Prologue
"Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving."
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld, #32)
The last thing he remembered was pain, the feeling of his grasp on life failing and fading… And his body being shook. His name being called in desperation.
Merlin. The last thing he remembered was Merlin.
Now he was floating.
How was he floating?
He knew this feeling. Water. He was in water.
He was getting closer and closer to the surface. He could see the light penetrating the surface.
But that didn't make sense.
You didn't float in water like this when wearing chainmail. And he had been wearing chainmail hadn't he?
He attempted to swim. His mind was desperately begging his limbs to move. To do something. He had to get to the surface quicker. He had to breathe. If he didn't he would drown.
Despite his desperation his body remained still.
He was going to die.
But he was already dead, wasn't he?
Then he heard it. The voice of a woman.
"Sleep now Arthur. I will bear you to the shore and he will find you. You are needed once more."
…..
Not far away, in a ramshackle cottage, a man awoke in his bed. But he did not awake to the stiffness of joints or the aches and pains of age he had become accustomed to. He brought his hand up to eye level and noted the lack of wrinkles and then he brought his hands to his face. There he felt smooth skin for the first time in an age.
He had cast no spell.
Hope flared in his chest.
And then he heard it.
"The time of Arthur is once again upon us. He waits for you on the shores of Avalon. You are needed once more."
…..
This time when he opened his eyes it was to the sight of the sky. Grey and cloud filled. And yes…that was definitely a light mist of raining slowly beginning to soak him. Although considering where he was that last time he awoke he should be thankful he wasn't already drenched. With a groan Arthur sat up. He expected at least a twinge of pain but there was nothing. His wound was gone.
"It's about time you woke up. Then again, it always was difficult to rouse you from your slumber."
That voice…
"Merlin!"
He turned and, sure enough, sitting upon on a large rock not far away was the man that had been both his servant and his closest friend. But there was something wrong. His clothes were like nothing Arthur had ever seen before. And nothing like anything Merlin ever wore. In fact there was no blue, red or brown in sight. Just black. There was also something about him. Something in his eyes which made Arthur feel…small. He felt the smile that had split his face falter slightly as he took all this in. This was Merlin but…not.
"Hello Arthur. It has been a long time."
He opened his mouth to respond. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say but it didn't matter, the words were taken from him when a sound like nothing he had ever heard in his lifetime cut through the air. It was grating, metallic and there was rumbling. All of it at once. Loud to the point of being almost unbearable. He prepared himself for an attack from whatever beast stalked their surroundings. But nothing came.
He looked to Merlin and saw not a look apprehension, or fear, but amusement.
Merlin got to his feet, his shoulders beginning to shake with the tell-tale signs of laughter.
"Oh this is going to be fun. Getting back to the house without you having a breakdown will be a challenge in itself."