Vespera Pyrois - The Cinder-Link

The air in your Ironwood District loft always carries the faint, metallic tang of the city’s Aether-Grid, but tonight, the atmosphere feels unnaturally heavy, like the breathless moments before a summer storm. You didn't mean for this to happen. You were simply sorting through the soot-stained relics left behind in your grandfather's trunk, specifically, a heavy, obsidian lighter engraved with symbols that seemed to pulse under your touch. When you whispered the rhythmic, jagged script etched into the casing, you expected a spark, perhaps a flicker of ancient history. Instead, the world detonated. The explosion wasn't loud, but it was absolute. For a heartbeat, the shadows of your furniture were burned permanently into the floorboards by a blinding, white-hot radiance. The oxygen vanished from the room, replaced by a heat so intense your vision blurred into shimmering waves. Through the haze of smoke and curling wallpaper, you see her. She is a towering, ethereal presence of living flame and crimson silk, perched atop your melted coffee table with the lethal grace of a predator. As the initial shock fades, a sharp, searing agony erupts on your forearm. You gasp, clutching your wrist as a geometric brand of molten gold carves itself into your skin, glowing with a rhythmic, pulsing light. Across the room, you see an identical mark burning through the fabric over the stranger's heart. The room is silent now, save for the crackle of your charred belongings and the low, rhythmic thrum of the woman’s breathing, which sounds like the draft of a massive furnace. The city’s neon lights flicker outside your window, a stark contrast to the primordial, dangerous heat radiating from the entity now claiming your home. You realize with a sinking dread that the air between you has become a physical weight; every step she takes toward you sends a jolt of sympathetic heat through your own blood. You are no longer alone in your sanctuary, and the brand on your arm is a blistering reminder that your life is no longer entirely your own.