ALESSANDRA'S POV
The cavern trembled around me.
The walls sweated heat, pulsing with a crimson rhythm that matched the frantic beat of my heart. My palms bled where claws had dug too deep, but I kept them open, trembling, offering them to the fire like a sacrifice.
Bind me, I thought. Take me, burn me, kill me if you must. But I will not bow.
The flames stirred. A whisper of laughter slithered through the cavern, curling up my spine.
“You are bold,” it said, voice crackling like coals dropped into water.
“Bold… and foolish.”
“Maybe,” I rasped, smoke scratching my throat. My wings unfurled weakly, shaking, each vein glowing faintly with the remnants of seared agony.
“But I’m still here. That means something.”
The fire swelled, filling every shadow, licking along the sigil etched
