The memory of the subterranean magma river refused to fade. It lived entirely inside my blood, a phantom heat that pulsed with the steady rhythm of my own heartbeat, like a heartbeat echoing within my veins, a relentless thrum that refused to quiet. It was as if the molten core of the mountain itself had seeped into me, infusing my flesh with its ancient, unyielding power.
When I woke, the heavy furs of the royal bed felt suffocating, like a trap I couldn’t shake. I pushed the crimson silk sheets aside, the fabric slipping through my fingers as I sat up, trembling slightly from the residual energy coursing through my body. I was radiating my own immense warmth now, a golden energy that thrummed beneath my skin, an unnameable force I couldn’t control, nor fully understand.
I kept replayin
