Chapter 9
No safe place


Daybreak. The moon shone majestically in the sky, lighting the countless snowflakes that fell like fireflies over the sand and calm waves in that vast beach. The negative temperature caressed her skin as soon as the female yokai appeared, floating above the sand.

Her black and nude feet gently touched the frozen sand, then being covered by the edges of her long silk white dress. The only eye resting in her heinous face peered around. That was the beach where Umanohiro met his demise, she was sure. The bodies from both sides of the conflict were already collected, and only a few pieces of broken armors, fabrics and weapons lay abandoned in there.

A malicious grin grew in the demon's wide thin lips as she finally found what she was looking for. Yumiko knelt and her long, pointy fingers dipped into a particular part of the sand, retrieving a piece of a particular breastplate still bathed in dried blood. She touched it with her tongue and her eye twisted in frenzy. A blood of such demonic power could only belong to one single creature.

"Ah yes... This is definitely Sesshomaru's blood...

With this, I will be able to finish my magic... Huhuhu..."

And so, her body dissolved in the air, carrying the piece of armor with it.

...

Takashi hugged himself and took a deep breath, facing a hard time trying to deal with the cold, even under at least three pounds of thick fabrics. The icy winds were like knives trying to pierce the skin of his face. Standing on the bank of a large lake only worsened the situation.

"Damn you, Yumiko. Making me wait at this dangerous and dark place."

He grunted in his thought as his eyes roamed his surroundings frequently and cautiously, standing vigilant to possible animals or even lurking demons. But the air around the banks of the lake was quite calm, which only made him more tense.

Suddenly, an intense chill ran down the man's spine. Someone, something... was there, with him. Not producing any sound or smell, watching him intently from somewhere, like a ghost. Like Yumiko. He gritted his teeth, annoyed at the irrational fear that possessed him whenever that yokai was nearby.

"Yumiko, reveal yourself at once! Did you not have enough fun already making me wait at this wretched place?" He shouted to the air.

"Huhuhu... Does the darkness scare you, my precious friend?"

He widened his eyes as strands of black hair fell right in front of his face, inviting him to look up only to be surprised by the horrifying sight of the monstrous face of the one-eyed woman looking at him closely. She was floating upside down, just above him. He pulled himself away as he coughed.

"Ah... Takashi, you are getting a cold."

"Enough, Yumiko. Did you arrange what I asked you?"

The demoness smiled - at least, he concluded that that curved black line in the creature's face was a smile. Then she stretched out her hands to him, displaying something shining between her pointy fingers.

"Hold it carefully, my dear friend..." She advised as Takashi carefully picked up the gleaming metal dart from her hand. "...For he who is injured by this blade shall have his mind emptied. Only one idea... one desire... shall move this unfortunate one. And he will stop at nothing... until he completely obliterates Sesshomaru... or die trying."

Takashi smiled sadistically, while his eyes reflected the image of the small blade which emitted a discreet and latent purple aura, as if anxious to consume some target.

"Are you sure there is no way to nullify the effect of this dart, Yumiko?" He asked with sound satisfaction.

"Only death, or complete destruction of the dog demon... will allow its target to regain its senses."

"Excellent... Excellent indeed, Yumiko! This is exactly what I needed." The counselor thanked euphorically as he gave his back to the ghostly demoness and started making his way back to the castle. Suddenly, he seemed to have forgotten all his fears and discomforts. It would be a dangerous and painful journey back through the snow, darkness and icy breezes, but nothing could dissolve his wonderful mood since he had put his hands on that small item. "With this, my plan shall be fulfilled smoothly. I shall pierce Shinriumaru's useless flesh with this at the right moment, and Sesshomaru won't have another choice but to definitely annihilate that damned half demon. The prince will be eliminated and Sesshomaru will be antagonized by the Sakagamas and their servants. At long last... I will free myself from those two filthy fiends!"

...

Sakuya didn't sleep so well in a long time. Even the servant which entered the chambers at the first sunlight to wake her up and bring her breakfast commented on how healthy and lively her lady seemed to be that morning. She granted herself the privilege of having breakfast in bed, and the servant soon left with the empty tray and tableware. Only the cup of tea remained, which the feudal lord carried with her through the chambers after standing up, feeling no headaches and overflowing energy.

Her first attitude was to approach the balcony and open the fusumas, inviting the sunlight and fresh air in. From up there, while she massaged the side of her neck, she watched some samurais training in the large lawn. Shinriumaru was there, watching them carefully, with his little hands resting behind his back and with a straight and upright posture, solemn and elegant like a true lord. Sakuya smiled, realizing how changed, how more mature and centered the young prince has become since she returned from the battle in the beach. Was it her absence or her almost death that awakened his focus? Did he talk to somebody? Old Hokumaru, the samurais or even Takashi, whom he had never been very fond of, perhaps. Nevertheless, that evolution pleased her greatly. It was a deep relief to know that her heir was seemingly casting his insecurities and doubts aside and was engaging himself into learning. The feudal lord sighed and then turned on her heels to approach the chabudai where her agenda awaited for her.

And she let out a loud sob and a short leap back as she suddenly met two piercing golden eyes staring at her from very close, those belonging to the silver haired demon which until that moment silently lurked the darkness behind her.

"Did I startle you?" He asked solemnly.

"Gods," She coughed and took a deep breath. "What are you doing here? These are my private chambers."

"Your counselor did not show any dissatisfaction toward my presence. In a matter of fact, I wondered if it is normal for male visitors to roam freely inside his lady's chambers."

The feudal lord arched her eyebrows and glanced perplexedly at the demon for two seconds, noticing the veiled needle.

"They are usually invited in." She smiled, apparently unworried about possible wrong interpretations, and Sesshomaru scowled as his mind betrayed him with undesired images contradictory to the respectable figure that until that morning he believed the feudal lord to be. She approached the hanger in the wall where a long and blue haori rested, dressing it up over her sleeping robes before he also noticed how inappropriate they were for receiving guests. She inquired, seemingly worried. "So, how long have you been here? What happened that brought you to a human castle?"

"The scent of your counselor's blood has brought me here." He answered stoically while giving his back to the woman, not noticing the surprise in the gaze she gave him. "And I stayed here long enough to realize how in fact the private quarters of a human do hide their darkest secrets."

"Do they?" She asked in confusion while watching the demon walk to her chabudai. For a moment, she had the light impression that he seemed to purposely plan every sentence to sting her. What was wrong?

"You, for instance, feel secure enough in this personal space to not even take caution to properly hide the tracks of your treachery."

"What are you talking about?" Sakuya scowled, finally offended and on alert.

Sesshomaru took the letter from the chabudai, kneaded it to give it some weight and then tossed it against the feudal lord while still facing his back to her. Sakuya caught the paper in the air and then unfolded it, becoming furious as soon as she read the words engraved in it.

"What?! I did not write any of this!"

"It is your handwriting."

"Someone imitated it!"

"It bears your signature."

"Invalid! If someone managed to infiltrate my chambers and planted this letter here, this same person could have had access to my hanko[1]!"

"It has your scent."

"The scent of the fragrance I use, which anyone could have taken and spilled in it!"

Indeed, the scent of the parfum Sakuya most often used was so impregnated in the paper that it could cause nausea to those more sensitive. It was clear that the true author of the letter wanted to reinforce her scent as much as possible in the paper while hiding his own at the same time. Her own handwriting was quite recognizable, imperfect only due to some minor details that only she could discern. The signature undoubtedly came from her hanko, which could not be faked.

"Sesshomaru," She called him and then stated in a loud, slow and firm tone, trying to convey veracity. "I did not write this infamy. And even if I did, I would have hidden it in a much safer place."

"Like your private chambers?" The question seemed to dismantle the feudal lord's argument and he lifted his head a little bit more in order to gaze at her with superiority. "You covet Meidenkai for yourself, and thought that using me to retrieve it from your enemy and eliminate him in the process would be a good idea."

"Whoever orchestrated this trap wanted you to think this way. Like Nogitsune, they are trying to turn us against each other." She felt sadness emerge in her core, but managed to keep her steady and calm posture.

Sesshomaru tested the woman's confidence by simply taking a few steps toward her. She didn't move, though every bit of her body was clearly aware of him. Then he simply disappeared, reappearing face to face to her in a demonstration of unmatched speed, superior to any mortal.

He grabbed her firmly by the neck with one hand, indifferent to the possible damage his claws might cause to the fragile skin, and pushed the woman's back against the wall. The noise of the impact and of the tea cup she dropped and broke on the floor could be inconvenient in a few seconds. The feudal lord grew stern eyes on him, bravely maintaining a sharp exchange of stares, like a prey locked in her predator. But as he held her, Sesshomaru felt something sharp touching the front of his abdomen and then discreetly moved his eyes down, seeing the tip of Jouten no Tsukai's blade touching his armor in a silent threat. That woman had her wiles, having managed to summon her sword without him noticing it.

Ignoring the sword ready to pierce him, the daiyokai gazed at her wide eyes once again, staring at it sharply and mortally, as if through those dark orbs he could search the depths of her soul and pluck out the truth. Sakuya said nothing, knowing that no word could be useful by then, and did not even move.

"I have been generous and benevolent to you and your humans so far, even when you are nothing but stones in my path." He hissed after a few seconds of deep analysis, without a single trace of emotion in his handsome face. His extremely soft and serene voice was like covered daggers piercing the woman's body through her ears and lacerating her soul. "Betray me... And I shall tear your chest open again, rip Meidenkai out of it, and finally put this castle down upon the heads of the servants you so cherish."

Knowing for sure that she had absorbed every word, and upon hearing the fast human footsteps moving through the corridors toward the room, Sesshomaru left the feudal lord, who remained silent, astonished and blank on the wall where he shoved her. Having nothing else to say and knowing that the mere sight of another human at that moment could make him act irresponsibly, he approached the balcony and leaped away.

Sakuya felt the strength escape from her legs as soon as the daiyokai left the place, leaning on her sword and on the wall in order not to fall. Her breath became difficult and her heart stirred again inside her chest to the point of causing her pain this time. She swallowed dry while still processing what had just happened. The door swung open and two warriors entered, accompanied by the servant and Takashi.

"My lady! Your neck!" The female servant hasted to her side, helping the feudal lord to stand on her feet while gently touching her scratched skin.

"What is the meaning of this?! Explain to me, Takashi!" Sakuya didn't give them time to question the noises that lured them or her slight injury, and while the girl took care of her, she threw the crumpled piece of paper toward the counselor.

"I... do not know... To whom did my lady write this letter?" He questioned, wavering and apparently surprised after reading the content.

"I would never have written such stupidity! Someone broke into my chambers and planted this infamy here for Sesshomaru to find! This is outrageous!"

"B-but who could have done that?"

"You answer me, counselor! You promised me you would deal with the spies acting inside the castle and obviously you have been failing. Now, do find and bring me the damn culprits of this farce until the end of the day."

"My lady, I need more time."

"Do as I command, otherwise it is you I shall deem suspect! You are the only person who has unrestricted access to my private chambers and knows where my hanko is kept!"

She raged before bursting out of the room, followed by the stumbling servant. Takashi frowned and gestured at the two warriors, who began searching the room for clues. Meanwhile, he stared at the chabudai seriously. He didn't expect to arouse suspicion in the woman so early, though those words seemed to have been hurled by her out of sheer anger and to press him.

"Poor woman. By the end of the day, it's with another one you shall be worrying about."

...

"Lord Shinriumaru, please, we'd better get a move on or we will have little time to practice today."

The samurai officer snorted, folding his arms impatiently as he received a simple hand gesture as response from the prince, who have been crouching and searching for something on the ground for some seconds now.

"Just a moment…" He muttered as his wooden hands dug the thick layer of snow in front of his feet. "Ah, found it!"

He celebrated as his fingers pulled out of the depths of the snow what appeared to be a withered plant, victimized by the weight, lack of sunlight and breathing after being buried by the snow. Shinriumaru gently wrapped the dead trunk with his both hands, and his hybrid demonic energy emerged from his core as a thin golden aura that shone around him, startling the samurai.

"My lord, what are you doing? Please refrain your energy before it attracts unwanted attention!"

"But this a very rare kind of tree! Look."

The samurai's eyes widened as he noticed the once dead plant regaining new life and colors in the hands of the half demon. Its thin stem and small branches hardened with new vigor, growing a few inches longer than it originally had, and large leaves sprouted, green as one could see only in the most fertilized fields during the middle of spring. When it reached about five feet tall, Shinriumaru stepped back and smiled victoriously.

"There. Now it won't get buried by the snow anymore."

"Oh, this... is..." The warrior stuttered as he admired the small tree. It was the first time he actually saw some of the half demon prince's powers in action.

"You are lagging today!"

The officer frowned as he felt the prince's wooden sword hit the back of his legs and then he saw him run up the mountain. He grunted and chased the boy, followed by the three other men he brought as escorts.

"I see you are full of energy today." The man growled with a smirk as he finally reached the prince, who was already standing and waiting in the small training space in the bamboo forest. Shinriumaru was getting faster every day. "Good. It means we can get a little heavier, right?"

"Yes." Shinriumaru smiled with determination as he stood in the defensive stance with the sword taught by the officer. "I know that you and my mother train me in this bamboo forest because you don't want the people in the castle to see how bad I am with the sword." The officer widened his eyes, surprised by that sudden revelation that was indeed true and had been hidden from the prince until now in order not to shake his faith in himself. "So, I've decided to change things. Today, I'm going to do well! So I can finally start training along with the other samurais in the castle, as a true prince should do."

"...Then do widen your posture, grip your sword tightly and bid farewell to this place, my lord! Tomorrow, I shall see you doing your best alongside the other men."

"Hai!"

"Lord Sesshomaru... My mother puts so much faith in you. I want to be powerful and respected just as you are. I want her to feel safe with my presence as she feels with yours. I will become stronger, as you told me to. I shall prove to you and to everyone in Kitami how capable and worthy a half demon can be! I will impress you and Hokumaru, and I will make my servants and the feudal lord proud."

The training began and the positive effects of Shinriumaru's new confident mind were visible in his body, faster, more precise and more resilient than usual. He performed all the movements ordered by his master and did all the exercises without surrendering to exhaustion. He still faced difficulties when moving the sword, but he wouldn't allow the officer's blows to knock him down or make him drop the sword anymore. He even succeeded in performing a decent counterattack, which yielded a small bruise on the samurai's right thigh. The officer smiled, satisfied, proudly showing the wound to the prince before resuming the training.

Then suddenly, a scream.

"Watch out!" One of the escort warriors leapt over the other, being struck by the arrow in his instead. His body fell limp and rolled dead on the floor.

"Wha-" The warrior barely had time to look at the corpse of his savior and was struck by two arrows, which pierced his neck and shoulder. He fell agonizingly to the ground beside the third escort warrior, who had also been struck by a precise arrow in his heart by his back.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The officer shouted as he saw his escorts falling one by one to arrows shot from the darkness beyond the trees.

"Officer!"

Shinriumaru screamed as he saw his master fall on his back after being struck by three arrows, two which hit his abdomen and one in the shoulder. He threw the wooden sword against the metal chain he saw being hurled at him, destabilizing it in the air before it grabbed him. He retrieved his sword quickly and ran to the front of the wounded officer, standing defensively between him and the three shadows he saw approaching.

"Mercenaries...! My lord... run!"

"I will not leave you here!" The prince shouted, his whole body trembling, yet gripping his wooden sword firmly while trying not to give in to fear when he saw three mercenaries appear between the bamboos.

One of them then pointed a sort of blowpipe to the prince, with what seemed to be a bright purple dart inside it. Shinriumaru widened his eyes, frightened. Would he be able to dodge that dart?

"E-even if I dodge... The officer will be hit in my instead." He swallowed dry, knowing by the noises and moans of pain that his master was still lying on the ground just behind him.

The mercenary fired the dart, and Shinriumaru instinctively closed his eyes, waiting for the sting, the pain, or even the worst.

Only to open them again when a beastly and loud roar shook the air and the ground itself around the forest.

"Master Hokumaru!" Shinriumaru smiled, deeply relieved upon the sight of the bear demon standing in front of him. Hokumaru was is his original and imposing form, snarling loudly between his gritted teeth as his scarlet and wrathful eyes stared at the three mercenaries, which stood trembling before the monster. The prince then sobbed as he saw the dart stuck in the bear's leather. "Oh no! You have been hit!"

Hokumaru only uttered a second roar and shifted to the side, closing his eyes and shaking his head as if something very annoying was trapped in his ears, or a very strong headache was coming upon him.

"Damn it! The plan failed! That old man should have warned us about this demon!" The supposed leader of the mercenaries shouted, already turning to run away. "Retreat! Run!"

The other two men ran right behind him. Meanwhile, Hokumaru bellowed and hit his head with full force against the ground, causing a slight tremor. And one more time. Shinriumaru swallowed dry, scared and not knowing what to do. Hokumaru was visibly in agony.

"Ma... master Hokumaru?" He found enough courage to approach the bear demon and gently removed the dart from his pelt. He realized that the purple glow wasn't on the little blade anymore. "What is this? Poison? This is the first time I see something capable of making Hokumaru agonize this much... Master Hokumaru! You should not have put yourself in front of me! Baka[2]!"

Shinriumaru then widened his eyes as he felt Hokumaru's demonic energy suddenly become pernicious and intense. The bear's eyes widened suddenly, and the prince cried out and fell sitting on the floor as he realized how purple and angry they were.

As the frightened prince crawled back to the already unconscious officer, Hokumaru stood on his hind legs and let loose the most beastly and loud of the howls. He then launched himself in the direction of the three mercenaries, trampling the vegetation and everything in his path, managing to reach them in a few seconds.

The young prince closed his eyes tightly, trembling, sparing himself from the carnage right before him. The screams of pain and terror and the clatter of flesh and bones being torn were like knives cutting deep in his ears. Never before had he seen Hokumaru act with such violence and cruelty toward humans. When at last he heard the old bear running back toward him, he opened his eyes wide and managed to throw himself upon the wounded and unconscious officer before the bear struck him with his large clawed paw.

"No! Stop, Master Hokumaru! This is one of our officers! Do you not recognize us?!"

Hokumaru managed to stop his paw millimeters away from hitting the prince, who protected the officer with his own body. With the ancient and frightening demon practically upon them, the prince could feel the excessive heat coming from its body and see his muzzle and his gritted teeth and fangs facing him with great rage. The paw was still standing faltering in the air, as if the demon was trying hard to refrain himself from hitting the young prince.

Shinriumaru couldn't move, only stare into the eyes of the old demon which was visibly out of his mind. However, before Hokumaru gave in to his irrational desire to quarter the half demon child, the bear's pupils squeezed inside his irises and all of a sudden he jumped from above the two individuals and bolted in some direction beyond the trees, as if something else had attracted him.

Sesshomaru's scent, who was also approaching at high speed.

To be continued...


[1] Hanko: japanese personal stamps that engrave the person's initials on documents, replacing the signature.

[2] "Baka": idiot, fool and stupid, etc.


To everyone who wanted to see Hokumaru actually fighting, there it is. Feel the mighty of our demon grandpa (ง'̀-'́)ง

Takashi did manage to make such a huge mess, huh?
And Sesshy thought that humans were harmless, keh

Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Especially Celia and cdmartinez for your continued reading and support. I wish I could hug and bite you somehow.