LoM Book 7 Special Edition - Chapter Four, Part 2

 Soon an hour crept by, and Coby, Aethon and Charon were still waiting to hear any news. They were relieved to see, however, that most of the citizens were starting to calm down, and that more and more of the sick were waking up. Cyan, Turq and Raena's powers must have helped them greatly.

Coby realized that he was starting to feel better too, now that he was out of the strange storm. But there was still no sign of Sonic, Shadow or Nihara, and he was beginning to worry. Surely it would be dangerous for them to be outside for so long?

   "I hope Dad's OK," Aethon murmured, voicing his fears. "I know he's the 'Ultimate Life Form' and all, but what if he gets sick too?"

   "What's making people sick in the first place?" Charon asked. "That's what I want to know. Whatever it is, it came with this storm."

   "Almost like a toxic gas," whispered Coby. "Or an airborne virus..." He blinked suddenly. "Vren said something about the Darkness. Did anyone else hear him?"

   "It was pitch black outside," Charon pointed out. "And it was getting darker."

   "No," Coby said, shaking his head. "There was something about the way he said it. I have a feeling he meant something else."

   "Maybe we could ask him," Aethon suggested. "I didn't see where he went, though. He was helping a few other people get settled."

   "Let's talk to him after we find out about--" Coby stopped when he saw Cyan coming toward them. She looked very tired, but her eyes were bright.

   "You can see Keesho now," she said. "He's OK. We've got the poison out of him."

   Coby's heart swelled with relief. "Great! Come on, guys!"

   Together they rushed over to Keesho's bed, where Turq and Raena were already sitting. Though he still looked a little pallid, Keesho was fully awake and alert, and he smiled when he saw them approaching.

   "Hi, guys."

   "Hey, Keesh," Coby said happily, sitting at his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

   "Tired," he said, "but much better."

   "You gave us a scare, bud," Aethon smiled, giving him a pat. "What happened anyway?"

   Keesho blinked. "I don't really remember... I can remember being in the arena with you all, seeing the storm come, and feeling dizzy, but after that nothing. Next thing I knew I was waking up here. Cyan told me the city had to be evacuated, and that everyone was getting sick. What's happening?"

   "No one knows," Coby shook his head. "The only thing we can figure is that there was something poisonous in the air. But it still doesn't make any sense."

   "Maybe it has something to do with the poison in the water," Keesho suggested.

   All of a sudden there was a commotion near the bunker entrance. Coby and the others turned to see the heavy, reinforced doors opening and people crowding forward.   Somewhere within the throng a guard shouted out.

   "Make way! Stand back and give them some air!"

   Just then the crowd parted and Sonic, Shadow and Nihara stumbled into view.

   "They're all right!" Turq cried.

   All three hedgehogs looked utterly exhausted. Their eyes were cloudy, and their faces looked pale and sickly. Nihara kept coughing.

   "Do they need medical attention?" Dr. Quack asked. "They could have carried some of the toxin in with them, and we just got this place fairly stabilized.

   Sonic shook his head. "It's OK, we were treated before we came in here, thanks to Cy."

   Cyan instantly appeared at his side as he sat down on a cot near the center of the room, and took a moment to catch his breath.

   "We had to make sure no one was left behind," he rasped. "We found a few stragglers and brought them with us. We're sure we have everyone now. We couldn't pick up any other heat signatures in the city."

   There were cries of joy and relief as the people that had been missing reunited with their families. Sonic cast a worried glance over at Keesho, and smiled when he saw that his adopted son was all right.

   "Is everyone here OK?" he asked.

   "Yes, Sire," a guard reported. "We were able to heal the sick with the help of Queen Cyan, Princess Turquoise and Raena. Without them these people may have died."

   "Great job, all of you," Sonic nodded, smiling at his daughter proudly. "We're lucky to have three healers with us."

   For a second the cavernous room echoed with clapping and cheers for the three heroines. But as the noise subsided, Coby heard someone call out to Sonic.

   "But what happened out there? Why did this storm hit so suddenly, and why did it make people sick?"

   All eyes turned to the King questioningly. Coby pricked his ears.

   Sonic took a deep breath. "I'm not exactly sure. It was only when the storm hit and  Vren told me the city was in danger that I realized something was very wrong. I think he knows more about this than I do. Vren?" Sonic beckoned, searching the room for the white demon.

   Vren quickly stepped forward.

   "Tell us everything you know about this," said Sonic. "You mentioned something about a power called Darkness. What did you mean?"

   Everyone focused their attention on Vren now as he sat down, his eyes troubled.

   "Darkness is just what the name says it is," he began slowly, "it is an ancient, evil power that creates destruction wherever it goes. It can be used to form any kind of catastrophe -- natural disasters, such as this storm, plagues, famines, wars, you name it. I know of this power because on my home planet, Morian, many dark and powerful demons possessed it."

   Anxious and fearful murmurs rose from the crowd, and Coby shuddered as he remembered the menacing words he had heard in the wind. Then this had not just been a storm -- it had been an evil, besieging force.

   "Storms, famines..." someone said. "Isn't that what's happening in Arja? What if we're next?"

   The citizens' eyes widened in terror.

   "But what could cause such a dark power?" It was Shadow who spoke. "Something, or someone, has to be behind it all."

   Vren shook his muzzle. "That I can't tell you. I don't know what could unleash the power on Mobius. It could be anything."

   "Well, something odd is going on," Uncle Chuck stepped forward suddenly, "because a lot of strange things have been happening. Volcanic eruptions in Arja, flooding in Leanna... Wildlife has been dying in our oceans, and according to my records the climate has been unusually warm for some time now."

   "I knew it..." Keesho whispered, "I thought the weather has been strange this year..."

   "Whatever the problem is," Uncle Chuck went on, "it's directly affecting our weather patterns, and that could have disastrous effects."

   The people began to murmur worriedly.

   "What can we do? If this is true, then we're not the only ones in danger!"

   "It'll affect the entire world!"

   "There must be some way to stop it!"

   Then suddenly one voice spoke louder than the others. "Are you guys even thinking about this? Plagues, floods, death and devastation... It sounds more like the end of the world to me!"

   Suddenly a breath a fear rippled across the entire room. Some people were beginning to look frantic. Even Coby shivered.

   But Sonic waved his arms for silence. "Calm down," he said, "we don't know anything for sure. We've had things like this happen before. Like when Kovar was released, for example. We're just gonna have to look into this problem and solve it." The King turned back to Vren. "Vren, are you absolutely sure that this storm was caused by the Darkness?"

   "Very sure, Sonic," Vren nodded slowly. "Only dark magic could have created a storm like that, and only dark magic could have made me fall ill. I am a demon of light now, and Darkness attacks anything connected to the light. I didn't suspect it before, because I didn't think anyone on Mobius knew of Darkness. But when I saw that storm..."

   "Then we have to find out where it's coming from," Sonic said. "We have to find the source. What kind of beings can use Darkness?"

   "Like I said, it could literally be anything, Sonic. On Morian, only very powerful demons and spirits could fully control Darkness. But I've heard of cursed objects that contained the power as well."

   The crowd started to mutter hopelessly again, and Coby could see that his parents were trying hard to keep them calm.

   "Actually, I think I might have an idea of where the source is located," Uncle Chuck said suddenly, and everyone swung toward him.

   "You do?" Sonic asked, his ears coming up. "Show us."

   Uncle Chuck pulled a small hand-held computer off of a nearby cot and typed rapidly across the keys. Suddenly a large, holographic globe of Mobius was projected in the center of the bunker. Uncle Chuck went on typing with one hand, and then one region of Mobius, the entire north pole, was highlighted in red.

   "Look at this," he said, "I only noticed it a few weeks ago when I was studying the oceans, but ever since the summer, the ice caps, especially those to the north, have been melting at an extreme rate."

   Now as everyone watched, the red areas that marked the polar ice shrank, and the sea level began to rise.

   "Look at Leanna," Turq whispered, pointing to a small coastal country on the eastern continent. As the animation of the melting ice caps played, more and more water seemed to obscure it. "No wonder it's been flooding," the Princess said.

   "The melting ice could be causing a chain reaction of weather events across the planet," Uncle Chuck was saying. "For one, it's making the global sea level rise. Warmer water in some areas could be fueling enormous storms, some at hurricane force. And the changing of ocean currents could be destroying valuable sea life. If we start searching somewhere, I suggest that it be the north pole. And even if we can't find the culprit, we have to do something about the ice, or Mobotropolis too will be underwater."

   Sonic fell silent for a moment, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Coby noticed that Khare and a few other council members were making their way toward him, whispering in his ears. The watching citizens began to shift uneasily as they awaited the final decision.

   At last, Sonic spoke. "You're right, Uncle Chuck. We at least have to check things out up there, and see what we can do. The council will deliberate about this later tonight. In the meantime, I suggest we all sit tight and try to get some rest."

   As the meeting broke up, Coby turned to his friends, and they all gazed silently at one another.

   "What do you think?" Coby whispered.

   "I don't know," Turq shook her head, "who would do something like this? What could they possibly gain?"

   Keesho shrugged and sat up in his bed. "We don't know it's a person. What if it's some cursed object, like Vren said?"

   Suddenly the image of Storm and the dark-flamed candle returned to Coby, and he gasped in disbelief. What had Storm said that night in the hollow?

   "Wait a second..." he breathed.

   "What, Coby?" Keesho asked.

   "You guys remember seeing Storm in the forest that night, holding that weird candle?"

   They all nodded.

   "He said 'tell me how to find darkness,'" he went on, his heart pounding. "Strange coincidence, isn't it, when he says that and a few weeks later this storm turns up?"

   His friends stared back at him wordlessly.

   "Storm?" Turq snorted. "You think Storm summoned the Darkness?"

   "Yeah, he can hardly even tie his shoes," Aethon said.

   "But guys, he had that candle," Coby argued, "the 'dark flame' candle, he called it? I bet you anything that's the cursed object!"

   But the others still looked doubtful.

   "Aw, Coby," Keesho said, "you know Storm. He's done things like this before to freak people out. Maybe he knew we were there all along when he was in the hollow."

   "If you ask me," Charon muttered, "Storm's just crazy. Walking around in the forest at night... talking to candles... He's not right in the head, but we already knew that."

   Coby clenched his fists in frustration. How could they not see the connections? Could there have been anything more suspicious? He didn't think Storm himself was capable of using any kind of magic, but if the Dark Flame candle really was cursed, then perhaps it had powers he could not control.

   "I admit it is strange," Turq said suddenly. "And very coincidental. But how could a cursed object come into Storm's possession? Everything, everything that comes through our city gates is inspected."

   "Ever hear of smugglers?" Coby asked, looking hard at them all. "I bet you Storm knows a few of them, too."

   At last his friends fell silent and blinked at each other.

   "But, it can't be...It just can't..." Keesho murmured.

   "Again, why?" asked Turq. "There's nothing to gain and everything to lose. Storm's desperate for attention, that's obvious enough, but this..."

B    ut Coby was thoroughly convinced now. It all made perfect sense to him. Storm had used the Dark Flame candle to find Darkness, and it had led him to that eerie, forbidden hollow. The words Coby had heard in his head that same night -- Darkness is descending -- had been some kind of warning. And now Vren's sickness, the storm, and the global disasters had confirmed that evil forces were at work.

   "It's Storm," he said firmly. "I know it is. And tomorrow I'm going to tell Dad that his entire house ought to be searched."

****

   The next day, however, proved to be disastrous for nearly everyone. As soon as it was confirmed that it was safe to leave the bunkers, the people of Mobotropolis emerged only to find most of the buildings in ruins. Several houses on one street had been completely leveled, reduced to nothing but piles of splintered wood and crumbled stone. But it was Storm's home, a small manor near the city gates, that had received the worst damage. The only thing left on the property was the foundation; everything else lay strewn across the road, almost as if it had been blasted away with explosive force.

   Storm could only stand amid the wreckage and stare speechlessly, while his mouth hung open in shock.

   "My house..." he choked as a crowd began to gather behind him, "my house...all my things...ruined!"

   As Coby and the others came up the street to see what the commotion was about, they froze and gasped.

   "Oh man..." Keesho whispered. "What happened? It looks like it was blasted apart!"

   Coby shook his head, astounded.

   Storm, meanwhile, was swearing violently and crashing through the debris to see if he could salvage anything. Soon another person joined him -- an older hyena, with iron-gray fur and angry, bloodshot eyes. Coby had heard  that Storm stayed with his uncle and father. They were supposedly the only blood relatives he had. Coby had never actually met them, but he had seen them on occasion within the city. They were said to be very outspoken about their hatred of Sonic, and the royal family in general. But there was no sign of Storm's father at all. In fact, Coby couldn't remember seeing Storm's dad in the shelter, and he suddenly wondered where he was.

   Just then Sonic came up, looking unusually tired and somber. He had been out all morning to survey the damage, and when he saw the scattered remnants of Storm's house, he grimaced.

   "What a mess," he muttered lowly, stepping up beside Coby. "I never expected this..."

   "What do you think caused it, Dad?" Turq asked. "The wind?"

   "Looks like it. Could have even been a tornado. Most of the other buildings in the city are still standing, but everything in this district has been flattened."

   "Good thing we were all underground..." murmured Keesho.

   Sonic nodded, and suddenly called out to Storm, "Don't worry, Storm, everything will be fixed."

   Storm swung around and glared furiously, as though Sonic had destroyed the house himself. Coby's ears swept back, but now the crowd was addressing the King.

   "How long will the repairs take?" they asked anxiously.

   "Where will we stay until then?"

   "If you have friends or relatives, see if you can stay with them," Sonic answered patiently. "Plenty of inns will be open too. If you don't have anywhere else to go, we'll set up a temporary shelter in the palace. You have my word that you'll be taken care of."

   The citizens seemed to relax a little at this, and slowly the streets cleared. Storm and his uncle, however, continued to rummage through the rubble, cursing and muttering darkly.

   "Come on, guys," Sonic said, turning to the children, "let's help get this place cleaned up."

   Together they began to drag fragments of wood, glass and metal out of the roads. Although Vren still hadn't recovered his full strength, he helped to haul and bulldoze the debris away, which made the job much easier.

   "There you have it, Coby," Keesho said suddenly as he helped to throw a huge tree limb into the trash pile. "Storm couldn't have conjured the Darkness. Why would he intentionally destroy his own home?"

   "It still seems pretty fishy to me," Coby muttered. "Maybe he knew someone suspected him, and destroyed the house on purpose so no one could find the candle."

   Keesho eyed him doubtfully. "Come on, Coby, aren't you being a bit unrealistic? I mean, look at him--" he pointed at Storm, who was beating his fist in frustration against a fallen tree, "he's upset, and I can't say I really blame him."

   "Look," Coby whispered, so Storm wouldn't hear, "I just think the whole thing with him in the forest and the candle is too suspicious to ignore. It could have been an accident, but that doesn't mean he didn't have anything to do with the Darkness. Maybe it was just too powerful for him to control."

   "You make it sound like Storm is some kind of evil sorcerer or something," Aethon interjected, dragging a sheet of metal toward the pile. "Come on, if that were really the case, he'd probably have turned us all into frogs years ago."

   Coby said nothing. He was beginning to wonder himself if he had been wrong to accuse Storm. The hyena was genuinely upset about losing his home, there was no doubt about that. He had always been proud of his family's big house, and had often bragged about it at school. It was highly unlikely he would do anything to destroy it.

   But then Coby remembered the Dark Flame candle, and the words Storm had spoken to it. He had specifically said, "Show me where darkness resides." Even if Storm didn't know what he was doing, the candle was probably the source of all their problems. But where had it gone now? Had it been blown away, along with everything else in the house? Or was Storm keeping it somewhere else? Either way, Coby knew he would have to warn his parents about it.

****

   "We've searched him several times, Coby," Sonic said with a hint of impatience, "he has nothing on him except his wallet."

   Coby frowned as he helped his father to lead several pashas from a shelter. To his relief, all of them had survived the storm. The stable hands had been able to move the frightened beasts to an underground bunker built especially for valuable livestock. Nimbus followed behind him now without a lead rope, a little shaken but unharmed.

   "Are you sure?" Coby asked.

   "Yes. Vren's nose never fails, and we had several guards look at him too. We did a thorough search, but we could find no candle. Needless to say, Storm was furious."

   A day had passed since the Darkness had come down on Mobotropolis. Coby had told Sonic about his suspicions the night before, but it had not been easy. Though he listened to his son, Sonic pretty much reacted the same way Turq and the others had.

   "Storm may be a delinquent," he had said, "but I doubt even he would so something this stupid."

   Coby had had more success at convincing Sonic that the Dark Flame candle was dangerous and cursed. Storm had been searched immediately, and the guards had been alerted to keep an eye out for any peculiar candles, though very few of them believed that a stick of wax could cause so many problems.

   "I'm sure that candle is cursed, Dad. Don't you think it's weird too?"

   "Yes, I do," Sonic replied, pulling out the last pasha. "But unless we find the thing, we can't prove it. Are you and your friends totally sure of what you saw that night? You said the forest was very dark and misty. The flame of the candle may have only appeared to be purple."

   "I know what I saw," Coby insisted. "Besides, what kind of candle lights with a voice command?"

   "And are you totally sure," Sonic asked, looking at him steadily, "that it wasn't just one of those fake electric candles? They sell those all over the city as decorations."

   The Prince fell silent. He hadn't considered that.

   "No..." he mumbled. "It looked real, but I was so far away I couldn't tell..."

   Sonic's voice softened a little when he saw the frustration in Coby's eyes. "You did the right thing by letting me know, though, and I'll keep my eye out. I'm not dismissing your suspicions, I'm just saying that they're a little unlikely."

   Coby nodded, and Nimbus laid his head on his shoulder.

   Suddenly Uncle Chuck came walking into the paddock, carrying his portable computer.

   "I've found a good place for us, Sonic," he announced, pointing to the computer screen. "There's a large village near the pole called Ice Cap. Biggest one around. It'd be the best place to set up a base of operations."

   "Good," said Sonic. "Did you find volunteers for the trip? We'll probably be able to go in a week's time."

   Coby looked up curiously. "You guys are leaving that soon?"

   "If we can," Sonic nodded. "We have to assess the damage up there, and figure out how to stop it. Several other places were hit by violent storms yesterday."

   Excitedly Coby tried to imagine the vast snow-capped mountains and the glittering glaciers of the far north. He had never been to the arctic regions of Mobius, but he had heard countless tales of the beauty and danger that lay up there on top of the world. Of icebergs miles thick, and fierce blizzards that buried entire towns in snow; of pods of white whales that sang to the moon, and the myths of ferocious mountain beasts that devoured lost travelers; of snowboarding and sledding, and bold excursions through an untouched frontier. What a winter vacation that would make!

   "Hey, could we go with you?" he asked, looking up at Sonic eagerly. "Me, Turq and the others? We wouldn't get in your way."

   "Go with us?" Sonic blinked. "I dunno... It's an awfully long way, kiddo. We're talking several thousands of miles. And this ain't no winter resort. We'll be near the pole, where there aren't any malls or movie theaters."

   "And it gets deathly cold up there," Uncle Chuck added. "Minus eighty degrees sometimes."

   "I've felt colder," Coby said grimly, and Sonic and Uncle Chuck knew what he meant. Whenever Kovar used to appear, the air itself seemed to freeze. The God of War also possessed the power of ice. "But this is why I want to go, Dad," he went on, shaking off the dark thoughts, "I want to see what it's like! They say it's amazing up there!"

   Sonic still looked unsure.

   "Please?" Coby persisted. "It'd be great to get out of the city, even if we're working to fix the problem with the ice caps."

   Finally his father nodded. "OK, I don't see any harm in it. But I'm warning you, it's going to be a long trip. We don't know how long we'll be up there, though we're shooting for about three weeks. Are you sure you're up for it?"

   "Yes!" Coby nodded frantically.

   "All right. We'll let you know if and when we're leaving. Don't start packing until then."

   Thrilled, Coby spun around and dashed across the field to tell his friends.