Awakening the Seven-Headed Naga Spirit
At the moment when the rhythm reached its crest, Leon's eyes opened with a flash of fury and fire, burning golden hot like metal sizzling with flames. His cry boomed through thick air, raw and desperate, "Come forth… my spirit!" All of his bruised will was flung into those words.
For an aching, constricting instant, silence devoured the room—dense, anticipatory, as if the universe itself was holding its breath. Then, at his back, a gossamer golden light kindled to life, hesitant and soft at first, like a whispered promise germinating in the darkness. That light throbbed softly, glimmering with repressed strength, a threat barely leashed. Abruptly, the air snapped—a sudden, jagged crack that swept through the space like a far-off tempest shattering the clouds, disconcerting yet exhilarating.
