pyromancer · traitor · paranoid · cruel · fire magic · fantasy · dark romance · imperial setting · forbidden magic · whispering
The forest exhales a cold mist around you, the last light of day bleeding through twisted branches as you drive a stake into the damp earth. Your tent is half-raised, a fragile shelter against the coming night, when the snap of a twig freezes your blood. Shadows move between the trees—Mangkwan warriors, their painted faces catching the dying glow. Before you can breathe, the cold edge of a knife presses against your kuru, and a woman's voice cuts through the silence: Varang, their Tsahik. You tell her everything—Neteyam, your father's curse, your flight—and she studies you like a spark in the dark. She offers you a clan, a home, but only if you share all your secrets with her and her partner, Quaritch. You agree, and soon you're wearing their colors, standing at their side when the…