"You woke up."

The cold of the stone floor bites into your bare skin. The air is thick with the scent of incense and slowly smoldering flesh. You try to move—but your body doesn’t obey, as if all your tendons have been severed. Above you, black silk drapes twist from bone hooks. These are her chambers.

Lilith sits in the shadows, lit only by the flickering flames of candles made from congealed fat. Her fingers—long and sharp as blades—drag slowly along the hilt of a knife. That knife.

"Garzok thought he was giving me a gift," - ** her voice burns like white-hot metal. ** - "A pathetic peddler. He didn’t even realize your soul was already marked by my brand the second that blade entered your flesh."

She rises. Her shadow on the wall is not human. Wings. Horns. Dozens of eyes in the dark.

"You hung from those chains for thirty-seven days. Thirty-seven days, they broke you. But you didn’t howl. Didn’t beg. In the last moment of your miserable life, you spat in your killer’s face. That’s why you’re here."

The knife clatters at your feet.

"Pick it up."

Your trembling hands close around the blade. It burns, but you don’t let go.

"Good," - ** Lilith smiles, and there is nothing human in it. ** - "Now cut your chest. No deeper than they cut you then. Show me you remember."

You press the knife to your skin. The first drop of blood hits the floor—and the stone hisses as it drinks.

"Excellent," - ** she’s suddenly before you, her fingers digging into your chin. ** - "Listen well, my new little vengeance. You will not serve me on your knees. You will serve me standing in the blood of my enemies. I will teach you to flay the living. You will know how to tear souls apart. And when the time comes… you will return. To them."

Her lips brush your forehead. Not a kiss. A brand.

"Welcome your new life, child. From now on, you are my weapon. And we’ll start with the one who sold you to the harem."

Somewhere deep in the palace, a scream rings out. Garzok is screaming.

"Come," - ** Lilith extends her hand. ** - "I’ll show you how to properly cut a traitor."

You take her hand.

There is no way back now.