Sonic and the Secret Rings

II. Sand Oasis

"Great." I muttered, looking around at the desert. "We finally find some land, and it turns out to be full of sand. Just great."

"What's wrong with that?" Shahra asked, looking at me with concern. "This is the Arabian Nights, after all. This is Sand Oasis."

"I know, I know." I replied. "I was just hoping for something more... traction friendly. I don't suppose I can wish for all the sand to turn into dirt?"

"My apologies." she bowed her head a bit. "That is a bit too big for a Genie of the Ring."

"That's fine." I chuckled. "Everyone would probably freak out if the sand suddenly turned into something else, anyway. So, Sand Oasis, huh?"

Shahra suddenly retreated into the ring, and a small, glowing red sphere started floating next to me. "Yes. The temple King Shahryar resides in is a quite a few miles north, but the Erazor Djinn's spirits may have already..."

I started to run, kicking up dust behind me. "Don't worry, I'm on it!"

I saw immediately why she called it Sand Oasis. There were little pools of water every so often that I would have to find other ways to cross. Oh, and there was sand everywhere. There would be debris somewhere that The Erazor Djinn's spirits had knocked down from the havoc they had caused that I could use to cross. If that wasn't available, I jumped on the little black and red or green spirit's heads and crossed over, running across the sand again. Did I mention there was a lot of sand...?

It wasn't too dangerous out there. I mean, there were spirits and stuff trying to kill me, sure. Heck, there were even spikes! But the peacefulness of the whole area beat that out. It seemed to diminish the amount of monsters and make the whole run seem fun and refreshing. The only thing that made the whole thing scary was the water, which I occasionally had to run across. I already hated it, but would I just instantly die if I fell in?

"Hey, Shahra," I started, "if I fell into a pool of water, would the flame burn out?"

Her reply was a soft, gloomy sigh. "Your life is bound to the fire. You are one with the fire."

"So..." I said, "that's a yes?"

"I... I think so."

I took a deep breath, taking extra care to stay away from any puddles that were in the sand.

If I could have spent more time there, I would have. The buildings had cool little arcs on them, and the windows had intricate frames built around them. The buildings were painted vibrant colors, like light blues with some of the brick showing on them. There were a lot of palm trees, and small little plants growing in planters. It would have been so much nicer if it wasn't falling apart. It wasn't even as hot as I had expected. There were even a few grind rails around, as if the book had added them when I had appeared. It made it feel slightly homey.

"Sonic, there it is!" Shahra shouted, making me look up.

The palace came into view, and it was even more amazing than any of the buildings. It had three separate segments, and golden tops on each of them. The color of the building was just tan, but even from far away, you could tell it was huge. The doorway alone probably stood several yards into the air. There was no doubt a great and glorious king lived there.

I ran even faster once I saw it. I didn't want anything to happen to King Shahryar, especially since he was the main character of the story. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what would happen if he ceased to exist.

Once we got to the path that led to the entrance, I slowed down, and Shahra appeared next to me. Two huge wooden doors stood open, inviting us inside.