Hunger of the Flame (Cinder)

[Intro — low, smoky, half-whispered] Come closer… You smell that? That’s smoke in my blood. That’s hunger. That’s me. [Verse 1 — rough, restrained, building] They pressed me down on iron heat, Taught me pain before I learned my feet, Kitchen fire, coal-black breath, A child raised up in the mouth of death. Burn my shoulders, brand my skin, Thought the flame would eat within, But all they did was forge a jaw, And teach my hands a better law. [Pre-Chorus — tense, rising] Now every scar lights up at night, Every nerve says bite, bite, bite I keep it down, I keep it chained, But mercy dies where I was named. [Chorus — explosive, harsh, huge hook] I got the hunger of the flame It lives in my ribs, it screams my name, A hard red need I can’t control, A furnace beating in my soul. Touch my crew, I light the dark, I break your teeth, I leave my mark, I was born where the fire came— Now I am the hunger of the flame. [Verse 2 — harder, more aggressive] I know the sound that cowards make, That thin little breath before they break, I know the look when bullies learn That some girls don’t just bleed — they burn. I don’t pray and I don’t plead, I don’t need love said soft to me, I guard my own with ash and hate, Stand in the door and dare my fate. [Pre-Chorus — louder, angrier] There’s a heat that never leaves, Under my tongue, beneath my teeth, And every fool that wants to try Gets thrown inside that fire alive. [Chorus — full force, bigger harmonies] I got the hunger of the flame It lives in my ribs, it screams my name, A hard red need I can’t control, A furnace beating in my soul. Touch my crew, I light the dark, I break your teeth, I leave my mark, I was born where the fire came— Now I am the hunger of the flame. [Bridge — lower, dangerous, intimate] Don’t ask me why the burning feels like home, Why the sparks crawl sweet beneath my bones, Why I smile when the whole room glows— Some things broken only grow. [Breakdown — shouted, vicious, raw] Feed it. Feed it. Let it climb my spine. Feed it. Feed it. Make their screams match mine. You want war? Then step in close. I’ll make a pyre Out of your throat. [Verse 3 — fast, vicious, almost spoken-sung] I’m not your saint, I’m not your shield, I’m what gets left on the killing field, Smoke in my lungs, blood on my grin, If you touch them once, I pull you in. No clean hands, no holy light, Just iron will and a match at night, And every bastard in my way Becomes another thing to flay. [Final Chorus — biggest, desperate, triumphant] I got the hunger of the flame It carved my flesh, it shaped my name, A wild red god beneath my skin, And once it starts, it always wins. Touch my crew, I light the dark, I split the world with one hot spark, You made me where the fire came— Now I am the hunger I am the hunger I am the hunger of the flame. [Outro — smoky, exhausted, dangerous] Still burning… Still here… Still theirs.