Power Rangers Mystic Knights

by DChan87

While on a school trip to Wales, five University of Central Florida students find themselves in a dangerous situation when their hotel is attacked. However, they come across a strange power that will change their lives forever, by the power of King Arthur and Camelot itself. Arthurian Legend inspired.

1. The Quest Begins, Part 1

Power Rangers Mystic Knights, Episode 1: The Quest Begins, Part 1

:-:-:-: Stand and fight! We must unite! Power Rangers Mystic Knights, LET'S GO! :-:-:-:

The call has come from ages of old
From the days of Camelot shall behold
Five magic swords will give us the power
To conquer evil, it's our finest hour

We will fight to save our precious land
Against the villain that we cannot stand
No more will we repeat the failure of the past
Evil's malevolent quest we shall outlast

Heed the call of the Knights of Old
'Round the table we shall unite
Stand and fight for the legends told
Pooower Rang-gers MYS-TIC KNIGHTS!

Heed the call of the Knights of Old
'Round the table we shall unite
Stand and fight for the legends told
:-:-:-: Pooower Rang-gers MYS-TIC KNIGHTS! :-:-:-:

The bus traveled down the Welsh highway at average speed. Why be in a hurry? Their destination had been there for centuries, it wasn't going to go anywhere any time soon. The grey skies were a simple background effect, but it was mostly cloudy, so there was some sun. But for some, going average speed isn't good enough. It's not that they want to die in a horrific crash that could have been prevented if the bus traveled the speed limit. It's more like they didn't really want to be in this current situation. One such passenger on this bus was feeling like this.

"Come on Kaz!" Javier de la Cruz said to his friend Kaz McDonough. "You've been looking like that all trip!" He pointed at his friend's bored look on his face. Kaz turned to look at Javier, and then went back to looking out the window. Javier threw his hands up and sighed in exasperation. The young Mexican-American from Los Angeles had been bugging his friend for some time.

Kaz, of course, ignored him.

"I really don't want to be here," Kaz finally said. This prompted Javier to look at the young man.

"And yet you still are," he said in response.

"Because you kept begging me," Kaz shot back. "You said, 'come on Kaz, it'll be a great idea', 'if you don't go, you'll regret it!' 'I don't know anyone on this trip, so you should come with me,' that kind of stuff."

"And it got you to come!" Javier said in response.

"After you wouldn't stop bugging me!" Kaz said through gritted teeth.

"It was the only way for you to come!" Javier shot back. "Otherwise, you would have just laid around the house all summer before getting back to UCF."

"At least Yumi would keep me company," he said, referring to his girlfriend.

"You wouldn't have gotten any good experience lying at home," Javier replied. "Come on, look on the bright side, you're broadening your horizons, isn't that what college is all about? Besides, your family would love for you to have this kind of experience!"

"You still owe me when we get back to Orlando," Kaz said. "I should have stayed in Cardiff."

"What good would that do you?" Javier asked as he sat back in his seat. "You'd probably be bored out of your ass at the hotel watching whatever crappy show comes on for hours on end. Besides, the chaperones wouldn't let you stay, we're staying overnight in Caerleon."

"Fuck," said Kaz. He turned his head and looked back out the window. Kaz was 19 years old. He had sort of a baby face about him, framed by his brown hair which covered the top of his ears. He had brown eyes, as well. He was part Japanese and it showed, albeit subtly in his facial features; a good look would show those features. Of course, he'd probably get a little upset if you did. His face was smooth, having shaved earlier in the day. His body type was athletic, but not too muscular. His skin tone was relatively fair.

As for Javier, it's already been stated that he's Mexican-American. He ran his hand through curly hair, which annoyed Kaz. He had much of the same body type as Kaz. Like Kaz, his eyes were brown as well. His olive skin tone contrasted with Kaz's skin tone. Unlike Kaz he had a little bit of fuzz on his face. He must not have shaved lately.

"Hey, don't take that tone with me," said Javier. Kaz just turned his head and put in his earphones, much to Javier's displeasure. So he turned around and looked at the other people in the bus.

He noticed an African-American guy (isn't he an MMA fighter? I know I've seen him somewhere) engrossed in his book right across from him. He looked behind to see a girl, which he thought must be Simone de Silva, that Brazilian girl who walked around campus barefoot. In front of her was—he thinks—Jennifer Robben, who he used to go out with (it was just one trip to McDonalds!)

Kaz must have been right to put on his earphones, since the trip from Cardiff to Caerleon was longer than both of them expected. Well, probably because the Welsh countryside is pretty dull, anyway (no offense meant to Welsh readers; it's just from the point of view of people who are not from Wales). Of course, Caerleon isn't that far from Cardiff, anyway.

Kaz just listened to his music and let himself zone out. We already know he wasn't crazy about coming to Wales in the first place. It was partially because he had a hard time getting his passport since he only signed up a couple months prior to the trip began. He would have preferred to go to Japan—he is part Japanese, after all. But since we already know Javier talked him into it, we can see how well that went. Part of the reason he wasn't too crazy about going was because he wouldn't see his girlfriend Yumi for a while. Of course, Javier had something to say about that ("It's a 3-week trip to Britain!" said Javier. "She'll be fine!") Of course, Kaz would argue differently. He had only been dating the girl for a short time and he wanted to get to know her more.

But, Javier had still talked him into this. Kaz hadn't had much fun and the soon-to-be UCF sophomore just wanted to go home. His chronic boredom wasn't going to be cured by playing endless hours of Zelda, either.

Eventually the bus rolled into Caerleon. The bus went over to Isca Augusta, the Roman ruins on the south side of town. The group on the bus departed and was led to the ruins of the amphitheatre. Now Kaz was actually impressed. Although the amphitheatre was mostly covered in green, it certainly looked impressive. The group was shepherded into arena and sat down in front of the old seating area. A man came out and stood in front of them on the field.

"Good morning," he said in his Welsh accent. He was an older man, around the age of 60. His white hair was thinning and he wore a black suit and tie.

"Good morning," the group replied half-heartedly, Kaz included.

"Well, that's out of the way," he said. "My name is Jacob Llewellyn, I'm a history professor at Cardiff University, and I'd like to welcome you all to Caerleon, or in this case, Isca Augusta."

"This is boring," Kaz muttered to Javier.

"Now you're all in the amphitheatre," said Prof. Llewellyn. "Now this is one of the open points at Isca Augusta. How many of you have heard of the Roman Coliseum?" The majority of the class raised their hands. "Good. Now, if you know anything about the Coliseum in Rome, then you'd probably guess much of the same events took place here. It's possible some gladiators got their start here at the Caerleon amphitheatre. Those that didn't well, you can probably tell what happened."

"Okay, now this is getting interesting," said Kaz.

"Imagine, you're a gladiator during the height of the Roman Empire," said Prof. Llewellyn. "Six thousand people chanting your name, you hear them cheer for you as you enter the arena. It almost makes you forget you're a slave and you're fighting for their amusement." The group laughed. "However, the gladiators were fighting for freedom, and some were even volunteers who not only risked their lives, but their social standings and personal lives."

"That sucks," said Javier.

"Now let's be clear, these were slaves who were typically sentenced to gladiator combat as punishment," said Prof. Llewellyn. "When the gladiators themselves were to fight—essentially the marquee fights of the day—the gladiators would gather in front of the Emperor, raise their right hands and shout, 'Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant!', which means 'Hail the Emperor, we who are about to die salute you!' But then again, these men were very expensive, so only one in ten bouts ended in a fatality.

At the same time, gladiators were the predecessors of today's superstar athletes. These men—and sometimes women-had followings of adoring women! But, I think I'm getting ahead of myself. I suppose you all are here for another reason."

"King Arthur!" One voice called out. Javier suspected it was that Richard Lewis guy.

"Exactly!" Professor Llewellyn said. "Caerleon is mentioned in many Arthurian texts dating back to AD 830. Geoffrey of Monmouth himself wrote about how Arthur held court at Caerleon. Of course, Monmouth is close to Caerleon so it might have been local bias. According to legend—which may just be stories made up in a pub somewhere—there is a cave in the wood where 1,000 of Arthur's men sleep until they are needed by Wales. Truth be told, they should have awoken by now."

"I think he's trying to be funny," said Javier. Prof. Llewellyn's joke had obviously gone over the heads of the UCF students.

"Anyway, this amphitheatre we now sit in is connected to the legend as well," he said. "This is said to be the true site of the Round Table itself. In fact, it is said that Arthur sleeps below our very feet. Why no one has tried to excavate here is beyond me, but I suppose it's because they don't want to damage the amphitheatre. It's a noble reason. Well, I guess I've bored you long enough. I'll let you all disperse and I hope you enjoy you visit here to Caerleon."

[][][]

"I can't believe we got to stay at the Celtic Manor Resort Hotel!" said Javier as he flopped on his bed. "I want to play 18 holes tomo—are you still playing Zelda, Kaz?"

"So?" Kaz asked without even looking up from his 3DS. Suddenly, Javier yanked the game out of his hands. "Hey! What did you do that for?"

"Stop playing that game!" Javier said. "You can't just sit around and play video games all evening, let's go out and meet people! I recognized some people, so we'll be fine. Let's go!" He grabbed Kaz's wrist and yanked the reluctant young man from the bed and into the hallway.

"Hey, stop!" He said. Javier would have none of it, however, and he kept dragging Kaz.

"Come on, let's go to the dining room!" he said. Kaz tried to resist.

"You're practically pulling my arm out!" He said to get Javier to stop. Of course, it didn't work.

They only stopped when crashed into someone in the hall, and of course, with Kaz being dragged along, it was only natural that he'd be aught up in the mess as well. All three people were piled on top of each other (no that is not meant to be gay). "Get the fuck off of me!" The person on the bottom growled. Kaz easily obliged and scrambled off of him. The dazed Javier, however, had trouble getting off and the person had to push him off.

"Sorry about that," said Kaz. "See why you shouldn't drag me around like that?" He said to Javier.

"Jeez, sorry," said Javier. "Sorry, buddy I—wait, aren't you Richard Lewis?"

"You know me?" Richard asked.

"Well, I saw you at an MMA fight," said Javier.

"So someone actually goes to those fights?" He asked. "I'm impressed?" Richard, and African-American gentleman, was built, naturally, like a track star. He was bigger than both Kaz and Javier and clearly more athletic. He was also older than them, appearing 20 or 21 (they're 19). He had short black hair, borderline bald. His face was slender, but attached to that thick neck of his.

"Yeah, someone has to do it," said Javier. "Oh, I'm Javier de la Cruz. My not-so-enthusiastic friend is Kaz McDonough."

"I'm more enthusiastic than you," Kaz said in response. He bent down to pick up the books Richard dropped and noticed the title of one of the books. "What's this?"

"Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Mallory," said Richard. "In case you are wondering, I am trying to become an Arthurian scholar."

"You like that stuff?" Javier asked. "Hell, you and Kaz would get along just fine. He loves Legend of Zelda." Kaz gave Javier a dirty look. Richard understood he was taking a dig at Kaz, so he laughed.

"So how do you two know each other?" He asked.

"We were roommates," said Javier. Richard nodded.

"Well, I have to get going," he said. "See you two later."

"Bye," they both said in unison as Richard left. Javier tried to grab Kaz's wrist but Kaz retaliated by grabbing Javier's wrist.

"Could you not do that?" He asked. "I'll come this time, sheez!"

Javier led Kaz to one of the dining rooms where the group was having dinner. Of course, not en masse, but that's where they ate. The two picked out a nice dinner for them and looked for a place to eat dinner. Looking for a table, Javier spotted two girls and took Kaz over to them. They were both talking together and didn't notice either of them. Until one girl noticed them, that is.

"Javier?" She asked.

"Hi Jen," said Javier.

"You know her?" Kaz asked.

"We dated," said Jen.

"It was one trip to McDonald's," Javier replied. Kaz raised an eyebrow and Javier sat down. Kaz followed.

"So who's this?" Jen asked.

"This is my roommate," said Javier. "His name is Kaz McDonough. Kaz, this is Jennifer Robben."

"Hello," she said as she shook Kaz's hand. Jen had lighter skin than Javier. She had a pretty, but intelligent look about her. She had brown hair tied up in a ponytail along with brown eyes. She had a petite figure and a tough air about her. "This is my friend Simone de Silva." She gestured to the woman to her right.

"Isn't she the girl who walks around campus barefoot?" Kaz asked. Javier elbowed him for his rudeness.

"Sim," she said. Kaz and Javier looked confused at each other. Kaz apparently thought Javier would help him. "It's Portuguese," she replied.

"Well, I know you're supposed to be from Brazil, right?" Javier asked.

"That is correct," Simone replied. "I'm from Rio De Janeiro." Like Jen, Simone was a good-looking young woman. He skin was lighter than Javier's skin tone, though but her hair was just as dark as Javier's. Like her friend, she had a petite figure but a tough appearance. Her hair was longer than Jen's hair. "So Kaz, do you have a girlfriend?"

Kaz was knocked back by Simone's question. Not only did that come right out of nowhere, but the directness of the question bewildered him. "Yes," he said. "Her name's Yumi."

"Oh," said Simone. "Is she nice?"

"Very nice," said Kaz.

"If you know what he means," said Javier. Kaz elbowed him in the chest in response.

"No, I get was Kaz means," said Simone. "So Javier, what do you plan to do these next couple of days?"

"I want to play 18 holes!" He replied. This earned a look from Kaz.

"What the hell is it with you and golf?" He asked.

"What the hell is it with you and The Legend of Zelda?" Javier shot back.

"Apparently you guys are good friends," Simone joked. This earned her a look from the two of them. "Sorry, it was meant as a joke."

"Whatever," said Kaz.

"I take it you don't want to be here," said Jen.

"No," said Kaz. "I don't want to be here."

"Figures," she said. "Javier dragged you here, huh?"

"Yeah," said Kaz.

"Ah, don't worry about it," she said. "You'll probably find something fun to do once we get back to Cardiff."

"I can't go to the pubs though," said Kaz. "I'm too young."

"Well, so are we," said Simone. "But there are still things we can do. "I mean, Javier wants to go golfing. I think we could do that tomorrow, don't you think, Jen."

"Sounds like a good idea," she said. "I'll see you losers on the golf course."

"I hate golf," Kaz muttered to himself. However, Javier tapped him on the back of the head.

"Deal with it," he said. "We're hitting the links tomorrow."

[][][]

A couple of hours later, Javier came back into the room he and Kaz were sharing. Instead of being fixated on his Nintendo 3DS, he was on the phone. From the way he was talking, it sounded like he was talking with his girlfriend Yumi. Javier shook his head and turned on the TV. He turned the volume up high to mess with Kaz. It seemed to work, too. Kaz gave him a dirty look while he kept talking, eventually (apparently) deciding to hang up.

"Okay, love ya babe, gotta go. Javier, would you turn that shit down?"

"Okay," he said before turning the volume down. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I just reserved us a tee time for the Roman Road course tomorrow," Javier said.

"Tomorrow?" Kaz asked. "And you reserved it tonight?"

"Yep," said Javier. Kaz looked at him skeptically. He didn't think he could reserve tee times at this hour. "We'll be able to rent clubs, too, so you won't have any excuses not to play." Kaz sighed in disappointment before conceding.

"All right," he said. "But I'm not wearing anything stupid."

"You don't have to," said Javier. "You wear—what the hell are you looking at?" Kaz was not paying attention to Javier, instead looking out the window at… something.

"I don't know," he said. "I thought I saw a flash of light out there."

"Light?" Javier asked. "Are you sure it's not some airplane lights?"

"Didn't look like airplane lights," he replied. "Ah well, it's probably nothing, anyway."

[][][]

The next day, Kaz and Javier went to the clubhouse for the Roman Road course. The Roman Road course was close to the river Usk and a wooded area. The two walked in looking very out of place, wearing t-shirts, cargo shorts and tennis shoes. There they noticed Simone and Jen. Luckily for them, both were also out of place, not even wearing the right clothes, either.

"You two ready to get your asses kicked?" Simone asked.

"You wish," said Javier. Kaz shrugged.

"Oh, by the way, we brought along another player," said Jen. Kaz and Javier looked at each other for a second before turning back.

"Who?"

Jen waved to someone looking at some golf balls and he came over to them. Javier's eyes widened as he recognized the guy.

"Richard Lewis?" He asked. "You're playing?"

"I might as well," said Richard. "They invited me, so I thought, 'what the hell?'"

"Oh damn, they have a ringer," said Kaz. "We're screwed."

"Don't worry about it," said Javier. "I have a good game; we'll beat 'em."

The five started their game in earnest. They all rented clubs and a cart from the clubhouse and set out on their little golf game. The outing was quiet, the group enjoying themselves over a peaceful round of golf. Most of the time was spent getting to know each other. They found out Simone had a friend from Venezuela named Maria and Kaz had relatives who fought on both sides during World War II: some relatives fought for Japan, some fought for the United States.

"Come on, what kind of swing was that?" Javier taunted after Richard took a swing. Richard looked at Javier and shook his head while Javier chuckled to himself. Kaz shook his head and stepped up to the tee. "Kaz, will you take the Dr. Pepper hat off?" Javier taunted.

"Hey, shut up!" he shouted back as he got up from the tee. "I like that stuff!"

"We're not supposed to be doing product placement!" Javier shouted.

"Shut up and let me tee up!" Kaz said again.

"Come on, quit pestering him," said Jen. Kaz wound up and took a big cut driving the ball a very good distance. "Not bad," she said as she stepped up to the tee. She also gave the ball a big whack and it landed near the hole. Even Javier was (sincerely) impressed.

"Wow!" He said. "That was good."

"I'd like to see you try," she replied. Javier could tell she was being sarcastic, anyway. Simone was next and she too drove the ball a good distance, with the ball landing closest to the tee. It was Javier's turn now.

"Let me show ya'll how it's done," he said. He stepped up to the tee, took a big swing and sent the ball towards the hole. Unfortunately, the ball sliced left and ended up being the farthest from the hole.

"Is that how it's done?" Simone asked. Javier glared at her while the group went to find their balls.

"You see that?" Kaz said. "Right next to the green!"

"Oh, you suck!" Javier said. His ball was on the edge of the fairway and the farthest from the green. Simone's was the best, of course, landing right on the green and pretty close to the flag, so she would go last. Javier did manage to get his ball on to the green eventually, and he was farthest from the tee. Simone had not shot by this time, so Javier would go.

"Isn't someone else supposed to go?" Jen asked.

"Well, Simone did miss the hole," said Kaz as he held the flag. "Come on Javier, just putt already!"

"Alright! Alright!" Javier said as he lined up his putt. He kept checking the hole and his putt, making sure he was lined up. "Okay Kaz, get ready to remove the flag," he said. He was just about to putt, but he noticed Kaz wasn't moving. "Kaz. Kaz! Goddammit, KAZ!" He looked up to see Kaz staring off to the distance. "Kaz! Get your head out of the clouds, what are you looking at?" Kaz's face was frozen and showed a subtle look of shock on his face. However, he did raise his finger to point in the opposite direction of Javier. Javier looked in that direction and what he saw made him jump.

Several skeletons had stepped out of the nearby woods and were advancing on the group. These were not normal skeletons. They were armed with swords and shields and there were quite a few. The group had no idea what was going on, especially since these things had come out of nowhere right during their golf game.

"That does not look good," said Simone. It might be the understatement of the century.

"I think we should get out of here," said Kaz. "We don't want any trouble from these things."

"Yeah, I think you're right," said Richard. The group picked up their clubs and slowly moved towards their carts—and then broke into a full sprint. They got to the cart but found out the hard way they were surrounded. It became clear that the resort was under attack.

"Shit! Run!" Kaz shouted. The group abandoned the cart and bolted for the resort hotel. Unfortunately, more skeletons blocked their escape route. They definitely were surrounded.

"What do we do now?" Simone asked.

"We make a break for those woods over there," said Kaz, pointing in the direction of the river Usk.

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," said Richard.

"You got a better idea?" Kaz asked.

"Good point," said Richard. The group broke for the woods. The armed skeletons chased them all the way there. Simone looked back to notice a horde of skeletons advancing on the resort hotel.

And then she found a skeleton in front of her. The skeletons swarmed the group, forcing them to fight.

"Get out of the way!" Kaz shouted as he punched one of the skeletons. Next he kicked a skeleton in the head, which knocked the skeleton's head off. Next he punched an unprotected skeleton in the ribcage, easily breaking the unprotected ribs. He swept a skeleton off of its feet while still trying to get to the woods. He then ducked to avoid a sword swing from one of the skeletons. He responded by roundhouse kicking that same skeleton in the head. He dodged a skeleton easily before kicking a skeleton in the chest and knocked it into a group of skeletons. This gave him an opening to sprint to the woods.

"Hey, wait for me!" Javier called out. He threw a skeleton off of him and punched it right in the face. Next he spun around and slammed into a skeleton's chest armor, easily avoiding its shield. He dodged a sword swing from a skeleton but only just barely and was in a pretty precarious situation. He fixed this by ducking and letting two skeletons crash into each other. He chuckled before getting up and kicking a skeleton into another one. He tried to make a break for it but found himself facing two skeletons. He punched one and elbowed the other before breaking away and following Kaz to the woods.

"Don't leave me behind!" Richard called out. He bashed a pair of skulls together before smashing another skull. Then he kicked a skeleton's plate armor easily to smash its bones underneath. The whole premise of this fight reminded him of the skeleton scene from the old Jason and the Argonauts movie—except this was real. He rolled to avoid some skeletons but knew he had to fight. He wound up his arm and threw a mighty punch at a skeleton and smashed its skull. He kicked at a skeleton that had come in behind him and kicked at one in front of him. Then he found an opening and sprinted towards the woods.

"Hold up!" called Simone. She had her hands full with skeletons and in a heap of trouble. However, she managed to get the skeletons off of her and wiggled her way out of the mob. Of course, she still had to fight them. She kicked the sword out of the hand of one skeleton and punched its face. She had a little more room now and kicked a skeleton in the groin. The problem is, it doesn't have much of a groin and she realized that. She bent down to avoid two incoming skeletons and those two collided. These things must not be very intelligent. She now had room and took off following Kaz, Javier and Richard.

"You will not leave me behind!" Jen called out angrily. She twirled like a ballet dancer, hitting her foes in front, beside and behind her. She leapt with ballet-like grace and kneed one of her enemies right in the face, smashing it in. She leapt backwards dodging a skeleton sword. She retaliated easily, kicking its chest plate. With her opponents thinning out, she had a good chance to make a break for it. However, she still had some skeletons blocking her way. She remedied her situation, though, by kicking both of the armed skeletons in front of her. Then she broke for the woods.

"Come on, hurry up!" Kaz called out. The group was close enough to the woods. All that was left was one more fairway to cross and that was it. Suddenly, a group of skeletons popped in front of them. They stopped in their tracks and changed directions, going due north to get to the woods. The skeletons missed hitting them by inches. They finally reached the edge of the woods, though, and Kaz beckoned them in.

"Come on, let's go!" He shouted. He let the others enter the woods first. He looked at the resort hotel and noticed it was surrounded by skeletons. The British army must not have arrived and whatever police presence there was in the town was not enough to stop the skeletons. Shouldn't they be easy? He wasted no time, however, and ran right into the woods. He looked back in time to see a large figure on a big black horse ride over to the resort hotel.

Back at the hotel, the staff had been captured and most of the students in the trip group had been rounded up as well. Too many skeletons had attacked the resort and had overwhelmed resort security. At the same time, they had crossed into town and had begun attacking and rounding up terrified townspeople. Whatever this was, it was not good. The skeletons held black banners emblazoned with a white dragon.

The big figure on the big black horse rode up to the mayor of Caerleon back at the resort hotel. The mayor tried to look at him defiantly, but a hint of fear betrayed him. It's perfectly understandable, though. The figure dismounted from his horse and sauntered up to the mayor. The armor he wore certainly didn't look like anything that re enactors would wear. This was a purely menacing figure.

The figure removed his helmet. Underneath was a surprisingly human face, but still intimidating. He had a scar on the ride side of his face running from the forehead over the eye. He appeared to be close to middle-aged, his beard a short fuzz. He looked at the mayor and said, "Are you the leader of this settlement?"

"Yes," he replied in as strong a voice as possible. He would not let this man intimidate him.

The figure looked at him. He stared him down, not breaking eye contact. "What is your name?"

"Robert Bowen," he replied.

"And how did you become leader of this realm?"

"I was elected mayor of Caerlon last year," he said. The figure raised an eyebrow.

"Elected?" he asked. "What does that mean?"

"When the people choose you for a public office," Mayor Bowen replied.

"The people choose their leaders?" The intimidating man asked.

"Yes," replied Mayor Bowen.

"I see," he said. "What year is this? Tell me now!" The mayor was startled by the forcefulness of the question.

"It is the year 2014," the mayor replied. The man looked at him with a surprised look on his face.

"Two thousand and fourteen?" He asked. His fist balled up in anger and his face certainly showed some rage. "That fool! He sealed me for 1500 years? Merlin will pay!"

"Merlin?" The mayor asked. You don't mean—"

"I am Vortigern!" He interrupted. "I am the true ruler of this island! Uther Pendragon and his fool Merlin sealed me in this god-forsaken town and now I have come back to take my revenge on Pendragon! But now that he's most likely dead, I'll just destroy this town and re-build my kingdom. Tell me, where are the swords?"

"What swords?" Professor Llewellyn asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Vortigern asked. Prof. Llewellyn shook his head. "You have never heard of the swords in stone?"

"I know of the sword in the stone," said Prof. Llewellyn. Vortigern was not going to ask anymore questions.

Just then, a sentry rode up to Vortigern. "Sir, some of our Skull Soldiers encountered a group of youths attempting to escape. The youths escaped into the woods to the north." Vortigern's face showed even more anger.

"The woods?" He said. "FIND THEM!"

"Yes, my lord!" The sentry said before riding off. Vortigern wanted the group dead.

Speaking of them, they were now trying to rest in the woods. They had run for goodness-knows-how-long and had escaped, but they were not safe just yet. Unfortunately, they had run into the woods one the banks of the River Usk. Not a good spot.

"We should be safe for now," Kaz said in between pants.

"Yeah, but they can surround us easily!" said Richard. "You led us in to this mess!"

"You should be glad I got us out of there!" He said. "When shit hits the fan, Kaz takes command!"

"Yeah, but Kaz got us into even more shit," said Richard.

"Guys, guys," said Simone. "Let's not fight. "We need to stick together and—oh, no!" The others looked to see some Skull Soldiers coming their way.

"I say we get moving," said Kaz.

"Good idea," said Javier. All five quickly broke towards the river. Well, whatever direction that was.

But they did not expect the run to be longer than it did. Things really got weird when a mist descended on the woods. It was sunny, cloudless day when they started and this was not what they had expected. Then, they came across stone ruins.

"Ruins?" Kaz asked. "What the hell is this?"

"I don't know," said Javier. "I'm not even sure if we're in Caerleon anymore." The ruins were short, only up to each person's head. They were made of stone and they looked elaborate, too. From what it seemed, this was once a mighty fortress or something like that. The mist shrouded the ruins. It was difficult to see.

The group looked around, trying to find what where they were. Kaz took out his smart phone. "I'm going to call someone," he said. Unfortunately, "It's not working! I can't get a signal."

"Me neither," said Javier.

"Me neither," said Richard.

"Me neither," Simone and Jen said in unison.

"Great!" Kaz said as he sat down. "We're trapped here and—what the hell are those?" he looked to see five objects sticking out of a rock a couple yards away. He ran over to them and examined them. "Swords!" he said. "Stone swords! And they look exactly like the Goddess Sword from Skyward Sword!"

"You mean Zelda?" Javier asked. Kaz nodded. "You play way too many video games. Besides why would anyone design their swords like that, anyway?"

"Kaz, think about it," said Richard. "From what it looks like, these ruins are old and those swords might be, too. If anything the Goddess Sword looks like them!"

"Well we're not going to pull them out," said Simone. "We're stuck here until we can find our way out."

"We're in trouble," said Jen.

[][][]

End chapter