Magic Discovered

Chapter 2

Except not quite. See, there is a point to this story and as the reader shall note, it gets pretty interesting pretty quickly.

James ran through the woods, jumping over tree branches and dodging rocks sticking out from underneath the snow. It was like a little game of hopscotch, where the prize for winning was avoiding an exploding house. Extreme fun and excitement for all!

The snow had become thick since James had left his house, and was still falling at a rapid pace. The sky was dark and the sun was tucked away in bed. James increased his speed, hoping that he would make it in time before another (this was not the first) incident happened. Running faster and faster, James realized that his normal shortcut would take far too long because it wrapped all the way around before coming around to his street. He mentally assessed the area in his head, and then dove off the path into the trees in the direction he hoped was his house. The sound of cars could be heard off in the distance and James knew it was the road close to his house. And because he heard no sirens, he still had time! He pushed himself even more, feeling his chest tighten and his legs burn with the exertion.

What James did not know, or had forgotten in his haste, was that the forest between Trails High and his house wasn't exactly flat. In fact, it was almost the complete opposite. A large drop-off existed a short distance away from his house and was commonly used as an example of dangerous things to stay away from. And as to be expected in such situations, James was heading straight for the cliff, with almost 20 feet of air between him and dirt. At most, he would break a couple of bones. But there was a very likely chance James would suffer a severe injury, perhaps even die.

Now, it has been proven time and time again that his particular species, Homo Sapiens, needs vehicles and tools to fly. Skydiving without a parachute results in a most messy and nasty death. And so, when James came hurtling out of the woods, racing towards an impending disaster, he forgot to properly acknowledge a more supreme existence known as the "Laws of Physics". Although he tried to stop, James went skidding over the edge and down the cliff side. And he barely had time to scream in terror before reaching the ground.

But yes, as the most astute of you have most definitely realized, the story cannot be over yet. For the main character cannot die before things really get going. And I have it on excellent authority that James did not die. No, instead he Aether Walked.

Of course, not intentionally. In order to Walk deliberately, you need training and a lot of skill, as I'm sure the reader knows full well. But nonetheless, James did not splat messily when he hit after about a second's worth of free fall. Rather, he phased straight through the Earth and right into the Aether.

To anyone watching, it would have looked as though James had become a ghost, disappearing into the ground. Or, at least that's what the hooded figure stepping out from behind several trees thought, as he neatly caught James' backpack and rifled through the contents. After making sure everything was in order, he smiled and slipped off quietly into the trees.

James, of course, had no idea what was going on, nor did he have any thoughts about a hooded figure making off with his things. He was a bit occupied at the moment. From his perspective, the instant he would have hit the ground, a white misty circle filled his vision and suddenly he was falling through a strange place, with that same mist curling around his body and filling the air. He looked out beyond the mists and saw a multitude of lights and shapes zipping past incredibly quickly. Due to the strange circumstances of his situation, and lack of knowledge about what was happening, it took James several moments to realize that the lights were stars, with the shapes being galaxies.

At this point, James' mind mostly stopped working out of pure shock, but he continued working things out in his subconscious. He deduced that he must be breaking several of the laws of physics at that point because from his perspective he was traveling near the speed of light and had not yet died.