Prologue
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters. They are all property of Rumiko Takahasi.
"A dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible,"
John Milton, Paradise Lost
Fire.
Hot, bright, flickering fire. Everywhere.
On her skin, in her eyes, on her lips, in her soul.
Smoke. A blanket, hovering high. But it cannot keep out the light. So bright.
So bright.
Screaming. So much screaming. Why? Who is screaming? Screams for help. Screams for her. Who are they? Where are they? She can't remember.
She is afraid. Afraid for her? No. Afraid for them.
Her body aches. Her mind repeats.
Help them. Help them. Help them.
Move.
But she cannot rise. She cannot scream.
Breath.
Breath. Why won't her body breath? Too much, too hot, too bright. Her lungs, too burned. It won't work. It won't work.
And then a laugh. A laugh? Where? Why can't she remember? Why can't she find him? Him. That's right. Those eyes. Silver as the moon. And a smile. A smile, cold like winter. Cold. A laugh to make her soul shiver. But only a moment.
And then burning, twisting, silence.
Brighter. Hotter. Louder. The fire's growing larger. Smoldering. Crashing. Burning. Too late, she thinks. Too late. Too late.
And then,
Pain. Excruciating, unimaginable pain. Ripping. Tearing. Blistering. Bleeding.
Someone's here. Someone's touching her, lifting her, carrying her. Where? Where?
Let go. Let go. But she cannot fight. She cannot breath. Her skin, her mind, her body, they burn. They burn. And it's so bright, too bright.
A voice. A word. A name.
Kagome.
Her name.
She hears, but she does not understand.
The light, it's gone. It burns, but it's dark.
It's dark.
It's dark.