A shard in Kyoto chapter 16
'What's happening!?' Kagome thinks. 'I'm hearing a lot of shouted orders. The fight must have started.'
She stares at the closed cell. 'How can I escape?'
Akio opens the door. "I'm going to find out what you know." He growls.
"Nothing! Akio. Nothing!" Kagome cries at she backs up in the cell. She stops. Her back is against the wall.
'He's alone. The confusion of the guy's attack must have started.' Kagome thinks. Her eyes flick around Akio. 'Maybe I can get around him and escape?'
Kagome tries to run around Akio.
Akio grabs Kagome's sleeve and pulls, ripping the kimono. Kagome trips over the torn kimono.
"You're a girl!" Akio cries, as he looks at Kagome. Kagome is sprawled on the ground, her clothes ripped and exposing her breasts.
Akio's face changes, becoming beastly. "You are a spy! I'll rape the truth out of you!"
He looms over Kagome.
Akio's eyes widen, then they close and he collapses face first to the ground.
Kagome can see a partially burned doll floating in midair. She shifts her senses.
The little ghost girl, whose doll, Emi, she found and gave her, is floating (no feet are visible, which is common for Japanese ghosts) in the doorway. She must have hit Akio on the head with her doll.
Kagome scrambles to her feet, gathering and fixing her clothes as she does. "Thank you, child." She says as she bows to the girl child.
"You helped me." The ghostly girl says. "I should help you."
Kagome, pauses, and then says, "As much as I would like to stay and talk with you, my friends are being attacked and I need to do things."
The ghostly little girl nods and fades away.
Kagome leaves her cell. She looks at the entrance. She can hear shouts and cries from that direction. 'No. I've got to get the shard. If I don't do that, then nothing else matters.' She thinks.
She quickly walks deeper into the dungeon.
The guard at the end of the corridor says, "Stop right there, Hojo." He points his wooden bludgeon at Kagome.
'Bluff.' Kagome thinks. She concentrates on her power.
The pupils of her eyes fade. Her head begins to glow. "Run, mortal." Her voice, while still feminine, is spooky.
The sound of the wooded bludgeon hitting the ground, causes Kagome to stops concentrating, and once her eyes change back to normal, her lips twitch into a smile.
The guard is laying on the floor into front of her, unconscious. His superstitious fears have caused him to faint.
She steps over him and begins to fumble with the door, trying to open it.
A couple of seconds later, somebody calls from the other side of the door, and says, "Arata? What happened?"
"He's unconscious!" Kagome calls in 'Hojo's' voice. "Help me! I think he's in trouble!"
Mumbles and sounds float through the door, as Kagome continues to try to open the door.
"Step back!" a voice calls from the other side of the door.
Kagome picks up the bludgeon and stands to back, so the men on the other side of the door can see 'Hojo' through the door. It is hidden behind her back.
The door opens and a couple of soldiers stand in the doorway. One of them, quickly, kneels down and starts to slap the unconscious guard awake. "Arata?" he says.
The other guard looks at 'Hojo' and then at other two on the ground.
Kagome grimaces, then smiles. 'Let's try magic again.' She thinks.
She uses one hand and she opens her clothes, showing her breasts, "Hey guys! Something has caused me to become a woman! Magic! Run!"
The two guys look at Kagome. Both go deathly white.
Kagome begins to moan, like from pleasure. "Something is entering me!" 'Hojo' cries.
Both soldiers run past her, screaming about magic, leaving their unconscious friend on the ground.
Kagome smiles. 'I didn't even have to hurt them.' She, still carrying the bludgeon, just in case, enters the open doorway and walks down the corridor.
She concentrates on her mystic senses, trying to locate the shard, as she slowly, cautiously walks down the dark corridor.
'The shard is moving?' Kagome thinks. She hurries up.
She stops in front of a door and tries to open it. It doesn't open.
'I hope this works.' She thinks. She steps back a couple of steps. She looks at the wooden bludgeon and focuses her powers on it.
It starts to glow.
She throws it at the door.
BOOM!
A flash of light
"Cough!" Kagome hides her face, as she breathes through her sleeve. "A little too much power." She chokes out, as she waits for the smoke to clear.
She walks into the room.
It is a room full of chests and boxes of various sizes. Exactly how big it is, Kagome can't tell, there are too many boxes, and the lighting in the room is quite poor. (Paper lanterns aren't electric lights.)
Standing next to the wall, not directly across from her, but, off to her right, is Lord Yuki Shiba and the Lord of the Yuki.
Both are in full samurai armor, with swords.
In the right hand of the Lord of the Yuki is the shard. It is glowing darkly in the gloom.
"Spy!" the Lord of the Yuki cries. The shard glows and a beam of dark energy streaks toward Kagome.
Kagome, instinctively, lifts her arms. They glow, white as they block the beam.
"Sorcerer!" The Lord of the Yuki cries.
"No sir! Witch!" Yuki Shiba calls, as he stands to the right of the Lord of the Yuki. He points to 'Hojo's' chest.
When Kagome moved her arms, her clothes opened up, and she is flashing them her breasts.
Kagome blushes deeply, "ekks!" and she closes her clothes.
"Die!" Another beam lashes out at Kagome.
But, her powers instinctively block the blast.
'What do I do?' Kagome thinks as she ties her belt properly. 'Sooner or later, he'll stop with the shard, pull out his sword and chop me to pieces. I can't stop him.'
Kagome opens her mouth to say . . .
Something . . .
But, she closes her mouth with a snap.
Lord Yuki Shiba is pulling his sword from the side of the Lord of the Yuki.
Blood spurts from the Lord of the Yuki's mouth as he collapses to the ground. He topples over, face first, to the ground and dies.
The shard of the jewel of four souls rolls from his dead hand.
Yuki Shiba pulls out a silk handkerchief and cleans his sword.
"Why!?" Kagome croaks out.
He looks at her.
Kagome hunches over. She has looked into the eyes of a lot of nasty, evil men and demons, and she's rarely seen such hard eyes.
"I am the councilor for the Yuki family. It is my responsibility to make sure that the head of the family acts in such a way to increase the power and influence of the Family."
His eyes look down to the shard. "That poisonous thing turned the lord of the Yuki into a power-mad fool. His plans were leading the family to ruin, not to success."
"Lord Yuki Shiba," Kagome says as she stands up straight. "I am the priestess of the jewel. I am trying to put it together and purify it."
He looks at her. He pauses. "Kikyo? Or Kagome? The rumors are vague."
"Kagome." She says, "Please, give me the shard."
He kicks the shard to her. "IF you do not purify it, I will kill you."
She bends down and picks it, purifying it, effortlessly.
He nods. "You are the priestess of the jewel."
"Thank you, Lord Yuki Shiba." Kagome whispers.
"Stand closer to me, woman." Yuki Shiba orders.
Kagome swallows hard and steps close to him.
Yuki Shiba eyes rake Kagome's body as he looks at her. "Your friend?"
"Sango, a demon exterminator."
He nods. "I've heard of her." He grunts. "She's better than I heard and better thought that a woman could be."
His eyes flick to the ceiling, the sounds of combat can be heard coming from the doorway that Kagome came through, and the smaller, secret doorway that Yuki Shiba is standing in front of.
"You beat the Lord of the Yuki in a spell battle, and then knocked me unconscious." He states. "Then you and your friends left before we could stop them."
"That's what you'll say to the families that are planning to attack you, right?" Kagome asks.
He nods. "You will, Miko, be my mortal enemy."
Kagome grimaces.
Yuki Shiba reaches out and grasps Kagome's chin. His rough, calloused hand scratch her smooth skin.
He stares into her eyes, 'Let's see how strong her will is?' he thinks.
Kagome stares into his eyes. 'He's trying to break my will.'
Time passes . . .
"If I had come to you and asked for the shard, nicely, would you have given it to me?" Kagome, finally asks.
Yuki Shiba's lips twitch in the beginnings of a smile. Perhaps he nods, perhaps, he doesn't.
He looks away from her eyes. He kneels before Kagome. He takes off his helmet and says, "You need to strike me unconscious."
His left hand finds a dagger and he hands it to Kagome. "Use this."
Kagome grabs the dagger and raises it over her head. She pauses. "You know, Yuki Shiba, with you kneeling before me, your head bowed, a weapon of yours in my hands. It looks like your pledging allegiance to me."
Yuki Shiba, his head still bowed, says in a low voice. "Hmmm . . . depending on the viewpoint that might be correct. Kept the dagger, return it to me, someday." He pauses, "Strike now."
"I am sorry," Kagome whispers and she swings hard and knocks him out.
Kagome's head whips around, she can hear soldiers coming down the corridor to this room. She can see the light of the torches that they are carrying.
She turns, still clutching the dagger, and enters the secret passage, closing it behind her.
Kagome starts to climb the stairs to the surface . . .
Now. Back to the others.
(From chapter 15)
Kagura points her fan at the entrance of the main house.
Next to the entrance are two pony sized bronze lion-like dogs, known as Jishi's. Most people, looking at them, assume that they are just decorations. But. They are not.
They are magical creatures that were made to fight demons.
Their jaws screech as the bronze hinges move. Their heads turn. Their metal claws tear up the wooden platforms that they were on.
They jump on the compound ground, to defend the house, like they are supposed to . . .
One of them looks at Kagura.
The other looks at Inu-yasha.
Flame begins to curl from their metal mouths.
'We are in trouble!' Kagura thinks. 'These are very powerful creations! Defeating them will be difficult!'
Inu-yasha, with Tetsusaiga in his hands, growls at the Jishi. 'I feel like crap. And using my full powers hurts like a son of a bitch.' He thinks.
Sango looks around the compound. More soldiers are coming out of the house. She shifts the grip on her sword. 'I'm not going to be able to be kind to these soldiers. I will have to attack to kill, not hurt.'
Miroku frowns. 'My mystic senses? I felt something?' he spins around and looks at where the mystic scrolls were at.
His eyes open. 'Concealed spell!' A symbol glows in the wood of the gate.
A symbol of bad luck.
Miroku screams!
He looks at his cursed hand. He looks at the top of the wall. An archer just fried an arrow into his cursed hand.
He cannot use it . . .
Sango's head whips around to Miroku. The blood dripping from his hand, causes her to grimace. She glances around, spots the archer, pulls a throwing spike from her clothes, and throws. The spike kills the archer, who's dead body falls off the wall.
"Miroku!" She calls.
Miroku picks up a nearby spear and using the blunt end knocks a charging guard unconscious. "I'll be fine! But, your going to have to keep the guards away from Inu-yasha and Kagura!"
Sango's head swings around, looking at Inu-yasha and Kagura, as they begin to square off against the two huge bronze lion-dogs.
She looks at the guards, and thinks, 'He's wrong. They are not going to come near that fight. This is going to be me vs. the guards.'
The guards, in various states of dress, armor and weapons, are ignoring the building fight between the demons and the demon killing bronze statues. They know that getting involved with that, means their death.
So.
They begin to charge Sango and Miroku.
Miroku thinks, 'they weren't fully prepared, that is good. And some of the officers aren't here, they are in the house, so, the guards aren't as well organized. That will help. But, still. This will not be an easy fight.'
Sango yells at Miroku, "Stand with your back to a wall! I'll take care of them!"
Miroku nods and places his back to a nearby wall. He scans the top of the wall. 'I've dodged arrows during training. I must do it again.'
The guards begin to pour from some of the secondary entrances of the main house. (The main entrances are where the lion-dog's are at, so no one is using them.) Some also come from the building along the inside of the outer wall.
'I can't kill them one by one. So, I've got to destroy their morale. I've got to make them fear me.' Sango thinks, as she grips her sword. 'My boomerang would have done that, but, I didn't bring it, since I was supposed to pretend to be a normal samurai.'
Sango chooses the closest group of guards and charges them.
Her sword flashes silver in the early morning sun, as she swings it.
Her opening swing, designed to frighten them, splits one guard's head into two pieces, as she cuts through the skull and face of the guard.
The second swing, as she runs past them, slices another guard in half, as she cuts his backbone in half.
The third swing beheads another guard.
All of those swings take place in a couple eye blinks.
Sango, her face blood splattered now, smiles, not saying a thing . . .
She pauses, for a heartbeat, then begins to swing again.
The guards break and run away from her.
They were not prepared for this type of silent berserker-like attack.
Sango bends down, picks up the head that she cut off and throws it at another group of charging guards.
They also stop and begin to yell among themselves.
Sango charges them.
They run away, screaming.
Rallying yells from one wing of the main house begins to ring out. The officers, caught by surprise, are beginning to organize the men.
It will take a couple of minutes for the guards to reorganize, time that Sango can use . . .
'They'll regroup. I've just frightened and confused them. They weren't ready for this. Next time, it will be a harder fight.' Sango thinks.
Miroku grunts as he pulls the arrow from his hand, and covers the hand with his leather gauntlet. 'Finally, this thing is coming in handy.' He thinks.
He looks around, grimacing at Sango's tactics. 'She's got to attack. There are too many to defend.'
A glint catches the sun.
Miroku dodges the arrow from the archer on the wall.
'I'm just a target. I've got to move.' Miroku thinks. He runs to Sango, pointing to Inu-yasha and Kagura.
"We've got to help them!" he yells!
Kagura is flying above the Lion-dog. The Jishi, the pony-sized bronze lion-dog, fighting her is spitting fire at her, which her wind powers are deflecting. 'Damn.' She thinks, 'I'm spending too much time and effort deflecting his fiery breath, and I can't attack.'
Inu-yasha, though, is having problems.
Inu-yasha jumps over the Jishi, slashing at the lion-dog with his sword. His jump, though, is slow enough and low enough that the fiery breath of the Jishi catches his legs.
'That fucking hurt!' he thinks. He gasps as he lands. 'Not the fire, just the effort. He hasn't hurt me, but, I can't keep this up much longer. Luckily my fire-rat clothes are fireproof.'
Sango and Miroku look at each other.
"I'll help Kagura, see if I can distract the Jishi, so she can hurt it." Miroku says.
At the time that Sango say, "I'll help Inu-yasha. He can't keep that up for long."
Sango starts to run to Inu-yasha, but, Miroku's hand on her arm stops her. He whispers, as they look into each other's eyes, "be careful."
Sango's mouth twitches into a smile. "You be careful, monk."
He nods, lets go of her arm, and runs toward Kagura.
'With my hand hurt, I am limited.' He thinks. 'But that is a magical creature, and I do have magical skills.'
"I don't need no help!" Inu-yasha yells as he sees Sango charging toward him. He, instantly and instinctively, dodges as the Jishi swipes at him, then groans in pain as he rolls away from the creature.
"You do!" Sango yells. 'Although, what can I do?' she thinks. 'This is just a normal sword, nothing special like his.'
Sango runs up to the right side of the lion-dog and strikes it with her sword. Her high quality steel sword leaves a bright mark in the softer bronze, but no real damage.
"Great." She hisses.
"What are you doing?!" Kagura yells at Miroku.
He is standing, still, off to one side of the lion-dog, his hands clasped together in prayer, whispering something.
The Jishi stops blowing fire at Kagura and turns to look at Miroku.
'Once I finish this spell, he'll be under my control.' Miroku thinks, as he pauses to catch a breath.
A glint in the sky, causes Miroku to dodge the arrow. That does, though, break his spell, and the Jishi spits another fireball at Kagura.
"Stop them from shooting at me!" Miroku yells at Kagura. "I can stop it, but I need time!"
Kagura waves her fan, deflecting the fiery breath of the Jishi at a group of guards that was getting close.
A couple of them scream in agony as they are engulfed in flames. They die screaming in pain. The remaining men quickly retreat from the burning men.
From off in the distance, Kagura and Miroku can hear. "That Monk! Fire arrows at him! Make sure that he can't cast any spells!"
'They must have heard my yell to Kagura!' Miroku thinks. 'And they've got an officer that is thinking on his feet.'
"I can't deflect the arrows and the fire breath at the same time!" Kagura yells down to Miroku.
"Great." He hisses.
Sango's eyes flick to Miroku, as she thinks about the yells that she's heard. "Inu-yasha." She hisses as her sword rings off the bronze of the lion-dog, again.
"What, bitch!" he hisses in pain, as he dodges a swipe from the long sharp bronze claws of the Jishi.
"Help Miroku." Sango continues. "If he can cast his spell, we can win. I can occupy this thing."
"You help him. You love him!" Inu-yasha replies.
"Inu-yasha! You're about to drop from pain! Fight the guards, beat them, then come back and help me!" Sango yells back.
Inu-yasha pauses, then ducks under another claw attack that almost takes his head off.
"And, sooner or later Kagome will show up!" Sango cries. "IF you're not fighting this thing, you can help her!"
Inu-yasha starts, and, then, jumps away from the Jishi and toward the human soldiers.
Sango jumps onto the back of the Jishi, striking its head with her sword. 'Now, how do I kill this thing?!' she thinks.
Inu-yasha, his teeth bared from pain, charges some of the human soldiers.
These men have had time to organize, so they don't break from fear as he charges. They lower their bows and fire arrows at Inu-yasha, which are deflected by his huge sword, or bounce off his clothes.
But, once Inu-yasha gets among them, he is still stronger and faster than any human. He howls in agony, but, his attacks are killing or injuring the soldiers.
A couple of officers begin to yell instructions, organizing their men. The shock of the sudden attack is wearing off.
A couple of men come running into the compound shouting about "Soldiers coming!"
Kagura rises higher and looks over the city. 'We're in trouble. Kagome had better get that shard and fast.' She thinks.
The soldiers from the other houses in the city are approaching the Yuki family compound.
"We're in the middle of a goddamned cluster fuck!" Inu-yasha yells.
Miroku, his hands clapped together, begins to chant again.
'Let's see if this works!' Sango thinks as she jams her sword into the eye socket of the Jishi.
The heavy bronze lion-dog rolls over, forcing Sango to jump off, yanking her sword out of it.
'Well, it's at least not going after inu-yasha.' Sango thinks. 'It is bronze, though, I wonder. That is softer than steel.' She jumps on the Jishi and with her free hand punches it in the shoulder. The bronze screams as it scrapes against itself, bending and twisting.
'The joints!' Sango thinks. Her sword blurs as she begins to attack the joints of the bronze statue. Her sword starts to dull, but, the joints of the Jishi are weakening and the movement of the Jishi is slowing.
The Jishi twists and breathes fire at Sango.
"NO!" a titanically loud scream is heard.
It stops everything . . .
Kagome appears at the main entrance. She points to Sango and the fiery breath of Jishi vanishes.
Sango, Inu-yasha, Kagura and Miroku all look at Kagome, their mouths open. That is not something that they've seen her do before.
In that instant that their concentration breaks:
Miroku's spell fades and he is hit in the shoulder with an arrow.
Kagura only partially deflects the fire breath of the Jishi below her. Her fan is heavily damaged. She has to land, hard.
Inu-yasha is struck by a couple of spears, causing him to bleed and howl in pain.
Sango's sword breaks as it gets caught between the leg joint of the Jishi.
"Kill her!" at least a couple of the officers yell, pointing at Kagome.
'No time. Figure it later.' Sango thinks as she ducks under the jaws of the Jishi, stabbing her broken sword into the joint of its jawbone. She twists popping the jaw of the Jishi out of place.
Sango screams "AGGGHHH!!" in pain as fire drips from the broken jaw and onto her legs. She just barely avoids being crushed by the Jishi.
The dripping fire from the open jaw of the Jishi begins to melt the bronze of its front legs, causing it to collapse.
"No! Begone!" Kagome yells, pointing something at the Jishi fighting Sango.
A Whirlpool of stars appears above the Jishi, and sucks it into them. The huge lion-dog vanishes.
"NO!" Miroku yells! He runs to Sango, ignoring the arrow in his shoulder.
Kagura rolls as she lands, hard, on the ground. The Jishi is coming toward her.
Inu-yasha suddenly yells in pain, as he jumps toward to Kagome.
As he jumps, arrows hit him in the back, penetrating his red fire rat shirt.
More arrows hit Kagome. Something, large, falls from her hand.
Inu-yasha, totally ignoring his pain and wounds, lands next to her and scoops her up.
"Kagome!" he cries, tears falling from his checks.
She looks up at Inu-yasha, "All I wanted to do was help my friend." She says.
She closes her eyes and fades away, leaving a slightly burnt doll in Inu-yasha's hands.
Inu-yasha's expression is full of shock and pain. "What!?" He cries!
"No!" Kagome screams as she walks out of the main entrance.
She can see Miroku holding Sango's partially burnt body. Soldiers at running toward them, waving swords and spears.
Kagura is trying and failing, as she uses her broken fan to hold off the Jishi. It will either burn her or crush her, quickly.
Inu-yasha lifts his face to look at Kagome, as more arrows fall around him. Some hit the ground, and some hit him.
"How?" He howls as he jumps up and engulfs Kagome in a bear, ignoring his wounds.
"She was a ghost of a little girl. I helped her earlier." Kagome whispers. "She tried to repay me for my help."
Kagome can see the archers pulling back, aiming at her and Inu-yasha.
'We're dead.' She thinks.
The end chapter 16.
Sometimes, in combat, things go bad . . .
Also, in a totally different context, I have written another, totally separate story on Remove the spaces for the link.
http:www. fictionpress. com/ read. php?storyid1733674
I will begin to work on Kagome: goddess of japan next. I should have the next chapter of it out Sunday. Working on it will be my primary goal for the rest of the month.
Thank you for reading
jeff shelton