Eli blinked slowly, then sat up. She looked around in confusion at her surroundings. She seemed to be in the middle of the woods, and more importantly, she could hardly feel any of her limbs. That could probably be attributed to the several feet of snow that she was lying on.

The girl got to her feet, and tried to assess the situation. The last thing she could remember was that witch, Liviana, doing some kind of strange curse. She must have done something to transport Eli to this cold place. Unfortunately, Eli had just come from her home, where it was practically boiling out, so she wasn't dressed for this kind of weather. She wasn't even wearing any shoes, for crying out loud.

There was the sound of crunching snow getting closer, and it was a smooth noise. Someone in a cart was coming closer. Eli hurried towards the sound, trying to ignore how blue her hands and feet were looking. If the witch had been trying to freeze her to death, then she had practically succeeded.

The cart came into view, but it didn't seem to be slowing down. Eli couldn't help thinking that the driver would have to stop if there was someone standing in the road, so she dashed forward, until she was standing right in the path of the vehicle. The horses reared back, but Eli stood her ground, and the horses were jerked to a halt.

The man sitting on the front seat of the cart glared down at Eli. "What the hell do you think you're…" He trailed off as he noticed just quite how blue the girl was. It was genuinely surprising that she didn't just look like a giant ice cube at this point. The man jumped onto the ground, and walked over to Eli, who didn't even have the energy to shiver. He sighed. "Alright, girl, come on." When she could barely make more than a few clumsy steps forward, despite her earlier sprinting, the man rolled his eyes, and gently scooped the girl up.

Once he had her secure in the cart, he tucked his jacket around her first, and then all of the sacks of grain that he had been in the middle of transporting when some random kid had run out and across the road. He could see that despite their slightly ragged state, the girl was wearing expensive looking clothes. He could only hope that whoever her father was, he would gladly pay out a reward to the person who returned her home safely. But first he would need to get her to the nearest physician.

As they drove along, the man turned to the girl. "I'm Cedric, by the way. Who are you?"

The girl peered up at him. "Eli." She muttered softly.

Cedric nodded. "Well don't you worry, Eli. I'm going to get you home safely, I promise. I just need to bring you to a doctor, so you can get treatment for your frostbite. If you're lucky, you won't have to lose any body parts."

Eli's eyes widened at that. She considered using her magic now, but neither of her parents were around, and she wouldn't want to break one of the few rules that they strictly enforced. Eli was starting to feel very sleepy, and her eyelids drooped shut. It felt pretty warm out, despite all of the snow, and Eli just wanted to take a little nap.

She closed her eyes for just a moment, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up. Eli's entire body felt like she was being stabbed with a thousand pins and needles, over and over again, and it was horribly painful. Eli let out a loud screech, and there was instantly someone by her side.

The stranger spoke in a soft, soothing voice. "Cedric tells me your name is Eli." He paused a moment to let the girl give a slight nod. "Well, Eli, right now, you have severe frostbite. You must have been laying out in the snow for quite a while, dressed this sparsely. Right now, there is a large fire going, and you are tucked into several heavy blankets. My apprentice changed you from your wet garments to some things more suitable for this time of the year. It's a very painful process to defrost your body, and it will probably take a while. You could be left with serious damage to your hands and feet, but we will do everything possible to prevent that from happening. Do you understand?" Eli nodded again. "Good. Now, I want to ask you a few questions, to determine whether or not the cold has affected your mind in any way. What's your name?"

Eli opened her mouth, and even though it still felt numb and awkward, she could respond. "Elizalla. But most people just call me Eli."

The man nodded. "What is the date?"

Eli let out a sigh. "Well, I don't know what's up with all of that snow out there, but

it should be the thirteenth day of the sixth month of the year of the dragon."

The physician made a noise of concern. "You must have suffered more damage from the cold than I originally thought. The last year of the dragon was twenty years ago, and the next one won't be for another thirty years."

Eli frowned. "That can't be possible. It is the year of the dragon, I know it."

The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid that that's simply not true. And it is obviously not the sixth month, which you can tell just by looking outside. It is the fourth day of the first month of the year of the griffin. That is a fact."

Eli looked lost at that thought. How could it be the year of the griffin? She had never lived through a year of the griffin, and even though she didn't know exactly when, she knew that there wasn't supposed to be another griffin for a while. None of this was making any sense.

A young woman entered the small house, quickly shutting the door behind her to prevent any snow from blowing in. She motioned for the physician to go over to her, and Eli listened carefully to their conversation. The woman spoke first. "The girl looks to be around the same age as my Avavach. Perhaps it would good for her to be around another girl her age?"

The doctor nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that does sound like it could be helpful. Ask Bran to carry her over to your house. Make sure to keep her very warm."

Eli closed her eyes, tired. Avavach. That was the name of a servant girl from the castle. It was neat that they shared a name. A man knelt next to Eli's bed, and he carefully scooped her up, making sure to keep her cocooned in her blankets. He only took a few steps to get outside, and Eli began shivering. But that was a good thing, because it meant that her body was strong enough to recognize that it was too cold.

He brought her to a house that was only a few spot down from the doctor's resident, and carefully brought her inside and laid her out on a comfortable bed. As Eli was lying there, huddled under her blankets, a face suddenly appeared. The new girl, presumably Avavach, was leaning over Eli, trying to get a good look at her. When she realized that Eli was awake, she smiled politely. "Hi, I'm Ava. What's your name?"

"Eli. Uh… sorry if I've taken your bed from you, or something. You can have it if you want. I mean, I would obviously get up first. I wouldn't want to put you out. Or share a bed with you. Er, not that I'm saying you would be a bad bedmate, it would just be weird. And probably illegal." When Ava didn't do anything other than raise one eyebrow, Eli clamped her lips together.

Then Ava laughed. "Well you're a smooth one. Do you need anything?"

Eli coughed awkwardly. "Some water would be nice." Ava nodded, and she turned away to go fetch the pitcher. That's when Eli noticed that large birthmark on the back of Ava's neck. It looked identical to the one on Avavach, the servant from the castle. But that was impossible, because Avavach had no children, and this girl was still so young.

That, along with the fact that the doctor had insisted that it was the year of the griffin, were what led Eli to just one conclusion. She was really stuck in the past. Ava turned around and was holding a glass of water. She smiled sympathetically when she saw that Eli looked thoroughly shocked. "Here you are." She held out the cup.

Eli reached out with shaky hands to grab the cup, and it took both of her hands to steady it. She raised it carefully, and drank some of the water. It was rather refreshing. Then Eli looked back up at Ava searchingly, trying to see the resemblance. If the birthmark wasn't enough proof, then it was the curly black hair and big brown eyes that would have given it all away.

Eli pushed back her blanket, and sat up. "Hey, can you go fetch the doctor for me? Please?"

Ava nodded. "I'll be right back." She turned and quickly left the small home.

As soon as the girl was gone, Eli looked down at herself. She knew that her

parents had warned her a million times to only use magic on her own if it was an emergency. If being stuck in the past didn't count as an emergency, then Eli didn't know what would.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them a moment later, Eli's skin was a normal color again, and there didn't seem to be any lasting damage that her magic had been unable to fix. That was a good thing. Eli pushed aside her heavy blankets, and stood up. She shivered as the cold air hit her, but she soldiered on. Staying here could be dangerous, if she was in the past. Eli didn't want to mess up Avavach's future by talking to her too much now.

The girl looked around, and saw that the only exit besides the front door was a window. She went over to the window and pushed it open, then crawled through it. Going headfirst wasn't the best idea though, and Eli ended up tumbling down into the snow. She quickly stood up and brushed the powdery snow off of her borrowed pants. Eli looked over and saw that Ava and the physician were both watching her bemusedly.

Ava tilted her head, and walked over. "Hey, where are you going?" Then she seemed to realize that Eli was no longer tinted blue. Her eyes widened. "You're already recovered? How is that possible?"

Eli shrugged. "Magic, of course." Ava gave her a strange look. "What? If this is about the fact that I was just about ready to leave…"

Ava shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's just… not many feel comfortable admitting that they have magic, even if they are far from Camelot's borders."

Eli shrugged again. "Well, that's hardly important. What is important, however, is that I get to Camelot as soon as possible. There's someone I need to see." Now that Eli was no longer plagued by hypothermia, she could think with a clear mind. And if there was one person in this place that could help her get back to the right time, it would have to be her father. He was the most powerful sorcerer in the lands, after all.

Ava frowned. "Are you sure that's wise?"

Eli narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

The other girl sighed. "Magic is illegal in Camelot. If you were to get caught… well, let's just say that it wouldn't end well at all. Who is so important to see that you would be willing to risk your life?"

Eli swore under her breath. She hadn't considered the fact that in this time, Uther still ruled, and the ban against magic was still in place. That meant that just having her parents with her wouldn't be enough for Eli to do magic without getting in trouble. She looked troubled.

Ava sighed sympathetically. "So you came all the way here from who-knows-where just to visit someone in Camelot without even being aware of the fact that magic is illegal there?" She let out a deep breath. "You know, I've been yearning for an adventure lately. Wouldn't it be just awesome if I could come with you to Camelot? You obviously can't use magic to defend yourself, and I could help."

Eli looked up at the other girl for a few minutes before finally shaking her head. She spoke in a firm voice. "No. You are not coming with me. If being a sorceress is illegal, than aiding one is as well, and I wouldn't to be responsible if anything were to happen to you."

Ava laughed. "Yeah, like I would offer to go all the way to Camelot without having any intention of fighting to protect you, even if that's pretty much the only thing I can do besides cook and clean up a little bit around here."

Eli scoffed. "Hey, I'm sure that you have plenty of talents."

Ava crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm going with you to Camelot, and there's nothing that you can do to change my mind."

Eli let out a long sigh. "If there's really nothing I can do to make you change your mind…"

Ava shook her head firmly. "There isn't."

"Then I suppose you should pack a small bag." She paused. "Er… how far away is Camelot from here, exactly?"

Ava laughed. "See? This is why you need me. You probably wouldn't even know what direction to go in. With all this snow on the ground, I'd say that it'll take us about three days to reach the city."

"Alright. You go pack whatever you think is necessary, and I'll just wait out here. Be quick though, it's pretty cold."

Ava nodded, and she hurried back into her house. Eli could hear loud voices coming from inside, shouting over each other. Ava's mother was probably not so eager for her daughter to just pack up and leave. A few minutes later, Ava emerged, a small bag slung over her shoulder. She looked at Eli. "You're going to be awfully cold in that."

Eli rolled her eyes, and a moment later she was wearing a thick fur cloak, much to Ava's astonishment. Eli started walking forward, and she heard the hurried footsteps as Ava hurried to catch up.

The doctor stopped them quickly, to hand Ava a few different potions. He kept giving Eli strange looks, but she ignored them. Everyone was wondering why any sorceress in their right mind would march right into Camelot, a place where they could easily be executed.

The two girls set off, and began walking along the freezing road. Thick dunes of snow would be tossed out of their way with just a small flick of Eli's head. After a while, it started getting dark, and the girls were shivering. Eli glanced at Ava. "We should probably make camp for the night."

Ava shook her head. "It's way too cold. If we go to sleep now, we might not ever wake up." A tent appeared right in front of Ava, large enough for both girls to share. She lifted the flap, and warm air blew out.

Ava stepped inside, and found that it was nice and toasty inside. She glanced back at Eli, who was shrugging off the cloak and making herself comfortable on one of the mattresses. Once they were both settled, Eli blew out the candle. "Good night."

Ava sighed. "If this is what people can do with magic, than no wonder the king is so scared. You could do anything."

Eli didn't respond. She had met a few people in her life who were still scared of magic, but not many. Eli had always been taught that magic wasn't evil, and it wasn't to be feared. It was the people with magic who chose to be good or bad, and it really had nothing to do with the magic at all. Finally, Eli turned, so her back was facing the other girl. "If you're leading me to Camelot just to turn me in for some gold, I wouldn't blame you."

Ava chuckled. "You're so strange. I'm not going to turn you in." She turned so her back was facing Eli, and both girls were just staring at the dark tent walls. "Good night."

Eli closed her eyes. The tent was secure against everything, they were warmer in here than they had been in any house, and Eli was on her way to Camelot. Once she got there, she would be able to ask Merlin for help getting home, and then she would return to her own time, and all of this would be over. Eli could only hope that things would turn out to be that easy.