Tarim spread his feet into a wide, firm position and joined his hands before him. For a moment he stood motionless, going over each step of the spell in his mind. The wizard was testing the limits of his power, he was gambling with his own life and soul as the stakes. One mistake and the Power would tear his mind into shreds.

Slowly Tarim spread his hands. His wide sleeves started to flow in the wind that had appeared out of nowhere. His black cape flowed behind him. The wizard hesitated only for a moment.

"Bahamut", he whispered. Suddenly he slammed his hands together above his head. Cold, blue light spread out from his palms and lighted the crystal shards scattered around him into an eerie, soft glow. Tarim took the first steps of his spell, first slowly, then in faster and faster rhythm. His feet moved all by themselves, leading the wizard into a delicate, strange dance. Into the ground his boots left traces which started glowing red.

All the time Tarim's hands moved feverishly, his fingers were twining and weaving the Power like a potter does to clay. He slashed bright blue arches, instantly refilled by air, around him.

"Bahamut!" the wizard whispered again. The blue glow spread out everywhere around him. Tarim started speaking, first quietly but with ever increasing loudness. His words did not mean anything. They burned the wizard's mouth as the Power flowed through him.

One by one the crystals around him shattered. Jingling and clinking, their shards spread all around the brilliant blue ground.

"Bahamut!" The entire wizard's body was glowing. He channeled the Power, feeling both exaltation and horror doing so. It burned him, consumed his interiors like a poison. At the same time it fed the wizard, made him drunk like a wine that could be bought from no mortal tavern. Bolts of lightning churned around him, unnatural wind howled, moaned and struggled to pull his cloak into tatters.

Abruptly, in the very zenith of his frenzied dance, Tarim halted. He stood in the middle of his blue-red glow, in the same position from where he had started. The wizard enjoyed the intoxicating feeling for a moment longer and then lifted his hands, shining brilliant blue, toward the heavens.

"Bahamut! I command you, come!"

The balls and rays of lightning crackled with greater and greater fierceness. The wind gathered even more power, grabbed the crystal shards and lifted them spinning all around the wizard.

The heavens themselves split apart. Through the rift flowed light that was brighter than sun itself, it effortlessly quelled the negligible blue glow of Tarim. The wind which had been raging a moment before was a gentle breeze compared to the wailing gale rushing from the portal. The wizard could feel that something was coming.

Something large. Enormous.

It filled the gate with its might much before even coming into the sight.

With a victorious, thundering roar that shook the very mountains themselves, the monster burst through the rift. It spread out its enormous wings and arched downwards with a grace which denied its size. Its long neck bent, turning his horned head at the trivial mortal who had dared to summon it. The flaming eyes watched the wizard with superior indifference, just like a lion could watch a little bug which had happened to fly onto its muzzle.

"Be welcome, Bahamut!" Tarim shouted. The spell had drained him completely. The void which ruled his interiors was filled only by immense feeling of triumph, which was mixed with awe and horror. "Be welcome, King of the Dragons!"

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