Chapter 5
The sun has been done for an hour now, but I can still feel the heat of its embrace; warm, comforting, and safe. That's how I'd like to imagine I feel but I believe that I've lost all memory of how those feel. Salty wind brushes my cheeks, dashing my hair back and forth across my back and causing the ocean to roar with small waves that beat the sand. Sincere.
But I can't smell the salt. Matter in fact; I can't smell anything but a distinct, thick scent that is all too familiar. The aroma hot, burning my nose hairs and recoiling me far from the peace I was once feeling moments ago. Sesshomaru and I both take a deep whiff to pinpoint the smell. The more I suck in, the one it burns; even reaching my lungs.
"Fire." He states.
An earsplitting scream echoes from the forest; it is a woman's, and I know it better than anything in the world. That's when I hear it, that voice that whispered threats in my head after my meeting with the guards in the forest. 'She's next.'
Fear and adrenaline pumps through my veins so quickly that I'm up on my feet in seconds, "Mom!" There is no thinking – there is just running. Much like I did earlier that day. I burst into the forest where I can now see the cloud of smoke rise out from; ignoring all instinct that tells me to run. "Mom!" I repeat.
The smoke is thick as it clogs the forest, dancing like a sick game around the trunks of the once beautiful trees. The closer I get the harder it is for me to see and breathe, both my eyes and lungs scream in agony as my eyes water in attempt to ward off the beast that dares to blind me. No matter how close I get, I feel so far away from her, so far away from the palace.
The smoke to my left breaks revealing Sesshomaru at my side, and as soon as he appears is the second I realize I am no longer running anymore. He's managed to get me so quick on his back that my brain couldn't register it through all the fear and panic. He's speed is so incredibly fast that the smoke doesn't have time to sink into my lungs to burn me but my eyes are still being beaten.
The closer we get, the louder the crackling of wood can be heard with the sounds of men hollering and swords clattering; an earthshaking roar rips through the forest, the sound alone disperses the smoke for a mere second before it returns to hazing the area.
Up ahead a brilliant yellow light dances over what remains of the palace, it grows larger and larger, the nearer we become and within an instant I'm sweating head to toe. The entire palace is consumed by the hungry flames, leaving only charred wood that sticks up like dead hands that reach for the starry sky. My heart drops at the sight; it is exactly how I remember it, like the village.
Nothing was left behind, not even bodies were.
Sesshomaru stops where the field of flowers meets the forest, the red, yellows and oranges that used to be are now wilted and frowning to the ground if they had not been flattened by the haste of guards rushing in all directions. Ash rains down on us like grey snow, marking our cheeks, hair, and clothes. The ash of the dead.
To the right of us, an enormous white dog with red eyes and purple markings on its cheeks battles with the guards that once protected us. The beast roars, shaking the ground once again, dispersing the environment of smoke only for it to return thicker. The beast kicks and jolts back and forth within the ruins, throwing whatever guards had managed to climb on in swift movements. IT sinks its teeth into their armor without a problem and tears them apart with its long claws.
The guards keep coming, on and on. When do they stop?
"Mother." Sesshomaru mutters under me. It is this word that reminds me of my panic.
Sliding off his back I rush for the flames in the direction where my room used to be. The flames hiss at me, reaching its hands for my hair when I near but I ignore it. I find a way inside under a collapse pillar that is burnt black, and crawl into my room. The once empty space that only had our thin mattresses is now a collapsed room full of burnt beams and flaming screens. The door across from me is barricaded with wooden planks so black it is hard to tell even what they are.
The flames choke out any air that once was in this room, leaving me heaving in seconds. Everything burns, my lungs, my heart, my stomach, it burns so much I fall to my knees. Next to me, at my left I spot a stream of glistening red, and immediately I know what that is. My stomach drops, just as the ash and sparks of embers around me, all I can do is focus on that stream of blood; hearing the words 'She's next, she's next'.
Please no, please great spirits don't let it be her!
Bending forward, I hesitantly peer under the plants and beams and when I do, a blood curdling scream leaves me; a painful sob rolls over me so quick I tremble.
There, beneath all that decay, eyes hazed over with a film of grey, stares back at me: my mother. Her right hand reaches out towards me, as if even in death, she's trying to grab for me. There from her belly shines a sword that I recognize as the one the guards use. Her pretty white kimono is no longer white but a dark red.
Over-cumbered by the pain, broken my grief, I slip slowly onto my belly and reach for her hand that is so close but so far. Her image blurs the more the tears gather in my eyes, reshaping her. She was all I had left….
I'm all alone…
"Mommy…" I whisper, the tears fall, not wasting time crawling down my cheeks but instead washing the floor with their saltiness.
The fire reaches down for her, catching onto her kimono first and quickly setting her to flames. It chars her beautiful hair black before curling it in a mess of tumble weeds until it reaches her scalp. Her pale pink flesh turns an apple red, blisters, boils and pops. Blood sprays hot like acid, tiny droplets reach the top of my hand.
It burns hot, but all I can really feel is my heart breaking over and over again, sobs continuous roll through me, helping the smoke to choke me slowly. I won't leave her…I will join her. Her death was quick and mine will be slow…but she won't be alone.
"Mommy…" it hurts to say it, my throat hurts so much.
They were right, she was next. They waited for their chance; when Inutaisho left…
"There she is!" I hear, but I am so close to being gone that all I can do is smile. You will not have me….You may have my body…but never my soul. Closing my eyes, I can start feeling the fire touch the hairs on my arms. My throat hurts so much it thickens until I can't push anymore air out of me….
Suddenly, there is a draft of wind; my body no longer feels like it is lying. I'm flown up, a pair of hands at my waist before I feel the impact of metal under my stomach. A weak groan leaves my lips, a hole in my throat opens and I can breathe again. Wood cracks all around, I open my eyes in time to see the wood beams collapse on her body. Tears become rivers that wash the ash from my cheeks. I try to reach for her from the shoulder I'm now stuck on but my arms are too weak. "Mo…."
"Let's get her to the carriage before that damned kid sees us."
The person I am on is a soldier. He wears the same armor as all the others and sounds the same as them too. He turns and heads out the entrance I came in from but instead of crawling, kicks the wood out of the way in one move. Behind him I see a second guard.
I don't bother fighting. I don't have the strength or will too anyway.
As he passes us through the exit, fire chars my hair but quickly goes out when we reach outside. Fresh air gets caught in my breath, my body quakes to violent coughs. My lungs ache; they feel like I have nails in them. The guards ignore my raking pain and continue onward to the front of the palace. Through blurry vision I watch the guard that's behind us, he pays no mind to me but behind him I see a figure that is a mass of white.
Sesshomaru…
Like I had with my mother, I reach for him and this time, my arm lifts to do so. With the further I reach the more my vision returns. On his face, an expression I've never seen before on anyone, an expression of complete hot, deadly rage.
I'm not alone…I'm not alone!
"Sesshomaru!" I cry out: Not alone. Not alone!
The two guards pause to look behind them, "Fuck that kid again. I got him, get her out of here." The one behind us says. He rushes for Sesshomaru with fierce velocity.
The guard who holds me, doesn't stop to look back no longer, he bolts for the front and takes us around the corner of the burning palace. He only stops once, when he does I'm thrown into the back of a carriage of some sort, landing on my butt and tumbling to my side. At both sides of the carriage sits two guards. Leaning up I look to the back of the carriage to see the guard who was carrying me turn back towards the palace.
Hands come from both sides of me, grabbing my arms and legs to withhold me from escaping but I fight: kicking, scratching, pushing, shrugging, punching and pulling but not much strength is in me. I am weak from grief and ache from smoke. I manage to fight my way to my knees, pushing my head forward towards the back of the carriage but I am stuck at this point.
"Let me go!" I shout, "Sesshomaru!"
A loud, earth rumbling replies. Out from around the corner, my betrothed comes charging, now only one guard stands in his way now.
I can't help but smile, and with my grief, tears of happiness start to shed.
The carriage skips back and forth below us, my glance back to the front and notice we're taking off and quick. The horses sprint forward and we all go tumbling towards the back of the carriage. The guards moan and groan but I'm too emotionally worn to feel the physical and immediately get to my knees to crawl to the exit.
A hand clutches my left ankle, dragging me back once more. No!
Without my control, my eyes focuses on the guard between the carriage and Sesshomaru; a growl comes up from me and I reach for that damned guard and as I do so the ground quakes and rumbles like thunder. Cracks in the earth shatter the land as massive cone – like spears plunge from the Earth's surface, racing towards the guard.
He looks back to me, but too late, an earth spear impales him from below. The heat of anger washes from me and all I feel is in awe. My hand shakes in tremors, I bring it back to me and when I do, the spears return to the earth, causing the impaled guard to slam back to earth with such force even from my distance I can hear his bones crack.
A smile stretches my lips again; fogginess develops around me and everything goes black.
The sound of hoarse muttering wakes me. There are many voices, maybe three or four – enough for me to keep my eyes closed just in case. Every inch of me aches, my legs are sore, my lungs burn, my heart is heavy and my head throbs. The last thing I remember was that attack: Earth spears' erupting from the ground and impaling that one guard but after, it was all black. With the world coming to my senses, I know I am better of just pretending I am still unconscious. Who knows what they will do to me if they know I am awake.
"He'll be pleased. Don't worry, she's what he wanted." Male voices; obviously the guards that are towing with me on this bumpy carriage, but now that I am listening to them I notice something odd. They aren't that familiar; they found very nasally and croak with almost every word like a frog. "I just think the mother would have been more valuable. She had control over her powers plus she brought creatures back to life. I saw it myself!"
"Ryukotsusei strictly said the girl. She's young enough to break and rebuild into a killing machine." Another says.
Mother…I can still see her skin boiling in my mind and smell her frying hair. A thickness grows in my throat; I try to control and regulate my breathing like my mother taught me when we were hiding once.
These were the men that killed her. They stole her from me. And unfortunately for them, I don't feel anymore fear, only anger and there is nothing more than I want, than to see their faces full of terror.
Opening my eyes to slits, I focus solely on my rage, biting down harshly onto my bottom lip to control the energy that builds in me. The carriage beneath me bounces and shakes, creaks and pops over every little rock that happens under it. My eyes search for the soldiers that stole everything from me but when I lay eyes on them my heart sinks.
I knew it.
The men here are still wearing the same armor with the exception of the helms that hid their faces, but now that they are free - the few days I stayed at the palace makes perfect sense. Open their heads is no human flesh, but that of a lizard.
Ugly, pointed nose, large eyes and pointed teeth. Scaly skin stretches along their bodies in a variety of colors; their eyes the shape of gigantic almonds with strikingly yellow orbs. They have holes for ears and snouts that could probably sniff people out for miles; beneath their nose are long mouths with sharp yellowish fangs.
Lizard demons.
Once upon a time, I had heard about them and their incredible shape shifting ability. I was told they only used it to blend into their surroundings to escape much stronger predators but obviously, my knowledge didn't touch base in the east. But this explains why…why I couldn't hear them approaching. How they were faster than me. But why attack us? We only arrived a few days prior. And who is this Ryukotsusei guy?
The carriage bounces much higher than normal, throwing me inches from the floor and smashing me back down hard enough for me to wince in agony. My throat clenches and my lungs burn once again, I almost forgot about my other pains. My eyes shoot wide open and now I am staring up at the ceiling of the carriage that holds me hostage.
"Well looks who's up."
My eyes dart to each individual lizard man, and each are darting their large eyes at me. No sense in pretending now. Sitting up, I lean back against the nearest wall, which happens to be on my left, never once pulling my eyes from them. They are all smirking, yellow nasty teeth showing and all. It only makes me angrier.
That entire time they were plotting against us. How could they sneak up on her?
My fists curls at my sides, every part of me feels hot and boiling.
"What? What are you going to do?" One coos at me.
"Don't," says another to the one who pesters me. "You saw what she did."
"Don't worry," I snarl, I didn't mean to make it come out that way but I am glad it did. Their eyes flicker for a moment, a tiny bit of fear? "When I kill you, it won't be as weak as stabbing you in the back."
They all throw their heads back in laughter. My fists curl so tight I can feel my nails bury deep into my palms, a rumbling growl comes out as a little kids grunt. The cart starts to shake more, this time side to side. My heart races in my ears, thump, thump, thump. The clear vision blurs faintly with the film of red. Images of her body boiling replays on and on in my head, each time I blink, her grey eyes are staring back at me.
"What would you know? You're just a child. A poor, little orphan elf child. With nothing."
Tearing my eyes off them is like pouring hot metal on cold metal; I hear the sizzle in my head. I concentrate on the open back of the carriage, noticing now that the bounces we're getting is due to a very thin dirt road that runs along a cliff's edge. I can see the ocean across from me, it is still night but in the sky darker clouds are rolling in, the waves down below respond with rage, hitting the cliff with such force as to shape the rock to its will.
"No." I reply. Their laughter stops but I don't bother looking at them any longer. I have enough power in me now…I have enough strength and I don't care if I go down with them. "I may be an orphan but not some little elf orphan." The words come out as a hiss, I feel what I say like beating drums in my blood. "I am also half demon. Half of such an evil demon that he slaughtered the place he called home in hopes to kill my mother and me."
Just as untamed as the sea, my eyes glance to the men and for the first time I see fear in their eyes. "…Just as I plan to do with you."
The blood from my palms sinks into the surface of the wood. Just as I had did before I fainted, I concentrate all my aggression on them and allow the energy that burns through me to seep in my veins. All I see in the back of my mind is their deaths. A terrible, broken and cold death.
The carriage is struck hard from my side; knock us all suddenly to the right of the carriage; instead of meeting wall, the carriage tumbles to the right. Briefly, I am floating in the middle of the carriage, touching nothing but air until I slam with a bang against one of the four walls of the carriage. All around me is chaos: horses are naying and grunting, the men screaming and banging just as I am, items fly about in and out of the carriage. The wood creaks and cries as it meets the side of the cliff.
I'm swung back up into the air before I'm thrown back down into another part of the carriage. My leg snaps but I can't feel the pain, I still see red. We roll and roll down the cliff; rocks tear open the carriage like paper. There isn't a part of the carriage that I am not thrown against, not a part of me that isn't cut, bruised or broken and through all this; I smile because these damn men are being torn apart.
One of four is thrust out of the carriage through the front; all we are left with is his screams echoing behind us. Another silences, and when I get a glance of why, I see his head is split open and his eyes gaping out, mouth slightly open. He's dead.
For a second, the carriage stops rolling, I'm thrown to the top and then slam back down to the bottom when the cart hits something hard. It takes half a minute when the water starts to rush in through the opening.
The water kisses my scratches and bruises and it burns. The water is cold, like ice and refreshing like death. I rest on my back just barely able to open my eyes when I see the fogginess start to grip at me once again. Near me I can still hear the last two demons groaning. I won't die near them…
My arms are unmoving; I can't feel them other than the throbbing. My legs are the same except for one; with all my strength I use that single leg to kick my way out the back of the carriage and with the help of the swishing water, my body becomes light enough to do so. Once out, I float in the dark depths of the water, just barely able to see the cart as it sinks faster and faster taking the groaning men with it. Above me the sky is still cloudy, but I can see the moon shining through.
The fogginess grows and grows, encircling the single light I have left. Excruciating pain rips through my body as the red fades. Pulses like thunder tear through me with every heart beat and sudden sadness envelopes me. My eyes well up with tears. The water embraces me but doesn't let me drown.
I know I will faint soon…I know I will drown here….I can trust the ocean though; after all it was the ocean that led me to Sesshomaru. I can feel safe now, for the last time, wrapped up in the sea.
The moon disappears from my view….but I still can't help but smile.
Safe…