***Author's Note***
We've got a bit of butt-kicking action in this chapter! There are only a few more chapters that need re-writing then I'll get back to new stuff! I'm so excited - I totally can't wait for y'all to see what I've got planned! Enjoy!
***end Note***
They had decided to move on in the middle of the night, rather than wait for morning. As a result, Inuyasha carried a slumbering Kagome on his back, while Kouga carried Shippo. Something about the previous day's events still bothered Inuyasha. "How did they find us?" He wondered quietly, drawing the gazes of Kouga and Sesshomaru. "I mean, I didn't sense any of them until they were already on us. That's not normal, not even close."
Kouga grunted, "Yeah. You're not exactly brilliant, but you've got a hell of a nose. I've never known you to be taken by surprise by an attack."
"I don't like this. Sesshomaru; didn't you say Moshiro is a 'Shadow-Demon'?" Inuyasha queried.
"I did," was Sesshomaru's answer, drawing an eye roll from his brother.
"Okay. Well, what the hell does that mean?"
The youkai shrugged, "I'm not really sure. I've never had the displeasure of meeting him."
Kouga shuddered, "I've heard rumors, and if I've heard 'em, you must have."
Sesshomaru sighed, growing impatient, "I have, but they are only rumors, and outlandish at best."
The wolf-demon glowered, "Fine. I'll tell him, then. The rumors are that he's more than half-shadow, himself. I've heard that he can actually control the shadows and make them do whatever he wants. I've heard that he can just disappear into the darkness. He'll be there one second and gone the next – no trace of scent, nothing."
Inuyasha felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, "That's just wrong. Sesshomaru; you don't believe the stories?" The youkai said nothing but gave his brother a look that clearly said he thought the hanyou was being an idiot. Inuyasha nodded and fell silent, allowing himself to be lulled into a sort of trance, listening to the rhythmic pounding of their feet on the packed-dirt road.
With Shippo and Kagome sleeping peacefully, they had been able to make excellent time, as they did not have to slow their pace to match Shippo's. Over the last six years, he had grown a great deal taller and was now able to run alongside them, rather than being carried all the time; but his speed still needed some improvement. The poor fox had tried his best to keep up with them, but had begun to slow. Kouga had taken pity on the young kitsune and offered to carry him. Shippo had been asleep in moments, curled into a ball in Kouga's arms. He was at that awkward age where he was too old to be treated like a child, but still too young to be counted as an adult; it made things like being carried rather awkward for him.
"Well, whether or not the rumors are true," Inuyahsa observed as he came out of his "trance", "I don't think we can afford to underestimate Moshiro. We should assume that he is at least as powerful as Naraku, if not more so."
"Agreed, mutt. Until we know for sure, we'll just have to be careful," Kouga agreed.
Just then, Kagome stirred on Inuyasha's back, "Inuyasha?" she asked blearily, "Where are we?"
Inuaysha smiled to himself, "Well, we've been on the trail of that awful scent we caught when those guys jumped us yesterday, and it's getting stronger."
"You kept going even though I fell asleep!? You should have stopped to rest, Inuyasha. You won't do anyone any good if you're too worn out to..."
"Keh," he interrupted, "I'm fine, Kagome. You don't have to worry. Really, I'm fine. I'm not tired at all. I promise." He glanced over his shoulder to smile brilliantly at her, "You have nothing to worry about."
Kagome seemed unconvinced, "O...kay. If you really think you're alright. How much further, do you think?"
"Well, given how strong the scent is, I'd say we'll reach it in less than thirty minutes; maybe fifteen? Either way, it won't be long now."
Kagome nodded, "Okay, well you'd better wake Shippo, Kouga. He'd hate to miss this."
Kouga nodded and did as she asked, but kept the young kitsune in his arms so they would not have to slow. "Wouldn't want you too tired to fight, would we?" he asked the fox logically.
"I guess not," mused Shippo, "Alright. You can carry me, but only because I don't want to get worn out."
Sure enough, within a few minutes they began to see the outline of a once-great castle with the remains of a village gathered around it. The village had been completely abandoned at least half a decade before, but there were signs recent habitation. There were foot-and-claw marks in the ground, and signs that someone had been dragged towards the castle. Whoever it was, they sure put up a hell of a fight, Inuyasha thought to himself. There were splatters of old, dried blood on the ground here and there, Looks like they didn't really care whether or not they got hurt.
"Oh, god," Kagome said from inside one of the huts, "Inuyasha, come in here."
The hanyou hurried to her, and blanched at what he saw. Inside hung the corpse of a young man who had clearly been tortured to death. The poor soul had been hung by his wrists in a fashion that told Inuyasha he'd most likely been dead before being hung here. There were a number of other corpses in the same condition. In the center of the room, there was a brazier that belched massive amounts of smoke. Inuyasha went green when he realized where they were, "Oh, crap. This is a smokehouse. They're preserving the...meat." He swallowed hard around the bile that had risen in his throat.
Kagome gasped and looked back at the young man, "We have to do something. We can't just leave these people here like this!"
Inuyasha took her by the shoulders gently, "We will, but not yet. If we remove the bodies, they'll know we're here. We'll do what we came for first, then we'll bury these people. Okay?"
Kagome sniffled as tears welled in her eyes, "Okay. I...I remember him," she whispered, "He was human, like me. His mate...She's a powerful shape-shifter. They never hurt anyone; they just wanted to live their lives among humans in peace. He was so sure she'd come for him..." she choked out a sob and rushed from the small hut into the fresh air, "I am personally going to kill them for this. He was so kind; he didn't deserve this."
Inuyasha cradled her head on his shoulder as she wept, "I know. Don't worry, they'll pay for what they've done. I promise. They're not getting away with this." His voice seethed with anger and his hands shook, "Just wait 'til I get my hands on 'em."
Kouga grunted, "You won't have to wait long, mutt, but if we don't get moving, they'll find us, and we'll lose the element of surprise. We won't stand a chance if that happens. I can hear at least twenty guys in there; probably closer to forty, though."
Kagome nodded as she wiped her face on a sleeve, "Okay. Let's go." Together, they made their way stealthily towards the castle, holding their noses as they passed a half-dozen more "smokehouses". Finally, they crept close enough to hear the guards on patrol outside the run-down castle. Silently, Kagome loosed an arrow, striking one demon between the eyes; he fell without a sound. Inuaysha did much the same, sneaking up behind another guard, slitting his throat and lowering him softly to the ground so that he made no noise to alert the demons inside.
At last, they had dealt with all of the guards and made their way inside. They found no one inside the main entry and instantly went on alert. It's almost like they were waiting for us, thought Inuyasha. This is too easy. Just then, flame rushed along the roof of the castle, lighting the room. There came a chilling laugh, "Did you really think my Master didn't realize you'd be coming here?", came Noru's taunting voice, "We've been waiting for you. I hope you can get through all of us in time to save the people you came here to save before they burn to death. I'd hate to have that on my conscience.", Noru smiled nastily as he taunted them.
Inuyasha and Kagome glared at him, "Well, it's your funeral," snarled Inuyasha as he drew Tetsuaiga and charged at the demons, hacking off limbs as he went. Kagome shot arrow after arrow and Sesshomaru dashed in with Bakusaiga, Kouga right behind him with the Goraishi while Shippo stayed back and used his fox magic where it would be most useful. Noru stood laughing as his demons converged on the small group, "You won't be leaving here alive. I hope you realize that. I'm going to have quite the feast tonight," he chuckled darkly. His smile slowly began to fade as his demons fell one by one, Inuyasha and the others growing closer with every step. "Wait.." Inuyasha shot him a vicious, toothy grin and Noru took half a step back, "This...This isn't possible. You can't..."
The final demon fell beneath the Tetsuaiga; Inuyasha pointed the enormous blade at Noru, "Who's next?", he said darkly. Noru paled and darted away.
Kagome sprinted past Inuyasha, "We don't have time for this! There are people back there!"
Inuyasha sprang after her, wrapping her in his Fire Rat Robe just as they leaped through a line of flame separating them from the room holding the captives. Distantly, they heard screaming and burst through a door to find a half-dozen people, human and demon alike, secured to the walls with thick, heavy chains that they could not break in their weakened conditions. "Sesshomaru!" Kagome cried, "We need you!"
The youkai walked calmly into the room, staring around coldly, She's not here. I really shouldn't be surprised; this was far too easy, he thought to himself.
"Sesshomaru, please help us! We need to get these people out of here before they die!"
Sesshoamru stared at her with an oddly hollow expression, "Why should I? They are nothing to me. It is Rin that I am here for, not these people."
Kagome coughed as a pillar of smoke was blown into her face, "We can't do this without you! Please!" Her plea ended on a scream as a wall of flame leaped up before her, burning her arms as she shielded her face.
On a snarl, the youkai lunged forward and began unceremoniously tossing people over his shoulder before rushing them outside where he dumped them roughly on the ground, "I'm only helping because I promised your daughter I'd bring you both home, and if I don't help you'll just get yourselves killed."
"Uh, we might want to hurry up; I don't know how long this roof will hold," called Inuyasha. As though his words were prophetic, a section of the roof suddenly collapsed, sending flame and embers everywhere. The captives screamed as Inuyasha and Sesshomaru shielded them.
"We've got to go. Now," cried Kagome, as more ceiling fell in. Kouga dashed in, grabbing a captive under each arm while Inuyasha and Sesshomaru did the same. Just then, there was a backdraft; a massive gust of wind blew through the castle, fanning the flames into a massive fireball. Kagome screamed and cowered towards Inuyasha, feeling the heat blister her skin, being sure to shield her already-singed arms.
The flames suddenly turned blue and they heard Shippo cry out, "Go! Now! I can't hold the fire back for long!" Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and Kouga dashed past the flame with Kagome hard on their heels and their precious cargo shoved unceremoniously under their arms. Just in time, they made it out of the castle as the roof fell in entirely.
"Phew," breathed Inuyasha as he set his cargo down gently, "That was close."
Kagome chuckled, "Yeah, just a little too close." She turned to the newly-freed captives, "We'll see you to the next village, where they can get you the help you'll need, okay?" The captives quickly and readily agreed, but before they would leave, Inuyasha and the others raided the village huts for more "smokehouses," tearing down the bodies and burying them individually at the edge of the village. Altogether, they had nearly thirty lost souls to bury, and as a priestess, it fell to Kagome to say a few words. "I, uh...I didn't know most of these poor people, but I did know one of them. I never knew his name, but he was unfailingly kind to me. His kindness carried me through many difficult times, and I thank him for it now. I failed him; I did not succeed in our escape attempt, and he paid the ultimate price for my failure. I swear on his grave that I will not fail again. I will free the others. Rest well, my friend." Absently, she rubbed at her burned forearms, which were already well on their way to healing.
With that, they concluded the ceremony and made their way to the next village. They met with the leader of the village and asked that they look after the people they had saved until they were well enough to find their way back to their mates. The elder agreed and said that he would send out riders with the news that six of the stolen mates had been rescued. Inuyasha smiled, "That should bring their mates looking. I couldn't have hoped for any better, Elder. Thank you." The man bowed deeply as they took their leave, continuing on their journey.
As they left the village, Inuyasha and Kagome were walking far behind the others so that they could have some semblance of privacy. Kagome had her arm looped through Inuyasha's with her head on his shoulder, walking slowly together. Kouga and the others did their very best to give the mated pair space, but Kouga kept glancing back now and then. He couldn't figure out why, but he felt as though something were following them. He glanced back for what must have been the hundredth time and stopped in his tracks, "Where are Inuyasha and Kagome!?" he shouted in surprise, "They were here a moment ago!"
Sesshomaru paused, tilting his head to the side and scenting at the air, "I can't catch their scent." His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the wolf-demon, "The only scent I can find is Noru's; theirs have completely vanished."
***Author's Note***
So, wee bit of a cliffhanger there...Sorry about that. Sort of. Thanks for reading. Lots of love!
- Lady Darkwind