A/N: There were a couple questions in my most recent round of reviews (which, by the way, I love getting)... Jadee's – from what I understand, people with a jewel shard can pass through the well, so I took a bit of liberty with that, and said if Kagome's holding onto someone, they can pass through too. As far as I know, the reason Inuyasha can go through hasn't been explained. LeaMarie F. Rocket – yeah... she does tend to lose the shards a lot... but this one really wasn't her fault. Yama isn't as powerful as Sess, but he's still a demon lord. Meg – ask and ye shall receive (in the third paragraph)... basically Kuri looks like Yama, only very sickly since he's been in that dungeon for so long.

Golden Fire
Chapter 13: Kuri's Revenge

"What are you waiting around for? If Yama is working with Naraku, he could've given the shards to him already!" Inuyasha was nearly hysterical.

"Shut up, dog turd. We'd know if Naraku had the jewel." Kouga was covered in small cuts and bruises from the battle with the palace guards. The rest of the wolf clan wasn't as lucky. They had serious wounds and a couple were close to death. But Kikyo's hands had worked quickly and soon she announced that they would all live. So now Kouga was free to insult Inuyasha again.

"Prince Kouga is right," spoke up Kuri. He brushed his black, shaggy hair away from his thin, gaunt face. He needed a hair cut and some sun. "My brother would never pass up an opportunity like this. He has more power than he ever dreamt of and he won't give it up without a fight." He looked at Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. "He will want to destroy the brothers of the Western Lands. And you too, Prince Kouga."

"Another jerk bent on world domination. This is getting annoying." Inuyasha crossed his arms and glared at Kuri. "We should still go and get the jewel shards now."

"I agree. I will not rest until my brother has paid for his treason."

"Then let's go," said Yuki, who was still leaning against the wall.

"No," intoned Sesshoumaru. "You are not going with us. You would be no use to us in your condition."

"I can take care of myself!" spat Yuki. She stood up straight, wobbled a bit and regained her balance. The rest of us watched in silence. If this came to blows, like their last fight did, there was no way Yuki would survive. And Sesshoumaru certainly wouldn't care if he killed her.

"I refuse to argue with you, so stop being a child."

Yuki opened her mouth and then shut it with an angry look on her face. I looked between the two of them. "Yuki, someone needs to stay and protect the injured wolf clan. We can't leave them defenseless." I smiled at her, hoping this would settle her bad mood.

Instead, she scoffed. "Nice try, Kagome." She paused and looked at Sesshoumaru and the injured wolf clan. Closing her eyes, she said, "Fine, I shall stay here and 'defend' the wolves."

Sesshoumaru smirked and turned away. Everyone began to file into the hallway, but I stayed for a moment and studied Yuki as she went to comfort the wolf demons. Her shoulders were tense and she kept cracking her knuckles. She was seething. I raised my eyebrow. Those two were going to be the death of each other.

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I watched Kikyo walk beside Inuyasha. He kept asking her if she was all right. She would just smile and softly murmur a 'yes'. They looked like a perfect pair. I sighed, aware of how useless I had become. Kikyo was the better miko and the better shard detector. I had nothing over her.

"Don't worry, Lady Kagome," whispered Miroku. "He will soon come to his senses."

I looked at Sango leaning on his arm. She was still a bit weak from the poison cloud, but she didn't seem to mind. She had a small smile on her face as Miroku supported her down the hall. I grinned. At least that couple was coming to their senses. One out of three ain't bad.

Sesshoumaru, Kouga and Kuri reached the end of the hall and stopped in front of the last door. We fell silent as it slid open on its own. Yama's voice boomed out of the dark room. "Ah, my dear brother, I'm so glad you came with our distinguished guests. It saves me the trouble of going into that disgusting dungeon again. Please, come in all of you."

Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga and walked into the room, followed by the rest of us. I yelped when I saw Yama. He was in his true youkai form. Normally, I don't mind snakes, but an enormous green cobra is not my idea of fun. Especially when its fangs are as big as Shippou and dripping with venom.

I readied my bow as Yama stared at us. I felt the pull of the jewel shards and saw the glow coming from his forehead, but it was Kikyo who called out first. "It's in his forehead, Inuyasha!"

"Good! That means I can split open his skull while I'm at it." He prepared to charge.

"Insolent half-breed!" roared Yama as he lunged. He snapped his jaws where Inuyasha had been a half-second before.

"Is that the best you can do, Yama?"

I aimed my arrow at Yama's throat, but couldn't get a clear shot as he kept lunging at Inuyasha. I looked to my sides to find the others and to ask why they weren't helping, but they weren't there.

Glancing behind me, I encountered a horrible sight. All of my friends (and Kikyo, Sesshoumaru and Jaken) were fighting other snake youkai. I watched in awe as the five foot long vipers flowed into the room from a hole in the wall. All of them had the same venomous fangs as Yama and my friends were desperately trying to avoid them, but having a hard time of it. The vipers had wrapped themselves around Sango's leg and Miroku's arm. I darted forward with an arrow in my hand and sliced them off.

A cry of pain filled the room and we turned to see a cloud of poison surrounding Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha!" I cried. I tried to run to him, but suddenly felt a sharp sting in my ankle. Looking down, I saw a viper attached to me by its fangs. I brought my arrow down and destroyed it, but it already did its damage. I fell to my knees and the vipers started to pile onto me. I shrieked and tried to push them off. Green mist began to surround me.

I felt the swish of a blade over me and found myself looking into Sango's worried face. "Are you okay?" She offered me a hand.

"My ankle hurts but I don't think any poison got in. Where's Inuyasha? He was hurt."

"I don't know. The cloud is surrounding them." She swiped away more vipers. "I want to know how Yama is controlling these snakes. They aren't normal. They're like tiny Yamas."

I stabbed at a few of the mini-youkai, and realized that they varied in size and color. "Oh gods!" I cried in realization. "They're Yama's kids!"

Sango looked at me in horror but continued to slice at them. She set her face into a mask. "It can't be helped, Kagome. They're trying to kill us. And what do you expect with that harem of his? Besides, they're full- grown. Yama is bigger because of the shards, so it's not like we're killing small children."

"I hope not." My blood was boiling. How could this guy use his own children like this? He must have known he was sending them to their death.

A figure came up to us through the mist. "Kagome? Is that you?"

"Inuyasha! You're okay." I ran closer to inspect his wounds. He was cut up pretty bad, but nothing too serious.

"Yeah, but I lost him in the cloud. He doesn't have much venom left though. He's all tapped out. This cloud doesn't even make me cough." He motioned to the growing haze.

"It's not there to kill us, Inuyasha," pointed out Sango, as she finished off the last of the nearby vipers. "It's there so he is hidden and has the element of surprise."

"Then we need to find Yama before he finds us. Kagome, can you sense the shard?"

I hesitated. "I'm having a hard time figuring out which is Yama and which is Kouga. But I think Yama is over in the corner." I pointed to my left.

We ran over in time to see Kuri attacking Yama. His eyes were glowing red as he wielded his sword. I stopped dead. Sword? Kuri didn't have a sword when we came in. I grabbed Inuyasha's arm. "Isn't that Tokijin? What is Kuri doing with your brother's sword?"

Kuri parried against Yama's fangs, as the rest of us watched. Inuyasha was twitching beside me. I could tell he wanted to help, but was no longer sure of Kuri's intentions. Sesshoumaru surely wouldn't let Tokijin out of his grasp voluntarily.

As I was thinking this, the Western Lord himself came into view. Inuyasha spun around to him. "Why is Kuri wielding Tokijin? Another secret? Or is he crooked like his brother?"

Sesshoumaru ignored Inuyasha, allowing Jaken to answer for him. "Lord Sesshoumaru can defend himself perfectly well without Tokijin. He believes this is Kuri's fight and since Kuri is an inferior fighter compared my Lord Sesshoumaru, he needed a superior weapon."

I rolled my eyes. Even if it was a sham of a mating, how could Yuki put up with these two guys? I wondered if divorce existed in the demon world. She would need it.

Yama and Kuri continued to trade blows. "Shouldn't we help him, Inuyasha?"

The hanyou next to me frowned for a second. "No, Kuri wants this. He deserves to get revenge for what Yama did to him. The thought of vengeance is probably what kept him alive down in that dungeon."

I closed my eyes briefly. "Vengeance can kill those who seek it too."

He didn't respond.

Yama snapped at Kuri, forcing him to jump away. Simultaneously, his tail lashed out and wrapped around my ankle. I fell hard onto my back as he pulled me toward his jaws.

"Kagome!" In a second, Inuyasha had a transformed Tetsusaiga in his hands.

Blood started to drain into my head as Yama held me upside down. I thanked the gods I was wearing jeans instead of my skirt. Yama playfully bit the air next to my skull and laughed when I screamed. He turned his attention to Inuyasha. "She's a pretty girl. I'll make you a deal. Leave the girls and that interesting sword of yours, and I'll let you and the monk escape with your lives. I'll even take care of Kouga and Sesshoumaru for you. They're so troublesome and I'm sure you'll be glad to get rid of them."

Inuyasha growled. "I have to admit it'd be nice to not have Kouga and Sesshoumaru around, but if you think I'm giving up my Tetsusaiga, you're insane."

"Inuyasha!" I twisted around and glared at him. "What's more important? Me or the sword?"

Yama laughed as Inuyasha hesitated. "Well, I suppose that answers your question. I'll give you another chance, my girl. Choose me and I'll give you anything I want."

I blinked. "You can't give me what I want." I was beginning to feel dizzy, but I could still see Kuri in the background. He gave me a small nod. Despite the blood pounding in my ears I knew that I had to keep Yama occupied for a few moments. "You know what I want? I want the jewel in safe hands. I want my friends and family to be alive and happy." I glared at him. "But most of all, I want you to just die."

Yama's face registered a split second of surprise before Kuri split him apart.

I fell into Inuyasha's arms and I found myself looking into his eyes.

"Kagome? Kagome? Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah. Just a little dizzy." I felt my blood rushing back into my body. "A couple more seconds and I would have passed out." I turned to see Kuri pick out the jewel shard from Yama's remains.

"You went through all this trouble just to have this, my brother? You always were foolish though. I shall repair the damage you have done." He walked up to me and Inuyasha and handed me the jewel. "I am sorry I had to kill him in such a cowardly way, but I would not risk the safety of such a wonderful girl."

"A foolish move on your part, Kuri. Another moment, Yama would have figured it out and you both would have died. You are lucky he was an idiot," Sesshoumaru observed.

Kuri shrugged and handed Tokijin to the Western Lord. "I don't know how to thank you, my friend."

"I did not do it to receive your gratitude. I simply wished to see Yama die."

The mist was clearing and we regrouped in the center of the room. Inuyasha was finally able to put me on the ground without my knees giving out. "You know, Kuri," he began, "there is a way to thank us."

"Really?" The new lord of the Demon City looked amused. "And what would that be?"

"Give us the Orb of Sada."

Kuri's face fell slightly. "That is not something I can just give you, Inuyasha." He smiled again. "But, we will talk about this in the morning. Right now, we need to rest and eat."

"First good idea I've heard all day," murmured Sango, as she dozed on Miroku's shoulder.

A/N: Kind of a weak ending, I know, but I had to stop somewhere or this chapter would have gone on forever. And we wouldn't want that, now would we? Haha. Oh, and I'm assuming that if Sesshoumaru died, Inuyasha would inherit the title, so Yama would have had to get rid of both of them.