I Raised the Demon Queen (Now She Won't Leave Me Alone)

There were few places in the capital's magic academy more suspicious than the fourth-floor library annex. It wasn't that it was secret—it was just neglected, dusted only when the wind changed direction, and filled with too many books written by scholars who liked metaphors a little too much and sanity a little too little.

Which is exactly why Theo loved it.

"Over here!" he whisper-shouted, waving a book so ancient it might disintegrate if you looked at it too directly. "Guys. You have to see this. This is big."

Revantra eyed him with deep suspicion. "Is it as big as your 'mana-munching cat fungus' discovery?"

Theo turned pink. "That was real and might still be somewhere in the walls."

Elias sighed as he lowered himself into the cracked leather chair beside Revantra. "Just show us the book."

Theo carefully laid it on the table and opened it with a reverent flourish.

Revantra leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand. "This better not be poetry."

"It's not. It's prophecy."

"Oh great," she deadpanned. "The only thing worse than poetry."

Theo flipped the brittle page. "The Hollow Flame. An obscure demon cult, possibly dating back before the Great Collapse. Their entire belief system revolves around something they call the Throne That Drinks No Light."