Back to Chapter 96

The rectangle hung in the air then seemed to turn into a tunnel through nothingness. Tails could make out a silhouetted figure. The figure extended a hand towards Tails, “Come, Miles Prower. It is time”

Tails felt a lump in his throat, “Oh no. It’s happening. The one thing I’ve been more afraid of than anything else. It’s finally happening. The portal to the Nameless Zone!” Tails shrugged and sighed, “Oh well, suppose I might as well get it over with”

Tails walked through the rectangular portal and found himself in an ornate and old-fashioned room, a far cry from the modernity of even the rustic the Green Hill Zone. In Earth terms, one might call the room medieval. The entirety of the Nameless Zone was medieval, in fact. It was one of the reasons Tails had found himself so bored of the Zone- it was beyond merely old-fashioned, it was archaic.

Tails found himself looking up at two elder foxes, one grey and one red. Tails didn’t know them by name but he knew who they were as he stuttered to get the title out, “Oh my g-goodness. The Enchanter Kings!”

The two foxes smiled a greeting before the grey one offered a calm, “Welcome home, Miles Prower”

“Wh-what’s… what do you want?” Tails stammered, before realising his question sounded impetuous, “I mean--! Uhm, that is to say! What is it that you require of me? Um, sirs.”

“Miles Prower,” the red Enchanter King addressed the younger fox, “Word of your great deeds across the wider world has reached our ears”

“My…? Oh dear…”

“Yes, we’ve read the letters you sent to your uncle Merlin,” the grey Enchanter King added.

Crumbs, Tails thought to himself, Now I’m really in for it. They’re going to be furious.

Tails looked at his feet, shaking a little with nerves, “Well, I mean, you see, the thing about the letters is—”

“We know, Miles. We know”

“You do?”

“We know you wouldn’t have been able to succeed without the help of your assistant, your understudy- what was his name again, the hedgehog lad?”

Oh dear, Tails thought. “Um,” he began, “His name’s Sonic. But, I mean, listen, I know I said he was my sidekick- ha ha, funny story, really, he’s not actually—”

“Oh, come now, Miles,” the grey Enchanter King cut Tails off, “this is no time for modesty. Please, follow us into the armoury. We must make haste!”

“Right, yes, fair enough,” Tails acquiesced, “But I do just… want to say… you know, about the letters—sorry, did you say armoury?”

The armoury was filled with all manner of swords, shields, clubs, maces, spikes, whips, batons, chains, darts, hammer, sickles, helmets, pauldrons, glaives, staffs, bludgeons, lances, knives, daggers, tridents, boots, chainmail, suits of armour and a small butter knife that someone had accidentally put in the wrong room instead of sending it back down to the kitchen. In the middle of the room was a suit of armour, silver with red pauldrons, hanging on display.

The red Enchanter King explained, “We have made this enchanted battle armour for you. When worn, it weighs no more than a feather”

“It’s, um… lovely!” Tails tried to enthuse, “Now, really, about these letters”

“If you could defeat one so mighty as Robotnik, our little problem should be no trouble at all!”

“Right, a problem, yes, but can I just explain—”

“Ahh, young Prower, there’ll be time enough for explanations at your victory feast!”

Tails sighed, “Did I mention I go by ‘Tails’ nowadays?”

Tails blinked and the armour instantly and magically formed around his body. A sword appeared from thin air in Tails’ hand. It was so small and pathetic, Tails started eyeing up the butter knife.

***

A short walk from the castle of the Enchanter Kings, the two powerful and mystical elders led Tails up a mountain path towards the edge of the Zone.

The red Enchanter King looked downward at Tails, “Young master Prower, perhaps it has been puzzling you that there would be one of our number missing”

Tails thought for a moment. It was unusual, come to think of it, that there were only two Enchanter Kings. As far back as he could remember, there had always been three Enchanter Kings, each with their own specialism in different aspects of the arcane arts. “Now that you mention it, yes, shouldn’t there be a third Enchanter King?”

“Indeed,” the grey Enchanter King nodded, “Our fellow, Shirob, went missing some time ago. We feared him dead. Two days ago, we received a message through the Crystal of Communication that Shirob was being held captive by the berserker Trogg in the Land Beyond”

Tails gulped. The Land Beyond was where all the really nasty creatures lived, on the other side of the Dimension Bridge. Goblins, berserkers, orcs, orks, oarks and porcs (pig orcs)- you name it, if it was nasty, it probably lived in the Nameless Zone.

Tails suddenly felt a sense of dramatic irony, “Here’s the part where you tell me you want me to rescue him, isn’t it?”

The Enchanter Kings reacted with delight, “Indeed! So astute, no wonder you’re the hero you are!”

Tails groaned to himself. What had he gotten himself into? Why couldn’t he have just written “Dear Uncle Merlin, everything is fine in the Green Hill Zone and there are no robots at all”? At least that lie wouldn’t have gotten him here!

The party soon arrived at a rickety rope bridge. The wood had gone green with age and a lot of the planks had fallen out.

Slightly more concerning was what was standing on the bridge- or, rather, who.

A rather large, rather grotesque and rather angry-looking berserker in armour looked towards the Nameless Zone and the guards posted by the bridge. His leathery hide, unkempt raggedy hair, broken teeth and red eyes sent a chill down Tails’ spine.

The berserker grinned a gnarled grin, “Am I to understand this shrimp is your chosen champion? The protector of the Nameless Zone? The one you send to fight me, Trogg the Mighty? My sword is bigger than he is!”

Tails looked. Trogg wasn’t joking, his sword really was rather large. Tails suddenly felt a little nauseous.

The grey Enchanter King explained, “Miles, you must defeat Trogg. He intends to lead his men into the Nameless Zone, but thankfully a protection spell means that in order to do so, he must first defeat our champion- that’s you! Incidentally, be sure not to fall off the Dimension Bridge as it hangs over a pit of pure nothingness, meaning if you fall in you will simply cease to exist!”

Tails gulped, “So, no pressure then. Gosh he’s a big one, isn’t he?”

The red Enchanter King remained calm, “That he is, but we know he is no match for you. You must push him back, Miles, it’s the only way to protect the Nameless Zone- and the Dimension Bridge is the easiest way into the Land Beyond to rescue Shirob!”

Trogg bellowed a huge laugh, “Come on, short stuff, take your best shot!”

Tails gingerly walked onto the bridge, which bobbed up and down dangerously as he did so, “Hey, listen, no offence, Mr. Trogg but there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding here—”

“I SAID TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!” Trogg roared at Tails.

Almost as a reflex, Tails swung his sword, hitting Trogg in the foot. Trogg reacted with the pain and agony of someone who had just dropped a cotton wool ball on their foot. Almost confused, he looked at Tails, “If that’s your best, I’d really hate to see your worst”

Trogg reared his sword up and let out a huge battle cry, shaking Tails to the core. As Trogg swung down with all his might, the excitement proved to be more than one of the ropes holding the bridge up could handle. Tails and Trogg plummeted towards the endless unexistence that lay below. Almost flailing, Trogg grabbed onto the other rope and swung towards the cliff face on the Land Beyond side of the bridge. Looking down into the chasm below, Trogg started to climb the cliffs. The berserker cursed his luck, “Looks like the Nameless Zone is spared my wrath for now. But at least I took out their champion! I still live! And he’s gone forever!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Tails replied.

Trogg turned to see Tails flying in midair in front of him, “You know, this could have all been avoided if you’d just listened to me and let us talk things out”

Trogg snarled. Rather than throw a rejoinder Tails’ way, he redoubled his efforts in climbing, forcing himself up the cliffside. Pulling himself up onto solid ground, Trogg looked over his shoulder and let out a growl at the foxes before rushing out of sight into the Land Beyond.

One of the Enchanter Kings cried out, “Miles, you must pursue him! Trogg is the only one who knows where Shirob is!”

Another voice shouted at Tails “Wait!” Tails turned to see a younger fox, perhaps in his twenties, wearing a blue tunic and with a sword sheathed on his back. “My name is Errol Blackthorn. I serve as a warrior for the Nameless Zone. I’ve studied all the known texts of the Land Beyond. If you’ll have me as your partner, I would be honoured to help you, the great Miles Prower, defeat Trogg and rescue Shirob!”

Before Tails could respond, the grey Enchanter King answered for him, “With your power of flight, could you perhaps carry young Blackthorn over the gap?”

Tails knew Errol was likely his only hope of surviving the Land Beyond, “Sure. I feel like I can fly better than ever in this armour- I should be able to carry Errol across no problem!”

Errol raised his arms and Tails grabbed his hands, lifting him off the ground in flight and over the now collapsed Dimension Bridge.

The Enchanter Kings waved at Tails and Errol, “We wish you luck, Errol and Miles!”

Errol looked up at Tails, “I can’t believe I get to adventure with the mighty Miles Prower!”

“Look, Errol,” Tails held back a sigh of exasperation, “there are a few things I’m going to need to be honest with you about. But, first of all, how about you call me Tails?”

“Tails…” Errol pondered the name for a moment, “A fitting name! I like it! Tails it is!”

Tails smiled to himself. It wasn’t all bad, he supposed.

On to Chapter 98