Knight of the Moon:Chapter 23

Chapter 23
Haunted

Warning: Some Blood and Gore

Now I know I stuck him around here somewhere…I should just listen for the yelling. Sonic strained his hearing to pick up any sounds, but all he could hear was the enraged mob of villagers and guards pursuing him. So far the hedgehog had eluded them in the tree belt, but his wounds inflicted by the silver weapons had drastically slowed him down. I figured he'd be going absolutely stark raving mad. Actually, I'm starting to think I'm going mad! The king stopped to catch his breath, and he was stunned. I'm not even running, I shouldn't be this worn out! Maybe it's an aftereffect of the silver. He took a few more deep breaths and pressed on, right before stopping as a glint of light reflected off of a familiar surface. Sonic moved over to a large tree where he found Caliburn still imbedded in the trunk; almost to the hilt. Did I do that? Well how am I gonna get him out now? I'm nowhere near as strong as I was last night. Caliburn watched him intently and said nothing. For once his steel face showed almost no emotion, as if he was again deep in thought; or in pity. "Caliburn? I'm me again and we've got to get out of here."

The sword roused himself from his thoughts and his eyes snapped over to the direction of outcries as the mob searched for the elusive hedgehog. "Sounds like you have some friends. Are they looking for you, or looking for the beast?"

"Well, both it seems," Sonic replied sheepishly.

"They saw you change back? Oh this is great!" grumbled the sword sarcastically. "Now the entire kingdom will be hunting for you and…"

"Can we argue about this later? I've got a whole passé of really mad villagers on my tail!" Sonic grabbed the hilt and tugged hard. The sword didn't budge. C'mon! The hedgehog gritted his teeth, tightened his grip, then pulled with everything he had. "AAAAHHHHH!" Sonic felt his arm muscles twitch and could feel renewed strength flowing through his body. Claws appeared on his hands and sharp fangs grew in his mouth. Then he could feel his muscles bulge slightly as his animal side woke up again. Still yelling with the effort of trying to free Caliburn, he felt the blade move a little and then finally release from the trunk. Sonic fell backwards off balance and landed on his butt with a grunt. Leaping quickly to his feet, Sonic faced the direction from where the mob was coming from. He had unwittingly given into his werehog side again as he'd tried to free the sword; Sonic raised up Caliburn with one hand and went into a fighting stance as a demented smile twisted across his face. The first few members of the crowd came into view and Sonic growled a warning to them. They paused and waited with weapons held tight as the rest of the mob arrived. Sonic's wicked smile changed into an expression of hatred.  Percival and Tails moved to the front of the restless villagers in order to block them off.

"If you attack him, he'll defend himself violently. Stand down and let us handle this," said Percival calmly waving off the bloodthirsty mob.

Sonic grunted. Smart girl. Then the cat turned to face him.

"Please Sonic, you need help. Come with us back to Castle Camelot before you hurt anyone. I know you don't want to do this again," she spoke calmly and without fear.

The hedgehog growled low and pointed a clawed finger at her and the whole crowd in general. "So, you wanna take me back to the castle and shut me up in some cage for all eternity? Well I'm not going to go down without a fight!" He prepared himself to charge at the group. The villagers raised their weapons, but Percival called them off again.

"We're not going to fight you, Sonic," she said a little more forcefully this time. Yet even as she spoke, Sonic could see that her hand never moved far from the hilt of her rapier.

Sonic growled again. "If you won't fight, then you'll die like cowardly prey!"

The sword spoke up in the hedgehog's grip. "Sonic, relax. Your friends, "Caliburn emphasized the word friends, "will not challenge you. The hedgehog rolled his shoulders and his death grip on Caliburn loosened a little. To the assembled group Caliburn said, "If you don't want him going berserk, I suggest you all back off!" The sudden shouting jarred the crowd into action and they swiftly did as the sword instructed.

Sonic felt pride as he watched the mob step back, then his anger dissipated and the hedgehog became himself again. He shook his head, feeling his claws and fangs shrink back. Then his muscles relaxed and shrank back to their normal size. Startled, Sonic realized what he had been about to do. I'm losing it, and it's not even night! Without another word Sonic spun round on his feet and ran as fast as he could away from the villagers, still limping though. He ran through the heavy belt of trees and onto the open plains of Camelot headed due north away from the ruins of the village and away from Castle Camelot. Grass blades blew to the side as Sonic rushed by not caring where he was going, just knowing that he had to get as far away from any sort of civilization.

He ran for an hour before finally having to slow to a stop. His breathing was completely out of control and his lungs were seizing up making each gasping breath painful. Even in his current situation, Sonic still managed to find a little humor. Whew! I'm really getting out of shape. I guess being a king can make you fat and lazy. This is getting annoying though and shouldn't these cuts be closed up by now? A large rock poked through the surface of the earth and looked very appealing to Sonic's weary body. He lumbered over and fell onto the boulder with a sigh of relief, then stretched out his aching body. He then gently leaned Caliburn up against the rock so that he could face the sword. Caliburn hadn't said a word through the whole run and Sonic was beginning to become concerned. I figured he'd already be harping on me for what happened last night. Actually to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much either…not that I want to remember. A small ache started to build in his head and it pounded with his pulse. He raised up his hand to hold his head, then paused as he looked at it. The short fur of his hand was dyed red with dried blood and gore. Pieces of red stuff hung on the ends of his fingernails. More blood was caked onto his chest and arms. His breathing rate increased and his eyes shot open. Sonic's tongue flicked out of his mouth and ran across his lips; a bitter taste clung to the rough surface and the hedgehog prayed that it wasn't what he thought it was. He was wrong. The hedgehog swiped his arm across his face and it came away with dried pieces of gore stuck to the fur. Nausea swept through him and Sonic leaned over to hurl.

"Don't do it!" snapped Caliburn finally speaking.

The hedgehog took several deep breaths and held down the unwanted food in his gut. "Why…uggghhh…should I…urrrpp? Sonic started to heave again.

"Unless you want the same thing to happen again tonight, you'll have to keep it in," explained Caliburn.

At this, Sonic turned to face the sword. "Whaddaya mean by…happen again?"

"You fed last night because your werewolf side was hungry. Feeding becomes your main priority and you'll do anything to sate that hunger," Caliburn continued, "If you throw up you'll be hungry again and you'll lose total control except your werewolf side will be close to starving. You won't care who you attack."

Sonic bit back the bile rising in his throat and choked down the vomit knowing that Caliburn was right. He wiped away the remaining blood from his face and body using blades of grass. Sonic sighed in grim acceptance of his situation. "Caliburn, I don't want to kill anything anymore. I don't care if it's even just a plain ol' animal, I can't live like this! Feeding…man that still sounds wrong…on living things for the rest of my life!"

"You don't have any choice, knave."

"The hell I don't! I'll find some isolated spot to sit tight until I can figure out how to get rid of this curse!" argued Sonic. "I won't feed on anything!"

"Then you'll die," stated Caliburn simply.

The king paused at this, confused. "Whaddaya mean I'll die?"

"I mean, you'll die if you quit feeding at night," said the sword.

"Pphhh, yeah ooookay." Sonic rolled his eyes. "I still eat during the day don't I? So technically I'm not starving. As long as I put some meat in my diet and some of that Wolf's Eye plant, I'll be fine. I'm only starving my other half."

"And that's what will kill you," answered Caliburn. "When you transform at night and run around as a werewolf, you burn tremendous amounts of energy. That's why your first and foremost need when you change is to feed and make up for the energy used during the transformation. This is also why you're tired now," explained Caliburn. "When you transformed partially to pull me out of the tree, you used up your energy to do that. In other words, anytime you use your new gifts such as enhanced strength even during the day, you'll use up energy meaning you'll have to feed that much more come nightfall to replenish it."

"Wouldn't eating regular food during the day accomplish the same thing? That's why people eat, to get the energy you need to go through the day."

"It doesn't work that way, Sonic. You feed, or you die," said Caliburn grimly.

The hedgehog inhaled deeply then exhaled. "How many nights can I go without…eating?

"I'd say three at the maximum and that would be pushing it."

Sonic sighed again. Hopelessness overtook him and he fell back on the rock looking up at the sky praying for some solution to his problems. He realized how exhausted his body was and could feel sleep falling upon him. I've never been this tired just from running. Sonic was beginning to suspect that his wounds were playing a major part. Inspecting them with his fingers, the hedgehog found that they still burned slightly and the skin around them felt almost feverish. Maybe Caliburn will know what's causing it. He seems to know a lot about werewolves. Listening to Caliburn explain in depth about his need to feed at night was making Sonic suspect that the sword knew more than he was letting on, but Sonic didn't press him for information knowing the sword would talk when he felt like it. "Caliburn, will these wounds heal up? It's like their sapping at my strength and it feels like they're infected," questioned Sonic.

"Hmmm. Hold your leg over here; the one with the really large gash in it."

Sonic did as he was instructed and shifted his right leg over for the sword's inspection. Immediately, Caliburn's metallic eyes widened. "Sonic, grab some of that grass and spit on it…quickly!" The sword's sudden anxiety spurred Sonic into action and he got a fistful of the native grass. He gurgled in his throat and hacked a large was of spit onto the bundle. "Rub into the gash, it'll burn but this will help." Sonic pressed the bundle of wet grass onto the injury and winced as it felt like acid was eating into his skin. Then as he swabbed the wound, relief flowed through him and the burning sensation was gone. As he pulled away the grass, the wound stitched itself together and vanished as if it never existed.

"Aaaaaaaaaaa…that feels soooooo goooood!" Sonic took the grass and quickly repeated the action for all of  his assorted silver-inflicted wounds moaning in relief as each cut or stab rapidly healed over leaving the hedgehog feeling fresh and new, although now he was even more tired. Having cleared his body of damage the hedgehog leaned back on the rock with a questioning glance at Caliburn.

"It appears that they reopened the hidden armory. Those blades and spears tips that the soldiers were using were coated in silver dust. That way it left behind the silver residue whenever the weapons inflicted injuries." But Sonic noticed the sword wasn't directly addressing him and his words were mumbled out meaning Caliburn had been talking to himself.

"Why would we have weapons like that in the castle?" asked Sonic suspiciously.

Caliburn suddenly picked up on the fact that Sonic had overheard his mutterings and appeared to be disgruntled. "I know you have improved hearing Sonic, but it is still rude to use it to eavesdrop! Remember that!"

Sonic knew Caliburn had deliberately ignored his question. "Don't change the subject. Why do we have weapons like that?"

"It doesn't matter," stated Caliburn with finality. The sword floated around to the backside of the rock where Sonic couldn't see him letting Sonic know the conversation was over.

"Figures," muttered Sonic angrily. The hedgehog yawned and stretched out. Might as well catch a little cat-nap…or hedge-nap…or…whatever I just need some shut-eye. His eyelids drooped and then the king fell into the comforting folds of his dreams…or so he thought.



Sonic found himself standing on a hilltop overlooking a small village below wondering how he'd gotten here. Without any urging on his part, his body moved swiftly towards the village where anthros wandered between homes sharing their news of events and going-ons during the day. More were in their huts eating whatever they had prepared for supper and more still were readying themselves for bed. What a neat place. I could definitely relax in a place like this. Sonic could smell all the food scents wafting from the rooms and he wanted to see what was cooking. But his body ignored any of his mental commands and instead headed for a shadowy portion of the village. His eyes set upon a large pig anthro who he guessed was a watchman of sort. Sonic then noted he didn't even have control over his eyes, they set upon the pig with a sort of deadly stare. It's like I'm not me…if that makes any sense. Well then, who's body is this and why am I here? The pig moved and his body stealthily went after him; he dodged more patrols in pursuit of the anthro. Sonic felt himself becoming bored watching this. If this is some sort of dream, it's really lame so far. But not for long. Suddenly his body leapt for the pig and attacked the anthro with savagery beyond anything the hedgehog could imagine. He watched in horror but could do nothing as this body was not his own. Sonic was forced to see himself devour the dead pig, and what scared him even more were all the emotions he felt as he fed. Excitement, energy, rage, pride, and a lust for more violence. It seemed as if his dream went into fast-forward and Sonic watched as images and emotions flashed past his vision. He could see himself destroying the village and brutally killing anyone who got in his way. Then the scenes shifted and he saw himself knocking over well-armored soldiers as if they were no more than sticks a toddler would play with. As he attacked the warriors, Sonic could at last see part of his body as his eyes shifted around. A thickly muscled and furry arm passed his viewpoint followed by the other arm as they tore apart one of the anthro soldiers. Deadly claws sliced cleanly through armor, flesh, and bone; his fangs bit into the muscle of many different anthros, some he ate and others he simply killed because he could. What is all of this! Sonic mentally tried to awaken himself from this horrible nightmare, but couldn't. Lancelot assaulted him again and Sonic saw his arm sweep out to almost take off the hedgehog's black head following it up with a powerful blow to his head. Just when Sonic felt he couldn't take anymore, his dream changed and now he wandered the darkness of a different village, one enclosed by a wall. This is Castle Camelot. What am I doing here? Again, Sonic had no control over his body and was forced to simply watch and pray that something similar to the last dream wouldn't happen in this one. Wishful thinking on his part as soon the dream became a nightmare as a horrified Sonic watched himself murder soldiers and feast on their bodies. Blood splattered over the cobblestone streets as his lethal claws went to work slicing and dicing apart the guards he was stalking. His dream changed and now he fought against his knights in the dungeons of Camelot that felt almost claustrophobic to his massive body. He overpowered Bedivere and Gawain; then stood over his victims with pride and triumph flowing like poison through his veins, and to Sonic's surprise he loved it! This feeling of strength and power that coursed inside his body and mind. His eyes locked onto a human wandering aimlessly along the hall. No… Sonic knew what was coming and he was powerless to stop himself. He fell upon the human then locked his jaws into the man's flesh, reveling in the taste of fresh blood and revenge. NOOOOOOO!!!!! The hedgehog closed his eyes to what he was seeing and everything went black.

When he reopened them, Sonic stood in a dark nothingness. His feet were standing on an invisible solid surface and when Sonic looked down, he saw that it looked as if he was floating upon the darkness. Using his eyes, he discovered that he had total control over himself and that his body was his again. He was relieved to see that he was his usual blue and speedy self. Whew! I…wait what's that? Ahead of Sonic in the darkness he spied two small glowing orbs of emerald light. As he strained his eyes to get a better peek, the orbs drew closer and then began to lift into the air. Deep breathing and heavy footsteps could be heard silently at first then louder as the orbs came closer. A shape began to form in the black fog and a shill ran down Sonic's back. He suddenly realized that the orbs were eyes as black pupils became clear. The eyes glinted wickedly and were locked onto Sonic. The king stumbled back as he could see more and more of this mysterious figure. It started to growl menacingly. Startled, Sonic stepped away and lost his footing. He fell backwards and scooted away from the evil thing on his butt. A sinister rumbling laughter came from the shape that Sonic could now see stood at an almost dizzying height. Finally the darkness lifted away from the thing and it's full body was revealed. Sonic eyed the creature before him with both awe and fear. It stood at what he estimated to be eight feet in height, making the hedgehog feel quite small; even smaller now that he was sitting down. The monsters size rivaled that of Bedivere, perhaps even surpassing him. Even though a thick coat of grayish-blue fur covered it's whole body, Sonic could see the definition if it's immense muscles and bulk. Unlike the bull though, this creature's bulk wasn't an all-over style of build, his was a build much like that of a body-builder. But, Sonic knew that this thing's size would not hinder it if it needed to move quickly. His eyes wandered to the bottom half of the monster and saw it's thick legs were shaped like the back legs of a wolf complete with paws and claws. A long and furry tail flicked around behind the creature. It's muscled arms ended in large hands tipped with shiny daggers coming out of the ends of his fingertips. Sonic gulped knowing that those claws could easily shred him. It's head was shaped much like a wolf's complete with a muzzle full of razor sharp teeth and four long pointed fangs that were currently being bared at Sonic. Wolf-like ears, directed at Sonic, protruded from the top of its scalp. Then Sonic noticed the fur hanging from the back of his head and he frowned slightly. The fur hung like a mane down it's back and almost to it's waist. Yet, it wasn't one solid bundle of fur. He though maybe he was just being a little ridiculous but it looked as if they were or at least had been quills. Except now they were longer and instead of sticking out, flowed down his back like thick dread-locks. On a random note, he noticed that there were five of these quill like projections coming from it's head, exactly the same amount he had. The thing's piercing emerald eyes also rang with a sort of familiarity that he'd seen whenever Sonic looked in a mirror. A dooming sort of epiphany came to the hedgehog as he looked at the creature more closely. It can't be…no… "Wh…who…what are…y…you?" Sonic stuttered out. He'd never been more afraid in his life. That rumbling laughter came from it again and the beast spoke. His voice was barely understandable and came as more of a growl then actual words.

"Don't you recognize me?" it asked.

"Should I? Because I'm pretty sure I'd remember you," Sonic responded.

"You should know…us…well," it said.

"Us? You said us and I don't like the way you said it." The beast said nothing but his lips parted into what could have been an evil smile. Sonic looked closer at it and felt that he knew exactly what and who this creature was. But, the more he thought about it, the more he tried to deny it without success. "You're…me. But…that can't….can't be right! I'm no monster!"

"We are one and the same, little hero. Those were not dreams nor nightmares conjured by the darkest corner of your mind, they were your memories of what you have done." Sonic stood up and backed away from the creature sputtering out unintelligible words as he tried to grasp what he now knew that he'd done. "You can't escape from yourself Sonic. Give up this charade. You've tasted your power now and although you won't admit it…you like it. Why do you seek a cure? Are you some disease to be ridden of? Do you want to give up this strength? None can challenge you know and even your knights combined are no match for you," the werehog whispered temptingly. The hedgehog continued to back away.

"I'm not you! I won't kill anymore and I'm don't want this curse!" The werehog looked stricken for just a moment and then his face twisted into a snarl.

"You consider this a curse? Fool. You are more powerful now then you've ever been as a weak anthro! And you would just throw this away?" The werehog Sonic chuckled. "How can you destroy yourself? By tearing this curse away, you are tearing yourself in half!" Suddenly the black mist swirled around the werehog and he disappeared, in his spot stood an almost perfect identical of Sonic. Except this Sonic had claws, fangs, wicked emerald eyes that glowed with hatred, his body build was more muscular than Sonic's, and his fur was darker and thick. The dark Sonic laughed in a perfect, but evil copy of Sonic's own laugh. "This is what you could be, Sonic. You could have it all!"

"What the hell are you!?!"

"We have already answered that. We are you. We are together. We are one," it said. At that, the mist covered the dark sonic and when it disappeared the werehog once again stood in it's place. Sonic at first couldn't figure out why it kept referring to itself as we, then the ugly truth hit him. As it spoke, it went from referring to itself as separate, to referring to both itself and Sonic as a whole. We are becoming one. His heart stopped momentarily as the werehog's voice entered his brain. Sonic could feel the presence invading and reshaping his mind, bonding with him in a way. The king stepped back and turned to run away, but dark tendrils wrapped around his legs holding him in place while the werehog approached. He reached out and clutched Sonic around the middle of his chest, nearly popping his ribs. Hot rank air rolled from it's mouth smothering Sonic as the werehog held the hedgehog up so he could look Sonic in the eye. "You are ours." The beast's entire body started to turn transparent until it appeared to be made of mist, but the eyes still glowed bright and full staring at Sonic then they winked out. The mist of the werehog suddenly enveloped Sonic and pressed into his body. Sonic felt himself absorbing the dark fog and try as he might, he could not move. Then, Sonic stood alone in the darkness shuddering and shaking. The werehog was gone and the hero felt relief. Glad that creep is… "GAAAAAHHH!" Pain tore through Sonic and his body shook violently. He watched as sharp claws sprang through the ends of his fingers. Sonic could feel his body morphing and growing larger. "Aaaaahhhh! Guurrrrr!" His voice slowly changed to a growl. "Pleeeassee…uuuggghhh…..NO!" After what seemed like forever, the agonizing pain stopped. Sonic opened his eyes and stared down at the darkness beneath what used to be his feet; they were now large paws. He held his hands out in front of him seeing that they were now very big and long, curved claws tipped each finger. Suddenly the floor shimmered and Sonic could see his reflection. The image staring back at him looked exactly like the werehog that had confronted him. We are one. Sonic threw back his head and howled his mournful cry to the darkness of his own mind.

Sonic awoke in mid-fall and he landed with a soft thud on the prairie grass. "Owww," moaned Sonic. His whole body ached and cold sweat covered his forehead. He pushed himself up unsteadily to his feet and leaned against the rock. "It was a dream." No, you relived what happened last night…and… Sonic's thought trailed off because his encounter with the werehog in his own mind didn't seem to fit with anything he knew about. A slight noise made Sonic look over his shoulder where Caliburn hovered in the air a few feet away.

"You've been tossing around on that rock for the better part of the last hour or so. Dreams I'm guessing?" asked Caliburn mildly.

Sonic rubbed his head. "More like nightmares."

"You saw what happened last night didn't you?" Caliburn asked his question as if he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, and the night before that. And…something else…" Sonic drifted off.

"It is typical for a werewolf to relive parts of his night. You won't ever truly remember all of it. Usually only parts that cause guilt or remorse."

"Like people I've killed or harmed?" asked Sonic. Caliburn nodded. "Will I always have these…nightmares?" Again the sword nodded.

"You feel guilty for what you are and what you've done. Unless you're one of the more bloodthirsty werewolves who care nothing for the pain they cause, you'll continue to experience this guilt in the form of dreams as you sleep."

Sonic's heart sunk into his gut. I'm going to be haunted like this until I drop over dead. I'd rather someone just put sword through me now. Oh, excuse me. A silver sword. thought Sonic bitterly. Another thought came to Sonic and his suspicion bubbled up again. "Caliburn, how do you know so much about what I am…or about werewolves in general?"

The sword's mouth locked up tight and he only muttered a short response. "I've already told you Sonic, it really doesn't matter at this point."

Sonic could feel rage building at the sword for keeping something hidden from him. "Caliburn, I…" His ear twitched and he sniffed at the air. Sonic could hear the sound of a marching cadence along with the tramping of heavy boots over the next hill. "We've got company."