Chapter 11
Back at the palace of Sesshoumaru...
The great lord was troubled. He had been sensing something. Something was tugging at the corner of his mind and he could quite put his finger on it. It had been troubling him since just before he had taken Sango as his slave. He would have to investigate this.
"Katame!" Sesshoumaru called to his wife as he crossed the courtyard to the garden where she was working. "Come my wife. I must speak with you."
Katame was surprised at his tone of voice. He didn't usually speak harshly to her. She didn't do anything wrong, had she? Her mind raced. What could be the matter?
"Have I..." She started and was stopped immediately with a wave of his hand.
"You've done nothing, my pet. I must leave for a few days. I can't take you with me, little one. I sense trouble in the demon court and I must go and find out what it is. I may be gone for some time. Tonight is the moonless night. You will need to be vigilant for the boys' sake. I smell no one nearby but things do change." He pulled her close and kissed her. "I'll try not to be too long, but court is held in the southern realm and it will take me some time to travel that far." With that he rose up into the air and flew off into the south.
The trip to the southern realm took about two days as the dragon flies but at least it was uneventful. Sesshoumaru landed at the gates of the palace of the Kai of all the demons. The palace looked damaged as if a great storm had torn through it.
Sesshoumaru approached the guards and announced himself. "I am Sesshoumaru, high lord of the western ream. I have come to speak with the Kai of the demons."
The guard looked at him stunned. "You have come too late. The Kai is dead." He shook his head. "A demon named Shamotokai came to the palace three days ago and fought with our lord. He was mortally injured. He died last night."
"Dead?" Sesshoumaru was stunned. "Where is the heir? The Kai had a son where is he?"
"Alas he is lost my lord, the demon took him." The second guard spoke. "Shamotokai carried the young lord off with him to his fortress in the mountains at the far south." He pointed in the direction of the great southern mountain range. "His fortress is up at the top of the highest peak. We sent out the Kai's personal guard but so far none of our best fighters have returned from there. They must be all dead." He shook his head dejectedly.
Sesshoumaru looked off toward the mountains and then back to the guards. "Has this Shamotokai claimed the throne for himself or does he plan to use the heir?"
"We don't know, lord. He may not know of the Kai's death yet. If he does plan on using the heir for some purpose he didn't say anything about it."
"Hmmm... This cannot be allowed to go unpunished." Sesshoumaru took flight back toward his own palace to plan his next move. He would gather the hunters and his brother and go slay Shamotokai. He would restore order to the world of the demons by insuring that the Kai's heir took his rightful place on the throne.
Inuyasha ran as fast as his feet could carry him. He was a little nervous of dropping in on his brother especially after giving his word that he would stay away for six months. He hoped that leaving the others behind would appease the difficult demon. Sesshoumaru had very little patience for him as it was without him barging in like this. He arrived at the palace and knocked at the gate. Bota the imp on guard duty answered.
"Lord Inuyasha! Welcome, welcome. The master is away right now but the mistress will be pleased to see you. Come in, please."
Katame was working in the gardins when she saw him approach. "Inuyasha! I'm so glad to see you." Katame gave the half-demon a hug. "Where are the others? Where is Kagome?"
"I left them back at the village. I promised Sesshoumaru I'd stay away for at least six months for Sango's sake. But something big is going on and I need to talk to him. The servant at the gate told me he's gone. Is he on patrol?"
"No. He's gone to the demon court in the south. I don't know why, he didn't tell me. He just said he sensed trouble in the court and wanted to see what it was."
"How long has he been gone?"
"About four days now. Do you know how far away the court is?"
"I've never been there but I think it is about a two day flight. He should be back soon at that rate. Do you mind if I stay here for a day or so until he gets back?" Inuyasha scanned the skies hoping to spot his brother's arrival.
"Of course not, come in and I'll get you something to eat." Katame took his arm and tried to guide him to the table.
"No thanks Katame. I promised my brother that I'd stay away and I think it would be best if I stay outside. I don't want to interfere with Sango's training. I'll wait for him on the roof." Inuyasha turned to leave.
"Well at least let me get you something to take with you."
Inuyasha relented and Katame fixed him a meal. However he insisted on waiting for it outside so as not to be seen by Sango.
That evening Inuyasha was sitting on the roof of the palace when he spotted a faint blue light coming up over the trees. It was Sesshoumaru. He had returned from his long trip.
"You're back." He said as he approached his brother in the courtyard. "I need to talk to you for a moment. Now Sesshoumaru, I know I told you I would stay away and I'll leave as soon as I'm finished. I stayed on the roof so I haven't seen Sango yet and I don't think she even knows I'm here."
Sesshoumaru raised his hand to hush his brother. "Calm yourself Inuyasha. I wont bite you. I was going to get you soon anyway, so it is just as well that you are here now. There has been trouble at the palace of the Kai. He's dead and his heir has been taken captive by some demon named Shamotokai. I've never heard of him before this and the guards at the palace were only able to tell me approximately where he has his fortress. I want to gather the hunters together and travel to the mountain fortress and destroy Shamotokai. The heir must be returned to the throne. Now, what is it you wished to speak to me about?"
"Practically the same thing. Ky-aite, the old village woman you remember her. She helped Kagome and Katame give birth. She is a priestess in her village. She had heard rumors of a demon who had suddenly gained a lot of strength. She thinks that he must have the remaining jewel shards. She told me that there had been a shift in power in the demon world. Ky-aite thought you might know what's going on." He paused. "It always amazes me how that old hag always seems to know what's going on before any one else does. She told me all this nearly a week ago. It took me that long just to get here. I would have been sooner but that blasted new moon. You can't hardly travel and any real speed as a human. I hate that." Inuyasha thought for a moment. "So the Kai is dead. He was ancient and incredibly powerful. How could any demon have defeated him?"
"It's hard to say but we can't leave a void in the power or we will have a civil war on our hands. All the old Kai's enemies will try to claim the throne. So far Shamotokai has not tried to lay claim himself, but I imagine that won't be long in coming. We need a plan. We can't just walk up to his fortress and expect to be let in."
"Ok, we can come up with something as we go to get the others. They are in the village just to the south of here. I didn't know what kind of reception I'd get here. How is Sango doing? Is she... ummm..." Inuyasha wanted to ask but was a little afraid of the answer. Sango was a headstrong girl and definitely hated the idea of serving a demon.
"She's fine. She had a difficult time at first but lately she has been fairly well behaved. We will bring her with us. I think her skills will come in handy."
"We should also bring the boys but Katame and Kagome I'm not so sure. I don't want to put them in harms way but it will be tough to leave them at home. Kagome will want to go. She's gotten really good with the bow and arrow of hers. Her magic makes her very dangerous to demons. What do you think?" Inuyasha asked.
"Katame will want to go as well. And besides, I don't like to leave her here unprotected. Miroku will likely also bring his wife. We will have to set a camp at some point and leave them there but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Sesshoumaru thought for a moment. "Those girls have proven their worth on more than one occasion. I'm sure that they'll be fine with us."
The two demons went into the palace to discuss how best to proceed.
The next morning Sesshoumaru, his sons and wife left with Inuyasha to join the others in the village to the south of the palace. Sango followed on the back of her transformed cat demon, Kylala.
Miroku came out to meet the demons as they arrived. They flew in on the back of a great two-headed dragon. (A pet of Sesshoumaru's.) Katame couldn't wait to get off the dragon. She still wasn't used to flying and normally Sesshoumaru would hold onto her as he flew. But this time he insisted she ride the dragon. She was desperately afraid of dragons and even more so of falling off one.
"What news Inuyasha? Did you find out anything about the demon Ky-aite was talking about?"
Sesshoumaru looked at the monk. He had put on some weight. It seemed marriage agreed with the man. He looked to see if his wife was nearby and didn't see her. In fact he couldn't smell her either. "Where is your wife, monk?"
"Oh... uh... I left her behind with Ky-aite. She can't travel in her condition." The monk seemed to blush under Sesshoumaru's cold gaze.
"I see. Keep your eyes and hands to yourself monk or you will never see the child that she bares."
"I will." Miroku bowed. He would be extra careful. Sesshoumaru had a long memory and a short fuse.
"How soon can you be ready to go? We have to travel far south to the mountains and even if we fly it will still take days." Inuyasha was in a hurry. Trouble like this among the demons has not been heard of for centuries. They would have to work fast to stop an all out war.
"We're flying? On that?" Kagome was pointing to the dragon. She had flown on the back of Kylala a few times but never on a dragon. She was a little nervous.
"It's ok Kagome. You can ride with me." Sango offered. "In fact I can take you too lady Katame. You may be more comfortable with us than on the hard scales of a dragon.
"Thank you. I'm a little nervous of that dragon. I don't think he likes humans." She glanced over at the beast. He snorted, almost as if responding to her statement. She flinched.
"We can be ready in a few minutes. Everything is pretty much packed already." Miroku hurried off to finish up the last of the preparations. Kagome and Katame followed him to help out. They were on their way in under an hour.
Samotoyame and Inumouru as well as Inuyasha and Miroku rode on the back of the dragon. Sango, Kagome and Katame rode on the back of Kylala with little Shippo. Sesshoumaru and Sugumi flew by themselves.
(Dun, dun, duh... Is this cool or what? This is where you say 'what'. I've finished writing the story now and am fighting the urge to download it all at once. Download! Download! There will be 21 chapters all together. Download! Ahhh make it stop. Enjoy. LadySesshoumaru41)