Aoife didn’t know what she expected to see on the other side of the mist, but this wasn’t it. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the dim light as she took in her surroundings.

They were in a massive stone room. The vaulted ceilings were made of intricately carved sandstone. The walls were constructed of thick granite blocks covered in a blanket of moss. This left their surroundings with a feeling of long abandonment that came with the stale air of decay.

Her gaze fell upon a circular table standing in the center in the eerie stillness. The oak chairs with their tall backs and no armrests surrounding the table were in various states of disarray. Some were pushed aside while others lay overturned as if a tumultuous event had taken place. Thick vines snaked their way over and around the table, their tendrils exploring every surface. The surface of the table was covered in a thick layer of dust untouched for ages.

The only light streamed through a pair of empty windows high up on the far wall. Once majestic,  the remnants of a stained glass still held broken shards of red, blue, and yellow in their empty frames.

Aoife felt a shiver run down her spine as she stood there, consumed by the haunting atmosphere of the room. She could almost sense the ghosts of the past still walking these stone floors. Wherever she was, she wasn’t home, not yet anyway.

“Unbelievable.”  Alexander Black stared at his body, the world around him, and then across the room at Nicholas and Aoife. “The moment you vanished…I blinked…and now I’m here.”  He took in the view and gasped, “This…is impossible!”  He hesitantly moved towards the table, and walked around the scene at a distance.  “This is…this is the Table of Justice and Knowledge!  Here, King Arthur sat with his knights and made plans to save Avalon from the darkness ages ago.”  He examined the rest of the room, “This shouldn’t exist.  King Arthur’s castle was destroyed in The Great Phenenoma.”

“As in Camelot?” Aoife asked. “Wouldn’t it be on Earth anyway?”

The Grand Cleric shook his head, “This is beyond me.  I’ve only heard rumors of this place…there’s very little textual evidence in the scriptures or discussions to suggest this place was ever real.”  He kept shaking his head, “Everything we knew was wrong.”

Aoife looked around and approached the round table and ran her finger over the surface.  The wood was cracked and warped with age. “We’re talking centuries,  and a lot of it disseminated by Clerics with their own selfish interests.  I’m not surprised there’s inconsistencies.  This is the ultimate game of telephone.”

A booming voice shook the room, and the floor shuddered.  “What a small mind you have, Grand Cleric.”  Out of the darkness, a tall figure stalked, dressed in a richly woven robe, a slim twisted stick in one hand and a thick tome in the other.  Bearded, his face was that of a middle-aged man, his eyes bright blue as he looked at each of them.  “What heroes she has sent me.”  He chuckled, “You are to be the champions that saves Avalon at last.” 

Black spat at the floor, “Merlin.”  He was angry.  

Merlin shrugged, “It is one of my many names, Grand Cleric.”  He turned his attention, “Now…Aoife and Nicolas…it is nice to see someone from Starfleet now and again.”  A menacing smile crossed his lips.

“You know us?” Nicholas asked as Aoife moved alongside him. 

Aoife muttered, “He’s a Q.”

Alexander was confused, “What is a ‘Q’?”

Merlin cackled, “That is a loaded question; you should be warned.”  He held up both arms and closed his eyes.  The room suddenly shifted into what it might have looked like in the days of old.  Candles were lit, and the dust and debris swept away.  Fires lit in the twin fireplaces on each end of the large room, and food appeared on the table along with three ornate and different swords.

“Why are we here? Why are you here?” Aoife demanded.

Merlin rolled his eyes, “I am merely here to present you with a choice.  Avalon will fall under siege of great darkness from this galaxy.  They are known as The Horseman of Alakis…and there are three of them.”  He explained that they were mythic beasts in this galaxy that consumed planets like the Borg or Dominion.  “The thing about this place is…well, there is no Starfleet to stop them.  They’ve taken many a world by fire, slaughtering those that didn’t surrender.  Surrender still brought death, to be clear.  You can go home…and I’ll send you on your way.  Or…you can stand and fight…save the people of Avalon from this evil.”

Black asked, “The Merlin I studied had great power…my friends seem to think you have power.  Why can’t you stand against them?”

Merlin grimaced and took a long breath, “Because…they are my children.  I made a mistake…I spent time with their people…and I fell in love.  Big mistake, I know.  And yet…she was tender, lovely, and kind…her triplets, however… killed her and swore out a warrant on my head.  I’ve been trying to escape them…and now they’ve figured out where I did some of my greatest work…so they’re coming here to lay waste to it.”

“I want nothing to do with family drama,” Nicholas said, an edge to his voice.

“I am powerless against them.  It is a frustrating situation.  I wish I could snap them away.  Whatever blood came from her people and combined with mine…has made them resistant to my power.  Those swords, however…they carry the power to end them.”

Aoife frowned.  She didn’t understand.  “What will a sword do against an interstellar threat? I don’t have a ship, and there are only three of us. What good will we do?”

Merlin gestured to the swords, “They are crafted from a unique mineral found here in Avalon and on my children’s planet.  Their supply is heavily guarded and impossible to access.  The supply here…easily accessible.  Before Arthur returned home, he had swords made for him and his men from the same source.  If the Horseman ever got to Earth, they there would be a way to slay them.”  He continued, “Once the blade is touched, it is bound to the owner…it imbues with otherworldly strength, cunning, and power…that is what defeats them.  As for family drama – ignoring this will lead to the destruction of this planet, its people…and eventually you should they figure out how to find your home.”

Aoife signed. There were so many unanswered questions.  She still couldn’t grasp how a sword, even a “magical” one.  “How does this battle play out? Who specifically is this threat?”

Merlin groaned, “The Horseman of Alakis.”  He waited in the silence and sighed after letting the quiet remain for five minutes, “There’s only three of them.  The mineral is the only thing that can cut them.  They are unaware of the mineral supply here, which is to our benefit.”  Silence filled the space again and he explained, “They are a warrior society – they consume the worlds to feed their bodies and their families back home.  It is an honor to consume a world and send it home to be fed on by their people.  So they’re not going to stop.  They’ve survived on the supply of systems, but they are having to move farther away to find places to consume.  You, humans, used to call it ‘the law of supply and demand’.  And this planet is next on their supply list.”

Black asked, “So…we challenge them to a fight?”

The sage magician nodded, “You must each challenge one of them.  They cannot turn down a fight – neglecting your duties of war is a mortal sin.  They must stand equal to their opponent…so they will be your size and stature.  No powers can be used…it is a simple battle of swords versus swords.  No one has ever challenged them and one…but no one has had these swords.”

“And if they bring an army?” Nicholas demanded.  

Merlin laughed out loud but slowed to chuckle as he caught the confusion on the man’s face. An odd look passed across his face, “They don’t have an army.  They don’t need one.  The three of them are the army.  The swords will carry your day, and they will taste the bitterness of a bloodied defeat.”  He looked to the three of them, “You have a choice.  One which you will need to make soon.”

Black grumbled, “Not much of one when you think about it.”

Aoife sighed,  picked up a sword,  “Now what?”

Merlin glanced at an archaic watch – “They’ll be here tomorrow morning.”  He turned to the three of them, “Rest and ready yourselves.  I’ll work on dinner.”

Aoife sighed,  “Very well, let’s do this.”