CHAPTER THIRTEEN

*

"What's taking Shippo so long?" Miroku said. He blew on his fingers, then hastily stuffed his hands back into the gloves Kagome had lent him. He and Sango were crouched in the snow, watching the wind blow away the tiny tracks Shippo and Kirara had left.

"I don't know," Sango said darkly.

"You think something's happened?"

"I don't know." Sango stood up and raised her boomerang. A chilly wind ruffled her long black hair. "But I'm feeling something inside that chasm. I think it may have Shippo and Kirara."

Miroku picked up his staff. "Then let's go." And perhaps find Kagome and Inuyasha, he thought. Gripping the staff with half-numb fingers, he ran as fast as he could through the snow, with Sango stumbling at his side.

The narrow chasm was as it had been when they left it, except that Shippo and Kirara's footprints led inside. Miroku grimaced as he poked at one. "At least they weren't snatched up by anyone else," he said grimly. "But whatever possessed them to go inside?"

"I don't know," Sango said, starting into the crevasse. "But stay on your guard. There's something alive in there. I just know it."

*

"Inuyasha!"

"I said NO!"

"But they hurt!"

"After seein' what happened to that guy, you think I'm gonna leave you alone in this place? Are you kidding?" Inuyasha gave Kagome's arm a sharp tug.

The human girl responded by tugging back. "Inuyasha, my feet have shooting pains. I need to sit down for a little while." She dropped to the ground, with Inuyasha's hands still clutching her arm.

"And what about that idiot with an icicle through his throat?" Inuyasha snapped. "You wanna end up like him?"

"I'm not like him." Kagome pulled her quiver out of her backpack, and untied her bow from the back of her coat. "I have these. And you know as well as I do that I can use them!"

Inuyasha stared at her, then reluctantly let go of her arm. "I guess I can't make you go if you're not willing," he said gruffly. "But don't you move from there unless somebody tries to take off your head."

Kagome nodded once, and began rubbing her ankles vigorously.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth as he slipped into the corridor, almost slipping on a patch of ice. He clutched at a stalagmite, half-pulling himself up the slick surfaces. Kagome could be more stubborn than he could ever try to be, when she put her mind to it. He wanted her to stay near him. The further he got from her in this god-forsaken place, the jumpier and edgier he felt.

Suddenly he heard her call him. He stiffened. "Kagome?" he shouted.

"Inuyasha!" It was faint but clear. "Inuyasha, help me!"

He started back the way he had come, then skidded to a halt. The voice was coming from elsewhere -- had Kagome left that place? Dammit! He raced through the caves, half-blinded by light and dark, and slipping on patches of ice. Growling, he smashed his claws into the walls and braced himself, moving inch by inch...

"Inuyasha!" The voice was getting louder.

"I'm coming!" he shouted. He dug his feet into chinks in the rock and ran as fast as he could. His claws cracked in anticipation of a nasty fight -- anything that tried to hurt Kagome was dead meat, as far as he was concerned. With a cry he burst through a thin stone wall, and landed on a ledge. And what was under the ledge made him dizzy -- a huge, round black hole that stretched down, down, down. He couldn't see the bottom. Wind whistled ominously with the echoes of Kagome's cry. He sniffed the air -- nothing but snow, rock, more snow, ice...

Wait a minute, he thought. That means...

A blast of air threw him off balance, dragging him to the edge of the ledge. Grunting, Inuyasha dug in his sharpened claws into the rock. This was like Miroku's wind tunnel -- except much more powerful. Inuyasha's claws grated over the rock, leaving white lines. Then he slipped.

Desperately, he made a grab for an outcropping as the wind dragged him down-- and the outcropping smashed against his head. The last thing he saw was the pit yawning under him.

TO BE CONTINUED