Despite the senior mage's previous reluctance to let me speak, as soon as I agreed, he was much more inclined to listen to me.
I explained that I still needed to head back to the farm, but it would only be a slight detour, as the farm was wasn't too far away from the main raids that connected to Theria.
They seemed a bit unsure, but we agreed on a plan where we would leave now, while it was still early in the morning. We would make it to the farm, where I would pack, and say my short goodbyes.
We would then set out that night to get a few hours in before we stop for the night. The ride to the capital would between fifteen and twenty days, while the school season was set to start in three weeks.
After they finished eating, the three of us set out to find Eva. It took a lot of explaining for her to be okay with these two strangers, but I said it involved some business with the farm. She was skeptical, but didn't seem in the mood to argue.
The ride back to the farm was eerily quiet. Eva was on edge, and the mages didn't seem to do much talking, so the ride was spent in silence. If this was any indicator of my next two to three weeks, I was not in for a fun time.
I made sure to take in every landmark, thinking it may be a while before I see them again.
There was a large oak tree that Max and I would climb when we were younger. I feel from it one time, and broke my ankle. I hadn't climbed it since.
The piles of rocks that marked every mile traveled. Each one so similar, yet easily distinguished from each other. I remember one especially well. I had just gotten Dasher, and decided to see just how fast he could run. I wasn't a very good rider at the time.
He threw me off, and fell into the cobblestones of the road, skinning my knees real bad. I almost slammed straight into the pile.
Everything I saw was a memory, and I wanted to burn it all into my mind. When we reached the fields of grain, telling us we were getting close, I realized just how beautiful the field were. I had seemed to miss it, before.
My reminiscence ended abruptly as I realized we were now at the farm house. I looked to my travel companions and said,
"Wait out here, I should only be a few minutes," receiving nods in response, and a strange look from Eva.
Eva and I trotted our horses to the stables, but I didn't put Dasher in for the night like she did with Daisy.
Walking to the door, Eva asked, "Shouldn't you take care of Dasher? Also, shouldn't we invite the guests in?"
"It's alright," brief on my part, but I would be explaining in a few moments.
I asked Eva to gather everyone in the main room while I took a few minutes to gather my things. I headed up the stairs, grabbed a large bag, packed several changes of clothes, and grabbed a tent and a sleeping bag from one of our closets.
Other than the coins I had on me, my ring, and rations I would grab from our storage, that's all I would need. Returning downstairs, I was met with confusion, as they could tell I was packed for travel.
Everyone was together for once. My grandfather, my father and his brother, Matthew, Aunt Lila, and my three cousins, Lucas, Samuel, and Eva.
It was hard to explain the entire situation. I got three main points across. First, I was on a time crunch, so I needed to make this brief.
Second, I would be attending mage school, and they would be getting paid one hundred gold coins in early summer of next year. I elaborated a bit more on that second point with my third point, which was,
"A few days ago, I explained to my father that my annual inspection yielded special results this year. Those special results caused the Therian Mage Association to take an interest in me. He'll explain the details of that after I leave."
I took the ingenious route of pushing the explanation onto my father, so that I wouldn't have to. This was especially funny, because he barely knew more than they did.
They were surprisingly alright with the fact I had lied to most of them about the results of my test, and readily accepted my going to the academy, which I attributed to the gold coins. With that, I made my goodbyes, and a promise that I would write a letter once I arrived in Theria.
My travel companions were waiting outside, patiently. When I exited the building, the senior mage gave me a brief nod before slowly heading towards the road. Cristoph waited for me to mount Dasher before he followed the senior mage, with me a few meters behind. I could tell this was the start of a very boring half month.