Sonic continued to speed on toward the jungle, still holding the Yellow World Ring. Lifting the band up, he asked Shahra how they would be able to hang onto all seven since he brought no backpack or satchel.

The benign genie snapped her fingers.

The ring on Sonic's hand and the yellow band both glowed brightly. As the light faded, the speedster noticed the World Ring was gone. "What the—?! Oh, man! I've lost it!"

"Calm yourself. It is safely stored inside my own ring for protection. When you need any of the World Rings, just rub mine and they will appear again," Shahra explained.

"Oh, good. No worries, then."

Ten minutes later, the duo finally reached a tunnel hewn into a massive rock face. Passing through the stone cavern led them to their destination. Sonic, based on the pteranodon he had seen earlier, guessed that the "ancient creatures" Shahra spoke of earlier were dinosaurs and that this was a "Dinosaur Jungle". Stepping out of the tunnel and into broad daylight, Sonic took a deep breath of fresh air from the forest. The smell of leaves and trees reminded him of the island on which he was born. All the sunshine, clear skies, beautiful scenery, and—

—RUMBLE—

—earthquakes?

The ground shaking snapped the aerokinetic out of his daydream. Looking down, he noticed he was on a trail and that a plume of dust was coming from the distance. As it got closer, he noticed three large animals, each bigger than a rhino, were charging straight for him.

"Uh, Shahra, w-what are those?" he asked nervously, backing away slowly.

"They're Triceratops… and they're very angry. Get out of the way! Fast!"

Sonic bolted down the trail, leaves slapping him in the face left and right. Glancing behind him, he noticed that the three-horned behemoths were closing in fast. "Wh-what did I do?!"

Shahra didn't even have answers. "I don't know. Just run!" She pointed to a wooden walkway in the distance. "If you can make it across the bridge down the path, you should be safe!"

The speedster increased his acceleration and made a beeline for a log bridge one hundred meters ahead. A massive waterfall was flowing beside it cascading underneath.

Sonic reached the bridge and slowed his pace down, almost coming to a full stop. Whew! Okaaayyy, that was an experience…

A near-fatal mistake.

He looked up just in time to see a huge log tumble over the waterfall straight for his location.

"Wha—?! NOOOOOOO!" Sonic yelled as the trunk smashed the bridge under his feet, sending him sailing over the falls.

"Come on, aerokinesis! Work with me, here!" The blue streak tried frantically to create strong updrafts that would slow his fall, but, his powers over wind were strongest only when he was running. In any other situation, they were practically useless.

If I get out of here in one piece, I'm going to go back to my Shifu for training!

Helpless, Sonic looked for anything available to slow his fall or even catch it. He spotted the tree trunk sailing down the current of the waterfall. The falls were almost like a waterslide at an amusement park, only much steeper. Seeing his only chance at some form of safety, he straightened his body like a javelin and aimed for the cascading tree trunk, skydiving. Almost there! Just a little further…

The log sailed out of his range as the falls took a detour to the right.

NO!

As he fell, Sonic looked down to the base of the mountain. Sharp stone spikes extended from the ground up. He was capable of surviving a high fall, possibly even atmospheric re-entry, but not from impaling.

The blue streak started to panic. "Oh-man-oh-man-oh-man!"

Frantically reaching into his pocket, the aerokinetic pulled out a small mechanical device and strapped it to his wrist. Pressing a trigger extending from the machine with his middle and ring fingers, the blue streak shot out a stream of an artificial adhesive that became solid and tacky when exposed to air. The substance constantly emitted a bright blue glow regardless of form, fluid or solid. It was like the entire cord was made up of a solid form of light. The end of the tacky cable latched on to the log and Sonic tugged on it with all the strength he had. Sailing in the direction of the falls, he managed to pull himself onto the floating tree trunk and the closest thing to safety.

Breathing heavily from the shock, Sonic held on tightly, still frozen in fear. "I never. Want to do that. Again… That was way too close…"

Shahra couldn't help but laugh. She had never seen him get that scared before. "Um, Sonic, can't you swim?"

The speedster replied with a still-shaky voice. "I can, but not very well and not for long…"

"Oh. I see."

When the log reached the base of the falls, it followed a small river leading to a large lake. At the lake's shore was a large tunnel made of stone. Sonic hopped off the log and went inside. The cave had a few cracks in the ceiling and walls letting some light in.

The back of his skull vibrated as a faint growl was heard. The blue streak was instantly put on edge.

"Uh, my quills are starting to tingle again…"

—CHOMP!—

A massive pair of jaws belonging to a tyrannosaur broke the rock wall ahead of him. The beast had apparently smelled fresh meat and heard the noise made by his footsteps.

"Whoa! What's the old saying? Out of the frying pan—" Sonic said, hiding from his attacker's mouth.

"—and into the fire," Shahra continued. "That about sums it up."

Well, it's now or never! Sonic waited a few more seconds and made a run for it. Escaping the dinosaur's gaping maw and the rocky tunnel, he saw a tall hill in the middle of a green, grassy plain. No carnivores or angry herbivores were in sight, so he viewed it as a safe haven. Firing up his aura again, he bolted for the mound.

Maybe I'll get a better view from the top.

The two had been gazing over the landscape from the grassy peak for several minutes, hoping to spot a clue of some kind. But the clue wouldn't come from the land.

In the skies above, the screech of a pterosaur was heard.

Sonic looked up.

King Shahryar was in the winged reptile's beak.

"You! Spiky man!" Shahryar yelled from above. "Do something! Save me!"

Sonic simply crossed his arms, annoyed. Saving his own nemesis wasn't exactly something he was completely happy about.

Shahra looked on helplessly as the pteranodon opened its beak and dropped the king. Shahryar screamed as he fell down past the hill's line of sight.

The genie closed her eyes. She didn't want to see this.

The screaming abruptly stopped.

She opened her eyes again.

Sonic, at the last split-second, had managed to snag the edge of the sultan's coat with the toe of his shoe, breaking the king's fall, still crossing his arms in disgust and looking at the sky, irritated.

Shahra breathed a sigh of relief.

Shahryar clambered up onto solid ground and raised his fist in the air multiple times, outraged. "How dare you! I am the king! Must you be so rude?"

A sarcastic tone escaped Sonic's mouth. "Sor-ry!"

Shahra spoke to the king. "Your Highness, where did that spirit go?"

"Just as I feared," Shahryar pointed across another large lake. "He's gone ahead to that castle. And it seems more minions are being assembled."

Sonic looked in the direction of the king's finger. "Castle?"

Shahra explained. "There's a giant fortress just ahead. It's a relic from an ancient kingdom."

The aerokinetic and his genie companion were making their way around the lake when a large green ring was spotted in the grass.

Sonic threw on the brakes and walked up to it. "Hey, look at that."

"It's another one of the seven World Rings," Shahra confirmed.

As her master picked it up, he was electrocuted again, this time with green energy. "Yeow! This power…!"

The jolting stopped as quickly as it had started.

Shahra noted his mention of power. "This must be what has driven the spirits mad. I think… It is only recently that they have been behaving this way."

Filled with hatred for the evil spirits and their creator, the blue streak spoke up, staring at the ring in his hands. "Well, I think I've had just about enough of this…" His expression changed to a softer one as he looked at Shahra. "Speaking of which, as Genie of the Ring, could I ask you for a favor?"

The genie bowed with a smile. "Oh, Master, your wish is my command."

Sonic pressed a finger to the Arrow of Flame. "Do you think you could take this judgment thing out of my chest for me?"

Shahra's face faded into sadness and disappointment once again. "I am sorry…"

"Hey, no worries. Cheer up!"

Shahra's visage now bore confusion. "Hm?"

Sonic smiled, giving her a thumb up. "Don't sweat it! After all, no adventure is fun if it's too easy, right? Although, it would have been nice if your magic did work in any case. Okay, then, let's keep going."

Shahra agreed and the duo set off again toward the ancient fortress.