The magician sat cross-legged by the crackling fire, his tattered robes stirring in the night breeze. Between puffs of his pipe, he mumbled an ancient incantation, his voice a whisper lost to the shifting sands. With careful strokes, he scribed unknown symbols into the dirt, their meaning obscured by time. When the final mark was made, he swept the sand into his palm, pinched a portion, and packed it into his pipe puffing. With a slow, deliberate motion, he raised his wand to the fire.
As he exhaled, streams of multicolored smoke poured from his nose, eyes, and ears, twisting into the flames. The fire roared, shifting hues in unnatural bursts of blue, violet, and sickly green. From the swirling vortex, a hulking shape emerged—a reptilian plant-creature, its three jagged jaws snapping ferociously. Its luminous eyes locked onto the magician, awaiting command. The wizard grinned, tapping his pipe. His creation was ready.
