Page 77 of Drawn into Oblivion

“I’ll be with you until the end,” she vowed.

Shumei smiled. “Thank you.”

“I don’t like how empty this place is. All of us were certain we’d be sneaking through thousands of demons. The campfires we saw across the field couldn’t have been all of them.”

“I have a terrible suspicion about that, so we must hurry. Once we cast our empowerments, the Damned One will know we’re here.”

Mai nodded. The silence spell and water-walking spell had both been subtle. They were low-level magic. And the Weeping Willow they’d encountered had died a quiet death, for it had been too far from the demon city for anything to sense the small flare of power. However, the spells they’d need for their final push were medium- to high-level. Explosions of magic right under the Damned One’s nose.

Concentrating, she began with the same keywords as Shumei. “Tsuyosa.” Her magic expanded, unfurling along each of her limbs, and her muscles burned with raw might. “Hayasa. Kibin.” She gasped at the sensation of her tendons stretching and thickening, giving her more flexibility. When she could breathe again, she drew her sword for the final spell. “Surudoiken.” Starting at the hilt and moving along the flat side of the blade, she drew a line all the way to the tip. A soft sizzle warned her the edge was now sharp enough to cut through one of the nearby tables with a single, powerful swing.

Rather than a sword, Shumei held up her right hand. “Nikuken.” She tugged her sleeve up as the magic took over, fusing her fingers and hardening her forearm. Blade of Flesh was a powerful spell that offered a weapon harder, lighter, and more versatile than anything even the most talented of swordsmiths could make, and it had been the empress’s exclusive choice during her combat practices.

A great roar exploded through the fortress, sending a precarious stack of pots and pans onto the floor. The Damned One knew they were there. Mai dropped into a combat stance, readying herself for a long fight. She and Shumei looked at each other. Both nodded.

They ran toward the solitary torch at the other end of the room, their footfalls loud on the littered stone floor. Beyond the torch was a tall but ordinary wood door, and with a solid kick, Mai sent it flying off its hinges.

At the other end of a long, low-ceilinged hallway lit by torches, two dog soldiers turned their way and howled in startled anger. The one on the right had a third arm, and the one on the left had a nose where its right eye should have been. The demons rushed them, wielding large crude swords. Mai was ready to slice both of them in half, but then an enormous fireball burst from Shumei’s hand. Mai shielded her face from the blast of heat and watched as the ball of flame blew the dog soldiers onto their backs, killing them instantly.

Mai wondered how many of those Shumei could do as she and the empress leapt over their bodies and continued down the corridor. The next door was barred, so they crashed through it the same way as the first. The way forward opened up into a high, wide hall lined with statues of mutilated creatures. Mai had little time to take in any other detail, for two dozen dog soldiers at the other end were charging, and a tall, lanky demon at the back of the pack was preparing to throw magic at them.

As she called forth a shield spell, Mai hoped it wasn’t far to the Damned One’s throne room.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Rosuke was in the middle of laying a ring of powdered coal when a monstrous roar rent the air. He leapt to his feet, sword in hand. The ground beneath his feet trembled, and dust billowed up from the foot of the fortress walls. Jun and Kiyoshi stood at the ready by the metal door. If any demons came through they would handle the first wave, and the four of them would fight in twos, giving the other pair time to rest.

Mai was in there, fighting. She had met one god and was about to meet another. In a way, he envied Vallen’s connection to Shumei through their joining magic. As long as the connection was there, the empress was still alive. What he wouldn’t give for the same reassurance of Mai’s continued survival. On the other hand, he didn’t know what it would do to him if his connection to Mai suddenly disappeared. He had no doubt that if the worst came to pass he would not be able to convince Vallen to return to their world.

Not that their world would last much longer without an empress or the Divine One, who had lent Shumei almost all of his strength.

“No need for stealth now,” Vallen said, voice hard and tight. “Every demon in there will be focused on Shumei, not us.”

Rosuke also removed his silencing magic but decided not to comment on the number of enemies that were, at that moment, intent on killing their loved ones. Instead, he sheathed his sword and went back to his task. “Agreed. Let’s get this circle done before they return.”

If they return.

⁂

Hidden behind a large pile of rough-hewn crates in a dusty storage room, Mai and Shumei took a moment to catch their breath. Shumei had let her arm return to normal and was hurriedly wiping demon blood off her fingers with a rag they’d found in one of the boxes. Mai tugged at the sheath on her thigh, the straps of which were cutting into her swollen muscles. The dagger was quite warm to the touch, as though the magic coursing through her had been absorbed into the blade.

She had been powering spells for what had felt like an eternity, but what had probably only been about fifteen minutes. While her magic didn’t seem to be tiring, her body was aching, and burned as though lava ran through her veins. She knew she was pushing her physical limits, but she couldn’t drop the spells. She wouldn’t otherwise be on equal footing with the demons scouring the fortress for them. She and the empress weren’t overwhelmed yet—the stronghold indeed wasn’t as well defended as they’d expected—but they couldn’t hope to defeat the Damned One if they exhausted themselves fighting.

They tensed and held their breath as a few dog soldiers ran past their pocket of shadow, barking angrily in a language neither of them could understand.

When all was quiet again, Shumei leaned close to whisper, “I can feel it. We’re close.” Her voice shook, and Mai couldn’t tell whether it was because of fear or anticipation. She suspected both. “We need to make it to the end of this hallway unseen.”

“Seems to be a servant’s passage,” Mai observed. “The door at the end looked ornate. And I bet I know where it leads.”

“So do I.”

Another demon ran past, but he was alone and sprinting. Catching up to the others, perhaps? A rear scout? Time was of the essence, but they waited for the demon’s footsteps to fade before emerging from their hiding place.

Mai went first to the closed door of the storage room. She swore she heard her blood pumping through her veins. Her heartbeat thundered in her head. Sweat ran down her temples, and she hastily wiped it away. She glanced back at Shumei to make sure she was ready, and then gently turned the squeaky handle.

The hallway was empty. She peeked her head out. Still nothing. So she signaled to Shumei. They slipped out and skimmed down the corridor, ducking between pools of torchlight and only pausing to check the corners at an intersection. While Shumei listened at the red door, Mai allowed herself a sigh of relief. They had taken a somewhat confusing route to get this far, but she was certain she could find her way back to the kitchens, back to Rosuke. Knowing he was there waiting for her gave her strength.

The dining hall was cavernous, larger even than the space where Shumei had held her joining ceremony. Mai had expected it to look the same as in her dream—cobwebs on everything, food rotting on tarnished place settings, vermin crawling among the debris—but in this lifeless place, where the Damned One’s undead court ate nothing but screams, all that dirtied the untouched tables was a layer of dust. The hall had no fireplaces either, only torches.