Mileani looked between the angel lords with shock as they began to talk of peace. Her hands tightened to fists, which quickly turned white as she squeezed them tighter. With each that spoke, her frustration grew larger, until Locke looked over at her in alarm. He was sensitive to the changes in his mother's mood, and noticed quickly how she was taking the discussion. She likely would have exploded at the others, had Diaval not spoken up. She took a deep breath to calm down, then rose to her feet.
"As much as we may want peace, the demons clearly do not. Even if their leaders do not desire war, which I have to doubt, the people are still aggressive. My son, Locke, has been patrolling the border for weeks and he has painted a rather worrying image. I had him come here today so you could hear it from him. Locke?" She turned to look at her son, who had gone back to lounging while she spoke.
Locke sighed slightly, not a big fan of this type of discussion, then rose to his feet. "Four attacks. In the last week alone, demons have struck across the Light Kingdom border four times. Each time in different places. They come in, attack the border patrols, then press deeper into our territory. Any civilians they find are attacked. The outpost towns raided. It is a good thing we are still in summer, because they take any food, weapons, or magical items they find. Shrines to Haliea are burned. Each raid retreated when reinforcements arrived, but our forces are stretched thinner than I'd like. They aren't just raiding, though. They are probing our defenses, looking for weaknesses. Ones I've seen have mentioned that Vaerath is with them. They are preparing to invade us."
His bit said, he sat down and grinned. The idea of a full invasion got his blood boiling. So many fun fights in his future...
Mileani nodded. "Exactly. Even if we wish to consider peace, we must be ready for war. For the last few years, we have had an Oracle while they did not. We tried to show restraint and kindness by not using this to our advantage. Now that the situation is reversed, the demons seem eager to punish our mercy." Her hands clenched again, this time in sheer fury. How dare they?
"As much as we may want peace, the demons clearly do not. Even if their leaders do not desire war, which I have to doubt, the people are still aggressive. My son, Locke, has been patrolling the border for weeks and he has painted a rather worrying image. I had him come here today so you could hear it from him. Locke?" She turned to look at her son, who had gone back to lounging while she spoke.
Locke sighed slightly, not a big fan of this type of discussion, then rose to his feet. "Four attacks. In the last week alone, demons have struck across the Light Kingdom border four times. Each time in different places. They come in, attack the border patrols, then press deeper into our territory. Any civilians they find are attacked. The outpost towns raided. It is a good thing we are still in summer, because they take any food, weapons, or magical items they find. Shrines to Haliea are burned. Each raid retreated when reinforcements arrived, but our forces are stretched thinner than I'd like. They aren't just raiding, though. They are probing our defenses, looking for weaknesses. Ones I've seen have mentioned that Vaerath is with them. They are preparing to invade us."
His bit said, he sat down and grinned. The idea of a full invasion got his blood boiling. So many fun fights in his future...
Mileani nodded. "Exactly. Even if we wish to consider peace, we must be ready for war. For the last few years, we have had an Oracle while they did not. We tried to show restraint and kindness by not using this to our advantage. Now that the situation is reversed, the demons seem eager to punish our mercy." Her hands clenched again, this time in sheer fury. How dare they?
