Chapter 16: The Sword of Life
Sango held tightly onto Miroku, his weight pressed against hers and stared in disbelief at the turning point of the battle. "…Unbelievable…" She gasped quietly in shock. She couldn't imagine how Kagome's strength had just suddenly picked up.
"She has a vast amount of courage and her love for Inuyasha and hate for Sesshomaru drives her." Miroku grunted against the pain that had swallowed up his body. His doubts of them coming through on top were washed away by Kagome's ability to stand again and face the terrible demon. "She can do it. We'll be free soon." He watched Sango nod in the corner of his eye and with some difficulty, he let a small smile appear on his face.
"You can do it Kagome." She whispered softly and hopefully as her eyes remained locked on the demon lord and reincarnated priestess.
Kagome stared furiously up at the youkai and narrowed her eyes heavily. Her face was clearly visible of hate and she grit her teeth as she spoke. "I'm sick of your twisted games. I'm sick of being locked in this fucking prison with you…I hate everything that you've done to us. I hate everything you've ever said to us." She paused and gave Sesshomaru one last icy glare before spitting out the last of her speech with all the rage she had built up inside of her. "I despise you Sesshomaru!" With one twist of her hands on the handle of the Tetseiga, the barrier protecting her sparked and threw the youkai away.
Sesshomaru bared his fangs, trying to outlast the blast that came from the Tetseiga and its wielder and pulled his hand into his chest. Landing softly on his feet a far distance away from the girl he smirked and licked a small cut on his finger he had received. "Are you finally ready to fight me bitch?" He cursed, amused by her eagerness to kill him. It didn't matter how hard she tried because he just wouldn't die, thanks to the Tenseiga. Running his hand unconsciously down his chest, he touched the hilt of the sword and reminded himself that it was still there.
Following Sesshomaru's hand to the sword at his hip, Kagome's eyes widened and she gasped silently. 'The Tenseiga! That's it!' A small grin stretched across her crimson lips and she lifted the Tetseiga up from the ground. Taking a step forward she stopped abruptly as that haunting voice hissed through her mind once again. 'I'm with you Kagome.' Had she totally gone insane? Why was it that she could still hear Inuyasha's voice? Was he not dead? Deciding that the voice wasn't real but her own imagination, she returned her concentration back to the demon. Holding tightly to the hilt of Inuyasha's precious sword, she stared down the youkai, confident about what she was doing. "Lets go Sesshomaru. I've had enough of you."
The youkai smirked, pleased to have a challenge. "It won't be long before you join that worthless half-breed my dear." He charged at her immediately after he had spoken. "Not long at all." Leaping off the ground he floated in the air above Kagome for a second before coming down at her with an outstretched clawed hand. "Die!"
Kagome quickly lifted the Tetseiga above her head and caught the demon once again in the barrier. The barrier was much different this time and relied on her strength to keep the enemy away. She grit her teeth and stared fearlessly up into Sesshomaru's golden eyes, beads of sweat rolling down her face and neck. The amount of weight he pressed on the sword and her was unbearable and she used all the strength she had to keep him away.
Sesshomaru grinned and leaned heavily against the weak barrier. "How long will it take before your pathetic barrier gives way and grants me entrance to kill you?" He questioned devilishly. It wasn't a question he wanted answer though, it was just used to tease her, pressure her, maybe even help her.
Taking a step closer to the demon, she tried to hold on longer. "I'm not going to lose…Not to you." She grunted heavily under the weight of Sesshomaru.
Sango gasped at the dangerous scene playing before her eyes. Sparks of power were beginning to fly out from where Sesshomaru's hand met the barrier as he slowly began to inch closer to Kagome. "Kagome no!" She shouted, stepping away from Miroku to help her friend.
Miroku used what was left of his strength to hold tightly onto Sango's shoulder and prevent her from going any further. "You must stop Sango. She can't hear us."
The demon slayer stopped in her tracks and turned back to face the monk. "Why not?" She asked softly, her voice shaky with fear and tears beginning to swell in her eyes. "What can't she hear us!"
"Because," He gazed back at the young girl's determined face, already aware of the reason. "Look at her. She's fighting on behalf of Inuyasha. This is her fight." Lowering his head he sighed lightly and began to fear the outcome of the battle. "We can't help her."
Sango bit her lip and quickly faced the battle once again. Pushing away her tears she felt totally useless standing there, watching her companion risk her life for a memory and the sake of her friends. "…Oh Kagome."
"You're getting weaker by the second my dear." Hissed Sesshomaru with a chuckle. His body began to fall closer and closer to the priestess at a steady pace and he couldn't help but let his smirk grow. He stared down into her cold eyes and noticed that nothing of his threats had changed her. He could smell no fear or panic, just that sour overpowering aroma of her hate towards him. "Are you not afraid of death?" He asked curiously.
Kagome grunted, refusing to show how scared she was of the demon and her place in their battle. "Not…at all. I know I'm not going to die because this…" She began to push the sword up against the demon, their eyes still locked on each other. "…This is for Inuyasha!" Her voice rung through the forest, bouncing off one tree to another before it was heard no more. She twisted her hands tightly around the hilt and concentrated all her strength on the barrier surrounding her. A strong gust of wind encircled the ground by her feet and pushed against her body as Sesshomaru slowly began to move back.
"Impossible." He gasped in shock. A new scent filled his flaring nostrils, the soiled smell of his own fear. 'How can this be? Only Inuyasha possessed such strength!' His eyes darted up to the hanyou still pinned to the tree and he was rendered speechless. Kagome's loud raged pants for air distracted his attention and he cautiously looked down upon her. Something was different…very different about her and he just couldn't figure it out. The moon's light suddenly got brighter and painted her body in a mysterious invisible sparkling white. A dim figure of a man dressed in a red haori appeared behind her, his clawed hands wrapped over hers around the Tetseiga. His eyes were covered by long silver bangs but Sesshomaru could tell he was looking right at him. The man's mouth was moving, whispering into Kagome's ear, helping her, encouraging her to slay he who remained above them. All his attention on Kagome was lost as the man's hair parted atop his head and revealed two very distinct dog-ears. "Inuyasha!" He gasped out loud, pulling his hand completely out of the barrier.
Kagome instantly noticed his loss of attention and took it as an opportunity to finally kill the horrible demon. 'Now is your chance Kagome, do it now!' I know you can!' That voice spoke again and she felt a sudden growth in her strength. "Die Sesshomaru!" She screamed in rage with a strong swipe of the Tetseiga. The barrier dissipated around her and thrust a long strip of power straight towards the demon.
The blast took him by surprise and met the center of his chest, ripping apart his haori till his upper body was bare. He grit his teeth tightly to try and endure the pain to no prevail. Holding his hand against the force of Kagome's sudden power, he held it back away from his body so to have enough room to jump out and away from its path of destruction. As he leapt away, the orb of energy blew past his body, scratching his face in the process and blew up the many trees behind him.
Frowning unsatisfied with the unsuccessful kill, Kagome prepared her weapon again. "This won't be over until I see you dead!" She hollered, her expression full of hate. Her body immediately ran to the demon, the sword held out at her side, ready to slice through her enemy.
Sesshomaru dropped to his feet and stared wide-eyed in disbelief as Inuyasha's spirit faded into Kagome's body and she approached him with immense speed not normal for a mortal. He raised his clawed hand in self-defense, as her figure suddenly appeared practically right below his nose. "I can not die. And I especially won't die in the hands of a mere mortal girl." His confidence picked up by the late realization that she was just human and he cracked his fingers loudly at his ear. "You should have taken Inuyasha's death as a warning!" He shouted in fury and swiped his hand down to the side, attempting to claw off her head.
Kagome smirked at his approaching dangerous hand. "I don't think so." She muttered, ducking her head and slashing the Tetseiga at his hip. Sesshomaru's clawed fingers sliced apart strands of her ravenous hair but she didn't even take notice, she had just accomplished her one goal. With a pleased look upon her face, she watched with a grin as the Tenseiga fell from his side and landed at her feet.
"You wench!" Sesshomaru hissed, knowing that something had gone wrong because of the feeling he had received that he was now in danger. He glared down at the girl as she picked up his sword into her own hands. "I'm not staling any longer! Good-bye Kagome!" He quickly wrapped his hand around her tiny neck and used all his strength to crush every bone and muscle.
"Wind Tunnel!" Miroku shouted in a hurry, removing the prayer beads from around his wrist that sealed his cursed void. Sango held his arm and back, helping him direct the wind in their enemy's direction.
The youkai dropped Kagome to the ground and turned fearfully to the other two members of Inuyasha's band of warriors he had so stupidly forgotten about. His body became stiff and his mouth could no longer move nor could his eyes blink as he stared deep into the tiny black hole. How did they do it? How did they manage to trap a powerful demon like himself like this?
Kagome's hair blew violently past her face and she could feel herself suddenly begin to grow lighter by the force of the wind. Gathering the two swords into her chest she scurried across the ground on her knees to the tree where Inuyasha remained pinned. She wrapped her arms around the base of the trunk and gazed over her shoulder at the demon left behind. She was almost saddened by his reaction to his loss. It was almost as if he was stuck in a nightmare and was trying to recap all the mistakes he made to end up there and like that. Before she felt any more remorse towards the demon lord, she buried her face in her arm and listened in silence to the hiss of wind as it passed by her ear.
Miroku grit his teeth and held on tightly to his own wrist. "This is it Sesshomaru. Your time is up!" He threatened, feeling confident that this was the end. "You are going to die in the palm of my hand!"
Sesshomaru's feet lifted a little off the ground and his body slowly began to drift in the direction of the wind. His long silver hair blanketed his face, shadowing his fear from the eyes of his prey that became his predators. 'It's over for me…There's nothing left…I can't do anything.' His head turned to look behind him at the woman he so loved. There was no use even trying to resist these mortals. He knew Kagome wanted Inuyasha…not him. There was nothing left to live for.
Sensing an evil pair of eyes on her, Kagome lifted her head and looked back over to Sesshomaru. His saddened gaze met hers and she quickly looked away. 'Just die already!' She pleaded, staring wide-eyed at the blowing grass below her.
A hardly visible small smile crept across Sesshomaru's lips and he shut his eyes tightly to listen to the many sounds of the wind. "So my reign as the Great Demon Lord of all the land has ended." He started, turning back to the pair that controlled the wind. "All thanks to you disgusting humans. Well done."
Miroku kept his eyes on the demon, fully aware for any danger that may suddenly arise. He couldn't quite come to understand the means behind Sesshomaru's speech. Had he completely gone insane knowing that he was going to die?
Sesshomaru released a single chuckle and licked a speck of blood from his fingertip. "But," His body was only inches away from completely being sucked in to the vortex. "I can assure you that this will not be the last of me. I am a demon of course. I'll find a way to get back. And next time…" His golden eyes pierced through the monk and he snickered devilishly with a full set of fangs. "…Next time I won't be so easy to kill." His final words slid across the wind as his full body was sucked into the dark void, never to be seen again.
Miroku quickly re-wrapped the beads around his wrist with the help of Sango. His body was suddenly overcome with exhaustion and he fell roughly onto his knees. Holding his hand to his chest he stared blankly at the ground. 'Could Sesshomaru really come back?' He shook his head side to side and dropped his arms onto his lap. "There's no way." He grunted, still feeling a bit of pain.
"Miroku don't move. We have to get you some medicine right away." Sango said with concern while kneeling by his side and observing his condition.
Her tenderness helped him to smile weakly up at her and he stopped her hand from touching him with his own. "I'm fine Sango." His fingers entwined with hers and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze for reassurance. "It seems that after Sesshomaru was sucked into my hand the pain from the poison somewhat vanished." His eyes fell to his cursed hand then to the direction of shuffling feet.
Both him and Sango watched sadly as Kagome slowly rose to her feet and stood below Inuyasha's blood covered body. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon and its rays beamed off her shimmering eyes.
Sango lifted her fingers to her lips and looked away from Kagome's painful expression. "Kagome." She whispered quietly, shutting her eyes to block out all sounds that may upset her and force her to cry. They had beaten Sesshomaru, yes, but lost a loved one in the process. "If only there was a way to bring him back to you."
Kagome held her hands against the tree just below Inuyasha's feet and gazed up at his pale face. "Inuyasha? Can you hear me?" She called quietly, her voice unsteady and choppy. Her eyes spotted the Tenseiga underneath the Tetseiga and she knelt down slowly to retrieve it. Picking it up in her shaky hands, she stood straight and looked back up at his face. "I know you're still with me. You never left my side. If it wasn't for you…we wouldn't have been able to beat Sesshomaru." Her hands slowly unsheathed the Tenseiga as she spoke. The orange morning sunlight danced off its silver blade as it came completely out of its casing. Kagome held it out in front of her and stared at her reflection on its shiny surface. "I'm not going to let you die on me Inuyasha! We made a promise!" She shouted full of emotion. Blinding tears filled the corner of her eyes and she quickly lifted the sword up over her head with both hands. "This is not supposed to be where we part!" Her hands tightened around the hilt as she prepared to strike Inuyasha and fill his body with life again…at least…she hoped so.