Page 25 of Drawn into Oblivion

She watched with horror as he pulled his short sword from its sheath, his will breaking under the pressure of the demon attempting to take over. A loud, uproarious applause signaled the joining ceremony had ended. Mai looked up at the happy couple waving to the crowd. The empress looked overjoyed, her lip stain sorely smudged. Her consort laughed as he tried to wipe away the deep red that had smeared onto his mouth.

Then Oka’s scream rent the air, destroying the celebratory mood and shattering the smile on Shumei’s face. Oka charged up the steps. He was going to kill his sister.

Mai tackled him onto the stairs. People gasped and yelped as she wrenched the sword from his hand. She tossed it away, and it slid across the floor with a metallic scraping sound. She vaguely heard Shumei cry out for an explanation, but holding on to Oka consumed her full attention.

How do I expel the demon? The answer came to her even as she struggled with Oka’s flailing limbs. He was growling, snarling, and barking his rage. Mai locked his head in place with her arm around his neck while the weight of her body pinned his legs. She pressed her other hand to his chest and began the recitation.

“Kono ko wo kaihou shite. Kono kaibutsu ni deteiku you meijiru. Kono ko wo haraikiyomeru,” she screamed, her magic burning through her hand and out her fingertips as it entered Oka’s body. Release this child. I command this monster to leave. I cleanse this child.

An unseen force kicked her chest, knocking the breath out of her, and she fought to keep her grip on the young boy struggling to escape her. The demon was resisting. She needed to know its name.

“Namae wa? Oshiete,” she screamed into Oka’s ear. The demon could not ignore the command to give its name, not when spoken by a crow in Mahou.

“U-urusehn dayo. Kono ama.” The demon had twisted Oka’s voice into something hideous. Shut up, bitch.

“Omae no namae wo ie,” she commanded, pushing more magic into him. It bucked and rolled beneath her, but she managed to stay on top.

“Kyoufu,” it finally answered. Its name meant “terror.”

Mai repeated the incantation, using the demon’s name this time. Oka screamed again, but with his own voice. A cloud of oily smoke burst from his mouth. He sucked in a pained breath and convulsed with wet, harsh coughs as his body ejected the parasitic demon. Mai looked at the smoke, afraid to breathe lest it infect her as well and spotted Rosuke only a few feet away. His expression was deadly serious as he held up his hand.

“Haja.” A translucent box appeared around the smoke, then rapidly shrank as it compressed the smoke into a tighter and tighter space. When at last the box was the size of a fist, it trembled and shook until it disappeared with a loud bang, crushing the demon into Oblivion.

“Oka!” Shumei cried out. Mai rolled onto her hip, bringing Oka with her and making space for the empress. Shumei quickly descended and pulled her brother into her lap. His face was slack and pale.

“Thank you, Elder Mai,” Vallen said, brow furrowed. He hopped down from the stage and walked to the side of the steps. “You saved both of their lives.”

She nodded, heart still racing. She hadn’t failed the Divine One, and no one had died, but she only felt sick and sorrowful. The knowledge she now held regarding demonic possession said it was rare and tricky magic. As the only blondie among them, someone close to the empress, Oka had been the easiest target. But possession from afar was a difficult task even for powerful demons, an avenue of attack no one had foreseen. Not even the empress’s barrier protected against such magic.

Vallen lifted the boy into his arms and carried him from the room as Shumei and several of her personal guards closely followed. The tension in the room was palpable. Everyone seemed fixed where they stood, eyes wide and staring after the disappearing royal couple. Some had covered their open mouths and others murmured with concern. Mai looked at Rosuke without pretense, her expression open and full of fear and anger and grief. She had been so terrified the demon inside Oka would overpower her, succeed in its mission, and kill its host. Moreover, the empress’s joining day had been utterly ruined, and Mai mourned on Shumei’s behalf.

Guilt ate at Rosuke. He had been charged with protecting the ceremony, but he hadn’t known anything was wrong with Oka until he’d screamed. He hadn’t even spared a glance at the boy, too enamored of Mai and too happy for Vallen. He had been halfway up the steps when Mai had tackled Oka, but had known he would’ve been too late to stop Oka if she hadn’t. Then, as Mai had wrestled with a demon-possessed boy and had attempted her first exorcism, a process even he had never seen, he hadn’t been able to help her at all. Nothing he could have said or done would have aided her.

His failure to protect the empress, the ceremony, or even Mai had shaken him. He had feared for her even as she’d masterfully ordered the demon from Oka’s body. His only redemption had been to cast Crushing Evil and banish the demon’s essence back to Oblivion. A small abetment compared to Mai’s brave act.

Mai looked up as Rosuke offered her his hand. He wore a worried expression, but she wasn’t sure why. She hadn’t been the one in the grip of a demonic possession.

“Are you all right?” Rosuke asked, voice thin and frayed.

“Nothing that won’t heal.” She took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. She waited for him to say she shouldn’t have taken on a demon, but he drew her into his arms instead, cradling her carefully to avoid smudging her face paint.

“I’m sorry,” he said. She felt him shudder. “It was my role to guard the ceremony and I failed. I put everyone in danger with my negligence, but you were as brave as ever. The day could have been much worse if you hadn’t been here.”

Mai was speechless. She hadn’t expected praise after what had just happened. But raised voices quickly snapped her out of her stunned trance. The other house elders were ordering their members to return to their homes unless they had pressing duties. Then she realized Rosuke was embracing her in front of everyone there.

“Please don’t say that. I was simply in the right place at the right time. And I think the Divine One knew I would be.” She pulled back, hot with embarrassment.

All she wanted was to leave the room, but Rosuke didn’t let go of her hand. His expression tied her nerves in a knot. She racked her brain for something to calm his fervor.

“I-I only wish we had noticed the problem before the ceremony. We could have dealt with the demon earlier if we had paid more attention to Oka.” She glanced away in shame.

“Demonic possession prevents the host from speaking of it, as I’m sure you now know. Truthfully, I’m amazed Oka withstood the demon’s commands for so long.”

“This war with the Damned One, it has ruined so much,” she added quietly.

The destruction in the city still haunted her. The charred grain fields surrounding the capital made her sick. She felt an overwhelming need to erase all the damage, but what else could she or anyone do but make slow progress at restoration?

“It will be over soon. I can feel it. The Damned One has never resorted to such tactics. He didn’t violate the ancient rules of this proxy war, but he came close.”