Edited 8/2017
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Sesshomaru watched his half-brother struggle against his chains dispassionately. He was careful to keep his face expressionless as he watched the hanyou before him slowly degrading into a more demonic state. That half breed had ruined everything. He had completely undermined Sesshomaru's authority as ruler and on top of that made Sesshomaru look like a complete idiot for bringing the priestess to their territory in the first place.
As per the agreement with her sister, Kagome was supposed to die within the walls of his fortress. Sesshomaru had considered the temporary cease-fire agreement to be just an added perk to the real goal of getting one of the most powerful priestesses in the country out of his way permanently.
And then Inuyasha had come along.
Sesshomaru had thought the timing was extremely lucky, his brother's birthday so near. The priestess would make an excellent gift to both brothers, because with her in Inuyasha's care she was also out of the demon king's hair. All he had to do was sit back and wait for nature to take its course and for the demons of the fortress to slowly kill her, body and spirit.
And then Inuyasha had come along.
The damn hanyou had ruined it all. Sesshomaru understood the half demon not wanting to share the priestess; the woman may have been a thorn in the demon king's side but even he would cede that she was beautiful. However, mating her? Not rutting but full on mating? Sesshomaru grimaced before he could stop himself. Being tied to such a powerful miko across such a great distance would be his brother's undoing and though there was little love lost between them, Sesshomaru did not like to see his brother in this condition.
Inuyasha snarled at the female that had brought him a plate of food. Each time she got close enough to him to actually hold a piece of roasted boar near his mouth he snapped and tried to take off her hand instead. She looked to Sesshomaru for help.
"Leave the plate on the floor, you're free to go," Sesshomaru said cooly.
To her retreating form he added, "Remember what we discussed. You know nothing of Lord Inuyasha's whereabouts."
She turned and bowed, "Of course My Lord."
Once she was gone, Sesshomaru turned back to observe his brother. The male's breaths were ragged and uneven and every so often he would lunge forward, testing the chains that were shackled at his ankles and his wrists.
The demon lord sighed softly as he glanced down at the untouched plate near the hanyou's feet. Perhaps after a few more days the hunger to eat would be strong enough to override his desire to be near his absentee mate.
"You've truly done it this time Inuyasha," Sesshomaru said coldly. "Just when I thought you couldn't be any more foolish." It irked him to no end that his half-brother was now nothing but a rabid demon laid low by a female that by rights should already be buried in an unmarked grave in territory of demons.
Inuyasha snarled in parting to his brother and gave in to the urge to snap at the air in front of him, making his jaws click loudly together.
He was still aware of the people around him and who they were but an anger so hot it felt akin to hatred was burning him alive from the inside out; he would kill anyone stupid enough to get within his reach. His chest ached so badly he felt as if he had been stomped on by a giant and his skin felt so tight he was sure that it would rip free of his body at any second.
Alone and aching he slid slowly to the floor and rested his back against the wall. It was easier when there was no one else around…
Her face came to his mind unbidden and no matter how hard he shook his head or dug his claws into his own flesh, it wouldn't go away. Her face while she did her stances, her face as she laughed and played with Rin, her face as he was coming inside of her…
She was gone.
The thought sent a stabbing pain to his chest and he moaned aloud at the feeling before realizing what he had done and turning the sound into a snarl. He didn't need her. And she definitely didn't need him. The place on his lower stomach where he bore the mark of the mating burned as if in contradiction of his thoughts. Gods he was going crazy.
His demon side slammed into him again and he let it wash over him with a sigh; there was no need to fight it when he was chained to a wall. He growled at nothing in particular and thought of his mate. Every other thought seemed to be of her. He was so proud that he had sent her away and done the right thing…but his demon half disagreed completely and he stood up to thrash against his bonds, trying to get to her. Even as he thought in the back of his mind that it would completely defeat the purpose of setting her free, he lunged hard against the chains and felt blood start to trickle down his wrists from where his shackles were already starting to tear at his skin.
Kagome jerked awake and tried to slow her rapidly beating heart. What a horrible nightmare: Inuyasha shackled by heavy chains at each wrist and ankle, his skin dirty and bloody from his own claws, his teeth bared in both pain and anger. He had looked like a starving animal…
At Ayame's raised eyebrow Kagome took a deep breath. "Bad dream," she explained.
"If they were about him then they probably aren't dreams. Drink your tea and eat something so we can go." The female demon sighed, "I'm ready for this journey to reach its end."
Kagome winced at the jab but didn't comment on it, "Inuyasha was in chains and struggling…how could it not be a dream?"
Ayame stilled and looked at the ground for a moment in silence before answering, "I could always be wrong."
Something told the priestess that Ayame knew more than she was saying. "Why would Inuyasha be in chains?" And since when did Ayame ever hold back anything that she was thinking?
"Why wouldn't he?" Ayame bit back as she started rolling up her bedding, her movements becoming more abrupt and less smooth as she started to get angry. "He disobeyed Lord Sesshomaru and set a prisoner free!"
Kagome swallowed, "I could see him and Sesshomaru fighting a little over it sure…but not Inuyasha being thrown in a dungeon."
"So you'd rather your mate be cut down by a sword than chained to a wall?" Ayame asked coldly.
"He's not my…" Kagome stopped talking when the wolf demon stopped packing and started growling. "What? He isn't with me anymore…he sent me away…"
"God! Are all priestesses this fucking dense? Is your mark gone?" Ayame hissed.
Kagome didn't answer.
Ayame took a deep breath and resumed packing, "The mark will be there even after your body is only a corpse buried in the ground. And why will it be there you may ask? Because, demons mate for life Priestess. Humans should be so lucky, to experience that kind of surety."
"But demons get new mates…if theirs leave or something, right?" Kagome asked quietly, nearly holding her breath because she needed to hear the answer so badly. God she sounded naïve even to her own ears.
Ayame didn't meet the priestess's searching gaze, "If you wanted to talk, you should have done it with your mate… I can't…"
Ayame sighed angrily to herself. She wanted so badly to tell Kagome exactly what demon matings were all about, how deep the ties went, but Ayame had promised Inuyasha that she would keep her mouth shut and after all he had sacrificed, she could see now why he didn't want Kagome to know any of it. The priestess would turn back if she knew that she was the source of his suffering.
Kagome had started to ask more but Ayame had turned her back to her, finishing packing in silence. Fucking Inuyasha! What an ass he was for asking her to do this! To lead the ignorant priestess home and not tell her what she had done by leaving her mate!
The wolf female bit her lip. Just the thought of Inuyasha back at the fortress was enough to make her chest hurt in sympathy. He must be in a seriously bad place mentally to have ended up chained in the dungeon, but had he put on the chains willingly? She shook herself to try and force her imagination to stop picturing the hanyou in chains but it wouldn't cooperate.
Ayame could only imagine his pain. For so long she had wanted to mate Kouga and for just as long he had been denying her, most likely afraid of how much mating would change his life. He didn't want to change. She was so screwed when it came to that male; pining away while he chased after any piece of tail that he came across. Still. No demon should suffer being deprived of their mate's presence. Perhaps she was lucky that Kouga kept turning her down…it meant that she wouldn't be committing herself to a deeper ache if they mated and something ever happened to him.
Her eyes subtly went back to the priestess. The human just didn't understand. Mates never left each other. To choose to do so willingly was mind-boggling to Ayame. It made her sick to her stomach to see such a beautiful bond wasted…a bond she had always yearned for, being treated like a burden by others. Stupid stupid Inuyasha!
Kagome's fingers rubbed repeatedly at the leather of her horse's reigns. Back and forth she rubbed the strip between her thumb and forefinger. They had ridden for nearly half a day in complete silence and her world had narrowed down to this single piece of leather and how soft but strong it felt between her fingers.
What the hell was happening to her? In addition to feeling like shit physically, now she couldn't stop picturing Inuyasha in chains, his howls echoing through her mind. What if he really was chained up in some dungeon because of her?
The thought made her eyes start to water and she pulled her horse to a stop. "I can't do this."
Ayame looked over her shoulder and quickly stopped her own horse, "Priestess! Keep it moving, we need to get to the divide as soon as possible."
"Call me priestess one more time and I swear I'm going to puke!" Kagome snapped at the demon in front of her. "I have a name!"
Ayame nodded, "Yeah you do. Now stop crying and let's go."
Kagome shook her head, "No! I can't just leave, knowing that Inuyasha could be suffering because he helped me. What kind of person would that make me?"
The other female sighed, "One that escaped from the demon lord's territory without having to sleep with a thousand demons or compromise on her pristine morals? You should be extremely grateful Kagome…and as much as it pisses me off to say this…" She nudged her horse until it had turned completely around and was stomping angrily next to Inuyasha's big stallion, but facing the other direction so that the two riders were only separated by a few feet. "Like seriously pisses me off…" Ayame growled. "We aren't going back."
Kagome wiped at her stupid tears, "I don't need you to retrace my steps, I can make it alone."
"And shit on everything that the hanyou has done for you? You fucking ungrateful bitch!" Ayame snapped, close to foaming at the mouth she was so mad.
Kagome gaped, "I can't win with you! No matter what I do you're going to be pissed off!"
"Yeah probably; this is a shitty situation. But Inuyasha was trying to get you out of this territory and back home to your 'family', so why wouldn't you honor his wishes? Why wouldn't you accept his sacrifice with gratitude?" Ayame hissed as calmly as she could manage.
"Sacrifice? Do you think he is truly in that dungeon?" Kagome asked quietly.
"I'm sure he is," Ayame calmed, "which is why I want to hurry up and get back there so that I can help him." She chose not to mention that her helping him probably wouldn't result in Inuyasha's release. She just wanted to make him comfortable and keep him sane…releasing him would no doubt end in bloodshed.
"Would you leave him if you were me?" Kagome searched the demon's face for signs of an honest answer.
Ayame shrugged, "If I were you, I wouldn't be me…so I can't answer that."
"What?"
Ayame rolled her eyes, "If I were in your shoes, I still wouldn't be in your head. I don't think like you. For example, when the demon lord asked me if I wanted to mate? I'd have kept him locked in the bedroom with me for days, fucking him until neither of us could move anymore. I wouldn't have wanted to leave in the first place, so I wouldn't ever be faced with the decision of whether or not I should turn back." She turned her horse back around to face the direction they needed to go, "You're the big badass priestess here. Be a big girl and make your own decision."
Kagome wanted to throw a rock and the damn wolf demon. Nothing made sense…except for the fact that even if Inuyasha wasn't in chains, he had still made a sacrifice for her freedom. Ayame was right…sacrifices should be honored with respect, not rejected.
"There…" Ayame said, feeling more talkative now she gestured towards the western horizon. "I can just make out top of the bridge. Let's go!"
Ayame had clicked her tongue and her horse shot forward in a burst of speed. With a fortifying sigh Kagome nudged Inuyasha's large warhorse to pick up its speed and chase after its companion for this trip.
The wolf demon smiled with relief as they finally reached the bridge. She was in no way on board with Kagome OR Inuyasha's choices, but she was very ready for this part of her journey to be over so she could return to check on the stubborn and probably now rabid demon lord.
"This is where we part," Ayame said as she pulled gently back on the reigns with one hand and her horse slowed to a stop.
"Ok," Kagome said and slid down from the saddle. "Thank you for accompanying me, I guess, and for being kind to me when I was first taken to the fortress and few others were."
Ayame watched the priestess as she unhitched all her personal items from the big steed. "Inuyasha intended for you to take the horse with you…you'll need a way to travel."
Kagome shook her head, "Inuyasha has already given me more than I can ever repay: the horse goes back with you." She tucked her few bundles of possessions under her arm and looked up at Ayame, "Besides, priestesses find travel very easy. People always wish to get blessings and prayers spoken for them, so they treat us with a kindness and neutrality that they rarely give others."
"Must be nice," Ayame said sincerely. "Good luck, Kagome. I hope returning home will be…all that you wanted."
The priestess nodded and reached up to clasp hands with the female demon for a second. And then suddenly, Ayame was riding away with Inuyasha's steed in tow and Kagome was left alone to cross the bridge into human territory.
Kagome found herself holding her breath as she walked across the bridge. She felt like her escape had beentoo easy. Someone should have pursued her to drag her back to the demon fortress.
Even as her delicate slippers touched the bare dirt on the opposite side of the Divide, she couldn't accept that it was all really over.
Silently she walked down the road, knowing she would run into a village sooner or later. There she could acquire lodging for a night or two, some food, and perhaps a method of traveling towards her home. She pulled the cloak Ayame had given her more closely around her as the sun set and the air around her cooled. She didn't imagine the air to be lighter, she knew that having so many demons living in one area for a long period of time meant that the very earth would become slightly toxic and the heavy air would oppress those passing through it.
Her body had fallen into the rhythm of walking long distances, like it used to before she had been captured, and she tried to relax into the peace and contentment that the tiresome movement would bring after the first five or ten miles. But peace evaded her and left her feeling noticeably discontent. As if something were wrong.
She knew nothing was wrong.
She knew she should be practically skipping to the first human village she will have been in…so long. But instead her thoughts lagged behind her with everything else that she had left behind at that demonic fortress.
Lanterns up ahead in the darkness lit up the path and allowed her to see the path off the road that had a little lantern hanging every fifteen steps or so. This would definitely lead to a village.
Tonight she would be treated with common decency. Tonight she could bath unsupervised and sleep in a bed by herself like before. When her heart didn't lighten with joy at the thoughts like it should have, she grumbled in dismay and quickened her pace.
It was like being in a dream. She could see the lights of the village up ahead, perhaps a ten minute walk up the path made on the mountainside. Just make out the tops of a few tall more well-built buildings with multiple levels.
The closer she got the more she felt herself tensing.
She could hear a group of men talking animatedly to each other up ahead, something about horses…
She made her way past the last of the trees and was greeted with the familiar sight of neatly structured buildings clustered together, their tiled roves caught the last light from sunset and made the town light up. Off to her left she saw a group of four children chasing lightening bugs and each other while laughing.
Everything seemed so familiar…but now more like a puzzle that still missed its key pieces. Or maybe she was the puzzle?
A woman carrying a load of small branches for a fire caught sight of Kagome and stopped walking, clearly studying the stranger that had just arrived at her village and trying to decide if she was any danger.
"It's ok, I am a Priestess," Kagome said as she held out her hands to convey she didn't wish anyone any harm. "I've been…journeying for a long time now and I seek the shelter of your village for the night."
The woman, whom Kagome guessed to be in her late forties squinted at Kagome some more.
"You don't look like a priestess," the older woman finally said.
Kagome nodded, "I know…time has been unkind to me and my usual garb as of late. For that I can say only that she who has nothing has no right to question gifts from the gods when they are put before her." She shrugged with a small smile.
The other woman nodded, "Very well, come in, I will show you to the Lord of our village."
Kagome bowed at her waist, even though it wasn't easy with all her things under her arms, "I would very much appreciate it. Thank you for your kindness."
Long after everyone else in the Lord's large household had gone to sleep, Kagome found herself quietly moving down the hallways with her candle.
The soft slide of the wooden door was a comforting sound that she hadn't even thought to miss, she mused to herself as she left the house to step out into the large yard where a natural hot spring kept the water steaming hot.
She sat her candle down on one of the flat rocks around the pool and then slid her robe off her shoulders, revealing all of her bare skin below. Her skin drank in the moonlight for the first time in ages and she gracefully stepped into the soothing water. The Lord had offered her the time and privacy for a bath before dinner but she had politely declined and simply changed into the clean red and white priestess robes he had given her.
A sigh escaped her lips and she sunk down to her neck before swimming to the other side of the pool and back. The length was at least four carts long and she enjoyed the small stretch and work it gave to her sore muscles.
"Do you mind company?" a soft meek voice asked from near the door that Kagome herself had snuck out of only ten minutes or so before.
Kagome shook her head, "You're welcome to join me." She wouldn't be rude to the woman just because she was in a solitary mood.
"There is rarely anyone else out here this late," the woman said as way of both casually observing and apologizing for her entry. She began disrobing and started to pin up her hair only to stop and leave it hanging.
Kagome raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything; the woman might have scars that she didn't wish to bear to prying eyes of the world. The priestess turned to reach for the jar of soap that had also been given to her.
She heard a soft gasp and the reason for it clicked in her mind before she had time to whirl around and move her own back out of the woman's sights. She studied the other woman's face; searching for damnation and finding only joyful tears starting to slide down the other woman's weathered cheeks.
"You have a demon mate?" the woman asked in a hushed tone.
"I…I…I am a priestess! I cannot be a demon's mate," Kagome said in horror. She had no idea that anyone would recognize such a mark as anything other than a tattoo!
The woman calmed a bit when she saw Kagome's alarm, "It is ok. You're among friends." With work-worn hands the woman picked up her thick waist length light brown hair and twisted it up into a knot on her head before turning to present Kagome with her back.
Kagome's gaze instantly locked on the woman's neck where a mark the size of Kagome's finger was branded into the woman's skin. She couldn't help but be drawn to the mark…she wanted to be nearer to the female…to touch the mark.
A sword and…ivy twisted around it. But it looked smudged and dark. "What is wrong with it?" she asked softly even as she reached out to touch it with shaking fingers. A bright light blinded her for a second and then she could hear him, a man's voice she didn't recognize whispering of his love. A female laugh that she also did not recognize was the response and then Kagome could see this woman in front of her, so many years younger. Her smiling lips puckering a bit for a kiss as a tall warrior with cropped black hair, pointed ears, and a small pair of white horns on either side of his forehead leaned down to kiss his beautiful mate.
And they were beautiful, Kagome ceded as the vision slowly faded and she came back to herself.
"Hiroshi was killed in battle over ten years ago," the woman's soft voice was so full of unvoiced pain that Kagome imagined the woman would let free a scream for the loss at any moment.
Instead she slowly turned around and faced the priestess, she glanced at Kagome's shoulder. "If I may?"
Kagome knew the woman had truly loved her mate. She had felt it when she had touched the other woman. What would the woman feel if she touched Kagome? Grudgingly Kagome turned and showed the woman her naked back, complete with a rather large demon mark up on one shoulder blade.
"I've never seen a mark so large…" the woman sounded enchanted and Kagome felt like the stranger was probably feeling the pull of her mark the way she had felt the pull of the stranger's mark. Would that always be the case when she met demons or demon mates in her travels?
"I can feel the power of the mark from here," she said as she held her hand out away from Kagome's shoulder and seemed to touch something invisible. Something invisible but alive that Kagome had been starving… it pulled hard on the female and Kagome all but moaned as the woman's callused hands finally touched the brand that went clear down to her soul. Suddenly she felt her spirit energy pulling not on the woman but on Inuyasha, it jerked so hard that Kagome almost fell backwards into his waiting arms.
Instead she turned quickly in his embrace and her lips greedily met his, the both of them starved for the other and past the point of caring if the other thought them silly or weak for being so very hungry.
Kagome felt a gentle squeeze to her shoulder and slowly blinked open her eyes to look up at her mate. Instead she met the gaze of the female who she was now clinging to and kissing desperately.
The priestess nearly tripped over herself in an attempt to put distance between her and the stranger. "What was that! What the hell did you do to me?"
The woman didn't look horrified or manipulative, she looked seduced. She smiled wistfully as she brushed her fingertips back and forth over her lips.
"Stop it! What just happened? Explain!" Kagome grabbed the woman's arm to tug her from her reverie.
The woman blinked and looked tired with the reality of her life, "I've never met another human with a mark…I didn't know what would happen. Especially since Hiroshi has been gone for so long…"
"Do you still feel sick to your stomach…and feel like your heart is being torn from your chest…and miss…miss him?" Kagome asked softly, though it was hard for her to speak the words aloud.
"Every day," the woman said sadly, "but over the years the ache has become less intense…except for days like today when I can practically feel him next to me…" Her gaze suddenly cleared from its glassy look.
"Are you drinking the tea each morning and night?" she asked Kagome.
Kagome nodded, "Yes but I will run out in a week or so. Do you know where I can get more?"
The woman frowned, "Girl, just stop and go to him. I don't know what makes you take a journey so far away from the safety of your mate but trust me, it's not worth the pain you're putting both of you through."
Kagome's thoughts were all over the place. Was this why Ayame had been so hateful towards her? "He feels pain because I'm not with him?"
The stranger nodded, "More than you will feel even after you run out of your tea. Humans can never fully tie to a demon the way they can tie to us. So we are safe from the worst of the mating instincts and pains…but your male will feel it for you. Why didn't he tell you all of this?"
The priestess looked away, "He is a very very strong demon…he said he didn't need me by his side."
The woman looked horrified for several moments and then her look changed to one of knowing, "He lied. All men are toads but a mated demon is particularly nasty without his mate. He'll have to be tied down to remain away from you and he will go rabid like any animal left in the wilds to starve. No matter how strong he is, they can't fight their own inner demon. Even the Lord of all Demons Sesshomaru has refused several potential mates because he knows to mate a female is to be weak without her love and presence; all demon males know it."
Kagome stared at the woman in stunned silence. She had to be lying! Inuyasha wouldn't tie himself to her so deeply if he knew the consequences her absence might have on him.
"Why do you look so surprised and disbelieving of all this? Just ask your mate…you don't have to trust me," the woman said.
Kagome felt the first tear make its way down her cheek, only to be soon chased by another, and another… "I have no one to ask! He told me the mating ceremony was just words! I felt the power in it and I still believed him! And then he…he sent me back to my home." A sob escaped her lips before she could stop it.
"You poor thing," the woman said and enveloped Kagome in her arms, neither woman worried about their nakedness or lack of familiarity in the face of such deep pain. "I don't fully understand what you're going through…but I do know that if either the male or the female bares ill will towards the other then the two cannot be bound. That the bond was tied and worked, and that your mark is so big…it's clear that he cares deeply about your welfare… So no matter what horrible things you are thinking, you must remember that if he held back the truth from you, he only did it to protect you." She petted the younger girl soothingly.
"All demons respect the mating bond. Your mate took it seriously just like he must've taken you seriously. I simply cannot believe that any demon would hide aspects of the bond from his mate for any reason besides a very good one…I just can't think of an example of what that would be. After all, as you can see, we can outlive our mates. They can never outlive us."
Kagome stilled, "Why can't they outlive us?"
The woman met Kagome's eyes with empathy, "Shhh…don't be so frantic. You said you felt the power of the ceremony when you were mated, well did you not also hear the words? There is no greater tie that can bind a demon than the mating bond. They don't get second tries, they don't ever get to move on, they commit to loving another being so deeply that they are ready to die whenever that being is no longer among the living. Go to him, girl, he will take you back and love you like you were never gone."
She sobbed harder, "I can't go back. I have things to do, other people that need me to fight for them; I can't just leave everyone behind for him… And my place is with my people not the demons…"
The woman's gaze hardened, "You know all this now and you still would willingly travel further away from your mate? Don't you understand what a gift you were given?"
Kagome extracted herself from the woman's arms and rushed to her robes. She dried off with brisk and jerky movements, tears still sliding silently down her cheeks; she just needed to be alone. She could barely breathe knowing the woman was so near.
"You can ignore me all you want Priestess, but you can't ignore your own heart or your mate's," the woman said calmly as she watched Kagome panicking to escape what was already done.
That woman had called Inuyasha mating her a gift. AGift! If everything she said was true…then that would definitely explain Ayame's behavior going from friend to enemy over the course of one evening and remaining very distant during their trip. Oh Kami, what had Inuyasha done? What had she agreed to? What if she had done irreparable damage to him or her soul?
Even as she shut the door firmly to her private room and attempted to catch her ragged breaths while pulling herself together.
Had Inuyasha truly done something so brash just to save a virgin he didn't even know?
Especially a virgin that had killed hundreds of his kind and could easy start doing so again?
He wouldn't be so stupid.
Something inside her disagreed with a smirk.
He wouldn't be so damn cocky.
The thing inside her giggled and nodded its head in argument.
He wouldn't be so selfish….
No…not selfish. He definitely wasn't getting much out of the bargain. He had been self-sacrificing. And she had spent her time with him complaining about her circumstances. KAMI! KAMI! KAMI! She felt like she needed adult supervision.
Inuyasha definitely needed some.
Sleep danced around just out of her reach for another two hours. But when her heavy lids finally fell shut and stayed that way, it was with the image of his lips on hers again and the feel of his warm body cradling hers lovingly.
Two days later….
Inuyasha roared a battle cry of rage as Sesshomaru ran at him again in an attempt to out-maneuver him so they could unchain him.
"Leave me," he snarled in a voice rough from disuse and swung his claws to dig down his brother's spine as the full blooded demon skidded past the hanyou.
"Don't you remember our deal?" Sesshomaru hissed, not acknowledging the four claw marks running down his back that now bled freely. "Well it's been a week baby brother…"
Inuyasha snarled again like the beast he was and lunged towards his brother only to be stopped by his chains…the chains they wanted to remove. He couldn't let them…she depended on it.
"Leave me here," Inuyasha said as he backed up against the wall with the last of his willpower.
"Please. Leave me here," he whispered again, staring up into his big brother's gaze in earnest. "Please. Brother."
Sesshomaru used the opportunity to give a subtle sign to the two demons behind Inuyasha. Both demons jumped on top of the hanyou and dragged him to the ground with their combined weight.
"Oh no," Sesshomaru said a bit breathily, after struggling with the hanyou for nearly thirty minutes they finally had the thorn in Sesshomaru's side in their grasp. "Our deal was: I set you free in a week."
Inuyasha shook his head. It had felt like months. He grunted and struggled under the two demons but he felt the chain fall away from his left wrist. "Leave me!" he demanded and slashed his claws at his attackers with renewed vigor.
The other two demons fell back almost instantly in pain but Sesshomaru jumped into the fray in the space behind him that they had just been in, allowing him with his superior speed to slip in and wrap his arms around his half brother in an unbreakable hold. He nodded at the two wounded demons ran up and started unlocking the three shackles that Sesshomaru hadn't gotten to yet.
Both the dog demon males panted as they strained against each other for a firmer hold on the other. Inuyasha opened his mouth to snap his jaws where his brother's ear was only to feel his teeth and arms closing around open air when Sesshomaru was suddenly gone.
"No…" he said more to himself than anyone else when he realized his chains had been removed and the door to his dungeon was open. The fight was over.
He had to get to his mate.
Sesshomaru stepped out of the shadows and watched the hanyou barreling down the hallways towards the fortress gates. The demon smirked to himself.
Jaken appeared right next to him, looking more wide-eyed than usual, "Do you think he will kill anyone on his way to her?"
"Whether he does or not, is irrelevant. Now he will either be killed trying to reach her or he will find her and fuck her senseless, at which point her human followers will abandon her and hopefully kill her for becoming a tainted whore of a priestess…" Sesshomaru licked the blood from the corner of his mouth where Inuyasha had managed to split his lip. "Either way, the two of them are no longer my problem. I am free to rule my kingdom without Inuyasha's constant interference."
Jaken nodded, "Yes Master Sesshomaru, very wise of you sir!"
The two didn't know it then but they were being observed. Rin took a silent few steps back down the hallway in the other direction before bothering to wipe at the tears running down her round cherub-like cheeks. She needed to warn Kagome…but there was no way that she could beat Inuyasha to his mate now that he had been released…