Sally's Quest, part 2

Nature of the Beast
part 2 of Sally's Quest


This story is copyright 1997 by Will 'Chaos Omega' Wells. Do not sell or alter 
this story in any way. This means YOU!
The characters and concepts here in are the property of Sega, Archie Comics, DiC 
productions, and by the novelist Patrica C. Wrede. Concepts adapted by me, the 
author.
The characters Cmega, Nia, Zemetor, and Entoral are the proptery of me, Chaos 
Omega. The characters Kazul, Telemain, and the spells are mostly the proptery of 
Patricia C. Wrede, used without permission. For more info (or the usual 
questions, comments, flames, and fan mail) e-mail me at: cmega@hotmail.com

Author Note- Congrats, you have reached the middle chapters. Things get weird 
fast, so bear with me. The weirdness will be explained in part 3. Anyway, not 
much else I can think of... enjoy.
Oh, sorry this series is taking so long... but school comes first, after all. 
Mature content advisory, Violence 5, Language 4, Sex 0.
Time line- 3241, Sally is 22. It is three years since DSW.






Chapter 4, In which Sally does some light reading.


Sally woke the next morning and stretched without opening her eyes. Her arm hit 
something hard and rough. Sally found this odd since there hadn't been anything 
in the grassy patch that they had camped in, which bordered the Great Unknown. 
As she thought more about it, she noticed an odd tingle as well.... Finally, 
Sally opened her eyes... 
And gasped loudly. She was in the middle of a forest. Huge redwood sized trees 
towered around her. Bushes, vines, and shorter trees filled in much of the 
underbrush, creating a thick and vibrant forest. Even the forest floor was 
inhabited; it was completely covered with thick green moss. 
"Sorry Ma, I didn't mean to break it..." Dulcy mumbled at the edge of sleep. 
Sally leapt up, ran to her friend, and began shaking her awake. "I'm up, I'm 
up!" Dulcy told Sally after a few seconds. Then, she too looked around. "Wow, 
where are we?" 
"I have no idea." Sally said. Suddenly, Sally realized what the tingle, which 
she still felt, was.... It was Magic! Instead of a nagging feeling to one side 
or the other, it was all around, above, and below them. Every part of the forest 
positively reeked of magic. 
Sally pulled out the book of spells that C'mega had given her the day before and 
began flipping pages. After a brief scowl at the ancient language that all of 
the spell descriptions were in, she pulled out Nicole and activated the 
translation program. After a few minutes more, Sally sighed and put both away. 
"I'm not finding anything particularly relevant." Sally told Dulcy. 
"This place isn't that bad." Dulcy observed. Just then, a very loud scream cut 
through the still morning air. Sally and Dulcy exchanged a glance, then Sally 
leapt onto Dulcy's back. The dragon charged forward, half running and half 
flying towards the source of the scream. After a moment, that source came into 
view. 
"Wizards!" Dulcy snarled, "I should have known." 
"Well, a wizard." Sally said as they closed in. The brown calico cat in reddish 
robes seemed to be trying to beat a young reptilian girl with his staff. She, 
however, wasn't completely defenseless. The girl blocked every attack with a 
small burst of fire, which came out of nowhere. 
As Dulcy landed, Sally jumped off and charged at the wizard. Then, with a slight 
start, Sally realized that she wasn't armed. She gawked a moment, then was 
struck by an idea. 
"Hey Furball!" Sally called, attempting to sound like Sonic, "Pick on someone 
your own size!" It worked. The wizard turned and glared at her. 
"This is none of your affair." he told her bluntly. 
"I said, leave her alone!" Sally shouted. She wanted to piss him off. 
"Fuzzball!" she added for effect. 
"We'll see who's a fuzzball!" he yelled, pointing his staff at Sally. She could 
feel the magic collecting in its crystal tip. 
"Power of Water, Wind, and Earth,
Turn the spell back to its birth!"
Sally shouted quickly. The magical blast shot from the staff, then suddenly 
U-turned and hit the shocked feline in the chest. After a very big flash, the 
wizard's staff clattered to the ground. There was the scent of burned flesh in 
the air. 
"Good shot!" Dulcy commented, a smile on her face. Sally stepped back, open 
mouthed. She didn't mean to kill him! Sally hadn't been expecting a spell of 
such power. The young princess put a hand to her mouth, feeling sick. 
"Who are you?" the jacket wearing salamander girl asked. She looked about 
sixteen, with reddish eyes and a slightly crooked slant to her lips that made it 
look as if she was puckering. 
"I'm Dulcy and this is Princess Sally." Dulcy piped up. "Who are you?" 
"I'm Lita." she replied, "and this is Kay." A small black and un-evolved alley 
cat walked out of the bushes and hopped onto Lita's shoulder. The cat glanced at 
Dulcy and Sally, meowed, and began cleaning his paws. 
"Pleased to meet ya." Dulcy said, holding out a claw for Lita to shake. "Any 
enemy of the Wizards is a friend of mine." 
"Why do you hate Wizards so much?" Sally asked Dulcy suddenly. After the last 
two days, Sally found the curiosity unbearable. 
"Let's just say they decided to give Kazul's predecessor some extra flavoring in 
his morning cup of coffee..." Dulcy replied. 
"Um, are you two on a Quest?" Lita asked. 
"Yes," Sally replied, swallowing the bile that had threatened to mark the dead 
wizard's ashen grave. 
"How did you know?" Dulcy asked in the same moment. 
"Nobody who doesn't live here would usually risk the Enchanted Forest unless 
they were on a Quest." Lita replied. The car meowed in acknowledgment. 
"The Enchanted Forest?" Sally asked, "I don't think I've ever heard of it." 
"What kingdom did you get her from?" Lita asked Dulcy, not bothering to hide the 
irony in her tone. Sally's gaze hardened. 
"I think there's been a misunderstanding." Sally said flatly. 
Mrro yow eiou mmmrrr." Kay meowed. 
"Do you really think I should bother?" Lita asked the cat, much to Sally and 
Dulcy's suprise. 
"Mrow" Kay confirmed. 
"All right..." Lita turned to Sally. "Do you know where the King of the 
Enchanted Forest's castle is?" Sally shook her head 'no'. 
"Mem eiou mr yoww!" the cat hissed in an irritated tone, jumping to the ground. 
"Oh, sorry." Lita told the cat. Then, regarding Sally again, "What are you 
Questing for?" 
"The Sword of Acorn." Sally replied automatically. 
"Row?" Kay asked. Lita blinked. "You know about this sword?" Lita asked the cat. 
Kay mrowed non-committally. Sally and Dulcy exchanged a wary glance, then looked 
back to Lita. 
"You can speak the language?" Sally asked, nodding at the cat. 
"Oh no," Lita demurred, "Its just a simple translation spell. It only works for 
the cat's owner, though." 
"I see..." Sally lied. Any further discussion, however, was cut off by a rather 
nasty roar that rang out at that moment. Sally and Dulcy turned, then saw the 
source of the noise. Kay jumped up onto Dulcy's back and hissed at the darkly 
colored creature that had produced the roar. 
It was eight feet tall and covered with spikes of coarse black fur. Its beady 
black eyes glared at them with in-mobian hatred, a look of death trying to 
choose its first victim. Finally, the terrible gaze settled on Sally. The 
creature stepped forward, one of its huge purple claws raised. It growled, 
exposing a mouth full of sharp and slightly mismatched teeth. Then, it leapt at 
Sally. 
Sally dived out of the way, the creatures hot breath ruffling her hair in 
passing. To her side, she heard Dulcy growl and inhale, but Sally couldn't stop 
to think about that now. She dodged again as the creature swiped a claw filled 
paw at her. Scrambling as fast as she could, Sally threw herself away from the 
deadly predator. 
A blast of Dulcy's freeze breath hit the creature's tail. This, however, only 
seemed to annoy it further. The creature rounded on Dulcy, who dodged back and 
tried to freeze the creatures head. The frigid blast had no effect. 
Safe for a moment, Sally pulled out her book and flipped it open. She quickly 
found one of the spells she had translated earlier and read over the couplet 
several times to make sure she had it. Then, after putting the book away, she 
approached the creature. This spell was close range only... 
"Fire and cloud and light of day,
Send this creature far away."
As Sally's words ended, the creature vanished. Sally glanced around, then 
thanked the Goddess that Dulcy, Lita, and Kay had all been out of range. She had 
forgotten to single out the creature in her spell. 
"Wow," Lita said, "That was the biggest Nightshade I've ever seen!" Lita paused 
and glanced at her cat, who was still perched on Dulcy's back. "Maybe I should 
join your group. After all, when people meet in this forest, there's usually a 
reason." 
"I couldn't agree with you more." came a new voice. Sally turned around and 
spotted the speaker. A human with short black hair stood on the same rise as the 
Nightshade had come from. He was wearing a brown robe and was almost glowing 
with magic... 
Chapter 5, In which they meet a magician and the forest takes an unexpected 
trip.


"I offer you and your companions greetings and good fortunes." the human said, 
diffidently, directing the greeting at Dulcy. Dulcy looked like she wasn't sure 
if she should except them or not. After all, the man did look a bit wizard 
like... but he lacked a staff. And, since when did a wizard show respect to a 
dragon? 
"Um, who are you?" Sally asked, equally cautious. 
"I am Archer, a Magician." the human said, "and this is my cat, Ore." Another 
un-evolved calico, this one gold colored, meowed for attention. It was sitting 
on Archer's boot, looking bored. 
"Mmrow?" Kay asked from Dulcy's back. Then, spotting Ore, Kay hopped down and 
approached the other calico. The two cats faced each other, each sizing the 
other up. After a pause, both trotted back Dulcy and leapt up onto her back, 
mrowing back and forth in some kind of discussion. Both Lita and Archer looked a 
tad suprised by their actions, as did Dulcy. Sally guessed that her friend 
didn't enjoy being used as a sofa. 
"You said that you're a Magician," Sally said to Archer after a moment, "Is 
there a difference between a Magician and a Wizard?" 
"Well of course!" Archer stated huffily. Sally supposed that people must ask him 
that a lot. "Magicians study many magical arts and Wizards only employ Emerald 
power. Also, most Wizards worship the God Chaos, while Magicians have no 
specifically dictated religion." 
This seemed to calm Dulcy a bit, though Lita still looked nervous. Sally 
recalled the fire shields that the salamander girl had used to fend off the 
wizard, wondering what other suprises Lita held. After all, that Nightshade 
could have come from anywhere... or been conjured by anyone. Sally, of course, 
kept her misgivings quiet. 
"So," Lita asked the Magician, "what are you doing here?" 
"If you are referring to the Enchanted Forest," Archer began, "I am studying it. 
Or, more over, I am studying some of its more unusual tendencies, which seem to 
have been accented of late. It has been suggested that they are being amplified 
by an expropriation of magical energy into some sort of temporal and/or 
dimensional matrix being created by an even more extensive enchantment. I, of 
course, am here to test my hypothesis." 
He got three blank stares from Sally, Lita, and Dulcy and two bored glances from 
the two cats. "Could you try that again, in Mobian, maybe?" Sally asked after a 
long pause. 
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. Blast." he muttered, "I've been hanging around with Telemain 
too long." He paused. "That's my mentor. He talks like that all the time..." he 
added, apparently by way of an explanation. "In any case, I too would like to 
join your group. That is an intriguing vest you have there, miss...?" 
"Call me Sally." Sally said with a sigh. 
"I was actually addressing your Dragon friend here, but pleased to meet you 
anyway." Archer said, stepping forward to shake Sally's hand. After a very hardy 
shake, he turned back to Dulcy. 
"Um, I'm Dulcy." Dulcy said, "and its a harness, not a vest." 
"Quite." Archer said, smiling widely. Sally wasn't sure if she liked his smile. 
"Um, Dulcy.." Sally said, "Can I have a word with you? In private?" 
"Sure Sally," Dulcy said, stepping away from the newcomers. "What's up?" 
"This is all too weird." Sally said, "These two just pop up and both ask to join 
us. I'm not sure I trust them." 
"Come on, Sally," Dulcy protested, "a wizard was after Lita." 
"And bots chased Ari." Sally pointed out. 
"And Ari saved Sonic from the Void." Dulcy shot back. 
Sally sighed in exasperation. Dulcy did have a point, and they could use all the 
help they could get. Still, Sally couldn't shake the feeling that Lita and 
Archer had something to do with the odd forest that had sprung up while she and 
Dulcy slept. 
"Fine, they can tag along." Suddenly, Sally remembered Ore and Kay. She looked 
up. They were perching on Dulcy's shoulder, looking back at her, their gray eyes 
glittering. Sally choked back a yelp, staring back at the cats. She could swear 
they were smiling at her... 
Sally shivered slightly, wondering what the cats would have done if she had 
refused to let Lita and Archer join up. 
"You're in." Dulcy proclaimed. Both Lita and Archer smiled and nodded. Then, 
each seemed to notice what the other had done. Archer smiled, nodding to Lita, 
his new compatriot. Lita, however, didn't look at all like she trusted the 
human. Sally rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Things weren't 
going particularly well. 
"Well, now that that's settled, how would you all like some breakfast?" Archer 
asked. 
"Sure." Dulcy said, "Me and Sally didn't pack anything." Sally sighed. She 
really would have preferred to eat the ration bars that she HAD packed, but 
which Dulcy didn't consider real food, but she couldn't get out of it now 
without offending Archer. 
"No thanks." Lita said, "I have my own." 
"After breakfast, which consisted of some odd breadlike fruit, the newly formed 
party started off. They headed towards what Nicole deemed West until reaching a 
river that blocked their path. Sally checked Nicole's map, but they only showed 
a blank desert at their present location. Somehow, the presents of hundred foot 
elm trees seemed to prove the map wrong. 
"What are we supposed to do now?" Lita asked in a rather gruff tone. 
"I could fly you..." Dulcy offered, glancing nervously at the tall trees that 
stood all around them. Sally didn't think Dulcy had enough room for a takeoff, 
let alone a landing. And, it was evident from her tone that Dulcy didn't think 
she could do it either. 
"Not wise." Archer stated, "However, I could probably teleport us over. A dragon 
is a tad large, but I'm sure I can manage." 
"It looks like the only way..." Lita admitted, scowling. 
"Let's try it." Sally said with more confidence than she felt. 
Archer nodded and began his spell. First, he tagged each of them, the cats 
included. Sally felt him placing a magic signal on each of them, even though he 
never moved. Sally could feel the markers, and knew that in of themselves, those 
markers were harmless. An interesting skill, she had developed, to say the 
least. Finally, magic began to collect around Archer himself as he began to 
transport them. 
Suddenly, all the magic of the forest flared. For a second, all the magic 
threads that intertwined to make the forest burned like row upon row of suns. 
Sally cried out, throwing her arms up to shield her face from the glare only she 
could see. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone. Completely gone. The forest had 
vanished, leaving them all standing in the middle of a desert. 
Chapter 6, In which Wizards make trouble and Sally takes a nap.
Chaos Omega and his mate were sitting down to dinner when both bristled. The air 
had suddenly charged with magic, and C'mega knew what that meant for him... 
"They're coming." he told Natasha. "Get Marcus and transport to Mobotropolis. 
They won't follow you if they have me." 
"How I let you talk me into this, you old fool..." Natasha grumbled as they 
walked to the playroom. "We could take them together, you know. They aren't a 
match for us both!" 
"We can't." he told her sternly, "I've explained it too many times already. Now 
go. I'll be all right." 
"I love you." Natasha said to her mate at the door to the playroom. 
"I love you too." he replied. With a sigh of resignation, Natasha walked into 
the playroom and took her son's hand. She and Marcus disappeared in a puff of 
smoke. 
C'mega sighed as well, hanging his head. Seconds later, nearly twenty wizards 
descended on Natasha's home, the hideout/lab where they had met all those years 
earlier. They burst into the hidden building like a SWAT team and converged on 
C'mega. They found him standing at the playroom door, staring off into space. 
"Should we soften him up, sir?" one asked. 
"Go ahead." Entoral said with a wide grin, "It should be amusing." The young 
wizard laughed as his men began to beat the sad cat. C'mega didn't resist the 
attack, merely going limp. This was his destiny... 
***
Zemetor watched the beating in one of his magic mirrors for a minute. Then, 
satisfied, he turned his attention to the other matter at hand. Ever since the 
Princess had acquired the Pendant, the Sword had become a homing beacon. 
However, his forces were faster than she. His minions had already entered the 
castle of Malcolm Acorn. Soon, very soon, he would have the Sword for himself. 
And then... then he would bring the rest of his Wizards across the Void, to 
their new home. 
***
"What the hell did you do?" Lita demanded of Archer, grabbing the human by his 
shirt collar. 
"Nothing!" Archer choked, "I didn't get a chance to finish!" 
"Well, how else did we get from the forest to the desert?" Lita asked, not 
letting him down. 
"The Forest moved." Sally murmured, half to herself. All eyes turned to her. 
"Dulcy, we were at the edge of the Great Unknown last night. We've been walking 
across it all day; it was just covered up by the forest." 
"I've lived next to the Enchanted Forest all my life!" Lita exclaimed, dropping 
Archer. "It doesn't just disappear and reappear at will! And it doesn't border 
any deserts!" 
"She's right, you know." Archer put in, rubbing his neck absently. Lita glanced 
at him, a confused expression on her face. Sally thought it looked as if a scowl 
had collided with a smile. 
"What does the Enchanted Forest border?" asked Dulcy. 
"The Mountains of Morning, the Black Swamp, the kingdom of Varn, and a few 
sections of farm land." Lita said. "I'm from the farm land." she added. 
"I've never heard of any of those places." Dulcy said, scratching her head. 
"Where on Mobius are you from?" she asked herself, rhetorically. 
"Mobius?" Lita and Archer asked in unison. 
"I think we've got a serious problem." Sally stated. "We'd better- AHH!!!
Sally grabbed her head, screaming in pain. She fell to her knees, crying out 
again as her head throbbed in a wash of agonizing pain. Dulcy rushed to her 
side, just in time for Sally to pass out in Dulcy's arms. 
"What the..." Dulcy murmured, laying Sally down on the sand. Only then did Dulcy 
notice Sally's pendant. It was glowing... 
***
Lita hated feeling scared, it disagreed with her nature. But, right now, she 
couldn't help it. It had been only a few hours since Sally had fought a Wizard 
and a Nightshade, and now she might be dieing. Dieing of some sort of... 
something. A Magical something. Lita shot a dark look at Archer, who was helping 
Dulcy inspect Sally. 
That Human is the one doing it, I'm sure! Lita thought to herself. He'd stranded 
them in the desert and taken out their leader... well, Dulcy's leader anyway. 
Lita had only joined up because she wanted helping talking to the King of the 
Enchanted Forest about a job. 
"What happened to her?" Dulcy asked. 
"Something Magical..." Archer murmured, inspecting Sally closely. "It almost 
looks like backshock... but there's no source..." 
"Oh ya, you sure?" Lita muttered bitterly, not expecting anyone to hear. 
"You might be on to something there." Archer agreed. Lita jumped, then saw 
Archer inspecting Sally's pendant, which was glowing. Dulcy must have said 
something. Lita thought to herself. 
"Her eyes moved!" Dulcy proclaimed suddenly. "A little anyway..." 
"I think she's dreaming." Archer said slowly. 
"We can't just leave her on the sand." Lita pointed out suddenly. "She need 
shelter." 
"Yes, of course." Archer said, sounding as if her were confirming the bloody 
obvious. "Dulcy can carry her. There has to be a structure around here 
somewhere. We just need to find it." 
Molified for the moment, Lita helped Archer load Sally on to Dulcy's back. Then 
she positioned herself, trying to leave enough space for Archer. 
"You needn't bother about that," he told her smugly, "there's a simpler method." 
Archer suddenly disappeared. Lita and Dulcy blinked, disbelieving. Then, Lita 
spotted a small garter snake on the ground where Archer had been standing. 
"I'm a Naga," the snake explained, grinning, "Half human, half snake. I can 
assume either form or one in-between." Dulcy, looking like she had seen a ghost, 
picked up the snake and placed him on her back. The small serpent slithered up 
onto her shoulder, joining the cats. Ore seemed to note his arrival. Kay merely 
ignored him. 
Lita closed her mouth and tried to shake off the suprise of the moment before. 
She, of course, knew of Nagas. They were common enough in parts of the 
mountains. 
"Okay then. Here we go!" Dulcy announced suddenly. Lita grabbed ahold of the 
harness as the dragon leapt into the air. Lita gulped, and closed her eyes. She 
did not like heights! Hours seemed to slip into days as she cringed in mute 
terror to the dragon's smooth back. Her hands were white-knuckling around the 
harness straps that secured Sally and the saddle to Dulcy's back. The sound of 
rushing wind was occasionally broken by suggestions directed at Dulcy by Archer 
and both cats. Atleast it was something else to focus on... So, when Archer 
spotted a camp, her whisper of thanks to all the gods was very sincere indeed. 
Lita didn't open her eyes until after Dulcy had landed. When she did atlast 
unclamp her eyelids, a mildly bizarre scene met her gaze. The 'camp' was 
composed of a single tent that was nearly two stories tall. It was over ten 
meters wide and looked like a small house. It even had a door. 
Archer, who was in his human form again, walked up to the tent and knocked on 
the door. They waited a few moments until the door opened a crack. "Yes?" 
inquired a male voice. 
"We have an injured friend." Archer told him. 
"Oh?" the voice asked. Then, a canine with large ears poked his head out the 
door, opening it slightly wider. "Oh!" he corrected at the sight of Dulcy. "Oh 
my..." 
"Can you help?" Archer asked with more fever. The canine glanced away from Dulcy 
and smiled. 
"Oh yes, we'll help you." he replied quickly. The canine opened the door all the 
way and pulled up some sort of pegs from one of the walls. Lifting the now 
widened flap, he let them all in. Ore and Kay leapt off of Dulcy's shoulder, 
electing to use the door. 
Lita instantly disliked the canine. Something about the odd dog made her skin 
crawl. But, since Archer and Dulcy were already heading inside, she had little 
choice but to follow. 
The interior of the tent was apparently partitioned into rooms; the room they 
were in was less than half of the tent's entire area. It made up for its small 
size by being furnished like a mountain resort. Everything from fancy chairs to 
paintings on the walls to a brick fireplace. An old, battered looking sword and 
scabbard hung over the mantle. 
"I'll have Patril whip up some soup for you." the canine said, heading into 
another room. Lita put aside her misgivings and went to help tend to Sally. 
***
Sally and an un-evolved wolf stood at the outskirts of Mobotropolis, which was 
as it had been before Robotnik's takeover and even before the Great War, during 
the golden years of her father's youth. Why the wolf was here with her, she 
didn't know; she only knew that it was her companion. 
Then came the Dragons. They flocked over the city, their neck-stumps pointed 
west. The odd creatures were "cracking the whip" as fast as they could manage. 
They were fleeing something. 
"Headless Dragons...?" Sally murmured. "I should know about them..." 
As the Dragons passed out of sight in the west, a rumble approached from the 
east. The rumble grew quickly and was joined by winds and rain. The rumble 
escalated, becoming a full fledged quake. Voices screamed in the city, but Sally 
couldn't go to them. She was frozen and isolated. Alone. She was but a watcher. 
The city began to crumble as huge fissures split across the plane. Molten rock 
and fire spewed high into the air as the city convulsed in its death throngs. 
High buildings tipped, breaking into dust. But, that dust never made it to the 
ground. 
The falling city paused. Then, slowly, the debris began to rise towards the 
purple and yellow vortex that swirled above the city. The Void. It sucked up the 
once sparkling city in flaming pieces, followed by tracks of land and massive 
chunks of rock. The fissures grew larger, cracking the planet's crust into 
bite-sized chunks for the malevolent vortex. 
Sally felt herself falling backwards, away from the planet and the vortex. Her 
view increased so that she could see the entire planet. The cracks spread, 
shattering the planet in a plume of magma and mantle, followed by the explosive 
force of the planet's core, suddenly released. The explosion was mind-boggling. 
So tremendous were they that Sally knew people in other solar systems would 
wonder what star it was that had so suddenly appeared in their sky. 
Finally, as the planet finished fragmenting, the Void collapsed in upon itself. 
The liquid rock that had escaped from the Void's spinning maw was quickly 
cooling in the vacuum of space. So fast, infact, that it didn't have time to 
crystallize. That which had once made up the interior of Mobius had become a 
cloud of black glass fragments. Volcanic glass. Obsidian. 
"This is the power of the Sword, unleashed by the improper person." the Wolf 
told her without moving its lips. 
"How can a sword do that?" Sally asked, somehow talking in the vacuum. She 
didn't move her lips either. 
"The portal through the Void is already open." the Wolf replied, "With the 
Sword, it can either be controlled, by an Acorn, or overloaded." 
"I was looking for the Sword before I came here." Sally said. 
"The Wizards from the other side have found and moved it." the Wolf said, "You 
must act quickly, before it falls into the hands of one who may try to wield 
it." 
"But how can I stop-?" 
"Follow the Stone." the Wolf interrupted. "It will lead you." With that, the 
creature bounded away into the never ending reaches of space, leaving Sally 
alone with her dead planet. 
Chapter 7, In which all hell breaks lose.


"Here you go." the canine said, handing Archer a bowl of soup for Sally. "Now, 
what have we here?" 
"It looks like backshock from a spell..." Archer muttered absently. 
"Are you a wizard?" the canine asked. 
"No, of course not..." Archer replied, not taking his attention off of Sally. 
"Hmmm... What about that odd stone on her neck?" the canine asked. 
"I thought that might have something to do with it." Archer said, glancing up 
for the first time. "By the way, who are you?" 
"My name is Farr Lang." the canine, Lang, replied. "Now, lets get that necklace 
off of her." He reached out to take a hold of the pendant. As he did so, the 
rock flashed bright white. Archer and Lang jumped back as Sally bolted up. Lita, 
who was standing farther back, noticed that the sword above the fireplace was 
glowing too. 
"Where are we?" Sally demanded. 
"Right where we want you, Princess!" Lang shouted, firing a glowing orb at her. 
Sally threw her arms into the air, muttering her reflection spell. The orb 
u-turned, but was countered by a shield spell, dissipating the energy between 
the two of them. "Not so easy now that we know who you are, eh Princess?" he 
sneered. Behind Lang, the 'kitchen' door was flung open by several more wizards. 
Sally snarled, preparing to face them. However, she was obviously out manned and 
out gunned. Lita knew there was only one chance... 
Lita called forth her fire, a natural talent to any Salamander, and cast the 
flames into two twin fire-walls. They bracketed the fireplace, giving her a 
clear path. Lita sprinted for the sword, panting with the double effort of 
maintaining the fire-walls. 
An eternity seemed to pass as she ran, days of effort in the handful of seconds 
it took her to reach the mantle. With one well timed leap, she grabbed the sword 
and pulled it away with her. Not one to waist anything, momentum included, she 
turned the yank into a clumsy throw. "Catch it Sally!" Lita heard herself 
shouting as she hit the floor. 
Sally caught the hilt, as if it had been drawn to her hand. Rounding like an 
expert fencer, she cut into Lang's shield spell. With a loud crackle, the shield 
crumbled and the canine wizard was falling against a near by wall, out cold. The 
battle was on. 
***
Sally held her sword at the ready. It hummed with magic, but not like the magic 
of wizards or the forest. It was also different than her pendant... but had a 
similarly soothing effect on her. The Sword felt like part of her. With the 
pendant, she felt like a piece of it... 
She wasn't exactly sure what her Sword had done to Lang's shield, but Sally 
decided that she liked it. He was alive, she knew, but down for the count. Of 
course, that left another dozen or so to fight... 
The Wizards, seeming to realize that Sally was now much more formidable, moved 
together and began what looked like a huddle. They were preparing for a group 
spell, Sally realized suddenly. "Dulcy, freeze them!" Sally called. 
The Dragoness nodded and inhaled. One of the Wizards spotted the action and, at 
the last moment, threw up a new shield spell. The icy blast arrived a second too 
late, and was reflected into the wall of the tent. Seeing another chance, Sally 
acted. "Smash the wall!" she yelled, jumping onto Dulcy's back. 
"Roger, Sally!" Dulcy called, cracking the whip. Sally cringed, holding on tight 
as Dulcy rammed into the brittle cloth, shattering it. 
Below, Lita leapt on to Archer's back as he transformed into a giant python. He 
darted after Dulcy, following her out the large hole in the tent. 
Sally suddenly remembered the cats. However, before she had much of a chance to 
worry, Kay meowed at her from Dulcy's shoulder. They were both back on their 
reluctant perch. 
Meanwhile, the Wizards were completing their spell. A dark cloud formed, then 
resolved into about a dozen Nightshades, an equal number of werewolf looking 
creatures, and two large, knarled man looking things that had to be Ogres. After 
a second's pause, they charged forth, intent on Sally and her friends. 
Dulcy rounded in the air, following Sally's quickly spoken directions. Calling 
forth more freeze breath, they began strafing the army of demons. The few 
Nightshades they managed to hit had even less reaction to it that the one Dulcy 
had blasted earlier that day. 
Lita and Archer had taken up positions on a sand dune, with Archer back in human 
form. The pair were keeping the werewolves at bay with great plumes of magical 
fire and blocking Nightshades with energy shields. However, the impressive 
pyrotechnics had the side-effect of also keeping Dulcy from picking them up. She 
simple couldn't get close enough. 
"Damn it!" Sally snarled. Her only weapon was the Sword, which left her nearly 
helpless in aerial combat. She hated feeling helpless. But, she couldn't risk 
Dulcy getting hurt if they landed. 
"Get the Princess!" one of the Wizards yelled from the ruins of the tent. 
"No, get the Dragon!" another countered. Sally spotted one of the Wizards aiming 
his staff like a rifle, trying to get them sighted for some kind of attack. Not 
wasting time on words, Sally pulled Dulcy's harness. Dulcy dropped into a roll, 
then spiraled upwards, avoiding a volley of ice spears. After the first attack 
ended, Dulcy viered around to face the enemy again. 
"Oh no..." Sally whispered, surveying the scene. Archer and Lita were gone. The 
dune they had fought on was scorched by some final effort. The remaining demons 
were heading their way, but obviously weren't able to reach Dulcy in flight. 
"They're..." Dulcy sniffed back the rest of her comment, replacing it with a 
snarl of rage. Ducly shot forward, puffing up. But, it wasn't ice that she 
breathed as they passed once again over the ruined tent. White hot flames 
scorched the Wizards, doing atleast some damage to unprepared group. Then, her 
fire-breath spent, Dulcy pulled up and viered away from the sad scene. For an 
hour, they winged their way westwards in silence. Silence, that is, but for the 
choked sniffles of the two. Both Dulcy and Sally shed quiet tears that night. 
That evening, they landed to set up camp. Neither spoke. Even the cats seemed 
subdued. 
They ate rations by a small campfire. Though neither felt like eating, they 
forced some of the flavorless rations down. Sally used her newly won Sword to 
toast hers over the fire, but cooking didn't improve the taste any. 
Sally took a walk after dinner. At first she thought of the two friends she had 
made and lost in the space of a day. It didn't seem fair... 
Her thoughts were broken by a slight tug. Sally looked down at her pendant. It 
was still tugging her. Whatever she was looking for now, it lay to the 
Northwest. 
Something's still missing. she mused. I have the Sword, but lack control. And, I 
still can't open the Void; I don't know how! 
Sally clasped her pendant in both hands and pressed it to the center of her 
chest. She was scared. Terribly, deeply frightened for her planet. Three people 
died today, one by my hand. I killed someone! It was that fact that scared her 
most of all. 
Eyes closed, with her necklace still clasped to her chest, she retraced her 
steps to the camp. Sleep wouldn't come easily tonight... 
***
Lita knelt over Archer's still form, shaking him. He had breath and pulse, but 
was unconscious. After a few seconds she stopped, then stood, muttering in 
disgust. For the nth time, she looked around her current surroundings. 
The two of them were in a small stone room. Two beds, one on each side of the 
room, and a loom were the only furnishings. The window over each bed was closed 
with oaken shutters which seemed to be bolted from the outside. The door, also 
oak, was locked. Archer was laying in one of the beds while she paced the small 
room. 
She flopped down on the second cot, wondering where they were, who had put them 
here, and why that person had bothered. Lita lay back to ponder those questions 
and, though she hadn't realized she was tired, was asleep a few moments later. 
***
"Father, I have the traitor!" Entoral proclaimed upon entering throne room. 
Several other Wizards followed him, dragging the unconscious form of Chaos 
Omega. 
"Yes, my son." Zemetor said, stepping away from his viewing mirror, "I know. 
Take him down to the dungeon. I will question him later." 
Entoral, hearing the ire in his father's voice, didn't argue. Something must 
have gone wrong with the Sword recovery... he mused. That means we can't bring 
in the reinforcements from the other dimension! Entoral was suddenly glad his 
father had commanded him to take the prisoner to the dungeon; the throne room 
wasn't safe when Zemetor was in a bad mood! 
***
The shroud of night fell over the Great Unknown. As the nocturnal creatures 
stirred, some found that their normal habitat of cold sand had transformed into 
a carpet of green moss and tall oaks. Within the boundaries of that forest, two 
castles stood. One was located at the approximate center, and was not only part 
of the network of magic, but its center. The other castle lay at the forest's 
edge. It was at that stone work that two of the forest's inhabitants were gazing 
at. 
"Are you sure that's the snag, your Majesty?" a tall ant asked. 
"Very." his Echidna companion replied, "The network is quite tangled here." 
"Can you fix it?" the ant asked. 
"Not yet..." the Echidna replied, "and not without help. The dimensional flux 
has stopped, at least. Until I can solve both problems, I don't want to do 
anything." 
"Of course, your Majesty." 
"And Vizarian, will you please stop calling me 'majesty'? It gets on my nerves." 

"My apologies, your Highness." Vizarian replied. 
The Echidna groaned, shaking his head. Then, the Echidna made an odd twisting 
motion with his hand. At the same instant, the pair vanished. 
To Be Continued
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