Chapter 4

Arya felt a flick to her forehead and let out a tiny groan of irritation before rolling over in bed- and suddenly the ground fell from beneath her and she woke up to find herself lying sideways in the back seat of Balthazar's car. Her memory of the past couple of hours came rushing back as she stared up at Dave who was hunched over in amusement as he stood at the open door, "Daaaave." Arya grumbled.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty finally awakes." Dave quipped, grinning at her, feeling no guilt for waking her up.

Arya sat up and undid the seatbelt, glaring at Dave, "I don't remember Aurora waking up to a finger flick." She looked around at her surroundings as she got out of the car and closed the door. She spotted Balthazar standing nearby, watching the surroundings carefully and cradling the Grimhold in his right hand, "Right. Magic." She still couldn't believe that magic was real.

Dave looked at Arya with concern, "You okay? Everything kinda happened all at once."

Arya glanced at the Grimhold for a bit longer before looking back at Dave, "Are you serious? You're the one with the apparent aptitude for magic!" Then softer, "How are you doing? I know anything to do with Arcana Cabana is a sore spot. And don't lie. You know I can always tell when you do that."

Dave let out a long sigh before stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. He looked down at his feet, "I-." He swallowed and continued, "I'm not sure. I- I think-" Dave looked up and stared at Balthazar and breathed out a breath of frustration, "I truly thought it was a hallucination. For ten years I had to deal with the ridicule from the fallout of The Field Trip. And I know you had hell of a time too," Dave quickly added, with a nod of acknowledgement from Arya, "But, just…. To find out all of that was actually real?" He snorted and shook his head and looked back at Arya, "I guess I don't know how I feel about all this yet. I know that isn't really an answer-"

"No." Arya stopped his train of thought, "Not knowing, that's a valid answer. You still need time to sort this shit out. Hell, I need time to sort it out and I'm not the one with magical powers."

"Actually, that's not necessarily true." Arya and Dave turned to see that Balthazar had walked up to them in the middle of Dave's answer.

Arya froze with a shocked expression and choked out, "What?"

Balthazar exhaled, "I'll explain more, but we should get inside. Being out in the open for too long is just asking for something to happen. And I speak from experience."

The trio walked down the empty tunnel to Dave's underground lab. Dave took to being a tour guide easily. Explained the history of the place as he unlocked the large steel door which led to a metal stairway for a cavernous chamber, "This way was originally a subway turnaround. They let me work down here because some of my experiments skew a bit dangerous."

Arya snorted, "You set the lab record for the most explosions. What was it, fifteen before they kicked you out?" Dave mumbled something, "What was that?" Arya quipped back.

"Seventeen."

Arya lagued, "Seventeen." Arya watched as Balthazar placed the Grimhold on a nearby desk and placed a spell which turned the Grimhold invisible while listening to the two argue.

Dave grumbled before explaining how he got the lab, "Oh, my professor has a hookup, so nobody knows we're down here."

They were now on the ground and Arya walked over to one of the desks and pushed herself up to sit on it. She looked towards Balthazar, "Are you now going to tell us what you meant when you said that I had magic?"

Balthazar sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "That's not what I said."

"You said-"

"I know what I said!" Balthazar continued, "It has a magical component." He sighed, "I'm not making very much sense, am I?"

"Nope. Try starting at the beginning. That always seems to work."

Balthazar took a breath and sighed before beginning his tale, "I believe I've told you both some of this before, but you were young and I doubt you remember everything, so I'll start from the beginning. I am Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the 777th degree, and my Master was Merlin."

"Merlin?!" Dave yelped, "Just how old are you?"

Balthazar glared at Dave, "No interruptions. Best to save your questions for the end."

"Just like class." Dave mumbled. Arya snorted and Balthazar raised an eyebrow. Arya made a motion of zipping her mouth closed. Balthazar just gave her a questioning look before continuing.

"Merlin had three apprentices. I was one. Veronica was the second." He sighed, "And Horvath was the third." Arya's eyes widened and she glanced at Dave. So, this was a lot more personal than Balthazar let on. Dave glanced at her back, it was clear that he felt sympathy for him, "As sorcerers of the realm, it was our job to protect it from evil. We were quite the team. However, Horvath betrayed us. Sold us out to Morgana, Merlin's greatest enemy."

"One night Veronica and I were called out to one of the surrounding villages. For what, I don't remember. I just remember that it was a trap. We raced back to the castle, but by then it was too late. Everybody had been slain by either Morgana or Horvath. I-I lost Veronica in the confrontation. I fought Morgana and Horvath. In the end, Horvath escaped and I locked Morgana in the Grimhold." Arya's eyes flickered to the spot where she saw Balthazar place the Grimhold, which currently looked empty but Arya knew better since she had seen the spell being cast.

"Merlin entrusted me with finding the next person who would wear his ring right before he died. It was you, Dave. I searched a long time to find you. The next Prime Merlinean."

"And me?" Arya couldn't help herself but interrupt.

"I believe that you are his Protector."

Arya could practically see the capital P in Protector. She crossed her arms, "And that means?"

"I didn't mention who's castle we were in. Details. Details are important. One day they might just save your life." Arya rolled her eyes at the lecture.

"Whose castle were you in, Balthazar?" Dave obliged his obvious next question.

Balthazar smirked at Arya, "After all, who's Merlin without King Arthur?"

Arya's mouth dropped open in shock. Knowing Merlin was impressive, but knowing King Arthur? "Arthur? KING Arthur?"

"Yes."

"But…. doesn't that mean that Morgana killed him?" Dave asked, remembering Balthazar's tale.

Balthazar sighed, "Unfortunately, yes. And there was one hell of a political fallout. But that's not what this conversation is about." He looked at Ayra and explained, "Merlin and King Arthur. The Prime Merlinean and the Protector. It's the Prime Merlinean's job to face and defeat the magical threats and it's the Protectors job to… well, protect him while he's doing it."

Arya swallowed, "And how do you know I'm this-" Arya waved her right hand around, "Protector?"

"I don't. Not yet. But I have a feeling and I'm almost never wrong."

"A feeling." Arya deadpanned, "Anyway to prove it?"

Balthazar nodded, "Yes, actually. It works similar to Dave's Dragon Ring. But with the sword."

"Excalibur." Arya breathed out, almost giddy at the prospect, wait- "Are you saying that I get to hold Excalibur?"

"If you are the Protector, you'll do more than just hold it. You'll get to fight with it as well."

Arya looked around, "Where is it?"

Balthazar looked sheepish, "It's not on me. It's back in Arcana Cabana."

Arya deflated and the excitement of the moment was gone, "Balthazar, I don't think your shop's still there. Someone would have rented it out and sold everything in it. You're probably declared as a missing person, come to think of it."

At that, Balthazar snorted, "I've been declared dead many times throughout the centuries, yet here I still stand. And Excalibur's not lost. I made a hidey-hole in the basement. It includes the sword and my bag. I'll get it later, but first," Balthazar trailed, off as if remembering something, "Ah, yes. I need to give Dave his Encantus and formally begin his training as my apprentice." Balthazar looked to Arya, "You should get off the table." He stated before waving his hands and spelling the cage and desks out of the way of the carved circle on the ground. Arya just managed to hop off and stumbled as the desk floated to it's spot further back.

To Dave, Balthazar stated, "I didn't have a chance to give you this before." He took a small book out of one of his pockets and showed it to Dave. "This is your Encantus."

Dave looked puzzled, "I remember it being bigger."

Balthazar smirked, "Pocket edition." He unfolded the book six times, increasing its dimension through each fold while remaining thin much to Dave and Arya's surprise, "The Encantus is our textbook; the art and science and history of sorcery. Including our recent history as well." Balthazar placed the book on Dave's hand before pulling what appeared to be an invisible string, increasing its mass and thickness that the startled science nerd almost dropped it in that instance.

Dave groaned at the weight, "Come on."

Balthazar opened the latest entry of the tome, which showed portraits of those involved in Chinatown skirmish earlier along with written details of the fight, "See?" He pointed to Dave's portrait with a rather not-so-impressive expression, "There you are."

Dave stared at the terrible picture of him that would apparently be immortalized forever in Sorcerer History, "Oh." Arya laughed at his expression and Dave glanced at her, "Shut up."

Balthazar removed his scarf and coat and set them on one of the desks, "Before we can put Horvath back inside the Grimhold, we must first turn you into a sorcerer, which begins now. Both of you, step back."

"Are we going to move everything every time?"

"Eyes open." Dave went to protest but Balthazar commanded, "Mouth closed." Dave does as Balthazar asked, and the Merlinean begins his work. He first slowly raises his hands, gathering a large amount of energy which causes the lamps in the lab to flicker a few times. Once enough energy has been accumulated, he then seemingly about to place both of his palms against one another before throwing them violently upwards causing phosphorescent flames to erupt from the concrete floor around him, startling Dave in the process. Balthazar continues by carving small circles and lines inside the larger circle as the amazed Dave watches; each small circle bears an alchemical symbol. After he completed finishing touches on his work, we are introduced to the Merlineans' iconic magic circle; Merlin Circle.

"This is the Merlin Circle. It focuses your energy. Helps you master new spells. It is where you will learn the Art. Step inside, you leave everything else behind. Once you enter, there is no going back."

"So, I should probably pee first?"Dave quipped, "Better safe than…." Dave trailed off as Balthazar waited impatiently, prompting him to change his mind, "I can hold it." Dave carefully stepped into the circle, all while avoiding touching the flames until he reached the center circle where Balthazar was standing at.

"This is the official beginning of your apprenticeship." Balthazar breathed in and started the ancient ceremony, "I am Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the 777th degree, and you, David James Stutler, are my apprentice."

"Sweet." A pause, "Wait, how'd you know my middle name?"

After the ceremony concluded, Balthazar felt a little winded, but shrugged it off. He knew from Merlin's experience that conducting the Apprentice ceremony took power to connect Master and Apprentice magically. Luckily, he still had some of his reserves left from the Chinatown battle. However, he was almost drained and he sensed that all he could do at the moment was teach Dave the basics. Which meant no dramatics. He sighed at that. He loved his dramatics. He would gain the rest of his reserves back after a solid sleep.

Dave stood opposite from him in the center of the Merlin's Circle with the Dragon Ring on his right hand, waiting for his first lesson and Balthazar was happy to oblige.

Balthazar raised his right hand, the hand his own ring was on. He began the same lecture that Merlin had begun him with. Although the terminology and wording was a bit different, "Your ring is not a piece of jewelry. It projects the electrical energy of your nervous system into the physical world. Without his ring, a sorcerer is powerless. The only other thing a sorcerer needs is a nice pair of pointy shoes." He tossed a pair of simple yet fancy-looking pointy shoes to Dave, "Your rubber soles block the current. Plus, it helps to look classy."

Dave held and stared at them, unimpressed and practically whined, "These are old man shoes."

Balthazar raised an eyebrow at Dave before lifting up his pants to show that he had the exact same shoes on. He heard Arya let out a giggle before focusing his concentration back on his apprentice, "Excuse me?"

Dave, awkwardly with a bit of sarcasm, responded with, "I love them. A lot."

Meanwhile, Horvath visits a local diner the unnamed Fry Cook works at. Despite his mundane appearance and occupation, he is implied to be secretly an agent who catalogues any living sorcerers in his territory and is on Morgana's side.

Horvath noticed two fresh patties he just put onto the grill had a peculiar-looking pentagram burned into them. He recognizes them as a Morgana Star, Morganians' crucible and symbol, signaling a Morganian seeking his assistance nearby. Later, the fry cook and Horvath conversed outside the diner.

The Fry Cook pointed at Horvath's cane, "I haven't seen that cane since I saw a picture of it when I was a boy. You've been locked up a long time."

Horvath sneered, "And now I'm out. And I need soldiers."

The cook sighed, "I got one kid. He ain't old school."

Horvath was unimpressed, sensing that his only ally won't be like what he expected to be, "One will do."

It was the next day. Balthazar decided that he needed to go back to Arcana Cabana to get a couple of things. He needed his bag which held the spell page and Veronicas bracelet and necklace. He also needed to get Excalibur so Ayra could officially begin her training as Dave's Protector.

He told Arya and Dave to get the lab ready and he headed out. It took him about an hour to walk to the store from the lab, which gave him some time to think. Unfortunately, it gave him too much time to think.

He hadn't had time to process all that had happened in such a short timespan. In less than 24 hours, he had escaped the Grimhold after 10 long ass years, stopping his ex-friend Horvath from killing Dave and Arya, both of whom had grown up since the last time he saw them. It made sense, but it was still a shock to see the two kids who looked so much like their younger counterparts but older.

Then, after stopping Horvath from killing Dave and Arya, he finally explained to Dave what his role in all of this was. That he was a Prime Merlinean. A Sorcerer. Balthazar's Apprentice. Oh he wished Merlin were here to see this.

He turned the street corner and stopped short. His store. It was gone. In its place was an entirely different aesthetic. Apparently the store was now titled Nokia Cell Phones, Cameras, and Laptops. The sign in the window glowed neon read signaling that it was closed. Technology. Completely opposite to what was in Arcana Cabana.

Balthazar sighed and snuck into the store. He quietly made his way down to the basement, which was being used as a storage room. Fortunately, the secret compartment beneath the staircase remained untouched despite changes that have been made over the shop. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least there was some good that came out of this trip.

Moving aside an old ad sign, Balthazar parted a section of the wall with a wave of his hands, opening the compartment to retrieve an old doctor's bag within. Opening the bag, he took out a rolled parchment to look at the schematic of the very spell Veronica used against Morgana long ago. He shoved those memories down to deal with later. Returning the parchment, he checked on the other content; a fold up piece of velvet cloth containing an ornate bracelet and a beautiful necklace among a few other odds and ends. Unfolding the cloth, he examined the latter which holds greater sentiment than the former.

He then looked in the small storage space and down at a sword that was wrapped in gray cloth. Only the handle stood out. He ran his hands over the handle and flipped one side of the cloth over and the other until he saw the flash of metal. He read the inscription near the base of the sword: Take me up, cast me away.

Balthazar was a sorcerer, he was trained in and relied heavily on his magic. But Merlin had insisted that all of his apprentices be trained in a form of combat that wasn't magic. He had followed Horvath to sword training while Veronica learned archery. Balthazar hoped he remembered enough of his sword fighting techniques to be able to teach them to Arya.

Arya was nursing a cup of coffee while Dave organized, or attempted to organize, his lab, "I still think that I dreamed what happened last night."

Dave snorted, "If I couldn't do magic today, I would have agreed with you." He held out his right hand and pointed his dragon ring at a pile of papers on a far off desk. He concentrated and nothing happened. He sighed, "I wanted to levitate them to the desk next to them."

Arya set her cup down and walked over to Dave, "Dave, It's been less than 24 hours since we realized that you do, in fact, have magic. It's going to take training before you can do magical shit on command."

"But I cast that fireball at the dragon in Chinatown last night."

Arya gave Dave The Look, "Yes, but you were in a life and death situation."

"Good observation." Came a voice from behind them. The pair jumped and saw Balthazar had returned from his excursion, "Arya is right. You'll need to practice a lot before you can do magic on command. What you did last night was only possible because of heightened emotion." He walked down the metal stairs. Arya eyed him as she noticed what exactly he held in his right hand.

Balthazar put his old medical bag down on a desk and took off his coat. He then walked over to Arya, holding the clothed object that looked suspiciously like Excalibur in his hands, "Arya Miller." His tone was similar to that when he was inducting Dave as his apprentice. She straightened, feeling that something was about to happen, "This is Excalibur. It's last owner was King Arthur of Camelot. All you need to do is to hold the sword and it will decide if you are it's wielder."

Arya swallowed as she stared at the sword in Balthazar's hands, "What if I'm not claimed, or something."

Balthazar gave her a small smile, "Then it was not meant to be and you are not beholden to the rules and expectations of The Protector."

At that, Arya wasn't sure she wanted that much responsibility. To own something that King Arthur once owned? To hold it? She looked at Dave who's eyes were wide but nodded encouragingly. She turned back to Balthazar and stepped forward to open the cloth. She let out a tiny gasp as she saw the sword for the first time, "Take me up, cast me away." She read out loud. Balthazar startled, "What?" She asked.

"You can read it." He stated.

She rolled her eyes, "It's in English, clear as day."

Balthazar shook his head, "That's not English, Arya. It's written in a language of ancient runes."

She gaped, "What does that mean?"

Balthazar smiled, "Take the hilt and find out."

Slowly, Arya reached out and grabbed the handle of the sword. She drew it up and held it upright, a few inches away from her body. Nothing happened. She sighed in disappointment. Just as she moved to give the sword back to Balthazar, the runes began to glow a bright blue. She stared in shock as the sword reacted to her presence. Out of nowhere, wind picked up and circled around her. In the background, she could hear Balthazar ordering Dave to back up and Dvae protesting. The last thing she saw was Balthazar pulling Dave back behind a desk before she lost consciousness.

She slowly woke up and everything hurt like she had just run a marathon. The next thing that she noticed was that there was a rather loud argument going on between two people nearby. She needed to put a stop to the yelling before her brain exploded, "Stop yelling, it's making my brain hurt."

"Arya!" That was Dave's voice. She opened her eyes to see Dave's face pop into view, "You okay?"

"What happened?" She groaned, "And can you report that bus that hit me?"

Dave gave a small, worried laugh, "That was all you, Arya."

Arya looked past at Balthazar who was watching the scene with a concerned expression, "What happened?" She asked Balthazar this time.

Balthazar sighed and moved closer to the pair, "A Claiming can be rough. If it makes you feel better, King Arthur was knocked out too." He gave a small remembering smile, "Merlin loved to tease Arthur about it for years afterward."

"So… now what?"

"You train." Balthazar stated it like it was obvious, "Come on. I'll give you some time to recover and in the meantime, I'll begin to teach Dave some rudimentary magical skills. Then, we'll begin your training."

Dave stood in The Circle with Balthazar opposite him. Knowing that today's lesson required some safety gears, he wore a Catcher set consisting of a brown helmet and chest protector. Arya sat on a chair, watching the Master and Apprentices' first lesson. In her lap lay Excalibur.

Balthazar held a crackling, condensed sphere of hyper-charged matter on his hand, "our ingenuity and your heart will give you an advantage over Morganians. They rely only on the power of their magic." Dave braced himself as the Merlinean walked towards him, "But if you're up against the wall, there's only one weapon of choice: The plasma bolt." Balthazar hurled the sphere toward a nearby pile of papers, scorching them.

It took forever to just form a small marble size of the plasma ball. It took time, concentration and a lot of groaning and frustration. Though Balthazar seemed oddly patient with him as he worked through the first two hours of the session producing nothing but a sputter of magic.

Dave struggled to conjure electrons around his palms to no avail; he stomped his feet a few times in the attempt before eventually giving up, "Nothing. There's nothing," He huffed and saw a look on Balthazar's face before sighing and trying again.

A few attempts later, he finally managed a weak sphere of plasma, "I got it!" He cheered, "I got one! I got one!" The sphere falls and disappears. Dave sighed, "That's underwhelming."

He tried again and the weak sphere flew out of control in the next attempt. "God!" The weak sphere comically backfires, bouncing off his helmet before flying away.

"Again." Balthazar ordered his apprentice.

Dave tried again and the formed sphere rapidly hit off his helmet in a humiliating manner, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" In his next attempt he hurled the weak bolt in the next attempt only for it to disperse in mid-flight.

At this point in his training, he was passing the four hour mark in his training. He looked over and saw Balthazar calmly reading a passage in the Encantus as Dave was knocked backwards by the recoil of his own plasma bolts which then flew and bounced around the lab uncontrollably. Balthazar mumbled, "... and invited my soul…" as one of the bolts flew past him. Without looking up from the page he commanded, "And again."

Another bolt backfires, bouncing off his protected groin, "See? That's what padding is for." lifts the bottom of his chest protector to prove his point only for the bolt to unexpectedly hit his now exposed groin before flying away, effectively knocking him to his knees, "Oh!"

Balthazar looked at his watch and saw that almost four hours had passed, "Okay Dave. Take a ten minute break while I give Arya her first lesson."

Dave flopped on the floor and groaned. He lifted his arm up and flopped his hand around, "Fine with me." He let his hand drop back down and it hit the ground harder than he had anticipated, "Ow."

Arya stood up and walked over to Balthazar with Excalibur in hand, "I feel mostly better now."

Balthazar smiled, "Excellent." He then walked off to the side of The Circle, indicating for Arya to follow him, "Okay. Have you done stretches before?"

Arya nodded, "I did track in Middle School. I know how to warm up."

Balthazar nodded, "Okay. Show me." Arya carefully laid Excalibur on the grown and went into her five minute stretching routine that was so ingrained in her memory that she still remembered it, "Good. Do this before and after every practice." Arya nodded. She knew first hand the perils of not stretching before a workout.

"Okay. In a regular training regime, you wouldn't even be holding a real sword and facing an opponent for at least a year, perhaps two. But given our current situation, I need to expedite your training. Today's lesson is the basic moves. Grab your sword and get into a position like mine. Spread your legs about two steps apart. Your feet should be parallel to each other. Keep your back straight and bend your knees. This is called a Riding Stance or Horseback Riding Stance. Keep this position the entire time."

He continued, "Hold your sword out in front of you. Right hand top and right hand bottom holding the hilt. This is your Ready Stance. I will teach you the seven basic moves. Now, watch me demonstrate but don't try anything yet. Just watch. The first you bring your sword up over your head so that the tip points to the floor behind you. Then you aim to strike your opponent's forehead and then bring your sword back to the resting position. This beginning is only the same for the first three moves. The second move is aimed at your opponent's right temple and the third move is at the left temple."

"The fourth move is different from the first three and sets up for the following moves. You bring your sword down to your middle and swing wide, cutting your opponent's stomach from the right and then the same thing but for the left. The last two are lower cuts. The sixth move you aim for your opponent's right leg and for the seventh move, your swing is aimed at the left leg."

"Okay. Now it's your turn to try it. Remember the order and go."

Arya stared at Balthazar for a second before trying to remember what he just showed her, "Sure. Okay. So, first, it's the forehead. Then both temples. Stomach, both times. And both Legs." She did the motions that Balthazar showed her as she talked through each one.

Balthazar gave a nod, "Yes. But this time try going back to your Rest Stance every time before each move."

Arya nodded and tried again.

"Good. Now, I want you to do this over and over again until it's ingrained into your memory. Practice this while I continue with Dave's training. I'll tell you when you can stop." He turned to walk back to Dave before halting and turning back to look at Arya who hadn't moved, "You can start now."

Arya hastily moved into her stance and methodically went through her first drill session.