"Wake up."

Dave blearily opened his eyes. He looked down at his glow in the dark Buzz Lightyear of Star Command watch. The time was six a.m. If he looked out the window he could see light just cresting the horizon. They had been travelling all night by the looks of things. Feeling stiff Dave unbuckled and opened the door.

Balthazar, no, he should probably refer to him as Mr. Blake, had gotten out on his side. Dave knew you weren't supposed to refer to adults by their first names. It was okay with children, he could even call Rebecca Becky, but for some reason it wasn't with adults. He figured it was some sort of secret knowledge that he'd learn when he was older.

Mr. Blake opened the trunk of the car and took out the suitcase that Dave had hastily packed. There wasn't much in it, mostly books and old drawings. There was a photo album too that he had saved up for. In it he had carefully preserved the remaining pictures of his parents and himself. There were ones of him and Becky too, taken from her camera. Dave didn't have the money for a camera, but he would've liked one.

He had remembered his markers and pencils though. Drawing was one of his hobbies and he flattered himself that he wasn't half bad at it. He didn't think that sorcery included drawing much though. Dave had seen that Horvath person draw runes, but that wasn't something that Dave wanted to have any part of.

"Here," Mr. Blake said, proffering the suitcase to him.

"Thanks Mr. Blake," Dave answered, feeling that it would be better to be polite to the man who was going to teach him magic.

Mr. Blake winced. Dave wondered what idiocy he had committed.

"Call me Balthazar," he said, "Can't stand Mr. Blake."

Dave knew he shouldn't pry, but in this case curiosity got the better of him.

"Why's that?" he asked.

Balthazar sighed.

"It's not my real name," Balthazar said.

"Oh," Dave said.

He let his eyes trail over their surroundings. Peeling lettering said that the place was The Arcana Cabana. It was an appropriate name considering that he was going to learn sorcery there. Simultaneously he noticed the gold letters on the glass. He read 'Proprietor Balthazar Blake'. As if reading his mind Balthazar said;

"It's as good a name as any when you come down to it," he said, getting out a key and unlocking the shop, "Where I came from we didn't have last names; just pronouns."

His voice sneered a little and Dave knew not to pursue it further. Dave was curious, but not suicidal. The door opened and Dave stepped inside of what looked like an antique store.

"I have to go do…some cleaning," Balthazar said with a wince, "Wait here for a few minutes. And don't touch anything."

Balthazar shuffled off into a side room and Dave was left momentarily alone. The shelves and cases were full of strange and fantastic items. The store did seem like it was the setting for some adventure story. There were relics and magical items a plenty. His child eyes fell on one object in particular and he grinned.

"No way," he whispered.

Putting down his suitcase he picked up the lamp. He had seen Aladdin only fifty times. And here he was, in a sorcerer's shop, confronted with a golden lamp. Gingerly he started rubbing it with his sleeve. Nothing happened but he resolved to keep it up for another minute or two.

As he continued rubbing his elbow knocked over a metal jar which caused a chain reaction. Dave dropped the lamp and stumbled, attempting to right some of the objects. One of the larger vases knocked him down. He tried to grab onto a large urn to steady himself, but he fell down anyway. The urn tottered and for a minute Dave was terrified that it was going to fall over and crush him.

A hand shot out and righted it. Balthazar looked down at him, exasperated. Dave stared back, waiting to be yelled at.

"The Emperor of the Han dynasty locked his least favorite wife in this urn for ten years to the day," said Balthazar after a time, "They say that it you open it, the same thing will happen to you."

Balthazar crouched down and looked at Dave squarely.

"Of the many things in the shop, many things are here for the safety of non-sorcerers," said Balthazar, "The urn is actually one of the tamer objects."

He narrowed his eyes.

"So when I say don't touch anything, I mean it," Balthazar continued, "Understand?"

Dave nodded, his eyes wide.

"Good," said Balthazar, getting up, "Now grab your stuff and get going."

Still reeling a little Dave grabbed his suitcase and hurried after Balthazar. He was led up a long flight of twisting stairs. Dave had to stop once, panting. He was skinny but he wasn't very physically fit. Normally the stairs would've been a little hard but the suitcase made them a difficult challenge.

When they reached the top Balthazar opened the door. It was a plain room, just an empty bookcase, trunk, mirror, bed, that sort of thing. Dave was reminded of the rooms back at the orphanage, only this one was bigger and rather cleaner than what he was used to. There was also a trapdoor. Now that he was more aware that things weren't exactly simple at the Arcana Cabana Dave had the sense to point at it.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, there's another staircase under it that leads to this room," said Balthazar dismissively, "It's not in good repair, but it leads from one of the side rooms downstairs."

"Okay," Dave said, wondering if this was where Balthazar had been earlier.

Putting his suitcase down at the foot of the bed Dave walked up to the window. There was a pretty good view of the New York City skyline from it. He could even see the Empire State Building. Thoughtfully Dave squinted his eyes and held his thumb up in front of it. Satisfied Dave turned to Balthazar.

"Can I draw on the windows?" he asked.

Balthazar gave him an odd look.

"I don't know, can you?" Balthazar inquired.

"It's just some adults don't like it when-" he started.

"Your room, not mine," shrugged Balthazar, "I don't care what you do to it as long as you don't set it on fire. I'll be back to wake you up around ten since you had a long night. "

He left the room and closed the door behind him. Immediately Dave dived into his suitcase and fished out his markers. This was going to be great.