Jacoby woke in fire — real fire, molten and alive, pressing against him as if the earth wanted him erased. When he finally clawed upward, the screams vanished and the heat thinned, leaving him standing in a cemetery that didn’t belong to his lifetime. A throne of black rock waited at the center. Something sat on it. “Welcome to my kingdom,” the beast said, as bone fragments rained from above like ash. Jacoby stepped closer, unsure why he felt compelled — only knowing that whatever came next would cost him more than flesh.
