Nick grimaced, he never really cared about horses, his parents had taken him to stables before but he never found them as fascinating as others. He mounted up, noting that he had never rode a horse bareback before, the handful of times that he had done so before hand they had always been saddled.

Soon they were racing down the shore, headlong into what appeared to be a seal, very much like the one that had sent them there in the first place.

There was a flash of light and suddenly Nick was in his Zord form, riding Catastros through the streets of Briarwood. Somehow he was free. He glanced over to his friends, they obviously needed his help. "Centaurus Phoenix Megazord," Nick called out as he merged with Catastros, how had he known to do that?

..

Koragg frowned, thinking, the Red Ranger had bonded with Catastros, how had that been possible, Catastros wouldn't allow just anyone to ride him, nor would he allow just anyone to combine with him. There was something odd about the Red Ranger. He could feel the Magic flowing through him, even from this distance, there was something about it that seemed familiar, not just in a Mystic force familiar, something else. As if they had met before, but if they had, then he couldn't remember when, or how. He would have to keep an eye on this red ranger that was for sure, and on Catastros. If he allowed Nick to ride and combine with him, he might allow it again. If Catastros changes alliances now then he might as well surrender, with Catastros he had the upper hand, without him. Well without him he was in trouble.

At least Catastros came to him when he called, after he helped defeat his monster, he had to look into that.

"What but I thought Catastros changed," the Red Ranger said, obviously surprised that Catastros would choose to obey Him.

"I don't know how you managed to combine with my mighty Catastros," Koragg confessed, "But I promise you, I will find out. Something about you is troubling."

"I don't understand, what are you talking about?"

"We will meet again, red ranger," Koragg insisted, before disappearing into a seal.

"Not many can say that they ridden the mighty Catastros," Udonna announced, walking next to Nick through the enchanted forest, "That is quite impressive."

Nick folded his arms, "Yeah, it was pretty amazing, although he probably only let me ride him because I helped him out."

"Yes," Udonna said, "Unfortunately the next time that you face Catastros, you will be enemies again, but you conquered your fear and were awarded. I'm proud of you."

Nick looked over at Udonna for a second before chuckling, "You sounded just like my mom there for a second."

Udonna nodded, "Your mother is a strong woman, and a powerful warrior, you should be proud that she chose you to be her son."

"Thanks," Nick said, "Although I have to admit, I never saw myself in this position, even growing up around the inner workings of the power rangers. My older sister Ronny was the one who always wanted to be a power ranger, she didn't care about how scary or dangerous it can be, and we've seen a lot of action. What with Mom and Dad being the Legendary Power Couple, and Kira serving on the Dino Thunder Team," Nick sighed, "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Ronny had been the one here instead of me. You probably wouldn't have lost you snow staff if she was a ranger."

"What could have been only distracts from the task at hand," Udonna insisted, "Now what is it that you have found?"

"This map, I can't really tell you what it is for, all I know is that it appears to be ancient."

Udonna took the map from Nick, examining it closely, "Oh my, I thought this was lost. This is a map to the Fireheart."

"What's the Fire Heart?" Nick asked.

"The ancients believed it was a source of extraordinary power," Udonna announced, "And seeing as you found this in a dark dimension tells me that the forces of evil are after it, there very well could be another map."

"Then we better get it before they do," Nick said.

"That won't be easy," Udonna insisted, "You have to transverse the Cimmerian Forest."

Nick shuddered, "Almost every horror story Aunt Star knows takes place there," he announced, "And I don't want to learn first hand that she wasn't exaggerating."

Nick stopped in front of the warning sign, Turn back, Cimmerian Forest up ahead, this was it, the worst place in the thirteen realms, at least according to his Aunt Star that is.

"This isn't so bad," Chip insisted, coming up behind him.

"I'm not looking forward to this," Maddy announced.

"Me either." Nick confessed.

"I am," Xander announced moving to the front of the group, "I'll take the lead on this one, I know how to read a map pretty well."

"Well, you haven't heard the stories I have," Nick grunted, "This forest is crawling with killer unicorns, Venomous Gnomes, and Frigid Wisps, among other stuff that would as soon kill us as soon as see us. No matter how harmless something look, it probably isn't. The Frogs spit acid that can melt your face off for instance."

"That is totally awesome," Chip announced, jumping up and down.

Nick shot the redhead a look, "You would get along just fine with Uncle Zack," he announced, "This isn't awesome," he insisted, pulling something out of his pocket, "Which is why I brought this stuff."

"What is it?" V asked, looking at the clear bottle with green slime in it.

"Monster repellent," Nick said, "Trust me, it will repel most monsters."

"Why don't we just douse Briarwood with the stuff then," Xander asked.

"You'll understand when you get a whiff of it," Nick said, opening the bottle. Everybody started to gag, wiping at watery eyes.

"Oh that's strong," V cried out, "What is it?"

"Garlic," Nick said, "about eighty percent of monsters have an aversion to the stuff."

"What about the other twenty percent?" Maddy asked.

"Stick close to me," Nick said, "And pray that Keeper Protection can keep us all safe and the Keeper's Curse doesn't flare up."

"So what exactly is the Keeper Curse?" V asked, "I've heard you mention it before, but what is it."

"My ancestor, long ago, in the middle ages, stop an evil sorcerer from taking over England, and with his dying breath, he cursed the whole family for all eternity, now when one thing goes bad, a whole lot of bad things happen. Like blown up Islands, and kidnapped daughters, and being turned evil."

"That is totally awesome," Chip announced before they all ventured into the Forest.

Nick glanced around at the skeleton of a monster on the ground, then up at the bare branches of the canopy overhead, he sure didn't need the constant warmth of his ring to inform him that this was a dangerous place. The Skeleton was obviously of a dragon or maybe a Wraith. He really didn't want to find out if there where any living relatives lurking about, especially since Wraiths and Dragons where among the twenty percent of monsters that weren't effected by garlic.

"Now this is my kind of place," Chip announced, taking in the large skeleton.

"It sure isn't mine," Maddy confessed as everybody heard rustling noise up above.

Nick looked up with the others, whatever was moving through the treetops was big, he just hoped that it was a dragon and not a wraith. Dragons, if approached right can be trained, they only attack if they felt like they were frightened. Wraiths would attack you just for breathing the same air as they did.

"Okay what was that?" Maddy demanded.

"Just keep going," Nick insisted, "And keep your wands at the ready, I think somethings following us."

"Well that's a comforting thought," V snapped.

"Let's just keep moving," Xander insisted, turning around to start down the path only to let out a girly scream as a face suddenly dropped down in front of him.

"It's only Phineas," Maddy pointed out.

"Oh it's only the rangers," the troblin announced, swinging down from the tree.

"We're on a very important mission and don't have time for a visit right now," Nick insisted.

"Well," Phineas said, "Since you asked so nicely I'll lead you through the forest."

Nick nodded his head, a troblin guide would discourage attacks from some of the less friendly monsters, and Phineas probably knew this Forest as well as he knew the forest surrounding his home back in Reefside, "I think we should take him up on the offer, He knows the forest better than we do."

"We have a map," Xander insisted, pointing to the map in his hand, "I know how to read maps, we don't need a guide," he paused consulting the map, "It's this way," he insisted, walking off, Chip close behind him.

"Guys, I really think we should consider Phineas's offer," Nick insisted, "He knows where all the monsters are, especially those that aren't effected by the monster repellent."

"Come on Nick," Chip called out over his shoulder, he and Xander were already several feet ahead of him and the girls, "You know all about these monsters, you can get us out of just about anything."

"Yeah," V said, slugging him in the arm, "Why are you such a worried wort, you're the one who had monster repellent on hand, you know more about the enchanted forest than we do, you know more about this place then the rest of us, we'll be fine."

"Yeah well, just because you learn about the Battle of Gettysburg doesn't mean you shouldn't be worried if you suddenly found yourself in the middle of it," Nick insisted, "Come on," he told the girls, "We better catch up with them before they walk into the path of a killer unicorn or something."