Here I go again! Read and Review!!
Whispers of that Nameless Fear
Chapter Five
The demon reached out with his cruel hand and gripped Inu-Yasha around the middle, saliva dripping from his black gums and ivory fangs. He squeezed, "My name willlllll be writttteeeeennn across the stars by Naraaaaaakuuuu for thissss."
"Feh, Naraku ain't gonna do squat for you, lizard lips!" his prey sneered, squirming in the iron fist. "He ain't gonna do squat because you ain't nothing to him!"
Enzuno hissed, his foul breath wavering through the cool night air, hot and moist. "Naraaaaakuuuuuu is lord of all the lands, half-breed. After I desssstroyyy you and your human morsel I will return to my masssster proud."
The hand began to glow hot once more as Inu-Yasha felt the familiar wave of nausea rush through him as his strength was taken from his very bones. "You will . . . n . . . never . . . beat . . ."
"I already have!" Enzuno cackled happily in an orgasm of pleasure as he let his magic do its work. The taste of the hanyou . . . it was exhilarating. A flavor no full demon could possess. A taste he began to grow fond of . . . perhaps he will seek more half demons to consume . . . their life energies seemed to be stronger and full of flavor . . .
The slashing light of claws ripped through the darkness, striking the vile demon across his face and eyes in an explosion of power. Enzuno howled in pain as he dropped Inu-Yasha back to the forest floor a broken body as he scratched and claws at his eyes that burned within his skull.
The new force stood her ground, placed firmly in between the fallen hanyou and his near unconscious human companion with every hair on end. Ears erect and claws twitching at the ready, Ayame focused on the beast, her eyes like searing fire . . .
Enzuno rubbed his eyes, blinking, trying to focus on his targets but the demon that hurt him confused him . . . he couldn't see her anymore . . . he had nearly been blinded and suddenly he felt as if he had been weakened . . .
A scaly hand reached to his forehead and the beast cried out, tearing into the forest as if the devils were at his heels, leaving his delicious prey behind.
Ayame watched him leave, her eyes like narrow, orange slits. Her fluffed silvery tail lowered as she turned back to her near dead brother and the frightened girl. "Are you two alright?"
"A . . . Ayame . . ." Inu-Yasha gasped with relief, a smile crossed his pale face as he reached out to her, but his arm fell back over him as he tried to force himself awake. "I'm so . . . so happy to . . ."
"Shhh, brother, I will get help." She stared off into the direction of where the beast had gone and then bristled. "That thing's gonna be back, I know it."
"W . . . what happened? W. . . why did h . . . he go . . . like . . . like that?"
The little girl smiled, raising her slender hand to show off the jewel shard she had extracted from his forehead. "A little trick I learned being on my own."
Inu-Yasha smiled.
Kagome lay unconscious next to him, cold and unmoving. Ayame looked her over, sniffing. "She wont last too much longer out here. I have to get you two back to your village."
"Le . . . leave me if you have to. M . . . make sure K . . . Kagome . . . Kagome lives."
Ayame glared at her brother as if he had grown another set of ears. "Leave you here? Don't be silly, I can take you both at the same time."
"H . . . how?"
The little girl rose to her feet, her cloak still draped over her violet kimono yet she held it looser than before. A whistle escaped into the air, long and loud before she stooped back over him with a warm and gentle smile. "Help is coming."
The underbrush rustled a few moments later as a sweet gurgling growl echoed in the darkness. At first, Inu-Yasha was scared, worried that Enzuno had returned, but when Ayame rose to her feet again unmoved and unafraid, he relaxed.
"Zanabow, lower yourself to the ground. You need to help me carry these two back to their village." Inu-Yasha heard his sister order. "Hurry."
A large, gentle raccoon-like demon with the same silvery fur and black markings across it's body did as he was asked. Only, this was a very large raccoon with long, bat-like wings that draped down at his sides to allow access to his furry back. Ayame struggled to place Kagome where she would not fall and then her brother, though he helped and held onto the unconscious girl in case she would slip off.
Ayame smiled and looked into her faithful Zanabow's liquid black eyes. "You alright? Not too heavy?"
The beast shook his thick head and chirped happily.
"Alright then, let us go."
The odd group gently strode through the forest at a good pace, Ayame leading the way on foot as to not overbear her helpful pet anymore than he already was. The darkness was all consuming the further along they went, but she could smell the familiar scents of the village where she had always kept tabs on in the time she had been away. She knew that if she ever needed help the kind people of that particular village would show her no real fear and Inu-Yasha and Kagome would always be there to help her out.
Grunting for attention, the burdened beast nudged the little girl until she stroked his cheek and neck. "You're doing great." She turned to look towards their rear as the shadows became lighter from the sunrise that threatened upon the horizon. "That thing's following us . . ."
"Who goes there!" a man's voice shouted from ahead in the forest.
Ayame froze and took a worried step back as a monk and an injured girl stepped out in front of them with a fierce glare in their eyes.
"Inu-Yasha! Kagome!" the girl screeched in surprise, rushing forward to assist them.
Ayame stepped in between her and the injured with a snarl. "Don't touch them!"
The man looked the child over. "You look awfully familiar."
"Like Inu-Yasha almost." The girl remarked at her strange ears. "Only, with a tail."
"My name is Miroku, this is Sango." He gave a polite bow.
Ayame pulled back. "What do you want with them?"
"They're our friends." Sango explained softly, trying to take another step forward, only to have the frightened hanyou child step forward again.
"You're not touching my brother."
"Your brother? So, you are Ayame, his sister, then?" the monk pondered lightly, shaking his head. "We don't want to hurt Inu-Yasha, we want to help him."
"We need to take him to the Priestess Kaede so he can be healed . . . if not . . ."
"If not then he will die." She finished sadly. "I remember Kaede. Lead me to the village, I will come with you."
Sango and Miroku nodded.
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Kaede frowned as he treated Inu-Yasha's wounds. Kagome had already been bandaged up as best as she could have been and placed upon some blankets to rest. Inu-Yasha flinched in agony as ointment was applied and then bandages, snarling and whining like a child. The Priestess ignored him, occasionally glancing to Ayame who huddled near the open door of the hut, staring out into the darkness. Her old heart went out to her. "Ayame, child, come closer to the fire where it is warm."
She shook her head, barely looking over. "I'm fine, thank you."
"If it were not for you to happen along, both Inu-Yasha and Kagome would have been dead." Miroku spoke the very words that were within the thoughts of every person, and hanyou, in that hut. "We owe you . . ."
"Don't thank me just yet, that . . . whatever . . . followed us. He's in the forest, lurking in the shadows still . . . he doesn't seem to like the sunlight." The hanyou child remarked sadly. "Good, Inu-Yasha needs rest. Because as soon as the sun sets, that thing might attack."
Miroku nodded solemnly. "That was a very brave thing you did, to face a demon like that."
She nodded. "It was nothing. I smelled his blood and was worried that's all. Wasn't anything he wouldn't have done for me."
The hut was silent, all eyes on Inu-yasha because they knew it to be the truth, though he said nothing. Still weak from his adventure, he laid back with his fresh bandages and glanced over to Kagome. "Will she be alright?"
"Aye, perhaps. With time. She had gone through quite a beating, she had."
Inu-Yasha clenched his fist. "I'll get that demon if it's the last thing I do."
Ayame turned her eyes back to the forest at the harsh words. "You'd better rest up then."
He scowled. "I'm alright, as soon as I rest a little bit I'll be killing that thing."
"I would not be so sure of that, Inu-Yasha. Your wounds are quite deep."
"Well then, if I can't fight then who will?"
Miroku and Sango both chimed in their willing responses. "We'll do our best."
He scowled. "Feh, whatever."
Ayame tensed, the hair on her fluffed tail standing on end. "That thing isn't the only thing out there anymore!"
Inu-Yasha tried to stand up, but Kaede easily pushed him back down. "Ney, Inu-Yasha."
Miroku stood within the doorway, next to Ayame who remained sitting. "What do you sense, Ayame?"
"There's something else out there with it and . . . and I feel that it's more powerful than it was before . . ."
"Naraku?" Sango whispered. "Could it be?"
Kagome mumbled something incoherent in a painful whisper. All eyes turned back to her as she tossed her head side to side in an agonized sleep, tense and sweating. Inu-Yasha struggled to be at her side and took up her hand in his.
"Kagome?" he questioned, running a hand over her feverish forehead. "Kagome? Are you okay?"
"S . . . seven . . . J . . . Jewel Shards." She managed blurt out through her slurred speech.
The entire hut fell into a deathly silence.
Ayame bristled. "That doesn't sound good."
Miroku narrowed his eyes and stared out into the waning afternoon with great fear. "No, Ayame. Not at all."
*** That's all for this chapter. I wonder what happens to an Oni like Enzuno with cough SEVEN Jewel Shards. Now, the week has finally encroached and the weekend has ended but I will try my best to put up another chapter, or perhaps two, by next weekend. Please review and let me know how I am doing. And be careful, Sesshoumaru might be lurking ahead as well . . . I wonder what he has to do with this whole thing? Ciao! ***
