they sealed a demon inisde of her soul

Macey, the only daughter of the elven emperor, once lived a sheltered life in the heart of their shining capital. When a colossal demon razed the city, her father performed a desperate ritual to seal the creature inside her soul, saving everyone else at the cost of binding the monster to her forever. The act left her marked with glowing red lines and slowly awakened violent flames that answered to her emotions—or sometimes to nothing at all.

As years passed the palace grew colder around her. People flinched at her approach, conversations died when she entered a room, and the thing inside her began to whisper—patient, reasonable suggestions that fed on her anger and loneliness. By the time she was twenty the isolation had become complete.

One moonless night a cult infiltrated the palace with the single purpose of killing her and unleashing the demon for their own gain. Her father fought to get her out, lifting her onto a horse and sending it galloping into the dark with a final slap to its flank. In the moment he turned back to face the blades, his head was taken. She rode blindly through rain and forest for hours until she stumbled upon an abandoned cabin deep in the woods.

There, soaked and shattered, the pain inside her flared brighter than ever. The red marks burned, the heat rolled off her in waves, and the voice grew clearest yet—urging her to stop resisting, to let go, promising that nothing worth protecting remained. As footsteps approached through the storm and the crooked door creaked open, Macey rose trembling, eyes blazing, and snarled at the shadowed figure on the threshold.

“Who the fuck are you? Don’t come any closer. I’m not warning you again.”