Merlin swayed as the ship suddenly jerked in the water. He dropped his book on the hammock and ran out to see what was going on. It appeared to him that a giant aqua-colored sea creature was attacking them. It's face was flat as a pancake on the sides, but was also very thin, at least, when it didn't have what appeared to be 50 gallons of blazing hot water inside. It also had a very long neck. Merlin couldn't see the rest of the body, seeing as it was under water.

"What is that?" Merlin asked one of the crew members named David in a curious voice.

"That, Merlin, is what we sailors call a scauldron." Merlin raised his eyebrows. He had never heard of the said scauldron. David laughed at this expression, then shook his head.

"A scauldron, young man, is a sea dragon that shoots boiling water out of it's mouth, which can kill a man. They roam the seas looking for ye poor unfortunate souls." Then, David saw the look on young Merlin's face (which he assumed was a mix of surprise + fear, but it was actually surprise + understanding) and said to him, "Aye, ye shouldn't worry mate. We sailors got it all under control." Merlin nodded and hid a smile. He then looked around for a place where nobody would see him use his abilities.

Merlin had just finished climbing down into a secluded part of the boat, but where you could still see everything going on. If the sailor was correct and the beast attacking them was a dragon, then he could simply use his abilities to make the beast go away, which would make his new friends feel better because they would get the credit for scaring off the beast, and they would get more rest. Trying to make a dragon leave is much harder than doing simple sailor duties. Merlin stopped for a second to make sure no one was watching and then let his magic do the

rest.

"Dragorn. Non didlkai. Kari miss epsipass imalla krat. Katostar abore ceriss. Katicur. Me ta sentend divoless. Kar dex krisass." Merlin said to tame the dragon. It immediately stopped attacking the soldiers and stood still, if you don't mind the slight swaying it used to stay above the water. It was then that everyone simply stared at the creature. This type of dragon was not known for simply stopping mid-fight. The dragon stared for a second, looking slightly in Merlin's direction, then dove into the water, making the biggest splash in the world, (spraying everybody, and soaking the ones in front) and relieved the sailors of the hard work, for a while, at least.

· · · · · · · · · · · ·

The whole crew was allowed some rest time after the struggle they just barely had. Most of them took this time to get drunk, for with their sailor duties, they rarely got the chance. Merlin went back to his cabin and studied for a while, until he fell asleep. Gwaine and all the other knights also went back to their cabins, seeing as how it would probably be the most rest they have for a while.

Sir Leon looked at Merlin. The young man seemed to have been taking this quite well actually, all things considered. I mean, imagine if you just found you had family in a faraway place, and what the people did for a living there was kill them. Maybe a little bit of a weird analogy, but still. Now imagine you had to go up to them and ask for help in war, and not be able to help your family. Merlin was sort of magical family with the dragons (I guess). Anyway, Merlin was also the one talking because Arthur had pressured him into learning the language. All things considered, he should be the one that should do the least, for he had already done the most.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

"Merlin" Gwaine said to wake him up. Merlin didn't stir. After the nap he had taken he stayed up late studying Norse. This time Gwaine shook him while saying it.

"Merlin!" He said. Merlin was still half asleep so Gwaine tried again.

"MERLIN! Come on, it's time to get up." Merlin bolted up faster than Gwaine had ever seen anyone move. Gwaine laughed in a friendly way, and Merlin looked more embarrassed than ever. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. Something was different, he knew that for sure. He then noticed that the boat seemed to be slower.

"Have we stopped?" Merlin asked.

"As a matter of fact, we have. But you could've just used your wizard abilities to see that right?"

"Actually, open sea dampens my senses. Not lakes, just the seas for some reason."

"Hm. Well you better get up on deck. Arthur is telling everybody to grab their stuff and get off. He wants to make this trip as quick as possible."

"Well I'm in trouble then." Merlin said with a smile. But he grabbed his stuff anyways and headed up.

· · · · · · · · ·

"Well, look who decided to wake up." Arthur told Merlin.

"Yeah, it wasn't quite as fun as I thought it would be." Merlin replied, which made Arthur sigh. Dealing with wizards is hard, but dealing with Merlin is impossible, he thought, but made sure not to say it aloud to Merlin. Merlin smiled and walked to the dock, carrying not just his, but some of Arthur's stuff.

Merlin saw that the sun wasn't quite up but was starting to peek through. He stopped for a second and rested before making his way to wherever the knights were going, for he had not been told where to go.

Merlin ducked and almost dropped everything as a huge, fat, rocky dragon swooped show low he could feel the wind. It was being chased by a crazy-looking Viking waving a battle ax. He ran into Merlin, said "Heill" he said quickly then ran past, still waving his weapon. Heill meant hello when addressed to a male, as Merlin had learned. After Merlin's heart slowed down a little after that scare, he kept going on.

"What was that?" Arthur asked as he caught up.

"He was just saying hello. Literally. Heillo means hello."

"Does this mean you've been practicing?" Merlin just looked at him and then kept walking.

"Ok" Arthur said to himself then walked to the hut with Merlin.