The moon shone down on a field littered with the dead. With armor hacked and hewn, knights sprawled in the places where they had fallen as life left their bodies. Some combatants were still entwined in a deadly embrace, clutching blood-stained blades that had slain the enemy as the enemy's blade had slain in return. The air was still, with no wind to cause a rustle to disturb the oppressive silence.

The silence was disturbed, though, by a high-pitched whistling sound just as a cloud crossed the moon and obscured its light. In the darkness, two figures dropped from the sky and thudded into the ground at the edge of the battle.

"Bat's breath!" a voice said. "I can't see a thing! Hey kid, where are you? You okay?"

A young, breathless voice said, "Yeah, I'm okay. It's so dark! I can't see anything. And what's that awful smell?"

A rustling noise was followed by the first voice saying, "It's okay, I've got you."

Phineas Bogg kept one hand on Jeffrey's arm as he fumbled for the Omni in his belt with the other. As time traveling Voyagers, he and Jeffrey had landed in many dangerous situations. While Bogg had once traveled alone and been rather careless with his personal safety, things were different now that he had acquired a partner in the form of young Jeffrey Jones. The boy's safety had become a paramount concern. And Bogg was all too familiar with the smell of blood and death that filled the air.

Bogg flipped the Omni open. "Too dark to read it, kid, all I can see is it's a red light," Bogg remarked. Just as he did, the obscuring cloud completed its journey across the face of the moon. Cold, pale moonlight flooded the scene.

Jeffrey grabbed Bogg's arm with both hands and cried, "Bogg!" in a fear-filled voice. Bogg looked up quickly and saw that they had landed close to a body. The corpse's sightless eyes were wide and blood covered the right side of his head from a massive, gaping wound. Bogg's head jerked up to survey the rest of the battlefield and he quickly grabbed Jeffrey and held his head to his chest.

"Don't look, Jeff," he said as he scooped the boy up and headed away from the carnage. Over a slight rise that hid the scene behind them, he put Jeffrey down and knelt in front of him. "It's okay," he said gently to the trembling boy. "I need to take a closer look and see if there are any survivors. Stay here and I'll be right back."

"No, Bogg!" Jeffrey said, his eyes wide with terror as he grabbed Bogg's shirt. "Don't leave me!"

Bogg ran his hand over Jeffrey's curls and hugged the boy to him. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving. Just a quick look and I'll be right back. I'll stay within earshot. I've got to make sure no one there needs our help, okay?"

Reluctantly Jeffrey nodded and relinquished his grip. He sat down, hugging his legs to his chest, and said, "Hurry, Bogg, please?"

"Sure thing." Bogg quickly returned to the battlefield and surveyed the scene for any signs of movement or sound to indicate survivors, but there was nothing. He checked several of the sprawled figures but all were lifeless and beginning to stiffen. He returned to Jeffrey and found the boy still huddled on the ground.

Jeffrey lifted his head, his dark eyes huge in his pale face. "Anything?" he asked. Bogg shook his head sadly.

"Where are we?" Jeffrey asked. Bogg opened the Omni and said, "Camlann, Britain, 537."

"Camlann!" Jeffrey exclaimed. "That's the place and year of King Arthur's last battle. But I thought he was just a myth!"

"You'd be surprised, kid, how many myths have their basis in something that actually happened in history. So if there was supposed to be a battle here, any idea why we have a red light?"

Jeffrey considered what he knew of Arthurian legend. "All Arthur's knights were slain except for one, Sir Bedivere, and Arthur was mortally wounded. Arthur had Sir Bedivere take his sword Excalibur to a lake and throw it in, where a hand came up and caught it and took it under the water. Then the Lady of the Lake, the Lady of the Isle of Avalon, Morgan le Fey and some other ladies took Arthur away in a barge across the lake to be healed of his wounds in Avalon. He's supposed to be there still, ready to rise again when Britain has need of him."

"Okay, so I guess we need to see if we can find Arthur and Bedivere," Bogg said. "Any ideas?"

Jeffrey looked around them. Behind them was the battlefield, to the left and right were open plains, but ahead of them were mountains. "The lake was in the mountains," he said with certainty. "We need to head that way."

The two Voyagers began their trek.

vVvVv

Weeping, Sir Bedivere knelt before the prone figure of King Arthur. "Sire, Sire!" he said. "Is there no hope of healing for you? How can my liege and his kingdom pass away before my eyes?"

With effort, Arthur raised a hand and placed it on Bedivere's arm. "Do not mourn, brave knight," he said weakly. "All happens as foretold. Our bright and shining kingdom will end but its memory will live on in the minds of men. But now, you must do one last thing for me."

"Anything, my Lord."

"Take Excalibur," Arthur said in a feeble voice. "There in the mountain pass before us is a dark lake. Take Excalibur to the lake and throw her in."

"But my Lord Arthur! Why? You may yet have need of her!"

"No," Arthur murmured. "I will never lift sword again in this life. Excalibur could do great harm in the wrong hands. It is best that she pass from this world as I do. Promise me, Sir Bedivere. This is my dying wish. Do as I ask, and come back and tell me when it is done."

"I will, sire," Bedivere said brokenly. He took Excalibur from the king and started toward the mountains.

Bedivere reached the mountain pass and there, as Arthur had said, he saw the dark lake. He walked to the edge, holding Excalibur, and lifted his arm, ready to do his king's bidding. But he hesitated, looking at the sword held in his hand, a sword without equal in the land. How could he consign such a great sword to a watery resting place! He lowered his arm and stared at the bright blade in indecision.

"Sir Bedivere!" a man's voice called. Startling, Bedievere turned and saw a strangely-dressed man and boy hurrying toward him.

"Hold," Bedivere said, raising Excalibur and extending her in the direction of the strangers. "Who are you? Are you for Arthur or for Mordred?"

The man and boy stopped a safe distance away. "We are Arthur's men," the man said. "I'm Bogg and this is Jeffrey."

"Wow! Is that Excalibur?" Jeffrey exclaimed.

Bedivere looked at the sword in his hand. "It is," he said, tightening his grip. "What do you know of Excalibur?"

"Everyone knows Excalibur," Jeffrey said. "Is it true it can only be wielded by the rightful king of Britain?"

Sir Bedivere looked at the sword thoughtfully. "It is true that possession of Excalibur helped to identify the one true king. It is possible she could do so again."

Bogg and Jeffrey exchanged glances. "Sir Bedivere," Bogg said. "Is it not true that King Arthur sent you to this place to fulfill a task for him?"

"How could you know that?" Bedivere exclaimed. "Have you seen Arthur? Does he yet live?"

"He does," Jeffrey said. "He's waiting for you to come back and tell him you fulfilled his final wish. He cannot rest until he knows you have done so."

Bedivere looked at the sword regretfully. His desire to keep the sword for himself waned as he remembered the entreaty of his king. "Yes," Bedivere said. "I must do as my king commands." Lifting Excalibur high above his head, he drew his arm back and threw the sword toward the lake. It entered the water with a splash and sank from view.

"Thank you, friends," Bedivere said to Bogg and Jeffrey. "Thank you for reminding me of my duty. I must return to my king now." He turned and swiftly walked back through the pass.

Bogg opened the Omni. "Green light, kid," he said.

"Why do you think Excalibur needed to be thrown into the lake, Bogg?" Jeffrey asked. "In the stories, it's because it's a magic sword that has to be returned to a mystical being, but that can't be the reason."

"Probably to keep it from falling into the wrong hands," Bogg said, setting the Omni. "Anyone who had that sword could claim to be king. In the wrong hands that could be a bad thing."

"That makes sense," Jeffrey conceded. He moved toward Bogg, ready to take his arm as they Omni'd to the next place in history that needed a push, but stopped as his eyes opened wide and he shouted, "Bogg! Behind you!"

A knight who had apparently survived the battle, although bearing great wounds, had suddenly risen from the undergrowth behind Bogg. As Bogg began to turn, the knight swung his sword at Bogg's head. But he was weak and began to fall, his sword turning from the edge to the flat. Bogg was struck on the side of his head and as he fell, his fingers clenched on the Omni.

Jeffrey was left looking on in horror as Bogg vanished before his eyes and the knight who had struck him fell to the ground and was still.