CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

*

"Shippo!" Miroku shouted. "Shippo, can you hear me?"

"Kirara!" Sango called. "Kirara!"

Miroku coughed, wishing that he had brought along a water bottle. Not that it matters, he thought darkly. It was cold enough that any water would probably freeze.

"Shh!" Sango said suddenly. "Don't make a sound."

Miroku swallowed another cough, listening as best he could. Above the whistling of the wind, he could hear Shippo's voice. "Miroku? Sango?" the faint voice echoed. "Is that you?"

"Shippo!" Miroku shouted. "Shippo, don't move. We're coming to find you. Is Kirara there."

"Yep," Shippo replied.

Miroku slipped his arm through Sango's. He felt her stiffen, but when he failed to grab her backside, she relaxed and walked alongside him through the corridor. "Shippo!" Miroku called. "Keep calling out so we can find you."

"Meeeeeeerroooooookkkkuuuuuuuu," Shippo sang out, his thin voice echoing in the cave walls. "Saaaaaaaaangooooooooo..."

The two stumbled around a cracked stalactite, and into an uneven cave. From somewhere nearby was the sound of water, and Miroku's foot squelched in what felt like wet moss. He grimaced, and looked up as a pair of tiny figures came bouncing out in front of him.

"Shippo, we told you to not go inside," Miroku said sternly.

"But I heard Inuyasha calling for me," Shippo said.

"You heard Inuyasha?" Sango asked, interrupting Miroku.

"Uh-huh." Shippo scampered onto Miroku's shoulder."But then something weird happened."

"Like what?"

"There was this big wind that was pulling both of us in," Shippo said, rubbing his small hands together. "We managed to crawl into a crack and so it didn't pull us in. But I wanted to make sure Inuyasha was okay, so we came in here and got lost."

"Did you find Inuyasha?" Sango asked.

"No. I couldn't smell him either. You think that was a demon?"

"Most likely," Miroku said grimly. "However, if this demon knows of Inuyasha, he and Kagome may be nearby."

*

"You holding on tight?" Inuyasha asked, gripping Kagome's knees. He grimaced, forcing himself not to shake. The back of his skull was still throbbing, where he had whacked it into the stupid rocks. And his ribs were still tingling from when Kagome had dropped on him. Not that he regretted it.

"Uh huh," Kagome replied, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck.

Inuyasha took a deep breath and jumped up into the darkness. As they soared up through the mountain, Kagome buried her face in Inuyasha's hair. She could sense a Shikon jewel shard nearby, but it seemed to be coming faintly from all directions.

I won't mention it to Inuyasha, she thought as he landed lightly on a ledge, then jumped higher. If I tell him, he'll just get all bothered and frustrated and we still won't be able to find it.

"Hold on tight!" Inuyasha said again. His silver hair swirled around him, and as Kagome raised her head, she could feel winds stirring across her face.

"The winds!" she cried. "They're starting up again. It's trying to drag us back down!"

"Hang on!" Inuyasha said again. He jumped onto a ledge, squinting against the wind, and leaped down. Kagome felt dizzy, watching the ground spiral closer and closer. Inuyasha landed heavily, fell to his knees, and quickly carried her behind a boulder. They braced themselves for the winds to start howling again.

After a few more minutes of near-silence, Kagome said, "You think it changed its mind?"

"Yeah, sure it did," Inuyasha said grimly. "Well, whatever 'it' is, 'it' doesn't intend to let us get back up there." He put his hand on the Tetsusaiga, as if to reassure himself that it was still there. "Let's go deeper. I'm gonna find this creep and melt him down to a puddle."

TO BE CONTINUED