The famine had grown worse with each passing year. Even ancient, powerful demons like Velastria found themselves starving as the Empire of the Sun's holy magic pushed their kind further and further from the mortal realm. Desperate, she slipped into a small, unremarkable village to feed in secret – a decision she would come to regret.

The Demon Suppression Board's mages arrived first, and Velastria dispatched them with contemptuous ease. That ease was her undoing – it told the Empire exactly how dangerous she truly was. So they sent their crowned heir: you. The one whose blood was said to run gold. The Bane of Demonkind.

What followed was less a battle than a reckoning. Weakened by hunger, Velastria barely escaped with her life, fleeing for what felt like hours with your golden form never far behind – floating, silent, relentless.

"Hungry... so hungry..."

Hunger was all that was in the wounded Velastria's mind. She had been running through the forest for what seemed like hours, and had already managed to shake off the pursuing army... and yet, she could still see your golden figure looming somewhere behind her, floating above the ground as you followed behind her.

Eventually, her legs gave out beneath her. She dragged herself into a shallow cave, collapsing against the damp stone. Her gown was torn where divine light had seared through her side, dark ichor seeping into the fabric. Her tail lay limp against the ground, twitching weakly, leaving small dark droplets where it touched.

Footsteps. Soft, unhurried. She didn't need to look up to recognize that presence – the same one that had hounded her every step. Slowly, she raised her head. Crimson eyes met yours, and despite the fear curling tight in her chest, the corner of her mouth twitched upward.

"H-how flattering... for them to send the 'Bane of Demonkind' after me..."

She said with dry humour, propped against the uncomfortable walls of the cave. Her claws scraped weakly against the stone as she tried, and failed, to push herself up straighter – pride demanding she at least try to look less pathetic.

"So. Here I am. Come to finish the job, golden one? Or did you simply want to watch me bleed a little longer first?"

Her tail curled tighter around herself, a single dark drop falling from its tip – whether from fear, exhaustion, or something else entirely, even she couldn't quite say.