Chapter 79: Promise
Once they were inside the book, Shahra and Sonny got off the flying rug which vanished into thin air. Apart from a path made from paper, the rest of the area was a white void with swirling pages. The two made their way along the path hastily, but then they were stopped by a purple aura that sprouted three circular patterns that fell into the page Shahra and Sonny were standing on. Then from this circular pattern emerged a tall bulky man with purple skin and close-shaven red hair with a ponytail that curved like a crescent moon behind his head. His clothes consisted of a dark brown cloak, brown leather cuffs, white pants that were similar to Shahra's, and gold-colored shoes that curled on the ends. Once he saw Sonny, the man took out a sword that looked similar to a barber's razor and charged forward. Fortunately, Sonny managed to dodge the sword before it could cut him and jumped back.
"Whoa, take it easy," Sonny said getting in a defensive position. "I'm not sure what I did to piss you off, but I don't like guys who try to attack me with a sword."
"That's him, Sonny," Shahra said anxiously. "The one who's responsible for erasing the stories from A Thousand and One Arabian Nights."
"Erazor Djinn?" Sonny said looking dubiously at the man who stood before him. "No way."
"What is the meaning of this, Shahra?" the man said angrily. "I sent you to find the seven World Rings, not bring a boy who reminds me of a certain rat I know into this world."
"But I already told you, Erazor Djinn," Shahra said defensively. "The World Rings do not exist, and even if they did I wouldn't know where to find them."
"Then if you refuse to obey me, you must be punished!" Erazor Djinn pointed his index finger at Shahra, and from it emerged a flaming arrow.
"Look out!" Sonny exclaimed, and got in the way as the arrow flew straight towards Shahra.
"Sonny!" Shahra said as the arrow hit Sonny's chest, though it didn't go in all the way.
"Well, this should be interesting," Erazor Djinn smirked as he vanished into the circular pattern that appeared before. "Bring me the seven World Rings before the arrow of flame is extinguished, or the boy will die. In the meantime, I shall be taking the life of King Shahryar."
"King Shahryar?" Sonny wondered as he noticed that his shirt wasn't burning where the arrow had pierced his chest. "Who's he?"
"He's the main character of the overarching story that runs through all the tales in A Thousand and One Arabian Nights and the one who supposedly wrote down the stories to begin with."
"Then we've got to reach him before Erazor Djinn does," Sonny said, and took off at incredible speeds down the paper-laden path which ended at a white light.
Emerging from the other side, Sonny and Shahra found themselves in a sand-covered oasis that consisted of pillars, stone ruins, and ghost-like creatures with mean-looking faces.
"Those are Erazor Djinn's underlings," Shahra said as the ghost-like creatures flew towards them. "We might be too late."
"Not on my watch," Sonny replied, and took off across the oasis while avoiding the ghost-like creatures till he came into an empty palace.
A nearby vase suddenly rattled, causing Sonny to walk up to it. Then the vase tipped over and broke into several fragments. A frightened-looking Dr. Eggman lay sprawled out on the ground wearing silken robes and a turban decorated with a single feather and ornamental stone.
"Eggman!" Sonny said with surprise, and then he frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"How dare you call me 'Eggman'!" the Eggman-lookalike exclaimed irritably. "I am King Shahryar, the ruler of this land!"
"I'm not buying it for one second, Eggman," Sonny said as he grabbed the Eggman-lookalike by the collar of his robe. "Just what are you up to this time?"
"Unhand me, you spiky-haired urchin!" the Eggman-lookalike said pushing Sonny away from him. "Guards!"
"Sonny, stop!" Shahra said as got between Sonny and the Eggman-lookalike. "This really is King Shahryar, the man we're supposed to save."
"But why does he look like – never mind." Sonny paused, and looked at the Eggman-lookalike. "So where are your guards, King Shahryar?"
"Oh, that's right," King Shahryar said smacking himself on the forehead for a brief second. "When those ghost-like creatures showed up, everyone ran away including my guards."
"Then how did you end up inside that vase?" Sonny asked.
"That was for my own protection, boy, because what followed after the ghost-like creatures was a—
Before King Shahryar could finish, a pterodactyl-like creature flew into the palace and picked him off the ground. Sonny and Shahra looked up and realized that the one riding the pterodactyl was none other than Erazor Djinn himself. He looked over his shoulder and grinned maliciously before the creature flew out. Sonny pursued the pterodactyl outside while Shahra went back into the ring. While he was following the pterodactyl, he heard a familiar cry and ran toward the source of the sound. In front of a wall near the palace, Sonny saw Miles being cornered by two of the ghost-like creatures and he was wearing a white turban, a red vest, and a yellow sleeveless shirt. Sonny immediately flew through the air and demolished the two ghost-like creatures which turned into smoke and floating words.
"Are you okay, Miles?" Sonny said, approaching the surprised teenage boy.
The boy whom Sonny presumed to be Miles looked at him quizzically. "Miles? My name is Ali-Baba."
"Come on, Miles, quit joking around," Sonny responded skeptically. "First Eggman thinks he's a king, and now you're claiming to be someone else. Is there some kind of inside joke I'm not a part of?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Miles lookalike said sheepishly. "But I'm glad you saved me from those monsters. So if you need my help, let me know."
"Okay, then how about examining this flaming arrow?" Sonny said pointing to the flame that was embedded in his chest.
"We have no time for that, Sonny," Shahra said appearing from the ring around Sonny's finger. "King Shahryar's life is in danger, and we must rescue him."
"Oh, right," Sonny replied, and followed Shahra in the direction that the pterodactyl had flown. He turned back towards Ali-Baba and said, "We'll call you later."
###
As Shahra and Sonny came to the end of the oasis, they came up to a circular bed of sand. There, a creature suddenly emerged from the sand's depths. It was a large purple scorpion with a single red eye on its body and two matching ones near its pincers.
"Well, there's something you don't see every day," Sonny remarked.
"That monster must've been summoned by Erazor Djinn to keep us from following him," Shahra said nervously. "At this rate, King Shahryar will—
"Don't worry, Shahra, I'll defeat this guy in no time," Sonny said, and ran off to confront the Sand Scorpion as it took off firing lasers at him from its eyes.
Fortunately, Sonny managed to dodge the lasers and ram himself into the eyes in order to hit the scorpion's middle eye. After a few rounds, the Sand Scorpion's rear end opened to reveal yet another eye protected by a two rows of sharp fangs. Once Sonny hit this eye a few times, the creature dissipated into purple dust. At the center of the sand bed where the scorpion had emerged from lay a gold-colored ring that had the same circumference as a basketball.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sonny said as he walked toward the ring with Shahra flying next to him.
"Yes, it's a World Ring," Shahra confirmed, and tried to pick the ring up but her hand slipped right through it. "But I can't seem to pick it up."
"Then let me try," Sonny said, and picked up the ring which was surprisingly light.
Then Sonny was suddenly zapped by an electrical pulse that came from the ring, causing him to yell out in surprise.
Once the electrical pulse died down, Sonny looked down at the ring with a confused frown. "What was that about?"
"I'm not sure," Shahra said. "Everything I know about the World Rings comes from the latest chapter in the book that states, 'When darkness descends upon the Arabian Nights the legendary blue hedgehog from another world shall come. When the seven rings that control the worlds are gathered, the portal between the worlds shall open. But the life of the collector of the rings shall be offered up in sacrifice as the key for that control.'."
Sonny's brow narrowed further as he gripped the World Ring tightly. "So by collecting the rings for Erazor Djinn, I'm basically offering myself up as a sacrifice for him to use to invade my world?"
"I'm afraid so," Shahra said turning away from Sonny.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Shahra?" Sonny asked.
"By the time I remembered, you were already hit by Erazor Djinn's arrow. If it hadn't been for me, we wouldn't be in this situation right now."
But just before Shahra started crying, Sonny forced her to look at him. "Hey, don't blame yourself. There's nothing we can do to change the past. Right now, we need to find the World Rings whether we like it or not. Then once we do, we'll find a way to stop Erazor Djinn. I promise."
After Shahra smiled, Sonny took off across the sand-dunes as she followed.
To be continued…