Chapter 1

The archaeologists had been digging for quite some time now. This was supposed to be the find of the century: proof of Camelot's existence. However, they had found something unexpected, a network of caverns deep underground.

"I think I found something over here," one said. That was a student from Scotland, Mary Brown. She was the professor's assistant. Her shovel clinked against the ground.

"Let's see," said the professor, Dr. Cooper.

As the tall, thin Englishman took a step forward, he realized that Mary must have hit a cave. He assisted her in digging further and a patch of ice-blue shone through the grass.

"What in the world...?" the professor wondered aloud. Surely the caverns weren't so far underground that they were completely frozen. This defied logic.

"Why is it frozen?" asked Mary.

"I am wondering that myself. It shouldn't be."

There was suddenly a rumble from beneath their feet, as if there was about to be an earthquake. Mary and the professor ran. A brilliant light shone from below, and then the ice shattered into thousands of tiny fragments. There was also a great deal of steam. When the steam cleared, a skinny young man with raven-black hair sat on the grass nearby, coughing raggedly. He wore clothing as if from medieval times - pants and a sapphire-blue tunic, and a red neckerchief. He also had a staff with a sky blue crystal.

"Who are you?" asked the professor, astonished.

The young man blinked in confusion as he stood up. "Did Arthur not send you?"

"Arthur who?" the professor asked.

"King Arthur, of course. Who else?" Merlin replied.

The professor's jaw dropped. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Merlin sighed. "Do I look like I'm joking? How long was I trapped?"

The other archaeologists had started to gather around. Merlin noticed their strange clothing. Not to mention, their equipment looked very unusual. There were other things he couldn't begin to name within sight – large, steel things with circular black wheels on the bottom. Whatever they were made of, he couldn't tell from this distance. He figured that perhaps they were used for transport, but they looked like nothing he'd ever seen before. Merlin realized that he must have been in Nimueh's ice cave for a very long time.

"What year is it?" he inquired.

"2012," one of the students, an American, responded.

Merlin's eyes widened in shock. That meant Arthur, Gwen, Gwaine, and everyone else were long dead. Camelot...what had happened to it? "No," he whispered as the color drained from his face, creating an even greater contrast with his black hair. "That's not possible. Not even Nimueh could have done that."

"Who are you?" Dr. Cooper asked again.

The stunned young man took a few moments to reply. "I'm Merlin."

The world decided to spin around just then. He swayed and then felt someone holding him up. It was Mary. "You need to go to the hospital."

He assumed she thought he needed medical care. "No, I'm fine."

She looked at him in astonishment. "If you really were trapped in ice for over a thousand years and this isn't some sort of stupid prank, then you need medical attention." She called out, "Someone get him some tea and call an ambulance."

Merlin's legs decided to give way just then. He staggered forward. Mary and the professor stopped him from collapsing entirely and helped him sit down. He was handed a strange-looking mug of tea. There was an image of four men holding what looked to be musical instruments…possibly some weird sort of lutes? But they were in strange colors and not made of wood at all. He stared at the mug and took a tentative sip. Well, at least tea still tasted pretty much like tea, but it was a small consolation.

"Who are the Beatles and why are they painted on a mug?" At least, he assumed it was a painting, though it was in exquisite detail and looked very real.

The students stared at him. It was becoming obvious that the young man was who he was claiming to be. Either that or he had completely lost his marbles.

"I have to get back," Merlin said. "Arthur needs me. I have to..."

Suddenly, a blinding headache hit him. He heard sirens in the distance. They sounded like nothing he had ever heard before. Had magic become that widely used, then? The grass met his head and the world went black.

He awoke later in a bizarre metal bed. The room was spinning. Where was he? Had Nimueh done this? His eyes turned gold as he instinctively reached for magic. It roared into him, as if it had been unused for a very long time and was eager to be let out.

"Easy now," said a woman's voice. "You're in a hospital in England. Don't worry."

Merlin was even more confused. "Where the bloody hell is England? Arthur, I need Arthur..."

The doctor looked concerned. Her patient was panicking and his eyes had changed color. She didn't know what that meant, but he was supposed to be Merlin. She figured he would try to cast a spell if he felt threatened, but surely magic wasn't actually real, right?

"They found you, in the ice. You were there for ages. They believe you're telling the truth about that."

He stared at the woman. She was wearing men's pants and a strange kind of white coat. Her hair was blonde, but going gray. She wore spectacles, but they weren't like any kind of spectacles he'd seen. Finally, he remembered. His eyes slowly turned blue as he stopped panicking. "It's the year 2012."

"Good. I'm Doctor Smith, but my patients call me Margie. Do you remember your name?"

He nodded. "Merlin."

"That's good. You were unconscious here, in the hospital, for two and a half days. You've been through a lot. We're frankly amazed that you're doing as well as you are."

He gave her a wry smile. "I still don't know where England is."

She looked at him with wide eyes and then slapped her forehead. "Of course you wouldn't. It wasn't called England back then. Here, take a look." She had something under her arm, a thin black rectangular object. It had mysterious glowing runes all over it.

Merlin's forehead furrowed as he looked at it. "Is that magic?"

"No, it's technology. This device is called an iPad. It's a kind of computer." He was looking at her quizzically, so she added, "A machine. It was designed and built by people. There have been a lot of new inventions in the past hundred years or so." She touched one of the glowing runes and a map popped up. She handed it to him and pointed. "We're here. The city is called Chester. You can see more if you touch it."

He looked at the map, surprised that it showed more detail when he touched the city label and less detail when he pressed another picture to zoom out. "What happened to Albion?"

"England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are all one country now. It's called the United Kingdom. We're a constitutional monarchy. We have been for quite some time."

A stunned Merlin looked up. "What about Camelot?"

"No one really knows. The historians were never precise as to its location. Many have tried to find it. Camelot is widely regarded as a myth."

"And King Arthur?" he asked.

"He was said to have received a fatal wound but was sent to Avalon. Not that anyone's ever found proof of Avalon's existence, mind you."

Merlin sat up. "Of course, since I'm here, I wasn't there to protect him. I knew the clot pole wouldn't survive a day without me. "

The doctor gave him a bemused look. "We are talking about Arthur Pendragon?"

"Yes. Who do you think kept him alive during all those battles?"

The doctor smiled. "I will leave you for now, but I do need this back." She took the iPad and left.

Merlin sighed and stared at the ceiling, completely bored.

Suddenly a familiar voice entered his head: Merlin!

His eyes widened. "Kilgharrah?"

"It is you!" The dragon sounded downright happy, which was quite odd for him. "I cannot believe this…you are here!"

"I'm happy you're here too, but didn't you look for me?" Merlin was puzzled as to why he hadn't been rescued.

"We all thought you had perished," the dragon continued. "No one could SEE you. Her magic must have been preventing us from knowing where you were."

"Wait…who?"

"Myself, the other dragons, and the descendants of the druid clans. We have our…own little enclave, if you will."

"Oh," said Merlin.

"There are things you must know," Kilgharrah continued. "But for now, you should rest."

"Things? What sort of things?"

"Rest," the dragon said. Kilgharrah's presence left his mind.

Meanwhile, in an alley in downtown New York, there was a ripple in the air. If anyone had been looking, they would have seen three women step out of the ripple.

"Where are we?" Morgana asked.

"We are in a place called New York City," Nimueh replied. "It did not yet exist during our time. We are in the year 2012."

"Why are we here, now?"

"Merlin has returned to the world, and Arthur is here as well. He does not remember Camelot in this current lifetime. More importantly, Uther is also here, and he has something I desire, though he knows it not."

"What?" Morgause asked.

"There is a gemstone called Avalon's Tear. It is ancient. It also is said to hold incredible magical power. I hold you responsible, sisters, for retrieving it. Do what you will with Uther and his son. With Avalon's Tear, the world will be ours to control. We will be able to destroy Merlin once and for all."

Nimueh placed a vision of Uther in the sisters' minds so they knew where to find him, as well as a vision of the stone. It was ocean blue and sparkled in the light. "Go," she said.