CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
x.
"Are you ready, Sango?" Miroku asked.
"I'm ready."
The monk took a deep breath, staring at the rippling barrier in front of him. "I can only break through for a minute or two. So as soon as it opens, all of you run through as fast as possible."
Sango nodded, and stood ready to run.
Miroku brandished the spell scrolls in one hand, ready to fling them at the barrier. He was nervous, since he had never attempted anything like this before. But if Inuyasha was squaring off against a deadly assassin, with Kagome's life hanging in the balance, he had to at least try.
With a cry, the monk flung the papers into the barrier. As the shimmering barrier sputtered and sparked, Miroku jammed his staff into the midst of the scrolls. A bolt of lightning seemed to coil around the staff, almost jerking it from Miroku's hands. He gripped it harder, and pushed it deeper into the barrier. A hole formed around the staff, spreading outward until it was almost as wide as he was tall.
The power of the barrier was rippling through the staff, almost throwing him off his feet. Miroku felt as if he was being electrocuted, struck by a thousand tiny lightning bolts.
"Miroku!" Sango cried.
"Go!" Miroku said through gritted teeth. "I can't hold it for much... longer... agh..."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sango race through the barrier's hole. Two small forms -- one reddish, one white -- darted in after her. Miroku began to draw back the staff, as the spell scrolls crumbled to ashes and dissolved. Then a flash of blue light threw the monk backwards. For a moment, Miroku lay still, breathing hard. His staff lay beside him, with smoke rising from the metal rings.
Then he sat up and wiped his forehead. "Hoo," he whispered. At least Sango, Shippo and Kirara had gotten through. Now he could only wait for them... and hope that they got to Inuyasha and Kagome in time.
x.
A dark figure walked slowly through the forest.
Naku grimaced as he looked at his arm. That damn Inuyasha had slashed him with those claws; there were three bloody cuts across his hand and wrist. Cursing under his breath, he tore a small piece of cloth and wrapped it tightly around the claw marks. They would heal, but it was still an annoyance. Especially during a hunt.
He glanced up at the sky. It had been very convenient of Naraku to erect that barrier. That way, the meddlesome slayer and monk hadn't been able to interrupt him when he attacked Inuyasha. That half-demon was arrogant and crude in his fighting. Nothing honed or skilled at all.
Suddenly a shape moved out of the bushes -- a huddled figure wearing a white baboon pelt. "So, Naku... how did your battle with Inuyasha go?" Naraku's voice asked smoothly.
"Very well."
"Really?" Naraku's voice hardened slightly. "Unless I am mistaken, you did not kill him. Nor did you bring Kagome to me."
"All in good time, Naraku."
"Explain this to me."
Naku smirked. "Only a fool will try to kill a wild dog outright. A wise hunter wounds the dog deeply and fatally, and then retreats to somewhere safe. Let the dog run, and bleed its lifeblood as it tries to escape." He crossed his arms. "If I had tried to take Inuyasha's head while he lay there wounded, he would have torn off my head. Better to let him bleed and suffer until he's too weak to resist. And then..."
"I see," Naraku said, his voice thawing slightly. "You have unusual cunning." The demon's eyes shifted inside the mask. "And then, you will bring me Inuyasha's head, and the girl Kagome -- alive, and unharmed in body. I have uses for her that you know nothing of. And in return, you will receive your payment and the Shikon shards."
"Of course. As was agreed." Naku's eyes narrowed slightly. "Since I am close to fulfilling my commission, I would like to know -- who are the other two you wish for me to find?"
"I will only tell you that one is a powerful priestess. The other is Inuyasha's older brother, a demon of almost unrivaled power."
"If he's anything like his brother, he should take no more than a day to kill," Naku said with a smile. He watched as Naraku retreated into the shadows, and seemed to vanish into thin air. Then he drew a long, gleaming sword from under his cloak -- a sword that glowed with a faint greenish light.
The hunter smiled. Inuyasha would find out all too soon what that blade could do. Naku had given him a lingering wound, but death itself would come all too quickly.
TO BE CONTINUED