Adam's shot up out of his slumber to the smell of burning. He looked around wildly, finding himself in the middle of an unknown forest, and he panicked. That's when his eyes fell on a person sitting by a campfire, looking at him with a worried look.

"Hey, are you okay?" Bryn asked, waving for Adam to come sit with him. Adam instead glared at him.

"Where are we... Bryn? That's what that creepy dude said your name was, right?"

Bryn nodded. "Yes, that's me. As to where we are, we are in the Shadow Woods. I needed to get us away from the mobs, I couldn't risk losing you."

Adam was confused for a moment, before it all came back to him. He and his friends being attacked, the others being carried off... With that realization, Adam shot up, an angry tone lacing his voice. "Hey wait! Where are the others?!?!?!?"

Bryn stood as well, holding his hands up defensively. He had a look on his face that read 'calm down'. Adam took a deep breath, trying to regain his cool. "You said you 'couldn't risk losing me'. What does that mean Bryn?"

Bryn relaxed a bit, and gestured for Adam to come sit with him. Adam reluctantly sat with the sorcerer, and watched as he pulled out a worn looking book from his leather satchel, which had a gold emblem on the cover, representing a stallion. Bryn opened the book and pointed to a picture of a purple throne, a golden sword on the floor next to it.

"That 'creepy dude' was King Arthur, the king of Solace, our kingdom. He led a group of brave warriors, named the Knights of the Round Table. It consisted of Sir Lancelot, the king's right hand man, Sir Gawain, the king's brother, Sir Percival, who delivered prophecies to the kingdom, and King Arthur's head sorcerer, Sir Notch, who, may I add, was my father."

As Bryn searched the book for another page, Adam stared at him with wide eyes, his mouth hinged open. "But I thought King Arthur was supposed to be the good guy! And you're telling me that Notch is your-" Adam stopped himself when he saw the hateful look on Bryn's face at the mention of that name. Notch... he created Minecraft... but he is here as well, and it isn't like Notch is a common name, so I'm almost 100% sure he is talking about him... Adam thought as he was snapped out of his thoughts as Bryn continued the story.

"I was about to get to that. Anyways, King Arthur came into power because he was able to pull a rusty sword from a stone that was enchanted so that only the warrior of the purest heart could pull it from its pedestal and become true king of Solace. He was able to pull the sword from the stone, and it turned into the sword of light, Excalibur. He led Solace into a time of prosperity, with the Round Table. But he became overcome with greed, and was thirsty for more power. He became more secluded, and he had harnessed the power of darkness, believing it was stronger than light. Against the will of his fellow knights, he created the sword Arcalibur, the blade of infinite darkness. He had also created a scabbard for it, which granted him with immortality. He used the sword to open portals to the underworld, where he summoned the Mobs of the Underworld. He began to enslave the kingdom, capturing the citizens and making them create armor and weapons for more advanced mobs. The Knights of the Round Table tried to defeat them, but he just killed them all, with no mercy." Bryn sighed. But the sadness in his voice quickly turned into something of fury.

"He killed them all, except for Head-mage Notch." He spat. "He just ran away the battle, and no one has seen himself since then. I was nine when the capitol, Refuge, went up in flames. Ten years ago I had to watch my home burn while my father just ran away, leaving the kingdom, and me, to become rubble."

Adam shifted uncomfortably. This is getting really personal... Poor kid... he thought unhappily. He tried to change the subject. "S-so," he stuttered. "You still haven't explained the whole 'need me' thing to me."

Bryn's sullen face seemed to brighten up, as if this were a subject he liked to talk about. "Oh! Sorry! Anyways, after King Arthur created Arcalibur, Excalibur had sensed that he had been corrupt, and it was mysteriously returned to the shores of the Mystic Lake, which had the magical qualities that originally created the magic sword in the first place. Before the death of Sir Percival, she had interpreted one last prophecy before her public 'execution'. 'The kingdom will fall into a slumber of infinite shadows, but it will be awoken by the arrival of knights who had hearts as pure as the light. Purge this land of evil, mighty sword Excalibur, wielded by the warrior with the purest of souls and hearts. Await the awakening of the knights who will bring about the time of true peace.' Those were her last words before she died, and it was witnessed by all of Refuge." Bryn stopped for a moment and looked over to Adam, who had a look of disbelief on his face, beginning to register what Bryn was leading to.

"So you're telling me that- we're...?!?!?" Adam stuttered.

Bryn nodded. "Yes, when Refuge burned, I managed to grab everything important from my father's study, and found a book with a list of spells in them. Including the one that I used to summon you guys. You guys are foretold to be the knights who save the kingdom from the king, and you Adam, are to be the new wielder of Excalibur."

Adam looked at the sorcerer with a look of pure disbelief. "M-Me?" he stuttered. "Y-you're telling me that I am supposed to defeat King Arthur, and wield Excalibur?!?!? You're insane!"

Bryn looked at him with a look of desperation. "Please, we need your guys' help! The whole kingdom is in jeopardy! That's why I only rescued you, you were the only one near me, and you are the only one who can wield the sword. I know we will probably need your friends as well, but first, we need to go get Excalibur."

The sorcerer got up and began to walk along the path in the forest, gesturing for Adam to follow. Adam stood, and looked Bryn in the eyes. He didn't know what to think of it all. He felt feelings of fear, curiosity, dread, but he mainly had a sense of bravery. He didn't believe he could save a whole kingdom, heck, he didn't even know if his friends were alive and imprisoned, or if the king had slaughtered them in fear of the prophecy. "I may not be able to save your kingdom," he said, his voice only trembling slightly, a grin on his face. "But my friends are in danger, and that's enough. Count me in."

Bryn smiled as Adam caught up to him, and they began to walk down the pathway, Adam asking about the woods, which, he just now noticed, had trees that held leaves of dull gray and black colors, and contrasting bright pink flowers littering the ground. Bryn had said that they were a special type of tree that grew only in the region, and they are the reason the place had been called the 'Shadow Woods'.

Adam laughed a bit at that, glad that the tension had be relived quite a bit, and he felt like he was beginning to like the young magician. Glad that I won't be alone..... Adam thought. But even though he felt relieved, he couldn't shake the small feeling of fear as they kept walking.
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Bryn continued to answer Adam's questions as they walked, the hours seeming to fly by, the sun beginning to set. Adam piped up. "Hey, where exactly are we going anyways?"

Bryn went into his satchel, and pulled out a map of the kingdom, pointing out a pool of water in the middle of a patch of woods. "We're heading to the Mystic Lake, right there. We're right here I think," he said, pointing to a random spot in the woods, continuing. "We should be there in a little bit." Adam nodded his head and stopped for a moment to rest, plopping down on top of a stray tree trunk.

"Maybe we should take a break... I'm not used to walking that far in one day..." he huffed. Bryn just turned and put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I would think you would be able to walk, seeing as you were knocked out for a good 24 hours..."

That made Adam jump up, the tiredness escaping his body. "What?!?!?!? A full day?!?!?!?" he began to pace around, Bryn giving him a worried look. "My friends... that's just more time for the king to do something bad to them..." He stopped and grabbed the surprised sorcerer's shoulders. "How far are we from the lake Bryn???"

Bryn pulled himself out of Adam's grasp and gazed down at the map again. "About five more min.....utes..." Bryn said, his voice trailing off and his eyes widening at something behind Adam.

Adam raised an eyebrow before he heard a growling behind him. He slowly turned to see a pair of glowing blue eyes glaring at them from the shadows of the underbrush. They narrowed as Bryn reached out and grabbed Adam's wrist. "We should really be running Adam..." he said beginning to pull Adam toward the path again.

Adam quickly nodded in agreement and ran along the path with Bryn, both of them running as fast as they could, their running making loud crunches in the underbrush. They didn't hear the sound of anyone following them, but they didn't dare stop until they came upon a wall of entangled branches, with purple and pink flowers looped into it, with green leaves instead of the forests normal black leaves. "Dead end! We should hide-"Adam said, interrupted by Bryn hushing him.

Adam watched with interest as Bryn held up his hands to the branches, and mumbled something Adam couldn't understand under his breath. Adam watched in awe as the flowers began to glow, and, from the middle out, the branched seemed to untangle themselves and retract back into the trees, revealing a stone passage way, which opened up to something Adam couldn't make out as the branches were finally gone. He was snapped out of his pseudo-trance by Bryn pushing him in, the sorcerer following soon after, the wall of branches beginning to entangle and stretch to cover the entrance again.

Bryn smiled in relief and led them to what lie outside of the tunnel, which again, made Adam speechless, but this time, because of the pure beauty of it all. They had found the lake, which was hidden by a canopy of bright green trees, a hole in the leaves letting the rays of the sunset come into the area, creating a beautiful orange glimmer to the crystal clear water of the lake. Adam saw animals poking their heads out of the bushes and from behind the green trees, trying to get a good look at the new comers. He saw all sorts of animals, raccoons, deer, rabbits, owls, birds, all kinds of sweet looking animals. Adam leaned over a bit to gaze into the water, being able to see all kinds of colorful fish and turtles swim about. "This is easily the most beautiful thing I have ever seen..." he said, his voice trailing off as he bent over and picked up a stray budder colored flower from the ground, which was among the rainbow of flowers littering the ground.

Bryn smiled at the look of awe on his face and pointed across the lake where a small house lay, with a weird light blue sparkle to it, and, to Adam, it looked like it was a big flower. Bryn stepped onto the first of the big, smooth stepping stones leading to the house in the middle of the lake. "Be careful, the stones get very slippery when the water rises." He said, beckoning for Adam to follow.

Adam gulped, dropped the budder flower, and followed Bryn onto the stepping stone path to the house. They made it to the house (even though Adam almost fell in the water multiple times), and Adam saw that the house appeared to have little blue and clear gems spread out randomly on the outer walls, creating the sparkle from before. Bryn knocked on the wooden door in a quick three taps that seemed like it was a code for something. Bryn looked to Adam. "Try and remember that, it's so she knows that the visitor is a friend, not a foe."

She? Who's she- Adam thought before the door opened, and his question was answered. A girl who seemed to be a few years younger than Bryn, and had long, perfect pink hair that went to a bit over her waist. She was wearing a blue dress that swept around her ankles, with big sleeves that revealed her shoulders and a bit of her arms, the sleeves also covering her hands. The dress was also adorned in yellow patterns like Bryn's cloak, and also like Bryn, she had a cape, but hers was a light sparkling sky blue instead of black, and it went down to the floor past her sea green boots. She had a plate of silver armor over her chest, with sapphires littering the band on its front, a sapphire also on the golden band on her forehead, keeping the pink hair out of her face.

Adam thought she looked a bit like a princess, but he didn't say anything, considering everything else that had happened that day, it just didn't seem too out of the ordinary for this place. The girl looked up at Adam with big eyes, which, Adam noticed, was a spectrum of pinks, purples, and reds, magenta being the color standing out the most. A huge smile was plastered onto her face as she happily grabbed Bryn's hands in hers, and she spoke in a surprisingly fair and happy tone. "Oh my kings Bri! You actually found him! I knew you could do it! The spell worked!!!"

Bryn, who had a goofy grin on his face, nodded his head. "I told you it would Sapphire! Sure it wasn't when and where we had discussed it being, but it still worked!"

Sapphire??? I would think by know that these kinds of names wouldn't be really surprising anymore... Adam thought sarcastically. Sapphire gazed at Adam once again with those big eyes, looking behind him with a look of surprise on her face. "Where are the other six?" she said, surprised.

Bryn's expression changed to one of unhappiness. "We have quite a bit to talk about Sapphire....."
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"Oh no, no, no... this is not good..." Sapphire said after Bryn and Adam told her about the abduction of the others. "There has to be something we can do..."

Sapphire's house was a cottage, with two floors, the bottom floor just holding a dozen velvet chairs and a caldron and an oven for cooking, and a large fireplace, which was absentmindedly placed next to the bookcase. Upstairs held four bedrooms, each with a pair of twin beds.

Bryn shook his head grimly. "Not to be rude," Adam said, piping up. "But anyone want to explain who Sapphire is to me please?" He was directing it to Bryn, even though he said 'anyone'.

"Oh! Sorry Adam," he said, "This is Sapphire, or as the kingdom knows her, the Lady of the Lake. She is the protector of the Mystic Lake, and its inhabitants, including Excalibur. She's the daughter of Sir Percival, the last Lady of the Lake, and Sir Lancelot, and was only six when she watch her mother's death, so that makes her sixteen. She fled the city with me, and we came here for refuge after King Arthur came into full power. The animals have been bringing us fruit to live on while we are here. We wouldn't dare eat one of them or the like, they're like friends to us..." he said, scratching the back of his head. "It got lonely really fast."

Adam's mind was racing, trying to register it all. "You poor kid..." he said to Sapphire, whose face was lit up a bit in the flickering fire-light. "That's a lot to handle for only being sixteen. And also.... What do you mean the animals take care of you guys?" He said skeptically, can't helping but to think how this was like a fairy tale.

"Oh! Thank you for the sympathy Sir Adam," she said, making him blush a bit. "and the animals here are very smart, and they respect us, as we respect them. They like that we treat them like people. In fact..." she said, before cupping her hands over her mouth toward the wooden stairs. "Ringo! Nashi!"

Adam gasped as he saw two animals stumble down the stairs, coming and sitting next to the fire with the three, looking at Adam with interest and curiosity. One was a fox, with fire-red fur and blue eyes, a silver chain over one of its paws, and Adam noticed with a wince that one of its eyes was shut, a large red scar over its eye... The other was a fawn that was about half as tall as Sapphire, with a white scarf over its neck, with creamy brown fur, with a soft white underbelly and speckles down its back, with pale green eyes. Adam was returning their gaze with one of surprise. "The fox is Ringo, and the fawn is Nashi. My father and mother named them. Ringo means apple, and Nashi means pear. Ringo is an adult and used to be my father's pet, and was loyal to the very end. He was fighting with him when he died, and he got a dagger to the eye when he escaped. Nashi on the other hand, was a newborn when I got here, and she has been with me since."

In response to that, Nashi rubbed her head against Sapphire's cheek, and she pushed the fawn off with a giggle. Adam, still surprised, smiled. He noticed chillingly that Ringo was staring at him with cold eyes, and Adam looked to Sapphire and Bryn. "Anyways, about Excalibur?"

"Oh yes!" Sapphire said happily. "We just need to find the guardian so he can summon it."

"But, I thought you were...?" he said, and once again for the millionth time that day, was confused.

"I am, but I'm still learning. Mayonaka, whose name means 'midnight', is still teaching me. He always guards the sword's resting place at night, so he should be there."
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The sword's resting place turned out to be on the lake shore behind the house, and was signaled by a shrine of stone, with a silver pedestal on top of the steps. They walked around to it, the crescent moon hanging in the sky, casting a pale shimmer on the lake. "This is where we will need Mayonaka's help." Sapphire said as she gestured for Adam to stand on top of the pedestal, and to be facing the woods. Bryn and Sapphire were standing close by, but weren't in range of the altar.

"Did someone call me?" said a deep, rumbling, and regal voice from the woods. Adam watched as both Bryn and Sapphire were bowing, and he followed suit, eying the ground as he heard a heavy padding as who he assumed was Mayonaka came up the stone steps to the altar.

"Yes sir, this is Adam, the next wielder of Excalibur." Bryn said, the respect evident in his voice. Adam shivered as Mayonaka spoke again, this time close to Adam's face, and he felt like the voice was in his head as he spoke again.

"You must be the one Percival spoke of in the prophecy then. You don't have to keep bowing to me young man, although I appreciate the respect."

With a silent gulp, Adam looked up, and it took all of his self-restraint not to run away. He looked Mayonaka up and down, surprised (again...) and afraid. Turns out that Mayonaka was not human... he was another animal from the lake. But he wasn't a sweet looking animal like the others, he was a lion, who stood to be just a bit bigger than Adam, a full grown adult, was, even when the animal was just on four legs, and not full height. He had dark, silky, silver fur, and a long, shining black mane, and black fur on his chin, looking like it resembled a beard of sorts. His long claws tapped on the stone as he circled Adam, his bright, old eyes (one red, and one green) seeming to absorb every detail.

"I have to admit you don't look like I expected you to, but I think that won't be a problem," Mayonaka rumbled, a hint of sarcasm in his old voice.

Adam who had noticed that he was staring at the lion, and looked away embarrassed. This sparked a laugh in the old lion, as he sat in front of him. "I don't mind the stares young knight. That's most people's reaction when they see a giant talking lion. Anyways, we need to summon Excalibur, so this knight can get his friends back." Mayonaka said, the seriousness back in his voice as he stood and went to the bottom of the steps, looking up expectantly up at Adam.

How did he know about...? Adam thought as the old lion spoke again. "Are you ready Sir Adam?" Mayonaka asked.

Honestly, Adam's answer was definitely not, but his mind drifted back to the sight of all of his friends being carried off into the underworld by the mobs. Don't think about the worst possible scenario Adam... he thought. You aren't just doing it for you... You are doing it for Jason, Mitch, Jerome, Quentin, Ty, and Ian, your friends... and all of this kingdom who need to be freed from the king's evil grasp. DO IT FOR THEM!

"I'm ready!" Adam said, with a sudden rush of courage in his voice, making Bryn and Sapphire gape in surprise, and making Mayonaka smile.

With that Mayonaka rose his head to the moon high in the sky, casting its pale shimmer on the lake. His jaws parted, his long, gleaming, white fangs visible, and the lion let out an ear-splitting roar. The roar echoed around the lake, making all of the lake's animal inhabitants come to the lake shore to see what the commotion was about.

Was that it? I expected..............aaaaaaaaand his eyes are glowing. Adam thought as he looked at the old lion, his red and green eyes seeming to glow in the moonlight. The.....gold....moonlight... Adam thought again as the moon's light slowly turned from a pale white to a blazing gold.

The new rays of light from the moon, made the lake's crystal shimmer become one of bright gold sparkle, and it kind of looked like the water was parting around the alter. Oh wait...

"Whoa..." Adam gasped as the golden water around the altar rose and seemed to fill the cracks and crevices in the altar's chipped stone, and the pedestal emitted a blinding gold light, making Adam, Bryn, and Sapphire cover their eyes as the light flared. The light eventually faded, but the golden rays still kept its blazing shine on the lake as Adam was able to make out the shape of a sword on the pedestal, emitting a faint gold light.

"Pull!" Mayonaka yelled. Adam gulped and grabbed the sword's hilt with both of his gloved hands, and put a boot on the pedestal as support as he pulled on the sword. It came out easier than expected however, sliding right out, sending Adam to the floor, the sword clattering to the stone next to him. The moonlight slowly shifted back to the pale white, and the water fell back into the no longer golden lake, the animals beginning to depart.

"Yeah!" Sapphire cheered, as she ran up the steps and helped him up, Adam shaking his head. Bryn came up as well, as well as Mayonaka, who looked at Adam with a look of approval and.... Hope? Adam couldn't really tell. Bryn tried to help by picked up the sword, but found it was too heavy. Sapphire tried as well, but with no avail. Adam bent over to pick it up, and picked it up easily, to the disbelief of the other two.

"Only he can pick it up." Mayonaka said to the sorcerer and the maiden, smiling. "As the wielder of Excalibur, it is very light to him, but it has an unmeasurable weight to any other human. It still hits hard however, to whoever wields it. Look at his hand."

Adam looked at them with a look of amazement on his face and watched as Bryn and Sapphire gasped. He looked down as well, to see that his right hand, which he used to carry the sword, had a gauntlet on it. It was made of a sleek black metal, and had a design of gray swirls on the front. "Whoa..." he said, as the sword disappeared and the gray swirls on his gauntlet became a bright yellow. He looked to Mayonaka for some explanation.

"That gauntlet can be used to store Excalibur when it is not in use. It may not be like Arthur's scabbard, but it should work." The lion said as he walked toward the forest, before stopping and looking back at them. "Your friends, I am afraid, may be in grave danger, but I will try and find out how you can retrieve them-" Mayonaka said, before he stopped mid-sentence, looking at the passage that led out to the Shadow Woods, which had a weird green glow coming from it. "Bryn... you remembered to shut the barrier when you came in, correct?"

Bryn rose an eyebrow. "Yeah, course I did-"he said, before a loud crash was heard from the entrance way, and something barreled in, crashing into the lake. Adam noticed with worry as Bryn and Mayonaka tensed up, Sapphire running behind the sorcerer. The figure in the lake stood, glaring at them with bright blue eyes.

He was a knight like King Arthur, and was equally menacing, standing to be a bit more buff and a bit taller than the king did. He was armor that was a dark pine green, with small pieces of dull yellow armor poking out here and there. His helmet successfully covered the entirety of his face, and the front of it was stretched out like a muzzle would, with a pair of twisting, metallic brown horns on the top. In his hands was a large axe, which looked to be about as big as the knight was, the axe's blade being a black metal, with red and green lining the axe's blade and the stick holding it. He glared at the four with menace in his eyes. He spoke in a deep, echoing voice that seemed to surround the group in a feeling of dread.

"Finally... I have found you..." he said as he held his axe in an attacking position. "Now it is time you foolish mortals will meet your end."