A/N I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters herein.
So, for those of you who are not on Tumblr, while I was writing this story and the in particular the spell song Kagome sings here I wrote it to a tune. I decided to upload the recording I made of myself singing the song (Yes, this is my voice). You can find it at the link below. Please keep in mind that I do not own any professional recording equipment, this was me on my phone with a pair of crummy headphones.
h_t_t_p_s:/_/_clyp_._it_/gppmgpn3 (Please remove the underscores, it wouldn't let me post the link otherwise.)
She had tried to be careful, had tried to keep the secret. Her cousin, Kikyou and herself had discovered their abilities when they were very young. Not even her mother or little brother knew. Kikyou had left the small village a few years ago saying there were safer places for a witch to live, but Kagome couldn't abandon her mother. She needed to help take care of her family since her father had passed from the dreaded plague that wiped out so many of the villagers over a decade ago.
Now she was in a small prison cell, waiting for her death at the hands of the people she loved and cared for. She had been a healer training under Kaede, since she was 12. She knew all the medicinal herbs that grew in the area and how to combine them to make medicine for almost every sickness there was. And she discovered that if she used her power, she could make them stronger. Not that she did that unless it was necessary.
But somehow she had been in the forest singing to her herbs to help them to grow, and someone had seen her. She didn't know who had run to the headman about the whole thing, it's not like she didn't sing constantly. She found that music was the most powerful way to harness her magic, and it was never noticeable unless she was exerting a lot of force. But there was a young mother in the village who had had 3 miscarriages so far, and she wanted a baby so badly. She just wanted to help. She knew the herbs wouldn't be ready in time. She just figured that a little help to get them to bloom might be enough to save this woman's baby and give her a chance at happiness.
Now she was going to be killed by the very people she had struggled to help over the last several years. Unless there was a way to save herself? She thought back to all she had learned and studied. She thought long and hard, trying to figure out a way out of this. She could hear heavy footsteps approaching. She wasn't going to have much time now. She had glanced out the small window and saw the pyre they were preparing. Preparing to burn her alive. Tears fell from her eyes unbidden. She took a deep breath. She didn't want to die, but she would not give them the satisfaction of knowing they hurt her. She needed to find a way out of this.
As the bar was lifted from the door she stood up tall and proud. She looked the young guard in the face, she knew this man. She had grown up with him, he even had tried to court her when she came of age a few years ago, but she knew they hadn't been a good match.
"Kagome, I'm sorry. I know what they're saying can't be true. But I can't go against the headman. Please come with me."
She smiled sadly at him, "Hojo, it's okay. I know you are bound to your fate. I will do what I must to change mine."
She stood and followed him down the passageway. He was holding a rope that was wrapped around her middle and had her arms bound together behind her back. Apparently they had believed that witches use their hands to cast spells. She however had no need of it, she began to hum a tune to herself, and before she knew what was happening a song was forming on her lips. Barely spoken under her breath. The lyrics sounded foreign even to herself.
"Come unto me, my dark Angel.
Come unto me, my fire born.
Save me from the heat and flames.
Protect me from their unjust scorn.
Take from me what you will,
And remove me from this place.
Allow me to cast my unworthy gaze,
Upon mine savior's face."
Hojo knew he should have stopped her singing, but witches couldn't perform magic without their hands, they had to use ritualistic gestures and powerful circles. She was just trying to give herself a bit of peace. This young beauty, who he had been in love with most of his life, was no more a witch than he was a Kappa. She was too good, too sweet to hurt anyone. There was no way she was a witch. Witches were deformed from the evil inside their hearts, and Kagome was beautiful. Witches were cruel and vindictive, and Kagome was kind and caring. She had treated everyone in the village. There was no way that evil had rooted itself into her heart. Her soul was too pure.
She arrived at the pyre and Hojo was staring at her entranced as she sang quietly. There was another guardsman who she didn't know as wel who tied her to the post in the center of the pyre. She continued to sing quietly, and the guard backhanded her hard.
"Shut up, witch! You will die for your sins today!"
She looked him in the eyes and spoke harsh and low, "And what are my sins other than using powers to save those who needed saving?"
He spit in her face and stepped away from the pyre. "My Lord, she is ready to burn. Shall I light the fire, or is there someone else she has harmed who would take the torch?"
The headman shook his head, "No, you may light it. The sooner her evil is out of our midst, the better it will be for all of us."
The man grabbed an unlit torch from the bucket of pitch and struck flint to steel to catch it. Kagome began singing again and closed her eyes as if in prayer. She could feel the words come to her with such power. She needed this to work. She didn't know who she was asking for help, only that she needed help. Badly.
"Come unto me, My sweet angel.
Please follow the wind to find me.
Let not their hatred control the powers
That we cannot see.
Save me from the heat and flames,
Protect me from their unjust scorn.
Come unto me my Angel of flames…"
Suddenly the torch was lit, and he smiled evilly at her before throwing the torch into the wood gathered at her feet. She struggled to finish the song, knowing it would be her only chance, but the smoke was rising around her and burning her lungs. She struggled not to cough, as she knew if the spell was interrupted something could go horribly wrong.
"Please come unto me, My fire born"
She tried to stay calm, maintain her breathing, but the smoke was rolling over her in black tendrils and she felt her chest burning. She closed her eyes and felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. Then she felt a new heat searing into her. Her bindings were cut, and a hand was wrapped around her mouth, the cloth hot against her, blocking the smoke. She opened her eyes and saw gold. The eyes staring at her resembled a soft honey freshly collected from bees, and she could see a slight smirk. She tried to focus on the being before her, but her head was throbbing from the smoke.
He lifted her up easily and leapt away from the fire, landing on the ground in front of the headman.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you, if you play with fire you're likely to get burned." He used his left arm to anchor her to him, and his right hand he slashed towards the pyre and the flames fell and began to spread across the square.
She began coughing, and his attention was drawn to her instantly. It had been centuries since someone had been powerful enough to summon him, and she hadn't even used a summoning circle. What the hell was he doing here? He lifted her in his arms one arm around her shoulders the other beneath her knees and took off into the forest.
"Don't you die on me, you stupid girl!"
She was gasping and coughing, trying to get her breath, but the air was too thin up so high. She finally felt him drop to the ground, and she struggled to catch her breath. She glanced around and recognized where they were immediately. She had grown up in the forest and had been foraging for herbs for many years here. She took a few deep breaths and noticed her lungs were still burning. She stood carefully, her eyes scanning for a familiar plant that helped with respiratory issues. It was normally brewed as a tea, but chewing on the leaves and swallowing the juices mixed with saliva would have to work for now. Once her eyes alighted on the plant, she began to scurry over to it, looking forward to diminishing the ache in her chest, but a firm grip on her arm stopped her forward momentum and she shrunk down instinctively. I mean, who could blame her after the day she'd had.
"Fuck woman! Why would I try to hurt ya after I just saved ya! Besides if ya get hurt then the contract is worthless."
She lifted her head from her other arm and saw the golden eyes she had seen in the fire. They were real and they were staring at her. She had to question if her eyes had been damaged as well because she could see a fang poking from the one corner of his mouth, and his lips were drawn up in a smirk. This was the angel she summoned? He was beautiful. His tan skin, flowing white hair, deep honey eyes, and two little triangles on top of his head. Dog ears? She needed to get her throat to calm down so she could thank him properly and figure out what she owed him. You can't summon a creature for free. She dared not speak before then, or she feared that anything she said might be used against her in the contract.
Her throat was dry and she knew speaking was going to hurt so she pointed to the plant with the arm he wasn't holding and he looked in the direction of her outstretched arm.
As he followed where she was pointing he became more confused. There was nothing there but forest, what the fuck did this wench want?
He lifted her carefully and moved in the direction she was pointing until she held both hands up to stop him. He set her down. Even more puzzled than before and she knelt down and pulled a few leaves off of a spiky plant. He watched as she carefully stripped as many of the spikes off as she could then put the leaf in her mouth, chewing slowly. Then she looked back up at him and smiled.
He was in trouble, whoever this witch was, she was powerful. He'd never felt so drawn to someone before in his life. She lifted her right hand and formed a semicircle and lifted it to her lips. She needed a drink. He was an idiot. She had been in a fire, she couldn't speak. He lifted his nose to the air, and he could smell fresh water not far away. He carried her there faster than she was ready for, but she didn't scream. Either her throat hurt worse than he realized or she was much braver than he would have guessed.
She filled her hands several times. Was she humming as she filled her hands? And drank her fill, then she spit out the leaves and released a long sigh, followed by a gentle clearing of her throat. Then her deep blue eyes landed on him again. He felt his heart almost skip a beat. She was far too powerful.