I'll admit, I was pouty for the first few days after the competition. I wanted to win it, but thinking about it now. I don't think I would have won even if I had used everything. He defused my attack so easily. Dragon time wouldn't even have helped me there either. I hate to admit it, but I was outmatched.

I at least got ranked second, Spyro of course got first, Cynder got third and Lumus got sixth. Lumus went out in the second round so she got placed a little lower but she did better on the academic portion so she still placed quite high. I heard her and Cynder's match was pretty intense. Cynder was just able to evade Lumus' attacks due to her speed, but Lumus' defense was nearly impossible to beat. However, Cynder is really good at strategy, so eventually Cynder won. Cynder And Spyro's match went relatively the same. Except it was more like a martial arts display. Neither of them took a serious hit the entire time. It took forever for them to finish their match too. Apparently Cynder ran out of energy first though since she wasn't born with all the elements and it caused her to burn out faster or something like that, I don't know the exact details and I'm not gonna pry since it's a part of her past that causes her pain.

Other than my bellyaching, life has gone back to normal. Well we did start going out to lunch now since we placed in the top 25, which get to leave campus to go eat, So that's a bonus. Treevus has also been letting us out early too, but that one I can't really explain as to why…. maybe we're ahead.

Today however he seems to have decided to keep us longer. We had gotten into the intricacies of how magic is formed and why we can use it.

"I see what you're saying Sam, but how do you explain how the energy of the environment is converted into magical energy when that requires energy itself. In fact, how do you explain the fact that we can generate it?"

"That's true Treevus, but that's what I'm getting at. The energy already exists so it can use itself to generate more. That's why dragons go into a null state when we use too much. Then we need a kind of jumpstart from the environment to get us going again and gem clusters are just spots In the environment where the energy has condensed the easiest and has become like energy snacks for us. What I'm getting at is that the magic is cycling through us and the environment. Everything is recycled, nothing is wasted and we are capable of generating more of that energy because we convert energy from things we consume. That's also why every generation is stronger than the last, since there is more energy to go around. Plus! And this is a big one, with the abundance of energy there is a chance for change, which means evolution. I digress, my point is that we are connected to the environment, which contains its own energy, but because we provide a way for it to gain more energy it allows us to use it for ourselves."

"That's a good way of thinking about it Sam. Does anyone have anything else to add?" He looks toward Spyro.

"I can't think of anything more to be honest. I saw it as a gift, but I never thought of it like a symbiotic relationship."

Cynder catches our attention, "That raises a question for me though, I read just the other day about a theory that ley lines exist. Rivers of energy that spread out across the land, kind of like roots of a tree really, but it says that energy flows all throughout the world through these things."

Treevus nods his head a bit and places a claw at his chin, "It wouldn't surprise me if it were true, because if what Sam says is true then the world itself is alive and the ley lines would be like it's veins"

"Then magic would be its blood."

"That's true, which just goes to prove how important it is to life."

Lumus raises a paw, "um, if that's true, does that mean that the world runs on a different energy than us? I mean since each dragon uses a specific energy to wield each element, does that mean that there's a pure form of energy our there that represents all of them?"

I pipe up, "actually, if I may Treevus." He nods, "that energy has already been discovered, Spyro and Cynder have both used it already"

Spyro raises an eyebrow, "are you talking about convexity?"

"Yes I am actually. Think about it, it's only possible for purple dragons to use it for one reason, they can wield ALL of the elements. So it would make sense that convexity would be the combination of all of the elements."

Lumus scrunches up her face a bit, "but if that's true then why is it so unstable?"

"Well…, it is supposed to be pure magical energy and dragons who charge up spells they can't handle usually have it blowing up in their face, so maybe it's not exactly meant to be wielded so frivolous"

"That brings up another question, does that mean that there is a stable version of convexity?"

"Maybe… idk"

Right about then the bell rang

Treevus stomps his foot on the ground, "damn, I got too caught up in the topic I forget to keep track of time. Well, get going youngsters, have a safe weekend."

'Safe?' I wonder what he meant by that…. oh well, we're all together so nothing bad is likely to happen.

We're each on our way back to our houses today, and got nothing in particular planned. I wonder if they want to go camping? It's a Friday, but it's also a little short notice…. eh, can't hurt to ask.

So I turn and head in the direction of the dorms. It's a decent walk from where I am now, but I don't mind, it's exercise. However, I get about halfway there when I hear some very aggressive voices around the next corner.

"...You disgust me."

"You're just a monster like Malefor, why don't you just die"

My eyes dilate and I immediately dash there with my wind and create a vortex in my wake. When I get there I see Spyro laying on the ground in visible pain and Cynder standing over him in a protective pose. The attackers are a fire drake, I shadow drake and an ice dragoness. I know the fire drake, he was the one I beat in the competition. The other two I don't recognize.

Their identity doesn't matter at this point, they attacked my friends…. And they tried to kill them. No. Mercy.

Because of the enchantments of the school I don't have to worry about crippling any of them. They'll just have some mental scars.

I open my mouth and blast them with an intense wind blast. All three are thrown into a wall. I stalk closer, I bring up my thorn vines out of the ground and bind all three to the wall. I pull each vine as tight as I could get it without cutting off any vital circulation or air, but I make it as painful as possible. Then I add a dab of my fear element.

"You will NOT! hurt my friends EVER! again! If I so much as hear that you did I. Will. Will. I...I don't know what I'll do…."

It hit me, my actions won't fix anything. They treat Spyro and Cynder like this because they're afraid. Now I just gave them something else to fear.

What have I done….

I remove the fear element from them and run away. I can't stay here, I need to leave. As soon as I'm out of sight I zap to the house.

'Sam? What's wrong?'

"Me..., I'm what's wrong"

'What do you mean?'

"I don't want to talk about it right now, just tell Treevus when he comes by that I left and that I might be back in a week. I'll Write a note for everyone else."

'You're not gonna abandon me are you?'

"No…. no I'm not, I can do that to you, but do me a favor while I'm gone. Let my friends enjoy the garden…. keep them out of my room though."

'Hehe, ok, but please be safe. And I hope you feel better soon'

"If only it was that simple…"

I zap to outside of Warfang's walls. I temporarily cut off my connection with the tree and immediately began to zap from location to location releasing as much of each element as I could in one burst, then fix any damage I may have done with my nature magic and zap to a new spot. I jump to random spots and move farther and farther from warfang on each jump. I want to utterly drain myself of magic for a while.

After about 50 jumps and almost landing in an ocean, I end up at the swamp Spyro grew up in. Well this is as good of a place as any to stop at. So I'll climb a tree and get it to make me a little nook to sleep in for the night.

I just need to be alone for a while, I need to think about what I have done. I need to reevaluate myself. I never used to act like this before… So why am I now? I have so many questions that need answers. The more I think about it the more unclear it becomes... Why is this, so hard?

I just need to take my mind off of it. I've been needing to come out this way for some more plants anyway. It'll have to wait until the morning though, it's already getting dark.

Back in Warfang

knock knock knock* "Sam you here?" Instead of a response, the door opened for Spyro. He looked over to Cynder, who was just as confused as he was. Both just went inside to see if they could find Sam. They searched for him everywhere. Nothing…

"Where do you think he went Spyro?"

"I don't know… he's not in his garden, not anywhere else in the house. The only place I couldn't look was his room"

"Maybe he locked himself in therrrreee, wait…. what's that?" Cynder points to a piece of paper lying on an end table.

Spyro picks it up and begins to read it, "'I'm leaving Warfang for a while, but don't worry. You know I can take care of myself. I should be back in about a week, please don't try and look for me before then'... Cynder, what should we do?"

"We need to go look for him, he's processing a lot right now, and,... to be quite honest. I'm worried he's going to hurt himself"

"You don't think….?"

Cynder nods her head, "he'll more likely overload his elements first, but it's still a chance I'm not willing to take"

Without any more discussion they both leave to look for Sam.

Some time later however, Lumus comes by and makes a similar discovery. She however, had a more depressed response to it. She hunkered down and was gonna wait inside for me to return. Susan, that traitor, took pity on her and let her in my room to sleep on my mountain of pillows that I call a bed. It was little solace, but it was better than nothing to her. She just prayed to the ancestors that her first best friend would come back soon.