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

The festival sign was impossible to ignore.

Pinned crookedly to the school's dining hall wall, it glittered with enough enchanted confetti to cause a mild sneeze reaction from passing mages. The words "Mid-Semester School Festival: Auditions Open!" shimmered beneath a sketch of what Elias could only assume was meant to be a dancer—although it looked more like a goose doing yoga.

Revantra stopped in front of it, arms crossed. "That's a crime against paper."

Elias squinted at the flyer. "I think it's supposed to be whimsical."

"It's horrifying. That goose is casting a curse."

Theo, who'd been walking ahead with his usual spring-loaded energy, spun around dramatically and pointed. "You should do it, Revantra!"

"Do what," she said flatly.

"Dance! Again! Just like you did back in the village festival."

Revantra's expression darkened like stormclouds rolling over a sunlit hill.

Elias quickly inserted himself between the two. "Theo, I don't think now's—"

"I caught fire," Revantra said sharply.