Big thanks to reviewers: Hanamaru285, lil-demon-nightmare, loozer-09, Moonlight Shadow 4, Shadow Wraith (no I'm not mad. I'm glad to hear from you again. It means I didn't scare you away, and I know Inuyasha isn't that vain, but he's my man during this fic! Well, his personality is ^_^),
Okay. I'm sorry if the last chapter confused some people. The green fire came from Kanna's mirror. If you go back to chapter ten (or the one with the battle; I don't recall the chapter number) Kanna did many things with her mirror so she's the one who put the green fire on Keysha. And the number of chapters left in this story is subject to change. It really depends on if I can come up with other ideas, but the plot is truly coming to a close. For all I know, to get everything needed out, the story could take ten more chapters. Five was just a guesstimate so don't quote me on it! ^_^ But it should take me about five more chapters to finish everything. This chapter will start getting the final wheel rolling so the end of the fic can come. I hope this helped any people who I confused. Sorry!
Inuyasha and Kagome sat peacefully on the back veranda of Sesshoumaru and Rin's home that overlooked the pristine forest of Eastern Yogo. Many a morning had been started by Inuyasha and Kagome sharing a walk through the ancient lanes of long gone natives to this area. Dyla strolled leisurely through the green grass with Kreiger on her hips, cooing and mumbling such things only babies understand, and Shippou played a rousing game of hide-and-go-seek with Fiore. Currently Fiore was hiding from Shippou up in a tree, giggling as she was sure the older boy could not find her –Fiore's parents knew full well that Shippou was feigning ignorance and stalked the yard while calling out her name.
Just as Shippou was passing under the tree, Fiore jumped from the sanctity of the leafy appendages. Shippou, who did not expect a leaping soon-to-be four-year-old and just barely caught her; she laughed contently in his arms and leaned into his body.
"I'm done playing, Shippou," she yawned.
Shippou nodded and walked to the veranda and deposited Fiore on the lap of Kagome. He shot Inuyasha an amused grin –just the night before he had beaten the king in a game of chess and was quite proud of the win- and walked into the manor. Fiore smiled at both Inuyasha and Kagome before cuddling into Kagome and falling asleep.
Kagome watched her daughter's sleeping visage and could not help but think how much she looked like her father. Even though her eyes were not the same color they shone just as bright and were as large as Inuyasha's, Fiore's chin was quite defined, her nose just like his but more feminine, and her expressions, her exclamations all reminded her of Inuyasha. Her personality was, however, her mother's. And Kreiger, Kagome thought, looked so much like what she remembered her own father to look like, though add on dog ears and one would have the picture. Unknown to her, Kreiger's personality was like Shira's; Kagome would never know that or guess it.
Abruptly Kagome was broken from her chain of thoughts with Inuyasha saying, "What are you thinking?"
Sighing, she broke her gaze from Fiore to regard her husband. His bright golden eyes rested on her with concern and apprehension. The later she noticed he carried around a lot lately, as if he held a horrible secret from her and wished to tell, but was sworn not to from someone else, or himself. Kagome vowed she would get it out of Inuyasha before the end of their holiday.
"I am thinking about our children," Kagome answered shortly, though not lacking softness. "Thinking about how much Fiore looks like you but her personality reflects mine, and our little Kreiger with my father's looks and some raucous childishness I can't identify. It's strange to think sometimes that they are their own people –rather quarter demons- even if they rely so solely on us right now. Haven't you ever thought about that?"
Inuyasha nodded in agreement and shifted in the wicker chair he occupied. "On some occasions, yes, but not all the time…"
He trailed off and looked out to the forest, his breathing taking on the pace of someone nervous, someone on the very verge of something. Inuyasha had a secret, Kagome decided, and she would be straight forward and inquire about it.
"What has been bothering you these past few days? Ever since we've arrived you have been creeping about like a spy on some life or death mission, and spending a lot of time with your brother in his study conversing of who knows what. Then a few hours later you'll both emerge with grave looks on your faces and look at us –meaning myself, Rin, and the children- like glass about to fall from a ledge and crash unceremoniously to the ground. Please tell me what is wrong."
"It is a great concern of mine, I'll admit," Inuyasha spoke and turned to face Kagome. "I should have told you right off the bat, but I thought against it. Now I'm not too sure it was a good idea and it might cause us to break this vacation a little short."
"Why?!" Kagome exclaimed.
"Do you remember our wedding night? When I asked you what you wanted from life and me? You patted your stomach which was hardly a soft curve showing that you were pregnant with our Fiore and said that you wanted this baby and any to follow to be able to live in a peaceful world and to always have people close by; you never wanted them to have your life. And from me you wanted love, nothing more, and nothing less. But the later of the two requests does not have anything to do with what I'm about to tell you.
"Things have gotten worse with Uranin," Inuyasha stopped and held his breath. Kagome urged him onward. "The Lord-King of Uranin is trying to take over Yogo, which is a major reason why we came. I would have had us leave later when things were possibly worse, but Sesshoumaru bade me come here and take the family. He had a hunch and I've learned over the years his premonitions are always right. Before leaving I ordered the servants to return home, gather their families, and leave the capitol. And just yesterday the evacuation order was given for the capitol; Uranin army had taken it over-"
"All this and you haven't told me!" Kagome cut in.
"Please," Inuyasha wearily put a hand up, "I did what I thought was best. Just be thankful I'm telling you now instead of keeping you in the dark. Anyway, the rest of the government officials are to be arriving here at the manor this evening and we will be setting up government here, and Sesshoumaru agreed with it. Tomorrow our troops will engage the Uranin army in the abandoned capitol, and then I will be leaving in two days time to check up on the army."
"But," Kagome began to protest, but Inuyasha put in.
"You will be safe here. If Yogo does fall to Uranin you can take the children across the boarder into Veralind who is offering soldiers and medical relief to our country. Veralind will keep you and the children safe and are willing to fight to reclaim these lands should the Yogo army fail. The children are the heirs to this country, and you are the heir to Hathar. But enough of defeat! If we win and push Uranin back into a corner we can take back Hathar for you. Restore the Hatharian crown back to its rightful bloodline."
"I don't care about that!" Kagome hissed. "I'm worried about the people and our families and our friends. What of them?"
Inuyasha grunted in discomfort and looked out to the forest behind the house. He did not notice Dyla was listening very close to their conversation, fear widening her eyes.
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Balthos Korrigor, a dog youkai of western Yogo sat around a fire deep within the heart of the Yogo capitol (Ensythide) cooking an early breakfast. The army was expecting to engage the imp army of Uranin sometime later this morning. Everyone in the encampment seemed confidant and stood erect like a statue, but underneath the façade, the simple showing game, each soldier was afraid for his or her life and their families. It was, they all knew, a great honor to fight for their grand country and protect their families and the world from a threat, but one could not help but be scared. Balthos looked around at the fellow demons and a few Veralindites from the east who offered assistance and a good thing too since the Yogo army severely lacked in medical means and those from the east excelled in them. There was a woman –he guessed she could not be over nineteen- who was from neighboring Veralind and wore the stark white robes to show her status as a nurse (or something to that effect) as well as ribbons and pins showing what she was good at. Last night she had introduced herself as, quote, "Giltong, daughter of Thurask of the Northern Plains". And here Balthos thought the demons from provincial areas of Yogo gave themselves haughty titles of little meaning, but the title probably meant something in her home land so he kept quiet.
Jolting back to reality, Balthos pulled the simple egg cooker out of the fire –basically it was two metal clappers joined together. Balthos pulled the clappers apart and slipped the golden and white egg onto a standard, army issue tin plate with the Yogo royal symbol hammered carefully into the bottom. He was about to pick it up and eat it with his grubby and calloused hands, but his long time companion Kouga slapped him on the back in greeting.
"Now that wouldn't be for me, would it?" Kouga asked and his face acquired an almost innocent smile. Key word: almost.
"No, it is not for you," Balthos growled, though not menacingly and stuffed the egg into his mouth. Despite it being still hot he chewed it and swallowed. Upon finishing he said, "I've been up since dawn trying to find some food other than this crap they give us. I managed to trade a nice belt buckle that my dad made as boy for that egg, a few slices of that rye bread imported from Girth, and a three oranges. I suppose if you ask nicely I could give you an orange. But nothing more!"
"Oh! Please can I have one?" Kouga exclaimed with complete sarcasm. "You jackass; why would I beg for an orange that you traded from god knows who? Besides, Captain Gorgo treated me and some of the boys to a nice breakfast. And we didn't' have to gripe for it."
"Well isn't that magical," Balthos laughed. "I hope you enjoyed your breakfast."
"I did," Kouga said simply and chose a flat enough rock to sit on.
Kouga and Balthos talked on and off all morning, enjoying each others company since this might be the last time they could.
The day arrived in full swing about nine o'clock: the sun was a decent light in the sky, hardly any clouds marred the smear of soft blue above, birds sang whimsically to themselves, and the air was fresh and moderately warm. All the buildings surrounding the small square they currently were in had their windows and door boarded up the owners. Balthos's ears began twitching with a sound unlike the birds that had gone silent. It sounded like death cries, cries of help?
And soon the square was swarming with imp creatures, their lime green eyes searching out prey and their nostrils emitting black air and their bodies quivered with anticipation. They wanted to kill and the six soldiers in this square might just be enough to sate their lust for blood… at least for a few minutes. Balthos jumped up and grabbed his sword from a few feet away, pulling the blade out and parrying a blow that could have been fatal if he were slower. He twisted his sword and swung lower than the imp's arms, releasing the furry legs of the creature. It howled as it fell to the ground and Balthos put his sword through the throat to quiet the moans of a dying imp.
Kouga, who much preferred to fight on his own without the assistance of metal and magic, slashed and kicked at the black furred, green eyed monsters that charged forward to their deaths. Bringing his fist back and then releasing it forward, the wolf demon punched a hole clear through an imp's chest before slashing at the main neck arteries of another. The later of the two clutched at its throat while the wound belched darker-than-normal red blood through black clawed fingers. The wolf demon moved onto another imp.
Balthos looked to the cobblestone street that lead to the west and noticed and new wave of black fur imps with war cries at their tongues racing toward this square and all their eyes trained on the six –no, now five lives that blazed brilliantly and fighting strongly.
"Retreat back to the castle. Retreat!" Balthos yelled and sprinted towards the southern lane.
Kouga followed and soon Giltong and the other members of their band ran at a full tilt toward the sanctuary of the Midoki Palace. Behind them the shrieks and howls of death and destruction driven monsters echoed off the stone ground and buildings. Balthos dared not turn to look at the condition of the tiny group who faithfully followed him to what he hoped would be safety, but he had a growing suspicion that not everyone of this band would make it. And soon enough the cries of a woman emerged from the back and the content growls of the imps filled their ears. From next to him, Balthos could hear Giltong sob, but she pressed on; the all moved on.
After what seemed like minutes the street widened out to a tree lined lane leading directly up to the palace. If it hadn't been for such circumstances as these the trees would be full of orange blossoms and leaf buds, but the tops of the trees had been sheared off and stripped of branches. All that remained of the once graceful trees was an ugly stump upon which an archer of the Yogo army stood or sat upon and fired steel tipped arrows steady flow of black behind their comrades. If any of them and him survived this, in a moment of clearness Kouga made a mental note to thank the archers as the wails of the Uranin imps seemed to grown less and farther behind.
They reached the Midoki Palace gate and hardly had to stand outside of it a minutes as it was hauled up. Balthos was greeted by the faces of many scared men, women, and children who had refused to leave the city when the evacuation order was given. Now their faces reflected regret and sorrow and fear, for they wished they had put stubbornness behind and just left the city while it was safe.
Balthos looked away from the mob of people and saw the General Hophormus scuttle toward him on aged legs and halt with a weary and tried expression gracing –rather disgracing- his strong and proud visage.
"You are the only team who has made it back and you were one of the closest too," the General's hoarse, sandpaper like voice spilling out of the man's cracked lips. "Did you see any of the other troops? Oh, probably not. It would be too much to ask for."
"No, we didn't," Kouga responded before Balthos could, though he still panted from the run for life. "I'm sorry to say sir."
General Hophormus waved Kouga's last comment off like it was a thin sheen of cheese cloth. "I expected the Lord-King Naraku of Uranin would try something like that. And that is why I pulled most, if not all of the army back into the sanctity of the palace walls," Hophormus looked upward to the vaulted ceiling as if it offered heavenly assistance to a bad situation. "These walls of stone and wood have protected our people on more than one occasion and they will not fail us now!"
Giltong stepped forward and bowed before addressing the General, "Have you seen Second Medical division of Veralind, sir? My younger sister Gultang is in that division and I fear for her life."
The General
smoothed his whitened with age mustache and shook his head, "I am afraid the
Second Medical was sent out along with your band yesterday. If she is alive… if
she is dead… I-I cannot say."
Twelve hours later Kouga, Giltong, Balthos found themselves as sentry upon the palace walls. They sat around huddled close to a grate with a hardly sufficient fire glowing in its innards. So far the Uranin imps and not attacked the palace, though from their vantage point they could see the imps sliding in and out of view as they did what the would to the capitol city's fair buildings. The closest the imps ever ventured to the palace was the lane, but those that did get cheeky found themselves with an arrow through their stomach or gullet. The Yogo archers never missed a mark and Balthos was completely grateful for the luck of having great archers.
But now their luck was about to change. The darkness below, just at the base of the lane leading to the palace the night moved and shimmered unnaturally. Low, gurgling noises rose up in their air along with the acrid stench of carrion as the night shifted and swooped down upon the archers, one by single one as it moved up the lane. Kouga stood and noticed that only he and Giltong remained upon the palace wall. Balthos must have gone to warn General Hophormus, Kouga decided. His fear and apprehension grew as the strangled gasps of dying archers were snuffed out as the moving anomaly of darkness steadily ate the ground up between the land and the gate.
"What is it?" Kouga heard the General ask and saw Balthos step up beside the General and look over at the irregularity.
"I don't know," Kouga answered truthfully. "A monster of some sort I'd imagine that the Lord-King Naraku managed to coerce or agree to come here. It looks like someone or something took a delicate knife and cut a space of black out of night and breathed life into its body and now it craves more life. The monster as completely killed or something all the archers below…"
Kouga trailed off as the darkness monster reached the last few feet before it halted. The creature raised a thick tentacle of darkness up and it separated into two different arms –like lips. A moan of sorts echoed from within the beast's belly like the mournful call of a buffalo, lion, and cow all mixed together in a sad song. Upon finishing lights from torches sprung up down in the city as howls of mad joy and blood lust erupted like a volcano of sound from the streets as a herd of imps wiggled and hopped toward the palace. But the four could hardly watch the procession of imps as the dark monster threw its body against the palace wall. Debris and youkai and humans alike fell from the walls to their deaths, and if the fall did not kill them surely the monster and imps would.
Balthos groaned as pain shot through all his limps and blood pounded like a steady drum in his ears. Get up, he told himself and he struggled to his feet and brought his sword from it scabbard. Just to his sides Giltong and Kouga yanked themselves from the ground in much the same manner as he, only Kouga stood in a fighting stance and Giltong held ready her staff, an ice blue jewel glowing menacingly upon its tip. Even though they were outnumbered greatly Balthos, Kouga, and Giltong fought. Balthos swung and chopped at imps that tried to get past him or kill him or both, but he beat them all off. But all good warriors sustain injury at some point and Balthos is no exception to that. An imp deeply gouged his thigh as he was just killing anther, and he cried out in pain but still drove his sword through the black heart of the flailing imp. Giltong fired magic spells of ice, fire, lightening, and any other harmful spell she could conjure at the hoard of imps. She was bleeding from a wound on her left arm and her left ankle was sprained from the hazy fall off the wall which lay decimated behind them. And Kouga grunted and yelled in malicious satisfaction with every damned imp that crossed his path. He slashed, dashed, kicked, mutilated, and killed every black furred creature that came within his eyesight.
Even though it seemed like hours later to the valiant fighters, but it was in fact five minutes later, the large remainder of the Yogo army poured over the lumps of the palace walls that littered the ground like stone child's toys and crashed like a fierce wave upon the slimy rocks of a harsh shoreline on the Uranin imp army. They were fighting for their homes and families and that rush of adrenalin and want of death of the invaders made heroes out of a great many men and women that night.
Balthos looked about frantically during a personal break in the fighting. Each demon and ningen wore dedication and determination upon their faces as if that's all they could express as they slew imps, or imps slew them. King Inuyasha, wherever he might safely be, he hoped would not come to this city tomorrow and find his army failed him. Balthos looked over to the far right and saw the darkness monster creeping along, seeming to suck up lives as it slid along.
"Giltong! Giltong," Balthos called out into the melee.
Soon Giltong merged into his vision and she shot him glances every few moments in response to his calls. "What is it you yelled for?"
"That shadow monster," Balthos panted as he ran to Giltong's side and they conversed while slaying imps, "is killing too many soldiers. We need to focus on taking that thing down."
"A core," she grunted as she shoved the blunt end of her staff into the open mouth of an imp. "There is a core in the chest I noticed earlier. It is being controlled from off the battle site, so if you destroy the core-"
But she could not finish her sentence as Balthos dragged her through the bloody battle –past headless corpses and bleeding and crying soldiers- to where the shadow creature stalked and sucked up lives. Giltong pulled all her strength together and held it close within the confines of her mind.
"If I freeze this monster with an ice spell and you break it with your sword, making absolute sure you strike the core, we might have a good chance of finishing this battle now," Giltong said.
She reached within her mind, fumbling in the back for her cache of spells and found the strongest, most destructive ice spell she knew. Using the process as old as time for firing off spells, Giltong let her mind go and released the magic force at the dark creature. It hit dead on, first freezing the feet well to the ground and steadily moved up the body. Balthos did not wait until the head was frozen when he charged forward. He chopped at the icy shadow creature, yelling hoarsely the whole time when he finally struck the core. It was a wooden puppet of sorts in the shape of a man with a long black hair wrapped around its middle. The puppet began to glow a faint white which steadily grew to a bright white and exploded with a furry none had seen that night at all. Demons and humans alike fell back from the force of the explosion as the life left from the shadow monster and too escaped from all the imps present.
Yogo won this battle…
In the Mythora palace the Lord-King Naraku let out a terrible scream as his puppet that connected him to the darkness monster and all Uranin imps broke in half.
Well there we go. I hope you liked the chapter everyone, especially the battle. Oh, I've been working on this since 8 o'clock so I do hope its okay. If I confuse anyone with anything don't hesitate to ask or mention something 'cause I'm not always sure if I get things across.
Thanks for reading!