Prologue

Ten Years Ago

I made a mistake and this is my punishment. I'm becoming a passenger in my own body. Something ancient is possessing me and it's both powerful and angry. This process is excruciating. My blood boils, flame spreads through my veins, bursting through every pore of skin. The sweat on my skin instantly evaporates and the air in my lungs combusts, shredding them. My stomach's contents might as well be lava.

Struggling against this power only amplifies the pain. The flames turn purple as they burn even hotter. I'm at my limit. My mind is fading as the flames form a porous structure, like a skeleton...no, like armor over me.

Whatever will I had is long gone by now. My mind has gone blank and I am completely numb to whatever is happening to me. All that's left is fear. I'm not afraid for myself. I'm not afraid that this dreary cave is going to be my grave. I'm not even scared because the last thing I might ever see is some ridiculous statue of a phoenix. No, I'm afraid for my friends below me who must be horrified.

Whatever's left of me in this crispy shell needs to tell them to run. This thing immolating me from the inside is angry and when it's done turning me into its puppet, a burnt out husk, it's going to unleash unfathomable power. The kind of power that could turn the world to ash.