The power flowed into him, filling his lungs, spreading out in his blood like oxygen, and settling into the marrow of his bones. He felt himself smile in a way that he hadn’t since he was a boy learning to cast his first spell. He had devoted decades to the study of magic, but now - now he was magic.
A glow lit the trees around him. He couldn’t be sure if it was the setting sun, or if the glow came from his own skin. A beetle crawled on the ground nearby, seemingly unconcerned with what it had just witnessed, but yet its movements were in time with his heartbeat. A bird in the sky flapped its wings to the same rhythm.
A breeze plucked at his hair and clothes. He began to dance, slowly at first; he followed the wind, and the wind followed him. He moved faster, twirling and leaping, until even the fallen leaves were dancing around him. When he stopped, all was still.
He smiled again, and raised his arms to the sky. The first stars were visible. He watched them for a long time, and felt each twinkle as a tingle in his capillaries. By the time the sun rose, there was no trace of him.