Z for Zacarius. Part II

The first of edition of the series Guardian.

As wrote by Kevin Field.

 

I agree that some of the characters feature in the following story and copyright of Archie Comics. Ltd and that some are of my own devising, if I have caused offence in anyway with the following material then please accept an apology.

 

Chapter 7.

 

Leaning against the vibrating side of the transport, Knuckles head was pumping with pain. He had woken up with a headache and now it was worse than ever. Looking around he could see the loadmaster tapping his snout every so often, a peculiar habit that he had started as soon as the transport had taken off. The pilot, who was wearing a large yellow helmet, seemed to talk in his own language over the intercom, and what worried Knuckles even more was the fact that he seemed to be having a conversation with some unknown counterpart.

 

How the hell he was understood was beyond the Guardian.

 

“Trust me to catch the flight from Echidnaopolis that is piloted by someone who cant even understand himself” Knuckles whispered inwardly.

 

“Why do you tap your nose?” Knuckles shouted over the noise of the engines. They shouldn’t have been as loud because of the dampeners, but then, Knuckles realised that the crate he was in probably didn’t have any. Looking out of the window he swore something fell of the engine.

 

“Its because im scared of heights, I get a nosebleed real quick if I don’t keep this up” the guy had a Cajun accent, similar to Bunny Rabbot’s, on Mobius 40,000 feet below.

 

Knuckles raised an eyebrow and sunk his head in his hands. A loadmaster that was afraid of heights, what else?. Looking up again he could see the man fiddling with a tissue, trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

 

Knuckles shook his head, and an empty bottle of whisky rolled down the cabin, it had come from the pilots seat.

 

“Remington really needs to sort this out” Knuckles thought to himself.

 

Seconds later the transport grinded to a hover, and the rear doors opened. Knuckles got up and walked over, tightening the goggles he wore and holding his hat carefully he stepped onto the ramp and dropped over the edge.

 

Halfway down he noticed the bottle of whisky overtake him narrowly.

 

Landing in a plume of dust, he could see two other transports screaming away at the same time as his own which was making dangerous turns and burns across the vapour trails of the other two. Knuckles picked up the bottle next to him and looked at it distastefully.

 

“Sir, we have been detailed here as your escort”

 

Knuckles looked to his left, a stocky lieutenant stood there dressed in dessert camouflage fatigues his face muffled by a cream face scarf.

 

“And you are?”

 

“We are the S.R.T. Guardian, and we are here to assist in any which way we can”

 

Knuckles nodded, at least he had company. “Whats your name lieutenant?”

 

“Ames” he replied “lieutenant Ames”

 

“Well Ames, lets get this show on the road”

 

“Yes sir, may I suggest we take the main part of the force with us and leave a few men back for a rearguard?”

 

“Ames” Knuckles protested. “Ill go first, you follow behind me with your whole force…that way if anything does go pear shaped we will have enough firepower to deal with the problem”.

 

Ames nodded in agreement, signalling for the rest of his group to move up into position.

 

Knuckles began walking, pulling over a cream cloak he rested his hands on the straps of his rucksack.

 

It was going to be a long day…

 

+That night+

 

Ames, whilst looking through a thick bush onto the delta below detailed two marksmen to find high ground and cover the area around them. Below was a well-hidden camp, he couldn’t recognise the originality of the echidnas below but they where dressed in long cloaks and bedecked with jewels.

 

“What do you suggest lieutenant?” Knuckles asked looking down at the same place.

 

Ames glanced over at the Guardian, surprised he had an opinion. “I suggest we let a scout party go up ahead and find out what’s going on…sir”

 

“Excellent idea, hand me your radio”.

 

Ames did as he was told and passed it over.

 

“Now, ill go and see whats going on, you stay here and cover me if anything goes wrong, I suggest you surround this place on all directions…quietly”

 

Ames nodded in agreement and watched as the Guardian got up and sprinted away.

 

Skidding down the embankment Knuckles rolled to his feet and dumped his cloak a few hundred meters away from the first tent. Sprinting at full pelt he made it to a large pile of barrels, leaning down behind them he took a second to catch his breath. Tapping the radio frequency button he was surprised to hear Ames, who was ordering some troops around.

 

Peeking over the barrels he could see a few armed guards, they where speaking gibberish to each other and he couldn’t understand them. A good ten meters away, they where far enough away not to see him when he moved and rested behind a rock.

 

Things where getting interesting.

 

Rush, one of the marksmen was looking down at Knuckles through his scope. He could see the two-armed guards, now only three or so feet away, looking around conspicuously. They where smoking some kind of cigarette.

 

“Perfect” he whispered, “they even gave me a target”.

 

Knuckles watched as the two guards suddenly fell to the floor, almost simultaneously, At first he thought some unknown force had done this to them, but was corrected when Ames’s voice cackled into life.

 

“We’ve got your back covered Guardian, make sure we can see you otherwise you might get drugged by accident”.

 

Knuckles clicked the radio button twice to indicate he understood. Getting up he moved further over and knelt outside the tent.

 

He was now cautiously aware of keeping in sight; he didn’t need to be hit by his own side.

 

Chapter 8.

 

Breathing deeply and holding his arm, Knuckles reflected on the last few minutes and what had happened. He was sure that they had discovered the unconscious bodies of the other guards and then the situation went down the drain. Now he was bleeding from some type of shot wound that hurt like hell, he could hear the occasional sound of a laser shot being fired from the embankment which where shortly followed by screams of pain.

 

More worryingly he could tell that a large group of the ‘unknown’ where gathering very close to his position. They where talking to each other in rushed conversation struggling to understand their leaders orders, it was there leader that spotted him.

 

“Tecat moutin” he shouted and pointed in Knuckles direction.

 

Seizing the surprise Knuckles grabbed a tent pole and broke it like a twig, throwing the tent at the crowd covering them all in it. Jumping up on top of them all he picked the leader up by the scuff of his neck and pointed a pistol at his head.

 

“I don’t care if you understand me or not, but if anyone moves I will shoot” he shouted at the crowd who looked on silently.

 

“We understand you” one of the females replied. “Please, let him go and we will co-operate, we don’t like violence”.

 

Knuckles let the pistol go slightly and released the leader. “All right, we are getting somewhere, what are you doing here?”

 

“We are outcasts” she replied a tear welling in her eye. “This is our only place to live”

 

Knuckles still held his pistol firmly. “Why, what is wrong with you all?”

 

Someone scrambled and caught Knuckle’s shirt ripping it across the chest. He shrugged them off harshly.

 

“Oh my god, please don’t kill us” someone shouted.

 

Knuckles looked confused. “Why would I kill you?”

 

“You wear the crescent of destruction” the female replied. “You are the lord of death”

 

Knuckles looked down and noticed that the white band around his neck could be seen through the rip. “Oh this, this is just a thing to prove im a Guardian” he prodded it to prove a point.

 

“No…Guardian, it is the mark of death…so we have been told”

 

“By whom?”

 

“The great one, lord Dimmitri told us on the eve of our ancestors expulsion”

 

Knuckles sighed. Not only did these guys know of him, they only knew what Dimmitri the ‘great idiot’ had told them.

 

“Listen guys I don’t know what he has told you but it’s a lie”

 

The female walked forward and took his arm pulling his from where he was standing and dragging him forcefully. The crowd went deathly silent and they parted when they both walked through them.

 

“What is your name?” Knuckles asked.

 

“My name is Lithium, but you can call me Lith”

 

“Alright Lith, where are we going?”

 

She tightened her grip. “We are going to the main tent, and I will explain what is going on”.

 

“O.k,” he replied. “Let me just talk to the others”.

 

“No” Lith shouted whilst grabbing the radio and stamping on it. “We, as in you and me are going to talk”

 

Knuckles looked at the stern face of Lith, it reminded him of Julie-su. “Okay…but id love to know whats going on”

 

“Shortly, very shortly”

 

+About 20 minutes pass+

 

“Sir, we’ve scanned the entire area twice over, the Guardian has disappeared” Burn was not impressed.

 

Ames nodded to the marksman, ushering him away with a quick flick of his hand. Carefully he flicked the switch on his radio opening a frequency to the entire of his squads.

 

“O.k. guys, rendezvous back at the drop off point at 0900 hours and await extraction, the transports will be along shortly”

 

A cackle of communications flurried past as the sergeants reported themselves. Seconds later the troops began to fall out backwards towards where they had come from.

 

Ames gulped slightly; now to tell the constable they had lost a Guardian.

 

Lithium opened up the front of a large tent and led Knuckles inside; the snug little furnishings making the tent look larger from the inside than it was. Yawning slightly she took a pot and placed it on a little stove in the corner. She offered Knuckles a seat near the fire that was burning at the centre.

 

“Please sit, there is much to converse”

 

Knuckles sat as he was told, and flicked back a spine that was dangling over a flame. “Okay, first things first, why do you believe in the Dark Legion?”

 

“They are the saviours of our people, they brought the technology and saved our clan leader from death” Lith replied sourly, “Besides, they are our ancestors”.

 

Knuckles looked around and let his hat drop to the floor. “But the Dark Legion are evil, they spread corruption and suffering all around”

 

“Not the legion, just their officers”

 

Knuckles was stunned by the sudden answer, as if she had been asked the question before. He had never thought of it like she had just proposed, to him every legionnaire was as bad as another. Still she did talk slight sense, if it hadn’t been for a Legionnaire medic, he might have lost his life all those years ago. He winced realising that he was still bleeding.

 

“Here, let me take a look at that for you” Lith protested. “Take off your top and I will help you”.

 

Knuckles opened his eyes wide at the suggestion, but before he could react she had already done it for him.

 

“Amazing” she protested whilst looking at the wound. “Your body is reacting to the injury faster than even I could imagine”

 

Knuckles gasped as he felt her warm hands on his skin. “It’s the emeralds, they are real useful sometimes”

 

“I am sure” she whispered as she took out a little vial of liquid from her pouch and opened it with her teeth. “This is jagesbane, it will help relive the pain”

 

Knuckles winced as she applied the mixture to the open wound, feeling the pain subside seconds later. “Where did you learn that?” he asked.

 

“Old trick, my father taught me” she replied whilst prodding the shot wound with a green coloured stick. “Its amazing what you can learn of the elders”

 

Knuckles looked at the floor. “I never really knew my father, or my family…”

 

“Such a shame, family is the be-all and end-all around here, blood is much thicker than water”

 

Knuckles remembered that he had heard Max say that a long time ago, before he disappeared.

 

“History was never my strong point”

 

“Nor mine, that’s why im a healer…I leave the ancestry to Jaeger”

 

“Jaeger?” Knuckles asked.

 

“The clan priest, he’s a wise man and the best spell caster in the Floating Island”

 

Lithium dragged herself closer to him, the warm flames from the fire sending ripples of heat through both their bodies. “He could answer whatever you need, he knows everything”

 

Knuckles watched as she traced the white band around his chest with a finger, resting on his lips. “You must be tired Guardian, feel free to sleep wherever you find the space…I must go and talk to Jaeger and tell him of your presence I will be back shortly”

 

Knuckles nodded and watched as she left, the cold wind flapping the open tent front around in its fury.

 

Outside it was a dark as Enerjaks soul.

 

Chapter 9.

 

The next morning, Knuckles awoke painfully. At first he struggled to get up, rubbing his head with a hand and then opening an eye carefully.

 

“Morning Guardian, what would you like for breakfast?”

 

Brushing a spine out of the way he noticed Lith, sitting near the fire, her slender frame covered by a loose blanket. She looked better in the morning than anyone he knew.

 

Struggling to sit upright he slipped on a loose piece of material and feel to his elbows.

 

“Hmmm, smells delicious, what is it?”

 

“Chocaflower soup” she replied. “It’s made from…”

 

“Chocaflowers?” Knuckles smiled at his own wit.

 

Lith smiled warmly, “yes and its high in energy, I suggest you drink some because today you see something that not many see”

 

“What?”

 

“We will show you later, now rest it is still before daybreak” She shuffled over to where he was and rested his head on her knees. “Your wound is closing up quickly, but I am interested...where did you get those tattoos from?” she asked whilst pointing at the ones on his spines.

 

“They showed up from nowhere less than two years ago” he shrugged. “Don’t know where from?”

 

Lith lifted a spine into her hands and studied it carefully.

 “It says that you are a chosen one, and that one day three of you will save the world”

 

“You can read them?” Knuckles asked.

 

She let the spine drop and lay down next to him, placing a hand on his chest. “They are the signs of a warrior, most of our males have them tattooed onto their arms at birth…but yours are natural, how strange”.

 

Knuckles nodded and looked up and the opening in the roof of the tent, he could see small patches of blue appearing in the dark sky, daybreak was approaching. If truth were told, he had totally forgotten about Echidnaopolis and his regular routine, Sabre was right…the space was doing him good.

 

Lith rested her head upon his chest and closed her eyes, whilst pulling the blanket around her and over Knuckles carefully so as not to disturb him. The stranger who had appeared and caused havoc amongst her clan was now lying next to her, semi-naked and warm. Her life had just taken a huge left handbrake turn.

 

“Where the hell did you last see him lieutenant?” Remington bawled down a radio transmitter. “You can’t just lose a thirteen stone red echidna?”

 

“He went on a solo mission, sir…and he was in charge so I ordered my men to do as he said”

 

Remington nearly choked on his own tongue. “All right, the transports will be there in under an hour…sit tight and wait”

 

Ames switched of the link and looked around at his troops, some where eating others where gazing at him as if to ask what they are doing. They where professional soldiers, not just ordinary officers, they deserved better than to be on a wild goose chase, but still orders where orders.

 

“O.k. we sit here until our pick up arrives in an hour, keep on guard but chill out”

 

Groans where audible all around him, it was the only part of the job he hated.

 

Knuckles opened his eyes softly, he was instantly aware of a greyish echidna lying on his bare chest, her left hand was next to her head, the right he couldn’t see.

 

He guessed it was the movement that awoke her, when she sighed and opened her eye. By accident there faces touched when she turned her head upward. Knuckles held a stone face, but she just smiled softly.

 

He let a smile slip.

 

Dragging herself upward, Knuckles could see that she wore a black set of combat type pants; her top half was covered by a black lace bra.

 

“Sorry” he joked as she sat upright and yawned.

 

“For what?” she asked.

 

“When…our, well em.”

 

Lith laughed slightly. “It was an accident, and even if it wasn’t…so what?”

 

Knuckles blushed slightly.

 

She threw him a cream top with a high neck. “Here, wear this…it should fit, I took your measurements when you where asleep”.

 

Knuckles blushed even more as he pulled the top over his head and adjusted it accordingly.

 

Getting up, he was aware of movement outside the tent,  something he didn’t know was going on all of a sudden.

 

Lith noticed his attention, “they are just rushing to the centre stone, Jaeger must be giving a speech this morning”

 

“Would you mind if I went?”

 

“That is the plan” she replied whilst pulling on a tight cream top, similar to his. Knuckles couldn’t help noticing how beautifully proportioned she was.

 

“You are to see Jaeger, he will tell you what you are searching for”

 

“How did you know I was searching for something?” Knuckles asked quickly.

 

“Its wrote in your story” Lith whispered softly whilst changing her pants.

 

Knuckles looked at his spines, he couldn’t understand them. “So you mean that these can tell me what my future is?”

 

Lith shrugged. “It depends on how you interpret them, and whose doing it”

 

Knuckles swore she smiled seductively.

 

“Now rise Guardian, or we will miss the speech”.

 

Knuckles nodded quietly, what the lady wanted…she got.

 

+Five minute’s pass+

 

Jaeger, as he was known, was a stout and proud echidna. To say that he disliked the Guardian on sight would be an understatement, indeed standing there before him, Knuckles had a certain thought that the Legion had already turned him to much to there may of thinking.

 

Knuckles felt uneasy, even with Lithium standing next to him.

 

“So, you are the guardian that caused so much damage yesterday?” Jaeger demanded.

 

Knuckles nodded attentively, his dislike for the aloof figure growing by the second. “Yeah, that was me”.

 

“You are the lord of destruction, the death walker and soul reaper…”

 

Knuckles shook his head. “What are you talking about, I have never killed someone that didn’t deserve it?”

 

“So it is wrote in the tomb of Zacarius, amongst the holy grounds to the north…they promised your arrival to us”.

 

Knuckles wondered what the hell he was talking about. “Where are these tombs?”

 

“To the north, beyond Wyrm pass”

 

“Wyrm pass?” Knuckles repeated.

 

“Yes, Wyrm pass, such named because of its protector”

 

“The protector is a giant worm that burrows beneath the sand, noone has ever seen it without being swallowed whole in its maw” Lith interrupted.

 

Knuckles gulped. “What does this tomb contain, any artefacts by any chance?”

 

“The Orb of Zacarius resides there, are ancestors where sent here by the legion to recover the artefact, but since then our ties have been withered…now we are no-more than outcasts”

 

Knuckles sighed as he heard there plight, he knew to well what it was liked to be abandoned.

 

“Do you know a man named Von Strauss?”

 

Jaeger bit his lip and thought for a second, rubbing his beard softly. “Ah the archaeologist, yes he appeared a few weeks ago wondering what the tomb contained, unfortunately he left with the news we had told him and I had to dispatch of him carefully”

 

Knuckles nodded, made sense really…lunatic bragging about some ancient artefact, it was a matter of time before someone tried to shut him up. He had even considered doing the job himself.

 

“Alright, here’s the plan…I will get this orb with your help, and at the same time find you somewhere else to live in Echidnaopolis”

 

Lith smiled and hugged his arm, pulling him over slightly. Jaeger was less than impressed.

 

“If you get that Orb, what is to stop you leaving straight away…and forgetting about us?”

 

Knuckles face went stern for a second. “Hey, I am a man of honour…I will keep to my word”

 

“I hope so Guardian, because the orb’s greatest power is to judge the soul of a person…pray that you are worthy and you shall be delivered”.

 

“I don’t pray, I make my own luck” Knuckles replied sourly.

 

“Then the best of luck to you my child, you will need it”

 

Chapter 10.

 

Looking over the ridge of mountains that bedecked the flat desert, Knuckles watched in awe as he witnessed first hand the horrendous worm creature diving into the soil. It was at least the size of a small skyscraper, its hide cream to match its surroundings. He wondered how things such as them could be possible on such an island. More worryingly he wondered to himself if there was more.

 

He jumped slightly when a set of hands wrapped themselves around his chest.

 

“It is a sight, I told you had not seen before”.

 

“Does it have any weaknesses?” Knuckles gasped.

 

“It is blind, so it works from vibrations…like a bat with sonar, it uses high pitched squeaks to find its targets…that much we know”.

 

Knuckles closed his eyes and smiled slightly as the warm sun reflected of his face, the silver-grey echidna wrapped around his chest seemed to glow in the sunlight.

 

“All right, I get to the tombs and then find this orb, then ill be right back…piece of cake” he joked to himself, a little inspiration for his own ego.

 

“I hope so” Lith whispered. “And then we will give you a heroes welcome”

 

Knuckles nodded and leapt from the ridge, skidding down the embankment and rolling to his feet, without so much of a pause he took off at a sprint trying to cover the distance as quickly as possible. Whether it was in vain, or just to reassure himself Knuckles consistently began to scan the surrounding…he was a third of the way there.

 

But more worryingly he couldn’t see the Wyrm.

 

Coming to a complete halt, he scanned the flat desert bed sweat pouring down his face. Within seconds he was moving again, the fright of the unknown lending perpetual motion to his beleaguered legs.

 

Before he realised he had made it, Knuckles wondered why the thing hadn’t attacked him. He had made enough ‘vibrations’ to awake the dead…yet still no sign of the giant. It was the one time that the phrase ‘what you cant see wont hurt you’ rung loudly in his head.

 

He nearly felt like laughing ironically.

 

Turning around on the spot he could see the entrance to the tomb, it was encrusted with cobwebs and stalactites made of sand, he noticed that the entrance looked funnily like a snakes head, complete with the fangs. Shrugging he walked into the darkness.

 

“He made it, now what?” Jaeger asked.

 

Kommisar, hundreds of miles away was talking to her compatriot over a wide band voice net. Dimmitri, or Enerjak as he was known, standing right next to her…polished armour shining brightly.

 

“Let him find the orb, we know only himself or the other two are capable of such a feat…when he gets out of the tomb unleash the Wyrm”

 

“Understood” Jaeger nodded, “But what if he makes it then?”

 

“If he makes it, major…don’t bother hiding”

 

Jaeger gulped.

 

Lith noticed Jaegers shyness all of a sudden, the others and herself hadn’t lost interest in the Guardians feat, but he had never really seemed that bothered. One hundred things suddenly began to spin around her head…maybe everything wasn’t as she had been told.

 

“Spiders, I hate bloody spiders” Knuckles squealed as he stamped on one the size of his head its blood mixing with the dark earth in seconds. “All right, at least this seems easy, I haven’t come across any type of turn…maybe its in one direction?”

 

Walking a few more feet he was dimly aware of some type of greenish glow emanating from the darkness. Stepping forward cautiously, the source became apparent.

 

“Welcome Guardian, I have been expecting you”

 

Knuckles gulped as he stepped through the tight fitting gap; there was no one else in the chamber other than himself and a large green stone.

 

“Why so surprised, what where you expecting?”

 

The green orb glowing as if to symbolise a mouth moving or opening followed every word that was spoken slowly. Knuckles was gob smacked.

 

“Are you the Orb of Zacarius?”

 

“Indeed I am, what is it that you seek?”

 

“I have come to take you away and offer you a safer place…evil is at work that could devastate lives if you where to fall in the wrong hands”

 

Knuckles was suddenly aware of an icy chill inside his heart, Goosebumps rising all over his body. He shivered uncontrollably.

 

“I see that your soul is pure…unusual...”

 

“I try to be nice…” Knuckles joked half-heartedly.

 

“The only other safe place for me is somewhere that noone could get to me…do you realise that?”

 

“What does that entail?” Knuckles asked quizzingly.

 

“Kneel down Guardian…It has been too long”

 

Knuckles noticed that he was already on one knee…yet he was not aware of him doing it.

 

“There was a time I was able to travel the world, I once was a powerful person…it has come for me to do so once more”

 

Knuckles watched as the green orb started to become much more transparent and then finally disappear altogether into a gaseous form.

 

Lith jumped as she heard an inhuman cry that shook the sand beneath her feet. People around her began to talk quietly among themselves.

 

“Oh no, this doesn’t bode well” she sobbed slightly.

 

Knuckles got up on to his knees. Shaking all over he couldn’t focus or even talk properly, his body felt like it was expanding and contracting…his eyes bulging with pain. It felt like he was going to rip open at the seems.

 

Forcing himself to his feet by sheer willpower alone, he managed to rest himself against a stalactite.

 

“What the hell just happened” he gasped in pain.

 

Turning around slowly, he brushed some cobwebs away from a large plate of sand that was standing upright. Brushing away some of the sand he noticed that underneath was a reflective material.

 

The Guardian couldn’t even recognise himself.

 

Lith was on her knees gazing out over the plateau of sand, nothing stirred…it was completely silent. The wind had now begun to pick up, a miniature dust cloud emanating from the south.

 

“Whats that?” someone shouted pointing over the horizon.

 

Clenching her eyes tightly, Lith noticed some type of figure pulling itself clear of the sand.

 

Knuckles began to stagger, the sand whipping itself up into a flurry with every step he took. Concentrating on staying conscious he kept on falling in the general direction of the large cliffs…he had to reach them.

 

Jaeger pulled out a set of binoculars and raised them to his eyes. Surely that was not the Guardian, granted he was still red but he was different, his eyes glowed with energy unlike they had done before and he was larger…stronger…more dangerous and threatening. Without even noticing he pressed the button to release the Wyrm, if the Legion couldn’t have the Orb…noone could.

 

The huge blast of sand stung Knuckles face as he struggled to keep upright. Covering his face with a hand, he fell to one knee. When he opened his eyes…he wished he hadn’t.

 

There, bellowing its cries of sight stood the Wyrm…it was half in the sand and half out, but still stood as large as a skyscraper. Now Knuckles noticed that it had skin like armour plates…something registered in the Guardians head that he didn’t stand a chance.

 

Without even pausing the Wyrm dived into the sand, swallowing Knuckles and most of the surrounding whole.

 

Chapter 11.

 

“Its over lord Enerjak, the Guardian has been annihilated…but the orb has gone also”.

 

Kommisar relayed the message to her lord; he was pleased and displeased in equal measure.

 

“Jaeger, you are an idiot…and we have no room for idiots amongst us”

 

Kommisar nodded, she agreed totally.

 

Enerjak slammed a fist on the communicator button turning the machine offline.

 

Throwing the machine into the sand, Jaeger was suddenly aware of a pair of eyes following him. His hand instinctively reaching for his pistol’s holster located under his heavy robes.

 

“It is over Lith, the Guardian is finished…he wasn’t good enough”

 

“You are wrong, the Guardian is good enough” Lith cried whilst holding a pistol at Jaegers head. “You are a traitor…get on your knees now”

 

Jaeger did as he was told, “You are an idiot…you think that it will change anything by killing me?”

 

“No but the pain might be easier to take” she spat in reply.

 

“Go ahead…do it”

 

Lith squeezed the trigger slowly; she could feel the mechanism-clicking…ready to fire. Instead she hit him round the back of the head with the butt of it…Jaeger fell face first into the sand, unconscious.

 

Turning around she uttered a prayer to the gods of mercy, Knuckles was surely gone.

 

Suddenly, the Wyrm reappeared…it was tossing and turning, they where not movements of victory but of pain. Lith opened her eyes with surprise as all the people who where leaving suddenly turned around.

 

Knuckles rammed his fist through the side of the Wyrm, feeling it break through the scales from the inside out. Dragging himself towards the hole, he unclipped his bag buckles leaving it inside what he thought was the liver. Tapping a button on his leg communicator, he dragged himself free of the monstrosity.

 

Running for his life, Knuckles sprinted as fast as he could from the Wyrm, who had now stopped rocking and began to focus on him again. He was dimly aware of a gigantic flash of light as the monsters jaws began to close around him once more.

 

Then it all went blank.

 

+Time passes+

 

Lith doused his head with water again, it had taken her an hour to clean him up…all the mucus and membrane matter was like glue sticking to his spines and fur. She slowly rested his head on her knees and touched his eyelids with a fingertip, trying to make him awaken. Bending down slowly, she placed a light kiss on his forehead.

 

“Hmmm” Knuckles stirred.

 

“So you finally decided to wake up?”

 

Knuckles smirked slightly, his eyes not yet open. “I feel terrible”

 

“You look great”

 

“I look…different”

 

Lith smiled as she played with the emerald encrusted in his white band. “I think its great”

 

“I thought I was a gonner, I knew it even”

 

Lith sighed. “It looked as if you where, im sorry to say but I though you’d bit of more than you could chew”

 

Knuckles coughed slightly as he opened an eye painfully. “Its weird, like something inside me told me to push myself that direction, and to detonate the charges in my pack”

 

Lith tapped the green emerald. “Do you think it was this?” she helped him lift his own head as he struggled to see the gem.

 

“What the….”

 

Lith took the advantage and kissed the Guardian on the lips deeply, even though he was weak…he still managed to kiss back forcefully.

 

“What was that for?!”

 

Lith smiles sweetly, instantly calming Knuckles sudden outbreak, leaning down she kissed him again passionately, purring tenderly.

 

“Oh…I see” he spluttered.

 

Suddenly his communicator that was lying next to him began to vibrate violently. Rolling over and resting his head on Lith’s legs he flicked a switch turning it on.

 

Remington ordered the communications operator to clarify the image, once done he could see the Guardian, bruised and battered looking directly at the screen.

 

“And where the hell have you been?”

 

Knuckles coughed slightly. “Getting the Orb of Zacarius”

 

“The what?”

 

“Constable…it’s a long story”

 

“I bet it is Sir…and if you wouldn’t mind…id like you to tell me what happened” Remington’s face was turning a reddish colour.

 

Knuckles shrugged. “Maybe another time, I have business to attend to”

 

Remington stamped his foot hard. “No goddamn you, tell me now”

 

“Guardian over and out” Knuckles shouted as he tapped the off switch.

 

Lith looked down at the Deep Rep echidna lying tenderly on her knees. “What business would that be…Guardian”

 

Knuckles grabbed her spine and pulled her closer, letting his lips touch hers. “I need special attention” he growled.

 

“I bet you do,” she giggled.