and his rheumy purple eyes sparkled with amusement. "Didn't mean to startle you, your Grace. I have good news…"
Acorn scowled. He disliked Naugus, though the strange being had left him mostly alone since he had found himself imprisoned here. His instincts nevertheless whispered dire warnings whenever he was forced to abide the wizard's presence. "News, you say? In this place nothing ever changes, so how can that be?"
Naugus chuckled. "The crystal may not change, your Grace, but my arts work as well here as they did in the world. I've had a great deal of time to perfect them." He reached into his robe and pulled forth a silver amulet, forged into the shape of a skull. The skull's sockets glittered, chips of crystal set within them. "I made this for you. Believe me, if I could use it myself I would, but I've been here far longer than you. Even its enchantment can't purge the essence of this place from my flesh but…"
A lifetime of statesmanship prevented a betrayal of his feelings, yet his heart began to race. He kept his face neutral. He counted it a minor miracle that his voice did not quaver when he spoke. "Are you saying what I think you're saying, wizard? Have you finally found a way?"
The creature's smile turned into a grin. Yellowed teeth filed to points revealed themselves from behind shriveled lips. The King thought he smelled treachery on the wizard's bad breath, but of course that was impossible. It was only the knowledge that this gift would come with a curse.
It doesn't matter. Not anymore. I'd pay almost any price to get out of here. What is his?
Naugus took a step closer, his voice almost mocking, but it carried an undertone of lethal seriousness. "Your Grace, you must be wondering what I desire in return. As a king, you should know that every action comes with a consequence, and everything a cost."
Suddenly the amulet was engulfed in sorcerous blue light. It floated through the air and settled around Acorn's neck. He felt a strange coolness oozing from the silver links of its chain through his fur, as though it were made of ice. He resisted the urge to tear it off, something about it felt wrong. It's evil, a rogue thought whispered.
I must get home! I must!
"Say on, sorcerer. If it is something I can accomplish and this…this thing truly works…"
Naugus waved his hand in a gesture of irritation. "Yes, yes. It works. Of that you should have no doubt. But hear me, your Grace. Your realm is in greater danger than ever. You were too busy scratching at rocks to notice, but Robotnik was trapped here for a time, has come and gone…"
Strange, he thought, with unearthly calm. The wasteland had taken on a reddish tint and began to pulse. His hands were fists so tight he knew he had cut his palms.
The wizard had more to say, and only afterward did Acorn learn the price of the amulet. It was terribly high and he didn't care. But then, he would know I couldn't refuse. Clever monster.
He followed Naugus to the top of a tall, shining hill. At the crest sat a crude sleigh, carved from crystal.
"Surely you jest," the King said, when he saw it.
Naugus smiled an ugly smile. "No, your Grace. In you go."
When Acorn hesitated the same invisible force that had snatched his dagger seized him bodily and he drifted through the air and into the sleigh.
Before he even realized what was happening he felt the wizard's booted foot against his back, shoving him forward. The sleigh started downhill, gaining frightening speed, its smoothed underside grinding against the ground with a high pitched hiss and kicking up a storm of dust and shards. Then a thunderclap smote the air and the vortex opened ahead, purple and spiraling and beautiful.