A woman in labor, struggling through intense pain as she tries to give birth to her child. Her husband, overwhelmed by fear and concern, watches her suffer and suggests calling for help—someone who can assist with the delivery.
But the woman refuses.
She does not want to risk her child's life by involving anyone else. Despite the pain, she insists that she can endure it on her own. Hours later, through sheer determination, she finally delivers the baby.
The child is a girl.
At first, there is relief—until they notice something terrifying. On the baby's forehead is a strange mark, shaped like a flame of fire, resembling a tattoo. The mark is unnatural, a sign believed to belong to demons.
Fear grips both parents.
Panicked, they secretly call for a priest to help them hide the child's true nature from the world. The priest forges a special chain and places it around the baby's neck. The moment the chain touches her skin, the flame mark fades and disappears, sinking deep within her.
With the chain in place, life continues quietly.
Years pass.
The baby grows, and by the time she is nine years old, strange rumors begin to spread throughout the community. Another priest arrives and warns the people that a dangerous child—marked by fire—exists among them. The community becomes restless and afraid, wondering which child could be the one spoken of.
Some of the villagers approach the priest and demand proof.
The priest reveals signs: the child has unusual eyes, with fire hidden deep within them, and she is bound by a chain that suppresses her true mark. If the chain is removed, the flame symbol on her forehead will return.
Fear turns into panic.
The king and his followers order a house-to-house search, determined to find the child before she brings destruction upon them. Eventually, they arrive at the girl's home.
There, the chain is removed.
And when it is, the fire symbol reappears on her forehead, confirming everyone's worst fears.
The community decides that the child must be killed before she can harm them.
But her parents refuse.
Rather than surrender their daughter, they choose exile. They decide to leave the community behind, abandoning everything they know, just to protect their child and keep her alive.
The parents gathered their few belongings, holding their daughter close, ready to leave the community and disappear with her forever. They promised never to return, willing to live in isolation—anywhere—as long as their child was safe.
But the community leaders would not allow it.
The king's followers stepped forward, their faces cold with fear and anger. They argued that letting the child live was too great a risk. Even if the family fled into the wilderness, they believed the girl would one day return—stronger, more dangerous, and seeking revenge.
They called her a threat.
They demanded her death.
The parents fell to their knees, crying and begging. They swore that their daughter had done nothing wrong, that she was only a child. The mother clutched her daughter tightly, her tears soaking the girl's hair, while the father pleaded for mercy.
But their words fell on deaf ears.
The decision had already been made.
No matter how much the parents cried, no matter how desperately they begged, the community leaders refused to change their minds. To them, fear mattered more than innocence, and safety mattered more than compassion.
And so, under the weight of grief and helplessness, the parents realized the truth—
They could not save their child.
The parents screamed and begged, refusing to surrender their child. They declared that they would rather die than watch their daughter be killed.
But mercy had no place in the hearts of the community.
The king's followers seized the child by force and dragged her to the center of the village—the very place where criminals were punished. Villagers gathered from every corner, curiosity and fear burning in their eyes. When they finally saw the girl, the crowd erupted.
"Kill her!"
"She is a demon!"
"She will destroy us!"
The parents tried to shield her, but they were captured as well. Ropes were tied tightly around their bodies, forcing them to kneel before the crowd.
The execution began.
Her mother was killed first.
The girl screamed until her throat burned, begging them to stop, begging them not to make her watch. But the people showed no mercy. They beat her mother mercilessly until her body collapsed, lifeless.
Then they turned to her father.
Again, the girl cried, shaking violently, her voice breaking as she watched him suffer the same fate. Blow after blow rained down on him until his life was taken away as well.
Grief shattered her.
She thrashed against her restraints, her body trembling with rage and pain. When she screamed again, one of the executioners struck her across the face, shouting that she talked too much.
The force of the slap broke the chain around her neck.
It fell.
And in that moment, everything changed.
The flame symbol on her forehead ignited, glowing brighter and brighter. Heat surged through the air. The executioner stepped back, suddenly feeling unbearable warmth radiating from the child.
Before anyone could react, fire exploded around her.
Flames engulfed her body, yet she did not burn.
She stood up, surrounded by living fire, her eyes blazing like embers. The crowd froze in terror.
She spoke calmly.
"The priest was right," she said. "I am destruction."
And then, she unleashed it.
Fire consumed the entire community—homes, buildings, and screams swallowed by roaring flames. When the fire finally died down, nothing remained.
Only ashes.
She gathered what was left of her parents and buried them with her own hands. Then she left the world behind, retreating to the peak of a forbidden mountain where no human dared to go.
Years passed.
Decades passed.
Her body did not age.
The children she had spared grew into adults, and hatred took root in their hearts. Blaming her for their parents' deaths, they sought revenge. They trained, learned forbidden rituals, and eventually climbed the mountain to capture her.
She was dragged back to the same community center where her parents had been killed.
They accused her once more.
"You are the reason our parents died," they said. "So you must die too."
She laughed bitterly.
"Our greatest mistake," she said, "was mercy."
As she prepared to destroy them all, a sudden light flashed across the sky. Time slowed. The flames around her stilled.
A woman dressed in white appeared before her—white hair flowing, eyes calm yet powerful.
"Why do you stand in my way?" the girl demanded coldly.
The woman replied gently, "You are no longer the daughter your parents raised."
The girl's voice trembled with anger.
"The daughter my parents raised died the day they were killed."
The woman stepped closer and lifted a necklace—her aunt's necklace. With a single motion, it transformed into a chain and settled around the girl's neck.
The fire symbol faded.
Her strength drained, and darkness closed in.
Before she lost consciousness, the woman whispered:
"You still have a chance—to prove to the world, and to yourself, that you are not the monster they believed you to be."b