Greg stood on the outcropping of the mountain, a stone precipice built into the side of the rock formation years ago. The red fox didn’t really know who constructed the platform, he just used it to practice his magic. It made for a wonderful channelling point, and being so high above the rest of the world allowed him to focus. He didn’t have any distractions to worry about, and least of all the concern that something might go awry and hurt somebody. Atop the mountain, looking down over the city far in the distance, Greg could let the powers take over.

He opened his spell tome to a random page. His goal was not to use the book for inspiration, simply to have it as focal point for his energies, the runes and words on the pages filled with a might waiting to be tapped into by an experienced mage. He didn’t even bother to look at the spell he would be casting; that wasn’t the point of the exercise. Greg wanted to be lost in the throes of magical energies, give his body up to the spellcraft that he strove so hard to perfect. The tome lay at his feet, ready for use.

Eyes closed, hands at his sides, Greg felt the first rustling of the mountain air picking up the tail of his overcoat. The sensation faded the more focused he became, having to block out all the obstacles of sight, sound, and touch that would prevent him from concentrating to the fullest of his ability. It did feel nice to have the breeze around him. He was rather glad to have dressed warmly enough for the occasion, and the fact that it made him look more impressive during casting was an added bonus. That was his last thought before delving fully into the spell.

The book rose off the ground, steadily bobbing its way upwards besides Greg’s thigh. His left hand stretched to the side and a little behind, the book moving with the gesture. It floated in the vertical until it hit his fingers, nails tracing out the shape of the runes etched into the paper, like a blind man reading braille. He didn’t need to actively consider the meaning of the shapes under his digits, his body recognized them like old friends that had been out of town for years, but when reunited sat down together and picked up a conversation as if nobody had left. His right hand extended forward.

A ring of purple surrounded his body, bristling with energies that the untrained mind couldn’t watch without feeling dizzy. A mirror to the inscribed runic structures of the spellbook formed in the circle, creating an outer ring with a binding centre. He stood in the middle of it, feeding off the power of nature and sorcery. The mountain radiated mystical properties that he only noticed when he was mid casting, and subsequently forgot about once the training finished.

Purple clouds billowed around the platform, obscuring any sight of the sky ahead or the ground far below. The smoke shifted and turned, nearly taking on shapes, but always dissipating when the wind came through to brush the offending clouds aside. The gale picked up, the back end of Greg’s coat fluttering, his brown hair blowing to the side, blocking his right eye from looking at anything other than hair. His eyes opened. His sight was elsewhere, looking into the pool of mysticism he gathered strength from during this training regiments. None of his changed surroundings registered.

The smoke wafted down the mountain, rolling down the cliffs, leaving not a trace behind it. Those in the city that were watching were used to these displays, even if they couldn’t explain the cause of them. A natural phenomenon, the meteorologists deemed it, caused by rising currents and the chemicals that rested on the peak of the mountain. Nobody really cared about the facts, they simply enjoyed the sight, and some of the cafes and inns used it as a selling point. The best view of the Violet Mountains, the signs would proclaim.

Greg never bothered to correct the city folk. The illusion of nature kept him safe and provided some incentive for him to practice more regularly. There was an expectation for the mountains to periodically produce their colourful vapours. As the one responsible for that occurrence, he didn’t want to disappoint anybody or cause a dip in the local businesses. He supported most of them, except the tea shops. He didn’t much care for tea. But the bakeries created pastries caked in purple frosting that Greg loved. He didn’t want them to stop baking those treats.

Those were the thoughts he dwelled upon when he made the trek down the mountain. Standing on the outcropping, lost to the siren call of magic, Greg thought of power, how to use it and manipulate it to his whims. The nature of the spell he was practicing became clearer, though without a target it didn’t have a purpose, it simply resided within the clouds that encircled the landing, waiting for somebody to come along and accept the boon or curse contained within the smoke. The pages of the tome flapped as the winds grew more violent.

He never noticed the presence behind him, the great looming of another fox, this one with a black stripe over his muzzle. Only the head and chest of the giant showed through the clouds, parting the hazy curtain enough to let his body be seen, if only Greg would turn around and acknowledge the existence of the other. Huge pecs prevented the larger vulpine from properly looking down at the comparatively minuscule sorcerer, but the big brown eyes of the intruder never stopped staring at Greg, even as the body of the titan continued to swell and bulge.

No doubt Greg would be stunned to see somebody else watching him in the private outdoor sanctuary of the stone landing. But that would not occur for a while still. By that time, the fox with his head in the purple clouds would be towering over the mountain, the monument of nature only waist tall to the colossus. Paper rustled, the massive eyes squinting to make out the name of the spell being cast.

It was too small a print for the growing cross-fox to read. Part of the title was obstructed anyway. Greg’s fingers covered up the word after “Endless”.

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Story by  Nuclear_Fusion go commission him!
Pic by me, hope you like ^_^