Oda Nobunaga awoke with alarm. His entire body was shaking with fear. Sweat was pouring from his body. The dreams had started occurring once Tokugawa left Kyoto. It was always the same dream. Instead of staying inside his castles like they had agreed, Tokugawa would rush after the retreating Takeda. The Takeda would turn and charge the center where the Oda arquebusiers were located. The snow was howling. The gunners could not see the oncoming cavalrymen and were overcome. His dream always ended the same way Tokugawa face downin the snow at the gate of Hamamatstu Castle. His head decorated the pole from where the clan banner of the Takeda flew. Was this an omen? Were the kami telling him that Tokugawa would die and the Takeda would be victorious? He must go consult the fortune tellers before the small relief force left to assist Tokugawa.

Takeda Shingen was pleased. Everything was in order for his next victory. This winter campaign should be very easy. No one campaigned in winter. He had already responded to the shogun's appeal to assist him and join the coalition against Nobunaga. He was not headed to Kyoto though or even Gifu. He would cut off Nobunaga's right arm, Tokuagawa. Destroying this small daiymo seemed simple enough. His spies reported that Nobunaga had made no move yet to reinforce his ally. Soon the roads would be impassable. It would be just Tokugawa and himself. Tokugawa was not worthy of the one on one combat like Kenshin. His head would soon atop his own flagpole when the Takeda took Hamamastu. Castle.

The situation was becoming critical for Tokuagawa. The Takeda had entered Mikawa and were taking castle after castle. After his defeat he had appealed to his ally Oda Nobunaga. The response had been less than overwhelming. Nobunaga would not risk leaving Kyoto so long as the shogun presented a threat. His men were becoming restless. They were bound by honor to fight. It was a travesty that they had to sit in their castles while the Takeda marched in and took Mikawa.

A spy approached the Oda kuge in Kyoto. In his hand was a letter sent by Takeda Shingen to the Shogun. Oda Nobunaga surely would pay dearly for such a letter. At last he gained admittance to the counsel chamber. A junior staff member greeted him. He knew this man. Some of daiymo would kill a spy even after they gained information from him.

"What do you want?

"Sire, I bring news of a Takeda alliance with the shogun."

"This is old news. We are already aware that the Takeda are allied with the remaining Asai and Askura."

"Sire, do you have the evidence that the Shogun appealed to the Takeda and Takeda Shingen responded to such an appeal? This evidence is what you need to move against the Shogun."

"How did you obtain such letters.? The Shogun must have them hidden away."

"A spy never reveals his sources. One might say that these letters are a gift of the Kami to Oda Nobunaga."

The counselor examined the face of the spy and offered a purse to the spy. The spy carefully counted out the coins in the purse.

"I think that this information is worth twice as much as you are offering."

"You are lucky that Nobunaga himself is not here. He hates spies. He would take your information and then have you killed."

The spy carefully weighed these words. Perhaps it was better to take what he could get and live to fight another day. He threw the letters at the counselor, picked up the scroll and left. The counselor examined the scrolls. The seals of the shogun and Takeda Shingen were genuine. These two were open and blatant in their plot against his lord. The lord must see these scrolls immediately.

Nobunaga gazed at the fortune teller. He was not sure that he believed any of the palm reading, the astrological readings based on his birth date or the mikos who claimed to speak for the kami while they were in trances. His preference was for actual knowledge based on his own observations. One thing that he had learned from dealing with the gajin was that not everything that the came from the mouth a spiritual man was true. He had to kill so many monks who had taken up arms against himself and every other daiymo. Blood would continue to flow until every one of Ikko Ikki were dead. Since when did followers of Buddha need castles , arquebussess and cannon. He had always that the Buddhists were concerned about the afterlife. Maybe they were trying to create hell here on earth so everyone would wish for the hereafter. His fortune was cast at last. The Shogun would fall. The Takeda would fall. It all depended on the card that represented Tokuagawa. He looked to the fortuneteller.

"What should I do?"

"In order to achieve the result set forth in the cards, you must loose the demon."

With a flourish the fortune teller laid the card representing the demon on top of the card representing Takeda.

" If he is not loosed, this one(indicating the card that represented Tokugawa) will die and your fortune will be reversed. You will fall with Tokugawa."

Just then the junior counselor rushed into the room. Nobunaga was greatly disturbed.

"Couldn't you wait.until I was done with this session"

"Sire, I bring news of treachery between the Takeda and the Shogun."

Nobunga had everyone ushered out of the chamber.

"Show me the proof."

The counselor handed Nobunaga the scrolls. Nobunaga read quickly. They were open and blatant. He had to act soon. The cards said that Tokugawa must be saved. His dream said that Tokugawa would die if he did not come. He could had not time to assemble an army. He must travel with a small retinue under cover of darkness. No one must know that he had left Kyoto. If they did , the shogun and his allies would attack in capitol. There would street fighting like there had been when he had driven out the Miyoshi. They would leave tonight. With any luck they would be at Hammanastu before it fell.

All of the battles with Uesugi Kenshin were not wasted on Takeda Shingen. He knew the formations. He knew the strategies. No one could outsmart him. Tokugawa would be drawn out of his fortifications and destroyed. His advance scouts had spotted Tokugawa at Saigake cliff. .That army consisted of 8,000 troops. It was reported that there were another 3000 of Nobunaga's troops in support at Hammanastu which were on the move to assist Tokugawa. He had over 33,000 troops of which 25,000 were horsemen. The old tricks were always thebest. Even the best samurai would break formation if they were provoked. Takeda set his men in the gyorin formation and prepared to attack the Tokugawa who aligned in a line formation for the arquebusiers. Takeda knew that Tokugawa was relying on his firepower to save the day. He did not realize that Takeda had armed his own cavalry with pikes. The gunners would never know what hit them.

After an initial assault along at the Tokugawa line, the Takeda appeared to be withdrawing using peasant stone throwers for cover. Finally, the Tokugawa samurai started to pursue the retreating Takeda. At this point the Takeda cavalry turned and charged the Tokugawa line. The gunners could no longer see their targets. They were in blizzard conditions. The combination of wind from the north, a snow storm and darkness of that late February afternoon made resistance with the arquebussess impossible. Many of them of them broke and ran back towards Saigake.where resistance began to stiffen. Here Tokugawa had O-kubo Tadayo plant his golden fan standard as a rallying point. Tokugawa wanted to go back and save his generals who were trapped by the first assault. Natsume Yoshinobu convinced him to retreat. As Tokugawa left the scene, Yoshinobu himself futily threw himself against the oncoming Takeda horde. The Takeda assembled for a second charge. It would surely break the back of the Tokugawa. The gunners could still not see the oncoming cavalry charge.

A stir was heard in the Tokugawa ranks. Something was happening. The ranks parted. A dark flame appeared on the cliff. It was too late to stop the charge. From the cliff poured five furrows of dark fire. accompanied by huge gusts of wind. which blew the snow storm back into the faces of the oncoming riders. Both sides were stunned. There in the light of the flames and sword light stood a demon laughing manically. The snow swirled all around him. It was like a dark evil flame had suddenly burst forth in the snow storm. Panic began to set in and all sides. The Oda and Tokugawa raced back to the safety of Hammamatsu Castle Anywhere to get away from the Takeda, the snow and the demon. The Takeda horses panicked. Many of them threw their riders and raced off in all different directions. The remainder of the horsemen steadied their mounts and retreated to the main body of the Takeda forces.

The demon watched in amusement as the humans and their animals scattered before him like the wind. When he was finally alone, he started to feed on the bodies of the fallen. His master had not properly fed him for a year. He would make up for lost time. When he was finally sated he walked back towards the castle where he knew that his master was waiting.

Those who had observed the demon were appalled with his behavior. The Takeda withdrew in fear to their camp. The vanguard had observed the open gate at Hammamastu and assumed that the Tokugawa was using the empty fort ruse and that the demon would be waiting for them when they entered the castle.

Nobunaga was pleased. His demon had performed admirably. Tokugawa had been saved. The Takeda had been thrown back. There remained one task to perform before he could return to Kyoto. He needed to decimate the Takeda so that they would simply return to attack Tokugawa after he went home. Inuyasha met him outside the gate in the snow.

"Demon, I have one last task for you to perform before you return home. I want you to attack the Takeda camp tonight under cover of darkness. Create as many casualties as you can without risk to yourself or the persons who will guide you to the camp. After that you can feed and kill at will, but return to me before morning so that we can be on the road back to Kyoto."

"I hear and obey, master"

Tokugawa furnished him with several scouts who pinpointed the location of Takeda camp.Later, that night the five furrow of death hit the center of their camp. The retreat of the Takeda now became a rout. Inuyasha stood wishing he could kill all of the retreating warrior and their horses, but he had his orders and a late night snack was waiting for him. The accompanying soldiers were appalled as the demon consumed both man and beast. It would haunt their dreams for the rest of their lives. When they reported back what they had seen to Tokugawa he knew that he had been correct to refuse the assistance of a demon. His friend was now totally consumed by some unholy being and Nobunaga was his master. He must never cross Nobunaga or he would Inuyasha's next meal.

Nobunaga was estatic. When he returned to Kyoto, he assembled his army to march against the Shogun. While he was preparing he learned that the happy news that Takeda Shingen had died of illness during his retreat to Kai. The Shogun would be the next to fall. Nobunaga would drive him out of Kyoto destroy all his remaining allies and then force him to give up his power as Shogun.

For the first time in years. Nobunaga could smile. The enemies that surrounded him were broken and would soon be sent to the dustbin of history. The only thing that bothered him was what would happen if ever ran out of enemies to feed to his demon. It always cried for blood. Would it someday cry for his blood.

Higurashi Kagome, Lady of the West scanned the news that the scrolls brought her. Events were progressing the way her books told her that they should. One report in particular bothered her. She knew from her book that Takeda Shingen had won the Battle of Mikatagahara against Tokugawa who had survived with only five men making it back to the fort. It had only been the confusion and the fear of the "empty fort" trick that had stopped Takeda from killing Tokugawa. Yet here in front of her was a report of a demon who had suddenly appeared and stopped the Takeda charge and later destroyed the Takeda camp. Before she had come to the Sengoku Jidai she would have dismissed it as myth. Now as mate of a demon lord, she could only wonder who the demon was and why he was interefering with her history book.