Chapter One

The TARDIS pitched violently for the fourth time, knocking Donna Noble from her feet. She grasped for the uneven coral pillar but her hands slipped and she fell, colliding ungainly with the far wall.

"The force fields are down – external and internal!" The Doctor yelled above the noise of the screaming engines and the hissing of smoke and steam. "Drift compensator and stabilisers are also out … we're losing control!" On hearing no reply he turned momentarily from the central console to see his companion lying unconscious on the floor.

"Donna! Are you alright? Donna?"

Desperately he tried to stabilise the Time Rotor as best he could but the TARDIS was having none of it. The low chime of the cloister bell echoed ominously above the chaos, indicating a critical systems malfunction and imminent danger of total destruction. She pitched again, this time slamming the Doctor fiercely across the control room, but he managed to save himself by grabbing hold of the ship's handbrake at the last minute. With a final explosion and a shudder that shook the time machine to its core, the TARDIS crash landed. The central lights dimmed activating the emergency power systems, which were at least still functional. The interior of the ship plunged into an eerie glow of orange silence.

The Doctor glanced quickly over towards Donna and seeing her starting to open her eyes, knew that she was alive.

"Are you alright?" he gasped, snatching hold of the nearest fire extinguisher and starting to put out some the small fires that had erupted around them.

"Hmmm?"

"Good!" Throwing the extinguisher to one side, the Doctor grabbed hold of the scanner monitor. On flicking the switch the screen blinked hopefully but then showed nothing other than static.

"Aarggh!" frustrated, he thumped it heavily, trying to force the thing to life. Instead it simply winked twice before fading to nothingness. "No! No no no no! Don't do that! Come on," he coaxed. "What's wrong with you eh?"

Donna hauled herself clumsily to her feet. "What happened?" she groaned. Dazed and rubbing her head, she stumbled her way over to the central console to join the Doctor. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," he answered quietly, running his hands through his hair. He flicked several of the various switches on the instrument panels but the TARDIS remained silent and unresponsive. Gradually, the emergency power also began to fail, descending the TARDIS into complete darkness. The Doctor fumbled around in his jacket pocket for a second and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "She's lost all power," he said, activating the device. "We've fallen out of the Time Vortex. Everything's dead, even the extrapolator. The TARDIS is dead." He stared helplessly around the silent, ghostly interior of the ship. "We're lost."

"But we've landed right?" Donna asked apprehensively.

"Oh yes, we've definitely landed!" he looked sideways at her. "The question is, where?"

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The rain continued to fall heavily as the two men rode on horseback through the forest. The prince sat proudly upon his steed leading the way. Following closely behind rode a young boy roughly the same age as the prince. He was wet, grumpy and slouched uncomfortably in his saddle. The sodden dead rabbits from the morning's hunt swung awkwardly over his shoulder, occasionally trickling big, cold drops of water down the back of his shirt. Suddenly, the boy heard a rustling from beyond the trees just off the beaten track that they been following. He turned towards a small clearing as something caught his eye. He pulled up his horse to listen closer.

"Mer-" the prince interrupted as he turned and drew up alongside the boy.

"Ssh."

"Mer-"

"Ssh!"

"Merlin!" cried the prince. "I am the King's son! You can't tell me to shut up!"

"I didn't tell you to shut up Arthur," Merlin replied smiling. "I told you to 'ssh', there's a very big difference!" He turned back towards the trees, his eyes searching the dense forest for any sign of movement. But it appeared that whatever it was that had distracted him had vanished.

"What are you doing anyway?" asked the prince irately.

"I thought I saw something … over there."

"Oh please don't tell me that you're having one of your 'funny feelings' again, because I really don't think I could handle that today -"

"There!" cried Merlin excitedly, catching another glimpse of the strange object amongst the trees. "Did you see it?"

Prince Arthur squinted in the direction of Merlin's frantic finger-pointing but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"No!" he said angrily. "All I can see is you flapping your arms about like a mad man! What was it - a deer?"

The horses however could also feel something. Something strange. Something untoward that should not have been there. Merlin's horse whinnied and reared up onto its hind legs, almost knocking him from his saddle and causing him to narrowly miss the prince's face with his fist.

"Stop it Merlin!" Arthur shouted. "You're spooking the horses." The prince clicked his heels and turned toward home. "You know, I really do wonder about you sometimes. Come on, let's get back. There's no sport here today, thanks to you!"

Merlin turned his horse to follow his master but stopped short suddenly. Something was pricking at the back of his mind. Something was calling him back.

"I think I'm going to stay for a bit."

"What?"

"Erm, I've just remembered, I need to get some herbs for Gaius," Merlin lied.

"Honestly, there's always some excuse to skive off with you isn't there? Alright, go!" The prince sighed. "Just don't forget that my armour still needs polishing, my sword needs sharpening, my quarters need tidying and, oh yes, the horses will need rubbing down and mucking out too!" He smiled widely at Merlin. "So, you know, you take as long as you want … picking your flowers!"

With that, Prince Arthur clicked his heels and cantered off leaving Merlin alone in the forest.

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Merlin dismounted and tethered his horse to the branch of a nearby tree. Cautiously he made his way towards the strange blue box standing silently amongst the trees, wisps of white smoke curling gently from around the doorway. There was a peculiar, unearthly feeling emanating from it, Merlin could sense it.

"Hello?" he called out nervously. Merlin reached out to put his hand against the door which suddenly and without warning swung open.

"Ooh! Hello!" said the tall, male figure now leaning out from the doorframe. "Sorry! Wasn't expecting anyone to be standing there … quite so close! Donna!" he called back through the door. "It's OK, it's safe to come out. We're in some kind of … big wood. Looks like we might be back on Earth! Are we on Earth?" he asked, turning to the boy.

"Ermm," Merlin stuttered. "What?"

As the man edged himself carefully through the narrow doorway, Merlin thought he saw a glimpse of something quite impossible behind him. He stood on tip toes and craned his head to see over the man's shoulders but found the door pulled abruptly shut, preventing him from getting a further look inside.

"What's … what's that?" Merlin asked, his mind racing.

"What's what?" Asked the Doctor innocently.

"That!" Merlin exclaimed pointing at the TARDIS.

"Oh that!" The Doctor turned and patted the side of the ship. "That's the TAR -" He stopped short. "Hang on, now, you weren't supposed to notice her when she landed … How did you see her? Oh don't tell me the perception filter's broken again? Or did she land next to you? Oh God!" the Doctor suddenly had a horrible thought. "You were alone weren't you? We didn't land on someone did we? Please tell me we didn't land on someone!"

Merlin stepped closer towards the box. "No … erm no, no, I was alone," Merlin stammered. "I'm just observant, that's all."

"Oh phew! Hate it when that happens!" said the Doctor smiling. "This is my TARDIS."

"Your what?" Merlin's brow furrowed as he walked slowly around the outside of the box. "I don't understand, what's a … a TARDIS?" he asked as emerged around the other side.

"She's my …" the Doctor paused, briefly scanning Merlin's clothing, trying to gauge an approximate time period. "... chariot. Or at least she was, she's broken. And unless I can get her working again, I'm afraid that me and my friend are stuck here. I'm the Doctor by the way!" he said shaking Merlin's hand. "And this is Donna." The Doctor looked around him but Donna was nowhere to be seen. "Oh god where's she gone now? DONNA?"

"Alright!" Came the reply as Donna emerged from the doorway. "No need to shout! Oh, hello! And who's this then?"

Merlin placed his hand gently against the door of the TARDIS. He moved closer and placed his ear gently against the wood. The Doctor and Donna exchanged confused glances.

"It's alive!" Merlin whispered. "It speaks to you. What is it?" He wandered back around the exterior of the box, smiling in wonder. "Is it magic? You know that magic is outlawed right? The King would have your head."

In a mirroring gesture, Donna, curious to see what Merlin had felt, lay her hand on the door and pressed her ear up to the wood. However, all she felt was the cold, dampness of the recent rain, icy against her skin. Donna screwed up her nose and tutted in frustration.

"I told you," the Doctor explained. "It's my chariot, my ship."

Merlin frowned again. "Ship? But … we're miles from the coast." He turned his attention back to the wooden frame. "No … no, it's more than that. It's a part of you. But … how can that be?"

"OK, now that's a bit clever!" The Doctor muttered to himself. "What I'm more interested in is why her perception filter didn't work on you?" The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver from the inside pocket of his trench coat and scanned the boy quickly from head to toe. "What's so special about you?"

Merlin looked nervously about him. "Nothing," he replied somewhat overly cheerily. "Absolutely nothing at all! I'm just a regular person. Completely ordinary, that's me!"

The Doctor examined the results from the sonic scan and smiled. "Oh-ho! There's nothing ordinary about you is there?" he laughed. "Oh but this is brilliant! Molto bene!"

"I don't understand," Donna frowned. "What's brilliant?"

"I know who you are, and … If the legends are to be believed, I know what you are!" The Doctor continued, his smile growing ever wider. "Which means, I know where we are!" His feet fidgeted with excitement, whilst Donna became increasingly more confused and impatient.

"I don't get it Doctor!" She turned to the boy. "Who are you? Where are we?"

"I'm Merlin. Manservant to Prince Arthur of Camelot."

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