Characters Sonic, Shadow, Rouge, etc. are copyrighted to their original Sega creators. Characters such as Rika the fox, the Stranger, the Divine and future characters all belong to me. The term 'Wishmaster' belongs to the AWESOME band Nightwish based on their song Wishmaster.

Hello! Darkhymns, here. I have just started my first fanfic. I have actually written other stories, but they were all crap. I've been thinking up this story for a while now, and I felt like I was about to burst, so I wrote it down! I'm practicing my writing skills, so I would appreciate some reviews. So...READ!! Thank you. Oh yeah, I made a little prologue. It probably sounds stupid but I wrote it down. It will probably make sense to you by the end of the entire story. And the Divine is a future character. Just to clear up some things.

Prologue

Heart succumbs to the night.

For where the raven sleeps, the soul cries.

Hope and faith combined becomes the light,

Hatred and vengeance becomes the dark.

But the true battle lies within the heart,

For that is the price of the wishmasters.

-the Divine

Chapter 1- The Stranger

The biolizard gave off a roar of anger and pain as it once again got hit on its red swelling spots. All those inside the ARK watched the great battle, but talked occasionally through the radio transmitter to give off words of encouragement to the two super hedgehogs who were trying to stop the colony from crashing into the earth. Amy looked on with fear and terror, praying silently for Sonic's safety. But she prayed for Shadow as well. Though she had only talked to him for a few minutes, she thought that she had seen something in his eyes that showed another side of him instead of the calm, detached hedgehog whom she had before viewed as. Then he had ran off to help others.

"They did it!" Knuckles shouted. Amy broke out of her thoughts and saw the biolizard, shouting it's death cry, fall limp, its lower body still attached to the ARK. Sonic and Shadow flew underneath the colony. They raised their hands and exerted all their power.

CHAOS CONTROL!!

The ARK transported farther away from the earth, no longer caught by the gravitational pull. Sonic appeared with the colony, but Shadow was nowhere to be seen.

Shadow saw the earth coming closer as he fell. He felt a burning pressure in his chest and knew that in a few seconds he would die.

Time seemed to flow slowly. He saw Sonic's face, that got smaller and smaller as he and the ARK rose away, yelling in anguish and horror, calling out his name. Then he remembered Maria's face...her voice...

"Please, Shadow. I beg of you...give them a chance...to be happy."

As he fell, he thought, "Maria, this is what you wanted right...this is my promise I made to you." He closed his eyes and waited for death.

"No! Shadow! Shadow!!" Sonic kept on yelling, as if the sound of his voice would be strength enough to bring back the black hedgehog who was rapidly disappearing from his sight.

He did not see the other who was also watching.

This stranger stood, hovering in space near the colony with bright red eyes. He had watched over the battle between the super hedgehogs and the biolizard, but throughout the whole fight he had kept his eyes on Shadow. He now saw him hurtling towards the atmosphere, ready to be burned into nothingness. He gripped tightly on a small, crystal sphere that glowed with a white, radiant light. But the light was fading.

Sonic's fur changed from gold to blue as he turned away from the sight. At that exact moment, the stranger's red eyes shone brightly and from his body coils of darkness sprang and glided towards Shadow. They surrounded him, creating a cocoon-like barrier that protected him from the burning fire of the fall. Shadow had already lost consciousness, unaware of what was happening. The stranger with the red eyes flew towards him and guided the mass of darkness towards Earth slowly. He looked back towards the ARK and smiled in relief. Sonic would not be able to see them from this distance. The crystal sphere in his hand started to glow bright again.

The darkness appeared out of the night sky, almost invisible to any person who happened to look up. Except one. The person looked on with cold eyes and saw it descend towards the forest. Then the person followed.

Shadow, enveloped inside the darkness, fell slowly towards the forest as if he was sinking in water. The stranger guided him, moving his hands to control the motions of the darkness. Once he touched the earth the shades dissipated and slithered back towards the mysterious sorcerer. Shadow lay there motionless, breathing faintly.

Hearing the crunch of footsteps on leaves, the stranger looked up and saw someone else across from him "Greetings, Rika," he said smiling.

The person did not answer back. There was a swish of a golden tail, which revealed to be a fox's. The face was covered by a hood that was part of a cloak the fox was wearing. "Who is this piece of garbage that you bring?" the fox questioned in a cold demanding voice, that belonged to a female.

"Someone who will become very important to you," the stranger replied.

Rika looked down at the hedgehog in disgust. "This rodent? I knew you were insane but not stupid. Why would this hedgehog mean anything to me?" She started to turn away.

"One day, perhaps, you will understand. He may be able to help you see that," said the stranger as he gestured toward Shadow.

The fox turned back and, by the tone of her voice, sounded as if she was smiling. "You should learn to shut up and mind your own you pathetic bastard. Otherwise you may find yourself in an unpleasant situation." She raised her arms toward him, her hands shimmering to an icy blue. She chanted words in a language long forgotten and gigantic shards of ice flew out of her hands, heading straight toward the stranger.

The red eyes burned as bright as fire and the ice shards shattered into pieces just before they were about to hit him, as if they had hit a brick wall.

The fox, still smiling, lowered her arms, and said in a cold voice, "Stay out of my way, or I will give you something that your little force field won't be able to protect against." She turned and walked away, leaving the two, as if they were toys she no longer found amusing.

The stranger watched her until she was gone. He smiled, then looked back down at Shadow. The crystal sphere in his hand glowed brighter.

When Sonic went back to the ARK, he dreaded seeing the others faces. All he had was the golden bracelet that had been around Shadow's wrist. He walked back to the room, ready to deliver the news.

"Where is Shadow?" asked Rouge, fear in her eyes. He shook his head sadly and handed her the bracelet. She took it with tears flowing down her cheeks.

After talking with Rouge, he went over to the window to look down at the planet Earth...and saw the stranger hovering there instead. The red eyes shone ominously, creating a almost hellish glow. He saw the stranger lips mouth one word and he understood perfectly as if the stranger had shouted out the word.

Safe.

Then he vanished. Sonic stared. Safe? Who was safe? Who was that person? Did he mean Shadow? "Could he have...the ultimate life...?"

"What's the matter, Sonic?" Amy asked as she came up to him.

Sonic shook his head. "It's nothing." he replied. Disregarding the sight as a hallucination, he did not tell anyone of it. But he never forgot it either.

It was morning. The sun's rays blazed down on the forest, enhancing the beauty of the trees and animals, giving life to all the living creatures.

It was then Shadow woke. He opened his eyes, and almost immediately shut them due to the sun's bright light. He felt sore all over, his muscles aching from the strain, barely able to move. He remembered falling from the sky, the earth coming closer, Maria's voice, and a darkness shrouding him that seem to have come from the deepest void, along with a pair of burning red eyes. He realized he was alive.

He stood up slowly, struggling with the pain. It wasn't possible. There was no way he could have survived that fall.

The red eyes...

Still trying to figure out what had happened he noticed something around his neck. It looked like some kind of a crystal sphere connected by a chain. "What the-," he grabbed the crystal to take it off, but as he held it, the crystal started to glow. He felt a peace swarm over him, and renewed strength flowing through him, no longer feeling sore or hurt. He let it fall back on his chest.

Now he was even more confused. What did all this mean? He looked at the unfamiliar surroundings, and deciding on a direction, started to run, determined to find answers.