Domine woke once more, the heat of the flame spreading through his body with a familiarity that no longer surprised him, yet still consumed him in a different way. The sensation of burning was not new, but today it seemed more intense, more insatiable. The fire, once a constant and familiar presence, now demanded more—more space, more of his attention.
"The heat... stronger today. More unbearable. Or is it me feeling more?" He closed his eyes, trying to collect his thoughts, but the fire remained—a deep hunger that burned and grew, as though it were alive, feeding on him, becoming something beyond control.
It was not just the heat. It was a will he could not name, something surrounding and enveloping him like a tight embrace. Something that desired to consume without asking permission. Something he could not ignore, even if he wanted to.
"Why? What is this force that devours me? It is more than the flame. It grows with it, feeds on it. But... is it consuming me, or am I the one reaching for it?"
His mind swayed between the pain and pleasure of this sensation. He would never grow accustomed to the way the fire touched him, possessed him, made him crave more. The line between him and the flame was thin—thinner than ever.
"It's not just fire. It's something different. Something I can't control... but don't want to control anymore." He furrowed his brow, trying to resist it, but the force pulled him back, stronger, more urgent.
And then, he felt it. A presence, a shadow, lingering at the edge of the flame like an indistinct figure drawing near. He knew it, but in a different way. With every passing moment, it became clearer, more defined. He didn't know what it was, only that it was there, carrying with it a growing tension.
"The shadow... it's closer. But what does this mean? It's... no longer where it should be. Where the flame limits it. It moves forward, yet I don't know what it seeks. Or does it already know? Does it know more than I do?"
He didn't know. He only felt. And this sensation, this proximity, burned within him in a way he couldn't name. The fire still raged, but now there was something else. Something that pulled him beyond pain, beyond heat—something he could not yet comprehend.
"Does it move closer because it wants to? Or because, unlike me, it no longer feels what I feel?"
The doubt consumed him, but he didn't push it away. He wanted more of it, wanted to understand, even if he still didn't know how. The shadow, now more tangible, hovered on the edge of the flame, and he felt his desire intensify.
"I don't understand... but maybe I don't need to. Maybe this is what I was meant to feel—the fire, the shadow, the heat. Is it calling me, or have I always been moving toward it?"
He sighed and closed his eyes, the visions that had assailed him merging in the shadows of his mind. The shape... the being that had always been by his side, darker, more fluid than the flame, now seemed distorted, closer, as if its presence craved more than mere unity with the fire.
"He... He is persuading me now. As if he were entangling himself more in me than in the flame itself. But at the same time, I see the fire in his being, the heat in his veins. How can this be? He moves away from where he should be, but... what does that mean? He still acts as if he serves the flame, but his desire... is no longer only hers. He seems to want something more. Something... mine."
The shape seemed in communion with the flame, but something in its essence did not quite fit. A will twisted with every movement. Domine knew this, yet he could not tell whether the shape was betraying him or preparing him for something far greater.
"It's strange... I see him dissolving into the flames, as if he wants to be part of them. But his gaze... it is not devotion. It is hunger, an insatiable craving that fire alone cannot satisfy. So then... does he seek this fire? Or me? I no longer know if he serves the flame or if he prepares me for the same prison, perhaps greater than that one."
Domine reflected, questioning the shadow's intentions.
"I no longer know if we are allies... the shape and I. The shape calls me, but the flame tempts me. It moves closer, with its own desires. It is not what it seems. It doesn't seek only the fire—it seeks control. And perhaps... perhaps it also seeks my downfall."
But then, in a surge of doubt he did not understand, Domine wondered if, in some way, he too desired that downfall. And yet... in this uncertainty, in this silent pull, was there not, perhaps, something within him that welcomed it?