Chapter one

Glastonbury, April 2008

A black four-wheel drive jeep screeched to a halt on the side off the narrow winding street leading away from Glastonbury. Its driver jumped out. The tall, handsome man with black hair smiled to the world around him. He opened the flap on his broad, brown leather wrist strap that was actually a vortex manipulator. However no more than a few people in this century knew about it. After touching a few buttons it bleeped. Captain Jack Harkness knew all he needed to know. "This way", he told the man and woman who stood by his side.

In brisk strides Jack walked off with his military greatcoat flapping behind him. He trusted that his two friends would follow him on his way towards the tower standing on the hill in the distance. According to his information it was named Glastonbury Tor. Legends claimed that King Arthur was laid to rest there, but Jack wasn't so sure. It was said of so many other places too. Maybe one day he would ask the Doctor if he could take him back to the dark ages, so that he could find out the truth behind the legends…

If Toshiko still lived he would have asked her to find out more and then they would have joked along with Owen at all the untruths afterwards. Jack swallowed back the memory of their deaths and his grief. No, now was not the time to dwell on all the people he had lost in the name of Torchwood. He needed to live in the here and now when he still had Gwen and Ianto breathing and alive at his side.

Jack smiled at how Ianto had taken it upon himself to gather the details on Glastonbury and the legendary Tor. Along the way over from Cardiff he had indulged the younger man when he told them all about King Arthur, Lake Avalon and the legends surrounding it. As he drove on he had caught Gwen smiling at Ianto's enthusiasm for the stories too. In a weird way the spike in the rift, an invisible scar of time and space in the skies above Cardiff which spat out the strangest things and aliens on the Earth, had come like a blessing in disguise. Never before had it brought them so far from Cardiff. Strange, but as Jack walked up the hill he realised the trip away from the Hub with all its memories of loss and hurt could do them all some good.

As the path curled upwards in a steep ascent Jack turned around to Ianto and Gwen. "Is it as good as they said in the brochures?" He asked Ianto with a wink to Gwen. His lover rolled his eyes and answered Jack in his Welsh accent. "Beats a rainy day in Cardiff, that's for sure."

Laughing at the dry joke the three walked on. Every few yards Jack checked the strength of the rift signal with his wrist strap. Once at the bottom of the tower they stopped to take in their surroundings and check for anything which seemed out of place.

"So the spike in the rift came from here. Why? And how?" Gwen asked as she looked up to the tower which stood high above them.

"Let's go and find out. Oh, don't you just love a good mystery?" Jack grinned a boyish smile of mischievous anticipation. Grinning at his typical manners Gwen and Ianto fanned out to investigate.

From a few yards away a young man watched the three and their uphill progress. His stormy blue eyes were filled with confusion. A spike in the rift? What had these strangers been talking about? The fact that some of them were Welsh was clear to him the instant the younger man and the woman spoke. Merlin wondered what the strangers had come here for. Maybe he should check it out, but he just couldn't find it within him to care too much… for now.

Every time he was here he came for the past; a time in history which was long since forgotten by the world. He came here for the memory of lost friends and the man who was said to be the other half of him. The once large Lake of Avalon had long since their time dried up, but somehow it didn't matter to Merlin. He knew in his soul that the plains around the Tor still held his past tucked away from the world to see.

"Arthur is not just a King, he is the Once and Future King. Take heart, for when Albion's need is greatest, Arthur will rise again." This was what Kilgharrah, the Great Dragon, had promised him when his soulmate died in his arms. After all these centuries alone Merlin needed the prophecy of the druids to come true. For too long he had waited for a signal of life. His heart had tried to heal so many times, but after all these centuries he had accepted it would never mend unless fate at last decided the time had come.

At the other side of the large hill Jack took the steps down the steep end. He knew it was preferred people took the well paved path, but like always he and his team needed to break some rules to get to the bottom of the truth. He stared at his wrist strap, which had gone quiet. Had whatever caused the rift to spike all the way to Glastonbury gone? Or had something or maybe even someone come through, like it always did in Cardiff?

Jack kept his eyes peeled for any unwanted visitors. An unwelcome alien causing mischief in Glastonbury was the last thing they needed. Imagine the trouble it could bring! Jack was quite happy that it wasn't the time of year for the Glastonbury Festival to take place. On those days the town and the area around it would be crawling with visitors. As it turned out, today was a slow day. Only a handful of tourists were walking on the hill and taking in the sights from the top.

Looking up from his wristband he spotted a young man sitting on a bench. The stranger stared off into the distance with such intent that Jack believed he didn't see him. For once he decided against flirting with a handsome man for his eyes spoke only of grief and pain. The intense depth of the sad emotions almost made Jack feel as if he was the intruder in this place. After a sigh of regret he shook off the feeling of unease and he walked on, circling the hill through the long grass. Now he was breaking even more rules. Good thing then Torchwood stood outside the laws of the National Trust who owned the ancient place in this era.

Movement caught his attention. Jack stopped walking when he saw it was Gwen who waved a gesture of "come here" at him. It seemed to him like she had found something, or at least she wanted to tell him something. Jack pointed to his bluetooth and called her in his usual style to tease her. "Found anything nice up there other than Ianto?"

The giggle on the other end masked what Jack knew was an eye roll. "You will never change will you? Just come over here and find out for yourself." Gwen returned the favour of his joke in kind before she added in a more serious tone of voice, "Ianto has run into a half-naked man with a sword. We think this case may be right up your alley."

"Don't let him go, until I talk to him." Jack ordered with a naughty grin, hinting once more at his nature to flirt with anything that had a pulse. His interest however was awoken by the mentioning of a sword. Had they encountered a time traveller? If so, then Jack needed to know why the man wore so few clothes. Even he himself had never been that careless.

Merlin tuned out on the three mysterious strangers when his thoughts went back to Camelot. It wasn't only Arthur who he missed dearly. He still remembered the knights and their loyal, brave nature. All the times Gwaine had taken him to the tavern for a tankard of ale. The tales they told each other and the fun they had when the dice rolled. Merlin had sometimes used his magic unseen to beat some of them. Even Arthur had been at the unfortunate end of his winning streak.

With a smile he remembered Gwen too. She'd been a beautiful and just Queen, years after Camelot lost their King. When Merlin at last found the courage to return to the town after Arthur's death she had merely kissed his cheek and said, "Welcome home." Magic soon got accepted under her reign and it thrived in freedom during what was known as the Golden Age of Albion. With Leon at her side as her husband, and the new King, their home had basked under the peace they had all fought so hard for while Arthur had still lived.

But all had not ended well. War had come, like it had always done since. In the end Merlin had outlived everyone for his immortal soul could not cross into Avalon, now known as Glastonbury Tor. It had hurt, Gods it had been so hard to get passed those days after he had said goodbye to Leon in the ruined town of old. Still he had found a way to live with the past wrapped firm around his heart. Time had healed most of his wounds… never all. Nothing could ever make him forget his time in Camelot and the life he had lived back then. The scar on his old heart still bled, but he had long ago given up on trying to heal it without having the two men around him who could…

Merlin was so lost in his memories that he didn't hear the mysterious man with the old fashioned dress sense talk into his bluetooth. He was only aware of his presence again when the man ran up the hill fast, without staying on any sort of path. What was going on? Was this the time he had waited for?

Reluctant and yet deep down more excited than he dared to admit to Merlin grabbed his small backpack. Mind made up he rose onto his feet to go after the stranger on his illegal track upwards. It was not something he normally did, but the behaviour of these three was so odd that it piqued his interest enough to follow them.