The Time Mage

Chapter 1: Leaving Home

 young boy stood in front of a cottage looking up at his mother. He was rather short, with slightly pale skin that seemed to glow ever so faintly in the light of the setting sun. A wheel-less cart inscribed with many glowing symbols hovered at the end of a path which led from the cottage to a sort of road, an old man was sleeping inside at the control hub, mouth open; snoring.

"Kason," his mother said, looking at him and smiling, "You know you can't stay here all your life, you've got to go and experience the world". The boy blinked at her, his brown eyes tearing up, and nodded his head.

"I'll go, I know I should," a gleam of excitement replaced the tears and his previously gloomy face began to brighten "the college will take me, won't they? I will be able to learn magic?"

"Of course," his mother said, sighing with exasperation "You've asked me this at least seven times already today and the answer is still the same. Yes, they will take you. They promised your father that they would."

"Sorry," the boy mumbled looking down at the ground, his mother smiled and patted his short curly brown hair.

"Cheer up, make sure you come and visit your mother when you get time to, and make sure you behave yourself and don't cause unnecessary trouble." The boy nodded and smiled weakly at his mother, the excitement gone from his eyes.

"Goodbye." He said quietly, almost whispering.

"Goodbye." His mother replied, her voice equally quiet. Kason looked at her for a moment longer and then turned and walked towards the floating cart. As he approached, the driver awoke and he looked down smiling kindly.

"Ready now?" he asked.

"Yes" Kason replied, his voice still quite weak. He then moved to get onto the cart but was interrupted by the driver.

"Are you sure?"

Kason looked round at him, face blank in puzzlement, only to see him point a bony finger towards a pile of bags on the floor next to his mother who was smiling again, trying to suppress laughter. Kason blushed and hurried to pick up his bags which he then slung over his back and clambered into the back of the cart.

The driver nodded. He tucked his long white beard, which was tied together with a small piece of string, into his belt and pressed his palm onto a palm-shaped imprint in front of him. The numerous inscriptions and lines around the cart then began to glow brighter and brighter, a low thrum began to reverberate in Kason's ears and the cart bobbed higher into the air until it came to rest at approximately one meter up.

Kason, who had but a minute before been wallowing in gloom, suddenly began to look around excitedly, his eyes aglow with curiosity. He leaned over the side of the cart as it began to move and yelled out to his mother who had started walking, almost subconsciously, towards the gradually departing cart.

"Goodbye, mother."

"Goodbye Kason." His mother yelled back, her eyes slightly damp, "Be safe, have fun, make sure you study hard!"

"I will." Kason replied.

He looked back at the cottage, whose thatched roof and wooden walls were growing ever more distant as the cart picked up speed. He was a bit anxious and more than a little nervous; he was leaving his home of twelve years for the first time in his life and wouldn't be back for four years at least, but in a way, this didn't matter because he was going to learn magic!

The cart reached a phenomenal speed as it sped over shrubbery and other debris, ignoring all obstacles as it flew along. Trees had been cleared to form a pathway through the forest and as he watched the trees streak by, Kason marvelled at how he didn't feel the slightest discomfort. The wind which, in theory, should've been howling in his ears and buffeting him in all directions, seemed to be non-existent to the world inside the cart.