A/N:

The taiyoukai Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands and his mate, the Shikon Miko Kagome had arrived with the rest

of their pack, and they were not impressed with those who dared wish ill upon their family.

Once the dust following the destructive force of the brothers fangs and the miko energy had settled in the clearing Kagome turned a teasing eye to her hanyou friend.

"Looks like we turned up just in time, ne Inuyasha?"

"Keh, I could have handled it wench. I was just messing with 'em before I finished them off!"

The miko threw her mate a knowing look but smiled in fake acceptance at her friend.

"Of course you were Yasha. Have you guys missed us?"

The slayer and monk immediately nodded in agreement. Spending time with a cranky Inuyasha and a Shippou who seemed determined to wind the young half demon up while his mother figure wasn't around to reprimand him had certainly taken its toll on the sanity of the rest of the group. Even Sesshomaru's presence was a welcome relief, as it seemed that Inuyasha redirected his childish insults toward the stoic demon lord whenever he was around.

However before they could open their mouths to voice these opinions a deafening wind tore through the forest, sweeping up debris and ripping through branches to pelt at the reunited group. Everyone immediately shielded their faces and turned away, the larger form of Sesshomaru wrapping around the smaller frame of his mate and the kitsune kit. Rin ducked behind Ah-Un while Miroku and Sango took shelter behind Hairikotsu. When the winds calmed as suddenly as they had started they left a ringing in everyones ears. However, this was quickly overpowered by a deep, booming laugh that echoed throughout the tree line, surrounding the group who could not see their new company.

The grey fog which followed the laughter, oppressing in its thickness and abundance swarmed to the feet of the Inu-tachi, curling up tree trunks and legs alike, seeming to try to suck the very life from the surroundings. The sun dissapeared behind the cloud, bathing the clearing in an eerie grey. It was out of this fog that a tall figure emerged, seeming to form from the swirling eddie grey itself. As his form settled, skin crawling over sinuous muscles of mist the group could make out the figure of a tall, thin man. No, not a man, this being was pure devil. A sneering mouth, shallow nose that breathed small twists of smoke with each exhalation and narrow eyes, black as night with wide flaming red pupils. If his minimal clothing wasn't so pristine and his ever-shifting skin so porcelain white the young futuristic Kagome observing the memories would have sworn he had just crawled up from the depths of hell itself.

The Inu-tachi shifted waril from foot to foot, all that is except the demon lord and has mate, both of whom stood with weapons drawn and prepared, ready to face whatever this new being had in store for them. However, there was no warning before the destruction that followed. No introductions or jeering taunts which the demons of the time normally indulged in. The first hit came to the neko fire cat that travelled with the humans. A bolt of lightning, unrivalled in its power by any natural storm struck the faithful two-tail, charring fur and flesh. The slayers cries of sorrow were choked from her throat as tendrils of smoke wrapped themselves around her throat, lifting her from the floor to hang several feet off the ground, fingertips clutching at the mist which put up no resistance to her scrabbling, dropping her suddenly. The sickening crack of her ankle meeting the hard ground rang above the cries of suprise from all, kick-starting the group into retaliation. However, the mikos arrows, no matter how reiki charged passed straight through the being, seemingly searing the flesh before appearing out of the males back, no lasting damage inflicted. The same could be said for the attacks of Tetsusaiga and Bakusaiga. Just as the attacks hit the being would descend into the mists surrounding him before reforming slightly closer to the group, chuckling at his small victories. Throughout this the winds picked up again, hurling twigs and stones at impossible speeds through the group, drawing blood and sweat from the efforts of avoiding the worst. Sango was cowering in a small ball, unable to move with the broken ankle. Miroku was attempting to get to her, but in doing so took his eyes off the deadly tree line for too long, a large sharp stone ripping open his scalp and fracturing the bone beneath. He fell to the floor, in a state the others could only hope was unconciousness. However there was no doubt as to young Rins fate. A particularly strong wind, coupled with a sharp bolt of lightning high in the trees of the nearby forest brought a large bough crashing down, crushing the back legs and barrel chest of Ah-Un, including the young adolescent who was attempting to flee to safety at the instruction of her father figure.

The reaction was immediate. The gold of the demon lords eyes was swept away in the waves of red that crashed through them, the strange markings on his cheeks growing jagged and vicious while his knuckles cracked with the lengthening of deadly, poison tipped claws. His skin shimmered as waves of soft fur seemed to shimmy across it, trying to break through and take control. His beast was raised and no-one would stand in between him and his prey. He swept aside the hanyou as his half brother tried to slow him, crashing his body through another young tree, ripping an angry hole into his stomach. The youkais poison whip swept aside a section of mist, momentarily allowing a beam of bright sunlight through just beside the unnamed attacker. The brief sunlight seemed to render the stranger formless for a second before he once more sheathed himself in the greying fog. However not before both the Shikon Miko and the younger intruding Kagome could see the perversions of holy sutra marks and kanji twisting across his flesh. To merely view them sent waves of sickness and cold through the red and white clad woman and told her a little more about the being before them. Scrolls from ancient times within the Western Palaces library had told of such monsters. Holy beings of great power, turning to the darker energies of youkai, hunting and absorbing their souls in order to increase their own power. But such energies could not be taken from the victims unwillingly. The resulting mix of great reiki and rebellious, loathing youki caused a decent into a madness unrivalled by any other.

"Sesshomaru, calm down! He has reiki!"

At first it seemed thst maybe his mates words had gotten through to him, the lord swiveling in his toes to face the young woman. He moved towards her, his eyes never leaving her, though the back hand he delivered to her face showed the grief of Rins death and the lack of control it had caused. When the young kitsune futilely tried to engulf him in blue flames the youkai merely brushed him aside. The Western Lord was truley lost, rabid in his despair over the death of his young ward.

As Sesshomaru once again stalked towards the new enemy, uncaring as his own flesh began to bubble and peel away in response to the fouled reiki which now tainted the very fog which surrounded them all the young Kagome watched her legendary aunt cast around for anything to help. She saw her take in the unconcious monk, her bloodied and injured kit, the hanyou with a whole through his gut unable to stand, her crippled best friend. The ever loyal fire neko and young Rin, both lifeless, while the two headed dragon screamed in agony. And between it all, her out of control youkai mate, facing off against an enemy that could turn him to ash with no way of retaliating. It was then that it appeared the woman had an idea, though the grim line her mouth formed was telling of her displeasure with it. And then, as if she new that her young futuristic niece, not yet born, was watching she turned to look directly at the observer and locked knowing eyes to her.

"Wake us!"

And with that she leapt forwards towards the hanyou, snatching the beads from around his neck and pulling sharply. They appeared to resist for a second before giving way in a shower of pale pink sparks, though the miko was already running. As she sprinted towards her mate she ran the beads throug her hands, muttering under her breath until the beads glowed a solid pulsing pink with her power. Her interuption into Sesshomaru's anger was not taken well, though as he turned to once more swat her away she threw the string over his silver hair and around his neck.

As she did she said the last word of her prayer and, binding complete, the taiyoukai was frozen in place. A tear leaked from the mikos eye as she gently laid a hand across his face, whispering an apology before she turned and faced their foe. There was little that could harm him, but the darkness which had overtaken his soul could not stand the light. With enough strength, light may banish him back to the shadows, if not destroying him then atleast wounding him enough to let what left of her friends escape. Though it would require the ultimate sacrifice, and Kagome did not know if she had enough power to give it. The scrolls she had read on the elements and their manipulation were vague, thouh they all agreed that it took a being of great strength to achieve what should be impossible. And so she once more faced their enemy. As her face turned to the heavens and her arms reached out to call forth nature the being in front of her laughed. The whispers to Amaretsu could be heard filling the clearing.

"Little woman, you may beg for your goddess's help as much as you wish, but she will not help you. I am Haruto, Holy Man of Japan, and I am here to rid this world of demons and all those who consort with them. Their evil is a stain upon this land, their power unfairly trusted to their filth covered hands, and I will take it from them. I will right this wrong. The Kamis side with me."

However, as he stepped forwards to swipe at Kagomes exposed throat a shaft of sunlight broke through the mist infront of him. He went to side step it but another crashed through the fog. And suddenly they were everywhere, burning holes in the protective cover of darkness he had formed around himself and trapping him within. However, with every brilliant ray of sunlight which shined through, a little more of the colour seemed to leave her aunt. She was devoting her own lifes force to the Kamis to beg for the light, and they were greedily taking it from her, sucking her very existance away in return for saving what remained of their pack. As the light touched Haruto it singed away at his flesh, screams echoed from a burning throat. He tried to shrikn back into darkness but there was none there. In one last pulse of miko energy Kagome gave everything she had to the Kamis and in reward the last of the fog was thrown back, melting into nothing. Left standing in the centre of the clearing was a young woman, dressed in miko garb and praising the sun. A young woman carved entirely out of black stone, all except for the pink jewel which hung from her neck and her violet eyes. As the waking members of her pack tried to crawl and stumble towards her and the frozen demon lord behind her those eyes once more sought for the young neice who wasnt there, and in her head Kagome could hear Aunts final words echo once more as those eyes too became shrouded in darkness.

"Wake us."

The command sent a jolt through Kagomes dream state body, hurling backwards into her own skin, back in the damp and dark of the cave. When she met those violet eyes again she couldnt't help but shiver. The voice now echoed throughout the entire cavern, not only in her head.

"WAKE US!"