Tales from the Phantom volume II

Dungeons & Dragons (& swords as well)

The early night wind danced along with the dragon and his rider as they flew through the sky, dodging the sea pillows and diving up towards the sky.

They was heading towards a place all to familiar to the rider.

Sonic couldn't even hold back his gasp as they flew over the castle ruins.

He'd lived there once.

And so had Merlina.. Lancelot.. Percival.. Gaw-

His thoughts where interrupted by Blue suddenly dived, in a panic.
"What is it?"

"Did you not hear that? Crying," he whispered, landing besides the beach, growling as he entered a nearby cave.

"Another cave. Haha," Sonic chuckled as he dismounted, remembering an adventure from early summer.

Blue shifted back into a Möbian form, listening intently.

"Help..."
"Fool! No one's coming!"

"That sounds like.." Sonic gasped, realizing, "Red and Caliburn!" He rushed off, the dragon following suite.

Until they got to a hidden area.
The two couldn't believe it. It was a torture chamber, deep in the cave.

"Sonic!" Blue turned to his friend, "Did you know this was here?"

"No! This.. was never here, I swear! This used to be one of my favorite places to come to. I would never..." the hedgehog started tearing up a bit at the thought of one of his favorite places being turned into a place to hurt others. A place that was, unfortunately, all to familiar to him.

Another sad lonely growl and another "fool" made him come out of his thoughts.
"This way," Sonic snapped himself out of his thoughts, dashing towards the sounds of distress.

Until they came to a large scaley beast, bound in chains, letting out a soft grow when she saw Sonic.
"Red," Sonic breathed.

The dragon shifted her weight, the chains holding her down clinking as Sonic noticed all of her new scars, cuts, and bruises.

"Who did this to you?" Blue questioned in soft growls.
"I don't know," Red closed her eyes sadly.

Sonic moved his eyes around the room, before spying a familiar sword stuck in a piece of rock,

"Long time no see you rusty stick," Sonic smirked, the old sword looking up at him.
"Knave? It's.. been so long. TOO long, you fool. Where have you been?"

"Uhh.. un-conceived?" He pulled the sword out, holding him at arm's length, Caliburn looking him up and down.
"My, I do say, you most certainly have changed. Where have all those scars come from?"

Sonic just shrugged, before holding the sword high, trying to cut through the chains.
"Ow! You fool! You may look different, but you are still so stupid. Have you not seen me?" Caliburn scolded as the hedgehog was knocked back.
Sure enough though, the sword was blunt and rusty

Blue took this as his cue to step in, using his electric to undo the cuffs, speaking gently to the other, much older dragon.

"I've never met another dragon before"
"Most of us are extinct, my love." Red sadly explained, stretching her seven limbs.

"How long have you been here?" Blue questioned, worried.
"I would say about a year. I came looking for that sword, but it was a trap."

That was when they heard footsteps, and someone yelling.
"We gotta go, now!" Sonic realized, "Can you fly Red?"

The elderly Dragon nodded, as Blue lead the way out.
The four only just made it before the place was put on lockdown, the two dragons taking off into the sky.

They flew back to the cliffs near to Beatrix's home, Sonic taking Caliburn and placing him in the grass, before sitting and looking out towards the sea as the two dragons got to know each other.

The sword watched as his bearer seemed deep in thought, hugging his knees.

"You really have changed sire."
Sonic didn't say anything, clutching his knees tighter.

"Well, what happened?" The sword wanted to know.
"I.. got caught." The blue laughed a little, "You was right, I wasn't careful."

It was the sword's turn to be silent.

"And now I'm a reject to society, scared head to toe." He breathed, Caliburn speaking up.
"You fool, scars only make you stronger."

"Not this one," he showed his leg, the scar glowing a soft pink, "not this one"
"Sometimes I wish I could go back, but I can't. It just wouldn't be the same. Even know I'd be myself again, I'd know what was to happen. Forever changed by the things I'd seen already"

He coughed a bit, alerting the grumpy sword.
"That cough sounds bad"

"This? Oh I'm sure it's nothing. It is October after all," but his eyes had started to flicker a pink, and he laughed, trying not to concern the other three.

But deep inside, he knew that this could be serious. It had started after he'd teleported back in Station Square, and up until now, he'd kept it secret.

But it felt like Cyber-Space corruption all other again, slowly creeping through his whole body, getting worse with each passing day.

"Let's go home." He said before turning to the large dragon, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going back to my nest. It's not far from here, and I'm sure my mate has been worried sick." She decided, Blue nodding at Sonic.

"Bye Red, hope we meet again some day," the younger dragon growled as Red took to the sky, disappearing into the horizon.

***

Blue had gone straight to bed, and after Sonic had found a place for Caliburn, he'd gone to the bathroom.

He'd been in there for a while, Vanilla awake in her bed with worry.

And so she got up, knocking gently on the door.
The blue peeked round, pale in the face.

"Hey, you okay dear?" The rabbit questioned in concern, the hedgehog shrugging.
"I think it's just the after-effects of using Phantom Powers." He smiled, reassuring the worried mother as he made his way back to his bed.

Vanilla went back to hers, still not convinced and concerned.

Sonic lay awake for a while.

He wanted to hide his pain away. Never think about it ever again. Go back to a normal life.
But he couldn't( the pain was only growing stronger...

...stronger

...and stronger