Chapter 83: Trick
"So that's it," Sonny said staring at an imposing structure after Shahra had dissipated the magic carpet and gone back into her ring. "The Night Palace."
The full moon rose and revealed the structure to be an Arabic palace with a single turret cluttered by smaller ones around the base. Then after several lights lit the turrets, a cloud of smoke bellowed as the palace rose above the gathering of palm trees it was situated in and into the night sky. Fortunately, Sonny was far enough away to not get hit by the cloud of smoke as he was situated on a sand-dune that overlooked the valley where the palm trees were. Once it was airborne, dark clouds circled around the palace resulting in a tornado-shaped funnel that spiraled down and into the palace's main doors.
Once this was done, the palace doors closed and several small shapes appeared. Recognizing them as Erazor Djinn's underlings, Sonny leaped into the air as the creatures approached him. He then used them as springboards to get to the palace, which hovered at a steady altitude, and eventually made it to the palace's main doors. Once he was there, Sonny reached into his pocket and held up the White World Ring. The doors glowed in response and subsequently opened.
"All right, we made it," Sonny said as his knees suddenly gave out and he collapsed onto the floor.
"Sonny!" Shahra exclaimed as she emerged out of the ring.
"I'm okay," Sonny replied and looked down at his chest. "Is it just me or did the flame just get smaller?"
Shahra examined the flame and turned away. "You don't have much time left, and it's all because of me."
"Stop blaming yourself, Shahra," Sonny said as he got up. "Just remember what I promised, about stopping Erazor Djinn after we collect all the World Rings."
"Right," Shahra nodded.
The two entered through the palace doors and were immediately confronted by more of Erazor Djinn's underlings.
"It's a trap!" Shahra said.
"Don't worry, we'll get out of this," Sonny responded and plowed through the underlings.
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After searching through almost corridor in the Night Palace, Sonny eventually came to a place which he presumed was the throne-room. But just as he entered, the room stretched indefinitely and was replaced by a solid wall with a purple-colored vortex. Irritated, Sonny entered the vortex and found himself in a starry void with the faint outlines of an invisible road that went on a series of strange twists and turns. The road was also occupied by more underlings of Erazor Djinn, so Sonny was forced to confront them as well as stay on the invisible road in order to not fall into the void.
At the end of the road, Sonny came to a large hourglass with the sand on the bottom. He then flipped the hourglass and found himself back in the throne-room as the wall crumbled while the vortex vanished. Not hesitating, Sonny entered an archway filled with white light and found himself standing outside on a pathway consisting of multiple pillars and archways. The moonlight illuminated Erazor Djinn's figure as he stood in the middle of the pathway while Sonny ran toward him.
"Well, well, if it isn't the rat boy," Erazor Djinn smirked. "I see your life-force is running low."
"So you noticed," Sonny responded casually. "Do you think maybe you could cut me some slack?"
"I will not lift the curse until you've collected all the World Rings," Erazor Djinn said.
"Fine, then go look for them yourself if they're so important."
"Maybe I will," responded Erazor Djinn as he vanished. "And when I do, you will already be dead."
"Not if I can help it," Sonny said to himself. Then he turned to Shahra and said, "Come on, let's find the last World Ring before Erazor Djinn gets back."
Shahra hesitantly nodded as she followed Sonny out of the throne-room. On the other side, the two were confronted by the underlings who weren't destroyed by Sonny previously. After he took care of them, Sonny noticed the smoke that came from the underlings merging into a circular cloud which then transformed into a large purple ring with silver carvings. As Sonny touched it, he felt a wave of strong energy that nearly overwhelmed him but quickly went away.
"You know, Shahra," Sonny said after a pause. "It just occurred to me that if you can't touch the rings then neither can Erazor Djinn since he's a Genie and that's why he wanted me to collect the World Rings for him."
"That would make sense," Shahra said.
"Also, why do you and Erazor Djinn seem to know each other?"
Shahra blushed in response. "Well…we're both reincarnated spirits from a different time and place."
"So the Shahra that I mistook you for was…your host?"
"Exactly."
"What about Erazor Djinn? Does he have a host too?"
"He does. You know him as Raza Jinn in your world."
"I thought the rat commentary sounded familiar. Now if you knew Sonic then that means you and Erazor Djinn are from his time, correct?"
"Not exactly. Sonic was alive when he came to our world, but when his world was destroyed ours perished as well."
"Then the world we've been travelling through…isn't the same one that Sonic went to?"
"No, it is merely a copy of the original."
"Did King Shahryar create it? Or Solomon?"
"Sonny," Shahra said abruptly and took Sonny's hand. "I want you to hold onto this."
There was a brief flash of light and a small ball-shaped object with intricate gold carvings appeared in Sonny's hands.
Sonny examined it and said, "Is this what I think it is?"
"Yes, so only use it as a last resort if we can't defeat Erazor Djinn with the World Rings."
Then as soon as Sonny pocketed the ball-shaped object, Erazor Djinn reappeared in the archway to the throne-room.
"You tricked me, rat boy!" Erazor Djinn said pulling out his sword shaped like a barber's razor. "Now prepare to face my wrath!"
"Bring it on, bully!" Sonny said as followed Erazor Djinn into the archway.
To be continued…