Brimtown was buzzing with the calm discussion of salamanders enjoying the early morning, the ceiling above blazing with light from the lava surrounding the dome. Some of them were on their way to the nearest crab dive for lunch. More than a few were experimenting with magic of some kind.

Next to the only bread shop in the town, a pleasant store simply entitled Urph's, a small drake was sniffing around at the foundation. It was flame-colored, sparks of yellow and orange gently glowing along the rim of its scales. Shoving its blunt head down at the base and taking a deep breath through its snuffly nose, it slunk down and moved forward.

A grubby hand reached out and pulled the drake in, and it yelped in surprise. Underneath the shop, face covered in dirt, Dahlan put his finger on the drake's mouth. "Gent, be quiet! They're gonna hear you!" Scooting back and bumping into a supporting beam, the eight-year-old hugged Gentler Than Most, also known as Gent, close to his chest. Eyes wide and heart pounding, he waited to see if anyone had noticed either the reptile or the sound it had made.

Urph's heavy footsteps paused briefly, just above Dahlan, and he sucked in a sharp breath. No sound came from either party for a long moment, but Dahlan stayed quiet. After a few seconds, Urph moved away, and Dahlan heard his cheerful voice ask someone an indistinct question.

Gent licked his face. Grinning, Dahlan roughly rubbed the drake's stubby horns. "I think we're okay. Are you ready?"

Panting, Gent stared at Dahlan, and the boy gave him another hug. "Well, I think you're ready. Now we just have to-"

A hand reached through the floor, a blue halo of magic surrounding it, and seized Dahlan by the shoulder. Startled, he let out a shriek, and the hand squeezed tighter. The miasma of blue light expanded, enveloping both of them, and then pulled.

Dahlan and Gent were yanked straight through the floor, passing halfway through another plane as they did, and were left floating midair. Pulling Gent closer to him, Dahlan smiled winsomely at the crimson salamander looking at him, arms folded. "Hi, mister Ydephr. How are you doing?" His voice was friendly, but he'd had more than a few run-ins with the quantumancer over time, and they weren't on the best of terms at this point. Especially since this wasn't Dahlan's first time trying to get some extra bread.

Ydephr glared at him. "Irresponsible child." He made a gesture, and the blue aura surrounding Dahlan and Gent disappeared. They dropped to the ground hard, and Dahlan winced at the sound his rump made against the stone. That was going to leave a bruise.

Disregarding the noticeable discomfort, Ydephr folded his arms and glared at Dahlan. "Why do you never ask for bread!? We have no currencies here, insolent child. Why do you feel the need to steal something that is already free?"

Standing at the counter and dressed in a flour-dusted black apron, Urph added, "It's no trouble to make some more for you, Dahlan. You can always just come up and ask for some."

"But that's not fun!" Dahlan blurted. Ydephr's expression would have lowered the room temperature by a good twenty degrees if he'd been a hydromancer, and Dahlan hastily mended his statement. "I mean, it's..." Thinking for a moment, he tried hopefully, "An exercise in... stealth? So I can move quieter?"

Urph snorted loudly. "Not to hurt your feelings, Dahlan, but non-magical stealth isn't going to be of much help against this old geyser of a salamander. There have been krowiks and worse hanging around this place's crawlspace, and they're a lot better at hiding than you are." Dahlan's face fell, and the baker quickly added, "If you want to learn how to be quiet, why don't you ask Laurulei to teach you? Nobody in all of Brimtown is better than she at invisibility and noise-cancellation."

Ydephr almost hissed at the baker. "And give the insufferable child an even greater chance at taking some poor salamander's bread!? Are you mad!?”

Leaning down, Urph picked Dahlan up and dusted him off, frowning at the state he was in. “Hardly. And even if I was, a little insanity can spur creativity rather well.”

Putting a hand to his head, Ydephr muttered, “Aiphas save us…” Looking up at Urph, he pointedly said, “A small amount of chaos can be helpful, yes, but uncontrolled chaos can be a threat!”

Urph chuckled, selecting a slice of bread and giving it to Dahlan. The young boy happily started gnawing away, and let Gent take a few nibbles as well. “Ydephr, the very definition of chaos is that it is uncontrollable. What would you have me do? Refuse to give bread to him?”

Shaking his head, Ydephr insisted, “No, I would have you employ him until he grew some semblance of common sense!”

Dahlan wasn’t overly concerned with the arguing salamanders. They got into heated debates almost daily, but he had a feeling they respected each other’s opinions. They just did so loudly and frequently.

The door opened as another salamander walked in, and Dahlan’s face lit up. Pahrdyn was one of the kindest people in Brimtown and one of his very favorites to talk with. She took the situation in and shook her head. “You two would complain about the color of the sky if you had the opportunity.”

Urph grinned at her. “Who knows, perhaps it’s changed to green since we last checked. It’s been a while since the Falls opened, after all.”

Ydephr’s face was priceless. “You - you can’t be serious.”

Urph subtly used a foot to scoot Dahlan and Gent towards Pahrdyn, replying, “Why shouldn’t I be? The air may have changed a good amount. Wouldn’t you agree that it would affect the color of the sky?”

Ydephr began sputtering as he raised a finger, unaware of Pahrdyn pulling Dahlan and his drake outside. “Alterations to the air quality outside would have to be catastrophic for its shade to change to such an extent! Do you have the slightest idea how…”

His voice faded as Pahrdyn carefully closed the door, and she turned to the young boy beside her. She looked mildly amused. “Let me guess. You tried to take some bread again, didn’t you.”

Her voice held a serious note in it despite her levity, and Dahlan hung his head. “Sorry. It’s just so boring.” Gent let out a little bark of annoyance, and Dahlan promptly kneaded the loose skin around the drake’s horns and neck. Gent closed his eyes and began purring quietly.

Pahrdyn raised a nonexistent eyebrow. “Boring? You can learn nearly any type of magic here. Why, all you would have to do is ask and I’d be happy to teach you hydromancy.” She put a hand on his shoulder and waited for him to look up into her warm eyes. “I wouldn’t think any less of you if you asked for help.”

Dahlan’s eyes dropped to the road, and then he leaned forward. She pulled him into a hug, and simply held him there for a long moment. He felt Gent’s rough tongue licking his fingers as he finished the bread off, and then the textured feeling of his scales on Dahlan’s bare feet.

They stayed there for a few more seconds, and then Pahrdyn pulled back. She was smiling. “Do you feel better?”

He nodded wordlessly, and she scooped him up. Gent made an angry snort, and she bent down to allow the drake to perch on Dahlan’s shoulder. “Let’s get you back to Gravin. I’m pretty sure he’d have a few ideas for how to relieve that boredom you’re so enamored with.”

Burying his face in her robe, he let himself relax a bit. Bringing one hand up, he continued rubbing Gent’s horns, and the drake preened blithely, somehow finding a comfortable position between Pahrdyn and Dahlan.

Some time later, Pahrdyn helped Dahlan get down and extricated Gent’s claws from her robes. Putting the drake on the ground, she poked his nose and smiled at the explosion of sneezes that followed. Dahlan reached up, hand open, and she wrapped it in her own. “Are you ready?”

Dahlan looked at the house in front of them. It was similar to the other buildings nearby, aside from a slightly larger back section to accommodate for the extra person living there. He knew that the inside was scorched black, and that most of the furniture was enchanted to be fireproof as a result.

She squeezed his shoulder, and he nodded. “Yeah.”

Pahrdyn smiled. “Good. But I’m coming in too.”

Dahlan winced. He’d had a feeling she would explain the circumstances to Gravin, but there was a part of him that had been hoping she wouldn’t.

Pulling the door open, Pahrdyn brought the reluctant Dahlan along with her, frowning as she took in the most recent burn marks. “I assume he’s still trying to perfect his technique.” It wasn’t much of a question, but Dahlan nodded.

A sound not unlike crackling paper roared from somewhere in the house, and a blast of fire shone around the corner of the hallway before them. Dahlan closed his eyes from the heat. Pahrdyn called, “Gravin? Are you here?”

Several seconds later, the salamancer walked around the corner, throat glowing sunset orange. “Ah, hello Pahrdyn. And…” He frowned as he saw Dahlan’s dirt-stained face. “What have you done now?”

Pahrdyn squeezed his shoulder. “Ydephr caught him trying to take some of Urph’s bread again. I say it was Gentler Than Most’s idea.” The drake gave her a shocked look, and it took all of Dahlan’s self-control not to burst out laughing.

Gravin’s expression helped with that. “Pahrdyn, I don’t see how you can find this entertaining. Dahlan, you could be doing so much more with what you have on hand. Knowledge, education, and power are sitting right at your fingertips! But you instead decide to sneak around Brimtown and… steal bread.”

Staring at the floor, Dahlan could feel a hot flush creep up his face, settling around his ears. He swallowed hard, trying to push the small ball in his throat down. Kneeling, Gravin held his chin up to make eye contact. “I’m not trying to discourage you, Dahlan. I just don’t understand why you choose to waste your time like this.”

Tears started to well up in the corners of Dahlan’s eyes despite his best efforts, and his hands clenched into fists. Gravin sighed, then looked up at Pahrdyn. “Thank you for bringing him home. Do you need anything?”

Dahlan didn’t see what she did, but he felt her hand come off his shoulder, followed by the sound of the door closing. Before he could apologize, Gravin pulled him into a hug.

He blinked, his attempt to avoid crying jolted by the surprise. The salamander squeezed him, and then stood. “My apologies. I should have waited until she left. It was… unkind of me to scold you with Pahrdyn present.”

Rubbing his eyes, Dahlan stared at the ground. “Did you… mean it?”

Gravin’s forehead creased. “Of course I meant it. I had no intention of humiliating you.”

Shaking his head, Dahlan said, “No, I mean… did you mean it when you said I was wasting time?”

Folding his legs, Gravin sat down, putting a finger to his chin. “Yes, I did. Can you come up with an alternative explanation for what you’re doing?” His voice was firm, but genuinely curious. It was hard to stay angry at him when he used that tone.

Dahlan thought for a moment. “Well…” He knew the ‘stealth’ excuse wouldn’t work with Gravin, so he tried to actually think about it for a moment.

Why did he try to steal Urph’s bread?

“Because…” He began slowly. “I’m… good at it? I can’t do magic as good as you do. So… I wanted to be better at something.”

Gravin stared at him for a moment, and then dragged a hand down his face, groaning loudly. “Aiphas above, it should’ve been obvious.” Dahlan wasn’t sure who the salamander was talking to, so he stayed quiet.

Looking down at Dahlan, Gravin stated bluntly, “You are not as proficient in magic as I am, correct?” Once again, Dahlan didn’t feel the need to answer. Gravin was a master even by Brimtown standards. “So,” he continued, “I’m going to teach you on your level. And I think we should start tomorrow.”

Dahlan blinked. “Am I in trouble?”

Gravin half-chuckled. “Was Urph angry at you?” When Dahlan shook his head, Gravin made a ‘there-you-have-it’ gesture. His face became serious. “You’ll have to practice. Magic isn’t easy, no matter what level you’re at. You’re going to have to put in a lot of effort.”

A massive smile slowly crawled onto Dahlan’s face, one he tried to shift into a somber expression. “Okay, Dad.”