Stats Story Hatchling Adult Flights Star City Dragonry Tripaldi Weyr Botril yawned as he lay in the grass beneath the shade of a tree. Nearby pairs of his friends faced off across the open field. Their instructor walked up and down the rows of young men with a fierce scowl upon his face, barking orders and even a rare compliment when one of the young men did well. Master Copheyrus’s gaze moved to Botril for a moment and Botril gave him a cheerful wave from his place lounging in the grass. The instructor rolled his eyes, shaking his head as his gaze returned to the active pairs on the field. Across the field from Botril stood another young man who was inactive, but this young man was not lounging as Botril was. He looked quite frustrated and ready to throw fire at any moment. But Botril wasn’t ready yet and so the young man across the field had to wait. Botril watched as his buddies flung out their hands at each other and the twists and turns of the young man facing them as they dodged whatever had been thrown at them then thrust their own hands out in an attack of their own. He couldn’t see what was being thrown because he wasn’t yet in the proper mood, but eventually he would be doing the same as his friends against the frustrated young man across the grass. Magic in men it seems is controlled by emotion; the emotion which calls the magic being different in each man. The most common emotion to spark a man’s talent is anger, which was evident by the array of angry faces on the field. The young man across from Botril had magic summoned by frustration which was of course why he was paired with Botril. Botril was an odd case. He was the first magic-user in history ever to have a gift inspired by boredom. Botril snickered to himself at the difficulty such a gift had caused his teachers. Where most young men were easily goaded into using their gift and so learn how to summon it, Botril could only use his gift if he was left in a situation where he would be bored out of his wits. Unfortunately Botril was also the lazy sort and so it didn’t take much to keep him occupied as he lounged in the grass. Eventually though he always became bored, or at least stopped paying attention to being amused long enough that his magic jumped forth of it’s own accord. This it did today. Botril was busy watching his friends dodge unseen forces when suddenly the forces were no longer unseen. His hand started moving of its own accord and he looked down to find two balls of light being rotated idly in his palm. Botril stood, somewhat annoyed that he’d allowed himself to grow bored, but charged with the power of his magic he could hardly complain. He looked across the field to the young man and moved into position so they could begin. Giving the young man no chance to prepare he flung the balls of light out from him casting large bolts of liquid fire from his hands toward the young man. The young man hit the ground, ducking beneath the onslaught and when he could finally return to his feet he launched his own attack which Botril idly dispelled with a flick of his wrist. Master Copheyrus walked behind him, nodding in approval, though his frown stayed glued in place. Botril readied another attack and tossed it one handed at his opponent, the other hand coming up to cover a yawn. This attack sparkled with color as it zigzagged lazily across the field. The young man on the other side watched it closely as it came towards him and as it neared him Botril threw another lightning fast bolt of magic across the field which caught the young man completely off-guard. His eyes widened and Botril felt a grin spreading across his face as he realized his attack might actually hit. Just as it was inches from the man’s chest though it fizzled out and Botril whirled around to find Master Copheyrus just lowering his arm. “Very good, Botril, but the goal is to test your partner, not incinerate him,” said the Master and walked on. Botril scowled at his back and turned back to his opponent who was positively quaking. He shook his head and Botril nodded, understanding that the young man had lost the mood he needed to keep his magic. He understood; he’d lost it too. Now he was just angry. He hadn’t wanted to hurt his opponent, but it would have been really satisfying to actually hit something when he lashed out with his magic for once. He returned to his tree and laid back to stare up at the sky. Maybe one of these days he would fight a real battle, or maybe one day would get away from this boring place. Just as he realized that he was once again bored he began to feel as if he was slipping. He sat up to find a large black emptiness beneath him. It wasn’t really a hole, just a lack of anything and he was slowly sliding into it. Shocked he tried to stop himself but his legs were already gone, apparently missing in that black empty space and as his shock and horror grew the hole shrunk. He forced himself to relax, realizing whatever it was he was sinking into, his magic had created it and if he lost his magic now he might not survive to get it back. Botril sunk further into the empty space; when his head was finally sinking he shut his eyes and held his breath. He lost all feeling for a few seconds and when he could feel again he experimentally opened one eye. What he saw made him open both eyes wide in shock. Wherever he was, he’d apparently gotten his wish to get away from his home, because this was certainly nothing like home.