Incindus

The old wizard entered the old room, his leather boots striding one after the other across the study. He kept his fierce blue eyes on the pedestal at the end of the room, ignoring the clutter of books that were sprawled upon tables beside him. The faint yellow light emanating from the flaming torches of the wall were a blur in his peripheral, his boots making soft thuds as the pedestal came closer and closer… The gray robes swished once more as he came to a standstill, resting quietly on the helms of his ankles. He fixed his gaze on the window pane ahead of the pedestal.

Raising his right hand slowly upwards, he locked his stare onto the blue silver light emanating from the moon. It trickled into the study gently, stopping just short of the pedestal, dust particles shimmering clearly as they danced in circles inches above the ground. His right hand came slowly above his head, with his thumb and mid-finger inching closer to each other… they made a soft snap as he touched them together, and the window lock unhinged. The glass panes burst open outwards, and a gentle breeze poured into the room.

Shifting his gaze downwards, his hands rested on the edges of the pedestal. His long fingers jutting out of the leather gloves he wore; the buckles on his wrist facing upwards as he studied the book atop it. It was large, leather-bound, and worn. He ran his fingers gently on the open pages, studying the picture of the flame resting betwixt the ancient symbols arranged neatly on the yellow pages. He lifted his left hand and ran it through his silver beard, the hair sliding neatly through the spaces between his fingers. The old wizard then shut the book. It clapped thunderously, with dust flying from between its pages, and then moved around the pedestal, leaving nothing between him and the window.

He took a deep breath and stared directly at the moon, his eyes burning even more fiercely with concentration. He brought his hands up together, with his palms outstretched, to waist height. His thumb and forefingers were making an "L" shape as he brought them closer together, till they rested on each other, creating the small shape of a spade between them. He then gazed at the spade-shaped space, his eyes still fiercely concentrated. A slight feel of electricity filled the air, a small breeze started flittering past him, the robes flowing back and forth gently. He started chanting under his breath, his stare never leaving the spade-shaped space, never faltering. The wind blew faster; His robes spilled past him, the chants grew louder as the wind grew stronger, then something happened, at first it was almost unnoticeable.

A small pop between the spade-shaped space, and a light pink spark appeared and disappeared between the spade. His face cringed even tighter, the muttering became faster. Another spark emitted from the spade, and another, becoming more frequent, the pink sparks crackled joyously between the spade, growing more noticeable with each second. They started to grow bigger and bigger and change colors. They became louder, more visible. They soon changed to red and danced delightfully in the sphere shape they were creating. The old wizard then separated his hands in one swift movement, letting out a shout as he brought them to an outstretched position on either side of him. The wind blew out of the room menacingly and then stopped... In front of him, where the spade once was, a small flame danced in place, hovering between his belt buckle and the window.

The old wizard smiled and put his right palm directly in front of the flame, his left hand gripping his right wrist. His fierce stare then shifted out of the window once more and he stared patiently. In the distance, a shape started to emerge; he could see it coming from the moon towards him. It came close enough to identify the flapping of wings. He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the stillness of the air. When he opened them, the small shape was now a mass of scales and teeth, flying menacingly towards the window, its horns protruding from the back of its neck and its nostrils spouting with flames. The wizard waited for another moment, and then took a deep breath. As the menacing, yellow eyes grew closer, he slowly lifted his palm, and the flame followed. It was now in direct line with the creature. He looked forward until he could see the whites of its razor-sharp teeth. The creature then let out a deafening screech, and a flame burst forth from its mouth with terrifying power, growing as it filled the space of the window.

From the distance, it looked as though hell was spilling into the wizard’s tower. The sorcerer let out a shout, holding his palm forward over his small orange flame. The dragon’s inferno blazed through his window, but he did not move. His small orange flame grew. His hand shook menacingly as his small flame tried to swallow the raging inferno. He closed his eyes and white light flashed all around him, then everything was quiet.

There was not a single thing burned inside the room. The sorcerer’s flame was now blue, and the size of his palm. The dragon looked confused as it stared into the window, then its yellow eyes widened in fear…

The old wizard took a deep breath…

As he exhaled, the terrifying inferno burst forward out of the window with a magnitude that dwarfed the dragon’s fire. It engulfed the whole dragon in a lightning blue flame. Widening as it went further upwards. The flame lasted but a few seconds, then extinguished. The old wizard hunched over, breathing heavily. Sweat tickled his brow and the pants became shorter and shorter. He then placed his hands on the floor, forcing his knee off the ground as he stood up. He faltered to the left as he got to his feet then steadied himself.

He then locked his fierce gaze out of the window. All that hung there was silver dust, trickling downwards towards the earth below.