"Now it is time you foolish mortals meet your end." The mystery knight said as he pulled his axe over his head and chucked it at Adam, who ducked, the axe sailing over his head and lodging itself into a tree, where a few animals fled from it.

"What the hell?!?!?" Adam yelled fearfully as the knight made his way out of the lake, toward the tree that the axe was in, but was interrupted by Mayonaka tackling into him, and although the knight was larger and in armor, the tackle still sent him into the lake again.

"Care to explain??!?!?" Adam yelled again as Bryn picked up his staff, and directed Sapphire to go and hide in the cottage, which the girl had no arguments to that. Mayonaka huffed a bit, not looking back as he replied.

"I don't know myself... but it looks like someone I was partnered with years ago... but that's impossible, he died..." Adam rolled his eyes as he summoned Excalibur from his gauntlet (with a flick of the wrist), the big golden sword appearing in his hands. He ran for the mystery knight, jumping into the air and swing down hard upon the knight's helmet. The knight reached up and blocked it with an armored hand, and the recoil sent Adam reeling back and into the dirt.

Adam spat the dirt out of his mouth and once again took a defensive stance. Mayonaka again tried to rush the knight, biting down hard on the knight's shoulder, and the knight let out a scream of pain, Mayonaka's bite somehow piercing the armor. Adam shivered as the scream echoed around the lake. It seemed like the scream was not only one scream... it sounded like it was entangled with another's scream as well, someone familiar that Adam couldn't put his finger on... The knight, with a noticeable look of uncertainty and reluctance, pulled the lion over his shoulder and flung him head-first into a big tree, leaving him stunned.

The knight huffed and turned to glare at Adam, who felt his heart skip a few beats as the axe was somehow back in the knight's hands. "Oh no you don't!" Bryn yelled as he raised his staff, a few balls of glowing purple aura flying at the knight, hitting him directly in the chest. However, it only made him stumble a bit.

As Bryn held off the knight, Adam took the opportunity to run quickly over to Mayonaka, who was groaning and shaking his head. "Are you okay?" Adam asked as he kneeled down face-to-face with the old lion.

"I'm fine..." he said slowly. "I'm just really too old for this." Adam was about to get up again as he heard a loud crash from behind him, with a few angry yells from both the knight and Bryn. "Wait..." Mayonaka called, making Adam freeze. "Bryn's spells are effective, but on Kaedeono, only Excalibur will be able to really damage him. Bryn can only hold him back for so long."

"Kaedeono?" Adam asked, confused. "What kind of name is that?"

"Kaedeono's name means 'maple axe', which is fitting because-"

The lion stopped as another loud bang echoed across the lake, and not so loud curses from Bryn flew out as well. "It's not really important now, but you need to listen to me young one," he said, Adam leaning in closer. "I need you to kill Kaedeono."

Adam froze. What?!?!? I can't kill someone!!! Adam tried to yell, but it just remained a thought in his head as a few gasps and stutters escaped his mouth. He knew he couldn't kill someone... he wasn't a fighter... even with Excalibur, he knew he was just a Youtuber, not a knight, and he felt overwhelming fear as there was another loud bang, and Bryn flew into his field of vision, hitting the ground.

Adam growled, a feeling of anger washing over him. No one, NO ONE, hurts my friends...! He thought as he turned, grabbing Excalibur with both of his hands, to see Kaedeono advancing on him, the axe gleaming in the moonlight. With a loud battle cry that he screamed at the top of his lungs, he ran forward, his sword by his side, as he tried the jump attack again. "For Team Crafted!!!"

Excalibur met with the blade of Kaedeono's axe, and the knight swung his axe, sending Adam back, but he managed to get back on his feet in a short moment. He felt like he could hear the blood rushing in his ears, and felt like his heart was beating out of his chest. As he and Kaedeono stood at a stalemate, Adam could hear Mayonaka telling Bryn to go stay with Sapphire, and Adam sighed lightly as he felt a drop of water hit his cheek, signaling rainfall as more rain steadily began to fall, turning a shower of droplets as Adam let out a yell and ran toward the knight again, sword aimed for his chest.

It was a song of both courage and anger, the sound of metal clanging against metal, the pouring rain pattering on the lake surface. Mayonaka, Sapphire and Bryn watched from outside the cottage, the old lion and the sorcerer too weary to fight, and Sapphire watching with wide eyes as she treated their wounds. Eventually Adam, who was soaked to the bone from the rain, took a swing at Kaedeono's wounded shoulder, which the knight blocked, swinging his axe at Adam, managing to get a slash at his arm, making the Youtuber cry out in pain as he held his arm with his free hand, Excalibur disappearing into his gauntlet as he fell to his knees.

Kaedeono laughed his deep, evil laugh as he stepped within feet of the wounded Adam, talking slowly and menacingly. "You put up a strong fight young one, but it is time you fall!"

Adam froze as he heard the knight's voice. His voice is messed up... it's like there's two people talking, not just one... and that second voice seems so familiar... I just can't pinpoint it in the original voice... he thought as Kaedeono raised his axe over Adam's head, ready to swing.

The knight stopped as they heard a loud growling and a roar of pain behind him, with the worrying calls of Bryn and Sapphire as well. Fortunately, unlike Kaedeono, Adam was not distracted by Mayonaka's failed attempt to get over to them, and it seemed like a flash as Adam, with all of his strength summoned Excalibur and charged forward, his sword becoming buried in Kaedeono's chest.

The lake became quiet, the only sound being the tip-tap of the rain, before Kaedeono let out a echoing cry that echoed around the lake, before collapsing to the ground, Excalibur disappearing and once again becoming part of Adam's gauntlet. The animals who had all gathered around the lake while they fought all had a look of mourn on their furry faces at the dying green knight. Adam fell to his knees, feeling the stinging of his wounds as he looked at the knight again.

Kaedeono seemed to have a bright yellow light coming out from the cracks in his armor, and he took one last look at the animals around the lake, before his head became limp and his whole body became engulfed in light, before there was a bright flash, and the lights seemed to float away, a figure falling to the ground in Kaedeono's place.

Adam squinted his eyes in the rain, trying to see who was lying in the light. He stood, feeling heavy from his wet clothes and worn down by his wounds, and stumbled forward to the person lying in the light, before the light finally completely faded, and Adam took a sharp breath as he recognized the figure in the rain.

"Jerome!" he yelled, as he kneeled down next to the still bacca. Adam's mind was racing, thinking he might have killed his friend, but was quickly relieved by the sight of Jerome's chest rising and falling steadily. He also noticed that on Jerome's hand he was wearing a green gauntlet like Adam's black one. Adam heard the squishing of Bryn, Sapphire, and Mayonaka running in the wet grass from behind him. Bryn was the first to reach him, and kneeled by them, looking at the unconscious Jerome with a confused look.

"How did he...?" Bryn asked, his voice trailing off as Sapphire and Mayonaka came up to them.

"Just as I thought..." Mayonaka mumbled. "Hurry, we have to get him to the cottage to treat his wounds. Sapphire, do you have left over supplies inside to heal their wounds?" Sapphire nodded, and the lion bent down a bit, telling Bryn and Sapphire to get Jerome on his back. Adam stood to help, but stopped as his body gave him resistance for trying to move so much with his injuries. Mayonaka told Adam to get on his back as well, and Adam reluctantly got on. The lion took off toward the cottage, jumping across the large stepping stones two at a time (Adam having to grab the lion's neck with one arm, and the other keeping the equally drenched Jerome from falling off, which was hard to do when you have rain pelting your face like bullets), before skidding to a halt in front of the cottage, once again bending over for Adam to get off. Bryn and Sapphire were running after them, only just getting to where the stepping stones were.

"Get him warmed up inside, I'll wait for the others to get here."

Adam nodded, and with a wince, slung Jerome over his shoulder (but that just resulted in him falling over, so Adam actually just dragged him inside) and went inside, dragging him up the stairs and into one of the empty rooms, ignoring the curious looks of Nashi and Ringo, and putting him on one of the twin beds.

Adam, having no idea, what to do, looked around the room for something, and eventually found a few blankets, throwing one over the bacca. He was about to go downstairs to see if the others were inside, when he heard a groaning behind him, making him whip around. "Adam..." Jerome, who had apparently regained consciousness, moaned.

Adam knelt at the side of the bed. "Jerome! Are you okay?"

Jerome nodded. "I'm fine. Wait, I have to tell you something..." Jerome said, grabbing Adam's arm as he began to head for the door again.

"Ow, Jerome, you can't do that! Your claws huuuuuuurt!" Adam laughed as he heard the door slam shut downstairs. "Anyways what is it?"

"It's about the fight we had."

"What? What fight?"

"The one outside by the lake. I need to apologize for that." Jerome said, seriousness in his voice.

"What?" Adam repeated, seriously confused, becoming aware of Bryn entering the room. "Jerome, that was Kaede...Kaede-something I fought. Not you." ("Kaedeono." Bryn corrected.)

"It's not that it wasn't me, it was just that I couldn't control myself. I knew what I was doing, I could feel myself moving, but it was like something else was controlling me. I know I wouldn't hurt you on purpose, but I couldn't stop myself."

This made Adam and Bryn tense up. Adam opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Sapphire kicking the door open, medical herbs and supplies bundled in her arms. Unfortunately, Bryn was standing in the doorway, was knocked to the ground by the full force of the door slamming into his side.

Sapphire totally ignored him and went over to Jerome, and asked him if he had any injuries. Jerome looked uncertainly to Adam, who was trying to help Bryn up. Adam just nodded his head, catching Jerome's look, and the bacca let the girl treat his wounds.

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"So, you're saying you were being controlled?" Sapphire asked, sitting on Mayonaka's back. The four of them, no longer drenched, having dried off, had gone outside to go talk to Mayonaka about what had happened.

Jerome nodded. "Yeah. It was like something else was controlling me. I wasn't myself." Jerome had stood next to Adam, keeping his distance from the old lion, even though Adam told him that Mayonaka wouldn't bite. "Care to explain, umm, Mayonaka...?"

Mayonaka had a sullen look on his face, in fact, he was in deep thought since Jerome was revealed to be Kaedeono. He rumbled. "I believe that you might have been possessed by the soul of Kaedeono, the real one, by King Arthur's bidding."

"What?!?!?" Bryn exclaimed. "But how is that possible?!!?!? Kaedeono and the other Knights of True Blood have been dead for a decades!"

"I know that." Mayonaka said, registering the confused looks on Adam and Jerome's faces. "The Knights of True Blood. I know our newcomers don't quite understand, so allow me to explain. The Knights of True Blood were an elite group of warriors that served one of Solace's kings long ago... They were called Knights of the True Blood because they were all from families of knights, magicians, or the like. I was a member myself. Since I was a cub, but that was a long time ago. It has been a century I believe."

"Wait." Jerome interrupted. "You're telling me you're over ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD?!?!?"

Mayonaka smiled. "Yes young one, and a long life has it been. Anyways, I was a member of the Knights of the True Blood, there were six of us in fact. We had Kaedeono, who wielded an axe that could cut through the densest of metals... Kaedeono also had a big connection to animals. That may have been why our furry friend was reluctant to harm me. Maybe it was Kaedeono's friendly spirit that was reluctant, or maybe it was his memories of our friendship. Who can tell."

Jerome frowned. "But were they evil? Why else would they want to work to help King Arthur kill Adam so he wouldn't be able to defeat him?"

There was silence. "Jerome..." Adam said slowly. "How do you know about that?"

"After King Arthur kidnapped us, he waited for us to all to wake up, and went on gloating about he had won or somethin' like that. He had all of us in separate cages, and he had us all chained down... for some reason he had Mitch under full guard. The way my Benja was chained up, you would think he was the world's most dangerous criminal or something. Anyways, he had chanted something, and that's when we felt the pain. It hurt so b-badly..." Jerome said, his voice trailing off for a moment. "We were all screaming, I remember that. Afterwards, I had fainted from the pain, and I woke finding myself watching Adam and Bryn in the forest. You already know what happened from there."

Mayonaka was in deep thought, and it took Bryn shaking his shoulder to snap him out of it. "What are you thinking Mayonaka?"

"If what he says is true..." Mayonaka said grimly. "Then I think he has done the same to their friends. I think Arthur turned them into the Knights of the True Blood."