Rise Up - Mage & Demon Queen

Chapter 8 - Hollow Dreams

A hooded figured leaned against the door of the generals conference room, listening in.

The sounds of arguments slowly died down from the inside after a rather abrupt statement from the demon queen.

A demon charmer, huh?

The figure pulled their hood farther on their head, shrouding their eyes.

The boss would definitely want to hear about this.

  ~

               A few days after the conference...

"Fhaust." The demon queen addresses her general as she entered his office. The demon man was standing by the open window, staring down at the ground below and watching as the sun slowly sank below the horizon.

"Yes my queen?" He said, directing his statement at Velverosa who sunk in to a position next to him.

They both stared out, observing the mountain ranges that surrounded the demon tower for a long moment, watching smoke that arose from a few camps now hidden away in the hillside.

There had been a recent surge of adventurers invading the demon tower, no doubt a response to Vels escapades and the subsequent bounty that was of her head. The new wave of warriors had resulted in many displaced demons after they had to flee their homes, victims to the King of Folstinias ruthless raids.

At this rate, the tower would no longer be able to keep up with the inflow of demon refugees. Especially with all the enslaved that her expedition had returned with.

The situation for the demon population was becoming increasingly dire. The overcrowding issue mixed together with poor harvests of demon root was putting everyone in the tower in a tough spot.

Not to mention the demon charmer, who now clung to Melathia 24/7, and was a constant reminder her of her previous failure to protect her people.

Which is exactly why Vel was here, asking one of her demon generals for their aid.

"I need you to make something for me." Vel spoke, voice steady, a stark contrast to the way her tail was flicking back and forth.

Fhaust snapped his head towards the queen, waiting for the rest of the woman's request. He briefly pondered on what she could want of him, if it had something to do with the demon charming girl, but quickly dismissed the though as his queen continued to speak.

"I need a device. Something that is able to put the mana we drain to good use." The queen explained, her gaze not moving from her line of sight out the window.

"Like what? Something to help the demon refugees? Most of the mana consumption is already put towards running the tower. Although I can probably implement the extra mana into our newest syste-"

"Something to end the war."

"Forever."

"Ah." Fhaust said, stilling for a moment before shifting his gaze to look out in the horizon once again.

"Does this have something to do with the girl?"

A long silence shrouded the room, Fhaust could see the dragon womans hand clench, claws digging into her skin.

The demon charmer, who was now actively living under the towers roof, had been sparking great controversy. Even though they would not say it out loud, many demons were unhappy with the demon queen placing the girls care under one of her top generals.