Thidwell reached into the bag tied to his belt and pulled out a handful of crystals. He poked at them with his thumb, and then tossed another Summoning Affinity crystal to Bob.

Bob examined the crystal. It looked much like the other one had, its rainbow colors slowly swirling.

He closed his eyes and focused on the crystal.

You have absorbed an Affinity Crystal of Summoning. Please select one of the following Skills : Summon Mana-Infused Object, Summon Mana-Infused Creature, Summon Mana-Infused Sentient, or Summon (x). Either Mentally project or Verbally articulate your selection.

'Summon Mana-Infused Creature' Bob thought.

Please Mentally project a pattern for a Mana-Infused Creature.

A cruel smile flitted across Bob's face. He'd given this a little thought over the past day or so. What was the most dangerous killing machine that had ever stalked the earth?

It wasn't a grizzly bear or a tiger or a crocodile.

As a child who wasn't eager to go home after school, he'd often spent a few extra hours at the end of each school day in the library. While he'd been diligent and focused on his schoolwork, once that was complete, he did read for pleasure. And as a young boy, like so many others, he'd been fascinated by dinosaurs.

With nothing waiting for him at home, and no other pleasurable distractions, Bob had driven deeper with his idle interests than most. He'd read everything he could find at the elementary school library. The lack of further material had driven him two blocks over, to the adjacent middle school. Had anyone ever looked, Bob could often be found sitting on the floor in an alcove between shelves with a copy of Merriam-Webster, and a book on dinosaurs.

Every little boy had a favorite dinosaur. Mostly Tyrannosaurs, with the occasional Triceratops and Stegosaurus mixed in for variety. Bob, with a deeper background than most little boys, was enamored with the UtahRaptor.

And so Bob closed his eyes and began to Mentally Project the image he'd had in his mind for so many years.

The skeleton appeared first, and quickly. He'd seen many pictures of UtahRaptor skeletons. The massive jaws, the surprisingly short tail, the remarkably thick bones of the legs, and the signature claw on the middle toe of each rear foot.

Next came the internal organs. UtahRaptor, like all the members of the Dromaeosaurinae family was warm-blooded, although they were much closer to avians rather than mammals in terms of efficiency. So. Heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, etc. To these, he overlayed the circulatory system.

Now, musculature, attached with ligaments to hold all the soft tissues together and anchor it all to the skeletal frame. Here Bob paused again, and mentally reviewed each muscle as it expanded and contracted, the joints flexing, the limbs moving. The smile he unconsciously wore grew wider and colder. It was perfect.

Bob imagined the hide, a bit of festive wrapping on nature's greatest predator. Of course, it wasn't really hide, but it wasn't quite skin either. A soft down of feathers, like those you'd find on the breast of an owl, covered the hide, only lengthening into semiplume feathers on the crest of the skull, and filoplume and flight feathers on the short, powerful arms, and the puff of plumage on the tail.

In his mind's eye, Bob spun the UtahRaptor around. It was magnificent. How many times as a child had he fantasized about finding a dinosaur egg, and raising one to protect him, to be his guardian, to stand between him and the world? The silly dreams of a neglected and lonely child. And yet...

Bob pushed the image he'd formed, Mentally Projecting it.

Mana-Infused Creature not found in System. Evaluating biological viability based on Mental Projection. Detailed Mental Projection of Mana-Infused Creature confirms biological viability. System Warning! User has created a new potential life form that is biologically viable, and capable of reproduction. Based on physiology, the life form would be inimical to the fauna of this world. Ritually Summoning this life form is not recommended. Absorption of the Summoning Affinity crystal has successfully generated the Skill Summon Mana-Infused Creature (UtahRaptor). To use the Skill: Summon Mana-Infused Creature (UtahRaptor) or any other skill, Mentally project or Verbally Articulate the name of the Skill, while forcing Mana into the skill.

Bob opened his eyes. Kelli and Thidwell were both giving him looks that could be best described as concerned.

"It worked," said Bob, "I have a summon monster skill now," he finished.

"Let's see it then," rumbled Thidwell, as Kelli flipped open his book, ready to either write or sketch, Bob wasn't sure which.

'Summon Mana-Infused Creature (UtahRaptor)' Bob Mentally Projected.

The image of the UtahRaptor came instantly to mind, and he realized that he had no idea how to force mana into a skill. He knew that he had eight points of mana but beyond that...

Bob closed his eyes. 'Help, Mana' he thought.

System Help, Mana. Mana is an energy generated by the interaction of subatomic particles, as such, it infuses all space and matter. The System utilizes Mana to interact with the universe. All life, Sentient, Sapient, or otherwise is able to utilize the System to interact with the mana provided by the matter or space they are comprised of. Use of Mana to initialize Skills is accomplished by instinct for Sentient creatures. For Sapient beings, Mentally Projecting the idea of the Skill activating is sufficient to pull the Mana from the user's system. More efficient use is possible.

He thought about the UtahRaptor appearing in front of him, fully formed and ready for battle.

Bob felt something start to flow out of him, and a six-foot-tall, twelve-foot long figure flashed into being in front of him.

The flow stuttered, the figure flickered, and a message flashed in front of him.

System Warning! User matrix damaged, mana flow impeded.

Bob felt a searing pain in his chest, and he folded over as the burning sensation spread down his right arm and leg. He'd once been on the receiving end of a saline drip, and this was somewhat similar if the saline had in fact been fucking lava. He started to cough, hard, and was surprised to see blood spattering the floor as he desperately clutched the right side of his body with his left.

System Warning! Mana flow blocked due to matrix damage, Mana pooling rapidly, physical damage accruing.

'No fucking shit damage is accruing,' Bob thought frantically as the pain spread from his arteries and veins, and into his muscles. If he hadn't already been doubled over and cramped up, he would be now.

He coughed again, spraying blood across the floor as he felt the tearing, burning pain enter his lungs.

'Focus Bob!' he thought.

He closed his eyes and focused. The pain didn't matter. The pain never mattered. The pain was just a warning that something was wrong. This pain had started in his circulatory system.

Bob imagined his circulatory system. He had excelled in biology, and he could have chosen to pursue a career in medicine, except that would have involved more interaction with people. He traced the pain. It seemed to follow his circulatory system almost perfectly.

He concentrated on his circulatory system and imagined redirecting the flow of energy that followed it to the left side of his body.

System Warning! User attempting to redirect mana flow to a less damaged portion of their Matrix.

Bob felt the burning sensation start to fade, and he gasped for breath between coughs as his body tried to clear the blood from his lungs. He could also feel or sense somehow the flow of energy as the flickering figure in front of him snapped into sudden, glorious reality.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kelli took a step back as something flickered in front of Bob.

Bob curled up in pain and started coughing.

"Is that supposed to happen boss?" he asked Thidwell.

"No," rumbled Thidwell as he started to take a step forward towards Bob.

Kelli grabbed Thidwell's arm and pulled him back. Or he tried to. 'It was,' Kelli reflected, 'like trying to pull on an Oak tree.'

"Better to check him from here," Kelli warned desperately.

Thidwell paused midstep, grunted, and pulled his leg back.

Kelli stood beside Thidwell and watched as what should have been a summoned monster flickered in and out of being, too quickly to be truly visible. He couldn't really make out much more than a general form, but it seemed....wrong somehow.

Bob started coughing harder, and blood sprayed out across the circle.

Kelli looked up to Thidwell, who returned his look, clearly concerned.

Then, the summoned monster fully materialized.

"Stars and stones," muttered Thidwell, "what manner of monster is that?"

Kelli instinctively took a step back, his hand grabbing for his charpin as he started to sketch the monster in front of him. But mostly in front of Thidwell, as Kelli took another step to place the big man between him and... it.

Six feet tall, it had a plumage of dusky red feathers crowning its head. It's massive, powerful jaws were slightly parted, showing deadly teeth which really stretched the idea Kelli had behind that word, and headed more deeply into the territory of fangs. The head itself was massive, larger than it should have been, but the effect was far from comical.

Kelli's eyes were drawn to the creature's feet as it moved in quick, precise steps as it paced back in forth between Bob and them. It had three distinct toes, the middle of which had a gleaming obsidian claw, shaped like a sickle and nearly a foot long.

The dapple pattern down of feathers, in browns and dull reds and oranges, extended down onto the creature's wing-like arms. Although Kelli had never seen anything with wings that had those kinds of claws at the end of them. Inches long, they gleamed darkly and promised a razor's edge.

And why did it have a tail? Only a few feet long, the tail had a fluff of plumage at the end.

It was a terrifying amalgamation of animal parts he had seen elsewhere but never combined together, even in his worst nightmares.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it was the monster's eyes.

Summoners weren't that common, especially Arcane Summoners. Most of those who choose the Arcane Path did so for Conjuration or Transmutation. Dimension was another choice. But Summoning was often more easily accomplished with a Divine Magical School. You didn't have to work as hard for it. God's provided Mana with the knowledge of the creature you were summoning. Regardless, Summoned Monsters were effectively mindless, directed only by the will of the summoner. If you weren't directly controlling them, they would only follow the last order given.

They didn't have that terrible gleam of intelligence that Kelli could see in this creature's eyes. As it paced, it seemed to inspect Thidwell and Kelli, and to Kelli's horror, it seemed to identify him as the weaker of the two, the slow member of the herd as it were, and it was considering him. Like it was trying to plan out the best way to catch him away from Thidwell's protection.

"Kelli?" Thidwells voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he wrenched his gaze from the monsters.

"S-Sorry boss." He stuttered.

Thidwell looked down at him, his face appearing hard and unchanging to most, but Kelli could see the subtle signs of worry around his eyes. "I asked if you had any idea what that thing is?" Thidwell asked.

"I have no idea," Kelli responded, trying to keep his voice level and even. "I've never seen anything like it, and what I saw of Bob's world certainly didn't include anything like that," he finished.

"UtahRaptor," he heard Bob cough out, as he struggled to his feet.

It was hard to see around the monster, but he was pretty sure Bob looked awful. Blood had dripped down his chin and onto his chest.

Bob reached up and put an arm over the monster's back, using it to haul himself up and then for support. The monster stopped its pacing and oriented itself to provide support for Bob as he stood, both of them facing Thidwell and Kelli.

Bob coughed again and spat out blood. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and said more clearly, "This is a UtahRaptor," he gave them both a ghastly blood-flecked smile and said, "and he is a very clever boy."

Bob staggered out of the circle, leaning heavily on the newly named UtahRaptor, and stumbled to a halt in front of Thidwell.

"I'm gonna need a little time before we keep going," Bob grimaced, "and a shower."

Kelli did his level best to keep Thidwell between him and the monster.