Disclaimer: You'll never guess... Crowd: You don't own Merlin!... Wow, you guys are good.

As soon as night fell and most of Camelot lay asleep Merlin was up and heading down to the dungeons. He slipped past the guards with laughable ease (he'd too much practice), and nabbed a torch from the wall, whispering a spell to light it. He hadn't even reached the main cavern before he was calling out, "Kilgharrah!"

Skipping the last three steps, Merlin burst into the cavern. "Kilgharrah!"

A long moment later the Great Dragon appeared and landed on his customary rock with a clink of his chain. "I did not expect to see you tonight, Merlin."

"I know, I know," Merlin said, bouncing on his toes, back down on his heels, and on his toes again. "But I have to tell you what happened."

Kilgharrah chuckled. "Very well, Merlin. I'm not complaining about it. What happened?"

"A knight," Merlin said. "Well, not exactly a knight. He's a commoner, but I kind of helped him fake a seal of nobility because he's not a noble, and Uther has this stupid rule that only noblemen can be knights. But he really wanted to be a knight and I liked him and he'd saved my life so I did it. Anyway Lancelot—that's his name—is a great swordsman so he passed all Arthur's tests and became a knight of Camelot but Uther found out the seal was fake and arrested him. While all this was happening a griffin was attacking Camelot and, as you probably know, Arthur couldn't kill it. So they all rode out and then Lancelot somehow got out of jail and went after them.

"Since they were all going to die if I didn't do something, I followed with a spell that Gaius gave me but I couldn't get it right. When I got out there they were all down except Lancelot and he was charging the griffin. And I finally got the spell right, by luck I think, and enchanted Lancelot's lance. The griffin died and everything, Camelot's saved again and all that."

The explanation had taken all of forty seconds with Merlin barely breathing in between sentences, so Kilgharrah decided to cut in. "And what happened to Sir Lancelot?"

Merlin took a deep breath to make himself slow down. "Well, Uther wanted to banish him but Arthur wanted to let him stay a knight. Lancelot decided to leave on his own. He told them that he couldn't stand the fact that he caused strife between them and that he'd lied about his heritage. But that wasn't the real reason. Kilgharrah, the reason he left was that he couldn't take the credit for killing the griffin. He knew I did it, Kilgharrah. He knew I was the one that killed the griffin and that I did it with magic."

Kilgharrah gave him a knowing smile. "He must be a man of noble character."

Merlin grinned and nodded, proud of the praise for his new friend. "It doesn't bother him that I have magic. He didn't turn me in. Lancelot wasn't afraid of me. He believed that it could be used for good."

The dragon tilted his head and said, "I've told you many times, Merlin, that you're magic isn't to be feared, and you yourself know it can be used for good."

"I know, you and Gaius both," Merlin agreed. "But it's one thing to think it yourself and be told by your fellow magicians. It's entirely another to see and hear it from someone without magic that you've just met." Merlin paused, trying to articulate why he was so excited about this. "It comforts me, Kilgharrah, to know that hope is not entirely lost."

Kilgharrah smiled down at him. "I knew that hope was not lost the moment I saw you walk in here."

Merlin felt his face flush a little at the dragon's praise, but also felt his chest tighten. "Do you think I can do it, Kilgharrah? Not just because it's my destiny, but because you think I can do it?"

Kilgharrah regarded him for a long minute before answering. "Merlin, I have known you only a few short months, and so do not know you as well as I could. But I do know this, Merlin; very few people have the kind of character required to wield such a power as yours, not to mention accomplish what you must. The ancient magic would not have chosen you if there had been a possibility that you would not be that kind of person you need to be. But I have seen your kindness and bravery already. I believe you can do it, Young Warlock, and I believe you will."

The weights of Merlin's doubts—the ones he'd been holding up ever since he came to Camelot—lessened and lightened; not completely gone, but now easier to bear with Kilgharrah's faith.

"Besides," Kilgharrah said. "You need not do this on your own."

Merlin's eyes widened. Not alone? People would help him? "How do you mean?"

"You are not the only one who will seek to keep Arthur safe from harm. You've already met one of them; Integrity."

"You mean Lancelot?" Merlin asked.

"That is correct." Kilgharrah nodded. He was silent for a moment before he said. "Your time has been foretold, Young Warlock, what you will do has been written already. And some of the people who will help you have been foretold as well.

"In Magic's quest to unite Albion,

Seven virtues he will need,

Courage and Compassion first,

Loyalty and Integrity follow,

Strength then Patience then Honor."

Merlin repeated the virtues over and over in his mind. Courage, Compassion, Loyalty, Integrity, Strength, Patience, and Honor. Assuming they went in order, he must have already met Courage, Compassion, and Loyalty since Lancelot was Integrity. Merlin decided to dwell on it later and asked the dragon, "But how can Lancelot help me? He couldn't stay in Camelot."

"He has already helped you save Arthur's life once, Merlin. But you will see him again, Young Warlock. Do not doubt that."

"I don't," Merlin stated. If Kilgharrah said he would see Lancelot again, he would see Lancelot again. Not only that, he would have more help. Merlin didn't know who, but they would come. He wasn't alone in this battle.

"Now," Kilgharrah began, changing the subject. "Let's see about the pronunciation of that spell of yours, see where you went wrong."

And they did. They analyzed every word and Kilgharrah made Merlin repeat it until each word was flawlessly delivered. After that they continued well into the wee hours of the morning, learning little spells of no consequence but refining the art. Finally, Kilgharrah ushered Merlin off to bed and curled around his own rock to rest for the remainder of the night.

Another chapter so soon! Haha, it's cuz I love you all. Virtual cookies to whoever can figure out who is which virtue. April figured it out pretty quick. By the way, I apologize for my deplorable poetry. I am not a poet.

Review? :)