Chapter 7

Beorht Līeg

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Merlin

Merlin shook his head as he watched the dark-haired boy disappear beyond the tree line, and despite himself he couldn't hold back the unconstrained smile that crept onto his face as he himself entered the leafy growth. There was just so much life in the forest, calling out to him, welcoming him back into the steady thrumming of nature that sang alongside his magic. Instinctively he let his magic spread out, unfettered by the limitations of the citadel.

They had set out late in the afternoon, managing to get through all of Arthur's assigned chores quickly between the two of them. True to predictions Arthur had added significantly more to Merlin's workload during the week, but with the extra set of hands he was able to get everything done a lot faster despite the extra work. So Merlin and Danny had actually been able to leave the citadel early, an empty satchel slung over Danny's shoulders for the herbs that they were supposedly picking at Gaius' request. Fortunately this was a legitimate reason; with Danny's help Gaius had actually been able to bulk up a lot of his preparations, but at the expense of some of his herb stores.

A mischievous glimmer twinkled in Merlin's eyes as he raised a tree root in front of the younger boy's path, fully intending on fooling him into the same prank he'd fallen for six nights before. However it seemed that Danny would not fall for the same trick twice, and instead of tripping over the root, he exaggeratedly walked through the root before turning around grinning back, his eyes glimmering impishly, and Merlin could swear he saw the blue irises flare more brightly. Suddenly he was on the forest floor himself, his feet having come out from under him.

If Danny's huge grin when he helped Merlin up wasn't enough to tell him that Danny had been responsible for the prank, then the small patch of ice that currently occupied the forest floor beneath him would have. The blue eyed boy tugged him up with a firm heave, silent laughter twinkling in his eyes. Merlin sent one more glance over his shoulder to find the ice completely gone, as if it had never been. Even if it was only used for a prank, that was an impressive trick in itself.

Merlin rolled his eyes, but the smile playing on his lips no doubt betrayed him. It had been a long time since he'd used his magic for fun like this, and the free-spirited return was something that he'd never had before. His magic had always been something to keep hidden, something that he could never truly share. While Lancelot had known, and while Gaius did know, it wasn't something that he could share with them easily. Even his exploits with Will in Ealdor, years before, had been more exploring the limits of Merlin's powers and the mischief the two of them could come up with than sharing magic as equals.

So maybe his eyes were brighter than usual as the two of them made their way into a small forest clearing. Danny probably didn't realise it, but he was the first person to find out about Merlin's magic, and not only accept it, but fully embrace and encourage it. And while Merlin's heart still ached for Freya, he was looking forward to sharing magic with another person as equals. It was something he had desperately longed for from the day he'd found out how different he was from other children, and the fact that most other people of magic turned out to be enemies had never given him that chance.

Merlin blinked, ducking his head away from the bright flash of light that suddenly surrounded Danny. It was strange to see the boy change forms at will like this. The first time he had seen the change he's been more interested in the physical differences; Danny's raven hair turned an ethereal white, and his eyes became a shade of glowing green that Merlin couldn't describe. But this time he focused on how the boy's human flesh melted away into something closer to the pure energy that was magic. The energy was cold in the way that the Great Dragon was hot, like a griffin was wild and like the goblin had been mischievous.

The two rings of blue-white light that encircled the boy did far more than just a superficial change; they changed his very nature. And while Merlin knew that this power bled through to his human form, the white-haired boy that stood before him was as much a creature of magic as the dragon was for all that his physical form looked human. The black cloak, having survived the change in forms began to lightly billow around him, caught by a wind that had far more to do with the eddying currents of magic around them than the late summer wind.

Danny smiled at him, a faint hint of relief twinkling in his green eyes. It lasted a moment before he jumped up into the air, surprising Merlin when the younger boy kept going. It shouldn't have surprised him really that the boy could fly, but at the same time Danny looked more corporeal than any of the spirits he had met before did. The boy flittered up into the sky, looking as happy in the air as any bird or even the great Dragon. Merlin shook his head, finding a flat patch of grass to sit on and running through a few spells in his head.

Five minutes later he found himself laying back, idly staring at the stars as they came out and just letting the thrum of natural magic wash through him. Up above the tiny glowing dot that was Danny drifted in lazy circles. Merlin could almost have mistaken him for a firefly or a star, if it weren't for the way he'd occasionally flicker out of sight. Part of him was curious, 'what was it like to fly like that?' but the part of him conditioned into hiding magic cringed at the open display. Sure, they were far enough from Camelot that Danny would likely not be noticed, but over twenty years of 'keep the magic hidden' were impossible to override.

His eyes still fixed on the sky he saw the glowing white figure pause and suddenly, as though he was a rock falling back to the earth he came hurtling down back towards the clearing. He tumbled through the air, plummeting with the uncontrolled velocity of a mallard hit by a crossbow bolt. Merlin reached out with his magic, ready to catch the boy before he fell to his death, but instead he fell through the earth, disappearing beneath the surface with no sign of his passage.

A minute later he resurfaced, green eyes sparkling mirthfully as he pulled himself out of the ground. "What was that?" Merlin demanded, shocked in his non-comprehension.

Danny blinked, cocking his head curiously before his green eyes widened. "My take on sky-diving." He explained, but that didn't answer anything to Merlin who crossed his arms expectantly. "Um..." Danny continued, uncertain. "When you were a kid, did you ever find a... boulder over a lake and just jump in from the highest point?"

Merlin nodded slowly. Ealdor didn't have a lake, but there had been many summer days where Will would drag him to the river where there was a small waterfall. It wasn't that tall, five feet at the most. But when they were ten that had seemed so much more and they'd jumped off the ledge and into the cool water below. It was one of the few ways he'd had growing up, to actually be a child. Will hadn't found out about his magic until he was thirteen, and after that jumping over the waterfall had turned into making the water jump over them, but he could sort of understand what Danny was saying.

"So to you the ground is like... water." Merlin commented, the paradoxical statement sounding strange in his mouth.

"Not quite." Danny replied, shrugging and sitting down opposite him. "But over the past few years I've developed a taste for free-fall, and well, being able to turn intangible makes it easier." Merlin sighed and rolled his eyes. In a way he could empathise, at seventeen he himself had been a lot more irresponsible with his own magic. New to Camelot, despite the need to keep it a secret, he had been... well reckless was probably the best way to describe it. He had never looked to the consequences, and that had nearly gotten people killed more than once.

However, that didn't mean that Merlin liked denying his magic. Over the years he had learned caution, out of necessity more than anything else, but he still hated the need for such strict secrecy. And perhaps living in Camelot had taught him to be slyer about his use of magic; the grand displays of his youth were impressive, but they were hardly conducive to secrecy. He could only rely on obliviousness for so long before people started asking questions. Elyan had once pointed out that one of the bandits they'd slain had a strange burn on his hand – one that Merlin knew to be from an overheated dagger.

"So..." Danny trailed, shifting back to his human form as he crossed his legs, his blue eyes meeting Merlin's in the growing evening gloom and shaking him out of his reverie. "What's next? Usually when I'm training I'd do a bit of an obstacle course, but I guess what we do now is up to you." Merlin quirked a cheeky smile; Danny had offered to help with his magic as well as his chores, and there was one spell he was itching to try out.

"Nu bebiede ic þe þæt þu lætest þine fīras bāncofa gelīc fyrwit. Wyrþ ācweorna!" Merlin incanted, feeling his eyes flash as he waved his arm at the boy. Danny blinked, his eyes creased in confusion, and Merlin watched as his skin rippled, a faint shimmer of gold washing over the surface of his body. The spell took hold, and the younger boy's flesh appeared to melt, even as he was swallowed up by a golden mist. After a minute the golden tendrils cleared, leaving a distinctly disgruntled blue eyed squirrel behind. His fur was a dark brown, looking almost black in the early evening light, but the patch of white on his underside was the same shade as fallen snow.

Merlin couldn't help but laugh as the squirrel chattered angrily at him. The squirrel huffed, flicking his fluffy dark tail at Merlin before looking over his shoulder and poking out a little pink tongue. Merlin just grinned at him, proud that the spell had worked first time. It was not an easy piece of magic to work, more difficult in complexity than the ageing spell, and that in itself was a taxing work of magic. Of course it took his magic energy to perform the transformation, but once the individual was transformed it was fed by their own energy until magic turned them back.

"You know," Merlin commented, looking down at him. "Being a squirrel sort of suits you." The dark brown squirrel turned around, glaring at him with a very sarcastic look in his too-intelligent blue eyes. "Okay fine," he conceded. "Maybe it doesn't, but you can't deny that it's a useful disguise."

The squirrel chittered angrily at him again, giving a distinct impression of crossed arms as he sat back on his haunches. As if for emphasis the squirrel turned invisible, before flickering back into sight as if to say 'I don't need a disguise'. Merlin rolled his eyes, unable to wipe the smug smile off his face. But it was interesting that Danny still seemed to have access to his powers like this. Merlin didn't know the specifics of being a halfa, but on human sorcerers it was supposedly only the most powerful who could use magic in an animal form. Too much of it was used to maintain the spell for it to be directed to other tasks.

Danny shook his head, absently scratching a black tufted ear before cautiously crawling back over towards Merlin. His black nose was twitching, sniffing something in the air as he walked over towards him. Idly Merlin wondered what Will would have thought of this sort of magic, or Arthur. But thinking about Arthur and magic together were still part of that impossible distant 'someday' that Merlin doubted could ever be. But the fact that the spell had worked on his first try was encouraging if nothing else.

The dark squirrel sniffed twice at Merlin's fingertips before investigating the leather herb bag they'd brought out. Eventually they'd need to pick a couple of herbs, just for the sake of pretence, but for the moment it was amusing to watch Danny as a squirrel fumbling with the leather buckle that held the bag closed. It was clear that even in an animal body the boy still retained most of his human intelligence, as per the spell, but at the same time he seemed to know how to work the squirrel's body.

Giving up on the catch the squirrel slipped through the narrow slit at the top, crawling into the bag and clearly rummaging around. A minute later he squirmed out, a sprig of thyme clasped between his pawed fists. Merlin's lips twitched as the squirrel looked expectantly at him. His eyes saying, 'yes, you've had your fun, but now it's time to turn me back'. Merlin rolled his eyes.

"I could leave you like that." Merlin commented smugly, enjoying drawing out the moment. Somehow the squirrel managed a scowl, setting the thyme aside and jumping off the bag. Two blue-white rings emerged around the squirrel, moving beyond the ends of his small body. Merlin blinked, turning away from the bright light. When it faded a very disgruntled human Danny was sitting cross legged in front of him. Merlin couldn't help it; he burst into laughter at the sight.

"Not funny." The boy commented.

"It really was." Merlin replied, unable to contain his smile.

Danny huffed, blowing a loose strand of dark hair out of his eyes. "You're lucky I didn't need you to turn me back."

"I would have eventually." Merlin defended. "What was it like?" He was curious; barely over a year ago Gwen had been turned into a doe by Morgana. Merlin had saved her, healed her and turned her back to human after she'd been hit by a crossbow bolt. But he couldn't ask her what it had felt like to be in that form. It was too closely related to asking about magic, and the event itself had been traumatising enough on his friend. It was really a shame; while Morgana had perverted the spell, it was possible that it could be used in other, useful ways.

"In a word... weird." Danny replied, sucking his teeth. "It was like having another line of instincts running through my mind, a different sort of energy. I have two sets of instincts as it is; having a third introduced is... more distracting than I'm used to."

Merlin cocked his head curiously. "You have two sets of instincts?" He pressed, leaping at the chance to understand better how his new friend managed being half-ghost.

Danny nodded, flopping back on the grass to stare at the sky. "Pretty much. Humans and ghosts aren't really meant to mix, and ghosts work under a completely different set of rules than humans do. But for me... it's hard to explain." He rolled over, so that he was facing Merlin. "You know earlier in the week when Arthur was training with you with the mace?" He led.

Merlin nodded, remembering that training session. It wasn't often nowadays that Arthur pulled him into training, but he had decided to earlier in the week, and Merlin had spent the majority of that hour attempting to duck his mace. Only years of practice had kept him from destroying the weapon with his magic, or at least blocking it.

"You kept ducking, dodging to get out of the way." Danny pointed out. "For me it's similar, dodge the attack, the human reaction, or turn intangible, which is the ghost reaction. Sometimes the instincts work together, sometimes they don't." The boy absently shook his head before pointedly changing the subject. "So... Arthur keeps teasing you about how useless you are at defending yourself, but we both know that's not true. How does the great Merlin actually handle a full frontal magical threat?"

There was a hint of challenge in the boy's voice, and a cheeky glimmer in his eyes. Merlin saw through what he was trying to do, he realised that the boy was just trying to get him to practice his offensive powers. But at the same time... he couldn't help but leap at the opportunity when it was so freely offered. Refining a transmutation spell was fun, but the truth was that he mostly relied on the element of surprise to handle threats. Merlin stood up, feeling his eyes surge to gold as he summoned a surge of magic to his fingertips. Thrusting forward he shouted "ástríce!", feeling more than seeing as the rush of magic struck out towards Danny.

Danny grinned, his eyes flashing green as he blocked the spell, catching it in his hand. "You're gonna have to wake up earlier than that Merlin." The boy taunted, an almost rogue smile on his lips. "C'mon, hit me with your best shot."

Merlin grinned, and his eyes flashed gold as he hurled the next spell towards the younger boy, thrilled to finally use his magic the way his friends got to train with their swords. And as the boy's eyes once more flared green, he couldn't help but feel insanely grateful to whatever gods had opened the portal bringing Danny to Camelot.

Danny laughed as the two of them made their way back towards Camelot. Practicing magic with Merlin had turned out to be more fun than he had expected. It was different, fighting against magic, than what he was used to. Ghosts tended to blast, throwing bolts of raw energy across the sky or manipulating the environment with their powers. Merlin used spells, incantations, to direct the energy. And it was powerful; Danny had been given a huge workout, straining his battle refined powers against the sheer magnitude of Merlin's magical assault.

But the part of him that had been fighting for three years had noted several things about Merlin's technique. Not the least of which was that for all Merlin's power, his attacks were sloppy and unrefined; attacking with force rather than precision. And if Merlin's magic worked anything like Danny's powers, then that was more draining than it needed to be. The second thing was that he got the distinct impression that Merlin didn't need the incantations, they probably helped him focus, but at the same time were a weakness in battle. After ten minutes Danny had realised that the word 'ástríce' was always followed by a blast of energy similar to an ecto-blast, and 'forbærne' preceded a ball of fire.

It made the attacks predictable, easily countered. And that was not a good thing if Merlin got in to a real fight. In a way, Danny got the feeling that despite Merlin being the elder of them, Danny had more head on training in this sort of battle. There was no doubt that Merlin was wise, nor about his power. But he just didn't know how to use it. In that regard Merlin was where Danny had been three years before, struggling with too much power and opponents who had had years to refine their talents. Danny didn't know how Merlin compared to other magic users power wise, but that gap had been the deciding factor in a lot of his own battles.

Still, despite those concerns, Danny had had fun. And it was in a completely different way to anything he'd had before. For all Tuck's technological expertise, he couldn't set up a system as responsive as Merlin was. And unlike a genuine ghost fight, there was a layer of... almost teasing challenge in the air as they had exchanged 'magical' blows. Plus, Danny had got the distinct impression that Merlin had enjoyed their workout just as much as he had. So he was happily laughing along as Merlin recounted a couple of tales from the last few years in Camelot, the two of them finally picking the herbs they'd gone out to get.

This expedition had shown him a different side of Merlin. In the castle, the raven-head was... restrained. Not in a clearly observable way, but he was more serious about everything, reserved. Even in teasing the knights he was cautious about it. It was understandable, and probably Danny acted the same around his own family, but it was amusing to see the light hearted Merlin, playing with his magic the same way Danny took to the skies in flight.

That said, despite having fun, he wasn't sure what to think about the whole being-turned-into-a-squirrel business. It had been strange, he had felt the magic take hold, giving him another set of instructions about how to be. In fact, that was how he had turned back; years of changing forms had taught him what to do to morph back to his human form. But it had been distinctly surreal to have a squirrel's mindset running alongside his own. It was easier to deal with than when he'd first become half-ghost, but that was probably an effect of the spell.

But it did make him wonder... the whole time he'd been in that form it had been uncomfortable, his body tingling with an alien warmth that he didn't quite understand. But he also knew that it was possible for ghosts some ghosts to change their form at will. Amorpho had been able to completely shift between various human and animal disguise s, and Bertrand seemed to have no limits to the number of animals he could shift into. Neither of them had that sort of discomfort, so it was plausible that he could teach himself to do that without relying on Merlin's magic. Even Danny could see the use of having that ability. He just didn't want to rely on magic for it. Simply put it was too... hot for Danny to stay in that squirrel form for long using Merlin's magic.

Merlin led the way through the forest, pointing out the herbs and how to distinguish the healthy ones from the poisonous ones. But Danny's mind was still on the subject of magic. "If you could, what do you think turning into animals would be good for?" Danny asked as he plucked a branch off an alder tree.

Merlin shrugged. "I don't exactly know." The dark-haired man replied. "Gaius once told me that before the Purge, it was used in duels, things like that. But I sort of thought... it's often enough that people come into Camelot with plans of their own, but it's not safe to actually follow them."

Danny nodded in understanding. "And you figure that a small animal would be less noticeable than the kings servant."

Merlin nodded. "Yeah, I mean, the nobles don't like mice or cats in their chambers, but they're not likely to suspect an animal to be prying into their secrets."

"That's not a bad idea. Personally I prefer invisibility, but I can see the use." Danny acquiesced.

Merlin paused, grinning at him. "That, and you make a cute squirrel." Danny scowled, tossing a bunch of leaves towards the man. Merlin retaliated with a grin and a flash of golden eyes as a tree branch swatted his shoulder. The two shared a look before they both burst out laughing, Danny nudging the warlock's shoulder as they finished picking herbs and started heading back towards the citadel.

They came through the edge of the forest ten minutes later, still laughing and with leaves stuck in their hair as they headed towards the gate. Merlin was recounting a tale from the year before when apparently Gwaine had arrived at the Imbolc feast drunk and then proceeded to attempt to chat up the two visiting noble women in front of their husbands.

"As I recall, he then turned his attentions to our fair Merlin." Percival's voice added from the gateway as the red cloaked knight stepped into the light. Danny felt Merlin blush beside him, and fought down his own smile. In the last week he'd figured out that Gwaine was audacious, but wouldn't have thought it went that far. "What have you two been doing?" The tall man asked with a raised eyebrow, taking in the state of them.

Danny looked at Merlin, noting that the leaves stuck in his hair showed up more in the flickering torchlight than they had in the forest. "Herbs." Danny replied, sending a cursory glance at the tall knight.

"Leaves." Merlin added in, nudging the bag currently sitting at his hip.

"Trees." Danny continued, fighting back a laugh.

"Squirrel." Merlin concluded, his blue eyes glittering. Danny slapped a hand to his mouth as he tried to contain a snicker, but it was useless. And both of them broke into laughter again.

"Right." Percival commented, looking between the two of them. "If I didn't know any better I'd say Gwaine spiked your water skin."

Merlin schooled his face back into an approximation of calmness. "Sorry Percy, no. No spiked water skins involved."

"You sorta had to be there." Danny tacked on as he steadied his own breathing.

"Okay then." Percival said, very slowly and deliberately. "I think the two of you should probably be going back to Gaius' now." Merlin nodded, thanking Percival as he walked past. Danny was quick to follow, but just as they were rounding the corner Percival called after them "Merlin, you better hope you're not hung over tomorrow. Gwaine was planning on the first one to take Danny out drinking."

Merlin just bit his lip, his eyes still glittering in the moonlight as he led the way back to the tower. Danny was able to hold back his laughter until they got back to Gaius' chambers, but as soon as they were through the door the laughter started again. It wasn't even the jokes about squirrels, it was more the fact that they were young and had just spent the last several hours doing something that was technically very illegal for the benefit of a city that couldn't know what went into keeping them safe.

Danny managed to quieten himself down first, and sent a grateful look at the elder raven-head as he took the herb bag. "Thanks, Merlin." He said sincerely as he wandered over towards the herb stores. He still wasn't entirely certain of what was what and where it all went, but Merlin came over and started putting things away with practiced ease.

"Thank you, Danny." Merlin replied, and there was a deep undercurrent in his blue eyes that Danny couldn't quite fathom. Danny just smiled, running a hand through his hair and pulling out a few of the leaves that had gotten caught in it. They managed to stay calm as they finished putting the herbs away, Merlin giving the bubbling pot Gaius had left behind a tentative stir as they worked. The elder man was down in the lower town for the evening, taking care of a woman in labour, so the two of them were alone for the evening.

"How long have you lived in Camelot?" Danny asked, interrupting the comfortable silence that had grown between them.

"Seven years come next Ostara." Merlin replied as he tied the last herb bundle up to hang. "It's changed a lot since then." The brunette mused quietly.

"What was it like?" Danny asked curiously.

Merlin sighed, moving over to sit in front of the small fireplace where a pot of broth was heating. "Uther was still king then." The elder brunette answered with distant eyes. "Few could say they loved him as a king, but he did deserve some respect. He did a great many horrendous things, and his fear hurt more than just Camelot, but for those without magic he brought stability back to the kingdom. Not peace, he didn't understand peace, but stability." Merlin shook his head. "It would be so easy to hate him, but I can't. For all the horror that he wrought, how much pain he caused... I can only pity him for being so blind."

Danny nodded in understanding. In a way that sounded like Vlad, not the bringing stability part but his blindness. If Vlad hadn't let himself become consumed by his hate, he could have been so much more. And there were times where his offer of guidance were so desperately needed, but the price was simply too high. It wasn't the same, Vlad wasn't a king and his focus was mostly on Danny and his mom, but it was similar.

"What's it like? In your time." Merlin asked, prodding at the embers on the fire with a poker.

"It's different." Danny answered cautiously, unsure of what he could say. But then again... the legends always had Merlin knowing things about the future so maybe that wouldn't be too big an anachronistic change. "The world's a bigger place. The United Kingdom – that's what Albion's called now – is on the other side of the world to where I live. But what you're doing here with Arthur, building a society based on equality and where each person's worth is his own, that reaches out into my time."

Danny paused, frowning musingly as conversations with Sam about politics crossed his mind. "Science is so very different. Technology is so advanced compared to what you have here." Danny creased his eyebrows trying to come up with something Merlin would understand. "Automatic doors. In my time we have a... box that can sense when someone is coming close to it and open the door for them. Just using science, and that's one of the most basic things, so common that we don't really even think about it."

Merlin blinked, looking curiously at Danny as he gave the pot an idle stir. "And that's not magic?"

Danny shook his head, smiling. "No. It's down to science, although a lot of what I grew up with would look like magic to someone from this time. And then there's what you do, or Kilgharrah which just don't exist in my world. Maybe that's why; magic went into hiding and technology developed to make up for the loss."

"I'd like to see it." Merlin replied. "There is so much fear here; it would be nice to see somewhere where things like magic are accepted."

"You'll make it happen." Danny said. "History doesn't remember you as Arthur's manservant."

Merlin sighed, frowning. "Sometimes I wonder. I have this great Destiny, but I've only ever been just Merlin. Everyone expects so much of me, but I just..."

"You don't see it?" Danny prompted. "I understand. People see more in me than I believe is there. In the ghost world half of the ghosts think I'm some huge saviour, the heroic warrior who defeated the dark king."

Merlin cocked a curious eyebrow. "Dark king?" He prompted.

Danny shrugged. "I don't know, years before I was born there was a king in the ghost world who... actually he was a lot like you make Uther sound, only for him everyone was a sorcerer. Eventually he was locked up, sealed away by the ancients and entombed in something called the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. But three years ago he was released, and it took all of four hours for half the ghosts to flee. But, he was gonna destroy both worlds, and I couldn't live with myself if I did nothing to stop him."

Danny shook his head, his eyes on the dwindling flames as he added another log. "My parents had been working on... well I guess you could say it was a type of armour, but it enhanced the strength of the wearer a hundred fold. What most people didn't know was that the armour was fuelled by the wearer's energy, I knew that and I knew that no human could survive it, it would take too much. So I took the armour, and used it to fight the king. It was close, really close, but I won. I managed to seal Pariah Dark away again, locked him back in the Sarcophagus with a bit of unexpected help."

Danny sent a rueful smile at the elder brunette, making light of the story. "Since then half the ghosts expect a hero, someone who can save them from anything like I'm some triumphant warrior. But I've only ever been Danny, the clumsy kid of two scientists. So, yeah, I get the whole 'worry about not living up to expectations' thing. But at the same time... it doesn't hurt to have a bit of faith in yourself, sometimes that's just enough to pull you through."

Danny shrugged, standing up to let Merlin think. He moved into small room which the elder raven-head had opened up to him and sat on the pallet that was his bed. He had never liked his own notoriety; he has assumed the identity of Danny Phantom to help people. And while he had at first appreciated having a fan club, it had become unsettling all too quickly. And the discovery of the people in the Far Frozen, who sometimes looked at him like he was a god, was too weird for him. Danny felt in a way sorry for Merlin, understanding what he was feeling himself. But Merlin was... Merlin; his name was synonymous with Arthur and the Round Table as much as Excalibur was.

Danny shifted, moving across the room to look out the window at the town of Camelot. He knew he was lucky, that in this time something as simple as having anything to call a bed was a luxury. And the cloak made of magic and ecto-energy made it even more comfortable than his bed at home. For the moment, home was still a very long way away, and he still had no idea about how to even go about getting back. But at the same time, as he looked out over the flickering lights of the night-lit city, he couldn't help but find some similarities between Camelot and his own time.

AN; Happy New Year! 12.05AM!

This probably wasn't what you were expecting in the way of magic training, but I had fun all the same.

Translations;
Beorht Līeg – Bright Flame
Nu bebiede ic þe þæt þu lætest þine fīras bāncofa gelīc fyrwit. Wyrþ ācweorna! – Now I command you to leave behind your human body similar to curiosity. Intelligent squirrel! (Based on the spell Morgana used to turn Gwen into a deer, but... I made it nicer for Merlin's use)
Ástríce! – I strike!
Forbærne – Burn up

Why a squirrel? Partially because that's in the legends, and partially because I wanted Merlin to turn Danny into something completely ridiculous. I was tempted to do a wolf, but if the spell went wrong then... yeah, no. And he turned into a very dark Red Squirrel, since I know the eastern grey was introduced to Europe in the 1400's.

Fare thee well,

Bluerose