I stumbled through the same hole you came through, falling from our own time to this one, the far past of Neopia. I didn't know where I was or how I got there... and I was scared. The night came up into the sky quickly, and without knowing where to go, I wandered through the woods, hearing strange wails and growls everywhere I turned.

Then, I heard the sound of hooves and armour clanking in the distance. I looked up and there was a knight - a real life knight! - riding toward me. I stood in the road and got his attention. He asked me what I was doing, all alone out in the middle of the Meridell forest in the middle of the night, and I told him what happened to me. "Strange magics," he said. "But not so strange these days, I think!"

He told me he was on his way to Castle Meridell, hoping to rid the land of a foul creature that had cursed the castle and the kingdom. King Skarl sent for the bravest knights in the realm, hoping one of them could defeat the beast. The knight said he would take me to the castle, where I could speak to the King's court wizard and see if I could be returned to my own time.

Well, I talked to the wizard, but he didn't have a clue. "I don't know how you got here," he told me, "and that means I don't know how to send you back."

So I spent the next few days in the castle, as a kind of circus curiosity. Everyone asked me questions about the future. The court wizard told me not to say anything at all, but I told him I really didn't know anything to tell! The knight announced he would go out into the woods and fight the creature, but he would need a squire. He looked at me... and King Skarl made it so. He had me suited up in a squire's garb, and I was then sent out with the knight to face the dreadful creature haunting Meridell Woods.

The knight's name was Sir Peredur, and as we rode into the woods, he began teaching me what it meant to be a knight. The lesson ended quickly, though, because as Peredur spoke, the creature caught us by surprise!

I'd never seen anything like it. It was an awful thing, full of eyes and arms and legs and mandibles and teeth and... oh, it seems I'm scaring you. Sorry, I'll go on with the story.

It was a dreadful thing. Sir Peredur fought the beast with all he had, but it was too strong for him. Knocking him from his steed, the creature broke both his lance and his sword, along with smashing his shield to pieces. His breastplate was cracked in two, and the helmet ripped from his head. The monster held the brave knight aloft, his body motionless. I knew I had to do something... but what could I have done?

Peredur had left a spare sword upon his steed, so I grabbed it and rushed forward, screaming my fallen knight's name. The creature was so occupied with Peredur, it never noticed little me running in the dark toward it. I felt the sword strike home, and heard the creature scream. It dropped Peredur, and he landed on the ground with a heavy sound. It retreated into the Woods, whispering a curse as it did. I saw the curse - yes, saw it - as it floated from one of the creature's mouths to Peredur, and his skin grew white and pallid. His eyes turned black and his hands grew long and thin.

I dragged the knight back towards his mount, then together we rode back to Meridell Castle. The court magician told me Peredur was under a wasting curse... one that would last for the rest of his days. I told him it was all my fault. "If he hadn't been telling me about becoming a knight, he would have seen the creature."

"You cannot blame yourself," the wizard told me. I knew he was wrong.

That night, under the cover of darkness, I took Peredur's spare sword and his broken breastplate. I put his helmet on my head, even though it was much too large, and rode out on his steed. I whispered my plan in its ear, and it heard me, then nodded. Off we went, out into the darkness of Meridell Woods.