Chapter 14

The group was now ready to begin the hunt for the demons who stole the shards.

"Sugumi come with me, the rest of you follow on your mounts." Sesshoumaru and Sugumi took off into the night sky. The pair flew high to allow a clear view of the forest floor. They flew in a zigzag pattern looking for any signs of the demons who had attacked the camp. Inuyasha and the others joined them a few minutes later.

The demons and hunters scoured the forest for signs of the thieves. Inuyasha came up beside his brother. "Sesshoumaru, this isn't working. I'm going down and see if I can't pick up a scent trail." He took the dragon with Miroku and his nephews down to the ground. He and the boys jumped off and started sniffing around.

The hunters fanned out sniffing the ground for any sign that the thieves had been through there. Samoto took Miroku with him. Miroku was a great hunter and could sense a demon aura really well but when it came to sniffing out a trail he was useless.

"Do you smell anything yet?" Miroku was bent over watching Samoto as he moved back and forth sniffing various bushes and rocks. Suddenly he stopped cold.
"Uncle Inu! Over here I found it." Samoto sniffed all around the trees and bushes following the path the demon thieves had taken. A clear trail could be seen where they had run through the underbrush to get away from their pursuers.

Inuyasha ran over followed by Inumouru. "Where?" He began to sniff as well. "Good! I have it. You three keep following the trail. I'll take the dragon and get the others." He took off to find Sesshoumaru's pet. I was at times like this that he wished he was a full-blooded demon and could fly on his own. The dragon was useful but he didn't like riding it. It smelt bad to his sensitive nose. Inuyasha found the others some distance off to the west. They had chosen to split up to cover a greater area. It took a while to gather everyone.

"Sesshoumaru! There you are. We found the scent. The boys are following the trail now. Follow me." He called out to his brother as he flew off the find Sango and the others.

The reunited group met up with the boys and the monk in a clearing a few miles from where they had been left by their uncle. As they arrived they could see what looked like a camp just over the next ridge. They landed quietly so as not to alarm the thieves.

Earlier that night...

"I'm tired of running. They can't be still following. We've traveled too fast and changed directions too often for that. I need a break." Rama was tired. He wasn't in the best of shape for a demon and found it difficult to keep running.

"Oh stop your whining!" Toe was tired too. "We can't stop now. We'll be caught for sure. Sesshoumaru is with them and he never gives up."

Phy was listening to this. "Quiet down you two or I'll drop you where you stand. The master wants these shards and he's going to get them first. We can rest after."

"Hey who died and made you Kai of the demons? If we want to rest we will." Shee yelled at Phy. "I say we stop for a little break. I have to rest. Who's with me?"

"Ok. We'll stop but only for a few minutes." Phy relented. And the group set a small fire and huddled around it. They were all tired and hungry.

"I wish we'd enough sense to bring along some food. I'm starving. Isn't there something to eat in that bag your always carrying around Shee?" Rama asked.

"No I don't and if I did have some I wouldn't give any to you, you glutton. Look at you. You're a disgrace! You can hardly run." Shee snapped at the hapless demon.

"Well you don't have to be like that! I was just asking that's all."

"This is ridiculous! We shouldn't be sitting around here. Sesshoumaru and the others will catch up to us and then I ask you. Do you think that they will let us live after what we did?" Toe was worried and was constantly looking around for signs of the hunters.

"Stop it! I'm fed up with all this bickering. I let you have a break so shut up and rest already. We have to get these shards to the master." He held up the bottle Kagome kept the shards in. The jewel fragments shone brightly in the firelight. All eyes fixed on the object and greed started to rear its ugly head.

Toe was the first to make a move. He made a dive for the tiny bottle knocking Phy off his feet. "Give me those. I should be the one to carry them. You are too feeble minded. You wouldn't know what to do with them." The two rolled around on the ground struggling for the shards.

Phy dropped the bottle and Rama scooped it up. "Ha! I have them they're mine now." Just then he was hit from behind by Shee. Rama collapsed in a bloody heap. He had been hit with Shee's battleaxe. Shee made a move for the bottle that was in Rama's dead hand when he fell down. As he hit the earth his head rolled away. It was Toe that done the dirty deed. He had also killed his rival Phy.

Now he was the undisputed owner of the sacred jewel fragments. He took of running. North. They would never think to go in that direction. Even the master wouldn't be able to find him and once he'd absorbed the jewel he would be the master.

The hunters carefully approached the camp. From a distance it looked as if the demons had bedded down for the night but as they neared the site it became clear something wasn't right.

"I smell blood." Inuyasha growled low. "There has been a fight. Let's go."

Kagome and Katame looked at the scene and felt a little sick. "What do you think happened here? Were they attacked?"

Sesshoumaru rose to his feet after examining the remains of one of the demons. "No my Katame. These demon's killed each other, no doubt over the shards."

Inuyasha approached Kagome and asked. "Do you sense the shards anywhere?"

Kagome shook her head.

Miroku spoke up. "The shards always bring suffering everywhere they go. They probably fought over the shards and the final victor claimed the jewel fragments for himself." He knew these were demons but he still felt bad that anyone should die so violently.

"Uncle Sesshoumaru, what do we do now?" Inumouru asked.

"We go after him. The dead are still fresh, only a few hours old, he couldn't have gotten far."

"Father! I've got a scent trail. Over here he went this way." Sugumi called to his father, Inuyasha.

Meanwhile...

Toe was running as fast as his feet could carry him. He wasn't all that certain that the hunters wouldn't come upon the camp and figure out what happened. He had to cover ground as quickly as possible. He ran and leaped over trees and around boulders. He was making pretty good time and was starting to relax a bit. That's when he came across a little snag. Shotimoto was a demon of moderate power and he was out patrolling his small territory. Toe ran head long into him. He bounced of the demon and as he fell to the ground the shards fell from his hand.

"What do we have here?" Shotimoto said as he scooped up the bottle as it rolled toward his feet. "Shards of the sacred jewel, hmmmm... Now how would a lesser demon like you get your hands on something so precious?"

Toe tried to get them away from Shotimoto. "Stop those are mine. I mean they belong to my master Shamotokai. If you take them you'll be sorry. I was on my way to him now. He knows I'm coming and he'll really be angry with you if I don't show up soon."

"AHA, Ha, Ha do you think me a fool? Shamotokai never leaves his fortress to the south of here and you my little fool were running northward. The exact opposite direction." Shotimoto gave a nasty smile. "I believe I'll keep these. I give one choice leave now and live or stay and die." Shotimoto picked up the demon by the shirt-front.

"Ahhhhh... No please don't kill me. I'll go I'll go, honest. I wont ever bother you again." Toe screamed and pleaded.

Shotimoto tossed the demon aside and laughed. "Go back to your master little fool. Make sure you tell him how you met me while you were running away from him."

Toe rolled and jumped to his feet. He was no match for this demon and he knew it. There was nothing he could do about it. He had to run away. So he ran back but he was afraid of the hunters so he ran to the southeast.

As the demon ran he began to worry that his master would kill him for taking the shards and for loosing them. He knew he couldn't run from the dragon demon but he also knew he couldn't go back. Not unless he had a good excuse. 'That's it! I'll make up an excuse, a really great excuse. The master doesn't know what happened he wouldn't know I'm lying. Let's see now. How to explain the deaths of the others in my group.' He thought to himself as he continued on his southeast course.

(I hope you are enjoying my story. LadySesshoumaru41)