Chapter 17

(Beware some ucky stuff in this one.)

At the fortress of Shamotokai…

"Come now young one, you can't resist me forever. I will win one way or another. Why must you make yourself suffer?" Shamotokai stood at the door to the dungeon that held the young heir to the throne, Mesosuki. "All you have to do to free yourself from this place is pronounce me Kai."

"No! I will do no such thing. My guards will come for me and you will be the one to suffer." Mesosuki fought against the chains that bound him to the wall. The demon was still very young by demon standards. He was only fifty years old. (Although demons grow to adult size quickly. A demon doesn't reach adult status until he has lived at least a hundred years. In human terms the heir was about ten or twelve years old.)

"Hmfff… you have no concept of how much trouble you're in do you? Your loyal guard's heads decorate the walls of my fortress. You father is dead and the only thing that keeps you alive is, me. And if I should lose patience with you… well let's just say that it won't be pleasant for you." Shamotokai smiled as he turned and walked away. As he left the dungeon he left orders for the guards. "Feed him nothing until he begins to behave."

Shamotokai was pacing in his chamber again and fuming over the young heir. 'That fool won't give in. If only I could get him to give in, taking over the realm would be a piece of cake.' He looked at his hand. He could feel the shards within. 'Even with the five shards I have, I still don't have the power necessary to maintain control of the realm. If I make a claim on the throne with out the necessary strength to back my claim the other lords will come up against me. The battles won't end until either until I defeat them all or someone defeats me. I can't risk it. Either that brat Mesosuki names me Kai or I have to get my hands on those shards.' Shamotokai paced on.

Outside the gates of the Kai's palace…

"That wasn't much help the old advisor didn't tell us anything we didn't already know." Inuyasha was a little annoyed still at being considered a second-class citizen inside the palace. "You'd think he'd at least know a bit more. He is supposed to be the wise man of the place."

"That's enough Inuyasha. We don't have time for this. We must hurry into the mountains. I'm more convinced than ever that Shamotokai is planning to use the heir to support his claim to the throne. He will have to have Mesosuki willingly renounce the throne and proclaim him as his successor." Sesshoumaru looked at the peaks in the distance. "He must not be strong enough to withstand the battles that would come in on him otherwise he would have made a claim by now."

"Sesshoumaru, there's something I don't understand. What battles are you talking about?" Kagome asked.

"I'll explain as we go." He hopped up onto the dragon and readied it to take flight. As they flew further south toward the mountains Sesshoumaru explained to the group how the demon feudal system worked. "The Kai establishes himself in power by one of a few ways. First is by direct descent, father to son. The next is conquest. Shamotokai killed the old Kai and can therefore claim the throne. However, that claim, can then be challenged by all the lords of the various royal houses. I believe he is afraid to do this because he doesn't think he can withstand the onslaught. The final way is to have the current Kai renounce his right to rule and name another in his place. If Shamotokai can get Mesosuki to do this there would be no recourse left to us and all the demons would have to recognize his place as the new Kai."

"Wow that's harsh. You think he might hurt the boy?" Kagome was thinking of her own son. "How old is he?"

"The young heir is only fifty at best. In terms of age girl he is still no more than a boy. He wont be an adult for at least another fifty years."

Katame looked at Kagome. "Fifty years? That is more than twice my age. How could he be just a boy?"

Sesshoumaru smiled. He had forgotten for a moment that his wife was human. Under normal circumstances she would expect to live only for sixty or seventy years. Since her change that linked her to his own life, she would live on, looking as young as she was, for as long as he lived.

"My Katame, have you learned nothing of demons? We live and grow differently than humans. As pups we need to grow quickly to an adult size in order to defend ourselves from the various dangers a demon must face. However little one, we live on for centuries and so we are not considered mature enough until we reach at least a hundred years of age." He looked at her puzzled expression.

"It is just our culture young one. My brother here is still considered a pup in demon terms although he has existed for much longer than most humans live. I am an adult because I have passed my hundredth year, although, I am also still considered to be quite young."

"Hmmff… pup my foot." Inuyasha mumbled under his breath. "The only one who thinks I'm a pup is you brother dear."

Sesshoumaru heard him and smiled to himself and thought. 'You are a pup, my brother, all that time pinned to that tree did nothing to mature you. One day I will beat the pup out of you and turn you into an adult worthy of our father's name. But that will have to wait for another day.'

Elsewhere...

Hotomatu arrived in the territory of Shotimoto. He searched for signs of the demon. He arrived at the house of the minor lord and was greeted by Yu the personal servant of lord Shotimoto.

Yu wrung his hands. He didn't like the look of the fierce demon at the gate but he was at a loss. His master hadn't returned yet from his patrol. "The master is gone, sir. He left on his weekly patrol and hasn't returned yet."

"How long does his patrol usually take? I must speak with him. It's a matter of great importance."

Yu sighed. "Master Shotimoto should have returned home four days ago. I don't know what's keeping him. I'm sorry." Yu bowed. "I can't help you."

"Yes you can. Tell me his rout. Which way does he travel and where does he usually camp?" Hotomatu was not going to be deterred by this fool of a servant. His master had given him his orders and he never failed his master no mater what the obstacles.

Yu explained the rout his master usually took and bid farewell to the stranger.

Hotomatu jumped on to the back of Shantu and flew off in the direction he had been told Shotimoto always traveled. He followed the rout around until he came across the camp. He descended and started to sniff around. As he searched the area he could smell the blood of the dead demon. He followed the sent to a grave. "So you are dead then." He spoke to the grave. "Lets see if you still have the shards on you or if the others I smelt back at the campsite have them instead."

Hotomatu dug up the rotting corpse and searched it thoroughly for the shards. He threw the body away in disgust. "Damn the others must have taken them." He went back to the camp and brought Shantu to the place where the scent of one demon was particularly strong. The demon had been injured in the battle and had bled on this spot. "Shantu, find him!"

The dragon/dog Shantu sniffed at the spot and when he had the scent he took off like a shot. Hotomatu had to quickly leap up the get onto the back of the flying beast before he got to far away. Shantu flew directly south. They were heading home.

The group of demons and humans had reached the foothills of the mountain range that now belonged to Shamotokai. They landed. Sesshoumaru had said that they would have to go the rest of the way on foot. They couldn't risk being spotted in the air. The demon lord approached his pet dragon and whispered something to it. It rubbed one of its heads in the hand of his master and then flew off back down toward the palace of the Kai.

"What was that about?" Miroku whispered to Sango.

"The dragon is a pet of Master Sesshoumaru. He probably doesn't want the thing to get hurt and so he sent it away." Sango didn't understand her lord, but she had noticed that although he was a hard man at times, he also had a softer caring side to him. She had seen this side of him often when he was with his beloved wife Katame.

"Come!" Sesshoumaru had reverted back to his autocratic self. "We don't time to waist." The demon took the lead and started to ascend the mountain.

After a few hours of climbing the women were beginning to tire. "Sesshoumaru, slow down I can't keep up." Katame was never one to complain but the climb was particularly difficult and her husband was traveling at quite a fast pace.

He turned to see his wife. Her face was red with exertion. He stopped and let everyone catch up. "We should set up a camp for you two to stay behind in."

"No! I don't want to stay behind. I'm just not a demon like you. I can't climb mountains as easily as you." Her face was beginning to return to its usual tone. "I just need a minute to catch my breath and then we can move on. Besides the boys are hungry. We should really stop and get everyone fed. Who knows what we will face up there. I don't want anyone to be weak from lack of food." Katame was right and Sesshoumaru knew it.

"Fine, Inumouru start a fire for your mother. Samoto take Sugumi with you and get some water for the camp. We will rest for the night but we leave at sunrise so I expect you to have everyone fed and ready to go before then." His tone was hard. Sesshoumaru hated the delay these humans were causing him. He strode off to discuss the matter with his brother.

"I will keep guard tonight I will depend on you to insure that no time is wasted come morning I want to be on our way as soon as the sun rises."

"No problem. We'll be ready. What's really wrong?" Inuyasha asked.

"It's the women. I think its time we considered leaving them behind. The battle we will have to face there will be fierce. Katame is linked to me but that doesn't me she can't be killed. I… I don't want to risk it. I'm regretting bringing her. I should have left her back at the palace."

Inuyasha nodded. "Maybe you're right Sesshoumaru. But I wonder where we would be if Kagome hadn't been with us when we battled Shotimoto. Those girls may be human but they are pretty tough. Tell me something; do you really think that they would stay behind? Even if we threatened them they would still follow. I would feel better having them were I knew where they were than worry about where they might be."

Sesshoumaru shook his head. He knew how determined his wife could be. Kagome on the other hand constantly surprised him. She was no more that a girl and yet she flew into the thick of battle, and with her special arrows, enabled Inuyasha to destroy a demon of incredible power. "Very well. They can come but this will slow us down."

"No I don't think so. Kylala doesn't have to fly. She could just walk beside us and carry the girls." Inuyasha said. "I'll ask her. She and I have become good friends. I'm sure she wont mind." He turned and left his brother.

Back at the fortress Shamotokai was trying again to get the heir to cooperate. "Why do you test me boy? Don't you know what I can do to you?" He pressed his face close to the boy's.

"Go to hell!" Mesosuki yelled at his captor.

"Very well boy, you shall be punished if that is what you want." Shamotokai turned to the dungeon master. "Beat him. I will not allow this insolent pup to continue to resist my will." With that he left. As he did the cries of the young heir rang in his sensitive demon ears. 'Good.' He thought to himself. 'This young fool wont last long. Of course I will have to let him heal before returning to the palace. If they think that the heir was mistreated my claim will not be accepted.' He was very pleased with himself.

(Ooooh… There I go again with nasty stuff. Hope I haven't offended anyone. It's kind of hart to write about the feudal era and not have some gore. LadySesshomaru41)