Though they had only gone to the clan's central caves a few times, the hatchlings already knew how to tell when they were going: they'd been washed, they'd eaten early, and their parents had taken their own collars off and hidden them in their private room.  Unfortunately the knowledge and the excitement that came with it only made Taran even more rambunctious, and as Hueroc stretched his wings out for the flight he scampered back and forth through the main chamber of their cave, occasionally stopping to nip at his mother's or father's tail, or to pounce at one of his siblings!  Neth took refuge behind Ellora's forelegs at once, while Loria just kept an eye on her exuberant brother, tensing and ready to spring away whenever he came near, just in case.

"Going to the big cave!  Gonna go play!" Taran squealed as he rocketed by.

Ellora's fin glowed briefly as she summoned her wings into existence, giving them a brief, experimental flap before folding them across her back.  "Yes we are!  And are you going to mind your manners and not play too rough this time?"

He skidded to a stop, pouting.  "Wasn't my fault!  Was playing tag with Mika when the other one got in the way, and 'sides, didn't hurt him!  Even Neth wouldn't have cared," he grumbled.

"Taran..."

She eyed the little dragon until he squirmed and finally said, "okay Mother, I will be more careful..."

"Thank you."  She nuzzled him gently.

"Wouldn't need to be so worried if Loria and Neth would play too," he huffed.

His sister sat back on her haunches and lifted her snout dismissively.  "We can play here whenever we want!  I am going to the big cave to learn more magic."

"And I like to read!" Neth squeaked, clambering up to his mother's back, nestling between her wings.  "Oh, Mother, don't forget, we need to take that book back; I've finished it."

"Of course."  The two of them went to get it, while Hueroc collected the other two hatchlings and helped them up onto his own back.

Taran nibbled his sister's tail.  "Don't see what's so fun about learning, even if it's magic...  Playing's much better."

Loria breathed a little puff of fire, using her magic to tug it into a tiny contained fireball, floating protectively between his nose and her tailtip.  "I like using magic."

Hueroc looked back at them, and gave Taran a reassuring nudge.  "There's nothing wrong with wanting to play...  The running and pouncing and agility are good hunting practice.  Most dragons can't use magic at your sister's age, so they play...  But since she can, she wants to learn more."  His daughter wagged her tail and nuzzled back at her father's big red snout.  "There's nothing wrong with either of those choices, and either of you can decide to play or to learn about magic whenever you want."

"Are we ready?" Ellora asked, returning from their artifact-chamber, Neth now sitting atop a book that was nearly as big as he was, held to his mother's back by a couple of thick vines.

Hueroc glanced back at the hatchlings on his back, who nodded eagerly.  "I think so!"

"Then let's go!  Hold on, little ones..."  She and Hueroc walked out into the sun, wings spreading, leaping airborne and cruising through valleys to the mountain where the clan's central cave dug deep into the rock.  There was less excitement when they landed this time, now that most everyone had met their hatchlings, but a few dragons still called out friendly greetings as they landed and went inside.  Taran leapt down as soon as Ellora had banished her wings, letting out a high, piping hatchling roar as he bounded off towards where the other young dragons played, while Ellora took Neth to the library and Hueroc carried Loria over to the lesson-rooms.

"If it isn't the two resident fire-dragons!" Rhean said, coming over when he saw them.  "Back for another lesson?"  When Hueroc nodded assent he continued, "Loria, let me get you started with Aena, she's good with young dragons; Hueroc, you and I are going to go outside for your lesson today."

He blinked at that, head tilting to the side.  "Outside?"

Rhean chuckled, watching Loria hop off her father's back and trot into the room where the elder mage-dragoness waited.  "Oh yes.  When teaching a pyromancer who's as capable... and untrained... as you are, it's wise to go where you won't, say, burn up a cave's worth of oxygen by accident."

He snorted; he'd at least learned enough not to put all his energy into a gigantic fireball by accident!  But it still seemed like a sensible precaution, so he followed the other dragon outside, spiraling lazily up to the peak of the mountain and landing there.

"Have you been practicing?"

"Yes," he bobbed his head.  "Between the mate and the hatchlings I'm usually... quite busy, but I've been working on drawing up the energy like you told me, and it's been getting easier."

"Good.  Have you tried drawing different levels of power, or the same amount each time?"

"The same amount...  I figured I just needed to have it there, and then what I needed it for would determine how much I actually used."

"I see...  And is that amount large, or small?"

He shuffled his wings.  "I honestly don't know...  I don't know how much energy leads to how much magic, yet."

"Ah.  Well, while just summoning a certain amount each time is something that can work, you're going to risk not putting enough into a larger spell, or overloading a smaller one.  It's workable with experience, but I'd recommend that you work on drawing up different amounts of magic when you practice, so you can be ready to, in turn, activate it in different sizes without having to worry about tuning more actively."

"All right, I will."

"Good.  Now...  You've worked on drawing the energy without getting angry, you know how to actually tap into it...  Go on.  Summon some fire for me."

"All right."  True to his word, Hueroc had practiced preparing magical energy to use, and though he hadn't actually activated it on his own he still remembered what it had felt like when he'd first summoned ragefire for the mage teaching him.  It only took a moment to tap into the energy waiting in him, but summoning--

There was a flash of heat, then nothing, and he frowned, the magic still waiting in him, unreleased, making him tremble from the tension...  Maybe it needed something to trigger it?  He growled, then after a moment remembered how Loria always let out a puff of flame to starts, so he breathed a tiny stream of fire--that was it!  He could feel his magic latching onto that brief flame, and it flared out in all directions for a moment before he reined in his surprise, guiding the blaze to coalesce into a ball of fire similar to what he'd seen his daughter summon less than an hour ago, only on a much larger scale!

"Very good," said Rhean, and when he didn't say anything more Hueroc began to experiment.  It was easy to keep slowly pushing magic into it, sustaining the fireball, making it move this way and that, making it grow...  Feeling suddenly confident, ambitious even, he twisted the ball into a straight line, then a ring, then a figure-eight!  He made that spin in the air a little, then his teacher continued, "excellent... better than I expected; I see your daughter's aptitude isn't just from her mother!  I wonder what you'd be capable of if you'd started at her age..."

Hueroc was beginning to pant now; he wasn't used to the strain of actually using magic, but he did his best to keep maintaining the fire...

"Oh, I'm sorry.  What I want to know is... if there's any way you could perhaps... intensify that?  Into the sort of energy you use with your ragefire, instead of just regular flame."

He tilted his head.  The difference between the two was clear, both visually and in the way the magic felt; though using magic this way was tiring him, it didn't feel as sudden or as powerful as the ragefire had.  But at the same time, he just couldn't figure out a way to do what was being asked: pouring more energy into it only made it get bigger, and after a moment he let the magic go, the fire extinguishing itself at once.  "I...  I couldn't do it," he gasped.

"I didn't mean to tire you so... I was just curious; obviously we have no records of the capabilities of a dragon like you.  I don't know if what I asked was even possible, to be honest, but I thought that perhaps--  Ah, I have an idea: now that you know how to summon magic without... instigation, could you breathe one of those ragefire blasts for me?"

Hueroc groaned but nodded after a moment; he felt like he still had a considerable amount of magical energy left, he just wasn't used to expending it!  Picking out a bare rock face across the valley to target, he drew up the magic, took a deep breath... and only managed regular fire.  "Sorry," he growled, and tried again, but only a second brief stream of fire appeared.  "...I can't," he said, though he felt less surprised than he sounded.

"Very interesting.  I think...  Well, it's ragefire for a reason, isn't it?  You can only use your magic in that way when you're angry; I would be curious if that applies to your pyromancy as well, if you could summon the energy of your ragefire into shapes, barriers and the like.  I feel that would be too dangerous to test by angering you, at least at your current level of experience, but it's something to keep in mind as you keep learning."

Hueroc stretched out his forelegs and yawned.  The idea certainly appealed to him: to use that incredible explosive power not just as something he 'breathed' as a bolt, but to form a wall with it, or something that could twist in different ways to follow a target...  "I will."

"That aside, however, I am very impressed with your progress.  It's interesting...  The... well, at least the elemental properties of a dragon's magic are rarely--if ever--hereditary, yet aside from the ragefire, your magic and Loria's behave identically, at least to my senses.  I suppose she'll have to be carefully monitored as she gets older..."

He cocked his head sideways in confusion.  "What do you mean?"

"To keep track of her abilities and to train her accordingly if she shows any signs of your ragefire."

"I don't think so," he snorted, his tail lashing.

"You must see, Hueroc, her abilities are exactly the same otherwise, and it could be dangerous if she--" Rhean began, his tone surprisingly soft, almost placating, and the way he twisted his body...

He's afraid of setting me off, Hueroc realized.  "You misunderstand," he cut off the older dragon; he wasn't in a temper, or close to one, and didn't want to be scaring him.  "I know what you're thinking.  But when I was Loria's age, though I was unable to use ragefire I already had a bad temper, and Loria shows no sign of any temper or anger issues, no sign at all.  She won't be able to summon it."

"Oh."  Rhean thought for a few moments.  "If my theory that fury is needed to make your magic convert in that manner, then yes, you are correct.  But are you sure?  She is... quite similar, otherwise."

"I am sure; neither my father nor my grandfather could use it, and it's not as if at least one dragon of my line per generation has to be capable."

"You would know your lineage better than I... though the way your family passes its magic on is quite unusual, either way."

"The western mountains are a bit different."  He watched a black-and-orange dragon fly past, to land at the entrance of the clan cave.  "But do you have anything more to teach, or supervise, today?"

"No, just recommendations," he pawed at the rock.  "You may practice summoning fire as much as you wish; you will find that it will grow less tiring with the more experience you gain using it.  I only advise that you practice outside, as far from any flammable objects as you can manage, until you feel you've gained fine control over the fire you summon."

"Of course."  With that the two dragons returned to the cave, Hueroc looking around for his family while Rhean went to check on the other magic lessons in progress.  He found Taran sitting still for once, watching a couple of slightly older dragons wrestle, occasionally twitching his tail one way or the other.

"Having fun?" he nosed at his son's back.

"Oh yes!  I was playing hide and seek, but then I think one of the other dragons got distracted, so after hiding for a while I came over here, and the game was over.  Now I'm waiting to start a new game!"  His little tail started wagging.

"Sounds like fun," he rumbled, and sat by with a couple other adults to supervise the little ones scampering about, to make sure nobody got too rough or got hurt; he couldn't help but feel proud, watching Taran demonstrate both speed and strength equal to, even greater than other dragons who were several months his elder!  The speed and strength and cunning he'd gained playing with his siblings had really sharpened his mind and body, even if he seemed a little too competitive at times, and once he had to be separated from a green fledgling when the two of them got into a very rough wrestling match.

Loria appeared once her lesson ended, and despite the noise and excitement of the other hatchlings playing she hopped up onto Hueroc's back for a nap.  He purred and nuzzled her gently, making a little smile form on her snout, and he nosed at her again before settling down to let her rest.  Despite his earlier exuberance Taran soon joined her, and when Ellora and Neth emerged from the library with a new book, it was time to go.  He almost didn't want to wake his offspring for the flight home, but they had to be awake to hold on, and with some reluctance he nosed and nibbled the two of them awake.

"I think we all had a long afternoon," he rumbled to Ellora in amusement, and even Loria gave a sleepy nod of agreement!  "But I think we all had fun too...  Hold on now, time to head home."