Hello everyone! I've been really looking forward to posting this chapter and I hope you enjoy it as much :)
WARNING: Heavy battle coming. No gory descriptions (cause I don't write gore), but there are some pretty angsty moments. You have been warned.
Chapter 10: The powerful and powerless
A better feeling Miroku and an OK Shippo went in the left and started to battle the demons, while Kirara and Kohaku were trying to slip unnoticed by the demons. Inuyasha double checked his friends' position on the battlefield, before shouting:
"WIND SCAR!"
A blinding light appeared from Tessaiga, creating a massive blow that obliterated half of the demons, houses and everything in its way. It even created some huge deep scars in the ground, over 2 meters high.
"Wow!" Lizzy said mount wide open and with glittering eyes. "Isn't this amazing, Aunty Kagome and Sango?"
Sango seemed to overcome her moment of shock upon being overwhelmed by another.
'Such a massive demonic power!' She thought.
Kagome was speechless. When did Inuyasha developed such power? She knew he was powerful, but this demonic energy was something at a different level. At a first sight, it would look as if a full demon was fighting. She was impressed and could only nod at Lizzy's answer. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. It was more to the story than just her relationship with Inuyasha.
She and Sango continued to stare at the battle down the hill, from the shadows of the trees.
Kirara and Kohaku stopped startled as well.
"INUYASHA, ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! The VILLAGERS YOU IDIOT!" Shippo shouted.
"Shippo, he might have known there couldn't have been any villagers alive when there are so many demons in that part of the village."
"Yeah, but still, Miroku, WATCH OUT!"
Before Miroku could react, a demon appeared out of the nowhere and pierced Miroku's left hand. Instinctively, Miroku reached for his weapon and cut the demon's face away from him. He then jumped back and slightly got burned on his legs by foxfire. Shippo was attacking the demons somehow from behind him, causing the monk to accidentally almost get into the fox demon's attack.
The wind scar made the demons to run away from further possible attacked, causing a big wave of demons in the trio's direction.
"Wind tunnel!" Miroku shouted as he prepared to take away the beads.
Inuyasha heard him and a dreadful feeling overcame him. Unfocused, he felt being thrown by a demon with force in the opposite direction from Miroku, knocking out the air out of his lungs. He got up and saw a startled Miroku being violently pushed to the ground by a bunch of demons who sank their fangs into his outstretched right arm.
"NOOO!" Sango screamed horrified, grabbed Hirakotsu and threw it where the demons were attacking Miroku.
Kirara was trying to help him while Miroku, taken by surprise was barely able to protect himself with his stuff from the aggressive and strong demons who were trying to rip him limb by limb. Hiraikotsu hit in time, destroying the demons on top of him, but he was too weak to lift himself up. Kirara appeared with Kohaku and grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him while Kohaku started battling the demons. Sango was getting closer and attacked the demons with her sword. She re-grabbed Hirakotsu, but dropped next to Miroku.
"MIROKU, NO, PLEASE, TALK TO ME, STAY WITH ME, HANG ON!" She pleaded with tears in her eyes while slightly shaking the monk.
"I'll be fine my dear Sango, don't cry…" Miroku tried to encourage her, but his voice was weak.
Sango and Kohaku were trying to lift him on Kirara while Shippo put a barrier against the demons.
Inuyasha in the meantime Wind Scared more demons and tried clearing a path for his friends while trying to control his power and not blow everyone in the way too. He tried to focus on the battle and push the guilt feeling aside because he knew Miroku didn't have the Wind Tunnel and he forgot Miroku doesn't know that. And because of that, Miroku almost suffered a dead blow. Inuyasha tried to put the dark thoughts aside and focus on the battle.
Kagome heard Inuyasha's thoughts. Why didn't Miroku had any more the Wind Tunnel?! What else Inuyasha was forgetting? He had too much on his shoulders. She had watched terrified how Miroku used it, but the sucking void never came, so the demons jumping on him actually caught him.
Kagome couldn't bare just watch and see her friends in this state. With Lizzy in her arms, she went to pick her bow and arrow. She had to help! Despite Inuyasha's great power, there were still too many demons. Miroku needed urgent medical attention. They had to retreat, but it wasn't easy.
Kagome was so caught in planning how to help her friends, that she didn't notice the approaching cunning demon. Or the second one. Or the third one. They were slowly circling in. Just as she grabbed her weapons with one arm while the other one was still holding Lizzy, the demons all jumped at once, catching Kagome off guard and freezing her body in place, but not her voice.
"INUYASHAAAAAAA!"
Inuyasha was just clearing a path for his friends, when he heard it. The piercing scream that cut through his body, making his heart almost stop in place and his demonic energy dropped so fast and raised back so fast that his ears were ringing, and his head was hurting. He forgot how to breathe and looked with horror in the direction where he left Kagome.
It happened so quick that Kagome only remembered hugging Lizzy closer in an attempt to protect her from the impact. She had her eyes closed, so she didn't see Lizzy's fast, but precise movement. She didn't see how the girl used her whip using both hands and creating a circle around them. Lizzy's demonic energy cut the demons and burned them down. Kagome might have not sensed the demons because they hid their aura, but they didn't hide their smell and Lizzy sensed it even before they started to circle them.
Kagome's breathing was raging, and her heart was beating fanatically. She was trembling and her arms were burning. She noticed blood dripping on her arm and realised it was coming from her neck. Kagome felt sick and dropped to her knees, holding Lizzy.
"A..a…are…are you..OK?" She managed to ask.
"I'm so sorry for hurting you, Aunty Kagome!" Lizzy replied as tears gathered in her eyes.
"Wha, wh, what do you mean?"
"I'm still learning how to control my power, and, in the process, I managed to almost burn your arms and, and, and one almost caught you!" Lizzy ended sobbing and hugging Kagome.
Although her hands were burning, Kagome hugged back the little girl. She then quickly checked her wound neck and discovered it was a shallow cut.
"It's OK, it's OK, it's because of you that I'm alive, thank you for saving me!"
Lizzy was just crying now and Kagome patted her on the back.
All of a sudden, Kagome felt terrible sick: her heart started pacing, breathing became harder and her head was hurting. She looked in the direction of the battlefield with a knowing feeling.
Inuyasha breathed out relieved upon seeing that Kagome and Lizzy seemed out of the danger. However, the demons didn't let him catch his breath and attacked him full force. He barely had time to grab his sword sheath and create a barrier to weaken the impact of the blow. Inuyasha was still thrown several miles further were a demon lounged to take a bite of him. He barely dodged him, but run into another demon who swallowed him alive.
Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Shippo and Kohaku were midway in Kagome's direction, when they stopped and looked horrified at what was happening to Inuyasha. They were just about to return, when the demon who ate Inuyasha, exploded and Inuyasha came out with his claws full of the demon's remains. Other demons appeared in front of him.
Kagome put Lizzy down and prepared her bow and arrow. No more damsel in distress, she had to help Inuyasha because she knew it that it was because of her that he lost focus.
"Protect my back!" She told Lizzy as she prepared to aim.
Her target was a demon that was coming from behind Inuyasha. It was at about 2-3 meters, but was probably going to jump.
Sango and the others were supposed to get to her, but they seemed to have taken a sharp turn away from her. They were following Shippo in his pink bumble form, who was screaming to follow him because he saw some demons on the direction they were previously going. Kagome realised that she might get attacked very soon, but she didn't care, she had to save Inuyasha. Lizzy will help her anyway. That's when she noticed Lizzy moving away from her at about ten steps. Was the girl letting her being attacked by this demon Shippo must have seen?
It was more or less ten seconds in which Kagome noticed these things, but she pushed them aside and focused on her aim. She'll hit that coming demon with the next arrow. She released the arrow just as the demon was jumping in Inuyasha's direction
The arrow flew in the direction of the demon, but what Kagome didn't expect, was its power. When she released the arrow, its strength pushed her off her feet and she fell on her back, hitting hard the ground. She felt Lizzy coming behind her, but she focused to look after the arrow. And realised with horror that the light surrounding the arrow, the purifying light was so big that not only it will hit Inuyasha as well, but the whole village and everything that was in its way.
"INUYASHAAAAAAA, NO, RUN!" She started to scream and get up to run, but she knew she couldn't have made it in time.
Inuyasha was just finishing off the demons in front of him and was preparing to destroy the one who was creeping in behind him when he felt a familiar energy. He realised with fear that Kagome released an arrow and he looked in her direction just in time to see the purifying energy coming his way. He heard her scream and he felt her pain, so he tried to calm her through their mind connection.
'I'll be…'
Kagome watched in horror as the arrow's light wrapped the whole village, including Inuyasha and his last thought for her.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed as she felt something inside her break and she sprinted into the direction she last saw Inuyasha just as the blinding light was slowly fading away.
Oh, my! Did I just kill the main character? I guess we'll all find out next next week as usual. Please, no hate, the story is not a tragedy, so breath in, breath out and wait until next update ;-)
Alannada - Glad you are enjoying it ^_^ And thanks for being understandable, I know you were looking forward to the battle…Hope the battle chapter was enjoyable and not very angsty. Yeah, Inuyasha is trying his best, but it's not easy because he can't exactly spill all the beans, but at the same time, he needs to tell them more for their own safety. However, whenever he admits something, it raises a series of other questions that themselves raise more. Like a snowball effect ;-)
venezolana lopez - Thank you for your reviews! I am happy to hear you find my story interesting enough to want a faster update, but unfortunately, I can't do faster than 2 weeks. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter!
Thank you to everyone reading the story, followers, favourites and reviewers! You keep me going :) Take care and all the best! As usual, next update in 2 weeks!