-Kendall, Dino Lab-

"This old Zandarian looks legitimate from what I see, especially when remembering the old texts that used to be with the Gold Energem," came a voice from the connection on the computer, Kendall currently looking over a set of papers as she put the last one into the computer. "Though it's interesting that you had a worker go with you to there."

"Well, I didn't expect Furio and his forces to appear at the last second," Kendall spoke as she looked to the hologram she had up, matching the symbols that Eric had drawn with the locations he had written out in thought. Sure enough to how he had written it, it showed three other locations of a similar form. Given how two of the locations were in Zandar, she decided to get a call in over that, thus her current conversation with Prince Philip on the computer. "However, I didn't expect him to push me into a hole so he could draw those Stingwingers away."

"Given the situation you told me about, I think I can understand why," Philip spoke as he looked over the symbols. "With how much he has apparently read up on the stories of Sir Ivan and the history of Zandar, he may find himself with a sense of honor in a similar state as Ivan, choosing the best option to keep them busy while not letting them get the scanner."

"But it came with the cost of him getting injured fighting them," Kendall responded with a sigh, sitting down as she remembered taking him to the hospital afterwards. "Eric ended up with a sprained wrist that fortunately didn't lead to anything serious when he went to the hospital, but I've had him take the next few days off since he won't be able to cook or serve with it despite his protests on the matter. He's lucky he wasn't injured too badly, not being a Power Ranger."

"Maybe, but I recall you acting the same way when another scanner had been taken by Sledge," came the voice of Keeper as he entered into the area while looking to Kendall, who simply kept quiet while looking at the viewing screen. "He may not be able to bear an Energem like the rest of you, but he certainly has the spirit of a Ranger with his actions."

"Besides that, I managed to figure out another matter you saw in the cave," Philip spoke, pulling up a picture of a seal with three animals surrounding a sword with a pterodactyl upon the hilt. Kendall just looked at it shocked, seeing a spitting image of the symbol she had seen when she met Nathan within the cave system. "This was apparently a symbol representing the order of knights which Ivan formed later in life, the bull claimed to be the symbol of a Sir Nathan, who according to the stories took no land or oath to the crown."

"The Magna Defender said to call him Nathan when I met him in there, so this basically confirms the legend Eric told me about," Kendall spoke as she looked at the seal. "It's a wonder on why he was able to live this long though, even with his weapons… What of the other two creatures, the rhino and bird?"

"That was a bit harder to find, but looking through the direct records showed that they belong to two other knights which made up the order," Philip responded before a image of a portrait was brought up, showing a man and woman sitting upon it. "The rhino was the symbol of a Sir Randalph of Orathan, one of the locations the symbols on the seal are, who claimed it when he was made the lord of that city. The bird itself is actually a phoenix, which rested as a symbol of a Lady Marianne. However, that's all we have on the two, any other records seem to have been hidden or destroyed over the centuries."

"Well, that at least explains the rhino symbol in the caves," Kendall responded as she looked at the image before looking over to Keeper. "Where did you go to?"

"I had traveled to Ivan's time to give him his Energizer for a time and discuss a few things with him," Keeper responded as he looked to Kendall. "He was happy with the decision as well since he has to lead a group of knights to a city which is claimed to have been attacked by monsters."

"Really," Kendall asked before pulling up a search tab. "Do you know what the village was called? Maybe it was in one of those stories that Eric talked about?"

"I believe the region was called Ithlem," Keeper responded, Kendall keying in the name before she was searching through it, pulling up several tabs. "It's a region which rests along the mountain paths along the northern region of Zandar's borders of that time period."

"I think I know which one you're talking about, but it's mainly due to the mines back in our original timeline being a great part in helping our economy," Philip responded as he looked to Kendall. "I'll look more into it and Ivan's entourage of knights, see if we can find a point where we can ask him about it that he'll know."

"Understood," Kendall responded as she kept looking over the tabs, Philip turning off his connection as she thought over Eric again. Kendall then looked over the tabs again and, with a sigh, she began searching for something connecting Ivan to Ithlem.

-Eric, home-

Eric looked at his phone, reading over the Zandarian writing that he took a picture of as he sat at the kitchen table in his house, the cut on his cheek having been covered by a few band-aids. Beside it was an open book along with a piece of paper with the full writing from the wall unedited with several lines translated from the writing directly under it, though he was feeling antsy just sitting there. 'I still could've worked despite these injuries, there wasn't a need for Ms. Morgan to call me off work,' Eric thought to himself, looking up at his kitchen as he leaned back in his chair. After they had gotten back to the zoo, Ms. Morgan had Eric checked out to find that there were several good bruises on his arms while he had strained his left wrist during his fight. When that was revealed, and despite his protests, Ms. Morgan had him leave for the day to rest up, and gave him tomorrow off as well. Right now, however, he was sitting at his table with a meal currently heating up in the oven, the timer counting down on it as he looked over at the empty plate and silverware to the left of it waiting for the meal to be ready. He then sighed as he looked to the book that was beside his phone, one of the items he had kept when he was still studying Zandarian history as he looked back to the paper he had written so far, reading it over in his mind again. 'Where blue flame and red earth still meet under stone, shall the trials of knights be taken alone. In flame one must walk with mind made clear, while earth one must tread despite all fear.'

As he sat back, putting his pencil down beside the piece of paper, he heard the doorbell ring, making him sigh as he picked himself up after looking at the time to see it was currently five o' clock. "In a second," Eric shouted at the door, turning around and walking through where his living room was, soon taking a left to the hallway leading to the door. Beside it was a sword resting on the wall, a blue feather engraved upon the sheath as he looked over to it with a silent recollection of its importance before he opened the door, soon finding Tyler at the door. "Hey Tyler, checking up on me?"

"Yeah, I heard how you got hurt," Tyler responded before Eric signaled him to follow in, not wanting to leave the food unattended in the oven as Tyler stepped in and looked around, noticing the sword. "You live here?"

"Fortunately, ended up with a good lease thanks to helping the landlord out with a big project last year before I started working at the zoo," Eric responded as he walked back through the living room and into the kitchen, looking back at the paper on the table as he also looked at the book and the paper again. "Though I'd prefer to work instead of being here, given my brother still has yet to give me back any of my games I can use to pass the time while I'm recovering. He didn't even bring back the ones he said he would when he came here last…"

Tyler just looked at him before looking over the paper, seeing the writing on it. "Well, it seems you've made yourself a hobby with what you found at the cavern," Tyler spoke as he watched Eric sat down, seeing him looking over the book again before writing down another word at the further end of the paper. "Did you translate that yourself in the short time you've been back home?"

"Looking over old texts from Zandar's history is what I originally studied for before getting the job at the zoo," Eric responded as he looked back at the top of the paper, reading over the writing before looking back up to Tyler as he sat down at the table with him. "I may not have a job for it like I wanted when getting my degree in Zandarian History, but I still have the translations and writing I looked over for classes during my grad years. Besides, there wasn't any way I wouldn't try to translate it today after reading that first line about red earth and blue flame."

"Cool," Tyler responded as he looked at the paper and book, soon looking back to Eric. "So, what did you figure out?"

"Nothing really on a location yet, but the references within it so far seem to be reminiscent of one of the other myths that appeared at the same time as the Ebony Knight," Eric responded, looking back down at the paper as he started to read it over. "For instance, the current text I've translated reads like this: 'Where blue flame and red earth still meet under stone, shall the trials of knights be taken alone. In flame one must walk with mind made clear, while earth one must tread despite all fear.' It's reminiscent of the tales of Azure and Scarlet, bearing the aspects that are read of in the calm nature of the Azure Knight and the undaunted courage of the Scarlet Knight when they faced their foes in their legends."

"Azure and Scarlet Knights," Tyler spoke, looking at him confused. "Who were they."

"If legend is to be believed, they were Knights of Zandar who directly served under Sir Ivan before and during the reign of King Colin," Eric responded as he looked over the paper. "To quote the legend: The Azure Knight, wielding a slender sword whose strike was as quick as the wind while as ever changing as fire, while the Scarlet Knight was as unmovable as the mountain region he was believed to come from, with strength that could move boulders. Fitting to the writing here, their armor was of blue and red respectively, thus why my thoughts moved to their tales when reading this."

"Do you think it could be referencing them," Tyler asked, only getting a sigh from Eric as he leaned back in his chair again.

"If this was found in Zandar, then it could be possible with how genuine the age of the writing looked when I saw it," Eric spoke as he spun his pencil in his hand in thought, soon setting it down as he looked back over to Tyler. "However, despite how old the writing could be, and the fact that it has the proper pattern for the time period, the location and what's written makes it strange to even be there."

"Why's that," Tyler asked, looking at Eric as the man tapped his fingers on the table, closing his eyes as if remembering something like a particular hobby.

"The legends of Azure and Scarlet are some of the biggest reasons for people to consider the tales from Zandar's History, in particular The Battle of Steel and Fang, to be mainly myth more than reality," Eric spoke as he kept his eyes closed, feeling a dull throb on his left arm as he set it on the table to keep it from hurting. "Every tale is of them aiding Sir Ivan and the Ebony Knight in fighting monsters throughout the time before and during the Battle, all cumulating to the tale 'Courage in Scarlet' at the end where the Scarlet knight sacrifices himself. Even the first tale, 'The Bridge of Orathan' has the Scarlet Knight facing off against several dozen monsters alone when he's first met by Sir Ivan while on a trip with a young Prince Colin twelve years before he would ascend the throne. For it to have this specific writing would mean to verify the existence of the two, which I would be all for if there was any physical evidence to back it up."

"I wouldn't be surprised about if it did turn out to be the case, given all that's been going on," Tyler responded as he looked over at Eric, his mind immediately going to Prince Philip back at Zandar. "Do you think that Zandar would like to see if it could be legitimate?"

"Maybe, but you'd have to have some pretty big connections to get them to look it over," Eric responded as he leaned back forward, turning off his phone and looking to Tyler. "In the meantime, how's Ms. Morgan? I know I got the short end with this wrist, but I'd still like to know."

"She's making a few calls at the moment while taking the day off herself. She thinks we may have someone who we can contact about this matter better, if we want to."

"That's good, at least," Eric sighed, looking back at the paper with the translations he had made. Then, with a second sigh he leaned back, closing his eyes. "I know I got the short end with how bruised up I am from fighting in that tunnel, but we both were in there for a while. Make sure she gets a good amount of rest after that."

"Sure," Tyler responded, looking over the visible bruises still on Eric's arms as he looked down at the paper he wrote down. "You seem really into this stuff, even without having a job for it. What made you go into reading over the myths?"

"Honestly, my family," Eric soon put his pencil down, looking over to the sword that was resting on the wall by the door. "There was a fourth-grade project back when I was younger that we had to go and learn about our ancestry, so I decided to look back into my dad's family. We found roots to some knights that had our family symbols, and I got hooked the more I looked past that and onward. Imagine my surprise too, I traced the family line back to-"

Eric stopped as the ringer went off, making him pick himself up as he remembered that his food was in the oven. "Traced it back to what," Tyler asked as Eric put on a mitten on his good hand, opening the oven and slowly pulling out a small platter as he set it on the stone top counter beside him.

"One of the Lords of Zandar," Eric responded with a chuckle, shaking his head as he turned back to Tyler, shutting the oven door. "In historical terms, I have the blood of a noble in me, so I looked all over the region he had ruled over. Over time, I got caught in mythology along the way and my love for history was cemented, and I got to learn so many different stories, even starting with The Bridge of…"

Eric's eyes then seemed to widen, making him run back to the paper as he looked back over the writing before, surprising Tyler. "What's up," Tyler spoke, surprised as he watched Eric looked over the words on the page again, a smile seeming to start on his face.

"Where blue flame and red stone still meet under stone," Eric simply responded, reciting one of the lines as he opened the book again, flipping over the pages as he looked over them before finally stopping at a page showing an old map of Zandar. "I was thinking it had something to do with just a training ground or the like, but if it could be using matters which quote the myths…"

"So you think you know where it could be," Tyler asked, making Eric nod as he placed his finger on one of the small towns on the map, making Tyler look and read the name. "Orathan…"

"The first point of the Tales of Scarlet and Azure," Eric spoke as he looked at the map, soon pointing to another point on the far end, this being a forest which resided close to what looked to be the capital on the map. "The Forest of Ezekiel, the hunting grounds for Zandar's royal family eight hundred years ago and where the Azure Knight first appears in the tale 'The Calm Flame'. Both meet Sir Ivan and the Ebony Knight, but neither actually meet each other at this point. However, the next tale that's told in the set of the Tales of Scarlet and Azure has them having already met and later becoming quite close, so there's a major gap in the period…"

"What does that have to do with the writing," Tyler asked, making Eric look up as if realizing something before shaking his head as he pushed himself away from the book.

"Sorry, I got caught up in an idea that went into my head thanks to us talking," Eric sighed, looking back to his food and still seeing it as a bit too hot for him to grab at the moment. "Regardless, my food is ready so I should probably start cleaning up my mess here. Do you want to stay for some food?"

"Sorry, Shelby wants to go out tonight," Tyler responded as he picked himself up from his chair, soon feeling his phone go off before he pulled it out. "And speaking of which, I should probably go. However, I'd like to hear more about what made you think that over later."

"Count on it. However, just be aware that once I start talking about Zandarian Myths in earnest, you won't be able to stop me," Eric stated as he showed Tyler out, soon waving to the guy. "Tell Shelby I said hi."

With that he shut the door, soon sighing as he looked back to the sword on the wall again, the blue feather seeming to be more prominent than before. 'If the Azure Knight is considered like a flame, and the Scarlet Knight like earth, then wherever they could most likely be at is the best solution to this riddle,' Eric thought to himself, looking down to his sprained wrist as he tested it, wincing as he closed his hand and felt the pain spike. 'However, I can't look into it as I am now, but I do have some vacation days left after this. Maybe I should use them when I get it figured out…'

-800 years ago, Ivan-

Ivan sat on his horse as he fidgeted with the device he was given my Keeper just a few days ago, the small tube dangling off his neck like the Energem used to in a golden color. 'Tis a fine gift, but quite foreboding to have something outside of the Energems,' Ivan thought as he looked ahead from the knights he was leading, their own route going along the path to a village that had reported unknown creatures arriving in the area which sounded similar to the creatures which Ivan had heard of from Tyler and the others. 'The timing of these creatures arriving around the same time as Keeper's gift could be considered a coincidence, but the question is what's brought them here.'

"Ivan, Ithlem is ahead," came a voice, snapping Ivan out of his thoughts as he looked ahead to see a small appearance of a village with people moving through it. What also caught his attention, however, was a cloaked figure sitting along the side of the road looking to them as they approached the town.

"I wouldn't recommend heading to that town at the moment, especially with this many people," the figure spoke in a calm voice, Ivan simply looking to the man as his horse halted. "You'll find yourselves surrounded and taken prisoner, if you're lucky."

"Is that a threat to us," stated the one who spoke to Ivan before, a large knight with a black beard, as he looked down at the figure. Before he could move forward, however, Ivan held up his hand to make the knight stop. "Sir Ivan?"

"You're still too hasty in your initial thoughts on others, Sir Owen," Ivan spoke as he looked at the knight, soon looking back to the who picked himself up as he stretched. "We've come here by order of the king to scout the area around this village. As you are a wanderer along this path, I have to ask if you know of any recent events that would have you tell us to stay clear of this village? Was there anything strange which has occurred?"

"Something strange has certainly occurred here recently, and the townsfolk themselves paid the price for it," The figure responded, dusting himself off before he looked up to Ivan. "From what I could gather from watching the place myself, the entire town seems to have been replaced."

"In what way," Ivan asked, only getting the man to signal him to follow as he started walking off the path and into the forested region.

"It's better that you see it for yourself," the figure spoke, signaling Ivan to follow before he stopped and looked over to him. "There's a small hill that overlooks the village further in, you can see for yourself if I'm telling the truth from that alone."

Ivan looked to him, pondering his statement as he looked back to the village, the sun peaking over the edges of the mountains past it to signal morning. "What can you offer that can prove you're trustworthy? You're simply a stranger in our eyes, what's to say you don't have an ambush planned yourself?"

"You're right," the figure sighed before it seemed like he was ruffling with something under his cloak. Then, in the next moment, he produced a black sword with a green gem upon it, the weapon held in front of Ivan sheathed as the figure bowed his head. "I'll offer my own blade to prove my truthfulness, and if you think otherwise of me then you can arrest me."

Ivan just looked at the figure stunned, looking between him and the weapon as he walked to him. Then, taking the blade he turned his attention to the knights. "Stay here for the moment, but be ready for anything." Ivan spoke, making the man who spoke nod and salute. "Sir Owen will be in charge of the troops until I return."

"Of course sir," came the response of the large knight, giving a salute before Ivan turned and headed after the cloaked figure, making the figure chuckle as he began to walk along the path towards the village.

"Don't trust me to not be honest to my word," the figure asked after they were far enough away from the knights, continuing the path as Ivan followed behind. "Smart though, I could've just as easily led you all into an ambush if you all followed."

"It's not the matter of trusting you as more the mystery about you. For instance, we don't even know your name or where you come from…"

"Nathan, and you can call me a wanderer that goes wherever they're needed," the man responded as they continued on their walk, looking to Ivan with a smirk to reveal a flash of green eyes under his cloak along with a short dark beard. "That's my name and technical origin, thought I can't specify any further than that. However, I am truthfully trying to help your knights help the people in this village, given it's been overrun by an old enemy of mine which I've sworn to defeat."

"Truly," Ivan spoke as they soon made it to a large hill, Nathan immediately climbing it as Ivan followed still holding his sword. Before long they made it to the top, soon kneeling as the man pulled down his hood, revealing long dark hair and a beard hiding most of his face as he looked towards the village. Ivan looked to his own direction to see the village, noting that the villagers were moving around in the village like nothing was wrong. At a quick glance it seemed like nothing was wrong, however… "These villagers move differently, slouched or in groups. It's as if they're possessed by some beast to act in this way."

"It's not that they're possessed as it's more that they're disguised to look like these villagers," Nathan explained with a nod, keeping his gaze upon the village as the two looked it over. "They can camouflage themselves to look like other creatures or individuals, though it doesn't change how they act. I think the only ones who can seamlessly pull that off are their generals who run them, so we're lucky this village is full of grunts."

"Sounds like a foul foe to face, if true… What of the actual villagers who lived here? Are they okay?"

"A handful I managed to save before coming here are, which I'm guessing were the ones who went to your king, but the majority were captured by the beasts… There seems to be a pattern with this group where they send a set of supplies and people out of the town every now and again to a nearby tunnel, most of the people being in chains. Chances are that they're being taken to that area to be used as labor."

"The scoundrels," Ivan muttered, looking at the village and noting how some of the villagers seemed to be shimmering with flashes of green, though he couldn't be certain from this distance. "Do you know what could be in there?"

"Sadly no," Nathan responded with a sigh as he stood up, walking over to a nearby tree before leaning onto it, closing his eyes as if recounting the event. "When I first got here a few days ago and found the tunnel, I tried going in there to locate the villagers by following the footprints, but the area is covered in solid stone so there's no footprints to follow. To add to this, I found that the tunnels split apart too much to understand the directions, so I had to head out of there and rethink my plan."

"That is concerning, but if we can get a way to follow the trail down there, then we can find out where they're being held within. However, it can't be done by simply following them or else we jeopardize the people inside if we get lost and they find out we're in there."

"Exactly my thoughts," Nathan responded with a nod, watching as Ivan stood up and looked at him. "So now the question, how best can we follow the path while making sure we don't put the villagers in harm's way?"

"That is probably something better to discuss away from here and in preparation," Ivan responded, sighing as he turned to Nathan, holding out his sword. "You've proven your word, so there's no need for me to keep this blade. I know it may be too much to ask, but can you aid us in figuring out what to do to save the villagers?"

"To the best of my ability, especially given the foe ahead is something I intended to fight as well," Nathan spoke as he took his sword back, setting it to his side as he looked over to him, looking as if trying to recall something. "I've heard tales of the honor and courage of the Knights of Zandar, so I'm glad to see that they're true in the face of such creatures."

"I'm glad you've heard such tales," Ivan responded as the two began backtracking to the army they had left. "There was an open patch along the road only a short distance from where we were, we'll make our camp there and determine the best course of action."

-Present time, Nathan-

Nathan woke up with a start, holding his hand out in surprise as he saw the sun had begun to set in the area. He could still feel as if he could smell the forest around that village, making him shake his head as he looked over the area. 'I guess I fell asleep after making it here,' Nathan muttered, looking up at the trees to try to determine the time. Then, he picked himself up and patted his clothes, a black jacket and jeans, before he ruffled his hair while remembering a old explanation he was given for his lifespan. 'As you chose to be a direct guardian of the Galaxy Book, your life is tied with it. So long as you are connected to it like now, you can't die from age.'

Nathan then sighed as he rolled his neck, trying to get the stiffness out of it as he began walking through the forest in the direction he was originally heading, noting a few familiar trees that were close to where he had been heading. "Nathan," came a voice, making him look up as Zika landed in front of him. "I was moving through the area looking for you when you didn't come to the meeting point after the fight with Radster. Where were you?"

"I ended up dozing off, seems fighting all those Stingwingers along with Furio got the better of me," Nathan sighed, shaking his head as he rolled his shoulders a bit. "And confirmed my biggest fears: it seems Furio's been focusing on growing stronger since we last saw him, I couldn't even land a proper hit on him while he kept knocking me around even when I blocked an attack."

"So he's even stronger than before," Zika asked, looking at Nathan before he shook his head, focusing on the situation. "More than that, what about the rangers?"

"I intend to see if I'll meet them later," Nathan responded, walking off towards where the sun was at as Zika followed behind. "They did much better than I was originally expecting, though Ivan had beaten my expectations before as well even before I knew he was a ranger."

"Enough for you to trust them," Zika asked as the two walked through the forest, only getting silence in return as they soon found a dirt path that was far more familiar for Nathan as he walked along it. "You can't fight Furio alone, especially if his group is stronger than before."

"Maybe, but I can't exactly trust the same people who destroyed earth without learning their reasons why," Nathan responded, stopping to look to Zika as he tilted his head. "What about you? Heading back to Magnus to check up on your father?"

"That as the original plan, but the current problem with Furio can take precedence over that," Zika responded, looking to the mountain. "It'd be good if Ivan or his knights could appear though."

"If what the Guardian told me was true, the Energems could make that possible," Nathan responded as he put his hands in his pockets, continuing his walk. "They have the power to manipulate time, which was why I ended up in the past as I did, albeit a botched landing originally…"

"I remember, the Torozord from your time had cracks in his armor that wouldn't have come from battle." Zika responded, looking to Nathan again. "It was interesting how fast you headed over to Magnus the moment you found out what time you were in, not even thinking of heading back to Earth first."

"It was the most immediate problem," Nathan responded, pulling out one of his hands and waving it nonchalantly. "I didn't know what time period I was in at first, and then I ended up catching the communications from Magnus over Scorpius' forces gathering for an assault on the planet to claim the Lights of Orion. I already told you how much I went through in my timeline fighting them, and what I lost."

"But you still went in to provide the solution that could save Magnus… If what you said about your timeline is true, you saved us from destruction and my dad from a path of vengeance."

"Maybe, but I did the same thing I got mad at them about without thinking of how it may affect the rest of it. Think about it, Randalph may have had a peaceful life if I never interfered."

This made Zika stop, the two of them now at the edge of the area and looking at a motorcycle that was sitting along the edge as Nathan walked over to it. "You actually parked all the way out here," Zika asked, getting a chuckle from Nathan as he ruffled his hair, making sure no bugs had gotten into it. "More importantly I don't think your actions would've done anything about Randalph's decision. You even told me that he went against your orders during that battle."

"And from Furio's expression he's still afraid of him," Nathan agreed, turning back over to Zika. "Either way, I should get ready to meet with those rangers eventually, since I told them to eventually meet me at one of the fountains in town. If they have an ability to talk to Ivan, and it's the point where he knows me, I'll never live it down if they bring him over."

"Remembering him, I'd believe it," Zika laughed before turning to the forest again. "I'll head back with Torozord then and tell my father the situation. Also, do you want that armor he finished brought here?"

"Eventually, but my student isn't back yet," Nathan responded, waving his hand as he got onto his motorcycle, fishing in his pockets for his keys. "I originally wanted to keep it in the mountain so I could surprise her, but that's obviously not going to work anymore. Let's find a spot to hide it before we bring it in."

With that Zika simply nodded before he walked off to the forest, waving a farewell. 'Well, he definitely takes after his father's logic more than his emotions,' Nathan thought to himself as he finally pulled out the keys to his motorcycle, soon turning it on before he revved the engine. 'Though given how I first met the Magna Defender, I don't think I can say I had a good first impression.'