Page 84 of Drawn into Oblivion

“If enough time, magic, and memory infuse an object, it manifests a soul and even a personality. The only living objects I’d ever heard of were imperial heirlooms.”

“How wonderful,” Shumei said with an astonished smile.

“But how did it reappear in my possession?” Mai asked.

“I’m sure we could solve that mystery together,” Vallen offered.

Though none of them dared to mention the Devil’s Hand, Mai was certain all three of them had the same thought: it was also a living object. An evil one.

Mai learned the man they had rescued, Akiji, had woken with hardly any memories. He had paled upon hearing the name Majo, the Damned One’s final champion, but could not say why. And though he’d recognized Shumei, he hadn’t been able to recall ever speaking to her. Judging by his frown, Vallen seemed to despise talking about him.

“Akiji also lived in the village where you grew up?” Mai asked Shumei.

Vallen cut in before she could answer. “He did, and I say we send him back there.”

“You cannot be serious,” Shumei said. “It was razed to the ground during the initial demon attacks.”

“Who cares,” he grumbled.

Smiling gently, she stroked the red pattern on his neck to soothe him. He closed his eyes at her touch. “He’ll be given a new start here in Houfu. Have one of your subordinates keep an eye on him.”

“As you command, my love.”

Sensing the change in the air, Mai made an excuse about letting Shumei rest and returned to Rosuke’s quarters. She had slipped away while he’d been out meeting with his subordinates, and gladly let him fuss over her the second she stepped into his room.

A week later, the leaves began to turn, and all magic-users in close proximity to the empress sensed something different about the way her power pulled them. A softer, gentler undertone. She had conceived a daughter.

A few days after that, they received their first report of a demon sighting.

Epilogue

“Where was the rest of the Foul One’s forces, if not his stronghold?” Kyoko asked, looking up from the parchment she had been writing on. She dipped her brush into an inkwell, ready to continue taking notes.

Having given testimony for nearly two hours, Mai finished off her cup of water and poured another. “The empress suspected it had been deployed in some manner, possibly to Houfu or any number of human cities. But we could do nothing about such a threat besides carry out our mission as quickly as possible. Rosuke and I have another theory, but…”

“Oh?” Kyoko hurriedly dipped her brush again.

“We believe the Damned One was already losing the war by attrition,” Mai slowly explained. “We know he animated his creations with a small amount of his power. We also know he and his creations could convert humans into artificial demons, and that demons feed upon humans—not for nutrition, but for power. They hunt indiscriminately but tend to kill those without much magic rather than consume them.”

“Yes, but I’m not sure I follow?”

“The small force that attacked Houfu during the harvest festival, half of it was comprised of humans. Perhaps they were possessed or puppeted rather than converted through ritual, but I believe they were conscripted in order to pad out the Damned One’s dwindling army. I think his power was ultimately limited and he couldn’t continue creating demons.”

Eyes wide, Kyoko had momentarily forgotten about her notes. “You think he lost a bit of his power every time a demon perished?”

Mai nodded. “Those that died here in our realm, at least. Remember, the soul of any human who died in Oblivion was trapped there and, we believe, fed upon. Perhaps the same was true of demons, in a way. I haven’t had time to study any of the rituals for converting humans into demons, but I strongly suspect they not only severed the spiritual link to the Divine One, but also used a bit of that human’s innate magic to allow the Damned One to harvest the human’s soul upon death, regardless of where it happened.”

“So if the empress had invaded Oblivion in a conventional campaign and had lost most of her force…”

“Then the Damned One would have reaped new souls and would have regained some of the power he had lost in the centuries since the previous empress,” Mai said. Kyoko looked thoughtful as she jotted down more notes, and Mai took the opportunity to sip more water.

“Couldn’t the Damned One have made it possible when creating his demons to regain his power across the Veil, the same as a converted human?”

Mai shrugged. “As I said, it’s only a theory, but perhaps something about humans made it possible to pull their souls through the Veil.”

“Interesting,” Kyoko mumbled, scribbling more notes. “I wonder if there’s a way to observe your theory. I suppose it’s too late now, though, what with the empress’s victory.”

“It…wouldn’t prove anything—not entirely,” Mai said with hesitation, “but if the demons that were spotted recently all turn out to be former humans, that could start to explain how any of them could have survived the Damned One’s death.”